Sangkusing

It is sad to note that it is fashionable for mainstream media to criticize government. Such fashion whether baseless or wise may be meant to cover tolerance of corruption. Basically, the practice is anathema to good governance, especially since most practitioners do not offer alternative positive solutions. If one must criticize, do it constructively.  

   

The call of Kris Aquino is therefore a welcome change. Let us not allow our country to be thrown back into the sea after it has already made an economic beach head.

        "President Aquino led his family and close friends in commemorating the fifth death anniversary of his mother Corazon yesterday, his show biz sister Kris called on the people to “stand by him and give him strength” in the face of controversies hounding his administration.

        Kris appealed to supporters to make her brother feel that “he is not alone” in the fight for good governance and against poverty. The President was silent during the ceremonies.

        “He can’t do it on his own. We need to stand by him and give him strength. And please pray with us also that he stays alive,” Kris said after Mass at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City.

        Kris said they were praying for “good health, wisdom, strength, courage” for their brother, who is reeling from the  controversy over pork barrel funds and the Disbursement Acceleration Program.

         “And I hope those who believe in him will make him feel everyday that he is not alone… Mom, I know you are so proud of your son and in the same way, all of us here right now, we are so proud... really everything he is and you know… we know... we are what we are because of our parents,” Kris said.

        The death of his mother was widely perceived to have boosted Aquino’s presidential bid in 2010.

        In his emotional State of the Nation Address on Monday, Aquino sounded like he was bidding goodbye, observers said.

        The presidential sister said the people should not only make their support felt when Aquino was being criticized “but more importantly in the moments that he is doing good.”

        Kris expressed confidence that a great majority of the people “still really believe” in the President and in his sincerity and achievements.

        The only problem, she said, was that those who were supportive of Aquino were not speaking loud enough.

        Kris said even some people in the media had shown their bias and so she vowed to wear yellow in her television shows to counter them.

        She thanked their spiritual adviser who celebrated the Mass, Fr. Catalino Arevalo SJ, for his guidance and for making them feel “heaven is our ally.”

        “For all of those wearing yellow and those who continue to wear yellow… thank you very, very much and I know that mom is really happy in heaven right now,” Kris said.

        Cory Aquino rose to prominence after the assassination of her husband, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., on Aug. 21, 1983.

        “Five years after Cory’s death, we still see clearly how her life proves that the Filipino is worth living for.” 

Acknowledging excerpts from Boo Chanco’s column on energy:

        “How did we get into this situation? Regulatory capture just about sums it up. Government was just too intimidated to do anything that may be misconstrued as tolerating corruption.

         And it isn’t just the power producers who are intimidating government into inaction. Environmental groups have also caused some big projects already started to stop, as is the case of that Meralco power plant in Subic and the Laguna Lake flood control project.

        The Aquino administration knew in 2010 that we don’t have enough power capacity to allow for reliable supply at reasonable rates. The Department of Energy knew, or at least they should have known, that unless the building of new capacity got started by 2011, blackouts are a strong possibility towards the tail end of their term.

        For an administration that kept on talking about the bullish economic sentiment, thanks to P-Noy daw, they did nothing about power supply. Shades of Tita Cory!

        Now we have new manufacturing locators who want an alternative to Thailand’s floods and political problems. Should they turn back because we have no power?

        The emergency power given to FVR during his time made it easy for him to sign negotiated contracts for new power plants through Napocor. That FVR’s energy boys abused that power to cause us outrageous rates we can’t shrug off up to now, is another story.

        This failure on energy brings us to the doorstep of the ERAP reign.

        Sen. Serge Osmena made an interesting observation with reference to DAP that can also apply to other things including the mess at NAIA. This is what Serge said: “He doesn’t have a good feedback mechanism… he tends to have a cordon sanitaire who are afraid to tell him the truth.”

        I guess P-Noy is too busy to worry about pressing problems that he himself promised to fix. Worse yet, the people around him that he trusts so much tell him all is well in the Philippines and sadly he believes them.

Port operations

        Last Tuesday, PhilSTAR carried a story about the complaint of the president of the Aduana Business Club on slow port operations at the Port of Manila. Some 20 local and international cargo vessels are unable to dock at the POM because of lack of available berthing spaces. Ships have to wait in line to dock and unload cargo.

        A ship able to get a berthing spot would take a long time to discharge containers because no space is available, and trucks are still loaded with empty containers. Sometimes trucks would be carrying these empty container vans for three days to more than a week, so how can they pick up the loaded containers out of the port?

        Vessel operators are rejecting Philippine-bound cargoes. They no longer want to make a port call to the Philippines. Some no longer want to dock at the POM and the MICP… the vessels are avoiding Manila.

        A reader who runs an export company in the Bataan export processing zone confirms the serious problems at POM.  “What I can not understand is why in 2013 the port ran fine and there was no empty container van problem. Was this build up of empty containers caused by the truck ban? “

        And that brings us again to another mess: Metro Manila’s traffic gridlock.

-o0o-

        Looking at all the above headaches for Pnoy, it appears that his administration has no effective forward planning.

        NEDA, which is run by people appointed by the incumbent president, has the PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2011-2016.  According to Wikipedia, PDP 2011-2116 is tasked to do the following:

        “It adopts a framework of inclusive growth, which is high growth that is sustained, generates mass employment, and reduces poverty. With good governance and anticorruption as the overarching theme of each and every intervention, the Plan translates into specific goals, objectives, strategies, programs and projects all the things that we want to accomplish in the medium term.

        Through this Plan, we intend to pursue rapid and sustainable economic growth and development, improve the quality of life of the Filipino, empower the poor and marginalized and enhance our social cohesion as a nation. Our strategic development policy framework thus focuses on improving transparency and accountability in governance, strengthening the macroeconomy, boosting the competitiveness of our industries, facilitating infrastructure development, strengthening the financial sector and capital mobilization, improving access to quality social services, enhancing peace and security for development, and ensuring ecological integrity.

        The Philippine Development Plan will serve as our guide in formulating policies and implementing development programs for the next six years. It enables us to work systematically to give the Filipino people a better chance of finally finding their way out of poverty, inequality, and the poor state of human development.”

        Obviously, NEDA’s PDP should straddle more than the incumbent president’s term to enable government to implement longer range planning. It is also obvious that GMA’s PDP was not considered in the drawing up of P-Noy’s PDP. 

        But that may again lead to charter change, which I dare not touch.

A WORD TO THE WISE IS SUFFICIENT.

        I would imagine all humans have each one’s fetish – an inexplicable attachment to some trivial object or deed. I found mine in my senior years.

        

        Since my wife and I started renovating our bedroom (the first one in 27 years) and vacated the room,  I have been feeling lost without my bamboo back scratcher.

        As soon as I wake up every morning, for the last so many years, I have had the routine of reaching for my back scratcher hanging on the wall beside my bed – and of course I scratch my itchy back and find enough heavenly relief for the day.

        Since I cannot find my back scratcher, I have tried to rub my back against the walls and the door – to no avail. I have asked assistance from my wife, who gave me her comb!??? My grandson assisted me with a hairbrush and tried to do the job for me. His generosity gave me some relief –  in spots – in some other spots, the assistance practically made my skin bleed.

 

        I remember buying this beloved stick from a travelling cart loaded with rattan-bamboo products and pulled by a bull. I also bought from the same salesman a hand-made decorated native dagger with carabao horn handle. I’ve already disposed of this weapon knowing that this is now classified as a deadly weapon. This type of ambulant salesmen has gone out of style and are already banned from the traffic-gridlock of the MetroManila. Hence, I am still looking for my back scratcher.

        Will somebody tell me where I can buy a similar back scratcher? Or what is the 21^st century equivalent of this ancient handy tool? Would you know what your fetish is? Or do you have a human back scratcher?

Life has become quite complicated.

        Last Sunday, after Meralco turned off power in our neighbourhood to fix a transformer, my dear roommate and I were desperately forced to seek cooler climes – we did not have TV to while the time away nor electric fans to move around the 36.4 degree C humid air. We drove to the nearest mall to watch the real-life movie, Heaven is for Real.

        By the time we got a call from home that power has been restored, we were already around P2,000 poorer. On the way home, we passed by an informal settler colony where many half naked people were still milling around oven hot shanties. It gave me an idea of how they fared during the brownout or where they lived. This must be the reason why some children drown in the polluted waters near the bay or nearby waterholes.

        I woke up the following morning refreshed in my self-designed home theatre. Beside me was a remote control gizmo that I am learning to manipulate to allow me to do many things including talking to my daughter in far-away Seattle via the TV monitor. My tablet and desktop are also within my reach. I can smell coffee and toast from the kitchen. This is the life, I thought. My reverie was cut short after I was shown the latest Meralco bill. I quickly turned off the air-conditioner.

        I also now discover that, like many other senior citizens, I have acquired allergies that will allow me to find peace and comfort only via nasal and throat sprays. I also have developed low back pain that is driving me to the Acupunturist. I wonder what other ailments and discomforts are linked to the aging process and what are reversible. I can ask my daughter if and when I can catch her attention. She is a nurse in a federal hospital slaving for dear Uncle Sam 14 hours a day.

        I picked up the newspaper, only to be greeted by a screaming headline about a highly placed government official, who seemed to find solace in the claim that he was being singled out from among so many. Like an unremorseful child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he seemed to say: “Bakit kami lang, sila din – kayo din”.  There is now queuing seeking immunity offered to state witnesses.

        Hurray! At the very least a lot of dirt is being stirred from long-hidden crevices hoping for the chance to finally see the light of day. I hope I can live long enough to see a number of ex-lawmakers populating the the Muntinglupa penitentiary – and not in a hospital, a resort or a military camp.

        A welcome headline announced that US President Obama has vowed to help us in our territorial dispute with our powerful neighbor. Another good news is the announcement that The United Nations has acknowledged that the 13-million hectare potentially resource-rich Benham Rise on the Pacific Ocean side of Luzon is exclusively Philippine territory.

        I still have to open an email from a friend entitled “Running out of Time” with a video explaining what is the possible cause of climate change. I sense this email will divert me from my comfort zone. So, before I open the mail . . . 

        Let me thank the Lord. Heaven must really be for real.

        For the last 60 or so years, I have been always gentlemanly. In my recent sojourns to the malls and public places, I was practically being pushed to walk ahead of my lady companions in walkways, escalators and elevators – to make me realize that I have become a weak senior citizen. I was also being offered the use of a walking stick! I look at the mirror and I understand.

        The changing of the guard has started. I am no longer in command physically, emotionally psychologically and perhaps, even economically.

        The 3 ladies that I have allowed to bully me around are my wife and my 2 daughters. I refuse to be pushed around by anyone else. Especially pushy is my 11-year old grandson, who does the easy route of getting his way by giving me a bear hug, which he learned from his jujitsu lessons.

        I have seen too many dear people leave this world, too soon; before ​ they even understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

        Only my dear roommate cares if I choose to watch TV, read or play on the computer​ until 4 AM, or sleep until noon the next day.  With the accompaniment of youtube, I sing to the nostalgic tunes of the 50s, 60s & 70s and undying songs of the original Ateneo Glee Club..

        I know I have become forgetful. But then again, some sad episodes of my life are just as well forgotten.  And those worth remembering, I eventually remember, especially with the help of my friend Google.

        Sure, over the years, I have known deep heartbreak. But broken hearts are ​ what give us strength, and understanding, and compassion. A heart ​never broken, is pristine, and sterile, and will never know the joy of being human.

        I am so blessed to have lived long enough to allow my head to go bald, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep ​ furrows on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died ​ before their hair could turn silver.

        As one gets older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore.  I even ​ think I've earned the right to be wrong.

        I like being old because age has set me free. I ​like the unobtrusive person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but ​ while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have ​ been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall dance and run every time I feel like it – until, of course, I feel the huffing and puffing and the weakness in my legs.