No more excitement

“In the long run, curiosity-driven research just works better... Real breakthroughs come from people focusing on what they're excited about.”

— Geoffrey Hinton

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WHEN the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Western Visayas announced the “full capacity” opening of the scandal-ridden P1-billion four-lane Ungka flyover on December 23, there was no consequential reaction from public.

What was supposed to be a grand surprise for Ilonggos longing to use the expensive public works project since 2022 wasn’t even treated as a head-turning event.

Motorists and commuters weren’t anymore excited about the controversial project, which straddles Iloilo City and the town of Pavia, after more than two years of delay since it was first opened and closed in September 2022.

Ilonggos didn’t care if the 453.7-meter flyover was already safe or continued to pose as threat to public safety despite the ongoing installation of steel railings on the parapet as confirmed by DPWH-6 assistant regional director Jose Al Fruto.

What they knew from the start was that the project had been tainted by irregularities and incompetence by the contractors and the taxpayers were the real losers after it was revealed there were structural defects that rendered the edifice dysfunctional and good-for-nothing for a while.

After it was smeared and blemished, it’s hard to halt the terrible negative public perception and unfavorable opinion.

 

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I received the email below from New York Governor Kathy Hochul which she also sent to other New Yorkers:

Alex, Whether you're spending around the Christmas tree, preparing to celebrate the eight nights of Hanukkah, getting ready for the start of Kwanzaa, or simply looking forward to a happy New Year, I hope you’re able to celebrate our New York values of tradition, family, and togetherness.

In every corner of New York, from Buffalo to Brooklyn and from the Adirondacks to Long Island, I see families who want the same things: a warm home, safe communities, great schools, and confidence that the new year will bring new blessings and opportunities.

As we embrace the holiday season, I want you to know that I hear you, and that I’m never going to stop working to make our state an even better place to live for you and your families.

My holiday wish is that next year at this time, we can look back at real progress in making life more affordable for New York families. Because while the holiday season comes once a year, the spirit of caring for our neighbors should guide us every day.

From my family to yours, I want to wish you a very happy holiday season! Ever Upward, Gov. Kathy Hochul 

 

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WHEN SOMEBODY ATTACKS US AND WE CAN'T DEFEND OURSELVES, we shouldn't scream. It tightens our throat and tires us out. Instead, we must yell when in danger. A yell comes from the diaphragm, experts say, creating a louder sound with less effort.

TIP-OFF TO A THREAT. If a stranger stops us on the street, let's watch his feet: Normal--his torso points toward us, but his feet angle the way he'd been walking. Aggressive--he faces us dead-on, with one foot behind the other--a fighter's stance. (Source: "What everybody is saying" author Joe Navarro)

A BETTER BEDTIME. Let's resolve to help our kid clock more quality snooze time. It could benefit our child's mood in a big way: In a recent Columbia University Medical Center study, teenagers whose parents let them stay up until midnight or later were 24 percent more likely to be depressed and 20 percent more likely to have suicidal thoughts than kids who hit the sack at 10 P.M. or earlier.

RECYCLING. Let's look for the arrows by choosing recycled when it comes to fruit and vegetable packaging. Many supermarkets are catching on now--they're starting to realize that the consumer wishes to reduce their stacks of garbage, and are offering recycled and recyclable packaging. Let's look for the universally recognized recycle symbol.

D IS FOR DIET. Vitamin D supplements may be the newest weight-loss pills. When University of Minnesota researchers measured blood levels of the sunshine vitamin in 38 overweight people, they found that when the subject went on a low-calorie diet, those with higher levels of vitamin D lost more weight than those with lower levels.

In the can, let's always recycle food and drink cans. Recycling aluminum requires only 5 percent of the energy it takes to process the original from the earth's crust. One-third of aluminum is currently reused, but it should be more.

(PG 13) Women say that the part of a man's body that they admire the most is his buttocks.

ANTHROPOMIMETIC MACHINES. No matter how closely a robot resembles a human on the outside, if we crack it open, the jumble of wires is unlikely to bear much resemblance to our insides. A group of European researchers aims to bridge that gap--its robot prototype is anthropomimetic, meaning it mimics the human form.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)

Political squabble takes a back seat

“Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business.”

—Winston Churchill

 

By Alex P. Vidal

WE are glad no earthshaking political wrangling in the city and province of Iloilo took place these past months and weeks; and it appears year 2024 will bid farewell in a peaceful atmosphere for local politics.

With barely five months before the May 12, 2025 Philippine general election, the political heat is expected to heighten when the Yuletide season is gone.

Ilonggos may expect to hear some ear-piercing political fireworks when the biggest cultural and religious event, the 2025 Dinagyang Festival, will conclude in the fourth week of January.

Politicians angling for different local and national positions may be preserving their energy for the biggest dog fight to come beginning in the first quarter of 2025.

The “bombing-spree” among arch rivals in the local positions is expected to blast off in the social and mainstream media, especially when the microphones of “blocktimers” (paid radio political programs) will start to go full throttle in the airwaves.

In politics, “there will always be storm after the calmness.”  

 

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We have misgivings in the ongoing tumult whipped up by the proponents of “signature campaign” for the absolute clemency of Mary Jane Veloso launched in Baclaran, Paranaque on Dec. 23, 2024, or days after she arrived from Indonesia where she was meted the death penalty for drug trafficking in 2015.

Proponents of the signature campaign should have waited for the right time and refrain from putting pressure on Malacanang since most Filipinos believe President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will eventually grant the absolute clemency.

No need to rush. No need to pressure the government actually.

They should be glad that Veloso is already in the Philippines and already safe from the firing squad in Indonesia.

Veloso had been sent home by the Indonesian government which granted a Philippine petition to allow Veloso to come home on the condition that she would serve a life sentence after years of negotiations.

Life sentence is the maximum penalty under the Philippine judicial system, because capital punishment has been abolished. The signatures will be sent directly to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. even as Veloso's lawyers are pursuing a case against her recruiters for human trafficking

 

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SAINTHOOD. Nobody opposed the fast-tracking of Pope John Paul II's sainthood in 2009. But the proposed fast-tracking of Pope Pius XII's sainthood was met with criticism. Critics said Pope Pius XII "did nothing" when Hitler slaughtered six million Jews from 1939 to 1944.

NEW HPV THREAT. Human papillomavirus, or HPV, has long been linked to cervical cancer in women. New research in the journal Head & Neck reveals that in the United States, HPV may also be the most common cause of cancer of the tonsil and base of the tongue. The cancer is starting to appear more in younger men and in nonsmokers; the shift may be associated with high-risk behaviors.

TWILIGHT INSIGHT AND OUR YOUNGSTERS. Why are teens fascinated by these fanged creatures? "Vampires are alluring. They're neither completely human nor dead; they don't belong in either world. Teenagers identify with them because they often feel like outsiders, too, as they transition from childhood into adulthood," says Dr. Kathy Ramsland, author of The Science of Vampires.

EASY ORGASM. Consider aiming compliment below the belt. Women who have a positive attitude about their genitals reach orgasm more easily during oral sex than women who don't feel so hot about them, says a new study in the International Journal of Sexual Health.

A FAN WITH NO BLADES? It does away with spinning spokes. The machine sucks air into its base before forcing it up around the hoop and through narrow slits. To beef up the breeze, it sucks in extra air from the back, side and front of the fan. The advantage: even airflow, no blades to clean and an unlimited number of speed settings (most fans have only two or three modes).

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)

Chess players fear Trump deportation crackdown

“I don’t want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.”

—Donald Trump on his plan to deport illegal aliens.

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

MARIANO believes even if he will be the winningest chess player among undocumented Filipinos in the East Coast or in the entire United States, “it will become meaningless” if he is deported to the Philippines when the Trump administration takes over in 2025.

“I’m in the thick of preparations for more lucrative (chess) tournaments in 2025, but if President (Donald) Trump will push through with his crackdown plans against illegal aliens, all my sacrifices and efforts will go to waste,” Mariano, who speaks Waray, lamented in Tagalog.

The 58-year-old chess player, who entered the US in 2014 on a P-1A visa, said he still wants to play in the 2025 U.S. Open Championship on July 28-August 3, 2025; 63rd Annual Pittsburgh Chess League: Round 8 on April 6, 2025; and 2025 Cincinnati Open in Blue Ash, Ohio on April 11-13, 2025.

“Sayang lang if I will miss these tournaments,” Mariano sobbed.

P-1A, often used by athletes in sports, is a nonimmigrant visa for athletes, coaches, and support staff who want to compete in the United States. To qualify, athletes must demonstrate exceptional ability and international recognition.

 

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Mariano and several other Filipino chess players “overstayed” their visas issued in the US Embassy Manila they obtained on purpose of “playing chess in the World Open” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“Marami kami na dumating sa US at nasa New York ngayon. Ang iba lumipat na sa California.” (There are plenty of us who arrived in the US and have been staying in New York. Others have transferred to California),” Mariano, who has survived by taking different “under the table” jobs, narrated.

“Under the table” means wages—cash, check, or other compensation—paid by employers with the intent to evade paying payroll taxes.

“Lahat kami ay may magandang pangrap sa buhay. We support our families in the Philippines. Hindi kami masamang tao unlike the criminals from other countries who entered the US by crossing the border illegally. Dapat bigyan kami ng pagkakataon na ituwid ang aming immigration status at huwag ipa deport.”    

(We have good plans for the future, and we support our families in the Philippines. We are not bad people unlike the criminals who entered the US by crossing the border illegally. We should be given the chance to fix our immigration status instead of being deported.)

Mariano disclosed that some of his fellow chess players with the same predicament have decided to “separate” from their wives in the Philippines and “married” US citizens, thus they are unfazed by the incoming Trump administration’s threat of mass deportation.

 

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Ferdinand, one of Mariano’s “batch mates” (chess players who arrived and decided to indefinitely stay in the US like him), is in quandary because “he didn’t expect Trump to win” in the November 5, 2024 presidential election.

Ferdinand, 49, a top-rated chess player in the Philippines, never competed in big chess tournaments since he arrived in the US in 2013 and has been working “under the table” odd jobs to support his family—including three children—in Cebu.

“Akala niya mananalo si (Vice President Kamala) Harris kaya nagkumpiansa sia (Ferdinand),” Mariano recalled. “Ngayon takot na takot sia gaya ng iba.” (Ferdinand thought Vice President Kamala Harris would win that’s why he became confident. Now, he is stricken with fear just like the others.)

Ferdinand, who has reportedly “saved enough for rainy season”, said he will quit as caregiver and stay inside his apartment “until after the ICE is done with the arrest of illegal aliens” when the Trump administration begins on January 20, 2025.

ICE is Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency that enforces federal laws related to immigration, trade, customs, and border control.

 

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Ariel, 46, Mariano’s other “batch mate”, has obtained a US Chess Federation (USCF) norm and was able to compete in some of the major tournaments in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Las Vegas, in the past eight years.

Anticipating a change of administration from the Democrat to Republican, Ariel “terminated” his marriage with his Mindanao-based wife and married a New York-based female US citizen two years ago. As a green card holder now, Ariel “heaved a sigh of relief” when Trump won against Harris.

Leandro, 58, another “overstaying” chess player, said as early as December 2024, he has started avoiding the busy subways in Queens and Manhattan where the ICE agents are expected to strike even before Mr. Trump has occupied the White House.

“It’s hard to relax and be complacent,” Leandro, a former bar tender in Negros, gushed in Hiligaynon. Although he is a chess player like Ferdinand, Mariano and Ariel, Leandro entered the US 13 years ago on a tourist visa together with his wife and two children. He is not part of Mariano’s group.

Eight other male and at least four female chess players—all Mariano’s “batch mates”—have been worrying since after Trump won back the White House and when the president-elect reiterated his threat to deport millions of those living in the US illegally

Immigration was the centerpiece of Mr. Trump’s campaign, and he didn’t flinch in saying he will carry out mass deportation.

First will be convicted criminals, he said. It’s also possible that American citizens will be caught up in the sweep and deported with family members who are here illegally, or could choose to go.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Fund-raising’ scandal smears RP consulate’s Simbang Gabi event

 

“It is the public scandal that offends; to sin in secret is no sin at all.”

—Moliere

 By Alex P. Vidal

 

WHAT should have been a historic celebration of the “Simbang Gabi,” a nine-day series of Masses celebrated by Filipino Catholics leading up to Christmas Day, among Filipino Catholics in New York, became a hailstorm of embarrassment for the Filipino community when the Philippine Consulate General in New York was obliged to issue a statement denying it used the occasion to raise funds for a political candidate December 5.

Filipino Catholics all over the world celebrated “Simbang Gabi” believing “the parols are symbols of the Star of Bethlehem and are used to lead the processions before Mass during the celebration.”

This year, the Philippine Consulate General in New York, in partnership with 100 Filipino-American community organizations and businesses, successfully concluded the 36th Simbang Gabi sa Konsulado, held from December 5 to 13 at the Philippine Center-New York but was smeared by issues of fund-raising campaign for a certain political personality it didn’t name.

With the theme, “Liwanag at Pag-Asa: Pasko ng Bagong Pilipinas” (Light and Hope: Christmas of a Renewed Philippines), this year’s gathering welcomed over 1,000 attendees across the nine evenings, reflecting the community’s strong solidarity, shared faith, and commitment to keeping this cherished Filipino tradition alive, according to the press statement issued by the Consulate.

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In a “Statement on unauthorized political activities at the Philippine Consulate General in New York,” the Philippine Consulate General in New York confirmed “it has come across social media posts on 3 December 2024 falsely advertising a fundraising event to be held during the Simbang Gabi sa Konsulado, scheduled for 5-13 December 2024.”

“These posts claim that the event aims to raise funds for the political campaign of a New York-based candidate,” added the statement. “The Consulate categorically denies any association with such an event and emphasizes that no such activity has been approved by its leadership nor will it be allowed to take place within the Consulate’s premises.”

It added: “As a foreign mission, the Consulate is bound by international law, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), to maintain strict neutrality and refrain from interference in the internal affairs of the host state. Any attempt to utilize the Philippine Consulate General in New York, located at the Philippine Center in New York, 556 5th Ave., New York, NY 10036, for campaigns or solicitation activities by candidates running for public office constitute a blatant violation of these principles.”

“The Consulate also condemns the spread of misleading information and the use of inflammatory language targeting the institution and its personnel purportedly because the candidate was not allowed to distribute clothes for children within the Consulate’s premises. Such activities again violate the principles of the Vienna Conventions and will never be tolerated. Such actions undermine the values of respect and professionalism that the Consulate upholds in serving the Filipino community under its jurisdiction.

“To safeguard the integrity of its premises and events, individuals attempting to misrepresent the Consulate’s actions or use its facilities for unauthorized purposes will not be allowed to participate in its activities. Neither will the Consulate allow itself to be used as a tool of parvenus with ulterior motives.

 

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“The Philippine Consulate General in New York remains steadfast in its mission to serve the Filipino community in the U.S. Northeast with professionalism, impartiality, and respect for its diplomatic mandate.”

The opening night on December 5, according to the Consulate’s press statement, started with the unveiling of the Christmas display at the Philippine Center’s windows led by the Philippine Department of Tourism-New York (PDOT).

The press statement dded: “The display, showcasing Filipino holiday traditions, drew admiration from locals and tourists along Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. This was followed by the lighting of the first parol in the Philippine Center’s lobby, symbolizing Pagmamahalan (Love). Each evening thereafter featured a Parol Lighting Ceremony highlighting other Filipino core values such as Pasasalamat (Gratitude), Pamilya (Family), Kaluwalhatian (Glory), Kapayapaan (Peace), Pagkakaisa (Unity), Pakikipagkapwa-tao (Fellowship), Pananampalataya (Faith), and Pag-Asa (Hope).”

 

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LET’S RECYCLE APPLIANCES. If we're not selling them on, let's make sure we recycle our household appliances rather than throwing them away. Second-hand shops will often take them for parts, or we may ask our gov't offices for advice on recycling program. Big terms are difficult and costly to dispose of and recycling centers will take them off our hands for free.

ELECTRIC TRANSFORMER. Much of America was still in the dark in the late 1800s. Yes, Thomas Edison had perfected his lightbulb, and power plants were being built, but there was a link missing between the two--a way to convert the higher voltages into lower ones.

Let's also get behind glass by not throwing away glass jars--let's use them TO STORE FOOD in our home and to keep things airtight. Let's recycle both the glass jars and the metal lids when we can no longer use them.

FOR LADIES: HOW TO TURN DOWN YOUR GUY WHEN YOU ARE TIRED. If he's in the mood but you're not, let him know he still makes you hot with a sexy kiss and a straightforward "I'm so exhausted, I may conk out on top of you. Let's do it tomorrow." (Source: Dr. Yvonne Thomas)

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)