HOVERING OVER BONN

The entourage that accompanied the late President Corazon Aquino to West Germany in 1989 received immediate lessons in Teutonic respect for law and human rights even before landing on German soil. The PAL plane carrying the Aquino party was hovering over Bonn at 8 a.m. and had to stay aloft for some 30 minutes because of an early morning anti-noise law. German authorities were afraid that a 21-gun salute for President Aquino would wake up Bonn-Cologne residents. A flyover of German jets to welcome Cory was likewise called off because of a noise pollution law.

In her initial contact with German officials and the German press after the usual welcome amenities, the President was peppered with questions about the reported widespread violation of human rights in the Philippines. She was immediately forced into a defensive stance about her regime. She said reports of such violations were the handiwork of her political opponents and the communists in her country.

Inside her, she must have been cursing the day she released Jose Ma. 'Joma' Sison, Filipino Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) chairman, from incarceration after the EDSA revolt. It was the Sison group, based in Utrecht, Holland, which successfully brainwashed the European press about human rights violations by the Aquino regime, described as worse than those under Marcos.

An eye-opener report to many Manilans was the revelation that among those in the Aquino party was resigned Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Philip Juico. If the report was true, it was asked, what in heaven's name was he doing in the delegation? Was it to deliver a message to certain government agencies still bent on prosecuting Juico for complicity in the aborted Garchitorena land scandal in spite of a presidential clearance already given him?

In her official talks with German leaders, President Cory stressed that one of her accomplishments was the dismantling of business monopolies set up during the Marcos regime.

But of course that was only for the consumption of the Germans. As many Filipinos know, she may have done away with the Marcos cronies, but she was helpless in stopping the return of powerful oligarchs demolished by Marcos and the appearance of new cronies (like the Lopezes and their ABS-CBN network), including several others in her administration.

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

FOR OFFICIAL ABUSE ALSO

There is an ugly practice committed by several members of the cabinet, senators, congressmen and top members of the judiciary which needs to be stopped immediately. It is the misuse and abuse of Philippine Air Force (PAF) planes and choppers. These government officials have been guilty of this practice for quite some time now. Many of their out-of-town trips are simply just for the purpose of cutting ribbons and inaugurations for completed public works projects, or even crowning some barrio beauty queens.

Why can't officials take commercial flights? After all, they are entitled to transportation allowance. Or do they take the PAF aircrafts and divert their travel money to their personal use?

Many legislators have complimentary passes from Philippine Air Lines (PAL). And so, it is difficult to understand why they insist on using military aircraft - unless they bring along family members and office staffers when they travel to the provinces.

The PAF should bill these officials for the use of their planes and choppers, not to mention the enormous aviation fuel they have used up to cover their "sightseeing" and pleasure trips. After all, their Countryside Development Fund (CDF) can easily shoulder the costs of their vanity trips. This will be a common scene especially by government-sponsored candidates for the 2010 elections. Watch out for the official offenders again soon.

(Image from http://cdn.wn.com/)

"TAPGAN"

I had the pleasure of a chance meeting with Roberto 'Bobby' Lim recently, a former pilot for Philippine Air Lines (PAL), who went on to be a top executive of the same firm. Captain Lim, now an octogenarian, is a son of the great General Vicente Lim, a distinguished World War II officer and Chief of Staff of the Philippine Army.

After shaking his hand as a farewell gesture, I had wondered after about the brave pilots who fought gallantly against the Japanese forces. One of them was the late General Godofredo Juliano who came from a handful of Philippine fighter pilots under Colonel Jesus Antonio Villamor. He dared to engage the entire Japanese air force when the Japanese invaded the Philippines.

Juliano, along with Cesar Fernando 'Tarzan' Basa was said to have been always the first to be up in the air whenever Japanese planes appeared in Philippine skies and was able to down no less than 10 Japanese Zeros in those dogfights seen and cheered by Pinoys during the early days of the Pacific War. Two other great Filipino pilots were Antonio Bautista and Danilo Atienza.

The ace pilot rose to become vice-commander of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and, just like Captain Lim, a top executive of Philippine Air Lines.

He was, indeed, a real top gun then.

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

CHEAP SEATS BUT THEY DON'T EXIST

Philippine Air Lines, Cebu Pacific, Asian Spirit and Air Philippines have been fooling for some time now the public each time they advertise cheap fares. It really is nothing but a big joke and a dirty scheme to mislead us. When you call, they ALWAYS tell you that the cheap seats are all sold out, which then the person on the other end of the line starts to offer you higher fares. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) should immediately stop this advertising scam, unless of course many of those cheaper seats are reserved for the big shots in government?

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