I love you, New York City Marathon

"The marathon can humble you."
--Bill Rodgers

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- My coverage of the 47th New York City Marathon on November 5 was the most thrilling.
I became a sports journalist and spectator rolled into one.
As soon as I saw Shalane Flanagan emerge in the lead pack escorted by two motorcycles and a Ford vehicle carrying a flashing time (2:20:34) in the Central Park's Fifth Avenue,  I yelled.
The itch to cheer the runners as they were about to complete the 42.195-kilometer race was irresistible for someone who witnessed the tight race as it happened. 

KAMWOROR being chased by Kipsang.

Seeing the runners being egged and cheered by the crowd evoked past memories when I myself was running in the Nike and Milo Marathons in the Philippines in the 80's.
I chose that area, some 800 meters away from the finish line, because it's a picture-perfect camera ambush, and  because only a handful of fans were comfortable or brave enough to wait in that isolated route.

LEAD

I was surprised to see a Caucasian leading the women's race alone. In the past when I covered the same event on the same spot, I saw African runners dominate the distaff side.
The white lady turned out to be Flanagan, who became the first American to win the race at 2:26:53 since Miki Gorman accomplished the feat in 1977.
Flanagan bested three-time champion and recent London Marathon champion Mary Keitany of Kenya by a minute (2:27:54). 

FLANAGAN 

Using a Samsung Galaxy S6 edge cellphone camera, I captured Flanagan, Keitany, Ethiopia’s Mamitu Daska (2:28:08) as they struggled and barreled their way to the final 800 meters of the biggest and most prestigious marathon on earth. 
What made the race so special was Flanagan, who crossed the finish line crying and yelling, ended United States' drought in the New York City Marathon.
Rounding out the women's top 10 were: Edna Kiplagat (2:29:36), Allie Kieffer (2:29:39), Sara Dossena (2:29:39), Eva Vrabcova (2:29:41), Kellyn Taylor (2:29:56), Diane Nukuri (2:31:21) and Stephanie Bruce (2:31:44).

VICTORY

Flanagan's victory was big. She foiled Keitany's attempt to equal the record of Grete Waitz to become the second woman to win the New York City Marathon four times.
It came five days after the bike path terror attack in Lower Manhattan killed eight and raised questions about security for Sunday's event.
That hit home for Flanagan, a Massachusetts native who completed the 2013 Boston Marathon shortly before a bomb went off at the finish line, killing three and wounding more than 260 others.
The men's category also pulled a lot of drama. When the lead pack arrived on the area where I positioned myself, Kenya's Geoffrey Kamworor was in front being chased by countryman Wilson Kipsang.
In a mad dash to the finish, Kamworor held off Kipsang by three seconds. He logged 2:10:53 against Kipsang's 2:10:56. Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa finished third at 2:11:32.
Rounnding out the men's top 10 were: Lemi Berhanu (2:11:52), Tadesse Abraham (2:12:01), Michel Butter (2:12:39), Abdi Abdirahman (2:12:48), Koen Naert (2:13:21), Fikadu Girma Teferi (2:13:58) and Shadrack Biwott (2:14:57)
It was one of the smallest margins in the New York City Marathon's history, it was learned.

My opinion is not for sale

"I love argument, I love debate. I don't expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that's not their job."
-- Margaret Thatcher

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- If Atty. Leopoldo "Pol" de Junco can't prove that I have been paid to defend "dismissed" Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog from false allegations that the mayor is a narco-politician, and the mayor enriched himself by stealing the taxpayers' money, he will be in trouble legally.
Not only that.
I can also challenge Atty. De Junco to a public debate at the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand or in any public place of his choice on his fallacy about me as a journalist.
If he can't produce any documentary, circumstancial, or even testimonial evidence to back his fantabulous lies, that's his big problem.
As an independent journalist, my views and ideas are not for sale. My opinion is not biased. They are based on truth, justice, and strong convictions.
I am not beholden to any interest. This explains why I can criticize any public official constructively and look at them straight in the eyes.
We may also resolve during the debate that Mabilog, who was recently ousted (the decision is under appeal) by the Ombudsman, is a corrupt public official as what his detractors are trying to portray him.
Mabilog did not enrich himself by stealing the taxpayers' money. The Ombudsman's decision was based on Mabilog's Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN), not because he benefitted from ghost projects or rigged public biddings.
He and wife, Marivic, were already millionaires even before Mabilog was elected first in 2004 as city councilor. Marivic lived a simple life like an ordinary housewife thus no one would notice that she's moneyed. She never bragged about their family's wealth.
Freeman Ganzon, one of the sons of the late Sentor Rodolfo "Roding" Ganzon that I respect most, once told me that when Mabilog was planning to run for city mayor in 2010, "he had US$2 million in the war chest," whatever that means.
Nobody confirmed Mr. Ganzon's statement, but I always believed in the integrity of this man, one of the most controversial characters during the reign of Senator Ganzon as city mayor in thr early 90's.
Freeman Ganzon, a very approachable and amiable man, is the brother of Iloilo City Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon. 
Accept this challenge, Atty. Junco, and I won't call you a joker and coward; I won't call you a "shame in the law profession" (for being a liar).

-o0o-

By the time this article comes out, I may have completed my coverage of the 47th New York Marathon on November 5, 2017.
I am one of those who pledged to unite with those involved in the most prestigious and biggest 42.195-kilometer race in the universe.
The more than 50,000 runners who kicked off their 26.2-mile journey through the Big Apple's five boroughs have vowed to show a united act of defiance, strength, and unity after the recent terror attack that killed eight people in the Lower Manhattan.
The marathon was witnessed by 2.5 million spectators even as security was increased beyond the already-high levels typical for these types of mammoth events.
More sand trucks and block vehicles were added along the course.
Additional counter sniper teams, heavy weapos teams, aviation units helped scanned the rooftops, while plaincloths officers mixed in with the cheering crowd.

8 killed in Manhattan terror attack

https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-least-6-die-in-lower-manhattan-incident-1509483701

NEW YORK CITY -- Police said people were killed while dozens were injured when a lone suspect mowed down bikers and pedestrians Tuesday (October 31, 2017) afternoon.

The driver shouted “God is great” in Arabic when he got out of his truck and was confronted by police, a law-enforcement official said.

Officials called it a “cowardly act of terror,” the deadliest attack in New York City since Sept. 11, 2001.

How I met Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog

"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

NEW YORK CITY -- I first met Dr. Jed Patrick Mabilog in the early part of  2003 when he was introduced to me by Councilor Armand Parcon, my kumpare and former media colleague, in the ground floor coffeeshop of Robinson's Mall in Iloilo City.
I was standing when Parcon approached me and quipped, "Pre, I would like to introduce my friend, Jed Patrick Mabilog. He is from Molo (district). He can be a good material for city councilor. Let's help him."
Behind Parcon was a neatly dressed and pompadoured man with a soft voice. "Hi, kumusta? Ako gali si Jed (Hi, how are you? My name is Jed)," he enthused. We shook hands and talked briefly.
I was then active with the World Boxing Foundation (WBF) thus I wasn't able to fulfill Councilor Parcon's request for his friend other than asking my family to vote for Mabilog for city councilor.

FOUNDATION

It became moot and academic though as Mabilog, big boss of HALIGI Foundation, ran and won for city councilor in the general elections the following year, May 10, 2004.
From 2004 until 2007 when Mabilog completed his term in the city council, we never met again.
Our second meeting was in the candidates forum sponsored by Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo during the campaign period for the May 14, 2007 general elections.
I was one of the moderators in a "live" debate between vice mayoral candidates Jed Patrick Mabilog and Winston Porras, former chief of staff of Vice Mayor Victor Facultad.
Brilliant and quick-witted, Mabilog routed Porras, who happened to be my friend way back in the 90's when Porras was legislative staff of then Councilor Victor Facultad and I was writing speeches for the late Councilor Eduardo Laczi and then Councilor Jose "Joe III" Espinosa III (now the new Iloilo City mayor).
From 2007 until 2010 when Mabilog finished his term as vice mayor, I never met him again since that "live" radio debate.
Months before the May 10, 2010 elections, Mabilog, who became my Facebook friend, asked my opinion in a private message about his plan to run for city mayor against then Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez.

RECEIVE

I received Mabilog's message while I was in Vancouver. I was totally unaware of what was going on in Philippine politics; I monitored only the news on the Internet.
The late Secretary Gonzalez and I never had a spat even if he sued our former colleague in Sun.Star, Nelson Robles, for "unjust vexation" over a series of blind items in 1996 when Gonzalez was congressman in the city's lone district.
I answered Mabilog in the affirmative even if I doubted his chances against Iloilo City's hitherto political Goliath, famous for tormenting his adversaries with the nerve-tingling "I will make life difficult for you" remark.
I missed the Mabilog-Gonzalez rivalry as a media practitioner; I missed the biggest election upset in the history of Iloilo City: underdog Mabilog clobbered the most powerful cabinet official of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo by a big margin.
Mabilog closed the Facebook account he was using before being elected as Iloilo City mayor (he opened another FB accounts thereafter), thus I couldn't send a message to congratulate David.

YEARS

During the years that Mabilog was mayor for three consecutive terms until his "dismissal" recently, I was most of the time outside the Philippines.
I am probably the only Iloilo journalist who has never set foot in the new Iloilo City Hall until today (I was president of the Iloilo City Hall Press Corps for two terms--1998-1999 during the time of Mayor Mansueto Malabor).
I finally met Mabilog again and sat beside him in the cable TV show hosted by Vicente "Danny Baby" Foz at Buto't Balat Restaurant in Iloilo City three days before the May 13, 2013 elections when I was in the Philippines.
It was the height of Mabilog's quarrel with former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada, the man who filed the case against the city mayor in the Ombudsman that resulted in his ouster.
It was only our third physical meeting since the day Councilor Parcon introduced me to the man who would become the most abused and most harassed city mayor in the world.
I will probably meet Mabilog, an innocent man and great Ilonggo leader, again when he become congressman in 2019.

Joe III's 'benefit' from Mabilog's ouster

"Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."
--Mao Zedong

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Political enemies of "dismissed" Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog have been warned that the latter's "early" exit from the city hall may not be favorable if they aspire to run for Mabilog's position in 2019.
If Mabilog is ousted this early, his political enemies can no longer take potshots at Mabilog's faults--real or imagined.
There will be no more "Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog" who will absorb their brickbats and admonishment.
As challengers, they need someone in power to blame for every mess in government. Someone in power must look bad so that the challengers will look good. Politics 101.
One sure way to score pogi points to the electorate.
In order to gain momentum and stay afloat in the scramble for publicity, politicians must squabble. Every animosity becomes news. Every news is publicity.
Publicity quickly helps the ascension of any aspiring politician to power.

NOISE

To stay in the possible winning column, politicians or aspiring candidates, for that matter, must make a noise--a lot of noise; in fact, if the elections are decided through name-recall like the Philippines' decrepit system.
In Mabilog's absence, they will have no choice but aim their guns at the accidental villain, acting Mayor Jose "Joe III" Espinosa III.
Challengers need to stir the hornet's nest and act like do-gooders from time to time to get public attention.
But what if Joe III will reign like Marcus Aurelius and herald Iloilo City to its own version of Pax Romana?
What if Joe III will help catapult Iloilo City in the totem pole of greatness in the remaining 19 months (granting that Mabilog can't secure a Temporary Restraining Order from the Court of Appeals against the Ombudsman's decision to dismiss him) as acting city mayor?

SIGNS

At this early, Joe III has been showing exhilarating signs of infallibility.
He now talks less and his best press releases have become his own performances and increasing public visibility.
Joe III, a shoo-in candidate in 2019, has refused to say a word about Mabilog's predicament like his chief political Maharishi, Rep. Jerry P. Trenas.
Like a stoic, Joe III is on a roll and manages the affairs of the city from the board room to the villages' inner purlieus.
If they bash fizzy Joe III merely to attract media attention, the electorate will easily get the message right: the bashers are going gung-ho at all costs to malign a performer.
Everything will boomerang.
Instead of sending a fresh face to the city mayor's office in 2019, they will have to agonize watching Joe III being given a fresh and unadulterated mandate as newly elected city mayor.

Mabilog can still win the political 'championship'

"To err is human. To blame someone else is politics."
--Hubert H. Humphrey

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- I will bet my last centavo.
Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog will wrap up the political "championship" after the smoke has been cleared.
The latest Ombudsman verdict dismissing him "for failing to explain an increase in his wealth of nearly P9 million within a year" could not be considered yet as a KO defeat.
Since it can still be appealed (and there are strong chances it will be reversed if not nipped in the bud by the higher courts), it could be treated only as a knockdown.
In boxing, Mabilog had been knocked down; but he was not knocked out!
If he can survive the mandatory eight count, blooded and bruised Mabilog can still pummel his foe like Joe Louis, who reversed the KO lost to Max Schmeling in a brutal world heavyweight championship revenge in 1938.

FORFEIT

The Russians have written off Bobby Fischer when the American genius forfeited his first two games in favor of defending world chess champion Borris Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972.
An edge of two points in a chess title clash was considered then as "quivalent to wrapping up the title."
Alas, when the smoke was cleared, Fischer toppled Spassky, 12.5-8.5, and ended the era of Russian dominance in chess.
In throwing the books on Mabilog, graft investigator Rachel Cariaga-Farila stressed, to wit: “Simply, his (Mabilog) failure to properly account or explain his sources of income establishes the presence of malicious intent to conceal the truth, causing grave prejudice to the government in the amount of P8,981,082.52,” read part of the Ombudsman decision.
“Hence, respondent is found guilty of serious dishonesty and meted the supreme penalty of dismissal from the service, pursuant to Rule 10, Section 46 (A) of the Revised Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service."
Take note that Mabilog's fault was his "failure" to account for the increase of his wealth.
It's a technical matter that should be tackled by his legal team led by spokesman, Atty. Mark Piad, during the appeal.

EVIDENCE

His "guilt" was not based on overwhelming evidence of actual "stealing" of taxpayers money like in the case of certain fraudulent government projects were taxpayers' money was deliberately stolen by corrupt public officials through rigged biddings, substandard deliveries, ghost projects, and under-the-table deals.
In other words, there's no solid proof showing that Mabilog enriched himself in office by stealing the people's money.
There's wisdom in the judicial process though, and it's too premature to write off Mabilog politically.
He could still survive this legal setback if he goes to the Court of Appeals and, if necessary, in the Supreme Court.
Mabilog can still bounce back from a series of misfortunes that recently turned his world upside down, and spring back to political life with a fire and brimstone like Achilles, who killed Trojan hero Hector outside the gates of Troy, before being shot in the heel by Paris.
Sympathetic Ilonggos who have seen him and his family agonize over trumped up charges and false allegations these past months will have the final say during election time.
Never underestimate a wounded tiger.

FAULT

We don't fault the Ombudsman. We don't fault former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada for filing the complaint against Mabilog in the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman was only doing its job. Mejorada, like any Filipino citizen, has the right to file a complaint against any public official.
Every public servant, including Mabilog, should be open to formal complaints in relation to his job as a public official; and undergo the legal process like the one undertaken by Ombudsman on Mabilog or any elected and appointed public official in the Philippines for that matter.
We have the court to decide on the matter.
This is how democracy works.

911 call makes Fil-Am poll looks like carnival of thugs

"In war, truth is the first casualty."
--AESCHYLUS

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Was the 911 call necessary?
When feuding officials of the Philippine Independence Day Parade, Inc. (PIDCI) could not agree on who should be hustled off and who should remain in the polling place, there was no need to call the cops and interrupt the proceedings.
Those involved in the election of PIDCI's new set of officers on October 7 were adults and professionals, not kindergarten pupils, thieves, thugs, pagans or nincompoops.
In the first place, why proceed with the election if there was a fundamental flaw in the system: the unmatched and squalid membership list?
And was the 911 call not an insult on the authority of Philippine Consul-General and PIDCI honorary chair Tess Dizon-De Vega, the highest Philippine official in th event?

AUTHORITY

Dizon-De Vega was in full command and authority over anyone else present; and the police had no business to gatecrash an affair participated by consulate personnel unless their services or help were solicited like what a losing candidate for the board did when he dialed 911 after the Comelec had ordered a membership watchman ejected from the polling venue.
The cops could only interfere if somebody had been mugged or manhandled; if someone had collapsed as a result of an act of violence, ailment, or natural calamity.
We dial 911 if there are near-death crises--flood, fire, hostage-taking incident, vehicular mishap, collapsed building, among other violent scenarios.
Not because one party in an election did not agree with its rivals in assignment of personnel; not because an alleged election fraud was taking place.

DIAL

When we dial 911, so many people are caught flat-footed, piqued in suspended terror, and are inconvenienced.
Drivers and commuters are delayed in a traffic jam; ambulance, patrol car, and a firetruck wheeze off frighteningly in busy intersections like a whirlwind, risking the life and limbs of everyone in the vicinity.
Only to find out when they arrived that a punk had been ousted from the election venue after emotions skyrocketed.
No blood. No injury. No fatality. Only forlorn faces of hot heads and disgruntled lackeys.
That 911 call was uncalled for and unnecessary.
It made the PIDCI election look like an assembly of hooligans or a carnival of thugs.