"My whole thing is loyalty. Loyalty over royalty; word is bond." Fetty Wap
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- We can't blame some Liberal Party (LP) mainstays in Iloilo City if they are not comfortable with the presence of former city councilors Jeffrey Ganzon and Mandrie Malabor in the administration bandwagon.
The two balimbings (turncoats) are running for the city council in the 2016 polls under the LP ticket of reelectionists Rep. Jerry P. Trenas, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, and Vice Mayor Jose Espinosa III.
Strange bedfellows, indeed.
In the 2013 elections, Ganzon lost to Espinosa for vice mayor, while Malabor lost for councilor when they ran under the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).
All the UNA local candidates from congressman, mayor, vice mayor and councilors were, in fact, massacred in an unprecedented 15-0 blitzkrieg.
CASUALTY
One of the UNA casualties for councilor was Dr. Gold Gonzalez, daughter of the late Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr., who is now running for mayor against Mabilog.
Members of the opposition party shared one vision and mission and vowed to stay together and go down together against titanic odds.
But when Gonzalez and her team filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) in the Comelec last month, Ganzon and Malabor were no longer with the group.
They filed their COCs under the LP.
Like opportunists, they abandoned the opposition and embraced the administration to save their own necks.
They probably thought their chances of winning in 2016 were nil if they did not jump ship and join the "enemy."
DEFEAT
Were they demoralized after their 2013 defeat?
Are they desperate to win and have underestimated the capacity of the party they jettisoned?
What happened to the principles and cause they loudly espoused in the 2013 elections?
In 2013, their group accused the Mabilog and P-Noy administrations of graft and corruption and election fraud (owing to the 15-0 result in the local and national elections).
Some of them and their subalterns even filed a case against the mayor in the Ombudsman.
Can we blame Mabilog and other LP stalwarts if they will distrust these deserters and suspect them to be Trojans?
By joining Mabilog's group, Ganzon and Malabor are expected to "behave" once they are back in power--or they will be ribbed as "ingrates."
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Monday, November 9, 2015
Hypocrites casting a stone at city tourism chief
"The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy." William Hazlitt
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- If they think they don't live in glass houses, detractors of Iloilo City tourism officer Junel Divinagracia should not telegraph their punches and hide in anonymity.
These detractors wanted to raise some "sensitive concerns" now that the city council is set to confirm her appointment after being appointed to the position by Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog on October 19.
She replaced Ben Jimena, who has retired but is still part of Mabilog's cabinet as consultant.
Some city councilors, who hate to be accused as field reporters of Boy Abunda and Inday Badiday, have alerted Divinagracia, who was in Manila for APEC Leaders’ Meeting from Nov. 16 to 19.
The city councilors are also aware that they are not saints, thus they can't just easily jump the gun on Divinagracia without due process.
SENSITIVE
Other public officials (both in the executive and legislative branches) are also being bedeviled by the so-called "sensitive" private matters like Divinagracia, but they weren't placed under hot seats because they are males.
By zeroing in on Divinagracia, the shades of bitterness, bias, prejudice and double standard are very much evident on the motives of these hypocrites.
Is it possible that the snakes are just around the corridors of power sibilating?
Let us remind them of Matthew 7:3 that says, "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"
And also John 8:7 that says, "And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.'"
-o0o-
BY giving the municipal mayors liberty to select their own bet for Iloilo vice governor, Gov. Arthur "Art" Defensor Sr. was short in saying that "I am caught between the devil and the deep blue sea."
As an astute politician, Defensor will never take side, at least not yet, while everyone in the poker table is still in the guessing game.
Vice gubernatorial aspirants Neil "Junjun" Tupas Jr. and Christine Garin, both with political parties affiliated with the Liberal Party (LP), are hoping like anxious suitors to get King Arthur's blessing.
The governor has vowed earlier to campaign only for the party's official candidate.
AFFILIATE
Garin, mayor of Guimbal, Iloilo, is with the National Unity Party (NUP), an LP affiliate.
She is the sister of Iloilo first district Rep. Oscar "Richard" Garin Jr. and the sister-in-law of Health Secretary Janette L. Garin, Richard's wife.
Her family has questioned Tupas' certificate of nomination and acceptance (Cona) as "official" LP bet for vice governor.
Defensor has long reconciled with the two powerful political clans in the province, and they have been working together under the umbrella of President Aquino's ruling party.
Political observers think Defensor has already in mind who to pick when push comes to shove, but is only keeping the aces in his sleeves.
Who will the fountain bless?
The answer to that question is another question: Which clan is the lesser evil?
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- If they think they don't live in glass houses, detractors of Iloilo City tourism officer Junel Divinagracia should not telegraph their punches and hide in anonymity.
These detractors wanted to raise some "sensitive concerns" now that the city council is set to confirm her appointment after being appointed to the position by Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog on October 19.
She replaced Ben Jimena, who has retired but is still part of Mabilog's cabinet as consultant.
Some city councilors, who hate to be accused as field reporters of Boy Abunda and Inday Badiday, have alerted Divinagracia, who was in Manila for APEC Leaders’ Meeting from Nov. 16 to 19.
The city councilors are also aware that they are not saints, thus they can't just easily jump the gun on Divinagracia without due process.
SENSITIVE
Other public officials (both in the executive and legislative branches) are also being bedeviled by the so-called "sensitive" private matters like Divinagracia, but they weren't placed under hot seats because they are males.
By zeroing in on Divinagracia, the shades of bitterness, bias, prejudice and double standard are very much evident on the motives of these hypocrites.
Is it possible that the snakes are just around the corridors of power sibilating?
Let us remind them of Matthew 7:3 that says, "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"
And also John 8:7 that says, "And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.'"
-o0o-
BY giving the municipal mayors liberty to select their own bet for Iloilo vice governor, Gov. Arthur "Art" Defensor Sr. was short in saying that "I am caught between the devil and the deep blue sea."
As an astute politician, Defensor will never take side, at least not yet, while everyone in the poker table is still in the guessing game.
Vice gubernatorial aspirants Neil "Junjun" Tupas Jr. and Christine Garin, both with political parties affiliated with the Liberal Party (LP), are hoping like anxious suitors to get King Arthur's blessing.
The governor has vowed earlier to campaign only for the party's official candidate.
AFFILIATE
Garin, mayor of Guimbal, Iloilo, is with the National Unity Party (NUP), an LP affiliate.
She is the sister of Iloilo first district Rep. Oscar "Richard" Garin Jr. and the sister-in-law of Health Secretary Janette L. Garin, Richard's wife.
Her family has questioned Tupas' certificate of nomination and acceptance (Cona) as "official" LP bet for vice governor.
Defensor has long reconciled with the two powerful political clans in the province, and they have been working together under the umbrella of President Aquino's ruling party.
Political observers think Defensor has already in mind who to pick when push comes to shove, but is only keeping the aces in his sleeves.
Who will the fountain bless?
The answer to that question is another question: Which clan is the lesser evil?
Friday, November 6, 2015
'Olympic diving champ Vicki Manalo was my wife'
"Sport allows us to engage in dialogue and to build bridges, and it may even have the capacity to reshape international relations. The Olympic Games embody perfectly this universal mission." Richard Attias
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- When I met former US Olympic coach Lyle Draves in California in 2011, I didn't know he was the husband of the first woman in history to win the Platform and Springboard gold medals in the 1948 London Olympics.
To my big surprise, Victoria “Vicki” Manalo-Draves, who died in 2010 at the age of 85, was half-Filipina and half-British.
If she represented the Philippines, we could have won our first gold medal after the World War II.
The highest that we have achieved, so far, were two silver medals courtesy of boxers Anthony Villanueva (1964 Tokyo Olympics) and Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco, Jr. (1996 Atlanta Olympics) and six bronze medals.
When Vicki was invited by President Elpidio Quirino in Malacañang in July 1949, she was feted like a Filipina Olympic champion, Lyle recalled.
It was the then 96-year-old Lyle himself who narrated the great exploits of his wife in an exclusive interview inside his unit in a retirement village in the City of Laguna Woods.
"My late wife was half-Filipina," Lyle volunteered.
RED CARPET
He accompanied Vicki in the Malacañang visit and they were given a red carpet welcome.
“We hardly had any sleep then,” mused Lyle, the first pure diving coach in history who produced three Olympic gold medalists: Vicki Manalo-Draves (1948 London Olympics), Pat McCormick (1952 Helsinki Olympics and 1956 Melbourne Olympics), and Sue Gossick (1968 Mexico Olympics).
“We were herded from one party to another like real celebrities and almost everybody recognized us, especially Vicki. Man, I can’t forget that moment.”
Husband and wife visited the Philippines a year after Vicki Manalo-Draves made history: she became the first woman in history to win the Platform and Springboard gold medals in the 1948 London Olympics.
“I was her coach and Vicki narrowly beat (fellow American) Zoe Ann Olsen for the gold in her last Springboard dive,” recalled Lyle, who was permanently enshrined in the International Swimming Hall of Fame at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida on May 12, 1989. “I replaced the regular coach, Fred Cady, who got sick and could not make it to the Olympics that year.”
Lyle said Vicki had been elected in the same highest sports pedestal in 1969.
PARK
On October 27, 2006, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom signed a proclamation naming a two-acre park as Victoria Manalo Draves Park in her honor on Folsom and Sherman streets in San Francisco where she was born.
Vicki's father was a Filipino musician from Orani, Bataan who migrated to San Francisco, California. Her mother was British Gertrude Taylor, also a migrant in the same state.
Lyle and Vicki have four sons – David, Jeffrey, Dale and Kim – all divers. They have eight grandchildren.
Prior to competing in the 1948 Olympics, Draves won five United States diving championships.
Draves turned professional after the Olympics, joining Larry Crosby’s “Rhapsody in Swimtime” aquatic show at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1948.
CANCER
When Vicki died on April 11, 2010 from complications of pancreatic cancer at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California, Lyle relocated to a plush retirement village at the Rushmore Towers in Laguna Woods, California where he has been living alone.
“I missed Vicki so much. But every night I talked to her,” sighed Lyle, who was partly deaf.
Lyle coached female divers to 12 Olympic medals and 35 National Championships. His Olympic silver medalists include Paula Jean Myers and Zoe Ann Olsen, each of whom took a bronze. His divers’ Olympic medal count reads 7 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze.
Lyle has been described as America’s first great diving coach beginning an era when diving coaches could specialize in divers and not coach swimmers too, or vice versa.
He was a Hollywood film editor and his showbiz background has helped his coaching or again, vice versa, since Lyle was diving in and then producing, top-rated diving water shows before he became a film editor.
An Iowa farm boy, Lyle met Fred Cady at a swimming meet in Iowa. Fred invited him to California where Lyle began coaching divers at the Lido Club at the famed Ambassador Hotel and at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
PUPIL
One of his first pupils was a 12-year-old girl named Zoe Ann Olsen. Next, they both moved to the Athens Athletic Club in Oakland where he met Vicki Manalo. He later married Vicki, who was given away by 1948 and 1952 platform winner Sammy Lee.
After the Olympics, Vicki and Lyle toured the United States and Europe with Buster Crabbe and Dick Smith.
He described the tours as “our great opportunity to travel as husband and wife since we have been traveling a lot together as coach and diver.”
Lyle returned to his coaching, first at tennis champion Jack Kramer’s Athletic Club and then at UCLA.
The Draves boys are Acapulco and World Champion high divers who have followed the showbiz side of their father’s heritage doing high and trick dives in such places as Magic Mountain, Sea World and Marineland.
Lyle described Fred Cady as “the most brilliant man” he ever met.
“He was the team coach during the 1936 (Berlin) Olympics and he was truly a great diving coach,” Lyle said.
The secret to success in coaching diving, Lyle emphasized, is “to follow Sir Isaac Newton and his third law of motion.”
He said, “Divers should know how to utilize the muscles inside their bodies by following the third law of motion.”
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- When I met former US Olympic coach Lyle Draves in California in 2011, I didn't know he was the husband of the first woman in history to win the Platform and Springboard gold medals in the 1948 London Olympics.
To my big surprise, Victoria “Vicki” Manalo-Draves, who died in 2010 at the age of 85, was half-Filipina and half-British.
If she represented the Philippines, we could have won our first gold medal after the World War II.
The highest that we have achieved, so far, were two silver medals courtesy of boxers Anthony Villanueva (1964 Tokyo Olympics) and Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco, Jr. (1996 Atlanta Olympics) and six bronze medals.
When Vicki was invited by President Elpidio Quirino in Malacañang in July 1949, she was feted like a Filipina Olympic champion, Lyle recalled.
It was the then 96-year-old Lyle himself who narrated the great exploits of his wife in an exclusive interview inside his unit in a retirement village in the City of Laguna Woods.
"My late wife was half-Filipina," Lyle volunteered.
RED CARPET
He accompanied Vicki in the Malacañang visit and they were given a red carpet welcome.
“We hardly had any sleep then,” mused Lyle, the first pure diving coach in history who produced three Olympic gold medalists: Vicki Manalo-Draves (1948 London Olympics), Pat McCormick (1952 Helsinki Olympics and 1956 Melbourne Olympics), and Sue Gossick (1968 Mexico Olympics).
“We were herded from one party to another like real celebrities and almost everybody recognized us, especially Vicki. Man, I can’t forget that moment.”
Husband and wife visited the Philippines a year after Vicki Manalo-Draves made history: she became the first woman in history to win the Platform and Springboard gold medals in the 1948 London Olympics.
“I was her coach and Vicki narrowly beat (fellow American) Zoe Ann Olsen for the gold in her last Springboard dive,” recalled Lyle, who was permanently enshrined in the International Swimming Hall of Fame at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida on May 12, 1989. “I replaced the regular coach, Fred Cady, who got sick and could not make it to the Olympics that year.”
Lyle said Vicki had been elected in the same highest sports pedestal in 1969.
PARK
On October 27, 2006, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom signed a proclamation naming a two-acre park as Victoria Manalo Draves Park in her honor on Folsom and Sherman streets in San Francisco where she was born.
Vicki's father was a Filipino musician from Orani, Bataan who migrated to San Francisco, California. Her mother was British Gertrude Taylor, also a migrant in the same state.
Lyle and Vicki have four sons – David, Jeffrey, Dale and Kim – all divers. They have eight grandchildren.
Prior to competing in the 1948 Olympics, Draves won five United States diving championships.
Draves turned professional after the Olympics, joining Larry Crosby’s “Rhapsody in Swimtime” aquatic show at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1948.
CANCER
When Vicki died on April 11, 2010 from complications of pancreatic cancer at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California, Lyle relocated to a plush retirement village at the Rushmore Towers in Laguna Woods, California where he has been living alone.
“I missed Vicki so much. But every night I talked to her,” sighed Lyle, who was partly deaf.
Lyle coached female divers to 12 Olympic medals and 35 National Championships. His Olympic silver medalists include Paula Jean Myers and Zoe Ann Olsen, each of whom took a bronze. His divers’ Olympic medal count reads 7 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze.
Lyle has been described as America’s first great diving coach beginning an era when diving coaches could specialize in divers and not coach swimmers too, or vice versa.
He was a Hollywood film editor and his showbiz background has helped his coaching or again, vice versa, since Lyle was diving in and then producing, top-rated diving water shows before he became a film editor.
An Iowa farm boy, Lyle met Fred Cady at a swimming meet in Iowa. Fred invited him to California where Lyle began coaching divers at the Lido Club at the famed Ambassador Hotel and at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
PUPIL
One of his first pupils was a 12-year-old girl named Zoe Ann Olsen. Next, they both moved to the Athens Athletic Club in Oakland where he met Vicki Manalo. He later married Vicki, who was given away by 1948 and 1952 platform winner Sammy Lee.
After the Olympics, Vicki and Lyle toured the United States and Europe with Buster Crabbe and Dick Smith.
He described the tours as “our great opportunity to travel as husband and wife since we have been traveling a lot together as coach and diver.”
Lyle returned to his coaching, first at tennis champion Jack Kramer’s Athletic Club and then at UCLA.
The Draves boys are Acapulco and World Champion high divers who have followed the showbiz side of their father’s heritage doing high and trick dives in such places as Magic Mountain, Sea World and Marineland.
Lyle described Fred Cady as “the most brilliant man” he ever met.
“He was the team coach during the 1936 (Berlin) Olympics and he was truly a great diving coach,” Lyle said.
The secret to success in coaching diving, Lyle emphasized, is “to follow Sir Isaac Newton and his third law of motion.”
He said, “Divers should know how to utilize the muscles inside their bodies by following the third law of motion.”
Monday, November 2, 2015
I saw Pheidippides
"A runner must run with dreams in his heart."- Emil Zatopek
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- I was on my way to quit when I saw Pheidippides.
Sunday at past 9'clock in the morning on November 1, I made a terrible faux pas: from the Grand Central Station, I took an upper east side-bound train and alighted on Manhattan's 51st Street.
I was supposed to get off on the 59th Street and walk on the left to the Fifth Avenue.
The mistake brought me to the 86th Street walking like a house on fire. That's where I realized I goofed.
I retreated on the 77th Street and turned left. I reached Central Park's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
I walked but stopped before reaching the Central Park North (110 Street).
Eureka, the area was a route of the 45th New York City Marathon, the reason why I was there.
I was supposed to proceed to the finish line at Central Park West thinking I was already late because of the long walk.
FOLLOW
I followed the route and stopped on the race's 24th mile hoping to salvage a glimpse of the runners on the wayside in case the awarding ceremony was unfolding.
A severe headache suddenly hit me brought by the park's chilly atmosphere and adrenaline rush. I rested under the park's colorful trees to savor the falling autumn leaves and took some "selfie" shots.
I was on the verge of abandoning the coverage of the NYC Marathon and was heading to the park's nearest exit when, all of a sudden, I saw three motorcycle-riding cops followed by two cars with sirens rolling up the hilly part of the route.
It was the lead pack for the distaff side. Kenya's Mary Keitany, 33, was heading to the finish line unchallenged.
She breasted the tape at 2:24:25.
Realizing I was in the right place at the right time and the race wasn't yet over as I feared earlier, I positioned myself near the 25th mile waiting for an ambush for the men's lead pack (away from the main streets, the area was perfect for media coverage).
LUCK
Lady luck smiled at me once more. I heard incoming sirens; this time, Kenya's world cross-country champion Geoffrey Kamworor was chasing compatriot Stanley Biwott, 29, in a nail-biting finale.
Biwott foiled Kamworor's last-ditch effort at 2:10:34.
I became emotional watching Biwott as he increased his speed and maked Kamworor eat the dust. It evoked memories of Pheidippides, who ran from Marathon to Athens to announce Greece’s victory in a battle against Persia in 490 B.C.
In history, we used to discuss marathon, the most dramatic event in the Olympics (because it is traditionally held in the penultimate day of the Olympic Games) and how it became a sports event in honor of the Greek soldier.
The defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece, and the Persian force retreated to Asia.
BATTLE
The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten; the eventual Greek triumph in these wars can be seen to begin at Marathon.
Meanwhile, interesting scenes stole the 2015 NYC limelight. Along the race route, through neighborhoods of brownstones, tenements and high-rises, revelers held signs, rang bells and called out to the runners with words of encouragement.
Live music also blared and some in the crowd, composed mostly of family members, still donned Halloween costumes.
Temperatures in the 50s and little wind provided almost ideal conditions for the race's 50,000 runners--a mix of amateurs, professionals, locals and visitors from across the country and around the world who dream of running the iconic race.
DISTANCE
It is commonly said that the full marathon distance was set to 26 miles 385 yards because of the Royal family, added the Ahotu Marathons.
During the preparation of the summer Olympiads, it had been agreed that the organizers would include a marathon of about 40 km or 25 miles.
The British officials, desirous to accommodate the King of England, started the race at Windsor Castle and finished at the Royal box in the Olympic Stadium--a distance of precisely 26 miles 385 yards.
But that only explains why the London marathon’s distance was 42. 195 km. It doesn’t tell us why this distance was chosen as the definitive marathon distance.
 |
| BIWOTT being chased by Kamworor in the 25th mile Photo by Alex P. Vidal |
NEW YORK CITY -- I was on my way to quit when I saw Pheidippides.
Sunday at past 9'clock in the morning on November 1, I made a terrible faux pas: from the Grand Central Station, I took an upper east side-bound train and alighted on Manhattan's 51st Street.
I was supposed to get off on the 59th Street and walk on the left to the Fifth Avenue.
The mistake brought me to the 86th Street walking like a house on fire. That's where I realized I goofed.
I retreated on the 77th Street and turned left. I reached Central Park's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
I walked but stopped before reaching the Central Park North (110 Street).
Eureka, the area was a route of the 45th New York City Marathon, the reason why I was there.
I was supposed to proceed to the finish line at Central Park West thinking I was already late because of the long walk.
FOLLOW
I followed the route and stopped on the race's 24th mile hoping to salvage a glimpse of the runners on the wayside in case the awarding ceremony was unfolding.
A severe headache suddenly hit me brought by the park's chilly atmosphere and adrenaline rush. I rested under the park's colorful trees to savor the falling autumn leaves and took some "selfie" shots.
I was on the verge of abandoning the coverage of the NYC Marathon and was heading to the park's nearest exit when, all of a sudden, I saw three motorcycle-riding cops followed by two cars with sirens rolling up the hilly part of the route.
It was the lead pack for the distaff side. Kenya's Mary Keitany, 33, was heading to the finish line unchallenged.
She breasted the tape at 2:24:25.
Realizing I was in the right place at the right time and the race wasn't yet over as I feared earlier, I positioned myself near the 25th mile waiting for an ambush for the men's lead pack (away from the main streets, the area was perfect for media coverage).
LUCK
Lady luck smiled at me once more. I heard incoming sirens; this time, Kenya's world cross-country champion Geoffrey Kamworor was chasing compatriot Stanley Biwott, 29, in a nail-biting finale.
Biwott foiled Kamworor's last-ditch effort at 2:10:34.
I became emotional watching Biwott as he increased his speed and maked Kamworor eat the dust. It evoked memories of Pheidippides, who ran from Marathon to Athens to announce Greece’s victory in a battle against Persia in 490 B.C.
In history, we used to discuss marathon, the most dramatic event in the Olympics (because it is traditionally held in the penultimate day of the Olympic Games) and how it became a sports event in honor of the Greek soldier.
The defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece, and the Persian force retreated to Asia.
BATTLE
The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten; the eventual Greek triumph in these wars can be seen to begin at Marathon.
Meanwhile, interesting scenes stole the 2015 NYC limelight. Along the race route, through neighborhoods of brownstones, tenements and high-rises, revelers held signs, rang bells and called out to the runners with words of encouragement.
Live music also blared and some in the crowd, composed mostly of family members, still donned Halloween costumes.
Temperatures in the 50s and little wind provided almost ideal conditions for the race's 50,000 runners--a mix of amateurs, professionals, locals and visitors from across the country and around the world who dream of running the iconic race.
DISTANCE
It is commonly said that the full marathon distance was set to 26 miles 385 yards because of the Royal family, added the Ahotu Marathons.
During the preparation of the summer Olympiads, it had been agreed that the organizers would include a marathon of about 40 km or 25 miles.
The British officials, desirous to accommodate the King of England, started the race at Windsor Castle and finished at the Royal box in the Olympic Stadium--a distance of precisely 26 miles 385 yards.
But that only explains why the London marathon’s distance was 42. 195 km. It doesn’t tell us why this distance was chosen as the definitive marathon distance.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Alex P. Vidal Quotes (Loyalty)
You give loyalty, you'll get it back. You give love, you'll get it back.
--TOMMY LASORDA :
Be a traitor and we'll get it back. Be hateful and we'll absorb what we are looking for. We reap what we sow. What comes up must come down. The soul's stable equilibrium constitutes our character.
--ALEX P. VIDAL
Alex P. Vidal Quotes (Loyalty)
What I value most in my friends is loyalty.
--DAVID MAMET :
--DAVID MAMET :
Without loyalty in any relationship, everything else is “plastikan” game, a circus of character hooliganism and first-class hypocrisy.
--ALEX P. VIDAL
--ALEX P. VIDAL
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Kune Salinas, victim of a corrupt system
"If it's never our fault, we can't take responsibility for it. If we can't take responsibility for it, we'll always be its victim." Richard Bach
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- We don't fault Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales for unveiling the guillotine on 19 Philippine National Police (PNP) officials over the anomalous purchase of coastal boats in 2009.
She did a good job.
Aside from dismissal from service, the crooks should have been sent to jail.
The P4.54-million police coastal craft procurement scam was another blot in the image of the PNP organization and heads should definitely roll.
Kudos to the Office of the Ombudsman.
But while we extol the Ombudman's performance, we can't help but commiserate with the other sacked PNP officials who may have been innocent in the scandal.
Like Senior Superintendent Cornelio "Kune" Salinas, director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO).
IMPLICATE
Spotless in 31 years of service, Salinas was implicated for being a member of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC).
He was also the chief of the PNP Maritime Group’s Operations Management at the time of the boats' procurement.
When the defective boats were delivered, Salinas was no longer with the Maritime Group as he was already transferred to the Police Regional Office 6.
He later learned that the Maritime Group did not accept the substandard boats when delivered by the supplier, Four Petals Trading.
The trouble was the Inspection and Acceptance Committee of the PNP’s Logistics Support Services (IAC-LSS) under Superintendent Job Marasigan issued a certificate of acceptance and paid the supplier.
Salinas swore he did not steal a single centavo from the transaction, but neither denied nor confirmed that some PNP officials indeed made money.
'GOOD GUY'
According to Gov. Arthur "Art" Defensor Sr., Salinas is a "good guy." He was not referring, of course, to Salinas' role in the boat brouhaha, but on his overall performance as a police official serving the Iloilo province.
Based on Salinas' emotional narration of facts to members of media recently and the circumstances that developed leading to the boats' procurement, he could be innocent.
Salinas could be a victim of a corrupt system in the procurement process involving government properties where membership in the BAC can lead to the abyss even if he didn't dip his finger in the cookie jar.
Was it possible that when Ombudsman Morales meted the "severe" penalty, which included the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from reemployment in the government service, forfeiture of retirement benefits and cancellation of civil service eligibility, she failed to separate the chaffs from the grains?
ROTTEN
Were the good guys lumped with the organization's rotten apples under the principle of "an act of one is an act of all"?
In trying to slay the dragon of corruption, the Ombudsman probably wanted to eliminate both its head and body to ensure a total victory.
Salinas and other BAC members probably became accidental villains by virtue of their presence in the dragon's intestines.
We wish Colonel Salinas the best of luck as he tries to weather the storm by seeking for a Temporary Retraining Order (TRO) before the Court of Appeals and for filing a Motion for Reconsideration (MR).
If he is really pristine, as the saying goes, no one can put a good man down.
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- We don't fault Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales for unveiling the guillotine on 19 Philippine National Police (PNP) officials over the anomalous purchase of coastal boats in 2009.
She did a good job.
Aside from dismissal from service, the crooks should have been sent to jail.
The P4.54-million police coastal craft procurement scam was another blot in the image of the PNP organization and heads should definitely roll.
Kudos to the Office of the Ombudsman.
But while we extol the Ombudman's performance, we can't help but commiserate with the other sacked PNP officials who may have been innocent in the scandal.
Like Senior Superintendent Cornelio "Kune" Salinas, director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO).
IMPLICATE
Spotless in 31 years of service, Salinas was implicated for being a member of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC).
He was also the chief of the PNP Maritime Group’s Operations Management at the time of the boats' procurement.
When the defective boats were delivered, Salinas was no longer with the Maritime Group as he was already transferred to the Police Regional Office 6.
He later learned that the Maritime Group did not accept the substandard boats when delivered by the supplier, Four Petals Trading.
The trouble was the Inspection and Acceptance Committee of the PNP’s Logistics Support Services (IAC-LSS) under Superintendent Job Marasigan issued a certificate of acceptance and paid the supplier.
Salinas swore he did not steal a single centavo from the transaction, but neither denied nor confirmed that some PNP officials indeed made money.
'GOOD GUY'
According to Gov. Arthur "Art" Defensor Sr., Salinas is a "good guy." He was not referring, of course, to Salinas' role in the boat brouhaha, but on his overall performance as a police official serving the Iloilo province.
Based on Salinas' emotional narration of facts to members of media recently and the circumstances that developed leading to the boats' procurement, he could be innocent.
Salinas could be a victim of a corrupt system in the procurement process involving government properties where membership in the BAC can lead to the abyss even if he didn't dip his finger in the cookie jar.
Was it possible that when Ombudsman Morales meted the "severe" penalty, which included the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from reemployment in the government service, forfeiture of retirement benefits and cancellation of civil service eligibility, she failed to separate the chaffs from the grains?
ROTTEN
Were the good guys lumped with the organization's rotten apples under the principle of "an act of one is an act of all"?
In trying to slay the dragon of corruption, the Ombudsman probably wanted to eliminate both its head and body to ensure a total victory.
Salinas and other BAC members probably became accidental villains by virtue of their presence in the dragon's intestines.
We wish Colonel Salinas the best of luck as he tries to weather the storm by seeking for a Temporary Retraining Order (TRO) before the Court of Appeals and for filing a Motion for Reconsideration (MR).
If he is really pristine, as the saying goes, no one can put a good man down.
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