It’s impossible to stop newly elected druggies

“If you want to deal with an epidemic - crime or health - the smartest and most effective and cheapest way to deal with it is prevention first.”

—Kamala Harris

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

ILOILO City Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas can’t compel newly elected barangay officials to undergo a drug test since there are no laws that will prevent them from assuming their positions if they refuse the test.

If they are aware that taking the drug test will expose them to shame and embarrassment if the results are positive, no druggie village official will come forward to volunteer for the test.

Self-incrimination is the intentional or unintentional act of providing information that will suggest your involvement in a crime, or expose you to criminal prosecution.

The law provides protection to individuals from being compelled to incriminate themselves.

Also, the efforts to prod them to undergo a drug test should have been done before they filed their certificates of candidacy (COC), not after they have already taken their oath of office.

In other words, drug addicts and even drug traffickers who won in the October 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) can no longer be stopped from assuming their respective positions since they now have the mandates of the electorate.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has admitted some of the winners in the BSKE were drug users and even suspected drug traffickers based on their background investigation.

The efforts of our authorities are cure not prevention. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, so goes the popular saying.

 

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The appointment of Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. finally ended the speculations that the Marcos Jr. administration was trying to win former DILG secretary and 2016 defeated presidential candidate Mar Roxas by offering him the DA portfolio.

The news about President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s alleged attempt to woo Roxas on the administration’s side started to make rounds when the president and the scion of the Roxas political clan in Capiz recently met in Roxas City, Capiz where they were photographed in “sweet” moments recollecting the old days when they were studying together in New York City in the 70s. 

It also sent shivers down the spine of the supporters of former Vice President Leni Robredo, Roxas’ former running mate, who lost to Mr. Marcos Jr. in the 2022 presidential election.

Many supporters of Robredo believe she was “cheated” but their suspicions remained suspicions and were never corroborated by accurate and solid pieces of evidence.

 

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SAVING OUR PLANET. Let's dry ourselves organically. Let's buy organic, unbleached cotton towels to use after our bath, and try to use the smallest towels possible for the job because they will require less laundering. We can do it! This is very possible! I have already tried this several times while staying in California more than 10 years ago.

MYTH: Taking a tiny taste of leftovers from our fridge is an easy way to determine if they're still OK to eat. 

SAVING OUR PLANET: Fiberglass folly. Some bathroom companies still use fiberglass. Let's avoid it whenever possible as a great lot of energy is wasted during fiberglass manufacture. Simple but sensible.

REALITY: Cooked meat or poultry stored longer than four days may begin to spoil--but you may not be able to tell anything is off just by taste. And even a little nibble could make us sick. If we can't remember when we stored it, let's throw it out. (Source: Kitchen Mythbusters)

ECCLESIOPHOBIA is a fear of church. Ecclesiophobics can still pray at home or any place that is not necessarily surrounded by giant statues and other expensive figures normally seen inside the church.

SATANOPHOBIA is a fear of Satan. 

HAMARTOPHOBIA is a fear of committing a sin.

LOVERS in Singapore are the least amorous, having sex just 96 times a year—the only nation to dip below the magic 100 mark.

 

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There are many ways in which a knowledge of biological science can be of great value to all of us. Some of these, according to the High Points of Biology, are as follows:

1. One learns a great deal about health and disease through the study of biology. This knowledge is important to our daily well-being.

2. Biology provides us with a knowledge of plants and animals. On trips, hikes, vacations, and in everyday activities, this information is a source of fun and interest.

3. The breeding and care of plants and animals are profitable and fascinating topics in biology.

4. Biology teaches us to understand how our own bodies work.

5. Gardening and agriculture are based on knowledge of biological principles.

6. The wise and efficient use of our natural resources can be helped through biological study of conservation.

7. Many occupations and professions require a background of biology. Among these are medicine, dentistry, veterinary work, laboratory, hospital, museum and research work, farming, nursing, and pharmacy.

8. Hobbies of all types are often developed as a result of biological work in the classroom. Insect collecting, nature photography, and microscopy are a few examples of these hobbies.

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

No journalist killed in BSKE

“The curse of a journalist is that he always has more questions than answers.”

—Bill Keller

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE are relieved that no Filipino journalist was killed in the just concluded Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in the Philippines, even as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) finished canvassing ballots in all 42,001 barangays nationwide on November 1.

We thought about the working press and the conditions of our colleagues in the Philippines after new data from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has revealed a worrying rise in violence against journalists during election periods, and usually at the hands of law enforcement agents.

The United Nations reported November 2, 2023 that between January 2019 and June 2022, UNESCO documented 759 individual attacks against journalists, including five killings, during 89 elections in 70 countries.

Most of these attacks–which included beating and arbitrary arrest—were reportedly committed by police and security forces.

The findings come in a report published in tandem with the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, observed annually on November 2.

It examines the role of law enforcement agents, in ensuring the safety of journalists during public demonstrations and elections. 

From January 2015 to August 2021, UNESCO registered incidents in at least 101 countries where journalists were attacked while covering protests, public demonstrations and riots. 

At least 13 were reportedly killed in such contexts. 

 

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UN said journalists were injured by police firing non-lethal ammunition, such as rubber bullets or pepper balls. Many others were arrested, beaten and in a few cases humiliated. 

“At the same time, a significant number of physical and verbal attacks were perpetrated by demonstrators and people attending the protests,” the report said.

In his message for the Day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres underlined the risks journalists face in fulfilling their vital role in both upholding and enabling democracy and holding power to account.

“Today and every day, we are grateful to the journalists and all media professionals who risk their health and lives to keep us informed, and to keep the truth alive,” he said.

Citing UNESCO, he said at least 88 journalists were killed in the line of duty in 2022, marking a sharp increase over preceding years.

“The current conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory is taking a horrific toll on journalists,” he added.

Furthermore, he noted that the majority of journalists killed are not war reporters. In fact, they are working in countries that are at peace, investigating issues such as corruption, trafficking, human rights violations, and environmental issues. 

“I am deeply alarmed by these figures, and by the rise in threats of all kinds against journalists,” he said.

“Detention of journalists is at an all-time high. Online harassment of journalists, particularly women, is being used as a tool to silence them.  We need better safeguards to defend the journalists who are keeping us informed.”

 

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The Secretary-General called on all States to prevent violence against journalists, to provide a safe environment for them to do their jobs, to bring to justice those who commit crimes against them, and to ensure support for victims and survivors.

UNESCO has long been advocating for the safety and protection of journalists and all who work in media, and the report contains a number of recommendations for law enforcement agents/agencies (LEAs) and media outlets covering public assemblies.

For example, the sides are encouraged to cultivate “a good and professional relationship” beforehand so that they have clear understanding about their respective roles, responsibilities, potential issues and response.   

LEAs are urged to facilitate the work of journalists, such as identifying a press area or “defined media perimeter” that provides a safe vantage point for them, though understanding that journalists are not obliged to remain there. 

Particular attention should also be given to the specific threats and risks women journalists face, “and it is important to take a gender-sensitive approach when considering measures to address the safety of journalists, especially online.”  

“Regular training for senior LEA management in working with media organizations, notably during elections periods, and for officers working on the ground during public assemblies, notably in facilitating safe media coverage, should be regularly conducted,” the report said.

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

 

 

 

Heroes and villains

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

—Lao Tzu

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THERE are only two types of leaders that will emerge after the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in the Philippines on Oct. 30: future heroes and villains.

Most national leaders with strong moral and spiritual values were first elected in the BSKE and became heroes, or saviors of democracy and doyens of good governance. 

Because of their high-yielding foundations, proper training and education, they become epitomes of decency and good manners and right conduct (GMRC) in public service.

Many of them are still holding positions in different elective and appointive government offices today, which means not all government officials who have tasted the prestige and grandeur of power are serpents in paradise and snakes in the forest.

Some of the most despicable and reprehensible public officials today, on the other hand, also traced their origin in the BSKE. For whatever odd reason, they chose the wrong path—to be notorious plunderers and recipients of multiple charges of graft and malversation of public funds.

The future of the Philippines rests on the decision every voter will make during the BSKE polls.

Either they will vote for the future heroes or future villains.

 

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The Theory of the Four Humors was introduced by the father of medicine, Hippocrates, thousands of years ago–before Christianity, Judaism, and Islam became dominant monotheistic religions.

The Greek doctor, best remembered for his so-called “Hippocratic Oath”, believed that the secret of health lay in the proper mixture of four body fluids, blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. 

If the wrong mixture was present, disease resulted.

That during the Middle Ages, disease was attributed to devils which were supposed to have entered the body and which could be forced to leave by spells and incantations.

Earlier, in 100 B.C., immunity from disease was already being practiced. 

King Mithridates tried to protect his body against certain poisons by taking increasing doses of them over a period of time. 

In China and India, children were clothed in the shirts, or slept in the bed, of smallpox sufferers. 

Although dangerous, this often produced very mild attacks of the disease and prevented future occurrence of more severe cases.

In the 14th century, more than 25 million people died of bubonic plague in Europe. 

In the 18th century, smallpox killed 60 million people throughout the world. Statistics reveals that even today over 100 million people a year have malaria in India and that about one million die of it annually.

 

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Just as physical hygiene attempts to promote physical health, so does the newer science of mental hygiene attempt to promote mental health.

Here’s for those who carry the world on their shoulders; Atlas Shrugged, in the book of Ayn Rand. 

Most authorities agree that among the chief causes of mental disease are worry, fear, unhappiness, and envy (Facebook and other social network users, take note).

They point out that all of us are subject to these emotions, but that some people are so sensitive to one or more of these that their entire outlook on life is thrown out of focus.

Therefore, the most effective way of preventing mental illness is to remove causes of worry and tension, to explain the effects of such emotions to people who suffer from them, and to educate people in general to accept themselves and their lives as they are.

Mental disease often shows itself as an unreasoning fear of certain situations, or an involuntary “compulsion” to perform certain acts. (Phobia, neurosis, and psychosis are some of the terms used to name these conditions, according to Alexander A. Fried of the Department of Biological Sciences, Christopher Columbus High School in New York).

These abnormal reactions may be so mild as to cause very little inconvenience to the individual or may be so violent as to make the person dangerous to himself or others and require commitment to an institution for special care.

Mysterious relationships exist between the mind and the body, according to some medical experts. 

It is now known that mental illness can produce symptoms of physical disease in many organs of the body, when actually the organ affected is healthy and sound.

Headaches, upset stomachs, fever, vague pains, rashes, etc., may be signs of a known disease, or may be the effect of mental upset, doctors say. 

 

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They add that in the second case, where the symptoms are brought about by the mind, it is called a psychosomatic illness.

Many phobias and neurotic conditions have been traced to forgotten incidents in childhood, which continue to influence behavior even though the sufferer has no recollection of the event.

Methods of treatment aim at finding these causes in the patient’s “subconscious” and revealing them to him; usually the condition disappears once the patient understands its cause. 

Various types of psychiatric treatment (analysis) have been proposed and used by different psychiatrists; these different methods have the same general goal of finding and removing the cause from the patient’s mind.

The following rules are useful in keeping mentally healthy, according to Fried:

1. Get plenty of rest, relaxation, fresh air, and good food.

2. Avoid worrying excessively. Most things that people worry about seldom happen.

3. Face your problems squarely, realistically. Be ready to make changes and adjustments in your plans to meet new situations that arise.

4. Use up some of your excess energy and strength in interesting hobbies, sports, and other types of recreation.

5. Do not magnify unimportant happenings into major events. Example: The fact that your friend didn’t smile and wave at you when he passed by was probably because he didn’t see you, not because he was angry at you.

6. Seek satisfaction from those things you do well, and from those natural advantages which you possess (we all have some). Do not yearn for things that are possible only in daydreams. Do not envy others who seem to have more than you; they are probably envying you from “their side of the fence.”

7. Set yourself a goal–certainly! But make sure that it is a realistic one–one that is within the reach of your abilities.

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