‘Prone to abuse’

“The single most important ingredient in the recipe for success is transparency because transparency builds trust.”

—Denise Morrison

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE are glad that former Iloilo fifth district Rep. Rolex Suplico has sounded the alarm on the possible loopholes if the Local Government Units (LGU) are pushed and allowed to purchase directly the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines without any public bidding.

In an opinion we wrote on December 21, 2020, meanwhile, we exhorted the LGUs to reject the proposal made by vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. for the LGUs to purchase their own supply of COIVD-19  vaccines.

We wrote: “It’s unbelievable that the country’s ‘vaccine czar’ has thought of giving this colossal responsibility of scrambling for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines to the LGUs even as an international effort to acquire vaccines for low-and middle-income countries has been struggling to gain traction.”

“Secretary Galvez should leave the LGUs alone. The local chief executives are already encumbered and fighting tooth and nail against hard-headed violators of social distancing and mask-wearing protocols in their areas.” 

“It may be too stressful and cumbersome for the governors, mayors, and village chiefs to be given this additional task reserved for our health department.”

One major loophole is it could be “prone to abuse” as Suplico warned in a report by Daily Guardian’s Joseph B.A. Marzan on Monday.

(https://dailyguardian.com.ph/ex-lawmaker-warns-of-abuse-in-covid-vaccine-purchase/).

 

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Suplico is worried that the rich transactions, if left to the LGU’s volition without proper check and balance and if the hugely essential bidding process is waved, can be tainted by partisan politics since the 2022 national and local elections are already forthcoming.  

Suplico, who aired his concerns in the Daily Guardian on Air hosted by the paper’s editor-in-chief Francis Allan Angelo on February 12, said: “The problem there is that they are skipping the requirement of public bidding which is in our procurement law. For me, if we talk about the wisdom of those proposals, those are somewhat disadvantageous to the people. Why? It would be difficult to allow it without public bidding, there might be ‘kickback’. More so, the elections are near.”

The former lawmaker has enumerated numerous concerns and they should not be taken for granted by authorities concerned.

In his opinion,  the Department of Health (DOH) “has better capacity” to determine vaccine safety and handling procedures than LGUs.

Suplico explained: “The DOH has the capacity to look at the vaccines to be procured and state that it would be for the betterment of all. It would be difficult for the mayor and the municipal health officer to determine that. They don’t have the capacity for that. We have to diminish in the minds of the people that there is kickback in the procurement of the vaccines.”

 

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Let’s make this clear: Former U.S. President Donald Trump was acquitted in the second impeachment trial not because he had no direct participation in the January 6 riot in the Washington D.C.’s Capitol Hill that killed five people, including a federal police officer.

In order to convict Mr. Trump, the senators, who sat as the jurors, needed 67 votes but could collect only 57 (50 Democrats, seven Republicans), while 43 all-Republican senators registered a “not guilty” vote.

This means the 43 Republican senator-jurors saved him. 

President Joseph Biden was correct when he emphasized that “the substance of the charge was not in dispute.”  

"This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile," Mr. Biden said in a statement. 

"That it must always be defended. That we must be ever vigilant. That violence and extremism has no place in America. And that each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and to defeat the lies."

A majority of senators voted to hold Trump guilty on one charge of inciting an insurrection, but the 57-43 tally fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction. In all, seven Republicans voted to convict the former president, making Saturday's vote the most bipartisan in a presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history.

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

 

 

Destroyer of a family

“Gambling: The sure way of getting nothing for something.”

—Wilson Mizner

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IT’S a shame that our legislatures in the city and province of Iloilo have prioritized “on-line sabong” or on-line cockfighting while people are dying, sick, and losing their livelihood amid the pandemic.

On important subject matters that required their vigilance, cooperation, and patriotic duty as elected officials, they were dead silent, negligent and downright apathetic.

Promoters of cockfighting and their backers in government always have bundles of outrageous justifications to make in order to “legitimize” and sugar-coat their knavish activities.

In fact, it is a case of “it takes two to tango.”

I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine in return. 

The first elected official involved in the “urgent” or “necessary” passage of a resolution or ordinance of any on-line cockfighting who will deny our assertion is a hypocrite.

There are many urgent matters to tackle in our legislative branches that would in one way or the other help minimize the sufferings of the people and their community while the COVID-19 vaccines are still on process of helping eliminate the virus. 

Is cockfighting a matter of life and death?

Should gambling be given a priority?

“On line” or “off line”, cockfighting is gambling per se. 

Besides being cruel to animals, cockfighting is closely connected to other crimes such as drugs and acts of violence.

 

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And gambling is immoral. 

It has destroyed so many people and shattered families.

We don’t need to engage in a long debate to prove this hypothesis which can always be proven by empirical and historical evidence.

We know of a good father and husband from a respected political family in Janiuay, Iloilo, who now lives like a bum or a beggar and homeless person after being abandoned by his wife and children, who could no longer stomach his madness and addiction to cockfighting.

Aside from neglecting the primary needs of his family, he also emptied the family savings and sold their property—only to altogether squander them in cockfighting.

Cockfighting remains to be illegal in every state here in the United States.

Most states specifically prohibit anyone from being a spectator at a cockfight. 

But in the community where I live, some Pinoy cockfighting habitues reportedly hold cockfighting in clandestine areas via on-line, or via livestream from their contacts in the Philippines.

 

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I personally know a lot of those hooked on cockfighting and other gambling activities in the U.S. who have been kicked out by their wives literally from their apartments.

They lost both their wives and money.

Forty two states have passed felony cockfighting laws as of 2020. The federal Animal Welfare Act also prohibits the interstate transport of any animal that is to be used in an animal fighting venture.

While it is true that cockfighting has been practiced for centuries in various countries, including the Philippines and the United States, "old" does not necessarily mean right or even acceptable. 

At one time the United States allowed slavery, lacked child abuse laws, and refused women the right to vote.

Human Society has recorded that thousands of dollars can exchange hands as spectators and animal owners wager large sums on their favorite birds. 

The owners of birds who win the most fights in a derby (a series of cockfights) may win tens of thousands of dollars of presumably unreported income. 

Firearms and other weapons are common at cockfights, mainly because of the large amounts of cash present. 

In addition, cockfighting has reportedly been connected to other kinds of violence: newspaper reports of cockfighting-related homicide are not uncommon.

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

 

Alex P. Vidal Quotes

 

Alex P. Vidal Quotes

 

Alex P. Vidal Quotes

 

Pinay chef’s Cacao Project

“Anything is good if it's made of chocolate.”

—Jo Brand

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THE Cacao Project in the Philippines earned another head-turning plaudit when the New York City-based United Nations (UN) recognized in its U.N. News Global Perspective Human Stories how it helped the local farmers and how it was founded by a Filipina chef.

Recognized as a prodigy of the culinary world since the age of 12, when she appeared on the Filipino version of the TV show Junior Masterchef, Louise Mabulo, since then, has won several awards for her cooking, and has become a world-renowned social activist, according to U.N. News.

A 2019 UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Young Champion of the Earth, Mabulo is the founder of The Cacao Project, which works to improve the livelihoods of Filipino farmers in the Bicol Region, by reviving barren lands through tree planting, creating economic forests and nurseries, and promoting fair trade and reforestation, reported the U.N. News.

For several hundred years, cacao has been part of Philippine history.

But only recently has the country reawaken as a potential origin for high-quality cacao, according to writer Jeremy Burnich.

“Recognizing that growing purely for volume is not a strategic direction for a country made up of disparate islands, the entire Philippine cacao industry has rallied around producing quality,” Burnich wrote on November 18, 2019. 

“This focus on quality has been echoed from the farm to the makers and everyone involved in the industry is learning and sharing how to improve quality across the entire value chain.”

 

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Meanwhile, this was how U.N. News quoted Mabulo as she explained the evolution of cacao project and how local farmers are able to learn sustainable techniques to help them cope with climate change:

“As a chef, I am frequently in contact with farmers. These discussions gave me a good insight into the problems with the food system in the Philippines: where there are gaps, and where there is over-supply. 

“This prompted me to start farm-to-table dinners, using only local ingredients. When Bicol region was hit hard by a typhoon, I began a relief effort for farmers, but I realized that this could only have a superficial effect on their lives, so I oriented my career towards agriculture.

“The Philippines is one of the countries that is most severely affected by climate change: since September of last year, we have been struck by three typhoons and, in Bicol, where I’m from, 400 homes were destroyed. 

“Whilst Bicol is a lush and green region, far from urban centres, there is still a lot of degradation. When typhoons destroy crops and farms, people with no other option will do what they can to create income, including cutting down trees.

“The Cacao Project’s goal is to ensure that farmers don’t have to resort to these kinds of measures, and to provide them with the resources they need for sustainable success, even in the face of extreme weather events.

“For example, we explain that leaves shaken from trees from storms create a lot of mulch, which providers great compost. Using trees for mulch is more restorative and sustainable than removing the trees, and it improves the soil. The methods we teach them are helping them to save money, and improve their harvests.

“Our approach is completely in line with the UN’s recommended approach to farming: more nature-friendly, more supportive of biodiversity, limiting the use of pesticides and herbicides, and cultivating a wider range of indigenous crops.

 

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“Before the project began, a small range of crops were being cultivated: mainly corn, coconut and rice. Once we started working with the farmers, they began to introduce more crops that are well suited to the local conditions, such as bell peppers, okra and, of course, cacao.

“Many of the farmers involved in The Cacao Project have seen significant improvements to their lives. They’re learning modern techniques, and have been able to put their children through school. Women are being empowered: we have women trainers and supervisors, and the quality of their work is being recognized.

“Younger people are also becoming more interested in farming, which has not been valued as a profession in the past: it was associated with poverty and failure. Today they’re turning their backyards into gardens, and even planting trees in land they’ve inherited from their parents. They’re proud to be farmers, which they see as being part of the solution to climate change.”

The natural habitat of the cocoa tree is in the lower story of the evergreen rainforest. 

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 25.7% or about 7,665,000 hectares of the Philippines are properly forested for potential cacao use. Of this 11.2% ( 861,000 ) is classified as primary forest, the most biodiverse and carbon-dense form of forest. 

Burnich explained that “rainfalls should be plentiful and well distributed throughout the year (between 1,500mm and 2,000mm per year is preferred). The average rainfall for the Philippines is just about 2,000mm/6.5 feet per year.”

A hot and humid climate is also essential for the optimum development of cocoa trees. The Philippines has an average humidity of 75%. So in terms of location and climate, the Philippines has it all, according to Burnich.

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

 

She ‘slept with the enemy’

“I would curse people who resort to coups against democracy, liberty, republic.”

—Fethullah Gulen

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE used to admire her for being a symbol of bravery and for championing democracy in her country.

Not anymore when her name was attached to genocide and when she decided to “sleep with the enemy.”

At 75, Aung San Suu Kyi should now be a retired politician and “enjoying the fruits of her labor” as an iconic political figure in Asia, one of the only two democratic women leaders in Southeast Asia along with the late former Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino, to secure a hollowed place in history.

But Ms Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s deposed de facto leader, is now in danger of spending the rest of her life in jail if the situation in this Southeast Asian nation of more than 100 ethnic groups, will not be reversed.

Myanmar's military had seized power after detaining Ms Suu Kyi and other democratically elected leaders even as troops  patrolling the streets and a night-time curfew was in force, with a one-year state of emergency declared.

The army has alleged the recent landslide election win by Ms Suu Kyi's party was marred by fraud. Meanwhile, she has urged supporters to "protest against the coup".

 

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Also known as Burma, Myanmar was ruled by the armed forces from 1962 until 2011, when a new government began ushering in a return to civilian rule.

This was after Aung San Suu Kyi “made a mistake of sleeping with the enemy” or when she decided to share the leadership of Myanmar with the military.

The army's TV station said power had been handed over to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing in the early hours of Monday.

Ms Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were arrested in a series of raids.

It was not clear where they were being held but no major violence has been reported. 

International reports said Myanmar soldiers blocked roads in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, and the main city, Yangon even as international and domestic TV channels, including the state broadcaster, went off air. Internet and phone services were disrupted as banks said had been reportedly forced to close.

Later, the military announced that 24 ministers and deputies had been removed, and 11 replacements had been named, including in finance, health, the interior and foreign affairs.

Ms Suu Kyi came to power as the de facto head of Buddhist-majority Myanmar's civilian administration in 2016.

She had since faced international pressure, including from Amnesty International (AI), to condemn the army's alleged brutality against the Rohingya. 

However she had refused to do so.

 

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AI stripped Suu Kyi of its highest honor, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, in 2018.

The politician and Nobel peace prize winner received the honor in 2009, when she was living under house arrest.

The rights group said “it was profoundly dismayed at her failure to speak out for the Rohingya minority, some 700,000 of whom have fled a military crackdown.”

"We are profoundly dismayed that you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defense of human rights," Amnesty's Secretary General Kumi Naidoo wrote in a letter to the Myanmar leader when AI stripped the honor.

"(Her) denial of the gravity and scale of the atrocities (against the Rohingya) means there is little prospect of the situation improving.”

The organization, which once feted her as a beacon for democracy, announced its decision on the eighth anniversary of Ms Suu Kyi's release from house arrest.

Her unswerving pursuit of democracy for Myanmar in the face of a brutal military dictatorship brought her nearly 15 years of house arrest. It also spurred a succession of governments, cities and human rights groups around the world to bestow their honors upon her.

As far back as 1989, AI declared Ms Suu Kyi a "prisoner of conscience" and 20 years later awarded her its most prestigious award which previously given to South Africa’s Nelson Mandela.

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