Mario, Glenda, Benigno

“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.” John F. Kennedy

By Alex P. Vidal

During moments of euphoria, sadness, tragedy, defeat and victory, we remember not only events but names.

We remember three names that are currently synonymous to heroism, destruction and stubbornness: Mario, Glenda, and Benigno.

Mario is now the toast of the soccer community when he sank that lone goal for Germany’s fourth FIFA World Cup in the recent championship match against Argentina at the Estadio Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last July 14.

Because of that come-from-behind date with fame in Rio, a mere mention of Mario Gotze’s name evokes sweet moments of heroism and victory.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup produced not only a soccer hero, but also a new inspiration for Filipinos pinning their football hopes only on the overfed and over fancied Azkals XI, a team not even rated among the top 100 in the world and can never represent the Philippines in the next FIFA World Cup in 2018.
If he were a Filipino, Mario would be a shoo-in for senator under the pork barrel’s Liberal Party.

Filipinos love sports superstars like they love their childhood super heroes. And they won’t hesitate to elect them into public office like what they did to former senators Ambrosio Padilla, Freddie Webb, and Robert Jaworski. Two years from now, a boxing champion will also be called as “Senator Manny Pacquiao.”

Glenda, the name of a mysterious college student who borrowed from me P3,000 cash and disappeared like a comet several years ago, is now remembered as a storm that terrorized Luzon last July 15 and 16.

RAMPAGE

Glenda’s murderous rampage left scores of deaths and sent some 200,000 families packing to evacuation centers.

Glenda lashed at Metro Manila and flooded the main highways and avenues. She brought only monsoon rains in Iloilo, but most parts of the region were also affected in one way or the other.

Hell hath no fury like a typhoon named after a woman. Glenda came, saw and conquered.

Like Yolanda, Glenda represented sadness, mayhem and death. Weather forecasters coined the names of incoming typhoons based on alphabetical order, so let’s not feel bad if Glenda happens to be the name of our mother, sister, wife, girlfriend, or debtor. 

Benigno is the leader of the 90 million Filipinos now up in arms against the “pork barrel” fund deodorized as Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

The Supreme Court has declared DAP as unconstitutional and asked Benigno’s lawmaker allies who have availed of the controversial appropriations, to return the taxpayers money worth P137.3 billion to the national treasury.

But the funds are reportedly nowhere to be found now. All of a sudden, no one has come forward to defend Bengino except himself. No one has volunteered to make a gallant sacrifice for the king. When the going gets tough, it’s only Benigno now by his lonesome self defending the port in the attic.

Lawmakers and their local government partners claimed they spent the money “wisely” to finance infrastructure and public works projects in their respective cities and provinces. 

SUSPICIOUS

But people were suspicious that a bulk of the funds may have gone to the pockets of corrupt politicians allied with Benigno in the form of kickbacks via fake non-government organizations, the same trick that sent P10-billion pork barrel scam accused Janet Lim-Napoles to the calaboose.

Benigno’s popularity suffered a sharp decline since 2010 according to the recent Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia surveys.

The negative impact on Benigno’s popularity must have something to do with his refusal to let go of Harvard-educated budget secretary Butch Abad, DAP’s chief collaborator, and for defending the DAP and engaging the Supreme Court in a power play that could provoke a constitutional crisis.

Because of this, the once supremely popular president and son of the late former President Cory and the late brave Marcos opposition leader Ninoy, has earned the reputation as a “stubborn” president.

World Cup of corruption

“Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence.” Thomas Jefferson

By Alex P. Vidal

The next World Cup after the FIFA soccer conclave in Brazil that Filipinos should seriously get involved with is the dismantling of the triangle of graft and corruption in the country.

It’s no longer a Germany versus Argentina finale. It’s the People of the Philippines against the Kingdom of Pork Barrel.

If the reported P137.3 billion worth of taxpayers money released for the doomed Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) of lawmakers and cabinet officials can’t be accounted for; and, worse, can’t be returned to the national treasury as ordered by the Supreme Court, we really need a Mario Gotze to nail our own World Cup goal against the mammoth plunderers led by President Benigno Aquino III and his ilk who control our government today.

The amount is disturbing and sickening: a whooping P137.3 billion!

If its release is unconstitutional, therefore it’s illegal.

THIEF

In our country, a small-time thief who steals a penny will rot in jail if he can’t afford a top-notch lawyer to defend him in court.

If the thief who steals hundreds of millions of pesos is an elected public official, he can dilly dally his case and gets away if he or she is an administration ally. A clear case of double standard of justice.

Since the Supreme Court ruling, we haven’t heard our local officials – city and town mayors, provincial governors and other elected officials down to the barangay level—demand from our corrupt legislators to refund the DAP or pork barrel share they had siphoned from the national treasury. Some of them claimed that DAP funds were spent by lawmakers to finance public works and infrastructure projects in their cities and provinces, thus the money benefited their constituents. Birds of the same feather.

If the funds were sourced from a poisonous tree, they don’t have the moral grounds to stand on. The end does not justify the means.

SITUATION

We are in a situation where at stake is our national pride, reputation and future as a nation. Election by election or year by year, we are being taken for a ride by politicians who promised to end our miseries and give us a good life.

Once they are in power, they connive to plunder the nation and further impoverish the people. Stealing continues to be the favorite passion of our government officials.

We have not graduated from this moral malady ever since we kicked out Marcos in the EDSA revolution. Corruption has eaten up our vast resources and demoralized the people who continue to wallow in abject poverty and live miserably below the survival level.

We badly need a World Cup finale against massive graft and corruption and exorcise this country of demonic and rapacious leaders before they could permanently spell our doomsday.

The blaming game; casino hullabaloo

“People spend too much time finding other people to blame, too much energy finding excuses for not being what they are capable of being, and not enough energy putting themselves on the line, growing out of the past, and getting on with their lives.” J. Michael Straczynski

By Alex P. Vidal

Like Brazil’s semifinals shellacking from Germany in the FIFA 2014 World Cup, Ilonggos already anticipated with absolute certainty the floods that hit the city last July 7 due to heavy downpour brought by typhoon “Florita”.

Several days before the Germany vs Brazil showdown, everyone was already talking about the host country’s impending exit from the world’s most prestigious soccer conclave when it was crystal clear that Neymar and Thiago Silva would miss the important match.

Each time there was non-stop monsoon rain in Iloilo City, Ilonggos were expecting the water level to rise rapidly due to our poor drainage system and clogged manholes. Waterways were blocked by garbage and other debris thrown by irresponsible characters.

Aside from the inefficient flood control program from our local government that dates back during the incumbency of post-EDSA OIC mayor Rosa “Tita” Caram, the lack of discipline also did us in.

We are actually not blameless. We also neglected our social responsibility; we were complacent and passive. We move only like a house on fire when calamity is already on our doorsteps. When it comes to blaming others, we are World Cup winners.

STRIKE

When calamity strikes, we resort to endless buck-passing and blaming games. We denounce our public officials and unload unrestrained brickbats at city hall without letup to emphasize our disgust and outrage.

We always expect too much from our authorities. We think they are supermen and wonder women who can solve the crisis overnight. We forget the fundamental factor why these public officials are also hard-pressed to address the gnawing problem that has bedeviled the Ilonggos for more than forty years now.

We lack a comprehensive urban planning. The city’s physical layout and infrastructure is tailor-made for floods. Since time immemorial, we elected politicians, not urban planners and highly skilled engineers. Our squalid electoral system has goaded or programmed our psyche   to vote for glib-tongued punks and tantalizers.

We have parsimoniously avoided or refused to vote for candidates not gifted with eloquence in speaking but are genius in architecture and engineering works. We are suckers to debaters and smart alecks who mesmerize us with empty rhetoric during the campaign period.

And now that these ninny lobcocks are in power and can’t solve the flood problems in one fell swoop, we angrily raise the whimper and resort to trouncing them with unsavory remarks. And we get a high blood pressure.

-o0o-

Some members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod who unraveled a can of worms involving the Casino Filipino’s failure to secure a business permit from the Iloilo City hall since 2012, are now the objects of a smear drive.

Some city hall minions who authorized Casino Filipino’s monthly remittance of P500,000 cash to the city treasurer’s office and allowed the gaming establishment to operate without a business permit, are jittery since no less than the Iloilo Business Club (IBC) has issued a terse statement that no one should be given a special treatment when it comes to securing the mandatory business permit before being allowed to operate a business anywhere in the city.

They have more reason to be panicky now that the local legislative body has hinted that it would conduct a committee hearing on the hullabaloo.

We have emphasized earlier that operators of Casino Filipino can’t invoke the weight of the monthly largess they gave the city government as a bargaining chip so they could be exempted from their obligation to secure a business permit.

The caveat is clear and categorical: the city tax ordinance does not exempt any individual or entity from securing a business permit. There is a whale of difference between a donation (in whatever amount) and a fee paid for the business permit.

THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA

“The thought that so many people get their news from social media really is scary.” Rush Limbaugh

By Alex P. Vidal

A FEW minutes after major streets in Iloilo City were flooded due to monsoon rains brought by typhoon “Florita” last July 7, the whole world immediately learned of the situation via social media.

Photos of flooded downtown streets immediately spread in the Facebook and Twitter, enabling fellow Ilonggos living outside Western Visayas and in other countries to get a clear ringside account of what was going on in the City of Love.

The speed and accuracy of the news transmitted via social media that very moment gave disaster coordinating councils in the region ample time to spruce up their rescue operation teams just in case the situation turns awry.

Forty years ago, photos of floods and other disasters reached the attention of people in other regions only after several weeks when newspapers published them. Horrors of actual damage and deaths were chronicled only on radio reports. Even television networks at that time were not as fully-equipped and as state-of-the-art compared to the technology we have today.

HIGH-TECH

Most high-tech mobile phones now have digital cameras that can transmit photos and videos in a snap of a finger to the global village via the social media.

It was not hard to get the sympathy of people in other countries when super-typhoon “Yolanda” struck in Central Visayas last November 2013 because the destruction was seen all over the world courtesy of the social media, thus foreign relief assistance poured in dizzying speed and volumes.

Access has become smooth and easy to actual scenes of riots, earthquakes, tsunamis, mining disasters, violent police operations, collapse of buildings, dispersal of street rallies, fisticuffs involving parliament members, traffic altercations, ATM robberies, burglaries, sex scandals as these can be conveniently taken from the CCTV and mobile phones and uploaded to YouTube via mini tablets, laptops and desktop units and become parts of household, office and even school entertainments.

The power of social media is limitless and boundless. It can sway public opinion; it can provoke insurrection; it can be used to destroy and promote personalities, clubs, products, religious groups, politicians, athletes, and events.

NETIZENS

Netizens have become the most influential purveyors of real and reel information and reliable liaisons between media and public. In terms of speed and accuracy, the netizens have given the mainstream press a run for their money, so to speak.

Because of social media, Fr. Romeo Obach of Sacred Heart Chapel in Jagobiao, Mandaue City was forced to apologize to the 17-year-old unwed mother he had humiliated during the baptism of the girl’s child last July 6.

More Fr. Obachs all over the country made the same horrendous misbehavior in the past but managed to get away with their demagoguery because their evil acts and verbal abuses were not recorded for all the world to hear and see. Suffice it to say that if the unwed mother’s 12-year-old sister did not record Fr. Obach’s ungodly misconduct, the prelate would not have capitulated.

Social media also gave us front seat view of how Brazil was steamrolled by Germany in one of the host country’s lousiest FIFA World Cup matches in recent memory last July 9, and how fast we learned that San Antonio Spurs defrocked Miami Heat in the 2014 NBA finals last month.

Pork verdict a World Cup goal for Filipinos

“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” Nelson Mandela

By Alex P. Vidal

While soccer fans were waiting for the coronation of either Germany, The Netherlands, Argentina, or Brazil in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Filipinos already secured their World Cup victory courtesy of the Supreme Court’s 13-1-0 goals against the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) recently.

Malacanang-backed DAP collapsed like a deck of cards and exposed this administration’s subservience to pork barrel to finance infrastructure projects and the like.

Malacanang’s embarrassment, however, became the nation’s victory. A victory sweeter than the FIFA World Cup.

Results of the Filipino People vs DAP championship dominated the major news headlines even in the Middle East, Americas, Australia, Europe where there are large Filipino communities.

Now that DAP has been declared unconstitutional and nipped in the bud, the bleeding of the national treasury will now come to a screeching halt.

STOP

The Supreme Court ruling stopped the thieves masquerading as public servants in their tracks.

But the sweetest World Cup goal came from the higher court’s order for those who have siphoned millions of DAP or pork barrel share to return the money.

The money belongs to the Filipino people and the SIN-nators and other lawmakers who feasted on DAP under this administration shouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole, ordered the Supreme Court.

But while we are jubilant about our own domestic World Cup conquest, we feel sad that some of the major infrastructure projects that have started rolling down the city and province of Iloilo are among those expected to be torpedoed.

Senate President Frank Drilon’s name came out first in the list of sin-nators with large sums of DAP appropriations at P100 million as of December 2012.

PROJECTS

Drilon picked the tab from the DAP of most multimillion pesos worth of projects being implemented through the Department of Public Works and Highways and  inaugurated by no less than President Noynoy Aquino in Iloilo City last June 27.

Drilon has confirmed that DAP partly funded the almost P1-billion Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) at the Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao district.

“Partly funded” means money has already been funneled to the gigantic structure President Aquino described as like the Sydney Opera House.  

What was shocking and repulsive, to say the least, was the revelation that some of the sin-nators who claim to be “champions” of public service and integrity like presidentiables Francis Escudero (P50 million), Allan Peter Cayetano (P50 million), Loren Legarda (P50 million), and Antonio Trillanes IV (P50 million) are also closet pork eaters.

  

Rafael Nadal's roots in Iloilo

"Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values.” RALPH ELISON

By Alex P. Vidal

In La Paz public market in Iloilo City where we regularly buy our meals, NBA fans wait on tenterhooks if Erik Spoelstra’s genius can prevent Gregg Popovich from becoming an Albert Einstein in court.

La Paz district is a football hotbed, home of the finest booters in the region next to the municipalities of Barotac Nuevo and Sta. Barbara when it comes to quality of players.

La Paznons so love soccer that they demolished an age-old outdoor boxing arena to further enlarge their football field in the plaza (You should have opposed this unpopular move, former First Lady Ming Ramos; but we heard it was because of your “beautification” project why the iconic boxing ring was obliterated).

But when it is NBA finals time, football or FIFA World Cup takes a backseat. NBA championship is a down-the-wire headline-grabbing event. Never mind if super grandmaster Wesley So will soon push the pawns for the Americans in the FIDE chess.

Never mind if Manny Pacquiao will coach KIA in the PBA (we saw the world’s best boxer pound-for-pound and PBA Commissioner Chito Salud shake hands in a sports page recently. In September 2001 when we covered Gerry Penalosa’s WBC super flyweight fight against Masamori Tokuyama in Yokohama, Japan, Salud was impressed more with Penalosa than with Pacquiao, then fresh from winning the IBF super bantamweight crown against Africa’s Lehlo Ledwaba on a 6th round TKO in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s understandable because his father, the late former WBC secretary general Rudy, was Penalosa’s manager at that time).

ANALYSIS

We are aware that several days after the NBA finals, Ilonggos will continue to make a post mortem analysis whether it is the Spurs or the Heat that will end up bringing home the 2014 NBA title.

It would be a crime against sports, meanwhile, if we ignore Rafael “Rafa” Nadal’s most recent record-breaking conquest in the French Open just because the more glamorous NBA finals and 2014 FIFA World Cup are lording over the sports pages and in the social media nowadays.

The NBA finals series between Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs was tied at 1-1 when world no. 1 Nadal collected his unprecedented ninth French Open title by whipping world no. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia last June 8, or five days after his 28th birthday.

Nadal holds a special place in the hearts of the Ilonggos. Many local tennis fans can identify themselves with the talented Spaniard, who has won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 27 ATP World Tour Masters and a record 15 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments.

JARO

There are Nadals in Jaro district. Their siblings are mestizos and mestizas and it’s not hard to conclude that they have Spanish blood running in their veins. We heard the Nadals in San Enrique, Negros Occidental also traced their roots in Castellon de la Plana, Torrelavega, Valladolid and Pamplona, Spain. The tennis heartthrob was born in Manacor, Balearic Islands, Spain. We were colonized by Spain for more than 400 years, after all.

It is possible some of Rafa’s foreparents had roots in some Filipino families somewhere in the Philippines, if not in Jaro and San Enrique. Some of the friars, according to Jose Rizal’s novels, sired illegitimate children with Filipino women. We remember Maria Clara, among other victims of sexual abuses by these Spanish ruffians, in Noli Me Tangere.

MISTAKE

Nadal can, in fact, be mistaken for a Filipino if he plays in the SEA Games or Asian Games. There’s a lot of handsome tennis, fencing and even soccer players who look like Rafa. Richard Gomez plays fencing in the SEA Games and his height and physique are similar to Rafa. His hairstyle, color of skin, and the way he dresses outside the clay court (where he is considered the “king”) are similar to some matinee-idol-looking Filipino athletes. No one will question his nationality on the spot if he will carry the RP flag in the World Olympic Games and other biennial events. Unlike decathlete David Bunevacz and brothers Phil and James Younghusband, who really look like children of white parents (although their late mother was a pure Pinay).

But the sad reality is Nadal is not a Filipino. Because we hanker for a sports icon so much admired for his skills and talent in clay court, we can always claim Rafa to be our own—but only in our dreams.

As we went to press, the 2014 FIFA World Cup blasted off in Brazil, triggering a worldwide sports mania that is felt even in the remotest African countries.

Dregs of sports; Iloilo media fun run

“What is it they want from the man that they didn't get from the work? What do they expect? What is there left when he's done with his work, what's any artist but the dregs of his work, the human shambles that follows it around?”

WILLIAM GADDIS

By Alex P. Vidal

In 1992 when I won the Nike Marathon Media Fun Run at the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand in Iloilo City, there were two runners who actually finished ahead of me: Erwin Chiongson and Julius Padilla.

Erwin, who sprinted to the finish line like a zebra, breasted the tape unmolested first. He was followed by Padilla, then utility personnel of DyRI Radyo Agong (now RMN Radyo Mo Nationwide). I was satisfied with a third place.

But, lo and behold, a commotion erupted in the finish line while we were clearing the cobwebs. I saw our friend, event organizer and Cebu Freeman columnist Raffy Uytiepo, shaking his head while Erwin was arguing with race organizers. Not far was Julius, who was a picture of disbelief.

They were disqualified. I was declared the winner!

WORKING MEDIA

Race organizers asserted the fun run was for working media practitioners only and Erwin, they insisted, was a bodybuilder and owner of Winner’s Gym. Julius admitted he was not a full-fledged reporter but a “trainee” of the radio station. “It’s OK importante naka exercise ‘ta,” he gamely submitted.

Erwin insisted he was also a journalist because he contributed sports columns in the defunct Western Visayas Daily Times. His assertions, however, fell on deaf ears.

In fairness to our friend, Erwin, race organizers did not specify that sports contributors were not qualified. They were guilty of estoppel for allowing Erwin and Julius to sign up for the race only to disqualify them when they won.

But that is already water under the bridge. Uytiepo, an amiable and dyed-in-the-wool marathoner and sports scribe rolled into one, remained to be our friend and is still active in sports until today.

I admit I could never beat Erwin and Julius in any marathon again.

-o0o-

After reviewing some journals and videos related to the FIFA World Cup, we stumbled into a feature story about France’s Zinedine Zidane, author of soccer’s dirtiest foul in history.

The way soccer fans all over the globe ribbed Zidane for headbutting Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the chest during 2006 FIFA World Cup Final in Berlin, Germany, can be compared to the way fans denounced the act of cannibalism by Mike Tyson when he bit off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear in their rematch billed “The Sound and the Fury” on June 28, 1997 for the WBA heavyweight championship at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Zidane’s widely-condemned foul on Materazzi was blamed for France’s failure to win the World Cup in that year as he was sent off in the 110th minute of the game, thus he wasn’t able to participate in the penalty shoot-out won by Italy, 5-3.

STOP

"Ladies and gentlemen, this bout has been stopped at the end of round number three, the referee in charge, Mills Lane, disqualifies Mike Tyson for biting Evander Holyfield in both ears, the winner by way of disqualification and still the WBA champion of the world, Evander 'The Real Deal' Holyfield!’ Holyfield won the WBA's boxing championship, prize, money and trophy because of Tyson's disqualification,” ring announcer Jimmy Lennon declared some 25 minutes after the violent brawl.

Tyson, who claimed he only retaliated after Holyfiled headbutted him, was obviously frustrated that he could not nail down and intimidate Holyfield and was believed to be himself scared enough that he deliberately got himself disqualified.

Zidane’s and Tyson’s bizarre attitudes shocked the world since they were considered to be the greatest in their sports.

DREGS

If they were notoriously labeled as “dregs in soccer and boxing”, Bruce Bowen of NBA’s San Antonio Spurs also joined them in the rank in terms of infamy and sports hooliganism.

Bowens, 42, was considered the dirtiest NBA player in league history. NBA writer Kelly Scaletta described Bowens as “everything that Ron Artest was or Scottie Pippen was with one twist that can only be described as malicious.”

He first joined the Miami Heat in 1997 before going to Boston Celtics in 1999 and Philadelphia 76ers in 2000 before returning to Miami Heat until 2001. He played as small forward for the Spurs until 2009.

Scaletta observed that Bowen had a tendency to slip his foot under opponents feet when they went up for a jump shot. When the players came down they would ruin ankles and knees.

“Such a move can devastate a player's career and Bowen's habit resulted in several players, including Steve Francis and Vince Carter, getting injured,” Scaletta stressed.

“Even when it's not resulting in injuries, the fear of an injury can throw a player off his rhythm. Bowen, even without the move was one of the great defenders in the leagues history and didn't need to resort to the habit.

That tendency, along with the same kind of great but dirty play that the other great defensive wings on here had, earned him the top spot on the list (of dirtiest NBA player in league history).”