WILLIE OF IMPORTUNE

While the nation stood still as it said goodbye to a dame of democracy, an icon of immorality insulted the former's funeral cortege simultaneously aired on his noontime show Wowowee as an inset on nationwide TV, displaying absolute disrespect and arrogance as he complained for such. He didn't find it appropriate that his hypnotized fanatics would be viewing the pre-burial procession of Mrs. Aquino at the same time he was acting his usual day after day behavior, wantonly insulting our womenfolk with his sexual innuendos, while likewise promoting mendicancy to his contestants, each competing against each other with the most tragic and saddest misfortunes in life - in exchange for a dollar dole-out or a a peso-prize, and then invisibly patting himself on his back for a noble deed well done for the day, unmindful and uncaring with the damaging precedent it always delivers.

Willie Revillame is a monster that ABS-CBN has assembled from cheap scrap metal, in the hope of turning him into fine gold, and then into a goldmine too. And in achieving that, here is an example that not all that's gold glitters. And sure enough, whatsoever it soweth, it reapeth. Its owners and its talents like Revillame must never forget that if it weren't for Corazon Aquino, their station would, to this day, still be a huge bodega for antiquated teleprompters and TV cameras. It was right after the 1986 EDSA people's revolt that ABS-CBN received its second birth, after many years of "off the air" status courtesy of the Marcos regime's iron grip on press freedom. By now, they should have learned their lessons that they could be switched off again by an irate citizenry who demand its deserved respect and moral uprightness. It's now obvious that 'faux-bonhommes' like Revillame and his network bosses are willing to sacrifice morality and wholesome programs in exchange for ratings and profit. Wowowee is simply a euphemism for those sleazy establishments along Quezon Avenue, a day-time version of the night-time shows there, and is it a coincidence that these joints are a stone's throw away from kapamilya kingdom? I wonder, does Big Brother who tolerates not any form of wrongdoing have anything to say about this?

I am tired of seeing Revillame apologize before a nationwide telecast after making an ass's ass of himself with his verbal diarrhea. He seems to have made the practice of a public apology a convenient way out for him, after doing so a few times, with matching crocodile tears and a pachydermic long face. Another apology from him this time must be deemed lacking and insufficient. Both the MTRCB and ABS-CBN must act decisively and now focus towards a genuine attempt at bringing good, family-based wholesome programs on air. They should always bear in mind that a huge number of their viewers and subscribers are the young generation, and if these media do nothing day in and day out but pass on the wrong values to our youth by way of unregulated filthy programs like Wowowee, then our youth is in for some big-time moral bankruptcy.

It's time to borrow the Marcos regime's spirit of censorship and erase for good this program once and for all. And as for this Willie of Importune, he has made his pile and can always return to playing the drums in one of those places along neighboring Quezon Avenue.

(Image from http://www.mukamo.com/)

A DIFFERENT APPROACH COULD WORK

"Fishes live in the sea, as men do on land; the great ones eat up the little ones." - Sulu proverb

Living by the implications of the Sulu proverb has enabled Muslim Filipinos to survive over 300 years of military and political efforts by the Spaniards, Americans and Christian Filipinos to subdue them. The little fish have to be swifter and smarter than the big ones to survive.

The mighty Americans were the most frustrated at the grit and tenacity of the little fish from Mindanao. To crush the Muslim resistance, Washington sent General Leonard Wood, the Indian fighter, who defeated Geronimo and his Chiricahua Apaches, and who, with Teddy Roosevelt, founded the "Rough Riders" of the Spanish-American War.

When he took over as commanding general in Mindanao, he sternly told the sultans: "I am going to be frank with you. At present, your rights as a nation are nothing. I believe we are here forever unless some greater country comes and drives us away, and we do not know of any such country."

But General Wood changed his clenched-fist policy after years of fierce Muslim resistance. He began a softer approach which recognized Muslim laws and customs. In effect, he admitted the failure of the military approach to govern Mindanao. But the continuing attempts by the "Christian majority" to exploit and humble the Muslim minority prevail even to this day.

And perhaps, Bayani Fernando is correct in saying that infrastructure in Mindanano is the key to peace and harmony amongst Christians and Muslims. The sad news for Mr. Fernando is that the Muslims are believed not to be too fond of the color pink.

(Image from http://en.wikipilipinas.org/)

THOSE BUNKERS BY THE PASIG

There is much speculation over that PhP100 million bullet-proof building in Malacanang that was built during the Aquino presidency, that the building will soon be refurbished in preparation for the people's wrath in the event President Arroyo decides to hang on to power beyond 2010. The building will have enough room to provide shelter for the President, her family and her select few. That mystery building is reported to have underground bunkers which are not only bullet-proof but also bomb-proof.

The bunkers would be where President Arroyo would make a last stand should a new group of military putschists succeed in penetrating the Palace, and should the people begin to storm Malacanang in a civil war.

Some of Arroyo's advisers may have been studying the Third Reich under Adolf Hitler who built the Feuhrerbunker in his Chancellery where he, Eva Braun and his trusted staff and a favorite German shepherd made their last stand as the Russians poured into Berlin and where they all committed suicide rather than surrender to the enemy.

This Gotterdammerung talk resulting from the secrecy of the building is a grim forecast of the worst scenario and should be discouraged. This could be achieved if only Palace officials were not so mysterious about the edifice. Are they really hiding something other than the enormous sum that was spent for such a seemingly useless building?

Any which way, it does appear that the building is to be reconstructed and reinforced because Palace officials have already began to fear the people and have taken steps to protect themselves if and when their boss breaks another promise not to seek another term - in case angry and hungry hordes begin to storm the Palace.

And again the choice narrows, as leaders are chased by the people like the mobs in Russia and France, between fight and flight.

(Image from http://vistapinas.com/)

RENAMING CLARK

In 1898, the United States grabbed from the Aetas an area known later on as Clark Air Base - to be used as grazing area for the horses of the U.S. Cavalry. When the place was given back to the Philippines some years ago, its condition after the Mount Pinatubo eruption was worse than what it was in 1898.

"They didn't even clean it up," laments a flustered Philippine Air Force officer who attended the turn-over rites then. It would do well for us to return the land to the Aetas who owned it in the first place. And while at it, why not propose Clark Air Base to be renamed after a prominent Filipino - the late Justice Jose Abad Santos who hailed from Pampanga, before some sneaky Malacanang apologist throws a suggestion to rename it to another person who hails from the same province - or worse, to 'Bong Pineda Resort & Casino,' or 'Lito Lapid Stud Farm.'

Abad Santos was executed by the Japanese because he refused to cooperate with them by serving in the civilian government formed by the invaders. One of the outstanding officials in the Quezon era, the justice led an exemplary life.

(Image from http://upolad.wikimedia.org/)

BULLION

Hazardous Duty, a book by retired General John K. Singlaub, a trusted adviser of the Republican Party, confirms that the late President Ferdinand Marcos had a gold hoard worth US$12 billion. The gold, Singlaub says, came from treasures confiscated from Japanese military officers, and not from "skimmed-off" U.S. aid.

Singlaub said he had participated in efforts to locate the Marcos gold bullions when he accepted a consultancy with Nippon Star, a treasure-salvage group headed by a reputable couple surnamed Harrigan.

Singlaub said Nippon Star had documents to show upwards of 300 tons of bullion and other gold that had been buried in the Philippines by the Japanese military, which had looted the national treasures, private banks and temple complexes in Hong Kong, Burma, IndoChina and the Dutch East Indies. The treasure hoard was sent to the Philippines because Tokyo planned to make the Philippines a colony. General Tomoyuki Yamashita dispersed the treasure in 172 carefully chosen sites, and an elite team of geologists and engineers came from Tokyo to bury the gold. All the sites were disguised. All were protected by several layers of booby-traps. One underwater site in Calatagan Bay was a shaft blasted 70 feet deep into a coral reef. According to Japanese records, 5 tons of gold bullion and several barrels of precious stones were buried there.

Somehow, the shrewd Marcos was able to get the Yamashita treasure by arresting American, Japanese and Filipino treasure hunters and confiscating the treasures they found. But Marcos was able to rake off only a dozen or so of the biggest sites, leaving well over a hundred untouched.

Singlaub said the Nippon Star operations failed because they committed a tactical error of concentrating on the Calatagan site. The firm ran out of money and he returned to the U.S., convinced there are still billions of dollars worth of the Yamashita treasure lying around in the Philippines. He said the Nippon Star operations were known to the Aquino government which gave its permission for the group to locate the Marcos gold hoard. A percentage of the find would of course have to be given to the Aquino government.

I don't know about you, but I think I'm taking scuba diving lessons soon.

(Image from http://asianpacificpost.com/)

ONCE A MEDDLER . . .

There must be another group somewhere out there more credible than the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL). With the 2010 elections just 'round the corner, I dread the thought that Comelec will again deputize the NAMFREL and another equally-partisan group - the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV). Both groups have such well-sounding nomenclatures, but that's really just about it. Legions were disappointed with the way their leaders manipulated the NAMFREL to suit many of their politico friends. A considerable number of those are still in high positions to this day.

These groups have been suspected of meddling in past elections to favor those candidates preferred by its leaders. Hence, once a meddler, always a meddler.

The NAMFREL was a brainchild of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the fifties, when it helped secure the election of then Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay as President. The CIA played dirty tricks on Senator Claro M. Recto, a third-party candidate in the 1953 elections, whom it suspected of being sympathetic to the leftists.

Colonel Edward Lansdale, who closely worked with Filipinos in and out of government who were identified with the right, was instrumental in the creation of NAMFREL. Lansdale later worked in Vietnam, using many of the tactics that worked in the Philippines.

Surely, the nation deserves credible institutions to ensure the sanctity of the ballot.

(Image from http://blogs.gmanews.tv/)

ABUSIVE ARMORED-VANS AND AN AMERICAN CRY-BABY

Coming back home today, I witnessed an ordinary, everyday traffic altercation involving an armored van and a taxicab, and what looked like a simple 'gitgitan' case turned out quite ugly soon as one of the guards alighted from the van and positioned himself to poke his shotgun at the cabbie - in the midst of several onlookers. By the looks of it, I'd say the armored van was at fault, having counter-flowed his way at the inconvenience of many motorists on that narrow service road. Was he in a hurry, I thought - on a sluggish Sunday?

Indeed, drivers of armored vans have acquired a deserved reputation of being arrogant and reckless. I remember several years ago, one of them tangled with the wrong guy, when he ignored and ran over a man who was directing traffic on one fine busy day in one of the major thoroughfares in Makati. The man turned out to be the late former Vice-Mayor Arturo 'Toro' Yabut.

That incident subjected the youthful city official to hobble around on crutches for just a few months, but he said this won't deter him from cracking down on abusive drivers of armored vans, who justify their mindless recklessness by saying they simply want to avoid street-holdups.

And that wasn't the last we heard of our good friend Toro directing traffic. Some months after that, right after shedding those creaky crutches, an incident between him and an American motorist over a traffic violation occured, which could have sent our two countries at war with each other. Well, seriously, it led to a bad precedent. The American provoked the incident by violating a traffic rule while Yabut was directing traffic. The former flashed a dirty finger sign at Yabut when the latter tried to apprehend him.

The US embassy, claiming Yabut mauled the American, filed a diplomatic protest with the Philippine government. Yabut was subsequently ordered suspended for 60 days by then Interior and Local Government Secretary Raffy Alunan.

Because of this, it won't be a surprise if local government officials have now been lax and toothless in enforcing the law if it involves a foreigner, especially an American. Would the local officials now dare to enforce traffic, anti-pollution, zoning, health, anti-littering, anti-jaywalking and other ordinances against Americans, who might just run to the US embassy for help?

Well, at least it cannot be said that the US embassy does not look after and take care of their own people no matter if they're right or wrong.

Can you imagine the Philippine embassy in Washington filing a diplomatic protest on behalf of a Pinoy involved in a traffic incident along Pennsylvania Avenue? Well, I didn't think so either.

(Image from http://farm1.static.flickr.com/43/79748052_6389972b04.jpg?v=0)