‘Probation lang, no jail time’

“For any prosecutor, a decision to show leniency in sentencing must be weighed against multiple factors. Do they show remorse for their actions? Are they a threat to the public and law enforcement? Do they intend to contribute to society?”

—Brianna Wu

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

A RESIDENT of Iloilo City indicted in 2022 with several others by U.S. federal authorities for allegedly arranging at least 400 fake marriages in Los Angeles, California said his case has been decided by court.

“Tapos na ako sa kaso (I’m done with my case),” Felipe Capindo “Peebles” David, 51, a resident of Molo, Iloilo City in the Philippines, informed this writer.

“Okay ang sentencing. Probation lang, no jail time (The sentencing was okay. I was only given a probation and no jail time.”

David’s co-accused, Marcialito Biol Benitez, a.k.a “Mars,” 49, also Philippine national residing in Los Angeles, who pleaded guilty on September 27, 2023 to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud, will be sentenced on January 10, 2024 by US District Court Judge Denise J. Casper. 

Benitez, who was arrested and charged in April 2022, allegedly operated the fraud agency in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles.

David had denied he was part of the group that engaged in the illegal activity.

“I never worked with him (Marcialito “Mars” Biol Benitez, owner of the agency) or his company kay may regular job ako (because I have a regular job),” David had insisted. “I never used it as my bread and butter.”

 

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The other Filipino defendants were Engilbert “Angel” Ulan, 39; Nino Reyes Valmeo, 45; Harold Poquita, 30; Juanita Pacson, 45, all stayed in Los Angeles, California.

Their alleged accomplices were: Peterson Souza, 34, a Brazilian national residing in Anaheim, Calif.; Devon Hammer, 26, of Palmdale, California;

Tamia Duckett, 25, of Lancaster, Inglewood and Palmdale, California; Karina Santos, 24, of Lancaster, California; and Casey Loya, 33, of Lancaster and Palmdale, California.

The agency allegedly charged fees of $20,000 to $30,000 paid in cash. It allegedly submitted fraudulent marriage and immigration documents, including false tax returns, and recruited US citizens to marry the agency’s clients.

Their co-accused, Engilbert Ulan, 42, was convicted of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud, the US attorney’s office said in a statement.

Ulan, the 10th defendant to be convicted in this case, is scheduled to be sentenced on March 6, 2024. He reportedly faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

 

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The agency reportedly staged wedding ceremonies at chapels and parks, then submitted the photos to help authenticate marriage-based immigration petitions to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the federal agency responsible for granting lawful permanent resident status.

“For many clients, the agency would take photos of undocumented clients and citizen spouses in front of prop wedding decorations for later submission with immigration petitions,” prosecutors said.

“Ulan coached the sham couples to provide the same, fabricated answers to questions posed during green card interviews and conceal the fraudulent nature of the marriages.”

New York-based Rommel Leal, 51, David’s friend and former high school classmate at the Colegio del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus in Gen. Hughes Street, Iloilo City, had said, “I know Felipe to be a good son. He takes care of his mother who is in the Philippines.” 

Leal said he thought David was engaged in the business of recruiting caregivers, not scam marriages.

Felipe also dabbles in lending business, Leal said. He lends money to those who go home for vacation in the Philippines.

Leal said David owns several properties in Molo district and lives a “good life” in L.A.

David has been known for distributing free vitamins and school supplies to Jolason Elementary School in  Tubungan, Iloilo in the Philippines during the pandemic.

 

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“Marriage fraud is a serious crime that threatens the integrity of our nation’s lawful immigration system,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins.

“These defendants’ alleged exploitation of this system for profit is an affront to our nation’s tradition of welcoming immigrants and prospective citizens. Their alleged fraudulent behavior makes things harder for the vast majority of immigrants who follow the law and respect our immigration system. Beyond that, by allegedly submitting false applications that claimed domestic abuse, these charged defendants did further harm, this time to real victims and survivors of domestic violence. Today’s arrests are the result of impressively comprehensive, cross-country agency collaboration. My office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners across the country to identify and hold accountable those who seek to violate U.S. law by fraud of any sort.”

“It is the utmost honor and privilege to become an American citizen, and the individuals we arrested today have allegedly made a sham of that process by running a large-scale marriage fraud ‘agency’ that arranged hundreds of fake marriages for foreign nationals, racking up millions of dollars in profits. We believe their alleged scheme broke immigration laws that are in place to protect public safety and created a disadvantage for those seeking to earn their citizenship lawfully,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Office 

“This case should serve as a warning to others that the FBI and our law enforcement partners are united in our efforts to disrupt and dismantle criminal enterprises that seek to circumvent our laws by fraudulent means.

“Homeland Security Investigations and our law enforcement partners will continue to prosecute individuals and criminal organizations, who profit from manipulating the immigration system,” said Chad Plantz, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego.

 

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WEEKEND PRAYER. Lord, protect all my loved ones and friends. Make them all happy and continue to give them their daily bread. Keep them away from harm. Let your Holy Spirit accompany them wherever they go, whatever they do. Amen.

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

I once feared dying on board a speeding bus

“There's something about most phobias where there's a tiny, tiny corner where you think this really actually could happen.”

—Roz Chast

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

NEWS of the tragic death of 17 passengers and bus employees after a Ceres bus fell into a ravine in Hamtic, Antique on December 5, brought my sullen memories years ago when I was regularly traveling from Iloilo City to my hometown in San Jose, Antique as a kid.

The 76Express letter H bus I was riding on suddenly swerved while negotiating the perilous portion of the criss crossing Hamtic hilly highway sometime in 1979. 

Luckily, the bus did not fall on the very deep ravine similar to where the Ceres bus fell in Brgy. Igbucagay, which Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao had described as a “killer curve.” 

But the bus got stuck in a menacing position and slithered to the narrow steep-sided valley when the machine had stopped.

Like a burning plane that just crash-landed, all the passengers, including the driver and conductor, elbowed each other as we hurriedly left the bus.

There was no casualty, but all the passengers, including me, were screaming at the top of their voices. 

I was seated in the back next to the driver, I remembered to be a resident of San Pedro, Antique, and was so terrified that the horror stayed on my mind for so many years until my adult life. 

It gave me a real phobia, the fear of riding on a running or speeding bus—day or night.

 

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The anxiety would haunt me several times especially when I travelled to Escalante, Negros Occidental from Bacolod City while riding on a Ceres Liner as a teener, and when I travelled to La Union and Baguio City on a Philtranco bus vice versa.

I always thought a similar incident I experienced with 76Express letter H would occur again. For many years, I feared dying while riding on a running bus with long distance trip. 

I couldn’t or refused to sleep during those trips even if I closed my eyes. Seeing a bus driver talking to the conductor while the bus was speeding in the highways had also become my pet peeves.

I avoided the abnormal fear when I stopped riding on a bus during my adult life. And when I seldom traveled on a bus when I visited my relatives in Antique or attending conferences in Aklan and Capiz.

However, I noticed that when I boarded the plane in the 80s and 90s even to Cebu, Palawan, Cagayan de Oro City, and Manila, the phobia was back.

I thought riding on a speeding bus and “being trapped inside a flying object” was the same. 

Especially when I made my first transatlantic flight where the plane experienced a long mid-flight turbulence, also known as air pockets, the moment when an airbus can experience a sudden loss of altitude temporarily.

Sadly, the irrational fear started in that tempestuous and frightful trip to Antique on board the now defunct 76Express letter H many years ago.

 

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INGREDIENTS. Human sperm has more than 30 ingredients. These include fructose, ascorbic acid, cholesterol, citric acid, nitrogen, vitamin B12 and a whole lot of salt and enzymes. If we don’t have enough money to buy vitamins in drug stores, let’s remember that the human body is the biggest drug store in the world.

LESSER SEX. Lovers in Singapore are the least amorous, having sex just 96 times a year--the only nation to dip below the magic 100 mark. No wonder they have a small population.

SPEED OF SENSATION. The maximum speed at which erotic sensations travel from skin to brain has been clocked at 156 miles per hour.

NON-VIOLENT. Socrates once said that we should not return violence or be violent to those who give us violence however strong the provocation. Yes, it's better to engage our adversaries in intellectual battle and clobber them by exposing their ignorance in a non-violent manner. This could be the sweetest victory in any battlefield.

CATAGELOPHOBIA is the fear of being ridiculed. Stay away from the bullies and those who have inclination to insult or verbally abuse us. Let’s avoid people who will only ridicule us and rob us of our enthusiasm and optimism. For it is better to be alone than to be in the company of wolves.

RONALD REAGAN once said, “I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.”

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

 

 

I don’t agree with Ka Eric, but, please, release him

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

—Albert Camus

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

I MAY not agree with Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) News host and former Iloilo student activist and rebel, Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz, but I will defend to death his right to freedom of speech and expression.

Thus, I disagree that he should be detained in the House of Representatives starting on December 5 upon orders by the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, for his failure to reveal his sources about the alleged P1.8 billion travel expenses of House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

I found the figure to be bloated or unrealistic, and we don’t believe the speaker would be so reckless enough and stupid to spend such gargantuan amount of taxpayers’ money for his wanderlust.

I agree that Ka Eric should apologize if his facts aren’t accurate. We have been always guided by a principle in journalism that there’s no substitute for accuracy when we convey an important message to the public as purveyors of truth. 

As members of the media organization, we don’t believe that in a democracy, anyone—a media practitioner or an ordinary communicator—must spend a minute in jail for his failure to reveal the source or sources of his subject matter. 

There are other “tamer” sanctions, or rather lighter punitive measures in a democratic society for those who may have erred on the side of freedom of expression other than sending a critic behind bars, which is too harsh and one that borders on curtailment of a person’s bill of rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

I have disagreed with Ka Eric on many issues in the past, and I will not hesitate to disagree with him again and again if needed, but I vehemently oppose the move to detain him. 

We call on the House of Representatives to release him ASAP. 

 

-o0o- 

 

In the spirit of fair play and balance, we are accommodating here the statement, Ka Eric, secretary general of Sambayanan, and host of SMNI News Laban Kasama Ang Bayan: “Let us mourn and condemn the death of democracy inside the ‘Halls of Congress’; let us condemn and resist the ‘Silent Martial Law’ and the brazen attacks on Press Freedom and Free Speech as a form of political persecution being implemented by the House of Representatives led by House Speaker Martin T. Romualdez and their collusion with CPP-NPA-NDF Kamatayan Bloc urban operatives.”

Below is additional statement released by Ka Eric’s camp following his detention in the House of Representatives:

The guarantee of Free Speech and the Freedom of Expression as well as the Freedom of the Press are inviolable rights of the people guaranteed by the constitution; and such are the bedrock of democracy in a democratic republican government. 

These are the rights that Ka Eric stood strongly and continues to stand in the face of scandalous abuse of power by the members of House of Representatives who are acting as criminal prosecutors, judges and executioners of the resource persons duly invited in their hearing.

This is no longer an issue of legislative franchise regarding SMNI TV network; this is now a clear and categorical issue of scandalous violation and abuse of  power by the House of Representatives in the guised of Committee hearings but in  truth and reality, are instruments of political persecution, harassment and intimidation which are manifest signs of creeping martial law inside congress which are being weaponized in the form of the political interest of abusive politicians who are now in cahoots with the CPP-NPA-NDF Urban Operatives.

What happened to Ka Eric is least expected by the people to happen inside the Halls of Congress, especially that Congress is among the pillars of democracy where people's fundamental rights and freedom must be guaranteed, respected and promoted, instead of being scandalously violated.

May our people learn the true meaning of how it is important to fight for our freedom and rights as shown by Ka Eric in his defiance today, where Ka Eric did not give up his fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution such as: FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND FREE SPEECH.

Let us all be reminded that: "When tyranny becomes a law, like what is happening now inside Congress, or as being exercised by any part of the government, then, rebellion becomes a duty" for the people.

LET US STAND WITH KA ERIC, OUR PEOPLE AND OUR BELOVED COUNTRY AS WE REJECT AND OPPOSE THE TYRANNICAL RULE AND SILENT MARTIAL LAW THAT IS HAPPENING NOW INSIDE CONGRESS WITH THE CONSPIRACY AND COLLUSION OF THE CPP-NPA-NDF URBAN OPERATIVES, AND THEIR KAMATAYAN PARTYLIST.

 

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DETAINED JOURNALIST. American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been detained in Russia for 250 days now. Gershkovich was arrested in March while on a reporting trip in the country. Russian authorities accused him of trying to obtain state secrets—a charge Gershkovich, his employer and the US government have strenuously denied… A 30-year-old YouTube creator staged a small plane crash for social media clicks. He now faces six months behind bars for his "daredevil" conduct.

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

 

 

Why people aren’t excited, or refused to be excited

“The excitement lies in the exploration of the world around us.”

—Jim Peebles

 

By Alex P. Vidal 

 

LIKE in the previous years, many Filipinos still appear to be unexcited about Christmas 2023–and even New Year 2024.

This could be the reason they didn’t give a damn if television networks or media outfits have been running regular Christmas “countdowns” in their programs. 

There is no iota of excitement and exhilaration. They are not enlivened even by the grandiose display of expensive Christmas lights and props in public edifices funded by taxpayers’ money. 

They just don’t feel the zeal and animation that go with the “happiest” season of the year. The word happiness has now become a misnomer in the Yuletide season. 

Economists recognize that subjective wellbeing, or happiness, is an essential characteristic and sometimes a desirable outcome that can motivate our decision-making.

Holiday Seasons or not, many Filipinos are still living below poverty level; they bellyache amid inflation and the freakish oil price hikes. Many Filipinos are still underemployed if not unemployed. Budgets are low. Regular good on the table is limited.

If their economic well-being is unstable and ill-suited, Christmas carols and other blings don’t matter to them, especially if even the noche buena is no longer a sure thing in the coming midnight of December 25.

 

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US MOURNS THOSE KILLED IN RP BLAST. The United States has condemned “in the strongest terms” the horrific terrorist attack that occurred December 3 during a Catholic service being held at Mindanao State University in Marawi, the Philippines.  

“We mourn those killed in the attack, and our thoughts are with the injured.  The United States is in close contact with our Philippine partners and stands with the people of the Philippines in rejecting this act of violence,” announced Matthew Miller, spokesman of the US Department of State.

 

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AT around 5:15 in the afternoon December 3, I bade goodbye to George “Georgie” Bernard Hartman, a famous personality in the American magazine industry. 

The 96-year-old former editorial design consultant from 1967-1988 of Glamour, an online women's magazine published by Conde Nast Publications, breathed his last at past five o’clock in the afternoon Sunday in his high-end Midtown Manhattan residence.

George, born in Illinois, was consultant of Chatellaine magazine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 1979 to 1984.

He was also the guest art director of Elle Magazine in Paris in 1963; and the Ingenue magazine’s art director in New York City from 1964—1967.

Glamour was originally called Glamour of Hollywood. From 1939 to 2019, Glamour was a print magazine. After a low number of subscribers Glamour's last edition was in January 2019.

I was with George for three days before he bade goodbye. 

When I sensed he was no longer responding after calling his name, the oximeter couldn’t read his oxygen, and he was no longer breathing, I held his right arm and prayed, “Almighty God, the shadow of death is upon George. Lead him to Your peace and give him comfort during his difficult time. He will feel at ease when he knows You care for him and that You love him. Let Your love calm the souls of those who are passing.”

I added: “Lord Jesus, holy and compassionate; forgive his sins. By dying You unlocked the gates of life for those who believe in you: do not let George be parted from You, but by Your glorious power give him light, joy and peace in heaven where you live and reign forever and ever. Amen.”

George wasn’t in pain when he began his journey to His Creator. I watched him until the end. He went home to the Lord at peace. So long and may you rest in peace, Georgie. Thank you for all the great memories in nearly three years.

 

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PHILANDERING. Thirty percent of men have no problem leaping from one relationship to the next. Only 19 percent of women can handle the quick switch.

SHAVING. For 70 percent of German women between the age of 14 and 29, shaving their private parts is "the most normal thing in the world." (Source: Gilette)

PEACE OF MIND, good health, a loving and forgiving heart are the greatest wealth. A fat bank account, iPhone X, and a Rolex watch symbolize only our inward social accessibility, not our upward spiritual mobility.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodbye, George!

“The story of life is quicker than the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye.” 

—Jimi Hendrix

 

By Alex P. Vidal 

 

AT around 5:15 in the afternoon December 3, I bade goodbye to George “Georgie” Bernard Hartman, a famous personality in the American magazine industry. 

The 96-year-old former editorial design consultant from 1967-1988 of Glamour, an online women's magazine published by Conde Nast Publications, breathed his last at past five o’clock in the afternoon Sunday in his high-end Midtown Manhattan residence.

George, born in Illinois, was consultant of Chatellaine magazine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 1979 to 1984.

He was also the guest art director of Elle Magazine in Paris in 1963; and the Ingenue magazine’s art director in New York City from 1964—1967.

Glamour was originally called Glamour of Hollywood. From 1939 to 2019, Glamour was a print magazine. After a low number of subscribers Glamour's last edition was in January 2019.

I was with George for three days before he bade goodbye. 

When I sensed he was no longer responding after calling his name, the oximeter couldn’t read his oxygen, and he was no longer breathing, I held his right arm and prayed, “Almighty God, the shadow of death is upon George. Lead him to Your peace and give him comfort during his difficult time. He will feel at ease when he knows You care for him and that You love him. Let your love calm the souls of those who are passing.”

I added: “Lord Jesus, holy and compassionate; forgive his sins. By dying You unlocked the gates of life for those who believe in you: do not let George be parted from You, but by Your glorious power give him light, joy and peace in heaven where you live and reign forever and ever. Amen.”

George wasn’t in pain when he began his journey to His Creator. I watched him until the end. He went home to the Lord at peace. So long and may you rest in peace, Georgie. Thank you for all the great memories in nearly three years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations 2023 Bar exams passers

“You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.” 

– Beverly Sills

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

WE congratulate all the passers in the 2023 Philippine bar examinations held on September 17 (Sunday), 20 (Wednesday), and 24 (Sunday). 

Instead of announcing it next year, the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) will release the official results, including the list of passers and top examinees to over 10,000 aspiring lawyers, in the afternoon of Tuesday, December 5, 2023, according to the official notice from SC issued in November 16.

Headed by Bar chairperson and Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, the simultaneous digital bar exams were administered at 14 local testing centers in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

SC conducted the exams through Examplify, a secure examination delivery program in which examinees will use their devices in their preferred venue, monitored by in-person proctors and closed-circuit television cameras in exam rooms.

Before officially posting results, the PRC Board said SC is conducting a special en banc session to decode the bar exam results. 

This is the process of opening the sealed envelopes with the names of passers.

The list of passers will also be posted on the SC’s official website and flashed via widescreen at the Supreme Court’s front yard. 

The professional licensure examination for lawyers in the country, the Philippine Bar Examination is arguably the most difficult licensure exam in the Philippines and is exclusively administered by the SC of the Philippines through the Supreme Court Bar Examination Committee.

The Philippine Bar Examination has been thought to be one of the hardest in the world because of the number of subjects covered (eight). In order to pass, PRC Board said takers need to obtain a general average of 75 percent in all law subjects and must not fall (and fail) below 50 percent in any of the subjects.

 

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We wish Iloilo City Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” P. Treñas well and may he have a speedy recovery after he reportedly underwent a “successful” angioplasty December 2 following a routine medical check-up. 

Angioplasty, also called balloon angioplasty, is a procedure that opens arteries to let blood go through more easily. 

Healthcare providers use this minimally invasive procedure in tight spots in arteries where plaque makes the space inside an artery too narrow or blocks it.

It is a procedure to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels that supply blood to the heart, according to health experts. These blood vessels are called the coronary arteries. 

A coronary artery stent is a small, metal mesh tube that expands inside a coronary artery, according to health experts.

Treñas’ doctor reportedly found a blocked artery in his heart, thus necessitating the procedure that took only 30 minutes. 

“Let us all include him and his family in our prayers,” appealed the official statement from the Iloilo City Mayor’s Office.

If the city mayor had a planned (non-emergency) coronary angioplasty, he should be able to return to work after a week. 

However, if Treñas had an emergency angioplasty following a heart attack, it may be several weeks or months before he recovers fully and is able to return to work. 

Thank God he didn’t have a heart attack. Get well soon, Mayor Treñas.

 

-o0o-

ILLNESSES. Homosexuality remained on the American Psychiatric Association's list of mental illnesses until 1973. In other words, if you were a gay before that year, you were considered as psychotic or a mental patient. We can just imagine the tribulation and distress members of gay community went through until 1973.

XANTHOPHOBIA is fear of the color yellow.

VASECTOMY. The first "official" vasectomy was performed in 1893.

BEDROOM. People who have a television in their bedroom have 50 percent less sex than those who don't. (Source: Baby and Families)

BERTRAND RUSSELL said: "Love is something far more than desire for sexual intercourse; it is the principal means of escape from the loneliness which afflicts most men and women throughout the greater part of their lives." 

OLDEST SEX TOY. The oldest dildo in the world is approximately 28,000 years old. It was discovered in 2005 in Tubingen, Germany by archaeological researchers at the university there. It is eight inches long and "hard as a rock." The team also posited that the stone phallus could have been used as a striking stone (but that's not as interesting as the other believed use, is it!)

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

 

The Epic of Gilgamesh in Penguin Classics

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” 

— Benjamin Franklin

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

PENGUIN Classics has produced a 127-page English version of The Epic of Gilgamesh by N.K. Sandars for $2.25.

Luckily, I got it only for $.35 in a book sale.

In the Philippines, book sale stores in malls and shopping centers that offer affordable “used” books have proliferated, thus if we are book worms, we can now have a date with Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, Copernicus, Jesus, Judas Iscariot, Caesar, Charles Darwin and Queen Elizabeth, among other historical figures.

We can now travel back to the ancient civilization, revisit the Trojan War, relive the Glory that was Greece and the Grandeur that was Rome, and review the Ages of Gaia.

We can now, more or less, understand in the English version The Epic of Gilgamesh.

Miraculously preserved on clay tablets deciphered in the last century, The Epic of Gilgamesh is at least 1,500 years older than Homer. Its volume contains the English version of the adventures of the King of Uruk in his fruitless search for immortality and of his friendship with Enkidu, the wild man from the hills.

Also included in the epic is another legend of the Flood which agrees in many details with the Biblical story of Noah.

Let me share briefly why The Epic of Gilgamesh is a must read for lovers of religion, archeology, history, literature, political and social sciences.

Gilgamesh was the son of a man and a goddess and king of the ancient Sumerian city-state of Uruk. 

He was also the strongest and most handsome man in the world. 

 

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But his assets have gone to his head, and he spent all his time wearing out the young men of the city with endless athletic contests and sexually exploiting the young women. 

When the citizens of Uruk couldn’t take it anymore, they prayed to the gods for help. 

The god Anu heard them, and commanded the goddess Aruru to create another human who will be a match for Gilgamesh.

Aruru created Enkidu, an uncivilized wild man, and placed him in the woods. 

There, Enkidu had several run-ins with a trapper who uses the same watering hole. 

Terrified, the trapper went to Uruk for help. On Gilgamesh's advice, the trapper went back to the watering hole with Shamhat, a temple-prostitute. 

When Enkidu showed up, Shamhat enticed him to have sex with her.

Afterward, Enkidu found that he could no longer keep up with the animals, but that his mind has been opened.

He started living with Shamhat, who initiated him into human life. When she mentioned Gilgamesh, Enkidu realized that he wanted a friend—and that he wanted to give Gilgamesh a beat-down. 

Gilgamesh had been dreaming about getting a new friend, too.

Soon enough, Enkidu went to Uruk and faced down Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh won, but there were no hard feelings, and the two warriors became best buds.

One day, Gilgamesh decided to go to the distant Cedar Forest and killed Humbaba, the monster who guarded it. Against the advice of the elders of Uruk and Enkidu himself, the two friends set out on their quest. 

Once they made it to the Cedar Forest, the sun god Shamash helped them overpower Humbaba, who started pleading for mercy. 

 

-o0o-

 

Gilgamesh was about to grant it, but then gave in to peer pressure from Enkidu, and killed him. 

The friends cut down the tallest tree in the forest, which Enkidu planned to dedicate to the god Enlil. 

They built a raft and sailed home down the River Euphrates, taking Humbaba's head along for the ride. 

At this point, the goddess Ishtar developed a crush on Gilgamesh and asked him to marry her. 

Gilgamesh rejected her, pointing out that all of her previous lovers have come to bad ends. 

Seriously pissed off, Ishtar borrowed the Bull of Heaven from her dad, Anu, and sent it to earth to punish the friends. But they killed the Bull, and, when Ishtar appeared on the ramparts of Uruk, Enkidu threw one of its legs in her face.

Not long afterwards, Enkidu dreamed that the gods have decided that, for killing Humbaba, chopping down the cedar, and killing the Bull of Heaven, either he or Gilgamesh must die—and that Enlil picked Enkidu. In no time, Enkidu fell mysteriously ill, and died after much suffering.

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