An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.
-- BUDDHA :
A false friend is worse than the devil. The devil is a known enemy who will lure us to hell. A false friend is an enemy who falsifies a friendship in order to give us hell.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Monday, January 8, 2018
Saturday, January 6, 2018
I salute Rep. Treñas
"A clear and innocent conscience fears nothing."
--Elizabeth I
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Even if he did not benefit a single centavo but was unceremoniously "punished" for doing what he thought was the right thing to do, Iloilo City lone district Rep. Jerry P. Treñas gamely faced the ax and did not contest the unjust 90-day preventive suspension meted by the Sandiganbayan.
Treñas was Iloilo City mayor when he ordered the release of Senator Loren Legarda's priority development assistance fund (PDAF) worth P500,000 for the construction of the Iloilo Press Club (IPC) building in Molo district more than 15 years ago.
Under the law, Legarda could not release the money direct to the IPC being a private organization, thus it was sent through the city hall as intermediary local government agency.
As soon as the fund was available and when the IPC sought Treñas' help, he ordered the release of the money in full amount.
For helping both Legarda in particular, and the IPC in general, Treñas ended up in hot water.
In Tagalog parlance, siya ang bahala, siya pa ang naging kawawa. In Hiligaynon, siya pa ang nag bulig, siya pa ang nalinti-ian.
-o0o-
To his shock and horror, Treñas found himself a recipient of the Ombudsman case filed before the Sandiganbayan.
His crime?
Treñas supposedly gave “unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference” to the IPC “which was not an accredited non-government organization (NGO) of the city.”
He also allegedly violated Commission on Audit’s Circular No. 96-003 for "failure to monitor the implementation of the project and failure to require fund liquidation."
Here's another case of a good and decent public official being canned not because he stole the taxpayers' money, but because he overlooked certain technicalities when he issued a clean edict.
Amid all the hullabaloo on the issue, we never heard Treñas complain against this clear injustice done against him.
As a lawyer, the congressman wanted to deal the issue in a legal manner sans banter and blunderbuss.
Because his conscience is clear, Treñas elected to face the charges like Sir Thomas More, who, after reciting the Miserere while kneeling before his execution by beheading in 1872, rose up merrily, kissed the man who was about to decapitate him, and gave him forgiveness.
He never demanded from the IPC in public to "hey guys, enough of your silence. Liquidate Sen. Legarda's P500,000 and save me from hell."
--Elizabeth I
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Even if he did not benefit a single centavo but was unceremoniously "punished" for doing what he thought was the right thing to do, Iloilo City lone district Rep. Jerry P. Treñas gamely faced the ax and did not contest the unjust 90-day preventive suspension meted by the Sandiganbayan.
Treñas was Iloilo City mayor when he ordered the release of Senator Loren Legarda's priority development assistance fund (PDAF) worth P500,000 for the construction of the Iloilo Press Club (IPC) building in Molo district more than 15 years ago.
Under the law, Legarda could not release the money direct to the IPC being a private organization, thus it was sent through the city hall as intermediary local government agency.
As soon as the fund was available and when the IPC sought Treñas' help, he ordered the release of the money in full amount.
For helping both Legarda in particular, and the IPC in general, Treñas ended up in hot water.
In Tagalog parlance, siya ang bahala, siya pa ang naging kawawa. In Hiligaynon, siya pa ang nag bulig, siya pa ang nalinti-ian.
-o0o-
To his shock and horror, Treñas found himself a recipient of the Ombudsman case filed before the Sandiganbayan.
His crime?
Treñas supposedly gave “unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference” to the IPC “which was not an accredited non-government organization (NGO) of the city.”
He also allegedly violated Commission on Audit’s Circular No. 96-003 for "failure to monitor the implementation of the project and failure to require fund liquidation."
Here's another case of a good and decent public official being canned not because he stole the taxpayers' money, but because he overlooked certain technicalities when he issued a clean edict.
Amid all the hullabaloo on the issue, we never heard Treñas complain against this clear injustice done against him.
As a lawyer, the congressman wanted to deal the issue in a legal manner sans banter and blunderbuss.
Because his conscience is clear, Treñas elected to face the charges like Sir Thomas More, who, after reciting the Miserere while kneeling before his execution by beheading in 1872, rose up merrily, kissed the man who was about to decapitate him, and gave him forgiveness.
He never demanded from the IPC in public to "hey guys, enough of your silence. Liquidate Sen. Legarda's P500,000 and save me from hell."
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Pangasinan chess wizard tops Las Vegas blitz tournament
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- A 22-year-old chess wizard from Calasiao, Pangasinan in the Philippines stole the limelight from the major section by topping the 27th Annual North American Open Under 1900 blitz held at Bally's Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada from December 26-30, 2017.
Benchly "Benz" Buccat (1851), now based in Queens, New York, shared the title with Arizona's Langston Tillman (1854) with 8.5 points each in a double-match five-round tournament organized by the Continental Chess Association (CCA).
A former crew of Dunkin Donuts, Buccat emerged unbeaten like Tillman. They collected $300 each.
It was Buccat's second major title after clinching the 11th Fairfield County Open (Under 1400) in Connecticut on November 18, 2017.
Buccat, who represented New York in the 3rd Annual Choir and Teatro Music Festival in the locale of Chicago in 2015, finished 55th in the 129-player regular Under 1900 tournament with 3.5 points, while Tillamn wound up 13th with 5 points.
BLITZ
In the blitz section, Buccat toppled Utah's George Charlier (1592), 2-0, in the first round, followed by a similar 2-0 thrashing of Matthew Mille Coy (1727) and Zak Cancio (1807), both of Arizona, respectively, in the second and third round.
Nevada's Ishan Saran (1807) slowed Buccat down in the fourth round with two draws in two matches.
Matinee idol-looking Buccat, a mainstay of the dreaded Queens chess hub, Mansion, edged Aditya Raninca (1780) in the final round, one win and one draw in two matches to secure the top spot with Tillman.
Grand Master Robert L. Hess (2568) won the major section in the regular tournament with seven points in a share with four others -- GM Samuel Sevian (2614), GM Ruifeng Li (2569), IM Dionisio Aldama (2403), and GM Arun Prasad Subramanian (2490).
Caifornia's Ehsa Ghaemmaghami (2686) and Connecticut's Hans Niemann (2404) also shared first place with 8.5 points apiece in the blitz open section for $400 each.
NEW YORK CITY -- A 22-year-old chess wizard from Calasiao, Pangasinan in the Philippines stole the limelight from the major section by topping the 27th Annual North American Open Under 1900 blitz held at Bally's Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada from December 26-30, 2017.
 |
| BENZ BUCCAT |
A former crew of Dunkin Donuts, Buccat emerged unbeaten like Tillman. They collected $300 each.
It was Buccat's second major title after clinching the 11th Fairfield County Open (Under 1400) in Connecticut on November 18, 2017.
Buccat, who represented New York in the 3rd Annual Choir and Teatro Music Festival in the locale of Chicago in 2015, finished 55th in the 129-player regular Under 1900 tournament with 3.5 points, while Tillamn wound up 13th with 5 points.
BLITZ
In the blitz section, Buccat toppled Utah's George Charlier (1592), 2-0, in the first round, followed by a similar 2-0 thrashing of Matthew Mille Coy (1727) and Zak Cancio (1807), both of Arizona, respectively, in the second and third round.
Nevada's Ishan Saran (1807) slowed Buccat down in the fourth round with two draws in two matches.
Matinee idol-looking Buccat, a mainstay of the dreaded Queens chess hub, Mansion, edged Aditya Raninca (1780) in the final round, one win and one draw in two matches to secure the top spot with Tillman.
Grand Master Robert L. Hess (2568) won the major section in the regular tournament with seven points in a share with four others -- GM Samuel Sevian (2614), GM Ruifeng Li (2569), IM Dionisio Aldama (2403), and GM Arun Prasad Subramanian (2490).
Caifornia's Ehsa Ghaemmaghami (2686) and Connecticut's Hans Niemann (2404) also shared first place with 8.5 points apiece in the blitz open section for $400 each.
Monday, January 1, 2018
"ANDRES BONIFACIO DAY" in Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada Acting Mayor Heather Deal presents to Alex P. Vidal, then editor of the Philippine Asian News based in Surrey, British Columbia, the Official (Original Copy with Seal) Proclamation signed by City Mayor Greg Robertson declaring 30th of November each year as "Andres Bonifacio Day" in The City of Vancouver during a Filipino-Canadian New Era Society event in Vancouver.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Alex P. Vidal Quotes (Hate, Forget)
If you want to forget something or someone, never hate it, or never hate him/her. Everything and everyone that you hate is engraved upon your heart; if you want to let go of something, if you want to forget, you cannot hate.
―C. JOYBELL C :
The more we hate, the more we retain some of our egregious memories. The salient portions of our past could be blessings in disguise and should be dispatched with utmost reverence and gratitude. The more we forget, the fastest the emotional attachment will simmer down. And we begin to move on and reinvent ourselves.
--ALEX P. VIDAL
―C. JOYBELL C :
The more we hate, the more we retain some of our egregious memories. The salient portions of our past could be blessings in disguise and should be dispatched with utmost reverence and gratitude. The more we forget, the fastest the emotional attachment will simmer down. And we begin to move on and reinvent ourselves.
--ALEX P. VIDAL
Alex P. Vidal Quotes (Bad Company, Alone)
It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.
-- GEORGE WASHINGTON :
By all means, we must avoid and detest a bad company in order to preserve our inner peace and protect our soul from distraction and vexation. If it would mean isolation from the madding crowd, no regrets.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
-- GEORGE WASHINGTON :
By all means, we must avoid and detest a bad company in order to preserve our inner peace and protect our soul from distraction and vexation. If it would mean isolation from the madding crowd, no regrets.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Alex P. Vidal Quotes (Friendship)
Few friendships would survive if each one knew what his friend says of him behind his back.
— BLAISE PASCAL :
We think only enemies are capable of stabbing us while we aren't looking and listening? Blows from known enemies come in the front; blows from some of our "good" and "best" friends are delivered in the back.
— ALEX P. VIDAL
— BLAISE PASCAL :
We think only enemies are capable of stabbing us while we aren't looking and listening? Blows from known enemies come in the front; blows from some of our "good" and "best" friends are delivered in the back.
— ALEX P. VIDAL
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)