Bong Revilla in the eyes of our friend Arnel Asturias

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”

—Marcus Aurelius

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IF he were in Metro Manila or near where supporters of Ramon Bautista “Bong” Revilla Jr. were holding a rally in support of the former senator on January 19, our friend Arnel Asturias, punong barangay of Punong, Lapuz in Iloilo City in the Philippines would have been one of those holding a placard screaming, “We love you, Senator Bong Revilla.”

Arnel is one of the only few Ilonggos who believe that Revilla Jr. is a “good person.”

Weeks after Revilla Jr. surrendered before the Sandiganbayan for his alleged involvement in Janet Napoles’ pork barrel scam on June 20, 2014, I was in the Philippines and discussed the issue with Arnel over a cup of coffee inside the Atrium’s bakeshop in Iloilo City.

Arnel, one of the former senator’s non-political (he wasn’t yet a punong barangay at that time) friends in Iloilo, did not believe Revilla Jr. scammed the taxpayers in cahoots with Napoles, who is still in jail until now.

 

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“It’s part of political persecution,” Arnel, who became involved in local politics after succeeding his wife Tweet as punong barangay in the same village, remarked without offering evidence.

“He has earned the ire of some powerful political groups in the country because he is a strong contender for president.”

Revilla Jr. never ran for president.

Arnel was Revilla Jr.’s regular visitor during the Cavite politician’s heyday as senator.

The former popular showbiz action star called him as “Manong Arnel” and felt comfortable if the tall and menacing looking Ilonggo former radioman was on his side every time the Cavite politician visited Iloilo.

Their friendship dated back when Revilla’s father, the late Ramon Sr. was still senator in 1992. The father Revilla was known as the “Father of the Public Works Act.”

The dead Revilla and some of Arnel’s Manila-based Ilonggo associates were friends and “had many things in common.”

Arnel’s connections with Revilla Jr. “strengthened” when he became a liaison in the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) regional office during the time of the late former President Fidel V. Ramos.

 

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Revilla Jr., now 59, was among the big political names in the Philippines slapped with plunder case and went to jail under the Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III administration.

The former showbiz heartthrob-turned-politician stood accused of 16 counts of graft for his alleged role in the transfer of ‎P517 million (US$10.5 million) of his discretionary funds to fake foundations “masterminded” by Napoles.

All of Revilla Jr.‘s cases were dismissed by Sandiganbayan in 2021, and he was ordered to return to the government P124.5 million (US$2.53 million) in civil liability, which he failed to do until now.

Arnel said he was vindicated when Revilla Jr. was acquitted of plunder by the Sandiganbayan and released from jail on December 7, 2018.

“I knew it would come,” he quipped.

Now that Revilla Jr. is back in jail again, this time in Payatas, Quezon City, prepared especially for flood control project scammers, Arnel is expected to again defend his friend known as “pogi” and “budots.”

 

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In 2024, we warned that it’s hard to imagine Iloilo City being swallowed whole by two behemoths while the Ilonggos celebrated the Dinagyang Festival 2024, which had officially romped off on January 12.

“If this happens,” we wrote, “it’s like watching the city and province of Iloilo turning into a purgatory, a place of purification or temporary punishment in which, according to medieval Christian and Roman Catholic belief, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for heaven.”

We added: “Extremely scary and unpalatable. It would be one step closer to perdition and hell.

“Ilonggos would explode in total revulsion and forcefully curse the national government for its inability and failure to safeguard the region’s power supply and protect Iloilo after being hit by a shocking darkness, a post new year howitzer.

“We’re referring to the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) proposed shutdown of telecommunication networks during the festival’s major events, and the looming power blackout as feared by the Department of Energy (DoE) because of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ (NGCP) intransigence and unforeseeable attitude toward power stability in Panay Island and the neighboring provinces in Western Visayas.

“It seems the Ilonggos are being made to suffer and punished for the sins of irresponsible and incompetent bureaucrats.”

Thank God the nightmares and did not happen and hopefully will never happen in the future.

 

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SAVING OUR PLANET. Let’s de-scorch with milk.  To remove iron scorches from colorfast clothing and fabrics, let’s gently simmer the scorched article in one cup soap flakes (or grated pure-Castile soap) and four pints of milk for 10 minutes. Then rinse thoroughly, allow to dry, and wash normally.

IF WE GRAB A CANDY BAR when we have PMS, we're likely to recognize the hormonal connection. but what if it's our credit card we're reaching for? Turns out that spending may also be influenced by hormones.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)

 

 

Iloilo DPWH dolts ‘don’t fear’ Dizon’s visit

“A failure will not appear until a unit has passed final inspection.”

—Arthur Bloch

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IF the flood control project anomalies were not uncovered, no high-ranking official from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) would schedule a visit to inspect the Aganan Flyover in Pavia, Iloilo, a parallel project of Ungka Flyover, which is also facing delays and increased costs.

Like the scandalous Ungka Flyover that ballooned from P680 million to nearly P1 billion, the cost of Aganan Flyover also reportedly rose from initial P560 million to over P802 million and needing more funds.

For more than two years now, Ilonggos bellyached and wished that someone stronger than Hercules and influential than Judas Iscariot would finally cross the Rubicon.

The Aganan and Ungka flyover projects aren’t related to flood control, but because the Marcos Jr. administration is now hot after the heels of corrupt, inept, negligent and incompetent contractors and their DPWH cohorts, even farm-to-market road and bridge projects are now included on Big Brother’s radar for “thorough” review and investigation.

The one that faced major structural issues like sinking piers and vertical displacement, causing partial closure is actually the Ungka Flyover.

 

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DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon’s scheduled January 19 ocular inspection of the controversial project was only made possible because of mounting pressures from irate Ilonggo motorists who felt betrayed and hoodwinked after years of uncertainty and frustrations.

But even if Dizon would dip his finger into the alleged mess the Aganan Flyover is in, there is no assurance his visit will ignite vigilance and diligence among some lazy, unproductive and deceptive local DPWH officials, their subalterns and fraudulent contractors.

These opportunists and scalawags are aware Dizon isn’t married to his position and serves only at the pleasure of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Sooner or later, the hard-working and fearless cabinet official will either transfer to other appointed national offices or run for an elective position. Or retire.

If this happens, it will be a case of “happy days are here again” for the ruffians thus, it won’t hurt if they coquet and play footsie while hobnobbing with the visiting popular cabinet official.

 

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ALTHOUGH we grew up in the tropical Asian pacific region, we still prefer snow in winter season over humidity in summer season in the United States.

Over the past three days, however, we experienced an extra-ordinary weather condition in the East Coast; we felt much colder than parts of Alaska, the United States’ largest state by area, located in the northwest extremity of North America, during intense Arctic blasts.

This divergent weather pattern especially in New York City was caused by wind chills dropping to single digits in January 2026, making it feel colder than Anchorage, which experienced milder winter conditions at the time.

While Alaska is generally much colder overall, specific cold snaps in New York City, fueled by polar air, created temporarily harsher "feels like" temperatures than some Alaskan locations.

During winter, snow falls on the East Coast due to the clash of frigid Arctic air from the north with warm, moist air from the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

 

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It creates powerful winter storms like Nor'easters, driven by a dipping jet stream, which brings freezing temperatures and precipitation across the region, including the Interior Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and even parts of the Southeast.

Sever snow always caused travel disruptions, causing accidents and delays, severe economic impacts from business closures and cleanup, significant health risks like frostbite.

It could also cause hypothermia, falls, and cardiovascular stress, and infrastructure damage from weight and melting, leading to power outages, roof collapses, and burst pipes, plus exacerbating pollution issues.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has warned that heavy snow can immobilize a region and paralyze a city, stranding commuters, closing airports, stopping the flow of supplies, and disrupting emergency and medical services.

The weight of snow can cause roofs to collapse and knock down trees and power lines, added the NHS.

Homes and farms may be isolated for days, and unprotected livestock may be lost, it warned further.

In the mountains, heavy snow can lead to avalanches. The cost of snow removal, repairing damages, and the loss of business can have severe economic impacts on cities and towns, according to NHS.

 

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LET'S NOT FORGET OUR MEDS. Patients who bring their own medications with them to the hospital are half as likely to experience drug-related medical errors as people who forget them, a recent Australian study found. LG said the most common mistake: People didn't get necessary meds, like blood thinners and insulin, for preexisting health conditions.

NEW RULE FOR SPOTTING SKIN CANCER. Size matters less than we think whe it comes to better skin cancer detection. Current guidelines used to detect abnormal moles stipulate that people should look for moles only greater than 6 mm, or larger than a pencil eraser. "But size is increasingly arbitrary and irrelevant," says researcher Stuart Goldsmith, MD.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)

 

 

‘Don’t condemn me, I also need it’

“I never understood why anyone would have sex on the floor until I was with you, and I realized: you don’t realize you’re on the floor.”

—David Levithan

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

A FORMER physical education (P.E.) teacher, stricken with a life-threatening disease from Cagayan de Oro City in the Philippines, has only one wish before she dies: acceptance and understanding from family and friends.

“Most of all, they must stop condemning and blaming me (for what I did) because I also needed it (the thing she did that “angered” them),” appealed 75-year-old Exotic (not her real name).

Exotic, back in the United States in May 2025 after spending 16 months in the Philippines, is suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS ), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, a neurodegenerative disease that causes nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to die, affecting voluntary muscle control, with no cure and a, generally, limited lifespan.

“I wish to visit Europe, particularly France, Portugal, and Italy this year while I can still walk, talk and think,” suggested Exotic, who married Felipe, a Portuguese-American insurance executive, in Forest Hills, New York in 2018.

 

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Exotic’s first husband, Rienerio, employee at the Cagayan de Oro City Agriculturist Office, died when the couple was still living together in the Philippines in 2008.

They have two children: Adelfa, 48, married and a registered nurse, and Dideros, 44, single and a crew at McDonalds in Brisbane, Australia.

Exotic was part of a group composed of 12 tourists from Cagayan de Oro City that toured the United States in 2011. Five of them, including Exotic, overstayed; the seven went back to the Philippines.

Exotic, who worked “under the table” as caregiver, obtained legal status in the United States after marrying Felipe, whom she met in the house of the elderly patient she was taking care of in 2018.

Stricken with Rapidly Progressive Neurodegenerative Disorder, a sickness that included a Prion disease (like CJD) and some forms of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Felipe, then 77, died in a nursing home at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in Brooklyn, New York in 2021.

Exotic, 70 years old when Felipe passed away, found a new flame, 44-year-old Paulino, a Puerto Rican uber driver, in early 2022.

According to Goldo, 68, a Filipino immigrant and Exotic’s long-time “best friend”, Exotic occasionally invited Paulino to stay overnight into her apartment in Woodside, Queens in New York.

 

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Manila-based Adelfa and Australia-based Dideros were strongly against the tryst, especially Adelfa, who openly registered her aversion in text messages and sometimes in the social media.

“Nay, unsa man ni? Nakakahiya na. Tama na.” (Mom, this is embarrassing. Enough),” read one text message Exotic allegedly showed Goldo, who also stayed in the same apartment.

Goldo said Adelfa and Dideros suspected Paulino did not love their mother, who provided Paulino with regular “pocket money,” including budget for the car gasoline.    

While Dideros was pulpy, Adelfa was furious after allegedly seeing a stolen short video taken inside the apartment’s balcony at around past 2 ‘o’clock in the morning showing their mother and Paulino, a burly and tall Lothario, both standing and “having a disgusting sexual rendezvous.”

Exotic denied she was the ferocious woman in the clip smeared in darkness. When confronted by Exotic, Goldo vehemently denied he was the one who took the video presumably from a cellphone.

“There were two other individuals renting in the apartment, not just me and Exotic,” Goldo argued.

“But Teepak and Ewash (names of the two other renters in the apartment) don’t have the cellphone number of Adelfa,” Exotic ribbed Goldo.

 

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After a heated fracas, Exotic and Goldo parted ways and joined together again in another apartment after Exotic and Felipe were engaged.

Felipe, an ill-tempered and racist, according to Goldo, earlier questioned Goldo’s presence in his wife Exotic’s life and suspected “they had something going on.”

But Exotic assured Felipe “Goldo has been a longtime friend and partner in mahjong and card game businesses.”

“Business” meant Goldo, who was unemployed on several occasions, “managed” the area organized by Exotic for habitués of mahjong (a Chinese tile-based table game) and Tong-its (a Filipino three-player rummy-style card game).

Goldo cooked food for mahjong and Tong-its players and got compensated from the “tong,” a tip or etiquette payment, collected.

News about Exotic’s sexual peccadillos before meeting Felipe, especially the night the unsavory video with Paulino was taken, reached their community in the Philippines and among circle of friends in Woodside, Queens.

This enraged Exotic’s family and “conservative” friends askance at a woman senior citizen’s appetite to coitus. Exotic felt like a pariah, and she gradually ebbed into depression.

As of this writing, Exotic never admitted she was the vicious woman in that controversial copulation video but reiterated her appeal for forbearance and understanding.  

Goldo said doctors were studying whether Exotic was also afflicted by Diogenes Syndrome, known as "senile squalor syndrome," that involves extreme self-neglect, hoarding, and total social isolation, often arising from traumatic life events.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)