By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
02 January 2011
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – There is more to life than what the Yuletide Season and the New Year bring: life changing phenomenon!
Literally and figuratively, we Filipinos have experienced a lot of this: Out of suffocation we gathered at EDSA and without a drop of blood overthrew the dictator that ruled the country for more than twenty years; thereafter, EDSA 2 ousted the high-profile gambler out of the Palace; then third edition EDSA attempted to abort the presidency of the petite Lady.
In May 2010, another epiphany flashed in broad daylight of the arid Philippine sky: the second generation Aquino was mandated by majority of the Filipinos to rule the republic under the suit of true democracy.
The epiphanies of EDSA all happened because we wanted change; the epiphanies of the May 10 Elections cyclically happen because we want change. The question now is: Did change ever happen at one point? Or, are we good at EDSA Saga only?
Change is the hardest of activities a self-serving politician can do; yet, the easiest dictum he can always promise.
After EDSA 1, Cory Aquino introduced change. She carefully restored the democratic government back to the table that became once again our staple. She called for the constitutional assembly that led to the amendment of the Charter in 1986. Consequently thereafter, the democratic houses resurrected: the Senate and the Representatives. She carved a remarkable icon of democratic reforms the entire world watched and observed in awe.
One significant yet cunning change she made was creating a new foodstuff out of domestic animal called pork in a barrel disguised as country-wide development fund. This kind of pork takes precedence over other red meats that control economic, social, and political assemblies. Incidentally and arguably, this change did not improve the status quo of the time; it worsened the situation. This icon strengthened the pre-procreation vice of Adam and Eve called greed.
Perhaps it stands to reason why a different version of change was called for: coup de tat staged by now senator Gringo Honasan and his cohorts. This phenomenon gave birth to other coup attempts, military uprisings and adventurisms only the likes of Lim and Trillanes perfectly comprehended.
A notable change would have toppled down a system had the program been instituted sincerely by its agent. Erap aborted bureaucracy with his popular and controversial rhyme “walang kai-kaibigan, walang kamag-anak; wag n’yo akong subukan.” He installed statesmen and politicians sans consanguinity and affinity. However, he was short of making it acceptable to both houses. Shortly, his power was curtailed by EDSA 2 that was triggered by the deal-or-no-deal opening of the controversial bank envelope that produced a dancing queen in the Senate. This catapulted the then Vice Pres GMA to the highest position of the Land.
“Let us build the edifice of unity and topple down the walls that divide” was the popular change dictum the petite but feisty Lady of the Imperial Manila proudly and sternly pronounced. During her term, she manufactured her own change catalog: changing jueteng to small town lotteries, re-branding protectors to benefactors, re-naming austerity measures to cost-saving approaches, installing justices and ombudsman in a passion called political terms – and all these produced the totally re-scripted and changed political classics like the Hello Garci Drama, ZTE-NBN soap dish, the Ampatuans saga, the most talked-about Cha-Cha she and her lower house speaker strutted in a barn soiree, etc. This etcetera enumerates beyond infinity.
For about a decade, one hundred million Filipinos objected to this kind of change but never have successfully aborted the Imeldific game plan until one evening, a new star was spotted north of Malacanang by political shepherds that was believed to bring about the epiphany of the century, hopefully.
This star promised to bring the country to “tuwid na landas,” a popular campaign teaser that catapulted him to power. And shortly after he seized control of the Palace, several attempts to change have been introduced. Most of his change drivers were not fairly acceptable, others became controversial, and nonetheless, he managed to navigate the fields where customizations have to be made: Truth commission. It did not become a change driver; it will never be.
In his sincere and noble attempt to employ the same change vehicle his iconic mother used, failures stalled his Palace: August 2010 hostage drama, plagiarism over tourism brand, lousily prepared K+2, resurgence of Jueteng passions, morally-debated RH Bill, disabled and incapable cabinets, etc. – all these mimicked an unstable administration incapable of bringing about change, planned or imagined; all these portrayed a governance incapacitated to handle sensitive economic, social, and political issues laid down on the table.
Yes, too many epiphanies; phenomena that stirred and traumatized the noble nation. This is now the call of the New Year, new generation: No more EDSA, no more epiphanies. Institute real-time change!
But will Aquino be as effective as the Wise Men in aborting the political Herod called greed that is killing the political savior called good governance of the human race called Philippines?
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Barco et Santa
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
26 December 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – The 39-member Philippine Balangay Expedition Team finally ended their more than a year of voyage across six countries in Southeast Asia. The flotilla of “balangay,” comprising three replicas of pre-Hispanic indigenous Malay water vessels docked at the CCP Breakwater where it first set off in September 1, 2009.
Surprisingly, most of the major players are not certified mariners; some in fact are certified mountaineers who planted the Philippine Flag at the tip of the highest geographic protuberance on earth, Mt. Everest.
Arturo Valdez’ Balangay does not differ from the smallest political subdivision we have from where, Barangay, its forerunner. It projects more than its structure: Unity, power, and political will. And these national Barangays like Malacanang, Senate, and Congress must inculcate within their respective unit.
Apparently, Arturo Valdez and his colleagues applied the simplest form of teamwork to proceed with their expedition, to reincarnate the same pre-colonial Philippines’ spirit. The unity they used is the same unity the “Katipuneros” used during the Spanish occupation.
Looking back, authentic Filipino unity gave birth to EDSA 1. It was the basic element EDSA 1 mixed to successfully oust the dictator that has ever lived in the compound of the Palace; the same element added to a concoction called EDSA 2 that successfully ousted Pres. Estrada out of power; that catapulted Pres. Aquino to power via the 2010 May electoral process.
Sadly though, this value is dying; a lot has super-abused this ingredient for their self-serving political agenda. It falsely gave birth to EDSA 3 in an attempt to bring high profile gambler-actor and ousted president back to power. It wrongly gave rise to the three military adventurisms founded on the protectors-of-the-country ideology during the prime of the Arroyo government.
It would have been better if the PNP and the involved cabinet executives used the same “unity” in dealing with the August 2010 hostage crisis and thus shielded the president and the entire country from being ridiculed for ignorance. The tourism industry wouldn’t have suffered if it was used indeed. More to this, constituents of Barangay Malacanang should use the same brand of unity in coming up with a unified syllabus of good governance, not writing their own version of two houses separated by the historic EDSA.
The frail boats, which have journeyed for about 12,600 miles across high seas of Southeast Asian sphere, are a complete picture of power. Beating the terrible rough Asian waters and strong northeast wind is power by itself. And this power is by far no different from the power mandated to these political creatures robed in the glossy fabric of politics called greed.
Scarcity does not impede them from wheeling. Balangay re-defined scarcity as an opportunity to yield to the power of the scarce resource. Interestingly, the team employed ancient navigation methods of seafaring as their power to propel their iconic boats: Using the stars and the position of the heavenly bodies, the direction of the wind and the weather. These methods are by far no different from the ones used by pre-Hispanic and Hispanic colonizers of countries like the Philippines and its neighbors. They made it!
They reached their places of conquest; they survived. Balangay did! The voyage the Philippine politics is making does not guarantee to reach places of conquest; it does not guarantee survival. Which is why, political crisis is apparent; politicians kill their arch-rivals, journalists are murdered, whistleblowers are silenced. Money talks, walks, and works, and so power does!
Lastly, Balangay is a political will. The flotilla was propelled by its mandate: sail, conquer, and survive! Their spirit was their political will; their commitment was their governance.
The three replicated structures suggest the will to perform according to the mandate of the Filipino people without sacrificing the sanctity of the constitution; it purports the will to super-use this mandate; and it requires the honest commitment to uphold the ideals of the mandate.
Incidentally, this is not happening in the biased and greed controlled political arena of the country. Their political will is wrongly exercised along with the erroneous interpretation of the constitution to the extent of defining by themselves the danger lurking in the country’s bleak political arena.
Balangay was proud to say that they have reconnected the present with the country’s glorious, historical past; Barangay is proud to articulate that they have disconnected the past and re-created history for their vile niches. Balangay inspired and stirred national pride in the hearts of the Filipinos at home or abroad; Barangay frustrated and stained national pride in the hearts of the Filipino people elsewhere.
Convincingly, Balangay succeeded; Barangay didn’t. Balangay will always carve a remarkable icon in the annals of history; Barangay will always leave a despicable scar in the annals of history. In their future endeavors, Balangay will always succeed; Barangay will never succeed for as long as greed takes precedence over the genuine use of unity, power and political will.
Conceptually, Balangay is reality; Barangay is imagined only a child who believes that Santa exists can comprehend!
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
26 December 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – The 39-member Philippine Balangay Expedition Team finally ended their more than a year of voyage across six countries in Southeast Asia. The flotilla of “balangay,” comprising three replicas of pre-Hispanic indigenous Malay water vessels docked at the CCP Breakwater where it first set off in September 1, 2009.
Surprisingly, most of the major players are not certified mariners; some in fact are certified mountaineers who planted the Philippine Flag at the tip of the highest geographic protuberance on earth, Mt. Everest.
Arturo Valdez’ Balangay does not differ from the smallest political subdivision we have from where, Barangay, its forerunner. It projects more than its structure: Unity, power, and political will. And these national Barangays like Malacanang, Senate, and Congress must inculcate within their respective unit.
Apparently, Arturo Valdez and his colleagues applied the simplest form of teamwork to proceed with their expedition, to reincarnate the same pre-colonial Philippines’ spirit. The unity they used is the same unity the “Katipuneros” used during the Spanish occupation.
Looking back, authentic Filipino unity gave birth to EDSA 1. It was the basic element EDSA 1 mixed to successfully oust the dictator that has ever lived in the compound of the Palace; the same element added to a concoction called EDSA 2 that successfully ousted Pres. Estrada out of power; that catapulted Pres. Aquino to power via the 2010 May electoral process.
Sadly though, this value is dying; a lot has super-abused this ingredient for their self-serving political agenda. It falsely gave birth to EDSA 3 in an attempt to bring high profile gambler-actor and ousted president back to power. It wrongly gave rise to the three military adventurisms founded on the protectors-of-the-country ideology during the prime of the Arroyo government.
It would have been better if the PNP and the involved cabinet executives used the same “unity” in dealing with the August 2010 hostage crisis and thus shielded the president and the entire country from being ridiculed for ignorance. The tourism industry wouldn’t have suffered if it was used indeed. More to this, constituents of Barangay Malacanang should use the same brand of unity in coming up with a unified syllabus of good governance, not writing their own version of two houses separated by the historic EDSA.
The frail boats, which have journeyed for about 12,600 miles across high seas of Southeast Asian sphere, are a complete picture of power. Beating the terrible rough Asian waters and strong northeast wind is power by itself. And this power is by far no different from the power mandated to these political creatures robed in the glossy fabric of politics called greed.
Scarcity does not impede them from wheeling. Balangay re-defined scarcity as an opportunity to yield to the power of the scarce resource. Interestingly, the team employed ancient navigation methods of seafaring as their power to propel their iconic boats: Using the stars and the position of the heavenly bodies, the direction of the wind and the weather. These methods are by far no different from the ones used by pre-Hispanic and Hispanic colonizers of countries like the Philippines and its neighbors. They made it!
They reached their places of conquest; they survived. Balangay did! The voyage the Philippine politics is making does not guarantee to reach places of conquest; it does not guarantee survival. Which is why, political crisis is apparent; politicians kill their arch-rivals, journalists are murdered, whistleblowers are silenced. Money talks, walks, and works, and so power does!
Lastly, Balangay is a political will. The flotilla was propelled by its mandate: sail, conquer, and survive! Their spirit was their political will; their commitment was their governance.
The three replicated structures suggest the will to perform according to the mandate of the Filipino people without sacrificing the sanctity of the constitution; it purports the will to super-use this mandate; and it requires the honest commitment to uphold the ideals of the mandate.
Incidentally, this is not happening in the biased and greed controlled political arena of the country. Their political will is wrongly exercised along with the erroneous interpretation of the constitution to the extent of defining by themselves the danger lurking in the country’s bleak political arena.
Balangay was proud to say that they have reconnected the present with the country’s glorious, historical past; Barangay is proud to articulate that they have disconnected the past and re-created history for their vile niches. Balangay inspired and stirred national pride in the hearts of the Filipinos at home or abroad; Barangay frustrated and stained national pride in the hearts of the Filipino people elsewhere.
Convincingly, Balangay succeeded; Barangay didn’t. Balangay will always carve a remarkable icon in the annals of history; Barangay will always leave a despicable scar in the annals of history. In their future endeavors, Balangay will always succeed; Barangay will never succeed for as long as greed takes precedence over the genuine use of unity, power and political will.
Conceptually, Balangay is reality; Barangay is imagined only a child who believes that Santa exists can comprehend!
Politico et Santa
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
19 December 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – The word politics comes from the Greek poli, meaning “citizen”, and the Greek suffix -ics, which connotes a body of facts or knowledge. Literally, the word “politics” means knowledge of being a citizen.
If I may define the word, it will be done aptly with one word: Art. And The Encyclopedia for Philippine Arts published by the Cultural Center of the Philippines categorizes arts in eight forms: Visual Arts, Films, Theater, Dance, Music, Architecture, Broadcast, and Literature.
In the mind and eyes of a child, only one art exists: Santa.
Politics is Visual Arts. Politicos simply love to stone-carve their achievements through the vehicle called schools, public edifices, churches, roads and bridges. They fancy too much on building schools purportedly to educate constituents for the fabled “brighter future through world class education” sans the relevancy these politically built academic structures serve. They paint with pastels walls that have been dividing Filipinos, walls that even the EDSA Saga failed to topple down. They capture images of the multi-faceted political arena and post them to websites, social networks and pages that have been ornamented with their biases and prejudices.
Writing defines politics with sense. Political Literature expresses twists and turns that Political Visual Arts don’t. Laws are written whether or not it serves the majority, or whether or not with purpose for the majority. It is re-written after vividly seeing one consequence after the other sans the wit to comprehend. Streets and structures, offices and functions are named and renamed to establish a niche in the pages of history; to register their own cliché in the trash bin of Political Literature. This art is the body and soul of politics.
The end product of Political Literature is either Films or Stage. Magnificent politicos love to make films out of what was written to portray roles like The Hacienda Luisita Story, The Ampatuans, Morong 43, Suu Kyi, NBN ZTE Deal, the Melo Commission, and the Hello Garci Scandal. Politicos have the passion to re-make classic films like Vizconde Massacre in the hope of twisting the original twist to garner innocence to live happily ever after and put The Jessica Alfaro Story to waste. Whether depicted on Films or brought to life on Stage is a choice. Undoubtedly, politics control the masses through these avenues. Most often than not, political actors produce films or stage plays that essay the modern-day colored biography of Andres Bonifacio cum Emilio Aguinaldo customized to depict the self-serving and socially ruined political platforms these political parties have created.
And as the tux-robed politicos walk the isles of executive and legislative houses, they deliberately control the artistic soiree performing the centuries old it-takes-two-to-tango political dance steps only the classic South American duo Juan and Evita Peron masterfully and artistically donned so far. As of even date, no one has ever performed The Last Dance to retire gracefully or has executed with flair The Last Waltz to be in the House of the Commons thereafter. Even National Artist for Dance Leonor Orosa Goquingco will never appreciate the steps these flat-footed politicos introduce. Seriously, Political Dance is actually what a troubled socialite and a self-declared statesman do when he is in Rome.
Surely, Mozzart, acclaimed to be one of the greatest musician-composers who have ever lived, will disagree with the mischievous Filipino politicos’ claim that their own musical pieces are better than his’. When Barry Manilow announced that he “write the songs that make the whole world sing,” the whole world listened and repeated the rhyme after him. When our maestros kept on singing the same old song that already sounded like unwanted hullabaloos, nobody dared to; instead, the entire Filipino community switched off their stereo sets and composed their own. Truly, I will appreciate if their songs are archived; let alone time classifies them as classical arts or not.
Politics is by itself Architecture. The platforms these machineries carry are architecturally designed in such a way that no space and money go unutilized. In fact, our Political Architecture projects a design that most of the proceeds in the sale of these animals disguised as pork in a barrel are safe-kept in the pockets stored in house closets. If Leandro Locsin, the greatest poet of space and National Artist for Architecture were alive, surely he will condemn himself for making Architecture his passion.
Undeniably, whatever is written, filmed or staged, broadcast media gets into the way. For what is the most effective medium of catching the sixty-minute spotlight if not through this? Everyday in the shop floors of these one-hundred-million-Filipino-made houses, all forms of hodgepodges are broadcasted live. Not only this, all the politically flavored and self-assessed from-the–bottom-of-the-heart assistance, nuisances and commentaries are broadcasted live via the country’s top terrestrial giants.
Politics and Santa: The only difference lies in the truth. Politics lives in the mind; Santa does not. For a child, yes, Santa lives in his heart.
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
19 December 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – The word politics comes from the Greek poli, meaning “citizen”, and the Greek suffix -ics, which connotes a body of facts or knowledge. Literally, the word “politics” means knowledge of being a citizen.
If I may define the word, it will be done aptly with one word: Art. And The Encyclopedia for Philippine Arts published by the Cultural Center of the Philippines categorizes arts in eight forms: Visual Arts, Films, Theater, Dance, Music, Architecture, Broadcast, and Literature.
In the mind and eyes of a child, only one art exists: Santa.
Politics is Visual Arts. Politicos simply love to stone-carve their achievements through the vehicle called schools, public edifices, churches, roads and bridges. They fancy too much on building schools purportedly to educate constituents for the fabled “brighter future through world class education” sans the relevancy these politically built academic structures serve. They paint with pastels walls that have been dividing Filipinos, walls that even the EDSA Saga failed to topple down. They capture images of the multi-faceted political arena and post them to websites, social networks and pages that have been ornamented with their biases and prejudices.
Writing defines politics with sense. Political Literature expresses twists and turns that Political Visual Arts don’t. Laws are written whether or not it serves the majority, or whether or not with purpose for the majority. It is re-written after vividly seeing one consequence after the other sans the wit to comprehend. Streets and structures, offices and functions are named and renamed to establish a niche in the pages of history; to register their own cliché in the trash bin of Political Literature. This art is the body and soul of politics.
The end product of Political Literature is either Films or Stage. Magnificent politicos love to make films out of what was written to portray roles like The Hacienda Luisita Story, The Ampatuans, Morong 43, Suu Kyi, NBN ZTE Deal, the Melo Commission, and the Hello Garci Scandal. Politicos have the passion to re-make classic films like Vizconde Massacre in the hope of twisting the original twist to garner innocence to live happily ever after and put The Jessica Alfaro Story to waste. Whether depicted on Films or brought to life on Stage is a choice. Undoubtedly, politics control the masses through these avenues. Most often than not, political actors produce films or stage plays that essay the modern-day colored biography of Andres Bonifacio cum Emilio Aguinaldo customized to depict the self-serving and socially ruined political platforms these political parties have created.
And as the tux-robed politicos walk the isles of executive and legislative houses, they deliberately control the artistic soiree performing the centuries old it-takes-two-to-tango political dance steps only the classic South American duo Juan and Evita Peron masterfully and artistically donned so far. As of even date, no one has ever performed The Last Dance to retire gracefully or has executed with flair The Last Waltz to be in the House of the Commons thereafter. Even National Artist for Dance Leonor Orosa Goquingco will never appreciate the steps these flat-footed politicos introduce. Seriously, Political Dance is actually what a troubled socialite and a self-declared statesman do when he is in Rome.
Surely, Mozzart, acclaimed to be one of the greatest musician-composers who have ever lived, will disagree with the mischievous Filipino politicos’ claim that their own musical pieces are better than his’. When Barry Manilow announced that he “write the songs that make the whole world sing,” the whole world listened and repeated the rhyme after him. When our maestros kept on singing the same old song that already sounded like unwanted hullabaloos, nobody dared to; instead, the entire Filipino community switched off their stereo sets and composed their own. Truly, I will appreciate if their songs are archived; let alone time classifies them as classical arts or not.
Politics is by itself Architecture. The platforms these machineries carry are architecturally designed in such a way that no space and money go unutilized. In fact, our Political Architecture projects a design that most of the proceeds in the sale of these animals disguised as pork in a barrel are safe-kept in the pockets stored in house closets. If Leandro Locsin, the greatest poet of space and National Artist for Architecture were alive, surely he will condemn himself for making Architecture his passion.
Undeniably, whatever is written, filmed or staged, broadcast media gets into the way. For what is the most effective medium of catching the sixty-minute spotlight if not through this? Everyday in the shop floors of these one-hundred-million-Filipino-made houses, all forms of hodgepodges are broadcasted live. Not only this, all the politically flavored and self-assessed from-the–bottom-of-the-heart assistance, nuisances and commentaries are broadcasted live via the country’s top terrestrial giants.
Politics and Santa: The only difference lies in the truth. Politics lives in the mind; Santa does not. For a child, yes, Santa lives in his heart.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Signe et Santa
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
12 December 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Undoubtedly, the 378 politico-military actors who staged the classic war epic that did not hit the Malacanang box office during the Arroyo years will be released before Christmas; the 43 community health workers suspected to be rebels in the classic military literature maybe; and the detained hundreds of OFWS suspected to be offenders of the Islamic laws of countries of host may never be.
These stories will, without any single skepticism, become classical precedence. Will keep my fingers crossed!
When President Aquino attended the ASEAN Summit in Hanoi this year, he requested the Prime Minister of Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi, a democracy icon just like his mother. Although it took days after Suu Kyi was released, undeniably again, his request has had impact on it.
These politically troubled mutineers cried for release after their failed adventurism. Their plea was “not guilty” and their basis the constitution; their proverbial conviction: They are protectors of the country. Foolish is this isle of corrupted, corruptive and corruptible men to believe that these government-fed “protectors of the country” cheated the people and threatened the stability of the government, literally and figuratively. What a noble act from ennobled men for a troubled nation of a socially confused race!
Nay, they will be freed soon.
On the other hand, the cry of Morong 43 seems to bawl an unwelcoming tune; their hunger strike did not even stir the political orchestra of the Imperial Palace. Their plea was “not guilty” and their basis foul play; their proverbial conviction: They are the protectors of human lives, of humans that provide healthy mandate to mentally-ill legislators and executives of an ailing democratic nation. Foolish is this isle of dirt controlled government of corrupted, corruptive and corruptible men to believe that these un-fatigue-able modern-day “Florence” were cheated and threatened by these “protectors of the country,” literally and figuratively. What a failure to recognize who is who; what a failure to believe which wrong was right, which right was wrong!
Hey, fair justice is what they deserve! No, it is not tomorrow, not after tomorrow but now!
The plight of these more than a hundred overseas contract workers detained elsewhere in the Middle East and of the world cry for help from the administration of Pres. Aquino. Their plea was “not guilty” and their basis unfair labor practices, unfair justice system for the expatriates; their proverbial conviction: delivery and performance of the contract, adherence to international human rights. Foolish are these states of men to believe that overseas Filipino contract workers do not perform the contract in good faith, do not follow the conservative rules of these nations. What a sad consequence; what a tragic loss of lives if the government fails to respond!
These modern-day heroes deserve more than their convictions.
Suu Kyi and the mutineers versus the Morong 43 and the OFWs: What peculiar, substantial and political difference does the President get from believing in the innocence of the former and the latter?
In his campaign, the young Aquino vowed for change. Where is it now? Is releasing these AFP functionalists a way to bring us to his promised change? Is keeping mum and insensitive about the plight of the Morong 43 a way to bring us to his desired change? Is the seeming indifference and reluctance of his administration about the plight of the overseas contract workers a way to bring us to his politically-colored change?
“Change” has been the most popular and super abused electoral promise of all times; it has become the classic word of political greed and a comfortable vehicle to personal gains expressed in a medium called “ballots”. Whew! What a better way to capture the naiveté of the Filipino masses, indeed!
Technically, change connotes defect. Which one is and which one is not?
Christmas is for everybody; even Islamic communities acknowledge that. It does not belong to these abusive members of the military who maliciously soiled their mandate and relationship with the government; nor does it to Suu Kyi only. It belongs more importantly to the Morong 43 and their families, and to the detained overseas Filipino workers and their families, too.
Everybody deserves the freedom to walk on God’s green earth notwithstanding how foolish mortals are in making trash of it. And so these creatures like the Morong 43 and the overseas Filipino workers do!
Whimsically, when Santa Claus gives gift, he does it to everybody; otherwise, he will be guilty of neglect: the worst of crimes most Christians commit.
Signe et Santa: If the latter does not happen, surely, the former does!
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
12 December 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Undoubtedly, the 378 politico-military actors who staged the classic war epic that did not hit the Malacanang box office during the Arroyo years will be released before Christmas; the 43 community health workers suspected to be rebels in the classic military literature maybe; and the detained hundreds of OFWS suspected to be offenders of the Islamic laws of countries of host may never be.
These stories will, without any single skepticism, become classical precedence. Will keep my fingers crossed!
When President Aquino attended the ASEAN Summit in Hanoi this year, he requested the Prime Minister of Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi, a democracy icon just like his mother. Although it took days after Suu Kyi was released, undeniably again, his request has had impact on it.
These politically troubled mutineers cried for release after their failed adventurism. Their plea was “not guilty” and their basis the constitution; their proverbial conviction: They are protectors of the country. Foolish is this isle of corrupted, corruptive and corruptible men to believe that these government-fed “protectors of the country” cheated the people and threatened the stability of the government, literally and figuratively. What a noble act from ennobled men for a troubled nation of a socially confused race!
Nay, they will be freed soon.
On the other hand, the cry of Morong 43 seems to bawl an unwelcoming tune; their hunger strike did not even stir the political orchestra of the Imperial Palace. Their plea was “not guilty” and their basis foul play; their proverbial conviction: They are the protectors of human lives, of humans that provide healthy mandate to mentally-ill legislators and executives of an ailing democratic nation. Foolish is this isle of dirt controlled government of corrupted, corruptive and corruptible men to believe that these un-fatigue-able modern-day “Florence” were cheated and threatened by these “protectors of the country,” literally and figuratively. What a failure to recognize who is who; what a failure to believe which wrong was right, which right was wrong!
Hey, fair justice is what they deserve! No, it is not tomorrow, not after tomorrow but now!
The plight of these more than a hundred overseas contract workers detained elsewhere in the Middle East and of the world cry for help from the administration of Pres. Aquino. Their plea was “not guilty” and their basis unfair labor practices, unfair justice system for the expatriates; their proverbial conviction: delivery and performance of the contract, adherence to international human rights. Foolish are these states of men to believe that overseas Filipino contract workers do not perform the contract in good faith, do not follow the conservative rules of these nations. What a sad consequence; what a tragic loss of lives if the government fails to respond!
These modern-day heroes deserve more than their convictions.
Suu Kyi and the mutineers versus the Morong 43 and the OFWs: What peculiar, substantial and political difference does the President get from believing in the innocence of the former and the latter?
In his campaign, the young Aquino vowed for change. Where is it now? Is releasing these AFP functionalists a way to bring us to his promised change? Is keeping mum and insensitive about the plight of the Morong 43 a way to bring us to his desired change? Is the seeming indifference and reluctance of his administration about the plight of the overseas contract workers a way to bring us to his politically-colored change?
“Change” has been the most popular and super abused electoral promise of all times; it has become the classic word of political greed and a comfortable vehicle to personal gains expressed in a medium called “ballots”. Whew! What a better way to capture the naiveté of the Filipino masses, indeed!
Technically, change connotes defect. Which one is and which one is not?
Christmas is for everybody; even Islamic communities acknowledge that. It does not belong to these abusive members of the military who maliciously soiled their mandate and relationship with the government; nor does it to Suu Kyi only. It belongs more importantly to the Morong 43 and their families, and to the detained overseas Filipino workers and their families, too.
Everybody deserves the freedom to walk on God’s green earth notwithstanding how foolish mortals are in making trash of it. And so these creatures like the Morong 43 and the overseas Filipino workers do!
Whimsically, when Santa Claus gives gift, he does it to everybody; otherwise, he will be guilty of neglect: the worst of crimes most Christians commit.
Signe et Santa: If the latter does not happen, surely, the former does!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Protecting the rebels
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
05 December 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Recently, Pres. Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation No. 75 proposing to grant amnesty to the participants of the three failed coup during the Arroyo years. Briefly, three military uprisings were staged in separate episodes: The 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, 2006 Marine Barracks Standoff, and 2007 Manila Peninsula Siege. The controversial palace pronouncement is still under deliberation within the legislative houses and is expected to harvest a congressional nod shortly before Christmas.
The three aborted military uprisings produced 378 political and military actors each one playing different role under one artistically written screenplay that did not hit the Malacanang box office. For one, the military support of Arroyo was stronger than what these mutineers thought of; her own articles of war were unequalled and psychologically responsive to these unsung political artists’ tactical game plan.
Politically, the move is taking turns and raking in material amount of criticisms to date: For one, the grant undermines the legal process; two, it sends off an invitation for another military adventurism; and three, it upholds their erroneous orientation of being the “protectors of the country.”
What absolutely bothers the public is the act of the President that seems to undermine the legal process. Currently, an appropriate court hears the rebellion charges against these “men in uniform” that will soon promulgate a verdict. The President’s move only shows matter-of-factly the culpability of his administration. Surely, he has the constitutional right to grant amnesty but in a democratic parlance, amnesty, clemency or pardon can be better afforded after a decision has been promulgated by the judicial court. This would purport his statesmanship; it would be reflective of his respect to the judiciary; a proof for due process exercise. From that standpoint, he can endorse his program of amnesty based on petitions from a number of sectors of the society, if there really are.
Former Pres. Corazon Aquino granted Presidential Pardon to all participants of several coup attempts that threatened to overthrow her government. But her power, vested upon her by the people through a revolutionary government, was both executive and legislative. On the other hand, Former President now Pampanga Second District Representative Gloria Arroyo granted Executive Clemency to her predecessor veteran movie actor and EDSA 2 ousted Pres. Joseph Estrada. These two grants were made prior to promulgation of its respective verdict from appropriate judicial courts. Obviously, PP 75 was based on these.
One political analyst claims that the amnesty gives members of the military a signal to stage another adventurism in the future. They would have their philosophical and legal basis to believe that while these are criminally punishable by law, pardon is after all available at the end of the activity. Presumably, we cannot discount the possibility, if not proximate probability, that history will repeat itself. For what would stop those from doing if political discontent becomes the aggravating arm, as in those cases.
The amnesty upholds the academic orientation about the constitutional right these so-called “protectors of the country” steadfastly defend for: that the AFP has the right to determine if there’s cause for uprising. As ordinary citizens, these rebels have all the right provided for in the constitution but do not have the right to determine the cause of military uprising as losing senatorial candidate Danilo Lim claimed. The copy of the constitution he’s based his defense has been amended.
Surprisingly, these people forgot their obligation to protect the country from all forms of danger. They are duty bound to curb uprising and not to initiate it; they caused harm and danger to the government. These armed factionalists should not forget that they live in a democratic nation. Essentially, civilian authority takes supremacy over military rule.
Arguably though, this is the risk of running a democratic state, and this risk is triggered by a corruptible political system; the system that is powered by greed.
For as long as greed reigns over the land, there will be adventurism. For as long as greed controls Imperial Manila’s Palace of the Few, military adventurism will always be initiated by these extreme ideologists. For as along as greed rules and takes superiority over good governance, deviations like these will always surface.
Undoubtedly, these will always be the same plots the icons of military theater will stage; the same gist the icons of political literature will write about; the same twists and turns the icons of political entertainment will produce and brag about. All these are attributed to the same behavioral pattern: adventurism through post-modern commercialism geared towards obtaining a sixty-minute spotlight for personal political advantage like those of Trillanes and Lim.
What a corruptive way to fame and a destructive way to grab the power though!
If Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino can speak from his grave, do you think he would agree with his son?
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
05 December 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Recently, Pres. Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation No. 75 proposing to grant amnesty to the participants of the three failed coup during the Arroyo years. Briefly, three military uprisings were staged in separate episodes: The 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, 2006 Marine Barracks Standoff, and 2007 Manila Peninsula Siege. The controversial palace pronouncement is still under deliberation within the legislative houses and is expected to harvest a congressional nod shortly before Christmas.
The three aborted military uprisings produced 378 political and military actors each one playing different role under one artistically written screenplay that did not hit the Malacanang box office. For one, the military support of Arroyo was stronger than what these mutineers thought of; her own articles of war were unequalled and psychologically responsive to these unsung political artists’ tactical game plan.
Politically, the move is taking turns and raking in material amount of criticisms to date: For one, the grant undermines the legal process; two, it sends off an invitation for another military adventurism; and three, it upholds their erroneous orientation of being the “protectors of the country.”
What absolutely bothers the public is the act of the President that seems to undermine the legal process. Currently, an appropriate court hears the rebellion charges against these “men in uniform” that will soon promulgate a verdict. The President’s move only shows matter-of-factly the culpability of his administration. Surely, he has the constitutional right to grant amnesty but in a democratic parlance, amnesty, clemency or pardon can be better afforded after a decision has been promulgated by the judicial court. This would purport his statesmanship; it would be reflective of his respect to the judiciary; a proof for due process exercise. From that standpoint, he can endorse his program of amnesty based on petitions from a number of sectors of the society, if there really are.
Former Pres. Corazon Aquino granted Presidential Pardon to all participants of several coup attempts that threatened to overthrow her government. But her power, vested upon her by the people through a revolutionary government, was both executive and legislative. On the other hand, Former President now Pampanga Second District Representative Gloria Arroyo granted Executive Clemency to her predecessor veteran movie actor and EDSA 2 ousted Pres. Joseph Estrada. These two grants were made prior to promulgation of its respective verdict from appropriate judicial courts. Obviously, PP 75 was based on these.
One political analyst claims that the amnesty gives members of the military a signal to stage another adventurism in the future. They would have their philosophical and legal basis to believe that while these are criminally punishable by law, pardon is after all available at the end of the activity. Presumably, we cannot discount the possibility, if not proximate probability, that history will repeat itself. For what would stop those from doing if political discontent becomes the aggravating arm, as in those cases.
The amnesty upholds the academic orientation about the constitutional right these so-called “protectors of the country” steadfastly defend for: that the AFP has the right to determine if there’s cause for uprising. As ordinary citizens, these rebels have all the right provided for in the constitution but do not have the right to determine the cause of military uprising as losing senatorial candidate Danilo Lim claimed. The copy of the constitution he’s based his defense has been amended.
Surprisingly, these people forgot their obligation to protect the country from all forms of danger. They are duty bound to curb uprising and not to initiate it; they caused harm and danger to the government. These armed factionalists should not forget that they live in a democratic nation. Essentially, civilian authority takes supremacy over military rule.
Arguably though, this is the risk of running a democratic state, and this risk is triggered by a corruptible political system; the system that is powered by greed.
For as long as greed reigns over the land, there will be adventurism. For as long as greed controls Imperial Manila’s Palace of the Few, military adventurism will always be initiated by these extreme ideologists. For as along as greed rules and takes superiority over good governance, deviations like these will always surface.
Undoubtedly, these will always be the same plots the icons of military theater will stage; the same gist the icons of political literature will write about; the same twists and turns the icons of political entertainment will produce and brag about. All these are attributed to the same behavioral pattern: adventurism through post-modern commercialism geared towards obtaining a sixty-minute spotlight for personal political advantage like those of Trillanes and Lim.
What a corruptive way to fame and a destructive way to grab the power though!
If Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino can speak from his grave, do you think he would agree with his son?
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
"Wow, kay ganda!"
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
28 November 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – While the entire Filipino community still clutches to the hangover caused by Rep. Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Antonio Margarito of Mexico, the Department of Tourism is to date bombarded with criticisms about re-naming the official brand of the country. The crossfire is between “Wow Philippines!” and “Pilipinas Kay Ganda!”
The old brand that has been running for straight eight years carries the tagline “Wow Philippines!” and with the logo decorated with colorful tourism icons of the country. It was developed and coined by former Tourism Secretary now Senator Dick Gordon. The word “wow” is actually an internationally accepted word for acclamation.
The new brand carries a tagline “Pilipinas Kay Ganda!” and a logo embellished with Bohol’s brand tarsier, coconut trees, the sun and the wave. This, according to sources, was commissioned to an advertising company. The tagline is an expression of acclamation only Filipinos can understand.
Re-designing the brand with a complete change in the tagline and logo catches the eagle’s eyes of the public; it draws negative feedback. It even calls for resignation of the top executives of the Department.
In an interview with Radio Inquirer, Sec. Lim argued there was nothing final about the logo when it was launched. What a subtle excuse from an executive whose mandate is to protect the image of the nation. Why did he launch something that’s not final? I cannot dismiss the idea that he was only laying on the table an elementary school project to test the water under the bridge. This is entirely an inconsistency to the superlative degree that is truly unacceptable!
I really wonder whether or not Sec. Lim knows which one should come first, the chicken or the egg.
Reports indicated that it was even junked by no less than the President. What should the Department focus is to come up with fresh designs that reflect Filipino ingenuity and creativity and not the copy-pasting skills. They should understand that international market does not include the Philippines and so therefore they should aptly design the brand along with the tagline that can be best understood by the entire world.
One cyber-net expert explains that typing “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” in web browsers yields a pornographic website. This consequential effect must have been considered; searches must have been tried and tested prior to uploading. Hey, does anybody from the department know what potential problem analysis (PPA) is? This proves that the new brand was haphazardly created to meet deadlines. Indeed, they stirred a lot of dead lines!
In one of my lectures in World Tourism, it was studied that taglines, when blended with the artistry of designs and colors (logo) create a brand that attract common eyes; however, taglines should be expressed in a language that is best understood by the majority. Essentially, it’s recommended that taglines should be expressed in one or two rhetoric. And “Wow Philippines!” perfectly fits the platform. It is perfectly understood by the whole world.
In my class in Tourism Planning and Development, we emphasized the necessity of coherence and synchronization. Apparently, we are not only selling the beautiful archipelago, we are as well selling the government, the culture and the people. Logically, close coordination and synchronization of actions affecting the business of tourism should be undertaken by all stakeholders, not just by the Department.
Rhetorically, “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” does not contain even a word that sparks curiosity from international public. “Wow Philippines!” is still better and a more effective teaser to date. Yes, what’s in a name but what is it in the new name, indeed?
Tourism is not about beautiful places alone, not about multi-colored or diversified culture and heritage. It is more of an image we people create and project. If we create terrorism or project indifference, then that defines our selling point which no tourist, in his soundest mind, would buy.
Surprisingly, in the Arab Kingdom of Oman, when tourists arrive at the airport, immigration officers welcome them with genuine smile saying: “Making our tourists happy is our business.” And when these people leave the beautiful oil-rich kingdom, immigration officers would ask this sterling question: “When are you coming back, sir?” Noticeably, the influx of their international tourists outnumbers their locals; records have it.
In the Philippines, when first-time tourists arrive at the airport, immigration officers would always smile sans sincerity and say: “Mabuhay, welcome to the Philippines!” When these tourists depart from the Philippines, some would leave traces of doubts and images of discontent that would lead them to ask: “Shall we come back?”
And this horrible image of our country we need to change, certainly, not the logo or the tagline! After all, it doesn’t change the equation.
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
28 November 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – While the entire Filipino community still clutches to the hangover caused by Rep. Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Antonio Margarito of Mexico, the Department of Tourism is to date bombarded with criticisms about re-naming the official brand of the country. The crossfire is between “Wow Philippines!” and “Pilipinas Kay Ganda!”
The old brand that has been running for straight eight years carries the tagline “Wow Philippines!” and with the logo decorated with colorful tourism icons of the country. It was developed and coined by former Tourism Secretary now Senator Dick Gordon. The word “wow” is actually an internationally accepted word for acclamation.
The new brand carries a tagline “Pilipinas Kay Ganda!” and a logo embellished with Bohol’s brand tarsier, coconut trees, the sun and the wave. This, according to sources, was commissioned to an advertising company. The tagline is an expression of acclamation only Filipinos can understand.
Re-designing the brand with a complete change in the tagline and logo catches the eagle’s eyes of the public; it draws negative feedback. It even calls for resignation of the top executives of the Department.
In an interview with Radio Inquirer, Sec. Lim argued there was nothing final about the logo when it was launched. What a subtle excuse from an executive whose mandate is to protect the image of the nation. Why did he launch something that’s not final? I cannot dismiss the idea that he was only laying on the table an elementary school project to test the water under the bridge. This is entirely an inconsistency to the superlative degree that is truly unacceptable!
I really wonder whether or not Sec. Lim knows which one should come first, the chicken or the egg.
Reports indicated that it was even junked by no less than the President. What should the Department focus is to come up with fresh designs that reflect Filipino ingenuity and creativity and not the copy-pasting skills. They should understand that international market does not include the Philippines and so therefore they should aptly design the brand along with the tagline that can be best understood by the entire world.
One cyber-net expert explains that typing “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” in web browsers yields a pornographic website. This consequential effect must have been considered; searches must have been tried and tested prior to uploading. Hey, does anybody from the department know what potential problem analysis (PPA) is? This proves that the new brand was haphazardly created to meet deadlines. Indeed, they stirred a lot of dead lines!
In one of my lectures in World Tourism, it was studied that taglines, when blended with the artistry of designs and colors (logo) create a brand that attract common eyes; however, taglines should be expressed in a language that is best understood by the majority. Essentially, it’s recommended that taglines should be expressed in one or two rhetoric. And “Wow Philippines!” perfectly fits the platform. It is perfectly understood by the whole world.
In my class in Tourism Planning and Development, we emphasized the necessity of coherence and synchronization. Apparently, we are not only selling the beautiful archipelago, we are as well selling the government, the culture and the people. Logically, close coordination and synchronization of actions affecting the business of tourism should be undertaken by all stakeholders, not just by the Department.
Rhetorically, “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” does not contain even a word that sparks curiosity from international public. “Wow Philippines!” is still better and a more effective teaser to date. Yes, what’s in a name but what is it in the new name, indeed?
Tourism is not about beautiful places alone, not about multi-colored or diversified culture and heritage. It is more of an image we people create and project. If we create terrorism or project indifference, then that defines our selling point which no tourist, in his soundest mind, would buy.
Surprisingly, in the Arab Kingdom of Oman, when tourists arrive at the airport, immigration officers welcome them with genuine smile saying: “Making our tourists happy is our business.” And when these people leave the beautiful oil-rich kingdom, immigration officers would ask this sterling question: “When are you coming back, sir?” Noticeably, the influx of their international tourists outnumbers their locals; records have it.
In the Philippines, when first-time tourists arrive at the airport, immigration officers would always smile sans sincerity and say: “Mabuhay, welcome to the Philippines!” When these tourists depart from the Philippines, some would leave traces of doubts and images of discontent that would lead them to ask: “Shall we come back?”
And this horrible image of our country we need to change, certainly, not the logo or the tagline! After all, it doesn’t change the equation.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Leveraging the OFWs
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
21 November 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – In 18 November 2010, the US State Department was quoted as saying that there is “possibility that the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is getting funding from Filipino workers abroad.” Published in one of the country’s top dailies, further it said “external sources can be the Middle East-based extremists.”
What a biased accusation from the country whose economy is propelled in part by OFWs’ authentic synergy of psyche and physique which Filipino talents are known for? What paranoia of sort from the world’s superpower whose reach has gone beyond limits and control overboard thus jeopardizing the sovereignty these affected nations have?
A concoction of wizardry must be brewing. I have seen this from espionage movies; the same plots the pentagonal structure brought into play in the killing fields of countries the “land of milk and honey” has once dominated.
Firstly, Filipino contract workers nowadays earn meager income compared to the eighties where they used to be the highest paid overseas workers. While they are still the “apple of the eyes” of their employers elsewhere in the world, OFWs bargaining power diminished because of the upsurge of cheap labor from its counterparts in Asia, Africa and South America. Specifically in the Arab Peninsula, OFWs are compared with talents from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco, Egypt and the surrounding neighbours of the oil-rich Middle-Eastern Kingdoms.
Secondly, the ailing Philippine economy does not promise enough latitude for OFW beneficiaries to spend less for more value; the Philippine economy, technically, does not support the OFW to save. Conversely, the high cost of living abroad does not allow OFWs to indulge in other activities, especially the expensive ones; it sucks their meager income.
It is such an irrational act to divest their meager income into an activity that endangers human lives and consequently downplays the world economy. Why would overseas workers finance the ASG when they can hardly finance the expenses for their respective families in the Philippines? Rationally, what do you think would urge them to play around with their earnings, if there are really earnings – strictly speaking?
Now, let’s detonate one landmine after the other!
One, linking OFWs to ASG is actually naming them as rebels. The plain vanilla interpretation of the statement suggests that the US government proposes to monitor the movements of the OFWs and it is completely disturbing. For one, the government classifies migrant workers as unsung heroes; they did not cross the borders to finance the rebels. Listing them as supporters to these wayward extremists is not fair at all.
Two, the statement can lead us to believe that the US government wants control over the bank accounts of the OFWs or virtually requiring all migrant workers to declare publicly their assets and liabilities only self-serving members of the houses and the cowards from the cabinets are required of. This is entirely inhumane and completely a violation of the Human Rights Law. What the heck is the US government doing?
Three, if the preceding reasons appear irrational – which are actually valid as far as migrant workers are concerned, then I would like to opine that linking OFW remittances with ASG is a prelude to something bigger at stake. When there is smoke, there is fire; when there is war, there is US support. And US supports are actually in the guise of – putting the record straight - the Visiting Forces Agreement, which is now on its way to another review.
Getting the VFA signed at the expense of the OFWs doesn’t sound fair at all; more so, leveraging the OFWs and their beneficiaries for this exercise is inhumane. Can’t the US government think of more compelling and convincing reasons or justifications to maintain their Military Forces in countries like the Philippines, and conceivably, maintain their high profile business? The US government has already withdrawn their forces as early as the nineties. What brings them back in the guise of the VFA?
Putting my two cents in once again, accusing them as supporters of ASG equates OFWs to notoriety only these extremists are known for and is therefore equating them further to be high profile rebels. Linking them to this terrorism is exasperatingly inconceivable and wholly unacceptable, matter which deserves apology. The US government is only adding insult to the present conditions of the OFWs, which does not help at all.
There is only one war Overseas Filipino Workers are in: War against poverty which the Philippine government cannot extinguish to date. Not even the consolidation of minds, if there are minds available at all, of senators and congressmen who are always aiming the spotlight for their self-serving interests. It is the same war that has been plaguing the country even when we stood mentors to our Asian neighbours in the early eighties in technology and agriculture; the same war that continuously drives these rebellion-accused overseas Filipino workers to conquer uncharted kingdoms for bread and butter.
Proudly, the remittances of these unsung heroes have kept the Philippine economy at float, figuratively and literally. Is this how the US government define terrorism – working overseas to earn green bucks to feed the hungry families of these OFWs?
Statistically, where the US military camps are based, these countries are at war; more so, their economies are jeopardized. Take it from the numbers!
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
21 November 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – In 18 November 2010, the US State Department was quoted as saying that there is “possibility that the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is getting funding from Filipino workers abroad.” Published in one of the country’s top dailies, further it said “external sources can be the Middle East-based extremists.”
What a biased accusation from the country whose economy is propelled in part by OFWs’ authentic synergy of psyche and physique which Filipino talents are known for? What paranoia of sort from the world’s superpower whose reach has gone beyond limits and control overboard thus jeopardizing the sovereignty these affected nations have?
A concoction of wizardry must be brewing. I have seen this from espionage movies; the same plots the pentagonal structure brought into play in the killing fields of countries the “land of milk and honey” has once dominated.
Firstly, Filipino contract workers nowadays earn meager income compared to the eighties where they used to be the highest paid overseas workers. While they are still the “apple of the eyes” of their employers elsewhere in the world, OFWs bargaining power diminished because of the upsurge of cheap labor from its counterparts in Asia, Africa and South America. Specifically in the Arab Peninsula, OFWs are compared with talents from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco, Egypt and the surrounding neighbours of the oil-rich Middle-Eastern Kingdoms.
Secondly, the ailing Philippine economy does not promise enough latitude for OFW beneficiaries to spend less for more value; the Philippine economy, technically, does not support the OFW to save. Conversely, the high cost of living abroad does not allow OFWs to indulge in other activities, especially the expensive ones; it sucks their meager income.
It is such an irrational act to divest their meager income into an activity that endangers human lives and consequently downplays the world economy. Why would overseas workers finance the ASG when they can hardly finance the expenses for their respective families in the Philippines? Rationally, what do you think would urge them to play around with their earnings, if there are really earnings – strictly speaking?
Now, let’s detonate one landmine after the other!
One, linking OFWs to ASG is actually naming them as rebels. The plain vanilla interpretation of the statement suggests that the US government proposes to monitor the movements of the OFWs and it is completely disturbing. For one, the government classifies migrant workers as unsung heroes; they did not cross the borders to finance the rebels. Listing them as supporters to these wayward extremists is not fair at all.
Two, the statement can lead us to believe that the US government wants control over the bank accounts of the OFWs or virtually requiring all migrant workers to declare publicly their assets and liabilities only self-serving members of the houses and the cowards from the cabinets are required of. This is entirely inhumane and completely a violation of the Human Rights Law. What the heck is the US government doing?
Three, if the preceding reasons appear irrational – which are actually valid as far as migrant workers are concerned, then I would like to opine that linking OFW remittances with ASG is a prelude to something bigger at stake. When there is smoke, there is fire; when there is war, there is US support. And US supports are actually in the guise of – putting the record straight - the Visiting Forces Agreement, which is now on its way to another review.
Getting the VFA signed at the expense of the OFWs doesn’t sound fair at all; more so, leveraging the OFWs and their beneficiaries for this exercise is inhumane. Can’t the US government think of more compelling and convincing reasons or justifications to maintain their Military Forces in countries like the Philippines, and conceivably, maintain their high profile business? The US government has already withdrawn their forces as early as the nineties. What brings them back in the guise of the VFA?
Putting my two cents in once again, accusing them as supporters of ASG equates OFWs to notoriety only these extremists are known for and is therefore equating them further to be high profile rebels. Linking them to this terrorism is exasperatingly inconceivable and wholly unacceptable, matter which deserves apology. The US government is only adding insult to the present conditions of the OFWs, which does not help at all.
There is only one war Overseas Filipino Workers are in: War against poverty which the Philippine government cannot extinguish to date. Not even the consolidation of minds, if there are minds available at all, of senators and congressmen who are always aiming the spotlight for their self-serving interests. It is the same war that has been plaguing the country even when we stood mentors to our Asian neighbours in the early eighties in technology and agriculture; the same war that continuously drives these rebellion-accused overseas Filipino workers to conquer uncharted kingdoms for bread and butter.
Proudly, the remittances of these unsung heroes have kept the Philippine economy at float, figuratively and literally. Is this how the US government define terrorism – working overseas to earn green bucks to feed the hungry families of these OFWs?
Statistically, where the US military camps are based, these countries are at war; more so, their economies are jeopardized. Take it from the numbers!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Fraternally yours
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
14 November 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – The feisty Justice Sec. Leila de Lima is pushing all tanks to require elders of Alpha Phi Omega (APO) who are allegedly cuddling Anthony Nepomuceno to produce the suspect and two others. In their earlier statements, APO committed to cooperate with the investigators. As to why they changed their position, something must have gone wrong along the way.
In 27 October 2010, Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay, the country’s second most powerful man named as APO’s strongest elder and former Justice Secretary Silvestre Bello III, accompanied suspect Anthony Nepomuceno to the Dept. of Justice for questioning. After the exercise, the suspect was released with the commitment from the fraternity leaders to bring him back when needed. In the same day, in a press interview, the two strongest legionnaires virtually cleared the latter saying they were convinced of his innocence.
The sterling question now is: Why would the vice president and former Justice Secretary clear Anthony assuming that they, along with his legion conducted their self-serving investigation? Do they extinguish touch of the magical excuse and fairly acceptable delicadeza?
On the first note, the Vice President is not commissioned to be a member of the investigating committee and obviously nor of the judiciary. His statement sans the question on substance would apparently lead to influence the media or the Judiciary.
If I were Glaissa, a law student herself and the amputated victim of the blast, I will give a second thought on the credibility of the Vice President now. He, who has been known to be the most credible local executive prior to his national mandate, seemed to be acting like the sole justice of the Philippine judiciary; such was an action uncalled for of a statesman and a statement, substantial or not, premature to articulate.
On the second note, former Justice Secretary Bello III is neither a member of the investigating panel nor of the judiciary. Why on earth he’d do that when he himself was once an advocate of justice? Justice league, look what you’ve done to the Philippines!
Several frat elders claimed that their “brod” is innocent. If indeed he was (or is), what then bars them from producing the suspect to the investigating panel? Are they judging without the benefit of the judicial process? Ironically, most of them are lawyers or law students; they should know better.
Ferdie Ramos, another elder caught in the spotlight, must have been marred by his fraternal attachment when he declared that APO remained firm in its pledge to support NBI in its investigation yet defended “not to the extent of sacrificing” their brothers. What an inconceivable proposition from a multitude whose firm belief is to uphold justice through the merit of brotherhood.
Plato must be disappointed for these disturbing hodgepodges from his fraters that apparently defy the ideals, vision, mission, or philosophy of any fraternity or sorority for that matter, Alpha Phi Omega included. Ostensibly, such active statements of defiance purport the culpability of the ideals of the fraternity and warrant a premature admission of guilt. Shall we blame the Greeks for creating this wisdom that was consumed by the corrupted psyche of obviously corruptible and wicked men?
This potpourri of defenses from no less than the icons of virtues and jurisprudence carries us back to the Martial Law days of the most despised leader of this ailing republic where only the rich and the powerful benefits the judicial system. Or, are they one of them?
Putting my two cents in to these hullabaloos, if the alleged caretakers of these perpetrators do not bring them to the panel, I believe the government should maximize their powers with the full extent of the law to implicate them in the legal suit against the perpetrators, if not to file legal suits on the ground of cuddling suspects which is also punishable by law. Never mind their powers in the Palace or in the justices, they don’t deserve the respect after all for misleading the constituents and the victims into believing the opposite. Undeniably, these people want to place their vested interests at the other side of the scale at all times.
And whether or not the case will gain merit inside the court of law is another story. The Filipino community is addicted to soap dishes the two terrestrial giants of the country are feeding, what more is new if our judicial system will again promulgate the scripted verdict.
Undoubtedly, big brother’s act of clearing the suspected little brother from an offense naked eyes have witnessed in broad daylight is an indication of fraud and miscarriage of ideals of brotherhood.
After all, “he isn’t heavy; he’s my brother.” Isn’t that blood thicker than Water?
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
14 November 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – The feisty Justice Sec. Leila de Lima is pushing all tanks to require elders of Alpha Phi Omega (APO) who are allegedly cuddling Anthony Nepomuceno to produce the suspect and two others. In their earlier statements, APO committed to cooperate with the investigators. As to why they changed their position, something must have gone wrong along the way.
In 27 October 2010, Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay, the country’s second most powerful man named as APO’s strongest elder and former Justice Secretary Silvestre Bello III, accompanied suspect Anthony Nepomuceno to the Dept. of Justice for questioning. After the exercise, the suspect was released with the commitment from the fraternity leaders to bring him back when needed. In the same day, in a press interview, the two strongest legionnaires virtually cleared the latter saying they were convinced of his innocence.
The sterling question now is: Why would the vice president and former Justice Secretary clear Anthony assuming that they, along with his legion conducted their self-serving investigation? Do they extinguish touch of the magical excuse and fairly acceptable delicadeza?
On the first note, the Vice President is not commissioned to be a member of the investigating committee and obviously nor of the judiciary. His statement sans the question on substance would apparently lead to influence the media or the Judiciary.
If I were Glaissa, a law student herself and the amputated victim of the blast, I will give a second thought on the credibility of the Vice President now. He, who has been known to be the most credible local executive prior to his national mandate, seemed to be acting like the sole justice of the Philippine judiciary; such was an action uncalled for of a statesman and a statement, substantial or not, premature to articulate.
On the second note, former Justice Secretary Bello III is neither a member of the investigating panel nor of the judiciary. Why on earth he’d do that when he himself was once an advocate of justice? Justice league, look what you’ve done to the Philippines!
Several frat elders claimed that their “brod” is innocent. If indeed he was (or is), what then bars them from producing the suspect to the investigating panel? Are they judging without the benefit of the judicial process? Ironically, most of them are lawyers or law students; they should know better.
Ferdie Ramos, another elder caught in the spotlight, must have been marred by his fraternal attachment when he declared that APO remained firm in its pledge to support NBI in its investigation yet defended “not to the extent of sacrificing” their brothers. What an inconceivable proposition from a multitude whose firm belief is to uphold justice through the merit of brotherhood.
Plato must be disappointed for these disturbing hodgepodges from his fraters that apparently defy the ideals, vision, mission, or philosophy of any fraternity or sorority for that matter, Alpha Phi Omega included. Ostensibly, such active statements of defiance purport the culpability of the ideals of the fraternity and warrant a premature admission of guilt. Shall we blame the Greeks for creating this wisdom that was consumed by the corrupted psyche of obviously corruptible and wicked men?
This potpourri of defenses from no less than the icons of virtues and jurisprudence carries us back to the Martial Law days of the most despised leader of this ailing republic where only the rich and the powerful benefits the judicial system. Or, are they one of them?
Putting my two cents in to these hullabaloos, if the alleged caretakers of these perpetrators do not bring them to the panel, I believe the government should maximize their powers with the full extent of the law to implicate them in the legal suit against the perpetrators, if not to file legal suits on the ground of cuddling suspects which is also punishable by law. Never mind their powers in the Palace or in the justices, they don’t deserve the respect after all for misleading the constituents and the victims into believing the opposite. Undeniably, these people want to place their vested interests at the other side of the scale at all times.
And whether or not the case will gain merit inside the court of law is another story. The Filipino community is addicted to soap dishes the two terrestrial giants of the country are feeding, what more is new if our judicial system will again promulgate the scripted verdict.
Undoubtedly, big brother’s act of clearing the suspected little brother from an offense naked eyes have witnessed in broad daylight is an indication of fraud and miscarriage of ideals of brotherhood.
After all, “he isn’t heavy; he’s my brother.” Isn’t that blood thicker than Water?
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Stupid war
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
7 November 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – The US government was once again agitated when bomb-contained parcels bound to Chicago were intercepted in the airports of Dubai and Britain through the intelligence information from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. According to media sources, almost the entire world accused Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) for the foiled terroristic activity.
Recently, the government was perturbed by the heightened travel advisories issued against the Philippines by the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In their respective releases, citizens of these countries were advised to avoid visiting Manila and most of Mindanao cities including shopping malls, places of worships and other public places.
Credibility-torn and elections-troubled Barack Obama called the parcels as “credible terrorist threat” and could have, according to experts, even brought down the plane. The suspect, a Yemeni woman, has been arrested and contained by the Yemeni government. Assumingly, the US government would spare no effort to delve into the matter and sanction the source of the parcels reportedly sent to the two places of Jewish Worship.
Malacanang, on the other hand, assured the public of no possible terrorism stating further that the Office of the President has been provided with intelligence report and that the situation is under control. Terroristic activities in the Philippines are only carried out by the Abu Sayyaf, the militant Islamist faction of the Moro National Liberation Front. The group is the most notorious of all extremists the Philippine government has to deal with.
Al-Qaeda, the militant Islamist group who was responsible for the 9/11 bombing that toppled down New York’s World Trade Center, was engineered by Osama Bin Laden in alliance with other groups including war-torn Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. However, while the world believes that US military offensives killed Saddam Hussein including its dominion or have thrown them out of Iraq, the proximate probability of reunification with other Muslim fundamentalists still looms as it is obviously caught in the spotlight – again!
President Obama’s dream of fixing peace and reconciliation in the Middle East and Arab Peninsula seems to have been derailed or slowed down. With the recent bomb threat addressed to the Jewish nationals residing in his territory, the prospect of instituting peace between and among the conflict-born Arab Kingdoms is apparently turning gloomy.
For as long as the world’s superpower dominates global politics, war shall always be construed as a controlling mechanism by powerful countries and economies against weaker nations like those in oil-rich Middle East and Arab Peninsula. Consequently, the direct proportional relationship between the supply and demand of resources attributable to this ferocious exercise, under the economies of scale, determines the gigantic role of predator and the coerced submission of preys. Obviously, war is a manifestation of interests no matter who or what triggers which.
Perceptibly, the Islam fundamentalists are the only extremists the world has to deal with. Among them are the Al-Qaeda, the Hezbollah, the Taliban and the Abu Sayyaf. Collectively, these groups are Islamic by faith, culture and orientation. Most of them have been known for their terroristic and kidnap-for-ransom activities all over the world. Practically, the only perceived reason for their cause is their ideology positioned at the opposite end of the Islamic faith.
The Taliban is the Islamist group that was launched in early 1990 to end the bitter war in Afghanistan. Backed by Pakistan, the militant group almost succeeded in dominating the country when America then bombarded them from power in 9/11’s feverish aftermath. The Islam fundamentalists of Iraq are believed to be the offspring of Al-Qaeda. The Jewish controlled Israel defied the Arab-controlled Palestine over a strip of land each one claiming territorial control by reason of historical domain. Hezbollah was founded in Lebanon to blockade Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. The Abu Sayyaf, while it is thriving in the Muslim countries of the Far East with high profile notoriety particularly in the Philippines, shares a common ideology with them.
Startlingly, historic wars can be traced back to the famous Garden where, through the calculative and precise engineering of the serpent, the Woman tempted the Man to swallow the fruit that allegedly contains the trivia of knowledge. This knowledge propelled the technology of procreation whereby the two beautiful animals conjured their sexual faculties that later brought forward Cain and Abel. The four, to make the long story short, not only championed procreation; they introduced war with the highest degree of stupidity. Undoubtedly, it is the same war that crazed man-made kingdoms fighting against kingdoms of the whole world.
Humans are genetically pre-disposed to inherit the image of the Man and the Woman and that includes among others the intellect, the strength and biases, the whims and caprices, and its culpability and flexibility. Conversely, along with creation, stupid war was born. It was not the result of human conflicts or of its attributes; it was an activity consequential to creation itself.
Man is the masterpiece of all Creation initiated by the Master Creator; war is the masterpiece of procreation designed by the savage of the Garden called Man. Arguably, for as long as the thin red line that demarcates the values and greed or good and evil is completely understood, only then can man intelligently punctuate this stupid war at once.
Remember, even the handsomest of all angels named Lucifer waged war against the Master Creator out of personal business. What more can a superpower to its subjects?
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
7 November 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – The US government was once again agitated when bomb-contained parcels bound to Chicago were intercepted in the airports of Dubai and Britain through the intelligence information from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. According to media sources, almost the entire world accused Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) for the foiled terroristic activity.
Recently, the government was perturbed by the heightened travel advisories issued against the Philippines by the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In their respective releases, citizens of these countries were advised to avoid visiting Manila and most of Mindanao cities including shopping malls, places of worships and other public places.
Credibility-torn and elections-troubled Barack Obama called the parcels as “credible terrorist threat” and could have, according to experts, even brought down the plane. The suspect, a Yemeni woman, has been arrested and contained by the Yemeni government. Assumingly, the US government would spare no effort to delve into the matter and sanction the source of the parcels reportedly sent to the two places of Jewish Worship.
Malacanang, on the other hand, assured the public of no possible terrorism stating further that the Office of the President has been provided with intelligence report and that the situation is under control. Terroristic activities in the Philippines are only carried out by the Abu Sayyaf, the militant Islamist faction of the Moro National Liberation Front. The group is the most notorious of all extremists the Philippine government has to deal with.
Al-Qaeda, the militant Islamist group who was responsible for the 9/11 bombing that toppled down New York’s World Trade Center, was engineered by Osama Bin Laden in alliance with other groups including war-torn Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. However, while the world believes that US military offensives killed Saddam Hussein including its dominion or have thrown them out of Iraq, the proximate probability of reunification with other Muslim fundamentalists still looms as it is obviously caught in the spotlight – again!
President Obama’s dream of fixing peace and reconciliation in the Middle East and Arab Peninsula seems to have been derailed or slowed down. With the recent bomb threat addressed to the Jewish nationals residing in his territory, the prospect of instituting peace between and among the conflict-born Arab Kingdoms is apparently turning gloomy.
For as long as the world’s superpower dominates global politics, war shall always be construed as a controlling mechanism by powerful countries and economies against weaker nations like those in oil-rich Middle East and Arab Peninsula. Consequently, the direct proportional relationship between the supply and demand of resources attributable to this ferocious exercise, under the economies of scale, determines the gigantic role of predator and the coerced submission of preys. Obviously, war is a manifestation of interests no matter who or what triggers which.
Perceptibly, the Islam fundamentalists are the only extremists the world has to deal with. Among them are the Al-Qaeda, the Hezbollah, the Taliban and the Abu Sayyaf. Collectively, these groups are Islamic by faith, culture and orientation. Most of them have been known for their terroristic and kidnap-for-ransom activities all over the world. Practically, the only perceived reason for their cause is their ideology positioned at the opposite end of the Islamic faith.
The Taliban is the Islamist group that was launched in early 1990 to end the bitter war in Afghanistan. Backed by Pakistan, the militant group almost succeeded in dominating the country when America then bombarded them from power in 9/11’s feverish aftermath. The Islam fundamentalists of Iraq are believed to be the offspring of Al-Qaeda. The Jewish controlled Israel defied the Arab-controlled Palestine over a strip of land each one claiming territorial control by reason of historical domain. Hezbollah was founded in Lebanon to blockade Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. The Abu Sayyaf, while it is thriving in the Muslim countries of the Far East with high profile notoriety particularly in the Philippines, shares a common ideology with them.
Startlingly, historic wars can be traced back to the famous Garden where, through the calculative and precise engineering of the serpent, the Woman tempted the Man to swallow the fruit that allegedly contains the trivia of knowledge. This knowledge propelled the technology of procreation whereby the two beautiful animals conjured their sexual faculties that later brought forward Cain and Abel. The four, to make the long story short, not only championed procreation; they introduced war with the highest degree of stupidity. Undoubtedly, it is the same war that crazed man-made kingdoms fighting against kingdoms of the whole world.
Humans are genetically pre-disposed to inherit the image of the Man and the Woman and that includes among others the intellect, the strength and biases, the whims and caprices, and its culpability and flexibility. Conversely, along with creation, stupid war was born. It was not the result of human conflicts or of its attributes; it was an activity consequential to creation itself.
Man is the masterpiece of all Creation initiated by the Master Creator; war is the masterpiece of procreation designed by the savage of the Garden called Man. Arguably, for as long as the thin red line that demarcates the values and greed or good and evil is completely understood, only then can man intelligently punctuate this stupid war at once.
Remember, even the handsomest of all angels named Lucifer waged war against the Master Creator out of personal business. What more can a superpower to its subjects?
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
De facto
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
31 October 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Few days before the October 25 Barangay and SK elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) issued a list enumerating multi-termer barangay officials. In the same statement, it issued a stern warning for disqualification and criminal charges for those who ran for another term.
My senses pulled me back after hearing these pronouncements. But let’s attack these statements as seriously and intelligibly as possible. Along the same plane of thought, derailment in the process, which starts from qualifications check to filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) to acceptance of the COC, is perceptible.
Definitely, the sets of qualifications are expressed in the Constitution and the rules of the elections in the Omnibus Election Code. For all intents and purposes, these two provisions must be considered intelligently at all times by concerned parties.
With the set of qualifications, terms of engagement and a sound knowledge of electoral process fully comprehended by candidates and by the Commission, “post facto” disqualification should not be an issue. If I may opine, multi-termers should have been warned prior to filing the candidacy unless the Commission itself is completely derailed, a lapse only the petite lady is culpable of.
Needless to say, if these conditions have been substantially provided to the candidates, under the law these multi-termers are “estopped to deny”, and therefore, ignorance of the law does not excuse them from complying with these statutes (Article 3, Chapter 1, Civil Code of the Philippines). Consequently, they may face criminal charges at the end of the day.
Under the constitution, the electoral exercise is considered sacred. As such, maintaining its sanctity should have been done at all cost. The Commission should have been ready with their game plan at least a month before. However, the truth of the matter is: they are not!
Readiness is nothing but an effective and efficient response to the given demand, actual or potential. The potential problems brought about by typhoon Juan in the areas of Isabela and its nearby places should have been carefully incorporated in the contingency plan of the Commission, if at all they have.
Readiness is nothing but an immediate response to the “spur” of the moment or conversely the clear and present danger. The election failure in the town of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao should have been given preferential attention since it was a remake of history, an “entrée a la carte” that is readily available in the menu list for action. The problem is not with the electorate, it lies within the competency level of the Commission to apply their best analytical framework given the same phenomenon to address concerns with utmost urgency.
Readiness is nothing but the immediate response to potential issues when alternative courses of action failed. In some areas of Negros Oriental, Sorsogon and nearby areas, to name a few, the electoral exercise started late due to the late arrival of the ballot boxes. Sources revealed that there was actually logistics issue within the Commission. Several employees were accused of deliberately delaying the process of turning these boxes to accredited forwarding companies in order to secure the nod to deliver these parcels to areas by themselves. Why? It is per diem vis-à-vis money issue. Investigation will be carried out, they said!
Readiness is nothing but preparedness. Cub and Star Scouts know this, literally and figuratively. The Commission pronounced that everything is ready; everybody else is. On the contrary though, according to Elections and Barangay Affairs Department (EBAD) Director Divina Blas-Perez, out 42,035 Barangays, only 18,926 or 45.06% concluded their exercise as scheduled. The remaining 55% suspended their exercise due to unavailability of ballot boxes and election paraphernalia; only a minute portion of which is attributed to the devastation brought about by super typhoon Juan.
Numbers don’t lie; numbers are objective. What actually went wrong?
Juxtaposed with the twists and turns of the classical Filipino melodrama, the Commission has not been able to change according to the requirements of the times. Arguably though, the superlative degree of inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the system are still evident in the present times; the Philippine electoral process has never matured; it never will. The Commission cannot, their nerves dictate; neither the electorate, their guts require.
For as long as refusal to change is reciprocal, deviations like fraud, abuses, violations, lapses, or late remedial exercises which have been infused into the system over time, weaving true-to-life accounts of Hello Garci or the Ampatuans Story will always be as natural as Eve tempting Adam with the apple in the Garden of Eden orchestrated by the serpent called GREED.
In fact, that’s the way the cookie crumbles, to say the least, lest I may be cited with contempt!
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
31 October 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Few days before the October 25 Barangay and SK elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) issued a list enumerating multi-termer barangay officials. In the same statement, it issued a stern warning for disqualification and criminal charges for those who ran for another term.
My senses pulled me back after hearing these pronouncements. But let’s attack these statements as seriously and intelligibly as possible. Along the same plane of thought, derailment in the process, which starts from qualifications check to filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) to acceptance of the COC, is perceptible.
Definitely, the sets of qualifications are expressed in the Constitution and the rules of the elections in the Omnibus Election Code. For all intents and purposes, these two provisions must be considered intelligently at all times by concerned parties.
With the set of qualifications, terms of engagement and a sound knowledge of electoral process fully comprehended by candidates and by the Commission, “post facto” disqualification should not be an issue. If I may opine, multi-termers should have been warned prior to filing the candidacy unless the Commission itself is completely derailed, a lapse only the petite lady is culpable of.
Needless to say, if these conditions have been substantially provided to the candidates, under the law these multi-termers are “estopped to deny”, and therefore, ignorance of the law does not excuse them from complying with these statutes (Article 3, Chapter 1, Civil Code of the Philippines). Consequently, they may face criminal charges at the end of the day.
Under the constitution, the electoral exercise is considered sacred. As such, maintaining its sanctity should have been done at all cost. The Commission should have been ready with their game plan at least a month before. However, the truth of the matter is: they are not!
Readiness is nothing but an effective and efficient response to the given demand, actual or potential. The potential problems brought about by typhoon Juan in the areas of Isabela and its nearby places should have been carefully incorporated in the contingency plan of the Commission, if at all they have.
Readiness is nothing but an immediate response to the “spur” of the moment or conversely the clear and present danger. The election failure in the town of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao should have been given preferential attention since it was a remake of history, an “entrée a la carte” that is readily available in the menu list for action. The problem is not with the electorate, it lies within the competency level of the Commission to apply their best analytical framework given the same phenomenon to address concerns with utmost urgency.
Readiness is nothing but the immediate response to potential issues when alternative courses of action failed. In some areas of Negros Oriental, Sorsogon and nearby areas, to name a few, the electoral exercise started late due to the late arrival of the ballot boxes. Sources revealed that there was actually logistics issue within the Commission. Several employees were accused of deliberately delaying the process of turning these boxes to accredited forwarding companies in order to secure the nod to deliver these parcels to areas by themselves. Why? It is per diem vis-à-vis money issue. Investigation will be carried out, they said!
Readiness is nothing but preparedness. Cub and Star Scouts know this, literally and figuratively. The Commission pronounced that everything is ready; everybody else is. On the contrary though, according to Elections and Barangay Affairs Department (EBAD) Director Divina Blas-Perez, out 42,035 Barangays, only 18,926 or 45.06% concluded their exercise as scheduled. The remaining 55% suspended their exercise due to unavailability of ballot boxes and election paraphernalia; only a minute portion of which is attributed to the devastation brought about by super typhoon Juan.
Numbers don’t lie; numbers are objective. What actually went wrong?
Juxtaposed with the twists and turns of the classical Filipino melodrama, the Commission has not been able to change according to the requirements of the times. Arguably though, the superlative degree of inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the system are still evident in the present times; the Philippine electoral process has never matured; it never will. The Commission cannot, their nerves dictate; neither the electorate, their guts require.
For as long as refusal to change is reciprocal, deviations like fraud, abuses, violations, lapses, or late remedial exercises which have been infused into the system over time, weaving true-to-life accounts of Hello Garci or the Ampatuans Story will always be as natural as Eve tempting Adam with the apple in the Garden of Eden orchestrated by the serpent called GREED.
In fact, that’s the way the cookie crumbles, to say the least, lest I may be cited with contempt!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Trapped!
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
24 October 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Lifting the miners one after the other through the customized iron capsule was a reality slowly unfolding, a real-life drama that have surely inspired the entire world. It has captivated my senses; it moved me and indubitably, the rest of the world.
The old adage “There is light at the end of the tunnel” was absolutely validated by this moving episode of human survival. Trapped under more than two-thousand feet for seventy solitary days, the incident would have sent to some the signal to quit believing they could survive; this skepticism would have contaminated the number which would have eventually led to a mass resignation – resignation from living.
But there is more to the story than the saving grace. What actually enthralled the whole world was the resiliency of the team to remain composed throughout the period. After NASA found out the condition of the skilled workforce, the government mobilized concerned units to send them provisions; technology was brought to their temporary abode just to keep them going. Surely, the incident made these people create a positive environment despite their geographical alienation from home, literally and figuratively, of the moment.
The unfaltering unity their leader, Luis Urzula instilled and maintained through and through added more icing than the normal. In situations like this, factionalism may have ensued; unwanted or provoked attempt to disorganize the esprit de corps this team has prior to the incident would have even surfaced. But their oneness outstood and outbested human frailties, biases and indifferences. Certainly, survival of the fittest or even of the unfit would have dictated their psyche; it has indisputably driven their will to exist when the going got tough.
Mario Sepulveda, 40, the second of the Chilean 33 who was shafted up said: “I have been with God and with the devil. I seized the hand of God, it was the best hand. I always knew God would get us out of there.” This is (was) faith expressed in a tone suggestive of stern belief that he will survive; that they will survive.
The ordeal of being alienated from their loved ones for seventy days would have caused them to stay breathless underground; the ordeal of being alienated from the beautiful creation for seventy days would have caused them to remain hopeless underground. Had it not due to their belief to survive, they would not have tasted the freedom and enjoyed the sweet embrace of their loved ones; life would have been aborted at the instance they allowed themselves to be succumbed by the monster called death.
But they remained steadfast; faith has saved them without a doubt.
And what added surprise to the rescue drama was the presence of Sebastian Pinera, the President of Chile who insisted to become one of the witnesses of the rescue operations. He was amazing; he was not being political; he was true to the calling of the position whose mandate came from the constituents of his country the Chilean 33 included.
Historians should correct me now when I say that the same act from a Philippine president or from any political figure in general was never done before; definitely, it will never be done unless he is seeking refuge from the entire Filipino community for an electoral favor.
The story of Sonia Roco, the wife of the former senator Raul Roco, along with other survivors of the Hyatt Baguio Hotel rubbles following the earthquake that shocked not only the Philippines but the entire world as well was as spellbinding as the story of the Chilean 33 sans the customized iron capsule called Phoenix. Sonia Roco and other survivors were rescued after days of manual works; the Chilean 33 were saved after detailed planning and careful execution; a plan that resulted to a well-thought of recommendations by NASA.
Debatably though, we Filipinos have been trapped, literally and figuratively, more than two-thousand feet underground: The three-hundred-thirty-year reign of the aristocratic Kingdom of Spain whose intensity caused tribal Filipinos to wage war is more shivering than the Chilean drama; the terror-faced Japanese control whose physical and sexual abuses sent tribal Filipinos to psychological and reality-based death is more quaking than the Chilean drama; the twenty-year reign of the greatest dictator to have lived on earth that led Filipinos to orchestrate a guerilla movement called New People’s Army (NPA) is more shuddering than the Chilean drama; the eleven-year reign of the petite lady who championed scams and scandals, re-defined and espoused public-condemned Marcos dictatorship is as shaking as the Chilean drama.
Without a doubt, we will still be trapped under more than two-thousand feet under all circumstances if we do not re-define the unique Filipino resiliency, re-conquer the EDSA 1-inspired unity, or re-embrace the uniquely Filipino faith this time.
It has to be now or be trapped underground once more.
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
24 October 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Lifting the miners one after the other through the customized iron capsule was a reality slowly unfolding, a real-life drama that have surely inspired the entire world. It has captivated my senses; it moved me and indubitably, the rest of the world.
The old adage “There is light at the end of the tunnel” was absolutely validated by this moving episode of human survival. Trapped under more than two-thousand feet for seventy solitary days, the incident would have sent to some the signal to quit believing they could survive; this skepticism would have contaminated the number which would have eventually led to a mass resignation – resignation from living.
But there is more to the story than the saving grace. What actually enthralled the whole world was the resiliency of the team to remain composed throughout the period. After NASA found out the condition of the skilled workforce, the government mobilized concerned units to send them provisions; technology was brought to their temporary abode just to keep them going. Surely, the incident made these people create a positive environment despite their geographical alienation from home, literally and figuratively, of the moment.
The unfaltering unity their leader, Luis Urzula instilled and maintained through and through added more icing than the normal. In situations like this, factionalism may have ensued; unwanted or provoked attempt to disorganize the esprit de corps this team has prior to the incident would have even surfaced. But their oneness outstood and outbested human frailties, biases and indifferences. Certainly, survival of the fittest or even of the unfit would have dictated their psyche; it has indisputably driven their will to exist when the going got tough.
Mario Sepulveda, 40, the second of the Chilean 33 who was shafted up said: “I have been with God and with the devil. I seized the hand of God, it was the best hand. I always knew God would get us out of there.” This is (was) faith expressed in a tone suggestive of stern belief that he will survive; that they will survive.
The ordeal of being alienated from their loved ones for seventy days would have caused them to stay breathless underground; the ordeal of being alienated from the beautiful creation for seventy days would have caused them to remain hopeless underground. Had it not due to their belief to survive, they would not have tasted the freedom and enjoyed the sweet embrace of their loved ones; life would have been aborted at the instance they allowed themselves to be succumbed by the monster called death.
But they remained steadfast; faith has saved them without a doubt.
And what added surprise to the rescue drama was the presence of Sebastian Pinera, the President of Chile who insisted to become one of the witnesses of the rescue operations. He was amazing; he was not being political; he was true to the calling of the position whose mandate came from the constituents of his country the Chilean 33 included.
Historians should correct me now when I say that the same act from a Philippine president or from any political figure in general was never done before; definitely, it will never be done unless he is seeking refuge from the entire Filipino community for an electoral favor.
The story of Sonia Roco, the wife of the former senator Raul Roco, along with other survivors of the Hyatt Baguio Hotel rubbles following the earthquake that shocked not only the Philippines but the entire world as well was as spellbinding as the story of the Chilean 33 sans the customized iron capsule called Phoenix. Sonia Roco and other survivors were rescued after days of manual works; the Chilean 33 were saved after detailed planning and careful execution; a plan that resulted to a well-thought of recommendations by NASA.
Debatably though, we Filipinos have been trapped, literally and figuratively, more than two-thousand feet underground: The three-hundred-thirty-year reign of the aristocratic Kingdom of Spain whose intensity caused tribal Filipinos to wage war is more shivering than the Chilean drama; the terror-faced Japanese control whose physical and sexual abuses sent tribal Filipinos to psychological and reality-based death is more quaking than the Chilean drama; the twenty-year reign of the greatest dictator to have lived on earth that led Filipinos to orchestrate a guerilla movement called New People’s Army (NPA) is more shuddering than the Chilean drama; the eleven-year reign of the petite lady who championed scams and scandals, re-defined and espoused public-condemned Marcos dictatorship is as shaking as the Chilean drama.
Without a doubt, we will still be trapped under more than two-thousand feet under all circumstances if we do not re-define the unique Filipino resiliency, re-conquer the EDSA 1-inspired unity, or re-embrace the uniquely Filipino faith this time.
It has to be now or be trapped underground once more.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
From the Desk of a Manager
By Rolo B. Cena
Pulp Bits
Dumaguete Sun Star
05 September 2007
“Wait ‘till you become a manager,” said his boss when he was still working as an assistant in a government corporation.
More than twenty years ago, Andrei projected to become a manager when he reaches his age now. He protracted everything: his attitude towards work, attendance, company culture, profession and professional growth. He vowed he should not be identified as a pro-employee neither a pro-employer.
Andrei started as an Accounting Clerk for a rural bank. Despite the fact that he did not graduate, his work performance was noticed by the President’s wife. After a month, the Board sent him a pink slip elevating him to the position of an Internal Auditor which at that time was vacant. The critical department was only manned by his self. Three hard months passed and he recommended to hire two assistants which was soonest approved. He thus became the Senior Auditor acting as Department Head. He would usually and normally represent the department in the management committee and board meetings.
Normal in the course of an auditor’s job, he uncovered a long-practiced anomaly which amounted to almost one million pesos orchestrated in perfect connivance by the branch manager, credit and collection officer, cashier, and bookkeeper. Sensing this, the four personnel resigned one after the other. That catapulted Andrei’s prestige as an auditor.
He thought he already made heaven on earth. One day, in his usual visit to the Office of the President, he was asked to defend his audit findings in the court. Aware of the consequence of presenting any audit reports inside courts of law, he smartly requested for a verification audit to be done by a group of external auditors which was granted. Soon, the opinion of the external auditors was handed and as expected, they arrived at the same figure as he had. The two audit findings were exactly the same. This time, his ego was enhanced and as always, he was flying sky high like an eagle.
Like a Jumbo jet in nimbus, Andrei knew that soon he had to stop flying. One day, he was asked to fill out the life insurance form naming the Bank as the beneficiary. He called his family in Manila for the most appropriate thing to do given the situation. They vehemently instructed him not to sign the form and instead resign. Young and fresh from college as he was, he gave in to his family’s instructions: he resigned. His graceful exit from the bank paralyzed the case for reasons he did not bother to ask. The president and the members of the board wanted him to stay, but since no resignation is subject to any approval, they unwillingly let go of him.
He moved to and joined his family in Manila where luckily he got employed immediately. At this juncture, he already made arrangements for his graduation to at least prepare him for the next step ahead. Not lifting his own chair, he was always noticed as “promotable.” The hang-over he had from the bank plus the comments of his first employer in Manila gave him the urge to apply for a work in a government corporation. By God’s grace he boarded this company which later gave him so much in the same way as the management trusted him so much. He was single-handedly picked out to be trained in London, Hong Kong, and Singapore in relation to his new job. This company made him what he had become now.
The constant change in the national administration and the political instability of the government propelled him to retire from this government corporation after more than ten fruitful years. He enjoyed his retirement pay and at the same time landed on a new and challenging job.
Amazingly, he was offered to be the General Manager of a property / building management business in manila whose gross monthly income was twenty million pesos and with more than thirty employees under his wings. The president of the company believed so much in his experience and training that when he demanded his “desired salary,” the President never had a second thought in giving – plus other benefits. It was during this time Andrei learned the real meaning of “managing, management, and manager.”
Managing has been part of his life. I believe you would all agree that managing is part of our daily routine. There’s no question about that. If managing is an easy tone, management would also be. It was during this time Andrei learned what a manager really is and what it takes to be.
Andrei continued flying high like an eagle in the free and beautiful but tempting sky. As the eagle assuming the crown of being the king of aviation, he proudly held up his head up high like a king in the corporate world. So high as his position was, he knew and thought he was. Honestly, he never failed to manage: he can deal with the business proprietarily, deal with people professionally, and matters with good sense and judgment. He can take good care of the business like a good father of the family.
Coupled with this success in the corporate world or in his profession was somehow a deteriorating relationship with his family. Simply, he just had no time for his wife and kids. Thereafter, Andrei’s eldest began complaining about his time. As required and expected, the manager is supposed to be on top of everything and supposed to be 24/7 on call. This, he believed drained his energy and starved his system. He gave 25/8 to his job and none to his family. He began to feel the losing side of a manager. This situation urged him to resign early from this post and agreed with his wife to move to the province and join her family.
But since Andrei’s resume’ spoke better than what he can say, he believed he couldn’t hide the real him. He could not simply work as an ordinary being in the organization, modesty aside. Conversely, just can’t be a simple staff anymore.
Soon Andrei was hired as an Administrator of all the businesses of a rich Chinese man whose family owns a resort fifty kilometers away from the central city. After staying in the main office for about two months, the president asked him to manage the resort – well, it was expected. He could not say no. First, it was what he applied for. Second, he committed to help. His commitment can sometimes really pester, if not, kill him. He can easily commit without thinking the consequence in the long run. In that resort, he again opened his eyes to the realities of a manager’s life – sensible sacrifice for the sake of the responsibility the position entails.
In this part of the globe he saw men of varying and different nature: ill-mannered, refined, sophisticated, educated but not intelligent, intelligent but not educated the real intelligent guys, the real educated ones, and simple men. Others were, he knew very elementary and self-explanatory. Educated but not intelligent is simply a person who has the ethics and etiquettes but doesn’t have the academic excellence to boast for. That is, he is simply “mannered.” On the other hand, intelligent but not educated is the type who can boast of his “brains” and what’s inside, his degrees and his academic excellence but the one who doesn’t have the “manner.” One lesson for being a manager here is: he learned to deal with people objectively regardless of who they are.
It was supposed to be a “paradise-lost-now-found place” but it did not attract his body and soul for a longer period of time. He was kind of attracted at first, or at least during the time when he was writing his stories and poems. Later, he got bored. A sacrifice about the attitudes of the management, the owners, the staff, the guests, and everybody – made him decide to quit managing. He re-considered the thought of joining the academe once again. He did enroll in the Post Graduate Course.
Then luck became his when he was invited to an interview for a managerial post in a newly opened BPO company in the city. Just got lucky he guessed and he got the job. Thereupon he soared high again. The eagle in him took off from, this time, a nobler field, taking sky high without limits to where he is now. It was in this heaven made on earth that he fully comprehended the manager’s life.
Some says a manager’s life is easy: gets into the morning late, read newspapers, check mails, check emails, drinks coffee, signs documents or even checks, then does his real works. Takes occasional lunch meetings, attends to functions on official capacity, then goes back to office, drinks coffee or juice maybe, according to what is prepared by the beautiful secretary, checks the emails, then leaves the office. Does some work out or play tennis or badminton (or maybe golf) with some colleagues or friends. How he wished this is life; but it’s not it. This is not the way managers live, and this is not the way he lives.
He reports for work as early as seven in the morning, checks his mails and emails, responds if required and necessary, signs documents, and does the check up rounds like a medical doctor. After doing the ocular inspection, he goes back to his office and starts working. He works until he forgets about lunch break; somebody has to remind him of this. He eats his lunch late most of the time, and goes back to the office. He works and works, does some important phone calls, attends meetings and official functions, entertains guests, does some marketing. When the day is almost over, he goes out into the production floor, talks to production people and after they leave, that’s the time his real work begins. He works and stays late in the evening – sometimes till midnight, one or two or three or four or even five and six a.m. the following day. Well, who cares, it’s what his job calls for. Goes home, then takes a fifteen-thirty minute nap and takes a quick shower. Forgetting sometimes to take breakfast, he frequently leaves the house to meet the seven o’clock habit.
Most often dates don’t ring a bell anymore. One time, it was the birthday of his kid, and he seemed to forget that he must be home early again to be with his family, at least during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dine. He doesn’t even remember their wedding anniversary, or his wife’s birthday. There are times when he wanted to cry but he can’t. The reason is simple: he cannot afford to show to the people that he is actually weak inside, or simply affected. Oftentimes, when managers cry, it is done with a big “bang” over the situation. Worst, if they don’t, they land the ICU of the nearest medical center in town. Yes, this is one life of a manager; and this is Andrei’s life.
Not all managers’ stories are success stories – I mean, they can be in terms of financial rewards, fame or prestige but on the human side, they are not. Managers are sad. Because they can never please everybody, the manager usually works on this principle: work honestly for the employer and God and everything else will be fine. The manager is the most hated man in the company. When his decision becomes unpopular, the entire team would ask for better; when the decision favors the masses but endangers the Business, the Management or the Board attacks. Worst, if the manager decides for the people, he loses his fortune. One thing is sure in management: managing is not a popularity contest.
This can be just one side of the coin. Of course, there are times when managers are happy. They play tricks, games, and mingle with people who like people – people who are true and who like true people. Why? Because in business, I learned one dictum: as long as one needs and uses you, then he is a business friend. If he does not need you in your business, he is no longer a friend. True! We long for true people in the neighborhood. While most managers cannot most of the time be true to their business associates or contacts, some of them really wants true links, true hearts. You can count Andrei in the pool of true colored-managers.
Yes, we usually take the highest and the most outrageous of flights in our lives that we sometimes forget we have to come back to the place where we take off. It’s inevitable and pardonable. It happens to everybody. What matters is we learn from this. In the flight where only managers are allowed to pilot, everybody in the plane must count on them. Managers are equipped to lead. If they can no longer lead, then managers cease to live.
Who wants to take the place?
Pulp Bits
Dumaguete Sun Star
05 September 2007
“Wait ‘till you become a manager,” said his boss when he was still working as an assistant in a government corporation.
More than twenty years ago, Andrei projected to become a manager when he reaches his age now. He protracted everything: his attitude towards work, attendance, company culture, profession and professional growth. He vowed he should not be identified as a pro-employee neither a pro-employer.
Andrei started as an Accounting Clerk for a rural bank. Despite the fact that he did not graduate, his work performance was noticed by the President’s wife. After a month, the Board sent him a pink slip elevating him to the position of an Internal Auditor which at that time was vacant. The critical department was only manned by his self. Three hard months passed and he recommended to hire two assistants which was soonest approved. He thus became the Senior Auditor acting as Department Head. He would usually and normally represent the department in the management committee and board meetings.
Normal in the course of an auditor’s job, he uncovered a long-practiced anomaly which amounted to almost one million pesos orchestrated in perfect connivance by the branch manager, credit and collection officer, cashier, and bookkeeper. Sensing this, the four personnel resigned one after the other. That catapulted Andrei’s prestige as an auditor.
He thought he already made heaven on earth. One day, in his usual visit to the Office of the President, he was asked to defend his audit findings in the court. Aware of the consequence of presenting any audit reports inside courts of law, he smartly requested for a verification audit to be done by a group of external auditors which was granted. Soon, the opinion of the external auditors was handed and as expected, they arrived at the same figure as he had. The two audit findings were exactly the same. This time, his ego was enhanced and as always, he was flying sky high like an eagle.
Like a Jumbo jet in nimbus, Andrei knew that soon he had to stop flying. One day, he was asked to fill out the life insurance form naming the Bank as the beneficiary. He called his family in Manila for the most appropriate thing to do given the situation. They vehemently instructed him not to sign the form and instead resign. Young and fresh from college as he was, he gave in to his family’s instructions: he resigned. His graceful exit from the bank paralyzed the case for reasons he did not bother to ask. The president and the members of the board wanted him to stay, but since no resignation is subject to any approval, they unwillingly let go of him.
He moved to and joined his family in Manila where luckily he got employed immediately. At this juncture, he already made arrangements for his graduation to at least prepare him for the next step ahead. Not lifting his own chair, he was always noticed as “promotable.” The hang-over he had from the bank plus the comments of his first employer in Manila gave him the urge to apply for a work in a government corporation. By God’s grace he boarded this company which later gave him so much in the same way as the management trusted him so much. He was single-handedly picked out to be trained in London, Hong Kong, and Singapore in relation to his new job. This company made him what he had become now.
The constant change in the national administration and the political instability of the government propelled him to retire from this government corporation after more than ten fruitful years. He enjoyed his retirement pay and at the same time landed on a new and challenging job.
Amazingly, he was offered to be the General Manager of a property / building management business in manila whose gross monthly income was twenty million pesos and with more than thirty employees under his wings. The president of the company believed so much in his experience and training that when he demanded his “desired salary,” the President never had a second thought in giving – plus other benefits. It was during this time Andrei learned the real meaning of “managing, management, and manager.”
Managing has been part of his life. I believe you would all agree that managing is part of our daily routine. There’s no question about that. If managing is an easy tone, management would also be. It was during this time Andrei learned what a manager really is and what it takes to be.
Andrei continued flying high like an eagle in the free and beautiful but tempting sky. As the eagle assuming the crown of being the king of aviation, he proudly held up his head up high like a king in the corporate world. So high as his position was, he knew and thought he was. Honestly, he never failed to manage: he can deal with the business proprietarily, deal with people professionally, and matters with good sense and judgment. He can take good care of the business like a good father of the family.
Coupled with this success in the corporate world or in his profession was somehow a deteriorating relationship with his family. Simply, he just had no time for his wife and kids. Thereafter, Andrei’s eldest began complaining about his time. As required and expected, the manager is supposed to be on top of everything and supposed to be 24/7 on call. This, he believed drained his energy and starved his system. He gave 25/8 to his job and none to his family. He began to feel the losing side of a manager. This situation urged him to resign early from this post and agreed with his wife to move to the province and join her family.
But since Andrei’s resume’ spoke better than what he can say, he believed he couldn’t hide the real him. He could not simply work as an ordinary being in the organization, modesty aside. Conversely, just can’t be a simple staff anymore.
Soon Andrei was hired as an Administrator of all the businesses of a rich Chinese man whose family owns a resort fifty kilometers away from the central city. After staying in the main office for about two months, the president asked him to manage the resort – well, it was expected. He could not say no. First, it was what he applied for. Second, he committed to help. His commitment can sometimes really pester, if not, kill him. He can easily commit without thinking the consequence in the long run. In that resort, he again opened his eyes to the realities of a manager’s life – sensible sacrifice for the sake of the responsibility the position entails.
In this part of the globe he saw men of varying and different nature: ill-mannered, refined, sophisticated, educated but not intelligent, intelligent but not educated the real intelligent guys, the real educated ones, and simple men. Others were, he knew very elementary and self-explanatory. Educated but not intelligent is simply a person who has the ethics and etiquettes but doesn’t have the academic excellence to boast for. That is, he is simply “mannered.” On the other hand, intelligent but not educated is the type who can boast of his “brains” and what’s inside, his degrees and his academic excellence but the one who doesn’t have the “manner.” One lesson for being a manager here is: he learned to deal with people objectively regardless of who they are.
It was supposed to be a “paradise-lost-now-found place” but it did not attract his body and soul for a longer period of time. He was kind of attracted at first, or at least during the time when he was writing his stories and poems. Later, he got bored. A sacrifice about the attitudes of the management, the owners, the staff, the guests, and everybody – made him decide to quit managing. He re-considered the thought of joining the academe once again. He did enroll in the Post Graduate Course.
Then luck became his when he was invited to an interview for a managerial post in a newly opened BPO company in the city. Just got lucky he guessed and he got the job. Thereupon he soared high again. The eagle in him took off from, this time, a nobler field, taking sky high without limits to where he is now. It was in this heaven made on earth that he fully comprehended the manager’s life.
Some says a manager’s life is easy: gets into the morning late, read newspapers, check mails, check emails, drinks coffee, signs documents or even checks, then does his real works. Takes occasional lunch meetings, attends to functions on official capacity, then goes back to office, drinks coffee or juice maybe, according to what is prepared by the beautiful secretary, checks the emails, then leaves the office. Does some work out or play tennis or badminton (or maybe golf) with some colleagues or friends. How he wished this is life; but it’s not it. This is not the way managers live, and this is not the way he lives.
He reports for work as early as seven in the morning, checks his mails and emails, responds if required and necessary, signs documents, and does the check up rounds like a medical doctor. After doing the ocular inspection, he goes back to his office and starts working. He works until he forgets about lunch break; somebody has to remind him of this. He eats his lunch late most of the time, and goes back to the office. He works and works, does some important phone calls, attends meetings and official functions, entertains guests, does some marketing. When the day is almost over, he goes out into the production floor, talks to production people and after they leave, that’s the time his real work begins. He works and stays late in the evening – sometimes till midnight, one or two or three or four or even five and six a.m. the following day. Well, who cares, it’s what his job calls for. Goes home, then takes a fifteen-thirty minute nap and takes a quick shower. Forgetting sometimes to take breakfast, he frequently leaves the house to meet the seven o’clock habit.
Most often dates don’t ring a bell anymore. One time, it was the birthday of his kid, and he seemed to forget that he must be home early again to be with his family, at least during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dine. He doesn’t even remember their wedding anniversary, or his wife’s birthday. There are times when he wanted to cry but he can’t. The reason is simple: he cannot afford to show to the people that he is actually weak inside, or simply affected. Oftentimes, when managers cry, it is done with a big “bang” over the situation. Worst, if they don’t, they land the ICU of the nearest medical center in town. Yes, this is one life of a manager; and this is Andrei’s life.
Not all managers’ stories are success stories – I mean, they can be in terms of financial rewards, fame or prestige but on the human side, they are not. Managers are sad. Because they can never please everybody, the manager usually works on this principle: work honestly for the employer and God and everything else will be fine. The manager is the most hated man in the company. When his decision becomes unpopular, the entire team would ask for better; when the decision favors the masses but endangers the Business, the Management or the Board attacks. Worst, if the manager decides for the people, he loses his fortune. One thing is sure in management: managing is not a popularity contest.
This can be just one side of the coin. Of course, there are times when managers are happy. They play tricks, games, and mingle with people who like people – people who are true and who like true people. Why? Because in business, I learned one dictum: as long as one needs and uses you, then he is a business friend. If he does not need you in your business, he is no longer a friend. True! We long for true people in the neighborhood. While most managers cannot most of the time be true to their business associates or contacts, some of them really wants true links, true hearts. You can count Andrei in the pool of true colored-managers.
Yes, we usually take the highest and the most outrageous of flights in our lives that we sometimes forget we have to come back to the place where we take off. It’s inevitable and pardonable. It happens to everybody. What matters is we learn from this. In the flight where only managers are allowed to pilot, everybody in the plane must count on them. Managers are equipped to lead. If they can no longer lead, then managers cease to live.
Who wants to take the place?
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Florence
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
17 October 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Incidentally, this is not all about nurses and nursing profession; this is about women of the society, young or old, and their search for justice.
To date, three young and jovial Florence of the society are dreadfully derailed by irresponsibly-imposed human cruelties that would undoubtedly alter their respective life.
Symbolically, Florence comes from the name Florence Nightingale, the mother and founder of Nursing Profession. Briefly, Florence founded the Nursing profession by volunteering to attend to the wounded victims and soldiers during the Crimean War. Since then, Nursing has evolved into a very lucrative and attractive profession for women and later for men as well, a profession that cares for the world.
Florence, Charice, and Raissa: Highly spirited young women whose convictions apparently would have reached heights had they not encountered this grotesque form of inhumane and selfish disposition of freedom to live and the power to serve.
Florence, not her real name, a volunteer Nurse in Maguindanao was gang raped. Charice, a twelve-year old girl from Olongapo was raped. Raissa, a Law student became the victim of bomb explosion.
In support to their plight, members of the Nursing Community and the constituents of the City staged protest rallies and demonstrations to call the attention of the Administration for the speedy disposition of their cases. In consolation to Raissa, a Committee mandated to investigate the matter was formed comprising the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court.
The atrocious and cannibalistic attackers of Florence are believed to belong to rich and influential families. As per the newscast in one of the top rated terrestrial giants, an aggregate number of men from the son of the school principal, to a drunkard, and to a certain vice mayor of the locality, etc. are allegedly involved.
The attacker of Charice is the wisdom-dehydrated city executive whose mandate to run his public office comes from its constituents including her. It was such a boorish display of good governance and a cruel assassination of gentlemanliness and fatherhood.
It was an unintelligible move from equally incomprehensible minds of raising an issue of social or ideological conflict through a piece of grenade or improvised domestic bombs unleashed in the last day of the Bar Exams. Such a conflict between and among ideologies and academic points of view over something unresolved to date by intellectually blessed group of men brought to the streets these irresponsible members and started barking at a wrong tree. And sadly, Raissa, a member of the peer-pressured group was herself a startling victim.
Florence and Charice were victims of flesh hungry monsters that thrive in the urban areas disguised as political figures who claimed to be pro-life advocates supporting the government that defines its governance as “off the people, poor the people, and buy the people” while Raissa was a victim of an uncalled-for explosion of ideological conflicts and idiosyncrasies of young minds enslaved by a medium called brotherhood.
Of the three cases, my fearless forecast of the perceptible application of whitewash is on Florence and Charice. It is a known fact in this country that whenever influential families are involved, money talks louder than justice and power controls the process all through the promulgation of the verdict. In the case of Raissa, hopefully the committee will come up with an unbiased findings and sound recommendations to sanction the culprits. In case big fishes are behind this bombing, which hopefully will not be the case, whitewashing would just be as flawless as expected.
And what will happen to the victims in case of whitewash?
Except for Raissa, Florence and Charice will be living in humiliation for the rest of their lives; and their perspective will change from good to bad, withdrawal may ensue. The worst of it all, these monsters will continue to deface the earth and attack all human life forms and mercilessly subdue them to their powers in the most hostile vehicle: lust! These monsters will continue to breed like the reincarnated aliens from the dark ages that only the magical powers of the Olympian gods can cause them to perish forever from the face of the greed-controlled Philippines.
Raissa can still continue with her studies and become a lawyer in the future sans the beauty of strolling the countryside, courtrooms and justice corridors in a naturally-created pair of foot. Though life would continue, one that is at her disposal will be constricted and delimited.
The bad thing about obnoxious discharge of power, great or small, is that the owner can hardly be pressed to submit to authorities or be annihilated from earthly existence all at once.
Selfishness consumes the minds of these predators that even death by gas chamber would not suffice; insecurities rule the psyche of these marauders that a temporary accommodation at the purgatory does not justify. May the gods of the River of Death consume their impassionate souls and insatiable lusts or be encrypted by the hypnotic-eyed Medusa to be caused completely immobile for the rest of their lives.
Even if we bury these tormentors in the chamber of Judas the Iscariot, the near-end repentant Judas will certainly despise them.
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
17 October 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Incidentally, this is not all about nurses and nursing profession; this is about women of the society, young or old, and their search for justice.
To date, three young and jovial Florence of the society are dreadfully derailed by irresponsibly-imposed human cruelties that would undoubtedly alter their respective life.
Symbolically, Florence comes from the name Florence Nightingale, the mother and founder of Nursing Profession. Briefly, Florence founded the Nursing profession by volunteering to attend to the wounded victims and soldiers during the Crimean War. Since then, Nursing has evolved into a very lucrative and attractive profession for women and later for men as well, a profession that cares for the world.
Florence, Charice, and Raissa: Highly spirited young women whose convictions apparently would have reached heights had they not encountered this grotesque form of inhumane and selfish disposition of freedom to live and the power to serve.
Florence, not her real name, a volunteer Nurse in Maguindanao was gang raped. Charice, a twelve-year old girl from Olongapo was raped. Raissa, a Law student became the victim of bomb explosion.
In support to their plight, members of the Nursing Community and the constituents of the City staged protest rallies and demonstrations to call the attention of the Administration for the speedy disposition of their cases. In consolation to Raissa, a Committee mandated to investigate the matter was formed comprising the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court.
The atrocious and cannibalistic attackers of Florence are believed to belong to rich and influential families. As per the newscast in one of the top rated terrestrial giants, an aggregate number of men from the son of the school principal, to a drunkard, and to a certain vice mayor of the locality, etc. are allegedly involved.
The attacker of Charice is the wisdom-dehydrated city executive whose mandate to run his public office comes from its constituents including her. It was such a boorish display of good governance and a cruel assassination of gentlemanliness and fatherhood.
It was an unintelligible move from equally incomprehensible minds of raising an issue of social or ideological conflict through a piece of grenade or improvised domestic bombs unleashed in the last day of the Bar Exams. Such a conflict between and among ideologies and academic points of view over something unresolved to date by intellectually blessed group of men brought to the streets these irresponsible members and started barking at a wrong tree. And sadly, Raissa, a member of the peer-pressured group was herself a startling victim.
Florence and Charice were victims of flesh hungry monsters that thrive in the urban areas disguised as political figures who claimed to be pro-life advocates supporting the government that defines its governance as “off the people, poor the people, and buy the people” while Raissa was a victim of an uncalled-for explosion of ideological conflicts and idiosyncrasies of young minds enslaved by a medium called brotherhood.
Of the three cases, my fearless forecast of the perceptible application of whitewash is on Florence and Charice. It is a known fact in this country that whenever influential families are involved, money talks louder than justice and power controls the process all through the promulgation of the verdict. In the case of Raissa, hopefully the committee will come up with an unbiased findings and sound recommendations to sanction the culprits. In case big fishes are behind this bombing, which hopefully will not be the case, whitewashing would just be as flawless as expected.
And what will happen to the victims in case of whitewash?
Except for Raissa, Florence and Charice will be living in humiliation for the rest of their lives; and their perspective will change from good to bad, withdrawal may ensue. The worst of it all, these monsters will continue to deface the earth and attack all human life forms and mercilessly subdue them to their powers in the most hostile vehicle: lust! These monsters will continue to breed like the reincarnated aliens from the dark ages that only the magical powers of the Olympian gods can cause them to perish forever from the face of the greed-controlled Philippines.
Raissa can still continue with her studies and become a lawyer in the future sans the beauty of strolling the countryside, courtrooms and justice corridors in a naturally-created pair of foot. Though life would continue, one that is at her disposal will be constricted and delimited.
The bad thing about obnoxious discharge of power, great or small, is that the owner can hardly be pressed to submit to authorities or be annihilated from earthly existence all at once.
Selfishness consumes the minds of these predators that even death by gas chamber would not suffice; insecurities rule the psyche of these marauders that a temporary accommodation at the purgatory does not justify. May the gods of the River of Death consume their impassionate souls and insatiable lusts or be encrypted by the hypnotic-eyed Medusa to be caused completely immobile for the rest of their lives.
Even if we bury these tormentors in the chamber of Judas the Iscariot, the near-end repentant Judas will certainly despise them.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
K + 2
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
10 October 2010
Students and parents, tighten your belt! This is going to be a tough situation for all of you.
The announcement of K+2 by Secretary Armin Luistro of the Department of Education last 05 October 2010 during the celebration of the World’s Teachers in Pasig was, for me, a test of the waters under the bridge.
Firstly, consultations from stakeholders were not conducted. Secondly, amendment to the Education Law of 1982 was not undertaken. Thirdly, the readiness is questionable.
Sec. Armin Luistro announced that the consultations from all stakeholders shall be conducted starting this month until February 2011. What is he trying to convey to the general public then that after the fact works in this administration? Look what happened to the botched 23rd of August rescue drama!
Additionally, he professed that the program will start in 2011. And further, he said that whether or not it will succeed, he will stand firm by it. Was the legal requirement called amendment of the law in question, which requires series of congressional and senate hearings in the presence of the public done?
Are we ready, as a nation of education-battered Philippines for the shift? Do we have enough classrooms, textbooks, equipments, and teachers? Do we have the required and necessary curricula for these addenda?
The answer is obviously NO!
Cory Aquino championed democracy and served it back to our table since 1986. For all intents and purposes, Cory would consult from all parties before making a decision. It seems that P-Noy is comfortable with opening his big mouth without consulting. He even promised to the entire nation in the same ceremony that he will not leave any problem untouched. Let us see!
Assuming, for the sake of argument that consultation from stakeholders and amendment of the Education Law which were actually and technically by-passed plus the questionable readiness are fully complied with, does the administration fully understand what lags us behind in terms of educational system?
Quality!
And by quality we mean - in particular order, quality pay for teachers, quality teachers, quality curricula or instruction, quality textbooks, and quality classrooms.
Without looking at statistics, our teachers are insufficiently paid. For this reason, they are lured by the high earnings overseas even working as domestic helpers only. On separate travels, I have spoken to several housemaids in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and England who are teachers by profession. Exasperatingly, by profession I mean, they are not just graduates, they are licensed! What the heck are they doing in those places when they are supposed to be teaching young minds in the pale-painted four-walled classroom as called for by their code of ethics?
Quality teachers, whew! Pardon me but this is true. Quality teachers are dying not because of old age but because of the progressively diminishing quality of Education Curriculum we are offering in the tertiary Level. Another story of quality teachers: A Physical Education major teaching science in the tender levels and a teacher stood corrected by her students with her pronunciation of several English words in several occasions.
As a due diligence, I usually read the textbooks of our kids. Surprisingly, several textbooks appear to be excellent from the outside front cover until I read through a page with glaring mistakes. Worst, I really know the subject matter by heart. It was disgusting when concerned agencies would allow these books to be circulated in the entire archipelago without the benefit of reviewing the contents whether or not these conform to the standards, or whether or not the presentation of the facts or ideas are accurate. Hey, some writers are beginners in the field of textbook writing, henceforth, amateurs in the field of education.
Question: why do these writers write these silly textbooks? What triggers which? Who benefited from whom? How much?
Blunt as this may sound but nothing is more fitting than to define quality education in this manner: A fairy-tale-quality teacher delivering a-paper-manifested-quality instruction using an impostor-written-quality textbook with matching imaginary apparatuses while holding her class under the shade of a tamarind tree on a third shift.
Bingo! Sec. Luistro is dreaming!
While it may be true that we are the only country with a 10-year cycle of basic education, adding two mandatory years in the preparatory and two more years in high school does not solve the problem; it does not even help uplifting the quality of education this runner-up country boasts to date. I agree with Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, President of Ateneo de Manila University that this new program sounds good but when we really hold it, it doesn’t make sense at all.
Will K + 2 change the major, major equation?
Unfortunately, without addressing the issues on quality: pay, teacher, instruction, textbooks, equipments, classroom, etc, it will not and it will not at all add value to the present system. Putting new wine into the old wineskin does not help but will only damage the store.
As an educator, I would like to maintain my synthesis that in the face of cultural disparateness which is increasingly evident in the post-modern Philippine culture, the present Philippine Educational System seems to be more damaging, not enriching and convincing.
Arguably though, for as long as the old school rules the symbolic Malacanang of the Imperial Manila, not anything from the ailing Philippines will improve. Not even the public-perceived charismatic programs of P-Noy can!
Greed can never buy quality!
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
10 October 2010
Students and parents, tighten your belt! This is going to be a tough situation for all of you.
The announcement of K+2 by Secretary Armin Luistro of the Department of Education last 05 October 2010 during the celebration of the World’s Teachers in Pasig was, for me, a test of the waters under the bridge.
Firstly, consultations from stakeholders were not conducted. Secondly, amendment to the Education Law of 1982 was not undertaken. Thirdly, the readiness is questionable.
Sec. Armin Luistro announced that the consultations from all stakeholders shall be conducted starting this month until February 2011. What is he trying to convey to the general public then that after the fact works in this administration? Look what happened to the botched 23rd of August rescue drama!
Additionally, he professed that the program will start in 2011. And further, he said that whether or not it will succeed, he will stand firm by it. Was the legal requirement called amendment of the law in question, which requires series of congressional and senate hearings in the presence of the public done?
Are we ready, as a nation of education-battered Philippines for the shift? Do we have enough classrooms, textbooks, equipments, and teachers? Do we have the required and necessary curricula for these addenda?
The answer is obviously NO!
Cory Aquino championed democracy and served it back to our table since 1986. For all intents and purposes, Cory would consult from all parties before making a decision. It seems that P-Noy is comfortable with opening his big mouth without consulting. He even promised to the entire nation in the same ceremony that he will not leave any problem untouched. Let us see!
Assuming, for the sake of argument that consultation from stakeholders and amendment of the Education Law which were actually and technically by-passed plus the questionable readiness are fully complied with, does the administration fully understand what lags us behind in terms of educational system?
Quality!
And by quality we mean - in particular order, quality pay for teachers, quality teachers, quality curricula or instruction, quality textbooks, and quality classrooms.
Without looking at statistics, our teachers are insufficiently paid. For this reason, they are lured by the high earnings overseas even working as domestic helpers only. On separate travels, I have spoken to several housemaids in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and England who are teachers by profession. Exasperatingly, by profession I mean, they are not just graduates, they are licensed! What the heck are they doing in those places when they are supposed to be teaching young minds in the pale-painted four-walled classroom as called for by their code of ethics?
Quality teachers, whew! Pardon me but this is true. Quality teachers are dying not because of old age but because of the progressively diminishing quality of Education Curriculum we are offering in the tertiary Level. Another story of quality teachers: A Physical Education major teaching science in the tender levels and a teacher stood corrected by her students with her pronunciation of several English words in several occasions.
As a due diligence, I usually read the textbooks of our kids. Surprisingly, several textbooks appear to be excellent from the outside front cover until I read through a page with glaring mistakes. Worst, I really know the subject matter by heart. It was disgusting when concerned agencies would allow these books to be circulated in the entire archipelago without the benefit of reviewing the contents whether or not these conform to the standards, or whether or not the presentation of the facts or ideas are accurate. Hey, some writers are beginners in the field of textbook writing, henceforth, amateurs in the field of education.
Question: why do these writers write these silly textbooks? What triggers which? Who benefited from whom? How much?
Blunt as this may sound but nothing is more fitting than to define quality education in this manner: A fairy-tale-quality teacher delivering a-paper-manifested-quality instruction using an impostor-written-quality textbook with matching imaginary apparatuses while holding her class under the shade of a tamarind tree on a third shift.
Bingo! Sec. Luistro is dreaming!
While it may be true that we are the only country with a 10-year cycle of basic education, adding two mandatory years in the preparatory and two more years in high school does not solve the problem; it does not even help uplifting the quality of education this runner-up country boasts to date. I agree with Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, President of Ateneo de Manila University that this new program sounds good but when we really hold it, it doesn’t make sense at all.
Will K + 2 change the major, major equation?
Unfortunately, without addressing the issues on quality: pay, teacher, instruction, textbooks, equipments, classroom, etc, it will not and it will not at all add value to the present system. Putting new wine into the old wineskin does not help but will only damage the store.
As an educator, I would like to maintain my synthesis that in the face of cultural disparateness which is increasingly evident in the post-modern Philippine culture, the present Philippine Educational System seems to be more damaging, not enriching and convincing.
Arguably though, for as long as the old school rules the symbolic Malacanang of the Imperial Manila, not anything from the ailing Philippines will improve. Not even the public-perceived charismatic programs of P-Noy can!
Greed can never buy quality!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Hullabaloos
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
26 September 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Sun Tzu, in the 1910 translation of his The Art of War by Lionel Giles said: “There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can even be heard.”
In Musicology, the concoction of these notes creates a melody, which, when penned with the lyrics, produced the classic taste of art called music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once quipped: “Music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music.”
For a period now, national broadsheets and local journals have been posting what seemed to be old-musical-notes-for-a-new-song versions of claims, testimonies, or even hullabaloos of the melodramatic soap dish entitled Jueteng. These notes have been interwoven to produce, in our local honor yet, another masterpiece.
Musical note number 1: The Officials: Retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz announced that trusted officials of the Aquino Administration are receiving payola from the illegal numbers game, commonly known as Jueteng. In the Senate hearing, the prelate named Retired PNP Chief General Jesus Verzosa, Undersecretary Puno, Incumbent PNP Chief General Raul Bacalso, et al as among the officials who partook in the proceeds of the multi-billion numbers game
Archbishop Cruz, who heads the “Krusadang Bayan Laban sa Jueteng” claimed that the popular game had turned into a “political monster” under the Aquino Administration. Putting my two cents in, the retired bishop certainly is wrong; the game was once the monster of the previous administration as far as way back Marcos’. During the Arroyo regime, the people claimed that the illegal numbers game was blessed in the name of the father and of the son and of the mother Arroyo. It financially backed their political dominance. The same caricature was drawn during the Estrada’s. It was existing during FVR’s; it was mellower during the time of Aquino and Marcos though.
Musical note number 2: The Key: Senator Mirriam Defensor Santiago, in an interview over DZBB aired that “a local official close to President Aquino 111, who ran on a platform of change in the May elections, is the key to the continued operations of Jueteng in the country.”
In the Senate hearing, the 75-year old prelate already named those who are active in the business and even vowed to drill down to arrive at the complete list.
If Pres. Aquino is serious in weeding out this form of evil, he should start from his own campaign, not from others’. And now that names are out and the lives of the whistle-blowers are once again in danger, can Noynoy guarantee the safety of these people who have turned state witnesses?
Musical note number 3: The Vatican of Jueteng: Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto said some priests in the archdiocese of San Fernando are “relatives, close friends and beneficiaries of Jueteng operators” – justifying the claim of former Senator Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. on Pampanga as the “Vatican of Jueteng.”
He further said that those engaged in the Jueteng operations are members of the parish communities. They donate funds to run fiestas, foreign trips and build churches for the diocese.
Just a snap: what did the prelates do to this claim? Are they comfortable being tagged as the Vatican of jueteng? What a grotesque way of assassinating the church and an apparent insult to its holiness, huh?
Musical note number 4: The Denial: PNP Director General Raul Bacalzo denies the allegation that he’s on the take from Jueteng lords as claimed by Jueteng whistle-blower Sandra Cam of the Krusada.
In the Senate inquiry on Jueteng in 2005, whistle-blower Sandra Cam recalled, a fellow whistle-blower Wilfredo Boy Mayor mentioned that a certain Boy Tangkad who has since been identified as businessman Delfin Gener used to deliver Jueteng money to General Bacalzo.
The administration is asking for proof. Who can? Boy Mayor and Boy Tangkad were killed on separate occasions after the blow? If they can speak from their graves, will the houses listen to the second-round allegations of their cohorts?
Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are. Tactically, the two must be exterminated by their co-predators from the arena.
Musical note number 5: The Three Kings: A group who called themselves Junior Police Officers is ready to testify under oath that a group of security officials known as the “Three Kings” has taken over the collection of grease money from Jueteng operators under the Aquino administration.
In the biblical times, the Three Kings, who re-routed their journey back to the East to elude Herod the Great in order to save Jesus from the latter’s adverse plan, have acted as agents of change. The “three kings” these young soldiers of change are revealing are agents of doom.
Doesn’t it take one to know one?
Hullabaloos, that’s how we call them! Whether or not the hullabaloos of Pres. Aquino can be classified and elevated by Levi Celerio, Atang de la Rama, Jovita Fuentes, Antonio Buenaventura, Lucrecia Kasilag, Lucio San Pedro, et al – to classical art depends on the libretto he will be printing and the rapidity of the crescendo he will be orchestrating for his public-presumed sweeter version of good governance.
Music, no matter how distasteful to others’ ears must be sung and heard to give justice to the composer, more so, to the orchestra who brings it to life.
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
26 September 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Sun Tzu, in the 1910 translation of his The Art of War by Lionel Giles said: “There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can even be heard.”
In Musicology, the concoction of these notes creates a melody, which, when penned with the lyrics, produced the classic taste of art called music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once quipped: “Music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music.”
For a period now, national broadsheets and local journals have been posting what seemed to be old-musical-notes-for-a-new-song versions of claims, testimonies, or even hullabaloos of the melodramatic soap dish entitled Jueteng. These notes have been interwoven to produce, in our local honor yet, another masterpiece.
Musical note number 1: The Officials: Retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz announced that trusted officials of the Aquino Administration are receiving payola from the illegal numbers game, commonly known as Jueteng. In the Senate hearing, the prelate named Retired PNP Chief General Jesus Verzosa, Undersecretary Puno, Incumbent PNP Chief General Raul Bacalso, et al as among the officials who partook in the proceeds of the multi-billion numbers game
Archbishop Cruz, who heads the “Krusadang Bayan Laban sa Jueteng” claimed that the popular game had turned into a “political monster” under the Aquino Administration. Putting my two cents in, the retired bishop certainly is wrong; the game was once the monster of the previous administration as far as way back Marcos’. During the Arroyo regime, the people claimed that the illegal numbers game was blessed in the name of the father and of the son and of the mother Arroyo. It financially backed their political dominance. The same caricature was drawn during the Estrada’s. It was existing during FVR’s; it was mellower during the time of Aquino and Marcos though.
Musical note number 2: The Key: Senator Mirriam Defensor Santiago, in an interview over DZBB aired that “a local official close to President Aquino 111, who ran on a platform of change in the May elections, is the key to the continued operations of Jueteng in the country.”
In the Senate hearing, the 75-year old prelate already named those who are active in the business and even vowed to drill down to arrive at the complete list.
If Pres. Aquino is serious in weeding out this form of evil, he should start from his own campaign, not from others’. And now that names are out and the lives of the whistle-blowers are once again in danger, can Noynoy guarantee the safety of these people who have turned state witnesses?
Musical note number 3: The Vatican of Jueteng: Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto said some priests in the archdiocese of San Fernando are “relatives, close friends and beneficiaries of Jueteng operators” – justifying the claim of former Senator Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. on Pampanga as the “Vatican of Jueteng.”
He further said that those engaged in the Jueteng operations are members of the parish communities. They donate funds to run fiestas, foreign trips and build churches for the diocese.
Just a snap: what did the prelates do to this claim? Are they comfortable being tagged as the Vatican of jueteng? What a grotesque way of assassinating the church and an apparent insult to its holiness, huh?
Musical note number 4: The Denial: PNP Director General Raul Bacalzo denies the allegation that he’s on the take from Jueteng lords as claimed by Jueteng whistle-blower Sandra Cam of the Krusada.
In the Senate inquiry on Jueteng in 2005, whistle-blower Sandra Cam recalled, a fellow whistle-blower Wilfredo Boy Mayor mentioned that a certain Boy Tangkad who has since been identified as businessman Delfin Gener used to deliver Jueteng money to General Bacalzo.
The administration is asking for proof. Who can? Boy Mayor and Boy Tangkad were killed on separate occasions after the blow? If they can speak from their graves, will the houses listen to the second-round allegations of their cohorts?
Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are. Tactically, the two must be exterminated by their co-predators from the arena.
Musical note number 5: The Three Kings: A group who called themselves Junior Police Officers is ready to testify under oath that a group of security officials known as the “Three Kings” has taken over the collection of grease money from Jueteng operators under the Aquino administration.
In the biblical times, the Three Kings, who re-routed their journey back to the East to elude Herod the Great in order to save Jesus from the latter’s adverse plan, have acted as agents of change. The “three kings” these young soldiers of change are revealing are agents of doom.
Doesn’t it take one to know one?
Hullabaloos, that’s how we call them! Whether or not the hullabaloos of Pres. Aquino can be classified and elevated by Levi Celerio, Atang de la Rama, Jovita Fuentes, Antonio Buenaventura, Lucrecia Kasilag, Lucio San Pedro, et al – to classical art depends on the libretto he will be printing and the rapidity of the crescendo he will be orchestrating for his public-presumed sweeter version of good governance.
Music, no matter how distasteful to others’ ears must be sung and heard to give justice to the composer, more so, to the orchestra who brings it to life.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Slashed!
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
19 September 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - On the 8th of September 2010, one of the national broadsheets bannered a news headline stating that the Administration slashed by half OFW legal assistance fund in 2011 budget.
In the same article, Nueva Vizcaya Representative Carlos Padilla stated matter-of-factly that Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) contribute the aggregate amount of US$17 billion in remittances.
The Philippine Migrant Act, the Law that protects the welfare of the Overseas Filipino Workers specifically provides that the OFW Legal Assistance Fund should not be less than P100 million. What was budgeted by the Department of Foreign Affairs was only P50 million. In the Budget hearing, this was reduced to a meager P27 million.
Thinking out loudly, translating US$17 billion into the wobbling Philippine Peso amounts to P765 billion, using P45 to a dollar foreign exchange rate. What is P27 million to P765 billion? Or, to put icing on the cake once more, what is P100 million to P765 billion? Compared to the proposed total budget, the P765 billion remittances of OFWs figuratively and literally comprise 46.25 percent of the total P1.654 trillion budget requirements.
What a biased and unfounded way to cut cost! The administration is profoundly insane. What actually are their bases, legal or otherwise, in cutting the budget?
Austerity measures, especially when carefully planned and effectively implemented, contribute towards attaining business or defined objectives. However, when in the process sensitive issues are not addressed to, then something can ultimately go wrong.
Hey, OFWs is a revenue center, it is not a cost center.
Migrantes, hailed to be the modern day Philippine heroes contribute a bigger slice to the total national coffer. Statistics and records cannot deny this fact. Congressmen, senators, and other government officials eat the biggest part of the pie. Why resize the slice for these breed? Why not the slice of these mentally-dehydrated members of the houses who do nothing but make name tags for their selfish sakes, imprudently spend or secretly pocket the barrels?
Which is more important, spending portion of the OFW remittance for their welfare or spending the money for the personal gains of public officials - people in the Houses and Malacanang included? Aren’t these people citizens of the country who deserve the same treatment as the people in the Houses? Aren’t the OFWs citizens of the country who deserve the services as the underprivileged citizens of Bagong Silang or Payatas do?
Which is more important, the personally-vested and coward people of the cabinet who do not even know how to protect the President from danger and international shame or the group of citizens such as OFWs whose sweats and bloods equals US$17 billion annually for the country? Which is more important, all the President’s men who do the talk and never walk their talks or the zealous OFWs who riskily cross the boarders of these uncharted Kingdoms just to bring home the most fabled bacon for the family and country?
Which is important, the mentally deranged men of the ailing Philippine politics or the nostalgic and mentally agonized OFWs who help save the ailing Philippine economy?
People of the Philippines, truly, we have elected “his mother’s son” without a doubt.
Fine! Half the budget for the OFW Legal Assistance Fund is slashed! Then, why not slash the budget of these departments, congressmen and senators? By far, this is the best way to cut cost. From P1.654 trillion to half is an attractive result of the simplest arithmetical operations. After all, all government officials have the difficulty of defending their spending with the Commission on Audit. This is to me, the best austerity measure of all times.
It is even the best way to stop congressmen and senators’ from womanizing, acquiring unexplained wealth, or conducting pot sessions in Hong Kong or gambling in Macau and Las Vegas using public funds. Lo! These activities are even more horrendous and shameful than the August 23, 2010 botched hostage rescue operations that shocked the whole world.
Fine! Half of the budget for the OFW Legal Assistance Fund is slashed! Then, why not dispose all these Non-Performing Assets (GOCCs) that annually share the highest cost? In 2009, the salaries of the key personnel of these 36 (which are NPAs) out of 120 GOCCs amounted to at least P57 million. This year, from January to May, the government continued to subsidize these GOCCs in the aggregate amount of P7.28 billion. These GOCCs suck the hard earned money of the country, to state what is more hurting, and the money of the OFWs. What a shame on these people who monthly receive high salaries and lucrative perks just to run these people-owned-and-subsidized sunset companies. Gee! The sun will never ever rise on them, take them out of the list now or else they will continue to rot the whole pie.
And what is Sec. Alberto Romulo in the Department of Foreign Affairs doing? Plotting the Budget to P50 million when by Law it should have been double seems to me an alienation from his form and functions. I wonder if he ever sited the legality of the reduction the way Albay’s Representative Edcel Lagman did?
Whew! Grandstanding for a president is worth a lifetime’s fortune disguised in a staple from a domestic animal called pork in a barrel. Feeding this animal is worth more than a million lives of agony-laden, true-home alienated Filipino migrant workers.
Slashed! Who is earning for whose spending, anyway? Whatever happened to Flor Contemplacion now?
The Gulf Files
19 September 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - On the 8th of September 2010, one of the national broadsheets bannered a news headline stating that the Administration slashed by half OFW legal assistance fund in 2011 budget.
In the same article, Nueva Vizcaya Representative Carlos Padilla stated matter-of-factly that Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) contribute the aggregate amount of US$17 billion in remittances.
The Philippine Migrant Act, the Law that protects the welfare of the Overseas Filipino Workers specifically provides that the OFW Legal Assistance Fund should not be less than P100 million. What was budgeted by the Department of Foreign Affairs was only P50 million. In the Budget hearing, this was reduced to a meager P27 million.
Thinking out loudly, translating US$17 billion into the wobbling Philippine Peso amounts to P765 billion, using P45 to a dollar foreign exchange rate. What is P27 million to P765 billion? Or, to put icing on the cake once more, what is P100 million to P765 billion? Compared to the proposed total budget, the P765 billion remittances of OFWs figuratively and literally comprise 46.25 percent of the total P1.654 trillion budget requirements.
What a biased and unfounded way to cut cost! The administration is profoundly insane. What actually are their bases, legal or otherwise, in cutting the budget?
Austerity measures, especially when carefully planned and effectively implemented, contribute towards attaining business or defined objectives. However, when in the process sensitive issues are not addressed to, then something can ultimately go wrong.
Hey, OFWs is a revenue center, it is not a cost center.
Migrantes, hailed to be the modern day Philippine heroes contribute a bigger slice to the total national coffer. Statistics and records cannot deny this fact. Congressmen, senators, and other government officials eat the biggest part of the pie. Why resize the slice for these breed? Why not the slice of these mentally-dehydrated members of the houses who do nothing but make name tags for their selfish sakes, imprudently spend or secretly pocket the barrels?
Which is more important, spending portion of the OFW remittance for their welfare or spending the money for the personal gains of public officials - people in the Houses and Malacanang included? Aren’t these people citizens of the country who deserve the same treatment as the people in the Houses? Aren’t the OFWs citizens of the country who deserve the services as the underprivileged citizens of Bagong Silang or Payatas do?
Which is more important, the personally-vested and coward people of the cabinet who do not even know how to protect the President from danger and international shame or the group of citizens such as OFWs whose sweats and bloods equals US$17 billion annually for the country? Which is more important, all the President’s men who do the talk and never walk their talks or the zealous OFWs who riskily cross the boarders of these uncharted Kingdoms just to bring home the most fabled bacon for the family and country?
Which is important, the mentally deranged men of the ailing Philippine politics or the nostalgic and mentally agonized OFWs who help save the ailing Philippine economy?
People of the Philippines, truly, we have elected “his mother’s son” without a doubt.
Fine! Half the budget for the OFW Legal Assistance Fund is slashed! Then, why not slash the budget of these departments, congressmen and senators? By far, this is the best way to cut cost. From P1.654 trillion to half is an attractive result of the simplest arithmetical operations. After all, all government officials have the difficulty of defending their spending with the Commission on Audit. This is to me, the best austerity measure of all times.
It is even the best way to stop congressmen and senators’ from womanizing, acquiring unexplained wealth, or conducting pot sessions in Hong Kong or gambling in Macau and Las Vegas using public funds. Lo! These activities are even more horrendous and shameful than the August 23, 2010 botched hostage rescue operations that shocked the whole world.
Fine! Half of the budget for the OFW Legal Assistance Fund is slashed! Then, why not dispose all these Non-Performing Assets (GOCCs) that annually share the highest cost? In 2009, the salaries of the key personnel of these 36 (which are NPAs) out of 120 GOCCs amounted to at least P57 million. This year, from January to May, the government continued to subsidize these GOCCs in the aggregate amount of P7.28 billion. These GOCCs suck the hard earned money of the country, to state what is more hurting, and the money of the OFWs. What a shame on these people who monthly receive high salaries and lucrative perks just to run these people-owned-and-subsidized sunset companies. Gee! The sun will never ever rise on them, take them out of the list now or else they will continue to rot the whole pie.
And what is Sec. Alberto Romulo in the Department of Foreign Affairs doing? Plotting the Budget to P50 million when by Law it should have been double seems to me an alienation from his form and functions. I wonder if he ever sited the legality of the reduction the way Albay’s Representative Edcel Lagman did?
Whew! Grandstanding for a president is worth a lifetime’s fortune disguised in a staple from a domestic animal called pork in a barrel. Feeding this animal is worth more than a million lives of agony-laden, true-home alienated Filipino migrant workers.
Slashed! Who is earning for whose spending, anyway? Whatever happened to Flor Contemplacion now?
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Commissioned!
By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
12 September 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - US President Barrack Obama announced that he is firmly and finally ending Iraq war and will move to win peace in the Middle East. He has convened series of peace talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders highlighting the positive but shaky US role as a negotiator.
Should Obama do this?
The answer is yes.
President Obama should do this for political, economic and humanitarian reasons. Political because the moment Obama fails, he may lose the second seat which is far more pressing than ousting the presence of the US in the Mid-East and the Gulf region. Economic because ousting the presence of the US in the area is as pressing and demanding as being dethroned as the world’s economic superpower. Humanitarian because thousands of young and innocent lives have been offered to end this long-running wars, how many more precious lives can be killed due to this highly commercialized and business-propelled, stupid war?
President Noynoy Aquino in his early days in office vowed to end the war against the Abu Sayyaf. Underscoring his hopeful but precarious move, his administration may, according to the press release, resort to charter change just to address objectively the long-running rebellion in the south. Noynoy will employ his own version of peace negotiation process, the same strategy his mother, former President Corazon Aquino introduced during her coup-decorated administration.
Should Noynoy do this?
The answer is yes.
President Noynoy should do ending the armed conflict in the south for political, economic and humanitarian reasons. Political because the ideology of these rebels to separate Mindanao from the Imperial Manila is as absurd as freeing former President Arroyo from graft and corruption charges that never have been decided during her tenure. Economic because insurgencies have slowed down economic activities, shied away foreign investments and drastically aborted the influx of tourists into the country. Humanitarian because thousands of lives have been sacrificed with the aim of ending this long-running cannibalistic and grotesque expression of ideology, and how many more lives, innocent or not, can be fueled to this damaging exercise?
Will the two presidents ever succeed in their respective and individual mission?
I will hold my breath on this!
Former President George Bush’ belief on Iraq as the potential “beacon of liberty in the Middle East” does not seem to make sense anymore. The Iraq war will never be punctuated with full stop, in the same manner as the Israeli-Palestine conflict can’t. Debatably though, President Obama’s belief that he can do more as an emissary of peace than a leader of war in the Middle East cannot be discounted and underscored, he is himself an Islam by genes. Pragmatically, this conflict between and among Arabs is rooted by their own selfish interests and malicious application of their Islamic Laws and beliefs.
Lately, several suicide bombings in Iraq have been reported; scores died while attending to job applications and interviews. Called an “ambassador of death” dedicated to its archenemy Israel, Iran announced its un-manned, 620 kph missile bomber that can instantly wreak eternal havoc. Israel still maintains its position to its nuclear power program. Afghanistan is still unstable.
While President Obama believes that his move is brilliant and prudent in dotting the Middle East conflict, this can only be resolved the Arabs themselves. It would make sense if Arab leaders convene and talk among themselves than solicit support from other countries whose interests are always hidden.
Arguably, war has become a strategic business partner of the First World.
The threatening rebellion of Abu Sayyaf in southern Philippines does not only exist; it lives in and among us Filipinos. It has become a system, a culture. It was created during the Marcos regime. President Cory negotiated for peace and somehow slowed down their pace; President Ramos did the same. The intensity of the conflict grew worse. President Erap negotiated for peace and waged offensive war against them. President Arroyo negotiated for peace, but due to series of insurgencies and kidnappings, consequently waged war.
Did any administration win any battle against the Abus?
The answer is no.
For as long as greed rules the historic and the hotly envied Palace by the dirt-stricken Pasig River, war like the Abu’s will never be culminated. Greed breeds discontent; discontent wages war.
Commissioned! Two presidents using the same strategy: Will anyone of them ever succeed in disarming the most hostile breed of separatists and terrorists and win peace over the long-running, stupid war in their respective area of responsibility and ultimately preserve human lives ever after?
In Islam, to kill a non-Islam in the name of Allah and Prophet Mohammad is worth gratitude in heaven.
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
12 September 2010
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - US President Barrack Obama announced that he is firmly and finally ending Iraq war and will move to win peace in the Middle East. He has convened series of peace talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders highlighting the positive but shaky US role as a negotiator.
Should Obama do this?
The answer is yes.
President Obama should do this for political, economic and humanitarian reasons. Political because the moment Obama fails, he may lose the second seat which is far more pressing than ousting the presence of the US in the Mid-East and the Gulf region. Economic because ousting the presence of the US in the area is as pressing and demanding as being dethroned as the world’s economic superpower. Humanitarian because thousands of young and innocent lives have been offered to end this long-running wars, how many more precious lives can be killed due to this highly commercialized and business-propelled, stupid war?
President Noynoy Aquino in his early days in office vowed to end the war against the Abu Sayyaf. Underscoring his hopeful but precarious move, his administration may, according to the press release, resort to charter change just to address objectively the long-running rebellion in the south. Noynoy will employ his own version of peace negotiation process, the same strategy his mother, former President Corazon Aquino introduced during her coup-decorated administration.
Should Noynoy do this?
The answer is yes.
President Noynoy should do ending the armed conflict in the south for political, economic and humanitarian reasons. Political because the ideology of these rebels to separate Mindanao from the Imperial Manila is as absurd as freeing former President Arroyo from graft and corruption charges that never have been decided during her tenure. Economic because insurgencies have slowed down economic activities, shied away foreign investments and drastically aborted the influx of tourists into the country. Humanitarian because thousands of lives have been sacrificed with the aim of ending this long-running cannibalistic and grotesque expression of ideology, and how many more lives, innocent or not, can be fueled to this damaging exercise?
Will the two presidents ever succeed in their respective and individual mission?
I will hold my breath on this!
Former President George Bush’ belief on Iraq as the potential “beacon of liberty in the Middle East” does not seem to make sense anymore. The Iraq war will never be punctuated with full stop, in the same manner as the Israeli-Palestine conflict can’t. Debatably though, President Obama’s belief that he can do more as an emissary of peace than a leader of war in the Middle East cannot be discounted and underscored, he is himself an Islam by genes. Pragmatically, this conflict between and among Arabs is rooted by their own selfish interests and malicious application of their Islamic Laws and beliefs.
Lately, several suicide bombings in Iraq have been reported; scores died while attending to job applications and interviews. Called an “ambassador of death” dedicated to its archenemy Israel, Iran announced its un-manned, 620 kph missile bomber that can instantly wreak eternal havoc. Israel still maintains its position to its nuclear power program. Afghanistan is still unstable.
While President Obama believes that his move is brilliant and prudent in dotting the Middle East conflict, this can only be resolved the Arabs themselves. It would make sense if Arab leaders convene and talk among themselves than solicit support from other countries whose interests are always hidden.
Arguably, war has become a strategic business partner of the First World.
The threatening rebellion of Abu Sayyaf in southern Philippines does not only exist; it lives in and among us Filipinos. It has become a system, a culture. It was created during the Marcos regime. President Cory negotiated for peace and somehow slowed down their pace; President Ramos did the same. The intensity of the conflict grew worse. President Erap negotiated for peace and waged offensive war against them. President Arroyo negotiated for peace, but due to series of insurgencies and kidnappings, consequently waged war.
Did any administration win any battle against the Abus?
The answer is no.
For as long as greed rules the historic and the hotly envied Palace by the dirt-stricken Pasig River, war like the Abu’s will never be culminated. Greed breeds discontent; discontent wages war.
Commissioned! Two presidents using the same strategy: Will anyone of them ever succeed in disarming the most hostile breed of separatists and terrorists and win peace over the long-running, stupid war in their respective area of responsibility and ultimately preserve human lives ever after?
In Islam, to kill a non-Islam in the name of Allah and Prophet Mohammad is worth gratitude in heaven.
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