Pala-isip

From Philstar. Excuse the football terminology: “hat trick” is the best I can describe Beijing’s edgewise diplomacy which pulls out a mutually satisfying outcome from an impossibly annoying situation. China, as is known, has a 4,000-year experience in statecraft. The wisdom shows in this recent complication over the execution of three Filipino drug mules originally scheduled for this week. The complication is entirely the Philippines’ own making. Although we were officially informed in September the executions will happen after due review by China’s supreme court, we still chose to make a grand spectacle about our official pleading for commutation of the sentences. President Aquino then committed two blunders in quick sequence: he admitted to boycotting the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and then linked this to the effort to save the lives of the drug mules. Manila was to be sure, playing to the domestic audience, fearful of a repeat of the turbulence that followed Flor Contemplacion’s exe...

William M. Esposo has a great article on Philstar on how investigations should done in the Philippine Senate, which currently is all about being in the limelight and is really turning into a circus. He said, "This sad development should also teach those who are conducting these legislative hearings that whether guilty or not guilty their resource persons deserve humane and decent treatment. Suspicion does not justify depriving any person of human dignity. Legislators should not be passing judgment or behaving like judge, jury and executioner. If the claim of Robles that Reyes was setup to be a fall guy is neither proved nor debunked, this probe will be haunted by controversy. Reyes is not without genuine admirers. He had a good reputation, especially among his contemporaries in the AFP and the Jaycees, until he shifted allegiance from former president Joseph Estrada, resulting in the ascendancy to presidential power of GMA. The GMA regime became the big blow to the image of Angi...

From Philstar. Things took an unexpected and tragic turn Tuesday morning. Angelo Reyes, decorated soldier and controversial public servant, took his own life with a bullet to the heart. Outwardly tough and battle-scarred, Reyes was among the last persons one would expect to succumb to the temptation of suicide. But the last few weeks have been very severe on the man, the severity magnified by a popular culture entertained by trials by publicity and always ready to believe the worst of the best of men. The son of schoolteachers, Reyes had only known the life of a public servant. From childhood, he maintained a demonstrated passion to excel. Those who knew him well described him as a perfectionist. He took pride at being impeccably at his best. The perfectionist, however, worked in an imperfect system. If the accusations leveled against him are true, the perfectionist succumbed to the imperfections of the system. There was simply too much to gain from the imperfections, too little profit...

Here's more news about Francis Bryan Ang who was reported to have stolen millions from Citibank Binondo. MANILA, Philippines - Manila 3rd district Councilor Bernie Ang on Monday defended his son Francis Bryan Ang, former executive of Citibank who was accused of bank fraud, and stressed that “he is not guilty and not in hiding.” In a statement, Ang guaranteed that his son will face all the accusations “unjustly hurled” against him at the proper time and forum. Ang’s statement came in the wake of reports that Francis is “wanted” for having “stolen” millions of pesos from the bank’s rich Chinese-Filipino clients. “How could he be wanted when there is yet to be a preliminary investigation and no arrest warrant has been issued against him?” the councilor said. Ang said that while his son now fears for his life for going against a big, multi-national company, he gave assurance that Francis is ready to talk about what he knows to prove his innocence. Bryan...

I found this interesting article on the Philippine Star that in certain countries where people have become reliant on rescue groups like "911". They are teaching people to what is called "bystander rescue". Under this setup, laymen are being trained with the assumption that the supposed elite rescue teams are not always helpful in times of disaster. Reigi Cruz, director of the non-government organization Emergency Resource Center Inc., said it was high time that people “learn to be self-reliant and protect themselves.” "Within 72 to 98 hours from the time of impact of a disaster, you only have each other to depend on for help." Cruz told The STAR in an interview. “There’s the mentality that it (disaster) will never happen to me,” Cruz stressed, explaining why the pro-active role of residents in preparing for worst-case scenario has not been so popular in the Philippines. “Everything’s (information) on the Internet and available to the public,” Cruz said. ...

Here is a summary of some news I gathered regarding Typhoon Ondoy that flooded Metro Manila for your information. From the Philippine Daily Inquirer: Marikina needs P1B to rebuild Health officials warn of disease outbreaks 'Ondoy' a preview of more disasters to come -- Atienza 132,000 Meralco customers still without power PDI relief drive: We need food, water, clothes… From The Philippine Star: Relief efforts overwhelmed STAR's 'Ondoy' fund drive on Tomorrow's (Sept 30) classes suspended PAGASA spots new disturbance DTI imposes price ceiling on basic goods Road tax eyed for 'Ondoy' fund