City dads hail Joshua Alim as ‘man of many talents’

“This is how memories are made... by going with the flow.” —Amanda Bynes

 

By Alex P. Vidal 

 

JOSHUA Alim, Danny Fajardo, Rommel Ynion, Restituto “Agent Kurantay” Jotis, Jr., Rene Monteclaro, Leo Dumagat, Armand Parcon, Marcos Villalon, Teddy Sumaray, Eddie Laczi, Tony Laniog, Bob Bacaling, Ernie Dayot, Fernando “Kapid” Gabio, Danny Baby Foz, Lydia Pendon, Ben Palma, Lito Jimena, Bert Montilla, Rey Alcalde, Ely Suyom, Jigger Latoza, Bert Mamora (I hope I didn’t miss anyone). 

They were some my fellow Ilonggo colleagues in the print and broadcast media who were alive and kicking when I was in Iloilo, except for Laczi, who signed off on October 27, 2013 in Connecticut, and Dumagat, who died on April 17, 2021 and was cremated in New York.

Aside from being my colleagues or former colleagues, most of them were also my good friends for so many years. 

Sadly, I didn’t have the opportunity to pay my last respects to them because of my distance, except for Dumagat, who had resided a few blocks away from my apartment in Queens.

There were times when I thought they weren’t yet dead; that we could still, once again, interact face to face and sit down for a cup of coffee in Iloilo to reminisce the past. 

But they are now gone for good. My wishful thinking.

 

-o0o-

 

Back in the late 80s and early 90s as a newsman in Iloilo City, I almost memorized the faces if not the full names of my media colleagues in TV, print and broadcast, especially those from different media outlets I worked with in many beat assignments and unforgettable events inside and outside Western Visayas.

That’s how they became so important to me, once in my life.

I was familiar with their talents, styles, weaknesses, strengths, characters, background and, to some extent, political plans—some of them did make waves in the political arena when they became elected officials. 

Many of those with me in all those boisterous but fun-filled press corps activities and slam-bang out-of-town coverages, became my personal friends and extended family. 

When I suddenly learn they are gone, it feels like a big chunk of my exciting memories in community journalism is suddenly swept away.

Joseph B. Wirthlin once said, “Some memories are unforgettable, remaining ever vivid and heartwarming!”

 

-o0o-

 

I SALUTE the Iloilo City Council led by Councilor Ely Estante, proponent of the resolution that mourned the “untimely demise of former colleague Joshua Alim.”

Indeed, Pare Joshua was a multi-talented human being. He had a special gift and he could touch the life of even ordinary people by his sympathetic words for those who are in dire straits and his charisma. 

Estante is one of the only five former DYFM Bombo Radyo Iloilo reporters who made it in the Iloilo City Council.

The four others were: the late former councilor Armand Parcon, the late Restituto “Agent Kurantay” Jotis Jr., the late Atty. Joshua Alim, and Rodel Agado.

I am sharing the press release recently sent to us by our esteemed senior colleague Limuel Celebria entitled, “Estante, SP mourn departed colleague”.

In its first order of business today, the Iloilo City Council, through a resolution proposed by Councilor Ely Estante Jr., mourned the untimely demise of former colleague Joshua Alim.

Alim, who served the city council for a total six terms from 1998 - 2019, recently died of cardiac arrest. He was 57.

Estante described Alim as man of many talents: he was a lawyer and law professor, a broadcaster, realtor, Dangal ng Bayan awardee, and President of the CPU Alumni Association.

Estante further described Alim as a "leader of men with a big heart and helping hand for the poor and under privileged.

The Estante resolution also expressed the SP's heartfelt condolences to Alim's family. He left behind a wife and two daughters.

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

Anti-vaxxers: We are victims of bigots

 “Vaccines save lives; fear endangers them. It's a simple message parents need to keep hearing.”

—Jeffrey Kluger

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

REELING from pressures and being banned from transport services, some anti-vaxxers have used the social media to “ask for your support and understanding…” insisting that “our rights and freedom are being violated.”

At least four anti-vaxxers from Iloilo have requested us through private messages to “please help us disseminate our cause in order to protect us from harassments and discrimination.”

Ramil, an event organizer from Bo. Obrero, Lapuz, Iloilo City, who is not a doctor, protested in local dialect: “They don’t listen to us. Covid is a myth meant to control, confuse, and strike fear in the hearts of the people. Vaccination is not the answer; it’s not the solution to pandemic. On the other hand, vaccination will endanger our lives if we have medical history that doen’t jibe with vaccination.”     

“Only people in the media can help us spread the real and true story behind the spread of Covid and this so-called Omicron,” submitted Rosanna, a single mother and campaign worker of a presidential candidate from the City Proper. 

“It is not true that if we vaccinate we will be protected from the pandemic. Vaccinations are part of a global business and those who push for it are the ones who benefit most like Bill Gates,” added Rosanna, who also doesn’t have any expertise or background on medical matters.

 

-o0o-

 

“Ginigipit kami. Ngaa kami lang? Ngaa gina pilit gid kami magpa-vaccine bisan indi fit sa amon gina batyag (We are being pressured. We are being forced to get a vaccine even if it is not the answer to what we feel),” bewailed Erlinda, 49, a city hall employee.  

The anti-vaxxers have been sending links of articles and videos to friends and relatives that “explain everything” to support their “predicament” in private messages.

“Diri lang nila kami maintindihan (These are the only informations that they are going understand us) if they care to read the links and spare a time to watch the videos,” Ramil insisted. “The authorities are panicking; we are panicking, too, because the restrictions and bans like using the public transport system are making life difficult for us.”

They rued that they were being attacked by “bigots” who have developed “deep animosity” toward them because of their stand on the vaccination.

 

-o0o-

 

Ramil and Erlinda admitted they are fighting an uphill battle.

“Many of our relatives and friends don’t believe us and, in fact, have ignored us. Some of them argued with us angrily as if we were just inventing stories that aren’t true,” Erlinda complained in Hiligaynon.

Meanwhile, writer Michael Hiltzik admits that among all the ways that COVID-19 affects our lives, the pandemic confronts us with a profound moral dilemma: How should we react to the deaths of the unvaccinated?

Hiltzik added: “On the one hand, a hallmark of civilized thought is the sense that every life is precious. On the other, those who have deliberately flouted sober medical advice by refusing a vaccine known to reduce the risk of serious disease from the virus, including the risk to others, and end up in the hospital or the grave can be viewed as receiving their just deserts.”

That’s even more true of those who not only refused the vaccine for themselves, but publicly advocated that others do so.

It has become common online and in social media for vaccine refusers and anti-vaccine advocates to become the target of ridicule after they come down with COVID-19 and especially if they die from it.

“Paano naman ang rights sang mga victims of Covid? (How about the rights of the Covid victims),” asked Charina, wife of a medical practitioner in Iloilo City, who was once affected by an extended lockdown when she was in New York.

“What they are spreading are false informations from unreliable sources and poisonous internet links with no scientific explanation and they expect us intelligent people to believe them? O c’mon,” Charina concluded.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pare Joshua literally ‘pulls me out’ of jail

“Don't be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.”

—Richard Bach

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

SOMETIME in June 1993 noontime, I landed in the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) Police Precinct 1 jail after I was involved, believe it or not, in a fistfight. 

Then PP1 commander, Chief Inspector Dionisio Duco, didn’t order his men to bring me inside the jail, but I volunteered to enter a vacant cell adjacent to a packed cell after the booking.

The police didn’t padlock the empty jail but it remained closed while I was inside.

After about 30 minutes, Atty. Joshua Alim, my former media colleague and kumpare, arrived at past 1 o’clock in the afternoon.

“Gaano ka dira p’re man? (What are you doing there, buddy?),” Alim, clad in Barong Tagalog, gushed.

“OK lang p’re. Wala ako reklamo ma stay lang ako diri (It’s okay, buddy. I have no complaint and I’ll just stay here),” I replied.

“Batian ko sa radyo ang natabu. Gua dira p’re a. Indi ka dira ‘ya angayan (I heard what happened on radio. Get out of that place. You don’t belong there),” he insisted.

Pare Joshua’s gesture showed his true character, how he valued a friend in distress, and how he cared. 

 

-o0o-

 

Chief Inspector Duco didn’t press charges against me. I was allowed to go but only after “posting” a bail in the Hall of Justice.

Pare Joshua, who served as Iloilo City councilor for 18 years, and I knew each other since 1989 when he was reporter of DYFM Bombo Radyo Iloilo while I was reporter of News Express.

In 1990, Bombo Radyo Philippines became the first network to mandate a Barong Tagalog uniform for all field reporters, thus we always addressed Pare Joshua as “attorney” when we attended the press conferences at Camp Martin Delgado, among other beats.

He took the bar exams in 1990. 

One morning in April-May 1991 in Pagsanjan, Laguna, our other kumpare Nereo Lujan (Panay News) broke the news to the three other Iloilo delegates in the Graciano Lopez-Jaena Community Journalism Fellowship hosted by University of the Philippines (UP)-Los Banos: Runji Jamolo (Radyo Ng Bayan), James Cabag (Philippine Information Agency), and me that Pare Joshua had passed the 1990 bar exams.

Back in Iloilo, Pare Joshua’s “victory” inspired his media colleagues.

In 1992, or a year before he “pulled me out” of the city jail, balikbayan Pet Melliza (now Atty. Teopisto Melliza) and I became Pare Joshua’s first media clients in a labor case when he was associate of the Bedona Law Office. 

 

-o0o-

 

He initially wanted to withdraw when he learned that the legal counsel for the defendant was his law professor in the Central Philippine University (CPU), now Judge Neri Duremdes.

But Pare Joshua changed his mind and won his first case against his law professor.

Even before he became a city councilor, Atty Alim joined forces when the late Councilor German “Kuya Germs” Gonzalez and Atty. Romeo Gerochi fought the Panay Electric Company (PECO) with tongs and hammer.

He also picked up the cudgels for the urban poor and became a household name in Iloilo, aside from his media background, which was instrumental in his impressive election victories.

Pare Joshua never missed some major events in the media, including press club activities even if his presence wasn’t mandatory owing to his schedule and activities while “on the other side of the fence.”

When he became a full-pledged politician, we rarely mingled and would meet only in the coffeeshops. 

When I relocated to the United States, social media became our most convenient meeting place. 

 

-o0o-

 

Pare Joshua was aware of my reputation as a media practitioner who never maintained close friendships with some politicians. 

There were times he was tempted to doubt if my being a “hard-hitting” journalist and his “vulnerability” as a public servant would threaten the sacredness of our friendship.  

Even if he knew I was among his few former media colleagues not afraid to lose a politician as a friend especially if the politician is corrupt, abusive and evil, he was somebody I can’t afford to lose because he wasn’t corrupt, abusive and evil.

Hours after his demise was made known, the social media burst with sorrow and emotional pain like Iloilo lost a great son and leader.

As a colleague, Pare Joshua was trustworthy who never took advantage of any media practitioner. He wanted to be a friend of all the rank-and-file and the bigwigs in the industry that first gave him a name. 

As a public servant he had the charisma of the late Mayor Mansing Malabor, populist but down to earth and sincere. As a friend, he was the type who would leave last when the captain called for abandonment of the ship.  

Even in death, he continued to amaze and make us proud of him.

Farewell, Pare Joshua. Let’s resume our coffee session in the Kingdom of God.  

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

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

I had five swab tests in four days

 “When you test, you have a case. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didn’t do any testing, we would have very few cases.”

—Donald Trump

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

I MADE a total of five swab tests in four days over the week. 

Overkill? Maybe. Over acting? Possibly. Panicking? Probably. 

I already have full Covid-19 vaccinations, a booster shot, and a flu shot. But why did I have to do that? Is one swab testing not enough? 

First, swab testing is free in New York; testing centers are everywhere, and are mushrooming in the main thoroughfares in all the four boroughs: Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Long Island, Staten Island.

Second, we are required to submit Covid-19 swab testing results in our workplaces because of the record-breaking Omicron variant, which has eclipsed Delta variant in terms of number of persons infected in quick succession.    

Ideally, yes, one swab test is enough. Two to three times in a short interval may not be necessary, at least from the point of view of ordinary observers. 

Why five times? While strolling around, I took advantage of the accessible testing centers especially when there were few people queuing. If the line was kilometric long in one testing center, I backpedaled and left. 

As a result of my testing spree, I got three PCR and two rapid tests.

As of this writing, all my two rapid tests were negative (from Illinois-based Excel Labs and Astoria, New York-based Steinway Hope Medical).

 

-o0o-

 

I’m now waiting for my two PCR results from the same testing centers and one from Sylhet Pharmacy, based in Ozone Park, New York, which promised to release my result in five to seven days.

With or without an insurance, anybody can walk straight to any Department of Health and New York State-accredited testing centers and get rapid and PCR testings simultaneously.

PCR testing is considered the “gold standard” in SARS-CoV-2 detection. This test actually detects RNA (or genetic material) that is specific to the virus and can detect the virus within days of infection, even those who have no symptoms. The test can be done in a clinic, hospital, or even in the car.

In Queens, where there is a large number of multi-racial communities, it’s easy to locate the testing centers in the parked vans and buses, and in various kiosks in the sidewalks.

I heard that people in the Philippines who want to take a Covid-19 swab test will have to shell out cash and wait for available schedule.

Sometimes they have to reportedly elbow each over for the limited slots, far cry from what is happening in the United States, where testing centers are the ones swooping down to the communities and enticing the people to take the test—for free.

 -o0o-

 

NO WONDER MY REFUND HASN’T ARRIVED UNTIL NOW. The number of unprocessed tax returns the Internal Revenue Service (IRSA) has left over from the "most challenging year" taxpayers ever experienced is 11 million. 

The backlog has been reportedly compounded by the coronavirus pandemic and longtime underfunding of the agency, forcing the IRS to head into the new filing season already behind. 

The Treasury Department is already warning that taxpayers might experience processing delays filing their returns this year.

 

-o0o-

 

COVID paid sick leave is still in effect. That’s according to the New York State Department of Labor in its January Newsletter.

It said, “In New York State, COVID Paid Sick Leave is still in effect for employees ordered to quarantine or isolate due to COVID-19.”

Depending upon the size of the business, employers may be required to provide COVID Paid Sick Leave to employees without the use of regular accruals, it added.

“All employees, regardless of the size of their employer, are entitled to job protection upon return from COVID sick leave. Employees asserting these rights are protected under New York's anti-retaliation laws,” explained the NYS DOL Newsletter.

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

 

  

 

It’s a movement, not a campaign

“Each new generation is reared by its predecessor; the latter must therefore improve in order to improve its successor. The movement is circular.”

—Emile Durkheim

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THERE are signs that the astronomical ascension of Vice President Leni Robredo in Philippine politics from an unknown wife of a not-so-famous cabinet secretary who died in a plane crash during the previous administration, can be compared to that of the late former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino.

When the late strongman former President Ferdinand Marcos was the dominant figure in Philippine politics from 1965 to 1986, no one saw the demise of his political power—until the unknown housewife of a charismatic opposition icon murdered in the tarmac three years earlier, came from nowhere to trounce him in a pre-EDSA uprising snap election.

All the surveys dismally showed “Tita Cory” in the rock-bottom even if it was unanimously predicted Marcos would anyway retain his power “by whatever means”. The rest is now history.

Let’s forget the survey. Fidel V. Ramos never topped any of the many surveys dominated by Ramon Mitra, Danding Cojuangco and Miriam Defensor-Santiago during the 1992 presidential election.

Robredo never topped or has not ruled some of the recent reputed surveys except those done in the universities, media institutions and in foreign lands with large Filipino communities.

But what we are witnessing these past months is no longer an ordinary campaign. What has been unfolding is a movement. I don’t need to elaborate something that is so obvious and palpable.  

These were the same “handwritings on the wall” many of us saw when Mrs. Aquino launched her presidential bid in 1985, a year before the February snap election that pitted her against one of Asia’s most powerful dictators.

I will stop from here. I leave the rest of reckoning or calculation to the intelligent readers and let history take its course once again.

 

-o0o-

 

IN the past two years, news in the Philippines has been dominated only by two major stories: Covid-19 and illegal drugs bust.

The other news was about politics—the preparations for the May 9, 2022 election—followed by crime stories or about the peace and order. 

The rest was about entertainment, sports, economy, animals and climate change.

Covid-19, how the government has been fighting it and how the people have been responding to the vaccination and the travel restrictions and other pandemic-induced protocols; and illegal drugs, how the police have been busting and arresting traffickers, completely were in the prime time news and front pages of major dailies for the last 24 months.

It seems we might soon see the decline of news about Covid-19 once Omicron, the No. 1 producer of a flurry of pandemic stories, will start to move away (it can’t stay in our life forever, for heaven’s sake) but news about illegal drugs has no ending in sight.

It appears illegal drug trafficking is here to stay and stories about major busts and shooting to death of “armed” traffickers will have a permanent space in the daily news.     

With 2022 as the election year in the Philippines, coming second to Covid-19 in as far as major news is concerned, is now politics. Once the official campaign period unwraps, political news will give the pandemic news a run for its money.

 

-o0o-

 

That's the width of an asteroid expected to fly by Earth next week is 3,451 feet . 

On January 18, the kilometer-wide asteroid known as 7482 (1994PC1) will pass within 1.2 million miles of our planet, moving at a speed of more than 47,000 miles per hour. Scientists are confident the asteroid will not hit Earth, but it's the closest it will come for the next two centuries.

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

Miracle happens, but how?

 “You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.”

—Paulo Coelho

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IF former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will be disqualified by the Commission on Election (Comelec), he can still appeal the decision and proceed with his campaign for president in the May 9, 2022 election.

However, the decision will virtually cripple his chances; his being formidable—and his seeming invincibility—as a presidential candidate won’t be the same again. 

His candidacy (only if he has been disqualified and appealed it) can be compared to a chicken which continues to walk and move casually after being beheaded. 

Those who like the headless chicken think its head will “grow” again because the body is still moving. 

As long as the headless chicken is alive, the “hopes and aspirations” of its followers will remain. 

Followers of Marcos Jr. (only in the event that he will be disqualified) can cling to miracle of the word “appealable” so that their dreams of seeing him lead the Philippines as president will not die.

Going back to the headless chicken as our analogy, there are two things that might happen during its followers’ wish for intercession of a miracle during the “appeal”: either the headless chicken will stop moving and collapse or drop dead, or its head will grow back and the chicken will live a normal life again after the “reunification”.

What kind of miracle it is for a living object to regain a head after it has been separated from the body?

A miracle indeed.

 

-o0o-

 

Starting this week we will be required by our employer to undergo a rapid nasal swab Covid test every week.

This will make sure we have not been infected with Omicron variant, which was reportedly responsible for the new record of more than a million cases a day here in the United States as of January 11.

I can never say no. When it comes to helping fight the pandemic and protecting public health, any employer, authority and government can always expect my 100 percent cooperation.

In fact, I have given may positive nod to the social worker in New York City who relayed to me the request. 

I immediately moved my butt and availed a “free” PCR test in a waiting van on 82^ndStreet-Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens at 10:30 in the morning on January 10. The result may have been available as of this writing.

It was my fifth Covid-19 swab test since the later part of 2020, the year the pandemic brought massive terror and horror to humanity.

We have witnessed so many cases where uncooperative and rebellious individuals, refusing to wear face mask and turning down vaccinations, have paid the price painfully.

They can’t just underestimate and deny the existence and destruction  of pandemic—unless they live in another planet or in another timeline.

 

-o0o-

 

By denouncing and shunning all health protocols related to Covid-19, the defiant protestants are placing public welfare and safety in jeopardy.  

It has also delayed and distracted the efforts and sacrifice of health authorities to mitigate the pandemic and reduce the number of cases and deaths.

The weekly swab test may sound inconvenient especially that in the United States, more particularly in New York, we have to fall in line and endure a super cold weather in the winter season for hours to reach the vans and buses parked in different areas in the metropolis where the Covid-19 PCR rapid test is done.

We can queue in the medical centers and hospitals but the time we will spend their might double and the wait may take longer than in the mobile testing clinics.

She admitted it may be tough to have a weekly test, but stressed that we will lose nothing but “we will have everything to gain”, in as far as our health and safety are concerned, if we follow the mandate and policy of health authorities.

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

 

 

A big election story about to unfold

“There's even a feature on my website where you can translate messages into codes, so whenever I have any big news it goes out in code first so the diehard fans are the first to know.”

—Nina Nesbitt

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

A SHOCKING political story in the next five to six days is expected to create a major tremor in the ongoing campaign for the national positions in the May 9, 2022 Philippine election.

It will also amplify some popular and unremitting beliefs and projections that certain top political personalities pencilled in, even before the start of the official campaign period since last year, to dominate the most coveted positions, will eventually fold up and be stamped out from the race.

The huge story, anyway, won’t stun those familiar with the election laws, especially those who profess strong adherence to the rule of law.

But it will, in one way or the other, help reinforce the people’s faith in the jurisprudence as a whole, especially if the basis for this mammoth story would be hammered out in a fair, factual, judicious, ethical, moral and logical presentation and conclusion.

We don’t predict with absolute certainty in the crystal ball this forthcoming tornado that will make a loud landfall before the goings in the campaign period get tough, but most of the readers probably understand what we are trying to point out.

    

-o0o-

 

A RESHUFFLING of key officials and personnel in any organization is but a normal undertaking that must not be given any malice and negative inference. 

Like the recent revamp in the Philippine National Police (PNP). 

Every now and then the changing of the guards in the police organization occurs ostensibly as a normal cycle and for the good of all, not just for some PNP bigwigs who get assignments deemed to be “juicy” and favorable. 

This includes fresh installations of officials and personnel in the regions, provinces, cities and municipalities with eternal problems in peace and order and lack of police visibility.

Reshuffling will prevent some PNP officials and personnel from becoming “too familiar” with some local government officials and the folk where they sometimes develop a not-so-healthy affinity and alliance.

It will also provide overstaying precinct commanders and personnel the opportunity to reinvent themselves and elevate their careers in their new assignments. 

A general revamp involves the entire organization and affects everyone  and ideally there should be no favoritism and special treatment. 

If the reorganization will not be favorable to certain organic members for whatever reason, they have no choice but to respect the hierarchy,  follow the chain of command, and be professional and obedient soldiers.

 

-o0o-

 

Doctors studying Omicron's spread around the world have found new clues to the pattern of symptoms caused by the highly-mutated COVID-19 variant, which a growing number of reports suggest might show up differently and faster compared to the Delta variant it is now displacing. 

Early evidence suggests that in many patients, CBS News’ Alexander reported that “Omicron is leading to a new trend of milder symptoms that mostly affect the upper respiratory system—the nose, mouth and throat.“

That may help explain why it appears to pose a smaller individual risk of hospitalization or severe disease than earlier strains of the virus, which often invaded the lungs.

"What is becoming clearer … is that Omicron seems to have lesser impact on lungs than prior variants," said Dr. Ronald Whelan, head of Discovery Health's COVID-19 task team.

Whelan's employer, South Africa's largest health insurer, released an early report last month on the Omicron wave there, reported the CBS News.

Their analysis reportedly found that a sore throat ranked among the most common early Omicron symptoms, as well as congestion, a dry cough and lower back pain. 

The incubation period—the time from infection to symptoms appearing—was as short as three days. That's reportedly several days faster than previous strains of the virus.

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