WB-funded road contracts & the US State Department’s charges of graft and corruption.
For some weeks now, World Bank (WB) tells us of the corruptive practice which rigs the bidding of the foreign bank-funded road projects in the Philippines. Instead of being thankful to the international lending institution for giving important leads to curb corruption, some of our government officials have been defensive.
Without tangible effort to find out the truth, supporters of the Arroyo government thought of filing a “diplomatic protest.” As if to way lay the investigation, Sen. Santiago pompously crowed over “court evidence” and insisted on the foreign bank officials to feed the senate investigation with all the details of the allegation. WB officials in turn told our government investigators they couldn’t do the job for us. Careful not to trample on our national “pride,” they said it wasn’t the foreign bank’s duty. Yes, why then couldn't we have our investigation without the help of an outsider like the foreign bank?
Jose Miguel Arroyo, the husband of Pres. Gloria Arroyo, was at the center of the WB scandal. Santiago, an Arroyo ally, behaved as though it was WB’s interest over our own national interest that criminal wrong-doing be proven. The foot-dragging that followed demonstrated the lack of resolve to get into the bottom of the case. The inquiry led by Sen. Miriam D. Santiago was haphazard, diversionary and inutile.
If only to heighten our shame and incompetence, the US State Department, on a separate issue of human rights, called on our government to exert more in stopping graft and corruption. In its “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in 2008,” released last February 25, 2009, the department disclosed corruption in government agencies and the judiciary was among the reasons why basic human rights continued to be violated in the Philippines.
“'The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity,' the report says."---Inquirer (02/28,/09, Dizon, N; Burgunio, TJ)
What they are saying about us is consistently embarrassing, but many of us choose to keep the usual silence. Malacanang Press secretary Cerge Remonde tries to be “smart” by dismissing the accusations as merely perceptions and therefore not rooted on reality.
“Corruption is really more…perception than reality. This perception is making us more aware and more conscious of the problem. More people become vigilant in watching graft and corruption,” Remonde told a news conference at the Palace on Friday."---PDI, (02/27/9, Guinto, J.)
Others like Remonde in government are defensive by pointing that even USA and other countries have shares of the same problem. Apologists for the country say the Philippines isn’t the only one. They try to downplay the stark contrast in how other countries respond to stop graft and corruption.(Photo Credit: Animationcomics) =0=
RELATED BLOG: "Corruption scandals hurting Filipinos under Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo" Posted by mesiamd at 1/29/2009
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Buhi-Malinao road ushers in more commerce for Bicol
Linking communication is the most obvious benefit of having a road between towns and villages. Alternative routes of trade and commerce are made easy. These are expected in the recent completion of the 35 kilometer road (about half of 66 kilometer highway) which connects the 2nd and 4th districts of Camarines Sur to that of 1st district of Albay.
Leading to the port area of Tabaco, Albay, the highway makes it easier to reach Catanduanes Island in Bicol. Travel from Manila will be shorter than before.
The new road starts from Hanawan Ocampo, Camarines Sur onwards to Barangay Burokbusoc and Sagrada in Buhi, Camarines Sur, reaching up to Malinao, Albay. It is heralded as an accomplishment by LV Castaneda of the Department of Public Highways, (DPH.)
But Buhinon Jesus Valenciano (in a letter to Bicol Mail's editor,) writes to question the integrity of the road. He fears that the "all-weather road" in some sections need cementing or asphalting. He says, without good maintenance, this road can easily fall into disrepair. ----Bicol Mail (02/19/09; 02/26/09) (Photo Credit: www.freewebs.com/infocenterbuhi/) =0=
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Who says we are spared from the effects of recession?
Presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said the Philippines wasn’t among the Asian countries affected by the worldwide recession. It might be a lie that Malacanang Palace wanted us to believe. He based his conclusion to the non-inclusion of the country in the International Labor Organization (ILO) list which projects 113 million jobs loss in Asia as the world economy continues to falter (Malaya , 02/20/09 Bengco, R.) According to ILO, the expected unemployment number this year will be more than the 22.3 million jobs Asian countries lost in 2008.
It will do us good if we look closely at the data Golez is referring to before we celebrate. We aren't that trusting anymore. The effects of the financial meltdown are just beginning to show. It is foolhardy for him and the government he represents to assume that we aren’t affected.
The unemployment we see in the street is a better gauge than the assurances of government officials. We see what food we eat and what clothes we wear. Most of us are familiar of the signs of chronic job loss and their aftermath. The employment stagnation in the country is long-standing and antedates the global economic meltdown.
5,500 OFWs lose jobs—--Arroyo
"Some 5,500 Filipino overseas workers have lost their jobs abroad and returned home over the past four months, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Thursday. The Department of Labor announced earlier this week that 39,000 Filipinos had lost their jobs since October, a number which included overseas workers."---Agence France-Presse/ Inquirer (02/26/09)
Foreign companies are pulling out their business operations in Manila. Unemployment among fresh graduates continues to rise. There is pervasive underemployment and lay-offs. The rush for jobs abroad doesn’t abate even if applicants downgrade their qualifications just to grab work even if it is risky and suffers from inadequate pay. With a bearish investment climate, people are afraid to shell out money that stir spending and growth. The number of impoverished Filipinos continues to rise.
Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo’s job creation is too little to assuage the fear and anger of the public. The government projects that are quick-disbursing, high-impact, and labor intensive (according to Management Dir. Hermogenes Esperon) don’t come close to reality when one sees the widespread unemployment, poverty, and corruption in the country. That’s why we rely early on ourselves more than depend on announced legislated measures by the administration. (Photo Credits: Slavishtubesocks; JRIOrion)=0=
3,000 IT & 10,000 semiconductor jobs at risk
"At least 3,000 information technology (IT) jobs are at risk in first quarter alone while 10,000 positions in semiconductor industry could be shed during the first half of the year due to the global economic slump."---GMANewsTV (02/28/09)
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Octomom gets $1 million offer to do a porno flick
The 33-year old disabled Nadya Suleman who caused a flurry of controversies for giving birth to 8 premature babies via in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in addition to 6 other children is now being offered to make a living. Vivid Entertainment has asked the jobless mom to appear in a pornographic movie for $1 million plus a year of insurance for herself and her 14 children. The film company is waiting for the decision.
The emotionally unstable single mother with history of depression has been on social welfare. In danger of being evicted from a foreclosed 3-bedroom home with her bankrupt parents in California, Suleman has made several TV interviews including a recent appearance with feel-good psychology guru Dr. Phil McGraw. She complains that if she has no means of supporting her newborns, the hospital may opt to leave her out from custody of the children.
The debates for or against Nadya Suleman haven't died down. In this complicated world, the birth of octuplets to a financially cash-strapped woman can be exploited way beyond the confines of propriety and moral values.
Just a month after her delivery, she has this skin flick offer. The exploitation is evident from the time her fertility doctor implanted the eight embryos against known standards of ethical and scientific medical judgement. This upsetting life story is an offshoot of the liberalism in United States where the pursuit of individualism has blurred the choice between right and wrong. (Photo Credit: LA Times/ Paul Drinkwater/ NBC) =0=
UPDATE: After Nadya Suleman got the porno film offer, a competing movie/video outfit which peddles smut asks the octomom to reject the $1 million sex movie in favor of a year of diapers that it promises to give away for her children.
RELATED BLOG: "Octuplets spark debate on medical, socio-economic, & moral issues of assisted pregnancies" Posted by mesiamd at 2/01/2009
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US-Mexican drug bust yields 750 suspects, $59 million worth of drugs & weapons
Affirming the gravity of the drug wars in Mexico, federal agents from the United States have rounded up 750 suspected members of narcotics cartels from south of the border. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) picked up more than 50 drug gang members in separate overnight raids in California, Minnesota, Washington DC, and various US cities.
The arrests were mainly Sinaloa cartel members who were linked to the bloody drug wars over controls of narcotics smuggling routes in Mexico and USA. In a international law enforcement operation which spanned for about 2 years in Mexico, USA and Canada, had earlier snared 700 notorious law-breakers in the crime wave. $59 million worth of drugs and weapons, $12,000 kg. of cocaine, 1200 kg. of methampethamines, more than 1,300 ecstasy pills and 160 weapons were recovered.
"The department (US State) warns of the increased border violence and advises revelers to several destinations, including Matamoros and Nuevo Progresso, popular destinations for spring breakers on South Padre Island, Texas, to ‘exercise commonsense precautions such as visiting only the well-traveled business and tourism areas of border towns during daylight and early-evening hours.'“ ---AOL News/ AP (02/25/09, Barrett, D)
Attorney General Eric Holder says the illegal narcotics trade, kidnappings, and murders have crossed over into the US territory. The problem can be minimized if the ban to sell assault weapons which are used in turf wars of drug kingpins is reinstituted.
About 6,000 people died in drug-related violence last year. American law enforcers laud Mexican president Felipe Calderon’s on-going campaign against narcotics cartels which exert influence over corrupt government officials.
Because of the dangers brought about by illegal drugs, money laundering, and narctics traffic, the US State Department has issued warnings of violence, kidnappings, and murders to prospective American travelers. This advisory is extended to an estimated 100,000 US students who’re planning to come to Mexico in the coming spring break. Private individuals have to take responsibility to counter the drug problems in their community. (Photo Credit: Aziritt) =0=
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Muslim religious leaders must also seek the release of Red Cross workers
Islamic religious leaders have climbed the mountains of Sampinit in Mindanao to seek the freedom of Umar Jaleel, a peaceworker from Sri Lanka who was abducted by nine armed men believed to be part of the notorious Abu Sayaff group led by Puruji Indama. “Because the victim is also a Muslim preacher, the Muslim religious leaders went to the mountains to negotiate for his release,” according to the member of the group trying to solve the crisis." ---Philstar (02/25, 09, Pareno, R)
Basilan Vice Gov. Al Rasheed Sakalahul who heads the provincial crisis management committee says Ulamas who believe hostage-taking is against Islam are out to seek the release of Jaleel, a Muslim.
If kidnapping is against their beliefs, these religious leaders must work for the freedom of other innocent victims---like Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba, the three International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) humanitarian workers being held in Sulu, Mindanao since they were forcibly snatched in January 15, 2009. At the time of kidnapping they were doing charity work for prisoners in the area. (Photo Credit: AmUnivers) =0=
UPDATE:“Please tell them, if possible, if they can, to quicken the process. It has become very hard and truly painful. Physically and emotionally, it’s really very, very hard,” said Mary Jean Lacaba, the Filipino captive in the ICRC kidnapping said in a phone interview last Feb 25, 2009.---PDI (02/28/09, de la Cruz, A)
RELATED BLOG: "Three kidnapped Red Cross workers still missing in Mindanao" Posted by mesiamd at 1/21/2009
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Promises from Obama’s speech to Congress
With his ambitious assurances that he’ll lead the country to a brighter future, Pres. Barack Obama delivers his speech to the joint session of Congress, the first in his month-old administration, saying that more money will still be required to take care of the worsening banking crisis. He went on to discuss his budget priorities to be spent on energy, healthcare, and education.
In an optimistic tone, in spite of the faltering economy, Obama said, "Tonight, I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.’ “---Yahoo News/ AP (02/24/09, Loven, J)
It sounds good.
Responding to Obama’s speech, the Republican minority through Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana reiterates the party’s cooperation with the administration, but it believes the $787 billion stimulus package passed by the democratic majority is excessive, wasteful, and irresponsible. This is a massive amount which will be taken from taxpayers' money. The government hasn't shown any slowing on its extravagant spendng which hurt the common person in the main street.
The reaction of the public is mixed. Many may have been consoled by Obama’s assurances which they badly want to hear, but there are lingering doubts on whether the stimulus package will work. The majority expects it will ---although there’s no convincing indication that this is true.
Consumer confidence is down. Persistently, many ask how one can spend his way out of the recession without compromising the finances of the next generation. There is distrust in the way the government spends public money. But almost everyone wants to believe things will be better, the world brighter, after Obama’s address. (Photo Credit: Iwriteplays)=0=
RELATED BLOG: "Obama addresses congress for the first time" Posted by mesiamd at 2/25/2009
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Recalling Fr. Damien of Molokai, Hawaii
Vatican announced that Fr. Damien de Veuster (1840-1889), the late 19th century Belgian priest who selflessly ministered to leprosy-stricken people in a settlement in Kalaupapa, Hawaii will be declared saint on October 11, 2009. Considered a “martyr of charity,” Fr. Damien served the quarantined patients in Molokai, Hawaii where he contracted Hansen’s disease (leprosy) until he died at the age of 49.
“Damien's life was suffused with horror, yet he refused to be broken by it and refused to permit his little flock to be swept into despair. He ran foot races for the sports-loving lepers, even though some of them had no feet. He formed a band, even though some had few fingers to play the instruments. One witness reported two organists who played at the same time, managing ten fingers between them.”---Damien, the leper (www.ewtn.com/library/)
A protector of those shunned by society because of disease affliction, the Roman Catholic priest and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious group, was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 4, 1995. He had been identified as a champion of the outcasts---those with HIV-AIDS, leprosy, and other contagious diseases.
The remembrance of Fr. Damien is timely as the Catholic Church observes Ash Wednesday on February 25, 2009, the onset of lent, the days of fasting, penance, and reconciliation. (Photo Credit: Hawaii State Archives x 2 PD) =0=
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Obama addresses congress for the first time
Pres. Barack Obama at present enjoys high level of public support optimism and confidence. Americans badly needs him at this time even if political trust doesn’t necessarily translate to economic confidence. The stock market for the last month continues to flounder in spite of the change Obama has been pursuing. Those badly hurt by the economic downturn watch silently where the recovery program will go. Rightly so, it is early to give in to pessimism, but there is a cause for concern.
Those with money are afraid to invest---the stock market behaves erratically as if to suggest that something isn’t right. It is expected to go for undetermined amount of time in spite of the bold assurances of Obama. People badly affected by the financial crisis are confused, some can’t get over their shock on what's going on.
Opinion on B. Obama:
--------------------------------Approve-----------Disapprove--------No Opinion
His job as president------------63%-----------------22-------------------15
Foreign Policy-------------------57%-----------------17-------------------26
The Economy-------------------57%-----------------32--------------------11
Iraq Situation--------------------54%-----------------24--------------------22
Source: New York Times (02/23/09, Zeleny, J; Thee-Brenan, M)
On Tuesday, February 23, at 9PM eastern time, Obama will address the joint congress. He enjoys strong political clout with about 2/3 of the American people supporting him. A rising number however is skeptical. In spite of the benefit of the doubt, many are struggling to fend off their ambivalence. There are those who feel they’re practically on their own, without much reason to believe the government will look after them since their finances have been ruined by mismanagement. They can't take the thought of bailing out irresponsible Americans in cahoots with unscrupulous bank lenders who bought homes beyond their means.
Obama's Disapproval Rating Doubles
According to a recent Gallup poll, Obama's new disapproval rating rose from 12% last month to 24% this month. This is 50% higher than the 16% average for a month-old new presidency. ----Los Angeles Times ( 02/24/09, Malcolm, A)
Americans really can’t be too trusting these days, not even with Obama’s popularity. Words cannot change reality. Sixty (60%) of the public worries that someone in the family will lost a job in the coming months or the next year. Fifty-five (55%) of the Americans says they are just trying to make ends meet. While Americans are under no illusion to believe that the economic problem will die down soon, it’s unclear if they who are extravagant and used to good life can weather the turbulence of the recession.
In spite of the media’s overwhelming biased adulation for Obama (as described in Bernard Goldberg’s book “A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (And Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media “)it is still the truth that matters. People can’t live with the promises and eloquent words of a president, they need to see tangible results, especially those who put their reliance on the government to solve their problems. (Photo Credit: Alex Johnson)=0=
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Slumdog Millionaire wins 8 Oscars
On Febrary 22, 2009, the drama movie "Slumdog Millionaire" carted away the most number of recognitions in the Oscars awards---8 winnings including the Best Movie award from the academy.
Held at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre for the 7th year, the glittery event of tinseltown attended by movie stars and celebrities, honored the visibly elated British director Daniel Doyle and the cast of his winning film which included Dev Patel, Freida Pinto and Anil Kapoor, all first-time actor-nominees in the Oscar. Other actors in the movie were children plucked from the dirt-poor slums in Mumbai, India to be among the cast-members brought to Hollywood for the awarding ceremony
Of the 10 nominations the movie dominated the awards by garnering prizes in eight categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song.
During the screening on August 2008 at Telluride Film Festival, Slumdog Millionaire generated interest and appreciation from those who first saw the film. It was well-received by viewers at the Toronto International Film Festival. With popularity rising, on January 2009, the movie was screened nationwide in the United States. According to reports, as of February 18, 2009, the film has raked in a bonanza of $89,316,895 at box office in the North America.
Timely as the reality of the current global economic meltdown, the film depicts the race of impoverished people to win in India’s rags to riches version of “Who wants to be a millionaire.” Though well-acclaimed by movie enthusiasts and scribes, the film has drawn criticisms and protests for propagating the Western stereotype of poverty and the negativities that go with the depiction of slums in a poor country. (Photo Credit: Mirchiaish; AP/ Matt Sayles) =0=
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Assimilation to larger American society: Language and the oft-cited Filipino colonial mentality
I have been in Honolulu for almost 8 years now for a graduate program that has taken longer than I expected. It’s probably because I enjoy the sun and beaches of Waikiki or because of a PhD program that normally goes between 7 to 10 years. Anyhow, I am not writing about my gripes of the system – I am actually taking pleasure in it! I write about the perceived “colonial mentality” of Filipinos, especially when it comes to speaking Filipino (or Tagalog, as some would call the language).
I believe that if you’re reading this, you’ve had had an experience with someone (a Filipino or someone whose ethnicity is other than “American”) who wanted to pass him/herself as an American or to hide the strong Filipino accent. In Hawaii, where over 15% of the population is considered of Filipino descent, you would bump a kababayan in every corner of the islands. I am a regular bus rider and I encounter a kababayan as if I am taking a bus ride along EDSA. These encounters, for some us who are far away from “home”, should be considered a good thing. As the famous line goes, a home away from home. I, however, had several unforgettable experiences (that I am sure, you had too) with some of our kababayan. I would try to start a conversation in Filipino, but would be receiving a response in English, as though, the person does not understand Filipino. At first, I dismissed this as something that has to do with Ilokano speakers in Hawaii – if you ask an Ilokano in Hawaii if they are Filipino, some of them would respond that no, they are not Filipino, but Ilokano (the majority of Filipinos in Hawaii are of Ilocano-descent). However, as time went by, this experience happens again and again, even with non-Ilokano speakers. When my son was born, my wife and I decided that we will speak to him exclusively in Filipino. I guess, this was unsettling to others. A lot of times, we would hear comments like, “Why are you talking to him in Filipino, he wouldn’t learn English that way”. We would just respond with a smile, we’ve decided not to argue about it (not because of condescension but more because of our perceived futility in the argument).
In language acquisition studies, we’ve learned that children below the age of twelve can learn two or more languages. Toddlers exposed to two or more languages would take longer to learn speaking. That probably explains why single-language households will have a babbling two-year old, while a multi-language household will wait for a few more months for a toddler to chunk out 3-4-word combination. In addition, we also learn from these studies that an individual who has not learned a language by age twelve, that person would not acquire a language at all.
Anyhow, back to my encounters with Filipinos who refuse to talk in Filipino, it seemed like these kababayans were ashamed of being stared upon and asked whether they are Filipino. As a Filipino, this bothered me. Why couldn’t we have a conversation in Filipino? Why would they try to hide an accent when you could actually hear the three vowels that make up the vowels of central Philippine languages? I told myself that I will not respond in English if I know that I am talking to a Filipino.
As an anthropologist, discussions on colonial mentality came up as an explanation for this apparent distaste for one’s own ethnicity. After all, everything western is thought to be better; that being under colonial rule for more than 300 years is enough to diminish our self-esteem. As Raul Manglapus stated, “No wonder, after three centuries in chains… the tao… should lose the erect and fearless posture of the freeman, and become the bent, misshapen, indolent, vicious, pitiful thing that he is!” For most of us, this explains everything, we have somebody to blame for what shaped our perspectives, but are we doing anything to change this? Do we review our basic education curriculum to make the next generation prouder of their heritage? Do we reflect on our own perspectives whether we are also mired in this colonial mentality thinking?
I have to admit that blaming colonial mentality is the easy way out to justify my kababayans’ behavior. However, I do understand that our perspectives are shaped by our respective experiences. If Filipinos overseas choose to speak English, then, it’s their decision (for whatever reasons, which I think are valid). Language is only one aspect of our culture, and speaking in English (and trying to perfect the twang) would make Filipinos understandable to native English speakers, thus, would facilitate one’s assimilation to a wider American culture.
My assertion above was supported by papers written by my students with Filipino descent. Most of these students don’t speak their parents’ first language. They explain that they were encouraged to learn English instead of Filipino. Most of them however, are now reclaiming their heritage and learning Filipino or Ilocano at the University of Hawaii System.
As an exercise for introducing culture (I teach Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology to supplement my meager PhD fellowship), I asked my students to come up with a paper on food preference. As it turned out, all of these Filipino students eat Filipino dishes in their households. They wrote about dinuguan, balot, dog meat (not in Hawaii but when they went to the Philippines), kare-kare (which is probably of Mexican or Spanish origin because peanut is not native to the Philippines), and of course adobo (I was surprised that there was no mention of sinigang). They also wrote about how they were reared by their parents (in terms of food eating habits), which were easily recognizable as part of Filipino value system. After reading all the papers, I came to a realization that the Filipinos I encounter daily on the bus were not ashamed of being Filipinos, they wanted to fit in into the larger American society. They still practice Filipino values at home; they still instill “good” habits of eating; they still feed their children adobo.
Although there is still a lot of truth on blaming colonial mentality, I believe that it is not the only reason on the apparent degradation of Filipino-ness. As mentioned above, language is only one aspect of culture (though it’s more immediate than other aspects – you don’t usually see a Filipino father or mother cooking at home), and it is the main avenue in assimilating to a larger American society. Yes, we still need to revamp our basic education curriculum, yes, we still need to instill the importance of heritage to the next generation of Filipinos, but we have to stop blaming colonial mentality – that is the easy way out.
A large Florence Nightingale lamp lights up for a nursing board topnotcher
"Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, It requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts." -- Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)
Overwhelming happiness must be what nursing board exam first placer Jovie Ann Decoyna feels. The farmer's daughter whose mother works as an OFW in Taiwan basks in the glow of honor after the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) released the result of the November licensure test yesterday.
Proud and admiring classmates from Baguio Central University came to gift the young professional with an extra-large Florence Nightingale lamp, a symbol of care and abiding commitment that nurses worldwide are known for. (Photo Credit: Andy Zapata/ Philstar)=0=
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Manny Pacquiao receives a doctorate degree
Southwestern University conferred a doctorate to outstanding boxer Manny Pacquiao for his excellence in sports. The honorary degree in humanities was given at the Grand Ballroom of the Cebu City Hotel to the most famous Filipino pugilist who is an inspiration to many Filipinos.(Photo Credit: Philstar/ Freeman) =0=
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The danger of keeping a chimpanzee at home
There is that report of octuplets born to a jobless, unmarried, emotionally unstable woman on welfare in California with already 6 children. A 13-year old boy in Great Britain became a father after his 15 year-old girl friend gave birth to a newborn baby girl. On Monday, February 16, 2009, a rampaging chimpanzee owned by a 70year old lonely widow mauled a lady-friend who sustained severe facial injuries and body mutilation before the animal was gunned down by policemen who responded to an emergency call for help.These are three recent incidents which make us think of what must be done with our society. Are we ready to accept a woman’s decision to have 14 babies even if she can’t afford raising them? Who is to take responsibility when a boy who has no inkling of what fatherhood is all about sires an infant? Why do we allow ordinary citizens to keep dangerous pets like this chimpanzee that savagely attacks people?
Sandra Herold took care of Travis like her own child until the 14-year old chimp turned violent almost killing 55 year old Charla Nash of Stamford, CT. Herold’s husband and daughter died years ago and she had been so bonded to the chimpanzee, a 176 lbs. hairy animal so dangerous to keep at home.
“Authorities have not said whether Herold will face criminal charges. Connecticut state law allowed her to own the chimp as a pet, though several state leaders are calling for tighter restrictions in the wake of Monday's attack.”---AP (02/19/09, Christoffersen, J)
The distraught and grieving widow said she gave her primate friend all-out love, offered him the best food, droved him to enjoy car rides, served him wine in tall glasses, and shared a bed to sleep together. However, the unusual bond between the two is worrisome. It makes us seriously consider the human limits in dealing with animals. Wild animals deserve to live in the wild. With the gory incident, it is time to enact laws against raising dangerous pets at home. (Photo Credit: Claire Middsy) =0=
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The NARS program & the 39,455 who passed the nurses board exam
The Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) announces that 39, 455 successfully hurdled the nursing board examination given last November 2008. The successful examinees represent 44.5 percent of the total 88,649 who took the test. According to the PRC, Jovie Ann Alawas Decoyna of the Baguio Central University topped the examination with a grade of 89 percent.
With a high rate of joblessness among nurses due to a slump in job recruitment abroad, the addition of licensed nurses in the workforce creates more pressure to create jobs for the new professionals.
The government introduced a “stop-gap measure” versus unemployment by creating the Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) program which aims to send at least 5 nurses to each of the 1,000 poorest towns in the country. Applicants in the program will be paid a monthly salary of P8,000. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque invites interested nurses to file their applications at the nearest DOLE regional office or submit it online at http://www.nars.dole.gov.ph where application forms may also be downloaded.---GMATVNews (02/20/09, Tan, KJ)
With an estimated joblessness of more than 400,000, it is unlikely that the 5,000 NARS positions will have a dent in easing up the lack of local employment opportunities needed by by the licensed nurses.(Photo Credit: Lucindlunacy) =0=
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Tardy war compensation comes at the sunset of WWII Philippine heroes
The $787 billion spending package signed by US Pres. Barack Obama on February 17, 2009 has a special goody for the Filipino World War II veterans. After a long-drawn campaign to get compensation for fighting in the American-Japanese war, an estimated 15,000 war heroes will have a part of the $198 million earmarked by the US government.
“Only 15,000 surviving Filipino and Filipino-American WWII veterans whose names are in the Revised Reconstructed Guerrilla Roster (RRGR) of 1948 are qualified to receive the tax-free lump sum payment. The RRGR is kept in the state of Missouri although certified true copies are available in other official sites."---Malaya (02/16/09, Ilustre, J)
The US Embassy in Manila is preparing to process applications next week that will give $15,000 for each elderly survivor (average age: 85 years) who is a US citizen and $9,000 for the non-US citizen. The cash reward doesn’t include the widows, children and dependents of veterans.
Of the 250,000 who fought with the US forces, about 6% (15,000) lived long enough be eligible for benefits. This opens the heart-breaking memories of the suffering Filipinos went through during the war and the injustice caused by the delay in the granting of compensation for the veterans.
Though the tardy award seems a victory of justice, one can sadly recall the thousands who valiantly fought, offered their lives, and died without seeing the liberation of the country. The horror of Bataan March must be an indelible reminder for all Filipinos. Let us pause and remember the heroism of those who died without seeing the fruits of the war effort. For them, we must pay respects and be eternally grateful. (Photo Credit: wtop) =0=
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Name calling in the Senate
When Sen. Miriam D. Santiago resorts to name calling to make a point, most of us laugh. We’re tickled by the colorful but vile language that only a lawyer from UP with a peculiar sanity can deliver. And surprisingly, she is tolerated by her colleagues whom she disparagingly labels as "idiots."
For all her self-proclaimed erudition, Santiago harbored frustration after being trashed in her bid to be a jurist in the International Court of justice (ICJ,) a position she actively campaigned for. The emotionally volatile lady senator dared the then Pres. Joseph Estrada who was a school drop-out for an IQ test match to push forward her mental superiority. Her bizarre mouth-blabbering cowed the people around her. She called members of the legislature as “fungus faced.” The lady threatened to jump from a plane only to say later she was just joking.
When party list representative Risa Hontiveros disagreed with Santiago against the court-like conduct of senate inquiries using “rules of evidence,” the gas bag allegedly referred to Hontiveros as a "menopausal insect who was out to get publicity and wanted to teach the senate."
Such nasty words are unlikely to come from a supposedly educated lawmaker. That's why people don't think of her as reliable, sincere, and sane. Many squirm with shame at her vile comments which frustrate productive exchange of ideas. Instead of being direct on issues and coherrent in her thoughts, Santiago resorts to reckless talk which is unbecoming of a person in her position. =0=
The Streets of One's Reminiscence
There is something about familiar places that makes one wistful for things past. Simply watching the length of a street in one’s hometown can induce a diarrhea of memories. Catching a glimpse of a run-down gate in the old neighborhood or the sun sinking at the edge of a field is sure to put one in a nostalgic mode. Finding oneself back in the streets of one’s childhood is certainly no exception.
Mayao Road, barangay Mayao’s main thoroughfare, is a straight and narrow path that starts where the modest home of the Barcelons – whose sons were tall and played good basketball – used to stand and ends where the Busac Road begins in the middle of the farmlands. That road has two streets branching both ways. The path that turns left has remained unpaved for many generations. It turns muddy in the rainy months and dusty in the dry season. It goes past the barangay kiosk, skirts a brief stretch of the earth dike, and curves right and then left into Mayao’s innermost districts.
It was somewhere at a bend down this street, not far from the kiosk, on a warm and lazy evening in the 1980s that Mayao’s barangay captain was arrested by a group of NPA cadres for his involvement in the murder of a fellow barangay captain. This incident took place a few months after the town mayor’s brother, an Army colonel who was then on vacation in Oas, was gunned down by suspected rebels on the street near his house near the town’s commercial area, also known as the centro, in broad daylight. The colonel, a handsome and charming man who was well-liked in his neighborhood, was on his way to a nearby store for his daily dose of cigarettes. He had apparently been on the NPA’s hit list for having allegedly sent Army troops to run repeatedly after the rebels in the town’s mountainous regions during his brother’s extended tenure as mayor of Oas under Marcos’s martial rule.
Rumor had it that the colonel’s assassins had been seen at least once emerging from the house of the barangay captain of Obaliw, a village parallel to Mayao on the other side of the river. The colonel’s death reportedly sent the mayor, a man known to have a short fuse, on a rampage. Mayao’s barangay captain had often announced to anyone who cared to listen that he was a relative of the mayor, and went to great lengths to prove his loyalty to the latter. On the day Obaliw’s barangay captain disappeared, Mayao’s barangay captain came to fetch the former at a meeting of local officials in one of the town’s three central elementary schools, reportedly upon the invitation of the mayor. That night, the barangay chairman of Obaliw, who was in the twilight of his years, failed to return home. His lifeless body was found the next day dumped in a ditch by a rice field two or three towns into Camarines Sur. He was identified through the wedding band on his finger. His death was to be the first of a series of suspected vendetta killings in Oas that lasted several years. Mayao’s barangay captain, taken many weeks since that last killing, was never seen again. His family ultimately resigned themselves to his fate. Several others met a similar fate, causing a public outcry. But no one was ever haled to court to answer for these killings and, over time, they gradually faded from memory.
An earth dike runs parallel to the Mayao Road, on its southern or left side, toward Libon. It has kept at bay the town’s old river – which flows from Mayon Volcano, snakes through several towns before reaching Oas and then Libon, and branches out into numerous tributaries across the territories it runs through. Decades ago, only a few families lived along the riverbank. But as the local population grew, more houses were erected on the dike on both sides of the waterway. Children who had the audacity to swim in the river sometimes ended up being claimed by it. On several occasions in the last four decades, the river broke through the dike on Mayao’s side, inundating wide areas of the barangay’s residential and farm land.
The path that turns right several meters past the street that branches to the left connects the Mayao Road to the Bangkusay Road, which is parallel to the main road. From the national highway, the Bangkusay Road leads straight to the town’s Roman Catholic cemetery. It runs past the rice fields that give an unimpeded view of Mount Mayon in the northeast and the distant farmlands of neighboring Polangui to the north. The connecting road, which stops right at the entrance of the old cemetery, spans an entire block. The whole area adjoining the old public cemetery along this path has now been converted into a memorial park by its private owners.
The side of the street facing both cemeteries belongs to two clans, more than half of which is owned by the family that runs the oldest rice mill in the barangay. It is that part of the block occupying the corner of Mayao Road and the route that turns right toward the cemeteries. To this family belonged Lola Miti, a tall good-looking woman whose hair was white as an ogis (a white-feathered rooster). Those who grew up in the neighborhood remember her with fondness, for she always gave children more than their money’s worth whenever they came to her daughter’s sari-sari store. To them she was an angel in light-colored dusters, the female and trim version of Santa Claus, who gave them two or three extra pieces of the ear-shaped tango crackers, colored dilemon candies, or those chewy belekoy that stained one’s teeth with a brownish juice – to her daughter’s consternation. She called every one of them babâ, or dear one. When she died in her 90s, the entire barangay poured out into the streets to mourn her passing and join her funeral procession.
The rest of that block belongs to a family of highly skilled carpenters and gold miners, some of whom left many years ago to join the gold rush somewhere in Mindanao. Their houses occupy the corner of the connecting street nearest to the old cemetery and the Bangkusay Road. A creek that runs between a portion of the Mayao and Bangkusay roads cuts through the two lots and divides the old cemetery from the new one. Back in the 70s when only the old cemetery was in place, the vacant lot next to it was planted to anahaw, coconut trees, and all manner of vegetation. It was also the graveyard for our fallen kites that were fashioned from the pages of old Free Press magazines. We would run there whenever our kites took an irreversible nosedive or whenever the thread Рwhich we called, rightly or wrongly, irudibila Рsnapped and the kite which sometimes bore the face of Sergio Osme̱a Jr., a rather chubby Ninoy Aquino, or Ferdinand Marcos would end up in that area. On certain afternoons we tried to catch dragonflies of all colors there, but our older playmates constantly warned us against disturbing and offending the unseen ones, so we desisted.
In the late 60s up to the 70s, drunkards occasionally challenged each other to a fistfight on Mayao Road. But theirs was more of a duel of words – specifically incomprehensible taunts and dares – than anything else, for the protagonists were too drunk to be able to raise their fists at all or go for each other’s jugular. They usually just fell where they stood, wobbling like fools in their drunkenness. At one time, one of them tried to wave a sundang, used mostly for cutting and chopping wood for fuel, but ended up crying on the street for no apparent reason, sending everyone laughing. On another occasion, one rolled right down into the canal on the right side of the road and landed face down, almost drowning in water that was only three inches deep.
Children played turubigan, better known as patintero, on that road on full-moon nights. On one such night, our neighbor Tô Inggo – who, like a good number of males in the neighborhood, had a drinking habit – was walking home from a drinking session. Upon hearing the sound of the kikik (a bird with a distinctly shrill sound that was believed to be the harbinger of the asuwang), he made a dash for his house, slipped on the bamboo bridge connecting his house to the street, and fell into the creek below that flowed between the two cemeteries about half a kilometer away. He was the same person who, fed up with his wife’s nagging, once tried to hang himself with a rope used as a leash for his carabao. Drunk as usual, he tied one end of the rope to a beam right above the second-floor window, put the noose around his neck, stepped onto the window sill, and bid the world goodbye before jumping to the ground. But the rope was so lengthy that he ended up spraining a leg when he landed in the dust. It effectively put a stop to his wife’s nagging, though.
The Mayao and Bangkusay roads, and the route connecting them, are always jammed with people headed for their loved ones’ graves on the first two days of November. Friends in school used to tease me about our “fiesta nin mga tulang” or “feast of bones,” and I simply shrugged it off with a smile.
Funeral processions ply those roads throughout the year. In my youth, these processions were often accompanied by a funeral band led by Tô Titot, whose major occupation was that of a barber. As the band’s major, he wielded a baton, and put on a crisp white uniform, white gloves, and his deadly weapons – a pair of pointed leather shoes, topped with a shiny black cap that resembled that of a policeman. His drummers and those who played wind instruments wore the same uniform, but for the cap. It was always a pleasure to watch them do their slow march. We used to drop whatever we were doing at the sound of the band’s drums, rush toward the cemetery to watch the band execute their slow movements and the mourners display their grief, and try to peer into coffins for a glimpse of the deceased. One time, I was hoisted by the cemetery caretaker onto an elevated wooden plank for a good view of the casket, and was jarred at the sight of a very old woman whose cheeks were so pallid and sunken, her nostrils clogged with cotton, and her jaws held together with a kerchief tied around her face to keep her mouth closed. It made me sick to my stomach, and never again did i join my playmates on such little adventures.
Once I came upon rain falling on one side of the Mayao Road, right in front of Lola Miti’s house, while the other half of the street was hot and dry. It was a sight that got all of us kids jumping like crazy, which in turn got the dogs in the area all excited and barking at us, at the rain, and at the dry part of the street that hissed whenever raindrops strayed there.
Indeed, it always gives one a pang of nostalgia to remember those years when the trees on both sides of Mayao Road glowed with fireflies, when boys whose hair was plastered with Three Flowers pomade perpetually chewed gum at brightly lit public dances, when kids got stung by wasps in a game of hide-and-seek and took a dip in the creek’s clear waters and raided the fruit trees ahead of the birds throughout the morning of their lives.
by barbara barquez ricafrente
IgCo Business Presentation in Iriga City
Dr. Amy Goleta-Dy of St. Luke's Medical Center announces a product presentation of IgCo (Colostrum Milk) in Bicol. The bovine-derived milk is rich in immunoglobulins (Ig) and has been recommended for its nutritive and healing properties.A discussion about IgCo will to be held at the 2nd Floor of Mayee Restaurant located in Dr. Ortega Street, San Roque, Iriga City on Saturday, February 21, 2009. Everyone is welcome to attend. Ibalonians who wish to come may get in touch with Agnes Goleta or Arlene Pinpin. =0= (Photo Credit: Krakencrafts)
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Great Britain's 13-year old boy-dad
Among the most alarming images I have seen lately is the picture of a four-foot tall, baby-faced Alfie Patten, the British boy who at 13 fathered a newborn girl. Sadly, little can be said, but much has to be done, about the immature kid and his infant whose heart-breaking photo appeared in the front page of the The Sun. The young mom is Alfie’s 15 year-old girlfriend Chantelle Steadman. "It's an indication that we've lost our way, that people don't know the difference between right and wrong," he said of Alfie. 'The plain fact is society can't proceed on this basis. I think this is an indication of broken Britain,'" said Sir Bernard Ingham, Former Press Secretary of Margaret Thatcher. San Francisco Chronicle/AP (02/16/09, Katz, G)
In another vein, in California, USA, Nadya Suleman, a 33-year old, jobless woman who has been battling emotional instability gave birth to octuplets (8 babies) by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) done a fertility MD against the standard of medical practice. Before the birth of her 8 babies, Nadya who shares a 3 bedroom home with her financially bankrupt parents has 6 children from previous assisted pregnancies.
It's debated how the unmarried woman who lives on welfare will be able to take care of her 14 children. The hospital bills she has incurred are beyond the roof. With meager sense of accountability, she has hired a PR person to handle her book deals, TV interviews, and appeals for donations to keep her kids.
Great Britain suffers from inordinately high rate of teen pregnancies, petty thievery, alcoholism, and rampant street crimes among teenagers. America has problems which mirror these problems as well. As human beings, we think inwardly and ask, “Why? What has gone wrong in our world?” (Photo Credit: Stringer/ AFP/ Getty Images/ SFC)=0=
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Morality as an administrative order
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The administrative order No. 5 signed by Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo calls for a program that will bring moral renewal to the country. Is it for real? The presidential edict comes on the heels of many corruption charges which see no end. As the president’s tenure reaches the finish line, the entire nation wonders what will be accomplished by the action plan for moral rejuvenation. Zero tolerance towards corruption---that's what the president says.
"Why only now? She should have done it long before. It is funny she's calling for moral renewal now as it is only a year before the end of her term unless she plans to extend her term," Jinggoy Estrada said.---GMATVNews. Net (02/17/09)
Widespread corruption is out of the box in the Arroyo government, but no one has the resolve to prove it. Used to inaction, Filipinos live in apathy and forlorn silence with their frayed cultural values. They hope a deliverer will come to rescue them--- or something will happen by simply waiting.
Foreign observers point to widespread dishonesty, but most of us choose to keep our mouths shut. The emboldened corrupt among us are defensive. They are trying to convince us there’s nothing that can be done. It’s only a year before the next presidential election and many believe the government is better left alone to wither away for the next status quo. (Photo Credit: bw.futures(away)=0=
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Medicine & Religion: Is confession a potent balm against major diseases in RP?
Dr. Francisco Duque III, the secretary of the Department of Health (DOH) reportedly said a staggering 80% of Filipinos are suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) “due to unhealthy lifestyle.” The doctor goes on to say that to combat cardiovascular illnesses, cancers, and diabetes, people have to go to church and make regular “confession.” I find his religious recommendation oddly misleading. It needs clarification.
“Among those considered as NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes. Duque said the three are now among the major health problems in the country. Duque said one way to address this problem is for the people to go on regular confession." I suggest that they go to church to pray and confess their sins because its one way of managing”----GMANewTV.net (02/16/09)
It isn’t unusual to blame stress as a cause of sickness. Though stress goes with almost all diseases, its role is often indirect, sometimes obscure, in many organic diseases. As far as science is concerned, most illnesses have underlying pathogenetic bases whose roles are generally far-reaching than the effects of stress.
Heart diseases are related to high fat diet, sedentary lifestyle, and smoking. Diabetes mellitus may have an autoimmune basis but can come with risk factors like obesity, lack of exercise, and genetics. Certain cancers are triggered by stepwise mutations (alterations in the DNA) that generate clones of abnormal cells that invade, metastasize, and eventually kill the body. In all these, stress plays a role, albeit less strongly than what is suggested by Dr. Duque.
The act of confession (reconciliation) taught by certain religions is not shared by all believers. Confessing sins to a priest by the Catholics has markedly dwindled in recent years. Dr. Duque may encounter criticism and opposition in recommending the holy sacrament to prevent non-communicable diseases. There are non-faith based treatments in medicine which are more predictable and efficacious.
Stress is part of the normal challenges of daily living. Not all people who go through significant emotionally disruptive situations get ill in the process. Sick and healthy individuals, suffer from harrowing conditions in varying degrees. As such the roles of stress in every illness are hard to quantify; their effects on the body aren’t uniformly the same.
I believe emotion plus the working of the mind, and the entire body equilibrium are influenced by stress more than it affects specific organs of the body. It is probably the reason why religion, spirituality, a belief in the supernatural, exercise, meditation, and relaxation regimens have some roles to play in disease management. The mechanisms behind their healing properties aren't fully understood.
Yet, medical science offers credible explanations in disease causation and treatment. Illnesses can be attributed to causes like direct physical injuries, infections, cancers, immunologic conditions, hormonal swings, metabolic derangements, nutritional deficiencies, hereditary disorders, chemical, drug and radiation exposures, poisonings, among others.
Stress is only one among the long list. Therefore, “confession” as Dr. Duque suggested may help in being healthy, preventing sickness, and going through an illness and subsequent recuperation. But surely, we need to account for greater ways to fight diseases more than what have been recommended by the standard and complementary approaches of medicine. This is important in the holistic way of maintaining the health of the nation.(Photo Credits: denislpaul; sacerdotal) =0=
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Kissing Guinness World Record goes to Mexico
It must be a cause of disappointment for Filipinos that this year, Mexico bagged the Guinness world record of having the biggest number of people gathered for a simultaneous kiss. On February 14, 2009, Valentines day, 39,897 Mexicans simultaneously kissed together in public to beat the the Britishers who won last year with 32,648 smoochers. The Philippines had only about 7,000 couples in a kissing event held in February 2007 in Manila.According to Carlos Martinez, one of the Mexican organizers this year, the number could have reached 42,225, but crowd control was a problem in an open square in the city. The world record brought a shimmer of meaning when coodinators and social activists decried the growing peace and order problem of Mexico.
Almost 6,000 died last year of violence that has extended in towns along the US-Mexican border. Most of the crimes are related to the drug war being waged in the country. (Photo Credit: Sir Frank Dicksee PD) =0=
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Who bears the shame in the senate investigation of WB corruption scandal?
If it is true that World Bank (WB) has no proof against Jose Miguel Arroyo (husband of Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo) and others implicated in the rigging of WB-funded projects what next should the senate do? With the charges of corruption coming from no less than a foreign lending institution (whose reputation is undoubtedly better than the Philippine government,) Sen. Miriam D, Santiago must listen to what WB is trying to say: “If there is smoke, then there could be fire.”
Why then doesn’t she---the Senate Economic Affairs Committee chairman ascertain if the house is indeed on fire? Is Santiago trying to hide something? A known ally of Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo, is she trying to protect someone under her wings---perhaps Jose Miguel?
Instead of waging a “diplomatic protest,” an investigation is more productive to do. Besides, what is the country protesting for? The WB has already given away a favor. Aren’t the solons ashamed of being defensive? Instead of being shooting down the bad news, it’s more productive to ascertain the charges. There is no valid justification for a cover-up, a low-road exercise in dealing with this common problem.
The gutsy lady senator who is supposedly sane must not waste time. Her insistence that there is no evidence in the WB report (without investigating) distracts people from the vital issues of the controversy. As a government official, Miriam must be truthful. She must take the initiative of purging the country from corrupt practices---something which is doable if she follows the leads WB has so far disclosed.
Based on the bank report, it’s now the turn of the government to investigate and get to the bottom of the case. If the WB doesn’t have the evidence, this is the right time to seek and find. The public must not be misled into thinking that the rigging of contracts has not happened. It's not at good idea to perpetuate the cynicism of the Filipinos, harass the WB, and pretend the country doesn't need a lender.
Miriam has to do more digging. Whether there is corruption or not, the burden of proof lies in her turf. As chairman of the inquiry, she needs to bring the investigation to a credible conclusion to convince the world who is telling the truth, thereby freeing innocent people of the stigma of dishonesty.
Santiago’s high-handed display of power looks amateurish and blasé. It’s embarrassing the self-absorbed senator and her admirers wring the arms of foreign bank officials who care less if Filipinos are corrupt. She persistently waves around her intelligence---an ego-trip, a deluded peacock awareness of self, a condescending habit of demeaning people in public which are all counterproductive. To illustrate, here is her comments on Sen. Panfilo Lacson who correctly points out the lack of focus on the investigation:
“Di naman siya abugado, gusto niyang turuan ako. Di magandang ugali ‘yung tuturuan mo ang chairperson mo sa gagawin, lalo na kung wala ka namang background sa batas [He’s not even a lawyer and yet he wants to outsmart me. He’s not supposed to dictate to his chairperson on what to do, especially because he does not even have any background in law],” Santiago said.---GMANewsTV.net (02/15/09, Dedace, S)
Obviously, it’s the whole town’s interest that Miriam’s bloated sense of erudition simmers below the fight against corruption. Regardless of the cost and the damage on the people involved, she must work (in spite of her misgivings for not being admitted in the International Court of Justice) to banish any suggestion of bias and defensiveness. Without this, shame on us Filipinos will continue to mount. =0=
RELATED BLOG: "World Bank opens a can of worms & Sen. Miriam D. Santiago investigates" Posted by mesiamd at 2/13/2009
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The promise and uncertainty of the $787 billion stimulus package for the US economy
The economic stimulus package of the Obama administration has finally passed the scrutiny of the US senate. It only needs the signature of the president on Tuesday, February 17, 2008, to make it into law. Lacking bipartisan support, the Democrats in the senate and congress overwhelmingly voted for the $787 billion package touted to bring back the US economy on track. The Republicans and their conservative supporters disagree.The astronomical dollar tag on US recovery doesn’t assure that it will succeed. Amidst a crisis of confidence, there are Americans who are alarmed. Critics of the legislation doubt whether the plan will deliver on its promises. Without much basis to back their trust, majority of Americans rest their hope on Pres. Barack Obama to fix the economy. Supporters are optimistic, in fact, overly optimistic.
“The legislation, among the costliest ever considered in Congress, provides billions of dollars to aid victims of the recession through unemployment benefits, food stamps, medical care, job retraining and more. Tens of billions are ticketed for the states to offset cuts they might otherwise have to make in aid to schools and local governments, and there is more than $48 billion for transportation projects such as road and bridge construction, mass transit and high-speed rail.”--- Yahoo.News/AP (02/14/09, Espo, D)
There is a growing belief that no one buys its way from a recession. It is scary to pump in such huge money which puts taxpayers' money on line. More borrowing and spending won’t easily bring back the trust on Wall Street which reneged on its fiduciary duty. There is doubt on those who warn of worse consequences if the public doesn’t rally behind the stimulus plan that nobody fully understands. Many don't know why the American people are asked to spend for social services of illegal aliens, bail out banks, auto industry, and every ailing business in the country.
Obviously rushed to approve the bill, almost all congressmen (246 vs. 183) and senators (60 vs. 38) didn’t have time to read the legislation which is about a thousand pages long. It is expected the more the public comes to understand the details of the bill, the more people will disapprove. Many are dissatisfied with government officials (the spoiled and extravagant leaders,) from both the Republican and Democratic parties, who negligently brought the people into this economic mess. Those who are hurting wait for the day that the guilty must be held accountable.
There is a cautionary voice out there saying the economic downturn is unlikely to be reversed by this ambitious government rescue plan. Neither will prosperity come by giving away dole-outs to the poor, jacking-up government spending, giving perks to illegal aliens, distributing wealth, and raising the tax burden of workers and entrepreneurs. This seems to be affirmed by Pres. Obama who welcomes the bill’s passage but cautions the whole world that it’s just the start of an economic remedy whose success isn’t assured. There is a big chance that if this money splurge doesn't work, additional funding will be asked for more massive spending.
Instead of the bloated stimulus spending with a budgeted cost of $787 billion to revitalize the US economy, conservatives have proposed a leaner spending. Unlike the democrats who dominate the Capitol Hill, Republicans assert that the recovery rests on tax cuts, smaller government, less interference with private money, and a return to traditional entrepreneurship and business ethics.
Though it’s early to tell what will be the outcome of the changes promised by Obama, there those who are silently angry and fearful. There are tell-tale signs that one can see with trepidation. Americans are used to live in gilded cocoons on productive fields that they can control. Now they are forced to face uncertainty. The big depression that they haven’t experienced with the rest of the world looms real in the horizon. (Photo Credit: Londa Elle; almostnomad; worsebrain)=0=
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Fiddler on the Roof''s "Do you love me?"
"Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century."---Mark Twain
On February 14, it's nice to recall the exchange between the ageing Teyve and Golde, the interesting Jewish couple in the old musicale "Fiddler on the Roof." Their lives seem to affirm what writer-humorist Mark Twain was trying to say about the mystery of the heart. From one of the most unforgettable Broadway shows, here is the sing-song conversation about love: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_y9F5St4j0&feature=related
(Tevye)
"Golde, I have decided to give Perchik permission to become engaged to our daughter, Hodel."
(Golde)
"What??? He's poor! He has nothing, absolutely nothing!"
(Tevye)
"He's a good man, Golde.
I like him. And what's more important, Hodel likes him. Hodel loves him.
So what can we do?
It's a new world... A new world. Love. Golde..."
Do you love me?
(Golde)
Do I what?
(Tevye)
Do you love me?
(Golde)
Do I love you?
With our daughters getting married
And this trouble in the town
You're upset, you're worn out
Go inside, go lie down!
Maybe it's indigestion
(Tevye)
"Golde I'm asking you a question..."
Do you love me?
(Golde)
You're a fool
(Tevye)
"I know..."
But do you love me?
(Golde)
Do I love you?
For twenty-five years I've washed your clothes
Cooked your meals, cleaned your house
Given you children, milked the cow
After twenty-five years, why talk about love right now?
(Tevye)
Golde, The first time I met you
Was on our wedding day
I was scared
(Golde)
I was shy
(Tevye)
I was nervous
(Golde)
So was I
(Tevye)
But my father and my mother
Said we'd learn to love each other
And now I'm asking, Golde
Do you love me?
(Golde)
I'm your wife
(Tevye)
"I know..."
But do you love me?
(Golde)
Do I love him?
For twenty-five years I've lived with him
Fought him, starved with him
Twenty-five years my bed is his
If that's not love, what is?
(Tevye)
Then you love me?
(Golde)
I suppose I do
(Tevye)
And I suppose I love you too
(Both)
It doesn't change a thing
But even so
After twenty-five years
It's nice to know.
[Thanks to amcanclini@yahoo.com for lyrics] Source: www.stlyrics.com/f/fiddlerontheroof.htm (Photo Credits: sundaygirl; greypoint)
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
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Nepalese MD’s to train and render service in Bicol Medical Center
As a result of the drop in the number of medical school graduates and the exodus of local doctors to foreign countries, the Bicol Medical Center (BMC) in Naga City has resorted to bringing in 40 doctors from Nepal. From the remote country close to Mount Everest, Nepalese foreign medical graduates will be in the city to train and render service.
"The Bicol Medical Center (BMC) in Concepcion Peque̱a, Naga City is a 500-bed government tertiary hospital under the direct supervision of Department of Health Center for Health Development РBicol, Legazpi City. It is a non-profit institution and one of the 13 medical centers under the National Government." http://doh.gov.ph/bmc (Photo Credit: bmc)
The presence of imported healers in Naga is expected to beef up the medical personnel of the government hospital which has suffered the lack of MDs for the last 5 years. There have been fewer applicants to fill in the 28 doctor-vacancies in BMC. Therefore, the coming of the international physicians appears to be a boon to the hospital service in the city. But is it?
Without inciting any nativist sentiment against the foreign professionals, I think it is justified to ask if the Nepalese doctors’ schooling is comparable to those of the local physicians. The adherence to standard medical training (i.e. in the tradition of Western allopathic medicine) is important before they are allowed to handle patients. Their medical background must be adequate to meet the peculiar health needs of the community. To ascertain competency and avoid compromising the health of patients, they must be tested for basic communication and clinical skills.
Though the Department of Health (DOH) approves of these foreign doctors, does the government have guidelines that define the scope of medical duties and accountability? Are the professional regulations in place to protect the doctors, their patients and the hospitals where they work? Will the presence of these trainee-MDs not interfere with the training and oversight of local doctors, nurses, and other paramedical professionals? Are there enough senior MDs to supervise and teach them? Are they not in violation with the rules of the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) which regulates physician licensure and practice? Has there been discussions on the effects of foreign doctors on the healthcare of the nation? Their presence may distract the government from pursuing the programs which will make local doctors stay and serve the community instead of going abroad.
In a blog I posted on August 27, 2008, I wrote:
According to Philippine Medical Association (PMA) president Reynaldo Santos, M.D. the arrival of these foreign medical trainees attests to the high quality of education in the country. But this is doubted in the wake of a sharp decline of the number of hospitals, a marked rise in patient load for doctors and nurses, a low passing rate of Filipinos in the United States Medical Licensure Examination (USMLE,) an over-crowding of patients and trainees, lack of budget, equipment upgrade, and medical facilities in many hospitals.
I hope Bicol Medical Center has ironed out the important issues cited above. Otherwise, sending in the Nepalese doctors will solve some of the current healthcare problems of Naga City, but it can also spawn fresh and bigger challenges that haven’t been given enough attention and consideration.=0=
RELATED BLOG: "RP’s 40% drop in med school enrollment & the foreign doctors" Posted by mesiamd at 8/27/2008
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A footnote from Madonna’s nude photo
If only to remind us that it’s the culture, value judgment, and sensibility of the 21st century that people are living, Madonna’s nude photo taken when the singer was just 20 years old trying to make ends meet, fetched for a record sell of $35,500. The astounding amount is enough to stave off hunger of more than 35,500 indigent families in the Third World for a day or feed greater than 1,167 poor families for one month.
The frontal shot was taken for a measly $25 in a 1979 photo session with the then obscure Madonna Louise Ciccone before she became the well-known Madonna, the celebrity of the musical world. The photo was bought by an unidentified European buyer at a price more than twice than originally expected in a New York auction on February 12, 2009. (Photo Credit: Tony Barton PD) =0=
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World Bank opens a can of worms & Sen. Miriam D. Santiago investigates
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago is hotly agitated by the World Bank (WB) scandal. The corruption charges by the international lending body implicate Jose Miguel Arroyo, the palace's “first gentleman” and husband of Pres. Gloria Arroyo. The accusations of unlawful transactions inflame the pompous side of the flighty woman-senator who acts like a straight and unbending arrow. Santiago has displayed irritation over the non-appearance of WB representative Bert Hofman in the January 27, 2008 senate hearing in which he is expected to clarify the allegations against government officials, influence peddlers, and road contractors. With the characteristic loquacious bravado that the lady-lawmaker is known for, Santiago blared:
““Mr. Hofman must come here in person or else we will cite him for contempt. Let this cause trouble (between the WB and the Senate) that would even lead to the Supreme Court or even the International Court of Justice. This is good because we will be able to test who between the World Bank and the Filipinos are the kings here.” ----Philstar (02/13/09, Calica, A)
Sen. Santiago’s incendiary words don’t fail to befuddle observers who think her thunderous tirades are nothing but another episode of “entertainment” in the corruption-riddled government. She effectively distracts the public from the sordid corruption charge in the WB-funded projects which has been "institutionalized" for at least a decade. While she seems urgently intent to pursue truth and punish wrong-doers in her ranks, many believe all the fury will die down before anyone will ever be proven accountable. She focuses wrongly on the messenger of bad news---the WB, instead of the rapacious perpetrators of the crime.
From whichever angle people look at the Santiago, her demeanor is a source of both pride and dishonor. She poses as a feisty defender of truth ready to uphold the dignity of the nation, something rarely seen in the slow-mo senate. But there are those who question her truthfulness and motive. From past experience, it is unlikely her noisy declarations will ever amount to anything beyond the exercise of words. At a time when the world suspects how deeply the country is mired in dishonesty, Santiago won’t probably go farther than mere investigations.
Even as the controversy goes on, Finance secretary Margarito Teves is already banking on the WB to increase its lending to the Philippines to a tune of $1 billion for the next few years. Keeping a warlike stance (instead of being conciliatory) is distracting. Sen. Santiago brushes aside the reality that the foreign bank isn’t obligated to humor the Philippines so that it can enjoy the “honor” of granting loans to the country. As a government official representing the country, there are those who think she is rude and crude---a loose cannon who blames the foreign bank for its "incomplete" disclosure, effectively deflecting the issue from the real crime.
It is said the leads pointing to fraud in the WB-financed project biddings have been passed on to Filipino authorities as early as 2007, but it’s only now (after the lid of corruption was blown open) that they see the urgency of investigating. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez has been criticized and threatened with dismissal for negligently sitting on the case.
The World Bank has already provided vital information to work on. Many wonder the aptness of the senate demanding more information from the foreign entity without the Philippines taking exhaustive effort to gather truth from its own backyard. As if to lamely cover up for glaring shortcomings and the embarrassments which go with incompetence and hypocrisy, Santiago’s blistering words have been set into play for the public to guess and digest. (Photo Credit: Neofinoy.info; ButchokoyD; Arenamontanus) =0=
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for a dog named bullfrog
your earflaps droop
as the skies weep down
the very roots of trees
that breathe the lament of cicadas.
i ponder at the grass
its cool ecstatic green
a reprieve from vaguenesses
the sight of you infects me with.
i wonder if you ever find yourself
dreaming of absent suns,
or if that gloom in your eyes
is yours indeed
or mine.
(1987)
barbara barquez ricafrente, monologues and other poems
as the skies weep down
the very roots of trees
that breathe the lament of cicadas.
i ponder at the grass
its cool ecstatic green
a reprieve from vaguenesses
the sight of you infects me with.
i wonder if you ever find yourself
dreaming of absent suns,
or if that gloom in your eyes
is yours indeed
or mine.
(1987)
barbara barquez ricafrente, monologues and other poems
The St. Luke's Maneuver
by barbara barquez ricafrente
By now, it has become a pattern. Influential or well-connected rouges who are trying to evade arrest or congressional summons to a hearing to answer corruption charges are using St. Luke’s Medical Center – a hospital in Quezon City that only the well-heeled can afford – as a place of refuge, a means to bide their time while contemplating their next move.
The infamous Joc-Joc Bolante started it, and now Jimmy Paule has also opted to do the same. No less than Senator Biazon has pointed this out. Faced with an arrest order issued by the Senate for his alleged involvement in the 2004 fertilizer scam which has cost the government at least 700 million pesos, Bolante had himself delivered straight to St. Luke’s from the airport upon his arrival from about two years of detention in the United States. His supposed cardiovascular problems were used to justify his stay of about two weeks at the hospital. In the end, it turned out that his blood pressure was normal after all, his cardiovascular health apparently better than those of us with less body fat and no fertilizers to account for. When he finally appeared at the Senate, his performance was flawless. He simply denied most allegations and contracted amnesia in regard to other matters.
Now the beleaguered Paule, facing the prospect of incarceration at the heavily congested Pasay City Jail for lying under oath at the Senate, is claiming to have a blocked carotid that needs immediate medical attention at St. Luke’s. Paule, of course, is the suspected link between the women who supplied the fertilizers and Department of Agriculture officials, and has been described as a fixer of government contracts. During the Senate hearing he attended, he consistently denied knowing the women who all named him as the one who informed them about and made the arrangements for their involvement in the agriculture department’s fertilizer project. Shown a photograph that included him, his wife and child, and these very same women, Paule stood pat on his claim that he did not know them personally. He even went as far as to suggest the photograph might have been tampered with the use of computer technology. His claims and denials were simply too incredulous that the senators eventually came to the conclusion that Paule had lied. To evade arrest, thus, the man has sought sanctuary at St. Luke’s while his lawyer questions before the courts the Senate order for his incarceration.
It seems, thus, that whenever they are running out of options, those implicated in anomalous government contracts suddenly become health-conscious and have themselves confined at St. Luke’s. Certainly, this gives them enough time to rehearse the answers they will give to Senate investigators and at the same time file petitions before the courts. As such, St. Luke’s is turning out to be a temporary haven for men who apparently fear they might slip up and point a finger at someone who literally casts a large shadow in Malacañang. Incidentally, that hospital is also the First Couple's favorite medical institution, the place where the First Gentleman (FG) himself goes to for his regular check-ups since surviving a delicate aneurysmectomy and a triple bypass operation there last April. Of course, this could simply mean that FG, Bolante, and Paule share similar tastes when it comes to hospitals.
All this can be likened to a game of chess where the accusers employ an aggressive opening game. To avoid a possible check-mate situation, the ones accused then resort to the “St. Luke’s Maneuver,” alongside the denial-to-death strategy and the “Amnesia Attack.” The accusers follow through with a vigorous middle game that keeps the accused on the defensive. In the end, however, those accused of robbing this country blind ultimately win the match in either of two ways: employing a superior end game that one might call “Power Play,” or simply allowing their opponents to lose by default for failure to finish the game.
This has evolved into a national farce that gets played over and over again with the same outcomes right before our eyes, leaving us desensitized and convinced that we are powerless to change the situation. The end result? A government that is convinced it can do as it pleases with impunity, a bureaucracy that is weighed down by incompetence and demoralization, and a people grown accustomed to the unmitigated poverty, social injustice, and despair in our midst that we seem to have mistaken for our shared fate. This is our tragedy, and may yet prove to be our collective undoing.
By now, it has become a pattern. Influential or well-connected rouges who are trying to evade arrest or congressional summons to a hearing to answer corruption charges are using St. Luke’s Medical Center – a hospital in Quezon City that only the well-heeled can afford – as a place of refuge, a means to bide their time while contemplating their next move.
The infamous Joc-Joc Bolante started it, and now Jimmy Paule has also opted to do the same. No less than Senator Biazon has pointed this out. Faced with an arrest order issued by the Senate for his alleged involvement in the 2004 fertilizer scam which has cost the government at least 700 million pesos, Bolante had himself delivered straight to St. Luke’s from the airport upon his arrival from about two years of detention in the United States. His supposed cardiovascular problems were used to justify his stay of about two weeks at the hospital. In the end, it turned out that his blood pressure was normal after all, his cardiovascular health apparently better than those of us with less body fat and no fertilizers to account for. When he finally appeared at the Senate, his performance was flawless. He simply denied most allegations and contracted amnesia in regard to other matters.
Now the beleaguered Paule, facing the prospect of incarceration at the heavily congested Pasay City Jail for lying under oath at the Senate, is claiming to have a blocked carotid that needs immediate medical attention at St. Luke’s. Paule, of course, is the suspected link between the women who supplied the fertilizers and Department of Agriculture officials, and has been described as a fixer of government contracts. During the Senate hearing he attended, he consistently denied knowing the women who all named him as the one who informed them about and made the arrangements for their involvement in the agriculture department’s fertilizer project. Shown a photograph that included him, his wife and child, and these very same women, Paule stood pat on his claim that he did not know them personally. He even went as far as to suggest the photograph might have been tampered with the use of computer technology. His claims and denials were simply too incredulous that the senators eventually came to the conclusion that Paule had lied. To evade arrest, thus, the man has sought sanctuary at St. Luke’s while his lawyer questions before the courts the Senate order for his incarceration.
It seems, thus, that whenever they are running out of options, those implicated in anomalous government contracts suddenly become health-conscious and have themselves confined at St. Luke’s. Certainly, this gives them enough time to rehearse the answers they will give to Senate investigators and at the same time file petitions before the courts. As such, St. Luke’s is turning out to be a temporary haven for men who apparently fear they might slip up and point a finger at someone who literally casts a large shadow in Malacañang. Incidentally, that hospital is also the First Couple's favorite medical institution, the place where the First Gentleman (FG) himself goes to for his regular check-ups since surviving a delicate aneurysmectomy and a triple bypass operation there last April. Of course, this could simply mean that FG, Bolante, and Paule share similar tastes when it comes to hospitals.
All this can be likened to a game of chess where the accusers employ an aggressive opening game. To avoid a possible check-mate situation, the ones accused then resort to the “St. Luke’s Maneuver,” alongside the denial-to-death strategy and the “Amnesia Attack.” The accusers follow through with a vigorous middle game that keeps the accused on the defensive. In the end, however, those accused of robbing this country blind ultimately win the match in either of two ways: employing a superior end game that one might call “Power Play,” or simply allowing their opponents to lose by default for failure to finish the game.
This has evolved into a national farce that gets played over and over again with the same outcomes right before our eyes, leaving us desensitized and convinced that we are powerless to change the situation. The end result? A government that is convinced it can do as it pleases with impunity, a bureaucracy that is weighed down by incompetence and demoralization, and a people grown accustomed to the unmitigated poverty, social injustice, and despair in our midst that we seem to have mistaken for our shared fate. This is our tragedy, and may yet prove to be our collective undoing.
Narcotics war in US-Mexican border worsens
After 6,000 people died in drug related murders in Mexico last year, the slayings have no signs of stopping. Mexican police discovered five bullet-riddled vehicles on February 11, 2009 in a wave of killings that brought new fatalities, a result of gang violence escalating South of the border. Drug lords have become bolder to instill fear and challenge the government of President Felipe Calderon in his effort to curb the narcotics trafficking, drug cartels, kidnappings, and vendetta murders.About 80 miles south of the border from El Paso, Texas, in Villa Ahumada, a small village of 1,500 people, fresh violence erupted. Last year, the town was virtually overrun by savage drug gangs last year when two consecutive police chiefs and two officers were murdered. For fear for their lives, the remaining 20 members of the police force quit their jobs. The Mexican military had to take over.
On Tuesday, February 10, 2009, nine individuals were kidnapped and six of them were believed to have been executed. A shoot-out which rescued three people resulted to the bloody death of seven gunmen and one police officer. -----Yahoo.News.com / AP (02/11/09, Watson, J)
Many citizens have died senselessly in the crossfire of gang violence. The rise in criminality is a cause of concern for United States and Mexico whose shared Southern border has been a favorite conduit of narcotics trade and serves as entry point for illegal aliens in North America.
With the slump of the economy in the United States, many Mexicans have lost their jobs and turned into drug trade and abductions for ransom. The dollar remittance of expatriate Mexicans which shore up their country's economy has slowed.
It is said that if the warring drug kingpins learn to get along, by joining forces, they have the strength to trash President Calderon's administration. Drug lords and their minions have increasing influence in Mexican society; their nefarious activities have crossed over the USA. There is real danger of chaos which can distabilize and bring down the government. (Photo Credit: Guachito Caletano; MashGet x 2) =0=
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