Please, stop killing us!

“Nobody owns life; but anyone who can pick up a frying pan owns death.” WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

By Alex P. Vidal

WE love to travel as journalists. Not as tourists.

Even without sufficient money, journalists can travel around the world for special missions and assignments; and to chronicle international events.

Only a moneyed tourist can circumnavigate the globe for pleasure, rest and recreation.

There are embassies that issue separate visas for journalists and tourists.

During travel, we continue to work; journalists are always “on duty” wherever they go.

The environments from airport to airport, port to port, terminal to terminal are potential sources of news and other juicy items.

People we meet and events we stumble into are rich sources of “flash” reports and feature stories.

For a dyed-in-the-wool newsman, there is an abundance of items to write about everywhere and in whatever circumstance.

A true-blue journalist is sharp, quick and alert for any event. It’s an amazing but thankless job.

Outside the Philippines, journalists are respected and held in high esteem.

Governments and territories around the world, except in countries with high mortality rate for journalists like Iraq, Syria, Algeria and Somalia, recognize the role and importance the media practitioners played in shaping world events.

ADVENTURE

Going around for scoops and investigative reports abroad is also an adventure.

Challenging and nerve-tingling, but we are accorded due courtesy and given privileges, something we can never enjoy as tourists.

Governments recognize our duties and obligations, our responsibilities and missions; and why we are travelling.

They are aware that as catalysts of change and harbingers of progress and development, our movements and activities are motivated by a Tertullian desire to circulate and disseminate newsworthy stories, especially those with public interests, as fast as possible and as comprehensive as they should be.

In other words, we are not enemies but allies.

We are partners in nation building and we act as mirrors of events that unfold in society; we help safeguard public funds from dishonest and rapacious public officials.

We expose anomalies in government and illegal activities in society.

We act as conduits of the voiceless and the oppressed who seek justice; we sometimes assume the role of the “courts of the last resort” for victims of injustices, abuses and neglect.

We are being looked up to as the doyens in the field of mass communication owing to our influence and weapon to sway public opinion.  

SAFER

It’s safer though to cover international events than covering beats in the Philippines.

Filipino journalists assigned to cover the police, military, city hall, capitol, among other beats, are not spared from harassment and violence.

Next to our soldiers and cops, many journalists are killed like animals.

When journalists are murdered, either they are killed in line of duty or because of personal motives like love triangle, vendetta, business rivalry, etc.

In most cases, journalists are murdered to “silence” them or as a retaliatory aggression for an expose or hard-hitting commentary.

Because we are non-combatants, most journalists don’t carry firearms.

In fact, we should never carry any deadly weapon.

Both the National Press Club (NPC) and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) don’t advocate allowing their members to carry guns.

Violence begets violence.

Our pen, after all, is still mightier than the sword, as they used to remind us during our College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) days.

The spate of killings involving crusading, semi-retired and even former journalists in the Philippines has exposed the state’s ineptitude to safeguard members of the Fourth Estate from the enemies of press freedom.

IMPUNITY

The murderers of former Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent Melinda Magsino must have realized that because of the culture of impunity in the country, killing a journalist would mean all their transgressions and evil deeds were altogether forgotten and their tracks covered forever.

Unless authorities will do something to immediately arrest Magsino’s killers and their masterminds, there’s no guarantee that the statistics on media killings will end with her cold-blooded murder in Batangas.

As community journalists, we are worried and disturbed that the senseless murders of members of Philippine press continued unabated.

We are worried for our colleagues. We are worried for our own selves and our families.

Please stop the violence. Don’t kill us.

We are not the enemies. And we are only doing our job.   

Miriam in 1992; Drilon in 2016?

“The people who cast the votes don’t decide the election, the people who count the votes do.” JOSEPH STALIN

By Alex P. Vidal

ILONGGOS will always go for their own daughter or son in any presidential race.

They have shown their unity and determination to elect their very own in 1992 when they nearly sent Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago to Malacanang had it not been for the sudden blackout during the canvassing of votes.

Defensor-Santiago in 1992.

Drilon in 2016?

Was the recent survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) which showed Senate President Franklin Drilon enjoying a 65 percent satisfaction rating deliberately released in the media in order to prop up his chances to be nominated as presidential standard bearer of the Liberal Party in 2016?

The survey started to make rounds in the media at the time when Mar Roxas was rumored to be on the way out as DILG secretary and was being pummeled in the presidential surveys.

Roxas is still being preferred by Malacanang as the LP presidential standard bearer despite his disappointing showing in poll surveys.

THIRD

The son of Capiz was already dislodged from third spot by Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte of the PDP-Laban.

Several days before the SWS survey came out showing Vice President Jejomar Binay on top, Drilon spin doctors have been drumbeating his “winnability” factor if ever he decides to throw his hat into the presidential race. 

“I know that there is no better and apt way to show to the Filipino people that I value and deserve their trust, than by working even harder, and fulfilling my duties to the Senate with great zeal,” Drilon announced after learning that his satisfaction rating actually rose by four percent since the last survey was conducted in December 2014.

Drilon, however, has not made any categorical statement that he was interested to run for president.  

Pulse Asia survey also showed he enjoyed a 49 percent approval rating, two percent higher than last year’s survey.

NOMINATION

Political parties sometimes base their nomination of certain candidates for higher offices in the surveys of reputed firms like Pulse Asia and SWS.

Between Roxas and Drilon, Ilonggos in Iloilo and Negros prefer the senate president.

Roxas, whose family has been in power for several decades now, hasn’t done to Roxas City or Capiz province what Drilon has done in a short period in Iloilo City.

Some two billion pesos worth of infrastructure projects have been poured in Iloilo City using Drilon’s pork barrel funds and other agencies. 
All these were implemented under the administration of a relative, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

Iloilo City has experienced a renaissance in tourism and infrastructure since Drilon and Mabilog worked together like father and son.

While Roxas can’t unite the fragmented political leaders in Roxas City and Capiz, Drilon was able to cement a reputation among local leaders as political demigod.

GRUMBLE

Some people in Capiz grumble that Roxas hasn’t brought economic boom in the province and Roxas City only recently made it in the headlines when the first CityMall was built there and business and investment writers started to write about the city’s potentials only after young billionaire Edgar “Injap” Sia disclosed plans to invest more in his hometown.

If the LP will bump off Roxas for Drilon, supporters of Drilon will always have the surveys to parade as their justification.

No hard feelings for Roxas.

The graft charges filed against Drilon in relation to his alleged misuse of pork barrel will have to take a back seat once the Palace starts to discuss seriously about Drilon’s next political moves.

But it appears that no less than President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III himself is hell-bent to endorse Roxas as LP standard bearer.

Will the surveys help change the president’s mind?

After all, only fools don’t change their minds, as the saying goes.

Pacquiao and Mayweather Jr. can't predict a KO win

“I always expect unexpected challenges. Boxing is not an easy sport.” Sugar Ray Leonard

By Alex P. Vidal

NO boxer in the world can predict a knockout victory.

Not even hard-hitters George Foreman and Mike Tyson.

And even if he is a certified KO artist, no boxer can predict which round will his foe capitulates.

Dubbed as the “sweet science”, boxing becomes more exciting when those swapping leathers are pugilists with opposing styles: scientific versus brawler.

Scientific fighters usually win on points. Because of their textbook fundamentals, they punch with alacrity and dispatch.

They have solid amateur background and their experience as simonpures becomes their best asset in the professional rank.

To name only a few, they are Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya.

Brawlers emerge with the most lethal wallops on both hands, and they usually win by knockout.

Most of them don’t have extensive amateur background and rely heavily on their power.

When they hit and score a haymaker, the fight is over before the limit. Some of them are Mike Tyson, Roberto Duran, Manny Pacquiao, Ricardo Mayorga.

GUTSIER

But if Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) proves to be gutsier than Floyd Mayweather Jr. (47-0, 26 KOs) , the son of a former laundrywoman from Mindanao will climb the ring for the  WBC/WBA/WBO 147-pound 12-round brawl half a winner on May 2 in Las Vas, Nevada.

What separates the Filipino buzzsaw from the unbeaten black American, who is taller by two inches, is guts.

The one with the bigger heart usually controls the fight and emerges the winner courtesy of ring generalship.

He who has the stronger guts will be willing to engage in an open carpet-bombing spree and risk going home with a flat nose and red marshmallow lips.

He who has the lesser guts will be busier with his feet and use them to sidestep and backpedal until the 12^th and final round expires.

Between the two, Mayweather Jr., 38, has the tendency to protect his “pretty” face, to showboat and employ a peek-a-boo tactic to impress the crowd in disguise of avoiding a fierce shootout.

NOTORIOUS

Between the two, Pacquiao, 36, is the one notorious for possessing the devil-may-care attitude during a non-stop exchange of artillery in the middle of the ring.

A fighter who has the guts is aggressive and loves action.

He will press the fight and force a slugfest. If he succeeds in luring his opponent to this game plan, he gets a KO or TKO victory.

If Mayweather Jr. will refuse to cooperate with Pacquiao’s intention to swap blows without letup, the fight could go the distance.

Muhammad Ali's love for Manny Pacquiao

“If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you-until you get your revenge.” Muhammad Ali

By Alex P. Vidal

IT’S not surprising why Muhammad Ali (56-5, 37 KOs) is enamored with Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs).

Ali, 73, personally likes Paquiao, 36, and his admiration has more to do with how the Filipino congressman conducts himself outside the ring rather than Pacquiao’s fighting styles.

Pacquiao, who considers Ali as his childhood idol and inspiration along with Sugar Ray Leonard, must have been ecstatic in his Wild Card gym training camp in Los Angeles when he heard the news.

Fans would have normally predicted that Ali will root for fellow American Floyd Mayweather Jr. who is also a flamboyant and scientific fighter like the former heavyweight champion.

Both Ali and Mayweather Jr. are known for their excellent footwork. 
Their dizzying lateral movements in the square-jungle have delighted millions of their fans worldwide.

RIVAL

Ali’s arch rival, the late Smokin’ Joe Frazier, could be compared to Pacquiao in terms of style, force and guts.

Like Pacquiao, Frazier loves to bob and weave and moves forward amid the avalanche of punches from their opponents.

Both Pacquiao and Frazier have solid jaws and good stamina, although they have been pulverized in their past battles.

Frazier was the first heavyweight dynamo to score a knockdown against Ali en route to inflicting Ali’s first defeat by a 15-round unanimous decision on March 3, 1971 at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

Ali and Frazier fought three times and their epic third meeting known as “Thrilla in Manila” on October 1, 1975 went down in history as the best-ever world heavyweight championship that has not been broken until today.

Like Ali, Pacquiao has been hailed as the “people’s champion” and they almost have similar involvement in their respective civic and charitable activities.

“My dad is Team Pacquiao all the way,” confirmed Rasheda Ali. “My dad really likes Manny. He’s a huge fan of his.”

CHARITABLE

Rasheda said her dad likes the fact that “Pacquiao is such a charitable person.”

Rasheda told New York Daily News that Ali’s admiration for Mayweather, in contrast, apparently starts and stops with “money’s” fighting skills.

“My dad stood for things. Mayweather…I don’t think there’s a comparison,” Rasheda said.

Because of his health condition, Ali may not be able to watch the fight on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The daughter said Ali must settle for cheering Pacquiao on from his home in Louisville, Kentucky.

“There’s no question he’s going to order it (pay-per-view),” she said.

Illegal drugs, not prostitution, is No. 1 problem in schools

“Addiction isn’t about substance—you aren’t addicted to the substance. You are addicted to the alteration of mood that the substance brings.” Susan Cheever

By Alex P. Vidal

SAD to say, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has failed to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs in many campuses.

Classes have closed but not a single drug pusher that catered to university and college students was apprehended.

What was tackled in the media was “survival sex” or prostitution involving teenage students who sold their bodies for tuition and allowances.

The City Council even responded to the clamor of a university professor about “survival sex” and held a committee hearing on the issue.

Nothing has been heard after those committee hearings.

“The No. 1 problem that hounds the students (in some universities and colleges in Iloilo) today is illegal drugs. Prostitution is not new. It’s also a concern, but the problems on illegal drugs are still the most serious,” said a retired prosecutor who refused to be named because his grandchildren are studying in one of the universities involved.  

RETIRED

The retired prosecutor said he does not want his grandchildren to be involved in illegal drugs and wants school authorities to tackle the problem with utmost priority in the next school opening.

His nephew was once arrested in a buy-bust operation conducted in Jaro “and I don’t want my grandchildren to remember anything about that incident.”

Sources said drug peddlers used small eateries and restaurants located in the university belts to transact business with students.

Shabu “runners” mixed with potential buyers in billiard halls, 24-hour min-marts, bakery and coffee shops and sometimes could be mistaken as university or office employees because they wore formal attires, sources said.

“Kambio banga” (a term coined by shabu pushers to refer to college coeds who offer sex services for shabu) is a combination of illegal drugs and prostitution “and the most serious problem that has not been addressed until now,” lamented the retired prosecutor.

CASH

College students short of cash don’t need to steal money to buy shabu, it was learned.

They offer their bodies for sex for shabu.

“They perform the sexual services while under the influence of shabu,” confirmed our informant, “Mr. Tooth Decay.”

Many students have dropped out and will miss the graduation ceremonies this summer because they are hooked on shabu; meaning they didn’t take their studies seriously and their schooling was interrupted by their addiction to illegal drugs, said our sources from the Central Philippine University (CPU) in Jaro district and University of Iloilo (UI) in the City Proper in Iloilo City.

-o0o-

UPDATE ON BONIFACIO DRIVE TRAFFIC. As of this writing, traffic jam was still giving motorists a colossal  headache and terrible inconvenience on Bonifacio Drive, Iloilo City Proper due to the ongoing road-widening project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

From the foot of the Forbes Bridge that links the City Proper to the district of La Paz, vehicles are trapped especially during rush hours.

The road going to the Atrium Mall could accommodate only a single lane.

Traffic management authorities should have declared the area as “one-way” only before the start of the DPWH project last March 2.

If they could not do it because they were not authorized, they should have sought the help of the City Council, which should have passed a resolution declaring the Bonifacio Drive as “one way” only.

This is clearly a case of a “small” problem that has been neglected.

Thieves in 3 town halls armed and dangerous?

“Poverty is the mother of crime.” Marcus Aurelius

By Alex P. Vidal

THE thieves who recently ransacked the treasurer's offices of the municipalities of Ajuy, Concepcion and San Dionisio and carted away cash and valuables, could be members of a robbery gang operating in the fifth district of Iloilo.

Based on their boldness and blazing attacks, they were probably organized and not just ordinary bandits.

They must have been operating by a group and their actions were well-coordinated and well-planned.

If the robberies occurred simultaneously during the weekend, it’s hard to establish that they were inside jobs unless evidence will prove otherwise.

But police investigators must not stop on one angle alone.

They must subject the security guards assigned in these municipalities in a thorough investigation.

Did they sleep on their job? Or they were part of the heists?

If a large amount of cash stashed away during the robberies were kept in the vaults of those offices before the incidents, it becomes a big question mark.

DEPOSIT

Treasurer offices are supposed to deposit them in the bank by Friday unless prevented by circumstances.

Now that municipal halls have become the new and favorite targets of robbers who operate after office or during weekend, other municipalities must now start tightening up their security for precautionary measures.

It is possible that the culprits were able to study the physical lay-outs of their target municipal halls days or weeks before launching the attack.

Other potential targets in that district are the municipalities of Anilao, Barotac Viejo, Banate, Sara, Balasan, Batad, Carles and Estancia.  

CCTV gadgets must be installed in their surroundings.

The robbers must have used one or two get away vehicles.

MONITOR

Their movements can be monitored by active CCTVs.   

After the recent triple robberies, police and municipal authorities can’t afford to be lax.

They should start to be suspicious with individuals who saunter their premises without any official business.

It is possible that the robbers are armed and dangerous. They could be capable of staging a burglary in residential houses and hostage members of the households.

They can actually be collared in authorized police checkpoints.

Citizens and barangay officials must also do their share in helping nip in the bud those criminal elements.

An ounce of prevention is always better than a pound of cure. The League of Municipalities-Iloilo headed by Barotac Viejo Mayor Neil Tupas III and the Iloilo Provincial Police Office (IPPO) led by Supt. Cornelio Salinas will have their hands full.

-o0o-

BONIFACIO DRIVE TRAFFIC SNARL. Traffic on Bonifacio Drive, City Proper continued to worsen even during holidays (meaning no classes and no offices).

The road widening project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from the foot of the Forbes Bridge to the Iloilo Baptist Church (in front of the Iloilo Provincial Capitol) is only actually half way.

As of this writing, it is only in the vicinity of the overpass (in front of the Department of Tourism regional office).

Bulldozers and other heavy equipment continued to repair a small portion of the road yet the work has produced a monstrous traffic.

START

The traffic snarl started two weeks ago when vehicles from the districts of La Paz and Jaro were choked as they approached the bridge.

Vehicles from the City Proper going to the districts of Jaro and La Paz were also jammed as they negotiated the Bonifacio Drive from the intersection of Gen. Luna Street and Fermin Caram Sr. Avenue (Iznart Street).

The only solution actually is to declare the area as “one-way” or only for vehicles going to the route of the City Proper while the DPWH project is not yet finished. 

Those going to the districts of La Paz and Jaro may use the road in the back of the Iloilo Provincial Capitol.

As simple as that, yet it seems nobody is giving a damn from the authorities concerned.

Is Manny Pacquiao now richer than Mang Inasal's Injap?

“I want the people of the Philippines to be happy, even if they have nothing.” MANNY PACQUIAO

By Alex P. Vidal

Publisher Lemuel Fernandez estimated the worth of Manny Pacquiao to be somewhere between P5 to P10 billion.

“I think he is now richer than Edgar Sia,” said Lemuel, who watched Pacquiao steamroll Shane Mosley via 12-round unanimous decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 7, 2011.

Sia, also known as “Injap”, is the founder of the Mang Inasal food chain.

Sia’s fortune skyrocketed when he sold 70 percent of Mang Inasal Phils. to Jollibee Foods Corp. for P3 billion in 2010.

As chief executive officer of the Injap Investment, Inc., Injap Land Corporation (DoubleDragon Properties, Corp.), and People’s Hotel Corporation, Sia is considered as one of the richest Filipino-Chinese businessmen in the country who is below 50 years old today.

Pacquiao is expected to get more or less P4 billion in his “Fight of the Century” battle against Floyd Mayweather Jr in Las Vegas on May 2.

Like most pugilists, Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) doesn’t have a college degree.

As an out-of-school-youth in Gen. Santos City in early 90’s, boxing was his only way out of dire straits.

In fact, after a brief stint in the amateur ranks as “Kid Kulafu” (his first moniker), poverty pushed him to turn professional on January 25, 1995, winning by a four-round decision in a light-flyweight aperitif against patsy Edmund Enting Ignacio (8-24-3, 1 KO) in Sablayan, Mindoro Occidental.

INTELLIGENCE

“But he possesses a practical intelligence not found in any other athletes in this generation,” Fr. Marlon Beof told this writer in a private residence in Las Vegas, Nevada two days after Pacquiao snatched the WBC super-featherweight title on a 12-round split decision against Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7-1, 40 KOs) on March 15, 2008.

Beof, 46, a New York-based Roman Catholic priest, celebrated a thanksgiving Mass to Pacquiao the morning after the event in Pacquiao’s last 10 fights.

He discovered that Pacquiao has a special gift aside from his boxing skills because of the way the boxer-cum-congressman analyzes issues and events during their conversation.

“Yes, he did not have a formal education. But God has given him a special knowledge that most of us don’t have. He can analyze; he can decipher complex issues even if he can’t express it in English,” explained Beof.

Beof’s observation was sustained by Gen. Santos City-based businessman Adriano “Rey” Golingan, Pacquiao’s wedding godfather and civilian spiritual adviser.

“Pacquiao is spiritually-attached to God. He has a special gift, the kind of practical intelligence not found inside the classroom; the kind of knowledge that he did not learn from the books,” swore Golingan, owner of the gym where Pacquiao first trained as an amateur in 1991.

PREDICTED

Golingan had predicted Pacquiao’s major victories against dangerous opponents like Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Angel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, and Joshua Clottey.

“It appears that Pacquiao is always being guided spiritually; that it’s almost impossible for him to lose because of his attachment to God,” added Golingan, who led the evening prayers inside Pacquiao’s hotel suite either in the Mandalay Bay or in the MGM Grand.

International promoter Rex “Wakee” Salud, 58, Pacquiao’s Cebu partner and fellow cockfighting aficionado, described Pacquiao, 36, as “a ring genius.”

“It’s not hard to place a bet on him,” said Salud, former manager of ex-IBF world flyweight champion Gerry Penalosa. “His victory has always been crystal clear even before the duel in the ring. He is a ring genius and nobody can match his talent in the entire planet.”

On June 23, 2008, five days before his 9-round demolition of David Diaz for the WBC lightweight diadem, Pacquiao made the final announcement before the eight-vehicle entourage romped off to Las Vegas from the Wild Card gym in Hollywood.

“Pababain ang lahat ng container ng tubig na naka expose sa sunlight. Hindi maganda sa health natin kung uminom tayo ng mineral water na naka expose sa sunlight (let’s leave behind all the containers of mineral waters that were exposed in the sunlight. It’s not good for our health if we drink them),” Pacquiao ordered.

The caravan left L.A. without bringing several bottles of mineral water.

MEMORY

Pacquiao can also retain in his memory the first names of those who accompanied him regularly in his travel to Las Vegas even if he met them only briefly.

He is generous to most of those who come to him for his signature and for some pennies.

If Pacquiao can’t immediately remember a person’s name, he acknowledges that he met that person in the past and recognizes the person only in the face by flashing a smile.

Inside his hotel suite, Pacquiao personally distributed the electronic cards that served as keys to the rooms of members of Team Pacquiao.

On April 27, 2009 inside his suite in Mandalay Bay, Pacquiao handed to me the electronic card for the room of the four accredited journalists from the Philippines.

“O ito ang para sa mga photographers (This key is for the room of the photographers),” Pacquiao said, referring to the four accredited journalists: Abac Cordero of Philippine Star, Nick Giongco of Manila Bulletin, Roy Luarca of Philippine Daily Inquirer, and this writer then of Philboxing.com.