Traffic poses a big challenge to Bongbong UN protesters

“As we take our places in the General Assembly and at the Council meetings, let us begin all our work in the name of God, for the solution of all our problems is a spiritual one.”

—Warren R. Austin

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

ANTI-MARCOS protesters may not be able to penetrate the main areas leading to the United Nations Headquarters in the Midtown Manhattan as the New York Police Department (NYPD) disclosed September 17 a list of street closures and expected traffic delays relating to the weeklong United Nations General Assembly.

Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is scheduled to address the 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 77), which officially opened September 13, 2022. 

The first day of the high-level General Debate will be on September 20, 2022, the same day Mr. Marcos will speak.

Meanwhile, Francis Tapiculin, an Ilonggo supporter of President Marcos and Vice President Sara Carpio in Northern America and Canada, has called on individuals and supporters of Mr. Marcos Jr. to “please 

go to New York City and show our support  BBM. And protect him!”

Tapiculin said groups in Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco opposing the President’s father, the late former President Marcos Sr., “are now in the areas, with their Patroness Loida Nicolas Loida who launched a blitz campaign for pinklawan, but suffered dismal defeat in all States and in all countries with our compatriots, our OFW's.”

He urged Marcos supporters to “come and create a Tent Villages along the streets, to manifest our support to BBM. Oras na ipakita Puersa ng mga Pinoy sa katahimikan at kaunlaran ng bansa! Mabuhay  si BBM, our President! Go out, and protect him!”

 

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Enrico Inayan, a Filipino Martial Law victim now residing in New York City, however, disputed Tapiculin’s claims. 

“We will only tell the truth about the Marcoses. We will not harm the President; it’s impossible to do that. They need to answer so many questions regarding the human rights violations against the Filipino people during the dark years of Martial Law,” said Inayan. “We may not be able to hold a protest near the UN, but our voices will definitely reverberate all over the world.

Drivers should expect extensive street closures and delays across the general UN area in Manhattan. 

The United Nations is located at 1st Avenue and 42nd Street. The use of public transportation for the duration of the General Assembly is highly encouraged.

According to the schedule provided by NBC New York, the street closures are: 

On September 18, 2022 beginning at around 10 p.m. the following streets in the vicinity of the United Nations will be closed to vehicular traffic: 1st Avenue from 42nd Street to 48th Street (However, the tunnel underpass from 41st Street to 48 Street will remain open); 44th Street from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue; 45th Street from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue; 46th Street from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue.

The following streets will have managed access and no vehicle parking permitted: 48th Street from Lexington Avenue to Park Avenue; 49th Street from 1st Avenue to 5th Avenue; 50th Street from Park Avenue to Madison Avenue; 51st Street from Park Avenue to Madison Avenue

On September 19, 2022 the following streets will have one traffic lane dedicated to emergency vehicles for the duration of the General Assembly: 42nd Street from 1st Avenue to 5th Avenue; 57th Street from 2nd Avenue to 5th Avenue; 2nd Avenue from 41st Street to 57th Street.

 

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The following streets will continue to be closed to vehicular traffic:

1st Avenue from 42nd Street to 48th Street (However, the tunnel underpass from 41st Street to 48th Street will remain open for passenger cars. Trucks and other large vehicles will not be able to access until the end of each day’s session.); 44th Street from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue; 45th Street from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue;

46th Street from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue.

The following will be closed to vehicular traffic beginning at about 5 a.m. The area will reopen in the evenings after the day's session: 42nd Street from the FDR Drive to 2nd Avenue; 42nd Street Exit and Entrance Ramps of the FDR Drive.

The following streets will have managed access and no vehicle parking permitted: 48th Street from Lexington Avenue to Park Avenue; 49th Street from 1st Avenue to 5th Avenue; 50th Street from Park Avenue to Madison Avenue; 51st Street from Park Avenue to Madison Avenue

The following streets will have one traffic lane dedicated to emergency vehicles for the duration of the General Assembly: 42nd Street from 1st Avenue to 5th Avenue; 57th Street from 2nd Avenue to 5th Avenue

2nd Avenue from 41st Street to 57th Street.

On September 20, 2022 The following streets in the vicinity of the United Nations will continued to be closed to vehicular traffic: 1st Avenue from 42nd Street to 48th Street. (However, the tunnel underpass from 41st Street to 48th Street will remain open for passenger cars. 

Trucks and other large vehicles will not be able to access until the end of each day’s session.); 44th Street from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue; 45th Street from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue; 46th Street from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue; 49th Street from 3rd Avenue to Lexington Avenue.

 

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The following streets will have one traffic lane dedicated to emergency vehicles for the duration of the General Assembly: 42nd Street from 1st Avenue to 5th Avenue; 57th Street from 2nd Avenue to 5th Avenue

2nd Avenue from 41st Street to 57th Street;

The following will be closed to vehicular traffic beginning at about 5 a.m.: 42nd Street from the FDR Drive to 2nd Avenue; 42nd Street Exit and Entrance Ramps of the FDR Drive

These areas will reopen each evening after the day’s session. The FDR DRIVE will be subject to intermittent closures: Southbound at 63rd Street; Northbound at South Ferry.

The following streets will have managed access and no vehicle parking permitted: 48th Street from Lexington Avenue to Park Avenue; 49th Street from 1st Avenue to 5th Avenue; 50th Street from Park Avenue to Madison Avenue; 51st Street from Park Avenue to Madison Avenue

Mr. Marcos was expected to arrived in New York City on September 18.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

How about a ‘Karay-a’ in the U.N.

“Such is the endless dilemma of dialect. Not every reader will ever agree with the way that I handle it, no matter how hard I work to keep everything readable. But again it's that balance I have to maintain between keeping it easy and keeping it real, and I know that I'll never please everyone.”
--Susanna Kearsley

By Alex P. Vidal

I WOULD be in the United Nations (U.N.) headquarters in New York City when the 74th Annual United Nations General Assembly opened officially morning on September 23, 2019.
I’d be there as a journalist from the South East Asia or “the Third World.”
My primary duty is to listen to the speeches of state leaders and collect materials for my references and future articles.
I have no major role except to gather important facts and share the stories to my blog and newspaper readers.
More importantly, I’d help chronicle this great event, which unfolded this week against a backdrop of crises--from the warming planet to economic uncertainty to flaring conflicts that threaten to further entangle the United States in the volatile Middle East.
There is a myriad of global issues that don’t directly involve my country, the Philippines, such as trade wars, migration, energy supplies, climate change and the eradication of poverty underpin the basic themes of the 193-member General Assembly agenda, but, in one way or the other, will affect how the Filipinos will live and interact with the rest of the world in the next 10 years and beyond.

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Meanwhile, if I were the Philippines’ representative in the United Nations (U.N.), I would speak in Kinaray-a or Karay-a, my second local dialect (the first is Hiligaynon).
It would be the job of the U.N. interpreters to translate my words; they have been translating in English some of the most grotesque and tongue-twister languages for decades.
Some of the most controversial state leaders in history who had spoken in the U.N. General Assembly didn’t deliver their speeches in English, yet the world listened.
Kinaray-a is one of the most colorful dialects in the world.
The Kinaray-a inhabit the coastal areas and riversides of western Panay, and interior of Panay island in the Western Visayas Region; and certain villages in Mindanao, according to the Ethnic Groups of the Philippines.
They are reportedly concentrated in the provinces of Antique and Iloilo. Hiligaynon, the language of the Ilonggos, was derived from the Kinaray-a language.
The Kinaray-a are striving to preserve their traditions, it added.
They have reportedly created their own kind of music called OKM (Original Kinaray-a Music), reminiscent of their melodic composos (narrative verses).
Their theme song, “Antique, Banwa nga Hamili,” expresses their love for their home, their banwa--the birthplace of a hardworking, brave group of people, added the Ethnic Groups of the Philippines.
In the 1940s, many Kinaray-a reportedly left for Mindanao, especially those without good farmlands in Panay, lured by the promise of bountiful fertile lands. Being industrious, those who settled in Mindanao established well-heeled communities and achieved great prosperity with their lands.
Regrettably, tension has been reportedly growing between the Kinaray-a and neighboring Muslim groups; who feel their lands have been unfairly taken by the Kinaray-a.
It’s about time the U.N. heard the Kinaray-a in its august halls.

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Among the issues that concern our Asian region during the U.N. General Assembly is how to resolve the conflict between Japan and South Korea, America’s key Asian allies.
Their leaders are reportedly not on speaking terms.
A protracted feud between Japan and South Korea, rooted in the legacy of Japan’s wartime occupation, has led to downgraded trade relations and the end of an intelligence-sharing agreement, reported the New York Times.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea are not expected to meet with each other.
Whether Mr. Trump can induce them into a three-way conversation remains unclear. And an objective shared by all three--North Korea’s nuclear disarmament--may see little or no progress.
While Mr. Moon is expected to urge Mr. Trump to renew his push for diplomacy with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, no senior North Korean official plans to attend the General Assembly.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

UN Assembly: The new Alan Peter Cayetano

"The United Nations is our one great hope for a peaceful and free world."

--Ralph Bunche

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- The last time I interviewed Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano was when he graced the Philippine Independence Day celebration in June 2015 at the Philippine Consulate on Fifth Avenue.
He was then a senator and was interested to run for vice president of the Philippines.
He did run and lost to Rep. Leni Robredo who also beat second placer, former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
Cayetano, who ran under PDP-Laban standard bearer Rodrigo Roa Duterte, spoke about the plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFW), the Philippine economy,  and against graft and corruption.
When he spoke during the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, we heard a different Alan Peter Cayetano.
He wanted to convince the 72nd Edition of UNGA's General Debate that the Philippine government "seeks to protect the human rights of peaceful law-abiding people" in the country's battle against corruption, crime and illegal drugs.

INTEGRATE

Cayetano said: “The Philippines integrates the human rights agenda in its development initiatives for the purpose of protecting everyone, especially the most vulnerable, from lawlessness, violence, and anarchy."
The very principle of "responsibility to protect" must encompass the vast majority of peaceful law-abiding people who must be protected from those who are not, Cayetano explained.
He added that as a "responsible leader", President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, launched a vigorous campaign against the illegal drug trade “to save lives, preserve families, protect communities and stop the country’s slide into a narco-state, adding that the campaign was never an instrument to violate any individual’s or group’s human rights.
As of August 2017, the drug trade had penetrated at least 24,848 barangays. This is 59 per cent of the total of 42,036 of the smallest government units spanning the country’s archipelago.
The former senator said the Philippines have also discovered the intimate and symbiotic relationship between terrorism vis-a-vis poverty and the illegal drug trade.
These terrorists, he said, were somehow able to bring together an assortment of extremists, criminals, mercenaries and foreign fighters who attempted to take control of Marawi. The national armed forces will regain full control of Marawi from Islamic State-inspired terrorists.

ASEAN

On regionalism, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, has overcome the divisions, fears, and hostilities of the past, forging regional cooperation in promoting growth, development, and peaceful settlement of disputes, Cayetano said.
Here's part of Cayetano's speech:
"Mr. President, Excellencies, The path to peace must be walked with patience. To achieve any purpose with others--be they powers or people, patience is needed. The opposite of patience is impatience--the cause and aggravation of conflict.  
"Someone said that 'Talk, talk is better than war, war.' Listening is even better than talking. We must listen to others more than we listen to ourselves. Hopefully we know what we are talking about. But others may know what we do not. We can learn only if we stop talking, and listen. 
"We may think we know how others can do things better than they’ve done it. Maybe our way is more efficient. But the time gained by that efficiency will be time lost convincing others that our way is better, rather than a compromise between our way and theirs. 
"Real change in the world order necessitates cooperation. Nothing affecting others can be undertaken without their willing involvement, without getting their agreement on the purpose and manner of it. Achieving a shared purpose beyond any single one’s ability requires cooperation. 
"But how else can we get cooperation if not with the patience to explain why it is needed--and the equal patience to listen. 

LARGEST

"This is why we have the United Nations, the largest cooperative endeavor in human history. We use the UN to speak out but equally also to listen. And somehow arrive at a consensus, or at least a modus vivendi on how to proceed--in peace and therefore with a greater prospect of progress. 
"The theme for this year’s session--“Focusing on people: striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet”--captures a promise that everyone who has stood here vowed to fulfill for his people, and the rest of the peoples of the United Nations, as the Preamble of the Charter puts it. 
"Yet, after 72 years, while much has been achieved, much more has to be done. The promise is still very much a work in progress.
"We, the peoples of the United Nations, battle new threats that undermine such success as we’ve achieved, and frustrate further progress in peace, development and human rights--the three pillars of the United Nations."