Let’s change our habits before it’s too late

“You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer.”

—Thich Nhat Hanh

By Alex P. Vidal

IS nature trying to send us a message that we must wake up and change our attitude toward the environment?

Some experts are saying that if we don’t know how to read the handwritings on the wall, “we must brace for more natural calamities” after the eruption of Taal volcano in the start of 2020 as we had been reportedly warned repeatedly not to harm our environment. God forbid.

These calamities may be in the form of super storms and flash floods which have been experienced even by highly industrialized countries in Asia and other economically robust countries in the west these past 10 years with horrific results.

It was Sir Francis Bacon who exhorted us to obey our nature if we wish to command it.

By obeying, it doesn’t mean we will not enjoy from its wealth.

By commanding, it doesn’t mean we will destroy it.

The laws of nature definitely are in consonance with our existence, thus there is no need to exploit and ravage nature for our whims and caprices.

There is no need to rape the environment for our own irrational selfishness and greed.

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The following are some of the ways in which man has upset nature’s balance and reduced our supplies of natural wealth:

1. Destruction of vast forest areas. Enormous quantities of lumber were taken from our forests for buildings, furniture, fuel, and other useful purposes.

But because of the apparent abundance of forests, lumbering practices were very wasteful. Little heed was given to the replanting of trees to keep our forests producing for the future.

2. Destruction of wild life. When forests are cut away, the homes of countless animals are destroyed, and these animals die.

The balance of nature has been upset at a vital point, and entire species may vanish as a result.

Added to this is the effect of needless trapping and shooting of animals for sport.

Examples of species made extinct or nearly extinct by man most particularly in America are: American bison (buffalo), antelope, passenger pigeon.

3. Reckless use of farm lands. Nature’s orderly processes keep soils permanently fertile.

But when man’s sole interest is to extract the maximum crop from his farm each year, regardless of the consequences, the soil soon loses its essential minerals and cannot support plant life at all. The soil, moreover, loosened and laid bare by the planting and harvesting of a single crop, and the wind and the rain easily carry it away.

4. Overgrazing of pasture lands. Sheep- and cattle-raisers, through lack of planning and foresight, have pastured their animals on the same land year after year.

Here, too, the result has been to lay bare the soil, so that it falls victim to erosion.

5. Pollution of streams. The dumping of sewage and industrial wastes into streams and rivers makes these waters unhealthy for water life.

The result is the destruction of large numbers of fish, oysters, and other valuable organisms.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Ilonggos always quick to extend help

“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”

—William Shakespeare

By Alex P. Vidal

WHEN Iloilo was hit by calamities like the super typhoons “Yolanda” and recently “Ursula”, assistance came pouring in from other regions and provinces in the Philippines.

Because the world was watching, foreign assistance followed suit. 

Although the damages on agriculture and infrastructure were sometimes grotesque, the LGUs and the sectors directly affected could quickly bounce back to normal life because of the concern and empathy of those Good Samaritans—institutions and individuals.

Ilonggos have been both blessed and resilient that they were able to survive some of the worst calamities in recent memory.

And when it is their time to help, their countrymen can always count on them; Ilonggos know how to reciprocate a kindness and benevolence.

Thus it’s not a surprise why the Ilonggos were among the first and quickest to respond when Taal volcano spewed lava and plumes of ash since Sunday.  

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In Iloilo City, Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas has vowed to send financial assistance and other aid necessary for the people of Batangas affected by the volcanic eruption.

Once details of the assistance have been finalized by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) soon, the assistance will be sent “hopefully before the Dinagyang Festival highlights (January 25-26),” the city mayor was quoted as saying by the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

It was reported as of January 16 that more than 50,000 people have fled Taal volcano’s potential “explosive eruption.”  

An eruption could rain rocks and magma and set off a tsunami from the lake in which the volcano sits, volcanologists have warned.

Thick ashfall from the volcano has reportedly cloaked many towns in the Batangas province causing millions of dollars worth of damage to crops. 

Also clouds of ash were blown 62 miles to Manila, forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled.

Cracks were reported to be emerging around the Taal volcano raising the likelihood of an imminent major eruption, according to scientists.

 Experts at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology  (Phivolcs), which said the threat level from the Taal volcano south of Manila remained at level 4 on Tuesday (January 14)– one short of an active eruption. 

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Let’s hope the police will not taint the week-long Dinagyang Festival with the blood of suspected drug pushers and users now that the crackdown against the suspects has been tightened these past days as reported in the Western Visayas media.

A tough police official, Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido, deputy director for operations of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), who was assigned in Bacolod City on purpose of “wiping out” the remnants of drug syndicates there, was in the news most recently warning the traffickers that “they have only one month” saying “everything has an end.”

Any violent crackdown against any criminal element in the region will always have a spillover in Iloilo City since both the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo are inter-connected in many aspects.

While we laud Espenido’s no non-sense anti-illegal drugs campaign, it would be best if his timing wasn’t bad.

Why not eliminate all those dregs of society when there was no forthcoming important event that attracts visitors from other countries?

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Be humble while in public office

“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough in me to confess my errors and to retrace my step”

—Mahatma Gandhi

By Alex P. Vidal

THE late industrialist-politician Augusto “Buboy” Syjuco Jr. must have died a sad man.

In the remaining days of his life on earth, he fought tongs and hammer to clear his name from some of the graft charges he faced in the Sandiganbayan to no avail.

The cases involved millions of transactions undertaken when he was in public office first as congressman in the second district of Iloilo, and second as Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

His wife, ex-solon Judy, was his co-accused in some of these cases for violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Did they really steal? 

Others think they did; some of both their critics and supporters believe otherwise given the legitimate wealth they amassed before they joined the government. 

For those who are in the twilight years of their life, facing criminal cases and the prospect of landing in jail would be equivalent to hell.

Thus we can only imagine the tribulation and sorrow Secretary Syjuco went through while he was battling the illness that took away his life while undergoing treatment in Singapore (where his body was reportedly cremated on January 13).  

Secretary Syjuco probably didn’t realize many of those cases (he was convicted in some of them and made a guilty plea in another case) would outlive him.

God bless Buboy Syjuco’s soul.

-o0o-

Let us remind our public officials that power is only temporary. 

If given the opportunity to serve the people, public servants should be humble, live a modest life, and never steal the taxpayers’ money.

There are public servants who are arrogant and onion-skinned. Indi mo ma-criticize sa media. 

As a community journalist since after the EDSA Revolution, I knew a lot of them in the local and national offices. 

In fact, I have crossed the paths of some of them and they proved to be menacing but unreasonable and irrational, to say the least.

If they won’t threaten to harm us physically, they will sue us for libel. We know that it’s only a form of harassment, a plain and simple act of intimidation in order to silence us or avenge their “hurt” and “embarrassment.” 

They are aware that a libel case against a journalist will never hit a home run. 

Freedom of the press and expression remains to be the solid bedrock of democracy.

These overbearing type of public officials who run after those who criticize them only want to show who’s the boss. 

Others live—and want to be treated—like kings and queens.

And many of them are thieves; they take advantage of their positions and influence to enrich themselves while in office.

They didn’t know or they probably forgot that in every penny they steal there is a repercussion; everything on this material world is governed by the Karmic Law. 

We reap what we sow. What comes up must come down.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

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They didn’t believe Syjuco was ill until he died

“We must bring the issue of mental illness out into the sunlight, out of the shadow, out of the closet, deal with it, treat people, have centers where people can get the necessary help.”

—John Lewis

By Alex P. Vidal

ONLY the death recently of controversial former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) director general Augusto “Buboy” Syjuco Jr could convince his critics he had been suffering from leukemia and was “slowly dying.”

Some of his political enemies thought Syjuco and his wife, former Iloilo second districrt Rep. Judy, “were only using his sickness story” in order to wiggle out from the graft and corruption charges they were facing in the Sandiganbayan.

They suspected the couple was “dangling” Syjuco’s illness to appeal to people’s emotions and create an impression he wasn’t fit for a trial.  

When Syjuco lost the support of many Ilonggo political leaders following the fading away of former President Gloria Arroyo’s magic, he stayed most of the time in Metro Manila and focused on how to clear his name after being slapped with graft cases.

He supported President Rodrigo Duterte during the presidential campaign and filed graft cases against former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Senator Franklin Drilon in order to be noticed in the media.

Very few people gave him attention and this reportedly bothered him a lot as he used to bask in glory and prominence when he was the TESDA boss and when he and ex-Rep. Judy were lording over the politics in the second district of Iloilo under the Arroyo administration.

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Almost a year ago, the anti-graft body’ Third Division approved the Syjuco couple’s motion dated January 18, telling the Sandiganbayan they intended to return to Singapore from February 7 to 22 for Syjuco’s chemotherapy treatment to prevent him from succumbing to leukemia.

Syjuco needed only a short stay in Singapore, they argued, as he was taking a medicine called Azacitidine, which was not yet available in the Philippines.

Since the new medicine would be administered on Syjuco, their lawyers appealed for an extension of their trip until February 22.

Once the most popular political couple in Iloilo, the Syjucos faced various cases in the Sandiganbayan over their alleged anomalous use of public funds. 

These were on the alleged anomalous awarding of TESDA scholarships, purchase of more than 1,500 cellphone units, and the supposed implementation of a district-wide poultry project.

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Syjuco and former Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas regional director Eduardo Lecciones were convicted by the Sandiganbayan of “fraud against public treasury” in relation to a P4.3-million cash grant following their guilty pleas last year.

They were also found guilty of "failure of an accountable officer to render account;" and having a "prohibited pecuniary interest in a transaction involving their office." Broken down, that's P10,000 for the first offense; P1,000 for the second offense; and P6,000 for the last one.

Syjuco and Lecciones were ordered to pay P17,000 each, a penalty called as “a slap in the wrist” by the former TESDA boss’ political opponents.

Syjuco, who was then representative of Iloilo second district, favored his own non-governmental organization as a conduit in a cash grant that was approved by the DA through Lecciones, in 2000. 

The two pleaded guilty instead of waiting for the trial of graft and malversation cases lodged against them.

As to his other cases, they are expected to “die” naturally following Syjuco’s demise.

Rest in peace, Secretary Syjuco.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Taal and our superstitious belief

“Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth.”

—Voltaire

By Alex P. Vidal

ACCORDING to some anthropologists, supernatural beliefs gain strength in natural disasters.

Every time a disaster like the Taal volcano explosion occurs without an explanation, Filipinos attribute it to superstition.

The belief in omens and portents, often rooted in ancient cosmology, is widely held, even by the worldly and well educated. 

After all, Philippine culture cherishes lucky numbers, eschews sounds that can be misconstrued as the word for death and places great value in “gaba” or curse; we are also the No. 1 non-Chinese believers of feng shui, the practice of arranging furniture and buildings just so, to bring happiness and good health.

Some Manny Pacquiao fans even blamed his controversial defeat to Timothy Bradley to his decision to become a “born again” Christian and his refusal to wear the rosary, which he used to do when he was a Catholic.

The truth is there are scientific explanations why Taal volcano erupted, not because of our “sins” and other weird superstitious explanations.

Pacquiao actually won that first fight but the judges only reportedly erred in awarding the bout to Bradley who was badly clobbered in their rematch.

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One of the most famous catastrophes in European history was the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, in Portugal. 

The earthquake itself caused fires immediately, as well as a tsunami that arrived in about 40 minutes. All told, between 10,000 and 100,000 people died.

The question asked throughout Enlightenment-era Europe was, “What did Lisbon do to deserve such punishment?” 

There were some theories, including religion, sexual mores, and some more fanciful claims, but it seemed hard to believe that these could explain why Lisbon would be almost completely destroyed and Berlin, Paris, Prague, Vienna, and other capitals of sin would be untouched.

“Unless… what if there was no explanation? No one had done anything, good or bad, to cause it. The earthquake just happened,” points out Michael Munger of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE).

-o0o

Now, humans usually don’t like answers like that; we can’t plan, and we can’t identify patterns.

On the other hand, accepting that there may be no explanation, much less a blame-worthy action as cause, for events is a step toward thinking scientifically. 

In a way, the Lisbon earthquake was a great benefit to the cause of enlightenment. 

As John Hamer said,“One of modernity’s greatest achievements is the realization that natural disasters like earthquakes have nothing to do with us, that we need not see the wrath of Zeus in every thunderclap, the displeasure of Poseidon in every menacing wave. The origins of that realization are to be found in the smoldering ashes of Lisbon.”

Munger also warns that we see patterns where none exist. It’s what humans do; in fact, it’s what animals do. Mark Twain noticed this and had a pithy summary.

“We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it—and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again—and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one any more.”

-o0o-

Munger explains that the wary cat has a theory of the world: Stove burns you. Stay away from stove.

Of course, only hot stoves cause burns, so this is not a good theory. But consider two cats:

Cat A believes (correctly) that the theory about stoves causing burns is incomplete, and is not sure what does cause burns.

Cat B stays far away from all stoves, hot or cold, because they magically cause pain and injury in a way the cat doesn’t understand.

It’s pretty clear that Cat B is more likely to survive.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Dinagyang’s real ‘problem’

“Paranoia is just another word for ignorance.”

—Hunter S. Thompson

By Alex P. Vidal

THERE’S nothing to worry actually.

The Dinagyang Festival 2020 is in the safe hands.

So far, it has been managed magnificently by the Iloilo City Festivals Foundation, Inc. (ICFFI), which was constituted under the Treñas administration last year.

The Department of Tourism (DoT), headed by Regional Director, Atty. Helen C. Catalbas in the regional office, and Iloilo City Hall Tourism Office headed by Junel Ann Divinagracia, have been on top of the situation in as far as promotion of the mammoth religious and cultural festival is concerned.

What is the problem? 

Nothing except the paranoia and over acting (OA) of some city officials and the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO).

Their “fear” of a terroristic attack during the street celebration was actually a copycat of the same weird reaction by the authorities who handled the security of Pope Francis’ visit in Manila in 2015 and the Black Nazarene procession in Quiapo.

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Iloilo City, historically, has never been a target of extremists or hardline terrorists.

Not even a disturbance or interference from the right and the left militants. 

Ditto for the Dinagyang Festival which is a non-political affair.

Ilonggos are religious and peaceful; no terrorist—real or imagined—will waste his time to terrorize the Ilonggos during this solemn but festive occasion for no reason at all.

Ilonggos neither harm nor incite violence and aggression against any group that is identified to be engaged in religious and political violence and terrorism.

It is their uncanny and thought-provoking reactions that make other people think from other regions that there’s a real and present danger and threat in the celebration of the Dinagyang Festival.

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The decision to jam the telecommunication lines during the highlight of the Dinagyang Festival on the final day was the combined handiwork of the paranoid ICPO and the City Council.

They swallowed hook, line, and sinker the police “intelligence” report that terrorists might sabotage the festival.

Which terrorist?

Who are these terrorists?

Its mere figment of their imagination.

Troublemakers like the drunken revelers, gang members, sex offenders, muggers, snatchers who mix the crowd aren’t terrorists.

They can be dealt with accordingly by manual police force.

These street rascals don’t operate time bombs and laser-laced gadgets that would totally disrupt and destroy the Dinagyang celebration.

-o0o-

Meanwhile, heading the set of ICFFI interim officers that are doing a yeoman’s job for the success of Dinagyang Festival 2020 are businessman Rogelio Florete as chairperson; vice chairperson Felipe Uygongco; president Jobert Peñaflorida; vice president Ronald Raymond Sebastian; treasurer Roland Uy; PRO Judgee Peña.

ICFFI members are the following: John Alexander Que; Allan Ryan Tan; Phillip Chua; Joemarie Layson; Atty. Eugenio Hautea; Molly Grande; Ivy Gurrea; Angel de Leon, Jr.; and Honorato Espinosa.

Our Dinagyang Festival 2020 is penciled to mount unprecedented heights under the able and pro-active role these people have been doing for the occasion these past months.

No to jamming of phone signal during ‘Dinagyang’

“There is no country on Earth where Internet and telecommunications companies do not face at least some pressure from governments to do things that would potentially infringe on users' rights to free expression and privacy.”

—Rebecca MacKinnon

By Alex P. Vidal

NOW it’s the Iloilo City Council which approved the suggestion of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) to shut down the telecommunication lines—but only for one day—during the main highlight of the “reinvigorated” and “repackaged” Dinagyang Festival 2020.

Three years ago, we spearheaded the opposition and criticism in the Iloilo media on the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) proposal to shut down for two days the telecommunication signal in Iloilo City during the Dinagyang Festival’s final days held in the third week of January.

Although we respect the authorities and their expertise in the handling of our security, we thought it was a veritable copycat of what the PNP did when Pope Francis visited Manila on January 15-19, 2015 and during the Black Nazarene procession.

It’s also a clear case of infringement on users' rights to free expression and privacy especially now that we live in the world of Internet and in golden age of social media.

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We insisted that when communication lines are shut down during important events like the Dinagyang Festival, the comfort and safety of visiting tourists and the residents who update their relatives in other regions and abroad on what’s going on in their locality are jeopardized.

We pointed out that drug addicts and drunken dolts don’t use high-tech communication gadgets to create a trouble.

We are glad and we congratulate Councilor Allan Zaldivar who cast the lone vote to oppose the same proposal this year. 

Police deployed in performance areas can always manually overpower any amok in the crowd.

We argued that no real terrorists from other regions–or even outside the country– will commit a “hara-kiri” or “kamikaze attack” by sneaking inside the well-guarded Iloilo City, surrounded by treacherous rivers, just to sabotage the Dinagyang.

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“If they only intend to extort cash, bringing an explosive device in Iloilo City is like holding a microphone in public and announcing that they would pee at the Plazoleta Gay,” I wrote in jest.

“If they intend to send a political message, they will not only be barking at the wrong tree, they will be in the wrong place of the planet. Malacanang and Imperial Manila are several islands and regions away.”

Here’s what I wrote about the controversial jamming of telecommunication lines during the historic festival: “I grew up in Iloilo City in the Philippines and witnessed how Dinagyang Festival started as a ramshackle religious and cultural activity until it blossomed into a behemoth international attraction.

Since the actual street dancing Dinagyang festivities romped off in the 70’s, the real problem was peace and order–drunken revelries, ill-behaved drug addicts and gangs composed of skinny but tattooed teenagers.

No invasion of the third kind. No rebellion. No earth-shaking tumult.

There were incidents of mugging, snatching, vandalism, acts of lasciviousness, street rumble, stabbing, among other street-level crimes. The police handled the situation and nipped the troublemakers in the bud.

It’s the proliferation of illegal drugs, especially shabu, and the sales of liquor in the streets that should be regulated if not stopped during the week-long festival in the month of January.

Not the “jamming” of cellular phone signals.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)