‘Dinagyang’, ‘Manggahan’ NYC parade facilitator wins TOFA award

“It doesn't matter how many times you win an award, it is always very special.”
--Zinedine Zidane

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- She is known among the Ilonggos here as the “Mother of Dinagyang and Manggahan Festivals in the New York City Philippine Independence Day Parade.”

JALANDONI during the parade on June 3, 2018

A New Jersey-based professional nurse from Victorias City, Negros Occidental in the Philippines responsible for bringing here two famous religious and cultural festivals from the Philippines, Joji Juele Jalandoni is the 2018 The Outstanding Filipinos in America (TOFA) awardee for arts and culture.
Jalandoni, who graduated her masteral in Hospital Administration/Nurse Executive Program from Teachers College Columbia University in 2015, will receive the award on October 28, 2018 at the Carnegie Hall in Manhattan along with her fellow awardees.
A consummate community volunteer service leader and organizer, Jalandoni has been known for always placing her volunteer community pursuits first before her professional chores.
In her chosen profession, Jalandoni has stayed above the mundanely important duties of a regular nurse, choosing to specialize in the executive side of the profession by continuing to hold the position of Infection Control and prevention Associate Director at her place of employment.

As the president of the Silliman University Alumni Association from 2007-2009, Jalandoni is very much respected, revered and requested for services in myriad community undertakings, generally and most especially in the Filipino-American community in the northeastern United States.
The awardee has served as the president of the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI), a Filipino and Filipino-American community wide organization that organizes, produce, direct, manage, execute and present the many month-long or almost a year of multi event annual commemoration of the declaration of the Philippine Independence in New York City.
Through the 28 years of celebrating the commemoration, the New York City festival has gained many reputations, foremost of which is being the largest celebration of Philippine Independence Day in the world, larger even than the one held annually in the Philippines.
At the time Jalandoni presided over the PIDCI, it has attracted over 200 member organizations of Filipino and Filipino-American organizations, associations, clubs and groups.
Jalandoni has been largely credited for a gargantuan feat no other Filipino-American leader has done before: bringing to the United States of the Dinagyang Festival from Iloilo City four times (2011, 2013, 2015 and 2018 during the parade’s 50th anniversary) and, also in 2018, the Manggahan Festival from Guimaras Province, all in Western Visayas to join the PIDCI parade aimed to promote the Philippines’ “rich” culture and heritage on June 3, 2018.
Jalandoni noted that the 2018 participation for the first time of a big delegation from the island-province of Guimaras “has helped provide once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for the kids from far-flung rural areas and ‘street kids’ from Iloilo City on the part of Dinagyang Festival.”
Officials of City of Iloilo led by Mayor Jose Espinosa III and Provincial Government of Guimaras led by Governor Samuel Gumarin extolled Jalandoni for personally visiting the city and province one after the other early in 2018 to personally extend and arrange the two festivals’ participation in the prestigious New York City Philippine Independence Day parade which is known all over the world.
Jalandoni has served as the vice president/advisory council from 2009 to present of the Victoriahanon (Victorias Milling Company and Victorias City, Negros Occidental group).
Presently she is the vice president of Negrosanon.
Jalandoni also serves as the PIDCI chairperson on special projects (Education and Cultural Committee) from 2012 to present.
Her other involvement in community service is being a member of Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) of New York City, Inc. from 2003 to present; and as 2011 awardee for for Community Service.

Ilonggo politicians: Playboy Bebot who?

“People from the past, have a tendency to walk back into the present, and run over the future.”
-- Anthony Liccione

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Only most recently, some Ilonggo politicians--congressmen and women, governors, mayors--elbowed each other for attention of ousted House speaker, Pantaleon “Playboy Bebot” Alvarez, who was a frequent visitor in Iloilo and Negros.
Many of these Ilonggo politicians were willing to genuflect with Alvarez as long as they got what they wanted: endorsement for certain elective positions for themselves or for their chosen bets in the May 2019 elections.
They thought Alvarez was the Philippine version of Rasputin--indispensable, someone who holds the president in the testicles, imperishable and unsinkable as the fourth highest official of the land.
They played blind, deaf and mute to Alvarez’s moral and political transgressions and tolerated his hubris.
Alvarez got a mind-boggling VIP treatment from these eager-beaver local politicians as if he could bring back to life Lazarus of Bethany.

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In many “mass” oath-taking ceremonies of newly recruited PDP-Laban members, Alvarez was treated like Nebuchadnezzar, eldest son and successor of Nabopolassar, an Assyrian official who rebelled and established himself as king of Babylon in 620 BC.
When Alvarez was trounced by former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the speakership in a turbulent mutiny hours before President Rodrigo Duterte’s state of the nation address (SONA) on July 23, most ofthese Ilonggo politicians who used to lionize Alvarez were now saying they junked Alvarez in favor of Arroyo.
From hallelujah to good riddance.
All of a sudden, most of these Ilonggo politicians disowned the Davao del Norte representative like a leper and are now queuing to ingratiate themselves with the controversial former president.
They gave credence to the age-old adages that “nobody loves a loser” and “victory has many fathers while defeat is an orphan.”

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We thank Joji Jalandoni, former president of the New York City-based Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) for inviting us to grace the Piña-Seda (pineapple and silk cloths from the tropics) Hibla ng Lahing Filipino Traveling Exhibition lecture series, weaving demonstrations and embroidery workshops at the Philippine Consulate in Manhattan on July 24.
The exhibit featured Kalibo, Aklan Piña-Seda weavers and Lumbao, Laguna Piña-Seda embroiderers.
Piña (Spanish for pineapple) cloth is considered the finest and the queen of Philippine textiles.
Seda (Spanish for silk) cloth is undeniably the smoothest woven fabric in the world.
Combined with seda, piña exudes elegance as fined and delicate as pineapple and as smooth and luxurious as silk.
The exhibit, which started on July 24 and will be concluded on September 7, 2018, is being spearheaded by the National Museum (Pambansang Museo) and Office of Senator Loren Legarda.

Ilonggos in trade delegation who worked ‘silently’

“Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.”
--Frank Ocean

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- When I had a chance to engage Iloilo City Tourism Officer Junel Ann Divinagracia in a long tete-a-tete at the Madison Square Park after the 120th Philippine Independence Day parade here organized by the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) on June 3, the first thing I asked was “Where is Department of Tourism (DoT) Regional Director Helen Camarista-Catalbas?”
Since two flashy regional festivals--Iloilo City’s Dinagyang and Guimaras’ Manggahan--and one trade mission were involved in the sizzling East Coast event, Atty. Catalbas should have been in the entourage, Divinagracia explained.
But because the new DoT secretary, Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, has just assumed and has been constantly communicating with all regional directors in the country, Atty. Catalbas probably needed to stay behind, she surmised.
Divinagracia pointed out that Atty. Catalbas "has been very supportive" of all their programs, including both in their tourism and business-related activities, especially when Iloilo City hosted the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministeral meeting in 2015.

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I also missed Divinagracia’s predecessor, city tourism consultant Ben Jimena, who first accompanied the Tribu Panayanon during the 2013 Philippine Independence Day parade here in a delegation led by Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.
As I have asserted several times, City Hall should bring one representative from the Public Information Office (PIO) in the next trade mission and investment forum.
PIO Chief Lucy Montealto-Sinay or her representative would be able to greatly help sustain the publicity of the day to day week-long activities.
Mayor Jose Espinosa III talked lengthily and enormously about Iloilo City’s peace and order during the open fora.
It won’t hurt if in the next trade mission, they tag along the chief or a representive from the Iloilo City Police Office (IPPO) to speak about peace and order and assure potential investors of their security.
There were other Ilonggos in the delegation who worked silently and were sparingly mentioned in the media but who, in one way or the other, have made gigantic contributions in the success of the first-ever private-initiated Iloilo City Trade Mission and Investment Forum Ilonggo Fashion and Jewelry Show in the East Coast on June 4-10, 2018.

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I didn’t have the exact list of all Iloilo delegation members, but I spotted Iloilo City Councilor Plaridel Nava, who came with his family. Nava talked about the Iloilo City Ordinance on Noise Pollution in the EduCare for Early Childhood Education talk in Fairfax, Virginia.
His wife helped model for hablon cloths in the Virginia leg fashion show.
Alma May Tayo, chair of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Iloilo Chapter Exhibitors’ Committee, also actively joined the trade mission in New York, Virginia and Washington D.C. and the New York City Independence Day parade.
City Tourism Operations Officer Florence King Haro Erlano and Iloilo City Tourism and Development Office staff Sheena Julienne Galon did amazing reinforcement tasks during the parade and the trade mission and investment forum.
Executive Assistant Jojo Castro, “Iloilo City’s Bong Go”, was with City Engineer Bobby Divinagracia, Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation boss Ramon Cua Locsin, and Iloilo City National High School principal and Tribu Panayanon tribe manager, Dr. Blesilda V. Floro.

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City Mayor’s Office staff Rosita Celiz did a factotum for Iloilo City First Lady Gina Sarabia-Espinosa and Secretariat Chief Florence Hibionada.
The rest of the team, led by Dr. Emily Noserale Hagad, president and project coordinator of Philcoman Research Institute, Inc. in the private sector, were Commercial Diplomat for Trade Relations of the City Rex Aguado, City Local Economic Enterprise Officer Jose Ariel Castañeda, City Planning Coordinator Jose Roni Peñalosa, Western Visayas State University College of Communication Dean, Dr. Carmencita "Menchie" Robles, University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV) Vice Chancellor Mary Ann Gumban, Iloilo Business Park-Megaworld Sales Director Carla Margarita Perez, Eon Group of Companies founder and CEO Felicito Tiu, StackTreck Enterprises CEO Billy Shung Hei Yuen, and journalists Tara Yap (Manila Bulletin) and Herbert Vego (Panay News), who also did Herculean efforts to promote Iloilo City as an ideal and perfect hub for business, tourism, education and investment.

Iloilo City trade mission, a brilliant idea

“From my very first day as an entrepreneur, I've felt the only mission worth pursuing in business is to make people's lives better.”
--Richard Branson

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Whoever conceived the idea of holding the first-ever Iloilo City Trade Mission and Investment Forum Ilonggo Fashion and Jewelry Show in the East Coast must be a visionary.
The mission is on the right track of globalization.
Convenors of this brilliant project certainly wanted to link Iloilo City to the world in a unique fashion; they wanted foreign businessmen, investors, students, tourists, as well as Filipinos living in the United States and other parts of the world, to “invest, work, create, study, retire, live, and grow” in Iloilo City.
City hall and Iloilo City’s business sector, in fact, have assembled some of the finest, aggressive, and very talented “missionaries” with global minds and technical capabilities to promote local products and tourism as well as investment opportunities no other cities in the Philippines can offer.

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The trade mission, which started on June 1 and officially introduced in a formal program on June 4 at the Kalayaan Hall and Kalayaan Annex of the Philippine Center (which also houses the Philippine Consulate General), is being headed by Iloilo City Mayor Jose Espinosa III and his wife, Mrs. Regine “Gina” Sarabia-Espinosa.
They are being backed by key advisers in local government and academe like Commercial Diplomat for Trade Relations and Executive Assistant Rex L. Aguado, City Tourism Officer Junel Ann Divinagracia, City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) chief Jose Roni Peñalosa, Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO) chief Ariel “Aye” Castaneda, Dr. Carmencita “Menchie” Robles, dean of the West Visayas State Universty (WVSU) College of Mass Communications; University of the Philippines in the Visayas Vice Chancellor Mary Ann Gumban, Iloilo Business Park-Megaworld Sales Director Carla Margarita Perez, and Eon Group of Companies Founder and CEO and Iloilo Trade and Investments Board Co-chair Felicito Tiu, among others.
Among the topics to be discussed are property development, Infotech and infrastructure pipeline; Iloilo City’s premier schools, business matching and networking.

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The exhibit will feature Habol Ilonggo: Fashion and Jewlery Show by Djohn Clement, Totong Gellangarin, Bo Parcon, Aisha Penalosa, Jaki Penalosa, and Edison Ruedas directed by Iloilo Provincial Tourism Officer Bombette Golez Marin.
Tess Salvador, a pioneer in the promotion of heritage Hablon fabric and the craft of Habol--the art of Ilonggo traditional weaving, and Jhett Tolentino, Tony Award-winning Filipino theatre producer of “Dungog Sang Dakbanwa Sang Iloilo 2017” awardee and dedicated son of Iloilo, will be given recognition.
Also to be recognized are: The Philippine Consulate General and the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in New York as venue partner of PHILCOMAN and the Iloilo City Trade Delegation, and the 2018 Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. as organizers of the 120th Philippine Independence Anniversary Commemoration in New York City.
Other schedules outside New York City are: Investment forum at University of North America, Fairfax, Virginia on June 6; Childhood Education Study in Washington D.C. in the morning and Investment Forum in the evening at the Philippine Embassy on June 7; a tour in Washington D.C. on June 8; a Philippine Independence Day Ball in the evening at Hilton, East Rutherford, New Jersey on June 9.
Members of the Iloilo Trade Mission depart to the Philippines on June 10.

Welcome to New York, Manggahan and Dinagyang Festivals

“If you're not in the parade, you watch the parade. That's life.” -- Mike Ditka

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- There will be two Ilonggo festivals that will join the 120th Philippine Independence Day Parade in Madison Avenue on June 3.
For the first time in the parade’s history, the Manggahan Festival of Guimaras Province and Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo City will join the colorful parade to be hosted by the biggest city in the United States’ east coast.
Manggahan Festival, to be represented by Hubon Manguguma, and Dinagyang Festival, to be represented by 2018 champion Tribu Panayanon of the Iloilo City National High School will help create awareness of Filipino culture and to raise funds for charity projects in the Philippines and the United States.
They are all expected to arrive in the JFK Airport on May 31.
Their trip will be part of the Iloilo City trade mission sponsored by the PHILCOMAN in partnership with the Asian American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) and the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce Washington DC (PACC DC), journalist Herbert Vego, who is joining the entourage, confirmed.
They will also perform in Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
“I found out that while the PIDCI has indeed invited the city government for the June 3 affair, the sponsor of the US tour is the Philippine Research Institute in cooperation with the Asian American Chamber of Commerce (Virginia) and the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce (Washington DC),” Vego said.
“There will be activities sa NYC from June 1 upon arrival until June 4 p.m., all aimed at promoting Iloilo to American and Filipino investors. I hope maka-attend ka. Mayor Espinosa will surely be around, kasama si Misis.”

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Their participation in this years’s parade that is expected to attract over 100,000 people, was made possible through Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) past president Joji Juele-Jalandoni who watched the Dinagyang Festival’s farewell performance at the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand in Iloilo City in January 2018 together with Ilonggo factotum and media liaison Jay Balnig.
New Jersey-based Ilonggo community leader Boy Dinzon said the Ilonggo community in New York City and New Jersey will hold a “Dinagyang and Manggahan sa NYC Fundraising Dinner on June 1 at six o’clock until 10 o’clock in the evening.
“We need to unite and help them because they are in the forefront in helping promote our culture, tourism and pride as Ilonggos,” Dinzon said.
Iloilo City Tourism Officer Junel Ann Divinagracia, Iloilo Provincial Tourism Officer Bombette Golez Marin, and Guimaras Provincial Tourism Officer Liberty Ferrer will accompany the two festival tribes in a trade mission spearheaded by the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation led by Ramon Cua Locsin, Iloilo City Mayor Jose Espinosa III and wife Gina Sarabia-Espinosa, and several Guimaras provincial officials.

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The US Philippine Independence Day celebration in the northeastern also includes the 12 states under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Consulate General in New York, namely, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Other areas can be invited to participate in PIDC's many activities by the overall chairperson, depending on the theme each year, according to former New York Philippine Consul General Mario Lopez de Leon Jr.
Guests in this year’s parade will be hosted by Consul General Ma. Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega in the Philippine Consulate on Fifth Avenue.
Traditionally held along Madison Avenue from 37th to 25th Streets in Manhattan, the climax of the preparation, the Philippine Independence Day Parade, Street Fair and Cultural Show, held on the first Sunday in June each year is the biggest celebration of Philippine Independence outside the Philippines. The Street Fair and Cultural Show take place on the east side of Madison Square Park.
Iloilo City Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO) chief Ariel Castañeda, meanwhile, has called on all West Visayas State University (WVSU) alumni in New York City, Virginia and Washington DC and nearby please join the Iloilo City trade mission team and Dinagyang tribe in the Phil Independence Day parade on June 3.

Mabilog, Joe III to meet in New York?

“I'm still passionately interested in what my fellow humans are up to. For me, a day spent monitoring the passing parade is a day well-spent.”
--Garry Trudeau

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- An Ilonggo community leader in New Jersey has disclosed to this writer recently that Iloilo City Mayor Jose “Joe III” Espinosa III and his wife, Gina Sarabia-Espinosa, are among the VIPs scheduled to grace the 120th Philippine Independence Day parade in Madison Avenue on June 3, 2018.
The couple will accompany Dinagyang 2018 champion, Tribu Panyanon, and Guimaras’ Manggahan Festival tribe, which were officially invited by the Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. (PIDCI) through past president Joji Juele-Jalandoni, according to the community leader who requested anonymity “because I haven’t yet asked permission from authorized parade officials to reveal the official list of people coming for the event pending their application for visa (in the US Embassy in Manila).”
Another source said former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog was also expected to arrive for the parade and to meet with some Iloilo City officials he hasn’t seen since he went on a sick leave that expired on September 30, 2017 and since his dismissal as city mayor the following month.
The former Iloilo City mayor is believed to be currently staying in Canada "for security reasons."

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The Ombudsman ordered Mabilog’s dismissal on October 6, 2017.
He has been out of the Philippines since last year and was believed to have proceeded to Canada together with his family after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to kill him.
Nobody from Mabilog’s camp or family has confirmed that he was planning to fly to New York for the parade or to have a private meeting with any Iloilo City official.
It was Mabilog who first brought the then 2013 Dinagyang champion, Tribu Panayanon, during the 115th Philippine Independence Day parade in New York City.
During the 2015 RP Independence Day parade, Philippine Consulate officials in New York City invited Mabilog as among the few VIPs together with then senator and now foreign affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano to join the flag-raising ceremonies in the RP Consulate on Fifth Avenue but he didn’t arrive.
No Dinagyang tribe participated in the 119th Parade in 2017.
Before his dismissal, Mabilog, who was on his third and last term, was reportedly being endorsed by his supporters to seek a congressional seat in the lone district of Iloilo City currently held by Rep. Jerry Treñas.

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Sources said Mabilog “might use the occasion to meet with Mayor Joe III Espinosa and Mabilog’s other former allies in city hall who will be part of the parade entourage.”
Among those coming are Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation chair Ramon Cua Locsin and Iloilo City tourism officer Junel Ann Divinagracia.
Espinosa III served as vice mayor during Mabilog’s term as city mayor.
Espinosa III, Treñas, and majority of the members of the Iloilo City Council are now with the PDP-Laban, the political party of Mabilog’s tormentor, President Duterte.
It was not immediately known whether Mabilog, who still has plenty of followers in Iloilo City, would endorse Treñas’ bid for city mayor in 2019 and Espinosa, who is rumored to be running for congressman but hasn’t revealed anything in public other than confirming that he is “definitely running in 2019.”
Mabilog, Treñas, and Espinosa III composed the so-called “dreaded political triumvirate” that ruled Iloilo City politics in the early 2000 since the departure from politics of the late former Senator Rodolfo Ganzon and the late justice Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez Sr.
They have been tagged as “unbeatable and unbreakable” until Duterte won as president in 2016 and booted Mabilog out from Iloilo city hall in 2017.
They were all backed by Liberal Party (LP) bigwig, Senator Frank Drilon, Mabilog’s second cousin and No. 1 endorser of defeated presidential aspirant Mar Roxas.

Journalist Herbert Vego and the New York Parade

“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.”
-- Gilbert K. Chesterton

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- I’m glad to know that a legitimate and truly respected veteran journalist from Iloilo City, Philippines will be coming to New York City to chronicle the 120th Philippine Independence Day Parade on June 3, 2018.
Herbert Vego, 68, a columnist and editor since obtaining an AB-Journalism course at the Manuel L. Quezon University in 1971, will also actually join the Philippines’ official representative, 2018 Dinagang Festival grand winner Tribu Panayanon of Iloilo City National High School, in the celebration for the Filipino American community held every year at Madison Avenue.
In New York, Mr. Vego is expected to meet and interview philanthropist Loida Nicolas Lewis, the Parade’s chief supporter and the most influential leader, among other celebrities, in the Filipino American community.
Mr. Vego, who hails from San Pedro, Antique, is one of the only few living, most active and highly respected Ilonggo journalists today who emerged unscathed from the dark years of Martial Law in the 70s.

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He is also expected to reunite and interview New York-based Filipino president of the World Youth Alliance (WYA), Lord Leomer Pomperada, 26, son of Vego’s friend, Merlyn Bayombong, of San Jose, Antique.
More importantly, Mr. Vego will finally have a chance to embrace his only son, Norberto, a nurse, who has been based in upstate New York, after a long time.
Tribu Panayanon has received invitations to join the parade from the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) through past president Joji Jalandoni, who graced the 2018 Dinagyang Festival together with liaison officer Jay Balnig in January.
Iloilo City Mayor Jose Espinosa III, Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. (IDFI) chairperson Ramon Cua Locsin and City Tourism Office chief Junel Ann Divinagracia are expected to spearhead the Dinagyang entourage.
The tribe was expected to hurdle financial difficulties that nearly stymied its participation in the 2018 Aliwan Fiesta in Manila, an annual competition of the country’s best festivals, from April 26 until 28.

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SERENO AND THE ILONGGO LAWYERS. On-leave Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, who has been busy attending graduation ceremonies all over the country, was recently seen in several photo-ops with prominent personalities in the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Iloilo Chapter.
She seemed to be “at home” with her companeros and companeras in that part of the country.
Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) national president Abdiel Dan Fajardo, incidentally, is an Ilonggo who has been consistently calling for independence among government branches and the respect for law in the country.
Fajardo urged President Rodrigo Duterte and other public officials in September last year to not be “onion-skinned” as “a government official holds his life open to public scrutiny.”
Fajardo has been standing firm that the Supreme Court en banc has no jurisdiction over the integrity issue of a chief justice even as he echoed the assertion of Sereno's camp that the correct way to remove a sitting chief justice is through the process of impeachment.

Love, sex, greed for money don’t mix

“There are crimes of passion and crimes of logic. The boundary between them is not clearly defined.”

-- Albert Camus

By Alex P. Vidal

NEWARK, New Jersey -- We don’t need Hollywood or Tagalog crime and soap opera movies to warn us that it’s not only taboo to mix love and insatiable greed for money, it’s downright fatal.

We don’t need to be reminded that excessive love for money, sex, and betrayal are synonymous with violence and death.

If some friends, office mates, and relatives of both Kevin Piosca, 33, and May Luzurriaga, 53, had misgivings about the duo’s alleged romance from the very start, they may have a strong basis to think and feel that way.

Some of them probably didn’t believe Piosca’s arrest for allegedly masterminding Luzurriaga’s murder in a refreshment in Concepcion, Iloilo in the Philippines on January 11, 2018, was only a coincidence.

Was the alleged amorous play poisonous from the beginning?

Luzurriaga’s alleged assailant, Edmar Camangyan, 24, believed to be Piosca’s henchman, was also nabbed in Sara town two days after the grisly murder.

A CCTV reportedly caught the trigger man while fleeing on board a motorbike after shooting Luzurriaga in the back of her head. She died from a fatal wound before reaching the hospital.

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Probers led by Concepcion police commander, Chief Inspector Abner Jordan, have gathered that Piosca, a cop assigned to the Sara Police Station, owed Luzurriaga some P1 million cash in debts.

Pressures for the cop suspect to settle the debt reportedly mounted “when the victim learned he was secretly maintaining romantic liaisons with two other women.”

Probers reportedly gathered further that days before the murder, the victim received threats allegedly from the suspected mastermind.

It was not immediately established if the alleged love affair between Piosca and Luzurriaga “ended” because of infidelity or non-payment of a whooping debt.

This could be another case of crime of passion we normally watch in the movies and reality TV police series.

There are many lessons to be learned from the crime:

1. A romance can be faked because of money;

2. A bogus love affair can end fatally when infidelity has been uncovered;

3. Money can’t buy happiness;

4. Money can be used as a leverage to punish a Lothario;

5. Murder can be used as a “final solution” to end a sexual relationship and to elude payment of debt.

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A group of New York-based Filipino-American revelers, some of them former officials of the scandal-ridden Philippine Independence Day Parade, Inc. (PIDCI), is flying to Iloilo City in the Philippines to witness the 2018 Dinagyang Festival dubbed as #GoldenDinagyang which officially started on January 12, 2018 with the “opening salvo.”

The visitors, some of them had been in the city before as guests of former Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, plan to have a courtesy call with Mayor Jose Espinosa III, Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Sr., and Guimaras Governor Samuel Gumarin and will be accompanied by media liaison officer Jay Balnig of the Cream magazine. Good luck and bon voyage!

I believe Vitaliano

"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."
--MAYA ANGELOU

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- If not for an invitation for me to participate in a blitz chess tournament in the Long Island on November 12, I would have forgotten that tournament host and organizer Vitaliano "Nonoy" V. Rafael, an industrial engineer and realtor, was outgoing board member of the fractious Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI).
PIDCI, umbrella organization of Filipino-American associations based on the East Coast, was the subject of my scathing articles after its tumultuous election on October 7 won by Antero "Ner" Martinez.
When they could not agree on who should be allowed and not allowed to vote in that election, tension erupted especially when membership chair Ronie Mataquel had been removed from the polling venue on orders of Comelec chair Raul Estrellado.

CANDIDATE

At this juncture, a losing candidate for the board (not Vitaliano) called 911. The police, naturally, arrived. And the rest is history.
In the organization's 27 years of existence, it was the first time that its election was interrupted by a 911 emergency call. Pathetic.
In my first article on October 11, 2017, I quoted an observer who lambasted the feuding officials for "acting like kids."
In a follow up article on October 12, 2017, I scored the act of calling the 911 for a simple case of mismanagement by poll organizers as it transformed the election "like a carnival of thugs."
I wanted to emphasize that if they weren't sure about the final list of voters, they shouldn't have proceeded with the election to avoid that embarrassing and scandalous incident.
Some PIDCI bigwigs reportedly felt slighted as they weren't used to being castigated in the press. If they behaved properly, the press would have nothing to report but their good behavior--and the election results.
The truth is, some of them really behaved like kids and their actuations were uncalled for and unprofessional.

ENTER

Back to Engr. Rafael. As soon as he saw me enter the tournament premesis, he acknowledged my presence and was very cordial and professional.
He did mention that they (meaning the PIDCI officials) monitored my write-ups and analyzed their contents.
He could not speak on behalf of his peers, but told me he never felt alluded to in my articles saying he understood why I wrote about that ugly episode; he stressed that the gist of my stories "was about only the 911 call although you weren't there."
I retorted that I am mandated to write only the truth and nothing but the truth; and that I believe him when he said he held no grudge against me for criticizing the PIDCI.

NOTE: I thank Engr. Nonoy Rafael and Atty. Gerry Albano for allowing me to participate in the 9-round double elimination blitz chess tournament even if I was the only player who did not have any title or rating in the Philippines and in the United States. As a result, I was able to play officially in a formal tournament against Grand Masters Oliver Barbosa and Mark Paragua, as well as FIDE Master Rico Salimbagat, United States Chess Federation (USCF) National Master Albano, and 2010 World Open Chess Championships Under1200 champion Mary Christine Joyce Dacayo-Paragua. Nonoy Rafael himself was the 1989 World Open Chess Championship (expert division) and 1988 New York Chess Open champion.

911 call makes Fil-Am poll looks like carnival of thugs

"In war, truth is the first casualty."
--AESCHYLUS

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Was the 911 call necessary?
When feuding officials of the Philippine Independence Day Parade, Inc. (PIDCI) could not agree on who should be hustled off and who should remain in the polling place, there was no need to call the cops and interrupt the proceedings.
Those involved in the election of PIDCI's new set of officers on October 7 were adults and professionals, not kindergarten pupils, thieves, thugs, pagans or nincompoops.
In the first place, why proceed with the election if there was a fundamental flaw in the system: the unmatched and squalid membership list?
And was the 911 call not an insult on the authority of Philippine Consul-General and PIDCI honorary chair Tess Dizon-De Vega, the highest Philippine official in th event?

AUTHORITY

Dizon-De Vega was in full command and authority over anyone else present; and the police had no business to gatecrash an affair participated by consulate personnel unless their services or help were solicited like what a losing candidate for the board did when he dialed 911 after the Comelec had ordered a membership watchman ejected from the polling venue.
The cops could only interfere if somebody had been mugged or manhandled; if someone had collapsed as a result of an act of violence, ailment, or natural calamity.
We dial 911 if there are near-death crises--flood, fire, hostage-taking incident, vehicular mishap, collapsed building, among other violent scenarios.
Not because one party in an election did not agree with its rivals in assignment of personnel; not because an alleged election fraud was taking place.

DIAL

When we dial 911, so many people are caught flat-footed, piqued in suspended terror, and are inconvenienced.
Drivers and commuters are delayed in a traffic jam; ambulance, patrol car, and a firetruck wheeze off frighteningly in busy intersections like a whirlwind, risking the life and limbs of everyone in the vicinity.
Only to find out when they arrived that a punk had been ousted from the election venue after emotions skyrocketed.
No blood. No injury. No fatality. Only forlorn faces of hot heads and disgruntled lackeys.
That 911 call was uncalled for and unnecessary.
It made the PIDCI election look like an assembly of hooligans or a carnival of thugs.

NY Pinoy 'leaders' fight like kids in election

"You have to knock doors, make calls, and build a relationship with voters long before Election Day."
--Keith Ellison

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- I have seen these abnormal behaviors of our community leaders in the past not only in New York and California, but also in Canada.
Where can you find an election of supposed Filipino community leaders in a foreign land where police had to be requested to interfere and help defuse a tension?
Only among Filipinos, of course.
So much noise. So much hullabaloo. So much controversy.
"They acted like kids," remarked Arnulfo San Rafael, an election observer who didn't like the way some members of the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) behaved when they elected their new set of officers in a controversy-marred poll October 7.
San Rafael noted that "it seemed nobody was willing to lose; everyone wanted to win at all cost."
The election of Antero "Ner" Martinez as the new president became one of the most controversial and, perhaps, the most raucous in the group's 27 years of existence.

REMOVE

Tension erupted after membership chair Ronie Mataquel was ordered removed from the polling venue on orders of Comelec chair Raul Estrellado.
Mataquel had been handpicked by outgoing president Prospero Lim to check the authenticity of the voters' signatures.
At this juncture, a losing candidate for board member reportedly called 911 but the cops could not install Mataquel back to the polling place.
Martinez beat Olivia David, 49-26. His team also nearly swept the remaining positions.
David's group, however, contested the results and accused her rival of election fraud claiming PIDCI's membership had been rigged to favor certain candidates.
Consul General Tess Dizon-De Vega, PIDCI honorary chair, nevertheless, proclaimed the winners.
She advised David and other losing parties to file their official protest after the proclamation. The con-gen also requested Martinez to resolve and prioritize the issue during his incumbency.

OFFICERS

Elected new members of the board were Sofia Abad, Chris de Guzman, Rely Manacay, Joycelyn Aligarbes, Carmela Paredes, Mateo Reyes and Thomas Ludena. Abad was the lone survivor from David's slate.
The alleged PIDCI missing funds that reportedly reached $300,000 became the central issue during the campaign.
I earlier wrote a story about the issue and outgoing president Lim had vowed to settle the controversy after it became known to many PIDCI members.
The article, which came out before the Independence Day Parade this year, had been shrugged off by PIDCI leadership after Violeta Manarang-McGough had resigned as treasurer "for health reasons."
Lim had confirmed to this writer in an exclusive interview that the auditing of PIDCI funds, which included donations from the Department of Tourism and other business groups, "was not yet finished."
PIDCI organizes the annual Philippine Independence Day Parade on Madison Avenue.

EXCLUSIVE: DOT Secretary Teo 'backs out' from New York City parade

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Dr. Prospero Lim, president of the New York-based Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI), confirmed in an exclusive phone interview on May 28 that Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Wanda Corazon Tulfo-Teo "has backed out" from the 119th Philippine Independence 27th Annual Parade here on June 4, 2017.
Lim said, "I did not exactly know what happened, but there was an official invitation given to the secretary of the Department of Tourism which was officially received (by the DOT)."
"But she is always welcome to attend on June 4," Lim added. "What I can assure you is that Cesar Montano and the three beauty queens--Miss World 2013 Megan Young, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, and Miss International 2016 Kylie Verzosa--are coming."
Montano is the chief operating officer of the Tourism Promotions Board, an agency under the DOT.

SUBORDINATE

"If Montano who is only Teo's subordinate is coming, how come the secretary, who is head of the DOT will not?" asked a parade organizer, who refused to be named because she was not authorized to talk about the parade's details.
Teo, who had earlier reportedly expressed "excitement" to attend the biggest parade of Filipino Americans in the United States held every first week of June, could not be reached for comment.
Lim, who is on his second term as PIDCI president, said "I am not aware" if DOT has made any financial commitment to support the parade on Madison Street in Manhattan organized jointly by PIDCI and the Philippine Consulate General in New York headed by Consul General Ma. Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega.
He admitted that "money has always been difficult no matter what we do but the Consulate has been very supportive and helpful and they have been with us."
Dizon-De Vega was expected to come back from the Philippines, where she reportedly met incoming Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.

ON LEAVE

Lim said PIDCI treasurer, Nora Galeros, was "on leave."
He confirmed there was an ongoing auditing of PIDCI funds saying "it's natural".
PIDCI officer Joecelyn Aligarbes had earlier disclosed the auditing "is still ongoing."
Lim denied they are having financial problems.
PIDCI is an umbrella organization of Filipino American associationns based on the East Coast.
"It is principally dedicated to promoting history, the cultural heritage and traditions of the Filipino people through the celebration of Philippine Independence Day, hence, the name," its website declared.
Lim said: "We are hoping for the best (parade) and I hope it will not rain. Somebody up there has been good to us."