PostHeaderIcon Manny Pacquaio, A Golf Mauling, Bribe Daw, An Idiotic Commander and A Caper: A String of Lies

1/04/2009 | Posted by myty555 | Edit Post

Some time ago I heard a joke making the rounds that "Pacman" Manny Pacquiao has picked up the game of golf. Of course people were incredulous and find it ridiculous that the boxing great will be playing golf. Of course, it was all a joke. Manny daw is mahilig mag-golf as in mang-golfe (gulpe). That was after he mauled some opponents in the ring.

That was my play with words in my earlier article regarding the golf course incident in Antipolo involving the Pangandamans [See "A Golf Course Mauling and a Star-Crossed Appointment", 12/30/08]. They should understand they must play by the golf rules and not make golfe.

The de la Pazes started the incident? They said the de la Pazes had baseball bats had bladed weapons. Against the guns of the Pangandamans? That sounds ridiculous. As if Lanao del Sur politicians move around without a coterie of armed bodyguards. Hey, in Mindanao a handgun is not considered a true gun. Even Mayor "Dirty Harry" Duterte of Davao, well-aware of rido (the Muslim version of vendetta) can't curb it. Itago lang daw.

And golfe again the de la Pazes in the clubhouse? So they won't start it again? C'mon. The senior Pangandaman is complaining their name is being besmirched by the incident. Maybe that's the price of not playing by the rules of golf but by golfe.

Another parallel item was the alleged P50 million bribe try made on PDEA agents. The 3 scions of prominent families had supply of drugs daw. So they are "dealers". Ha ha! I thought drug dealers are nefarious beings who are cold-blooded and not some rich, spoiled kids.

Could be that the true story is the other way around. The agents could be asking money for "settlement" and the 3 balked because the amount is too big. And so it became a "bribery" try. P50M? Who would offer such kind of money? I can believe in the influence-peddling angle as can be gleaned by the call to PDEA by DOJ Undersecretary Blancaflor. Hey, these are not families without connections. These are not Chinese illegals who are large-scale drug dealers who fear rotting in our jails and who think P50M is a fair settlement so they can ply their trade again.

And this reminds me of that funny idiotic claim of the national police commander Verzosa. 90% crime solution rate daw. Ha ha! As if all crimes are reported. If that is so then they are just really sadistic when they engage in "salvaging". Trip lang siguro kasi anyway naso-solve din naman ang mga kaso. O baka ito yung 10% na di ma-solve?

And this reminds me of the Moscow caper of the euro generals. The national police spokesman said all papers regarding the money was in order. After their comptroller admitted the papers were completed the day after the euro generals were detained by Russian authorities. Ha ha!

Such string of brazen-faced lying. Wonder why this administration's credibility is at a record-low?


[photo credit:a.travis]
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PostHeaderIcon The Coming Crisis of 2009: Some Thoughts (Part 2)

1/04/2009 | Posted by myty555 | Edit Post





I am continuing this series in order to provoke some thoughts. In this way we might have a better understanding of the crisis that is coming to our shores.

Finance capital, monopoly capital, "hot money". What do these all mean?

Finance capital is basically wealth producing wealth. Investors lend money for profit and it will always seek the greatest return. Monopoly capital and finance capital are similar up to a point. "Hot money" is the behavior of finance capital.

In the later stages of capitalism finance capital dominated industrial capital. The industries are now at the mercy of banks, finance houses and more lately by various kinds of funds including hedge funds. Their "worth" now rise and fall with the movement of finance capital. "Bubble". Just like Henry Sy "earned" S1.1B in the first 9 months of the year and his fellow taipans "lost" hundreds of millions of dollars.

Finance capital can also be exported. And withdrawn. And that is the problem of national economic planners. In the development of a country more and more its planners and its legislatures are no longer the dominant factors. Their economies shrink and expand and their exchange rates change with the movement of "hot money" finance capital. The size of this money dwarfs the national savings of nations.

And that is the reason why our exchange rate is on the downslide. "Hot money" is being withdrawn. Our equities and stock market earned 30% per year from 2003 ton 2007. All because of the "bubble" created by the inflow of "hot money".

Our local economy was not responsible for that "prosperity" (but it certainly helped Mrs. Arroyo survive). But woe to those that do not understand this kind of "investment". They will have to be content with the 3-4% interest the bank gives for time deposits which is not even enough to cover inflation.

In the competition of nations, we will be left by Vietnam, a country ravaged by war not so long ago. Our $1B direct foreign investment (DFI) per year is but a fraction of their $7B. And we better learn how to kowtow to China which receives $1B a day at its peak. They will be our investors and buyers in the future.

How do we catch this elusive "hot money"? It is simple as long as one country's economy can guarantee it will earn handsomely. That is why former developing countries like China and India are fast becoming powerhouses. They will not be left holding the proverbial empty bag because they have real wealth--their manufacturing sector, export market, capital market and technology is own the way to development and they can now absorb flights of "hot money".

"Hot money" without outlet is a dangerous thing. Arbitrageurs and fund managers became too "creative" in inventing new kinds of investment vehicles and this led to the "sub-prime" woes in the US. They have to show enough "profits" so that they wont lose their (finance capital) investors. After all their earnings are based on percentage and on the rise of their own shares.

And this is the reason for the rise of Madoff schemes (seems Madoff is on the way to replacing Ponzi in the dictionary). We can just speculate how many Madoff schemes are out there in the world.

Whatever financial conflagration that will happen finance capital will find a way to seek profits in all parts of the globe. It won't even matter if it is a conflict area, a dictatorship for as long as there is reasonable guarantee they will get their money back with interest.

So this crisis, in essence, is just a temporary thing. The world economy will "recover" when finance capital gains enough "confidence" again. But it is gullible, the suckers and the small fries that will bear the brunt of their activity.

Is this what is meant by greed?


[photo credits:huffington post, wired newyork]
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PostHeaderIcon 9 simple resolutions for the new year

1/04/2009 | Posted by Anonymous | Edit Post


It's quite hard to make resolutions and end up successful along the course of the year. Yet, experts say there are some simple things which we can do that can impact our lives positively without much commitment. Many of the them do not cost a fortune or need a lot of time. Here are some things we can consider at the start of 2009:

1. Exercise and Food: Long life, emotional stability, and health are closely tied with doing exercise and eating proper food. Studies show that simple brisk walking (less than 30 minutes a day,) can improve heart function and help prolong life. Avoidance of fatty and salty food is key in preventing early-onset heart problems and stroke. Regular visits to our doctor can save us from preventable diseases and spare us from costly treatments in the hospital.

2. Save Cash: The news of a global meltdown spook all of us. We don't know of anyone who hasn't been affected by the economic crisis that sweeps across all social classes. Cutting down on unnecessary trips, avoiding eat-outs in restaurants, using public transport can save us a lot of money. Home cooked food brought at work can spare some cash to pay for essential house utilities like the electric or water bill.

3. Support the Environment: Proper disposal of waste, recycling, and avoiding the use of environmental pollutants are important in preserving the planet's resources. With our dwindling natural resources and the rapid increase in population, more are required on us to bequeath a better world for the next generation.

4. Try Gardening: Unused open spaces at home can be a made into vegetable plots or community gardens. Planted camote gives us nutritious leaves; sweet roots we can harvest in 4 to 5 months. Ginger, scallion and onions on a pot produce a year-long supply of condiments for the home kitchen.

5. Read a Book: Everybody knows knowledge is power. One of the easiest ways to advance our education is to read regularly. A book opens an exciting door to a world that enriches our lives and benefits society. A newspaper keeps us abreast with the events that affect us.

6. Reach Out: There are dividends to be gained when one sets out to reach friends, neighbors, and business associates. A habit of saying hello and expressing thanks bring closeness and cheer to the people we live with.

7. Volunteer: Extra time and space need not be wasted. Volunteering in a church, day-care, hospital, prison or school for a day or two in a year can appreciably help improve our sense of belonging. A volunteer job can be arranged in honor of a friend, to remember a dead relative or to celebrate an anniversary or birthday.

8. Clean Up and Remove Clutter: Our homes have the tendency to accumulate dust and things we don't need. To make things easy and light, we need to rid our place of things we don't use. Old clothes, we can give to the poor neighbor or to charity. Regular house cleaning brings a happy spark in our homes and a healthy look of our surroundings.

9. Be a Concerned Citizen: As our civic duty we need to know what goes on in our village. One way to help is to join groups who work for the community. Writing the mayor, councilor or government official on a specific concern is a way to address a problem in our communities. Sitting with them on an issue can help thresh out ways to improve our society. (Photo Credit: www.paintingdesigns.com)=0=
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PostHeaderIcon Two Boat Sinkings, A New Year Ferry Suspension in Bicol, Wave Height and Gale

1/03/2009 | Posted by myty555 | Edit Post

For thousands of Bicol ferry passengers the forlorn walls of the ferry terminals in Tabaco (Albay), Pilar and Matnog (both in Sorsogon) was their New Year's eve sight. This came about because government authorities, on the advice of the weather bureau, suspended small crafts from sailing citing forecasts of waves of up to four meters high.

This suspension is probably a reaction to the recent sinking of the motor boat MB Mae Jan which plies the Calayan island to Aparri, Cagayan route in which about half of its 100 passengers died. It was said that the weather was fine when the boat left Calayan but it turned bad before the boat reached its destination. The incident highlighted the disregard of PAGASA (the Philippines weather forecasting bureau) advisories which warned of big waves for that day.

Maybe the suspension is only correct. Forecast of wave heights should be the governing factor in ferry trip suspensions rather than wind speeds which is the basis for typhoon forecasts. It is waves that primarily swamp and capsize ships and not the winds per se. People should probably start to understand now that ships can meet sinking incidents even without a typhoon warning (and I am glad PAGASA now uses the term 'gale' to describe stormy sea conditions). I hope that government will stress more the importance of heeding wave height forecasts and educate people accordingly.

Sometimes I wonder if we need MB Mae Jan incidents for us to learn these things. But with the new system I hope the lives lost in that incident and in the MB Don Dexter Cathlyn sinking off Dimasalang, Masbate which killed about 40 people would not have been in vain.

This day, this change had a new twist. Ferry trips in Bicol were again suspended but this time the reason for the suspension is the refusal of the ship captains to venture out to sea combined with the barring of sea travel by the the Coast Guard. I hope this development augurs a new era of more pro-active observance of sea safety. I think we have needlessly lost enough lives in sea tragedies over the years because of the bahala na (leaving things to providence) attitude.

However, I hope this will not augur a new era of over-cautious sailing when ships are grounded when a storm is still far away and it so happened only that there is already a typhoon warning. Economic oppurtunies are lost this way. There is no need to automatically suspend ships when it is still shining and wave forecast is still moderate.

For prudence, maybe a finer distinction between small ships is needed. Old sea travellers know that outriggers and motor boats which are wooden are more vulnerable than steel ferries and there are bigger ferries that can handle waves better. The should not all be lumped under the category of 'small sea craft'.

More passengers will be stranded in the future, for sure. But maybe it will also teach them how to read weather forecasts especially those that are available on the Net which is numerous enough and is up-to-date.


[photo credit: freewebs]
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1/02/2009 | Posted by Anonymous | Edit Post
MERCEDby barbara barquez ricafrente


She was a diminutive woman who always walked barefoot. She walked so fast she was gone before you noticed it, going at a speed that could put to shame those jeepneys loaded to the brim with passengers, goods of all kinds, and even fowls that were headed for the more remote villages of Oas, my old hometown where Mayon Volcano's peak is perpetually visible. Merced had dark red lips and reddish teeth, for she was always chewing betel nut and constantly spewing out red spittle into the ground. She kept her betel nut supply – prepared with some amount of lime wrapped in a buyo leaf – in that dent between her small breasts, and would extract it from there whenever she needed to take another bite.

She had no idea when she was born, never went to school, and knew nothing about reading and writing. On election day, she simply pressed her ink-laced thumb on the appropriate box on the ballot to indicate that she had exercised her right to suffrage.

Laughter came easy to Merced, for she had a generally cheerful disposition. Her laughter sounded like the bleating of a goat, and always caused everyone around her to laugh as well. She took no interest in gossip, and no one knows what it was that preoccupied her thoughts. She fervently believed in the power of the albularyo, as practitioners of indigenous medicine have always been known in these parts, and had an abiding fear of medical doctors. But whenever the albularyo's prescriptions did not seem to work, she would come to our grocery store to seek my mother's advice. My mother, who devoted all her adult life to being a teacher at a local public elementary school, gladly obliged by prescribing the usual over-the-counter drugs for fever, stomach pain, cold, or toothache. Merced would come back after a day or two, profuse with gratitude and genuflecting unabashedly before my mother, to the latter's embarrassment. She would flash that broad smile that reduced her face to wrinkles and her eyes to a pair of slits.

One day, my mother decided to close shop because she had resolved to put a stop to any further dealings with some neighbors who had racked up a long list of debts from the store and refused to pay up. Merced was distraught. She tore at her hair and was on the verge of tears, saying she would not know what to do if she no longer had our store – ¬specifically with my mother in it – to go to for medical advice. She said, with gestures to match, that she felt like burying a dagger between her breasts. My mother told her she could always come to our house if she needed anything, but Merced could not be appeased. She went away crying.

She shared a home with Pablo, the father of her three children. Pablo, who was only slightly taller than Merced, was an even-tempered and soft-spoken man with a drinking habit. But even when he was drunk, he never caused trouble and simply went off to sleep. There was one time, though, when he had had one drink too many, and ended up rolling in the dust in his alcohol-induced stupor. A group of children went to fetch Merced, who promptly showed up at the scene. As she had never approved of Pablo's drinking, she ordered him to get up and go home. Pablo, too drunk to be able to help himself, was smiling like a nut and told her: "Cut it out, Mama!" Merced gave him an ultimatum, telling him to do her bidding by the time she had counted to three. But the man was unresponsive and continued to mutter incoherently to himself. Doubling over with laughter, the neighbors egged him to get up, but he did not budge even as Merced finished counting to three. Without any hesitation, Merced stood directly over Pablo, lifted the hem of her house dress, and urinated on his face. Everyone was cackling and howling with so much glee that the small table where the men drank went crashing down, along with the cuatro cantos (gin in a clear four-cornered bottle) and appetizers. The infuriated woman stormed out of the scene, while Pablo spent the rest of the afternoon snoring on the ground in a pool of his wife's urine.

Despite this, Merced and Pablo got along very well. They lived in a hut that Pablo built on a lot owned by a benevolent old woman. They planted their own vegetables, and earned their keep by working in neighbors' farms during the seasons for rice planting and harvesting. In the lean months, they wove weed baskets for sale to a local middleman. When their eldest daughter who was her mother's spitting image – except that she was taller and big-boned – started to grow breasts, they sent her off to the big city to work as a housemaid. Every month hence, the daughter would send them a small amount from her earnings.

The couple never stayed long in one place, for their hut was always reduced to a pile of wood. This may not make sense at first, but that is exactly how it was. It was not because their house lay in the direct path of typhoons (though everyone knows Oas is in the so-called typhoon belt), was caught by a tornado, shaken by an earthquake, or washed away by a flash flood. Rather, it was something far less cataclysmic. Merced and Pablo cooked their meals on a hearthstone, for which the fuel used was firewood. Whenever some cooking had to be done, the couple simply pulled out pieces of wood from a section of their house. They did this constantly until their hut grew smaller and leaner and there was not enough left of the beams, the walls, and the flooring – all made of bamboo – to prop up the house. At one time, Merced came up to my mother and father to ask if she and her family could put up a hut on that small island in the middle of our rice field. My parents gave their consent. But, as had happened before, the new hut grew progressively smaller until, in less than four months, only its skeleton remained. After that, Merced and her family moved elsewhere.

The last time Merced was seen, she was eating soil. Looking pale and gaunt, she had a ball of earth in her hand with which she fed herself upon the advice of an albularyo. She said she had fallen ill for having stepped on an unseen being, a to’ng lipŭd, while gathering leaves in a forested area in the locality. She was spitting out blood, but did not notice it because of the red betel juice. Not long after, it was told that she had coughed up blood and died. Since her husband Pablo was too poor to afford even a small lot in the town cemetery, he is said to have wrapped her in a mat and brought her to the graveyard for pagans – where tombs are inundated by waist-deep floodwaters in the typhoon season – on the other side of town. Until the end, even he who had spent most of his life with this woman did not know how long she had lived on this earth. It is told that Pablo simply had the gravedigger write MERCED on the cross that marked her tomb, after which he went away. Today, no one knows for certain where Merced truly rests, for nothing remains of the cross that bore only her name.
1/02/2009 | Posted by Anonymous | Edit Post
questions, after Neruda
______________________________________________________




i.

do comets wag their tails at the sight of Titan
crossing the face of Jupiter?

do constellations contemplate ever changing places,
rearranging themselves, reconfiguring their positions
for the sake of something new?

is the constellation Sirius acquainted with a smile?
and will the Red Planet, like an injured eye, ever clear up?

does the Universe have corners
like a box full of galaxies turning endlessly
like the tiny wheels in a grandfather clock?

how long did the man who stole a pig stashed in a sack
take a rest on the dark side of the moon
before he vanished with his loot?

is thunder at night the stolen pig’s cry for help
or a giant gone astray in the mountains howling for his mother?


ii.

does Yellow try to keep its teeth from clattering at the sight of Black
and scurries off with its tail between its legs?

is Black a creature with deadly hooves,
or an unsettling presence with menacing eyes?
does it delight in striking fear in leaves and rendering them yellow?
does it ever have a benign spot?

does Blue like its face long, its music dolorous?
does it seek out solitude in rat-smelling rooms?
does smiling make it sick?
does laughter give it fatal convulsions?

does Red like being chased by bulls?
is it always choleric, ready to explode?
does it scald and seethe and threaten to kill?

is White forever spotless, the rare virgin sought
for offering to the gods?

is Green forever young, amateurish, untrained, artless?
or was it born with prurience on its mind?


iii.

is Orange sweet enough for ants?
or does it need more sugar to gain their attention?

is Silver always brimming with hope?
does it tinkle like wind chimes
or sparkle like points of light in the water?

and is Gray too old to care –
its bones brittle as dry leaves,
its heart a wrinkled valve?


(2002)


barbara barquez ricafrente, tales grandmother told (unpublished)

PostHeaderIcon The Coming Crisis of 2009: Some Thoughts (Part 1)

1/02/2009 | Posted by myty555 | Edit Post

I do not know if my title is passe, that is, should it be termed as the crisis of 2008? Anyway, what the Philippines is experiencing so far is an economic downturn. There is no full crisis yet. But like the rest of the world Filipinos are worried about the spill-over effect of the US crisis.

Will there be a full-blown crisis? I don't know either. Nobody has a perfect crystal ball on this crisis. One thing, there is no denial complex like in the other crises so looking for solutions came earlier. And the host country of the crisis can possibly marshall up to a trillion dollars of intervention fund to soften the blow. And the world, tickled properly, will probably respond to multilateral efforts in order to stave off a greater conflagration.

How do the Philippines stand in this crisis? Firstly, electronics parts imports have dived indicating that this sector of the economy won't be a good performer this year. But that sector is no longer the country's biggest sector. The biggest is now the OFW market and this sector is not dependent directly or indirectly in the US since it caters mainly to the Middle East and this region doesn't produce a lot of goods and services for the US and other highly-industrialized countries (HICs).

A major sector, the natural-resources extraction sector including metals is primarily China-driven now. Will this suffer? Actually it will depend on how China handles this crisis since their number one market is the US. But being the cost and price leader worldwide they still have plenty of option regions. But of course these regions economic size and purchasing power cannot match the US'.

Our agri-business sector can probably ride out the storm since more and more it is not dependent on the US market. Instead it relies more on Japan and increasingly the Korea, China, Hongkong and other markets are being developed.

Meanwhile, our traditional agriculture market, though still big had become more of a non-factor in the last few years. Our coconut, abaca, tobacco markets is no longer that important while we are importers in our other agriculture needs like cereals.

An emerging BPO sector, which include call centers probably ranks second in importance now. This sector is putting up a brave face but its primary market is the US. Will enough US firms cut cost and outsource abroad so that previous demand cuts here will be negated? I cannot speculate on this since this is a US response area.

I point all of this out since I do not want to say that this impending crisis will just be a replay of the 2001 crisis spawned by the 9/11 NYTC attack. The world changes fast and underlying dynamics do change.


[photo credit:bigapple212]
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PostHeaderIcon Barack Obama's Incredible Run and a Hope

1/01/2009 | Posted by myty555 | Edit Post

Two years ago not many has heard of the freshman Senator Barack Obama. Now he is the incoming US President. When I first heard about his run I thought he was just an ambitious politician aiming to put his name on the map in the hope that it will help in a future run. After all, many politicians in the US used this ploy.

I did not think he would win the Democratic primaries. Many contenders quit after a few months when funds dry up and some even quit the campaign trail in debt. I also did not think he was capable of outlasting Senator Hillary Clinton who also happened to be the wife of a formidable and popular former President who was functioning as her quarterback and adviser.

When he became the Democratic party nominee he was already the llamado (odds-on favorite). He stumbled for a while but then he recovered quickly to beat the Republican candidate who was clobbered by the US economic crisis and who did not help himself by making the watched-for gaffes.

I hope Barack Obama's incredible run continues into the Oval Office. The world certainly needs it because it is facing a crisis of historic proportions and it is in the US where it all started. The solutions need to be found in the US and not anywhere else.

I also hope that Barack Obama will become a US president that can connect with the outside world (unlike his predecessor who sneer at it). The unipolar world and bi-polar world has ceased long ago and it is time for the US to listen and pay attention to the opinion and concerns of other countries and not only look after its own strategic interests.

This plea is not about begging for pittance or pats in the back. The US should begin to realize that it makes a big portion of its profits outside their borders and this contributes to her prosperity. The US should disabuse itself that its investments abroad are the engines of the other nations' prosperity. They invested for profit, no more, no less and all altruistic pretense should simply be dropped.

If the US will only understand that other nations contribute to their prosperity maybe they will become more graceful and engaging in their actions abroad. President-elect Obama has close foreign genes and he spent part of his youth abroad. I hope this will influence him and make him different from his predecessors.
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PostHeaderIcon New Year in Davao, a Firecracker Ban and a Nearby Explosion

1/01/2009 | Posted by myty555 | Edit Post

As in the previous years, New Year came to Davao without a bang. Since 2001, when the city created an ordinance banning firecrackers, New Year has always been celebrated with mute revelry as only the traditional torotot and banging of pots and pans can be heard around the city (of course, there are also those who use their car horns to create noise).

It is not only firecrackers that are banned in the city. Pyrotechnics are also illegal so the glow and aura of those attractive things can only be seen on TV sets in this city.

There is no use in bucking the city government. Mere possession of firecrackers and pyrotechnics is illegal in Davao. If in other cities those things are just confiscated, here in Davao it will land you in jail (and there are no prosecutors and judges to attend to your case during the long holidays). This season the city's mayor, Rody "Dirty Harry" Duterte, even included minors for arrest in case they are found in possession of minor fireworks (so you won't even see here small luces and watusi the children play with in other areas). Davao is really nitrate-emission free.

One result of this is a zero injury rate in fireworks-related incidents. Hospitals treat New Year's eve here like an holiday. Some people here say that reporting yourself to the hospital can get you arrested. I wonder if a mangled finger a proper evidence in court.

Maybe it is time for the country to ban fireworks. It is probably just an unnecessary expense that we can't really afford. For a moment of pleasure injuries (and even death) can ensure, the environment is polluted (noise and nitrates), and altercations ensue from wrongly-thrown fireworks (the bane of commuters during New Year's eve). And if the avowed purpose of using firecrackers is to weed out malas (bad luck), certainly, decades of experience will tell us that this isn't effective. Otherwise, we would have been a prosperous country already.

If Davao's New Year's bash is relatively quiet, it is not so in our nearby city, General Santos City. On New Year's eve, hours before the year-change, a big explosion ripped the Oval Plaza injuring 26 people including 2 policemen. This is on top of an explosion the previous day in a police outpost that injured another policeman. Instead of holiday joy, General Santos City experienced quiet brought about by terror (for how can be one sure that the next bang is not the real thing?).

There is a place near the river Pasig that needs a wake-up blast and not General Santos City. Maybe some real malas removal would then happen.


[Photo credit: toto lozano, sunstar davao]
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PostHeaderIcon Campaign against firecrackers and fireworks

1/01/2009 | Posted by Anonymous | Edit Post


A counter-move against the merry tradition of bidding a noisy ending of the year, young students in Manila staged rallies against firecrackers. In a gathering spearheaded by EcoWaste foundation, environment-conscious students in Malate, brought attention to the dangers and polluting effects of firecrackers during the holiday.

In Negros Occidental and Cadiz City, an estimated P300,000 and P100,000 worth of illegal pyrotechnic devices respectively were confiscated by authorities. Similar operations where conducted in various cities all over the country as the new year draws near.

Although the Department of Health (DOH) has made headway in discouraging the use of firecrackers with the use of explicit anti-firecracker ads, hospitals in the country are in “Code White Alert” in anticipation for more people who might need medical attention. More than a hundred injuries have been reported including at least three directly inflicted by gunfire.

The argument against the firecrackers and indiscriminate gunfire at this time is easy to understand, but annually, Filipinos needed to be reminded of the risks and perils. Students and concerned Filipinos standing against firecrackers are helpful in getting this message across. (Photo Credit: Malaya/ Philip Duquiatan) =0=

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