Cebu, if we dont act against Sulpicio, blood will be in our hands

Revolting that many Cebuanos particularly businessmen and even church leaders are pressuring government to lift Sulpicio's suspension. We have never learned from the past marine disasters of Sulpicio that claimed thousands of lives. The poor who are forced to take the boat deserve protection. While their pockets are shallow, while they contribute less to bug businesses bottomline, they too are human beings. Lives are at stake here. Let's not allow money to rule our way of thinking.

I can all fellow Cebuanos, let us unite against Sulpicio's brazen act of profiteering.

Editorial
Sucking up to Sulpicio

Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—The aggressiveness of Sulpicio Lines only goes to show that we do not have the rule of law, only the rule of lawyers. The shipping line has lashed out by filing suits and motions before the courts, to keep investigators at bay and tie up potential critics in litigation. Everyone knows the sports dictum that a good defense is a good offense, but this is ridiculous: Sulpicio is trying to dribble itself out of any accountability.

To God alone belongs the blame, Sulpicio says, and on its side it has, as proof positive of divine exculpation, the moral endorsement of one of God's very own shepherds. Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, filled with Christian concern for the poor little rich Go family, the owners of Sulpicio, hopped over to tug at President Macapagal-Arroyo's skirt to give a little concession to keep the Gos from starving to death. It was, of course, no little concession that the bishop was interceding, with child-like innocence, to obtain. For what the President conceded, as a result of Pueblos' pastoral concern, was for Sulpicio to be allowed to continue the mainstay of its operations: cargo shipping.

The Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Cebu added the weight of Mammon to the intercession of God's shepherd, by endorsing Pueblos' request. The businessmen didn't specifically endorse Pueblos, of course (it would be too patently a commercial conspiracy to do so), but in essence, they endorsed the Butuan prelate's logic by pleading financial hardship for themselves. If they were deprived of access to Sulpicio's cargo holds, it would be catastrophic for themselves and thus for all Cebuanos. To borrow Louis XIV's phrase, the province is ourselves.

The Butuan bishop appealing for presidential clemency, echoed by the commercial sector declaring humanity is secondary to their bottom line, all points to a culture that confuses one's own interests with the public good. In this, public officials are no different from the bishop and the Gos' commercial chums.

The Gos, after all, had already obtained the satisfaction of witnessing Cebu's congressmen ganging up on government bureaucrats instead of zeroing in on the shipping firm. The Gos, after all, are among the movers and shakers in the island province, thus clergy, merchants and officialdom are merely protecting one of their own. The appeals made by clergy and business councils, combined with the alacrity with which Cebuano congressmen focused on national government agencies while forgetting to take to task a prominent commercial family from their province, show that the bottom line will trump social justice every time.

To borrow a line from Inquirer columnist Randy David, the reason all this can happen, of course, is that the public allows it, following the lead of our very own institutions. Officialdom has known all along that our weather bureau is understaffed, under-funded and ill-equipped; government officials know we have no real Coast Guard to speak of; and maritime insiders have long been grumbling about the head of Marina being a know-nothing do-nothing who owed his job to crony influence. And yet Congress is shocked--shocked!--at it all.

And the public? It had trusted its loved ones to a shipping line expected to have learned the lessons of its tragic past; and to authorities meant to keep commercial greed in check. And now that it wants to recover their dead and give them the benefit of Christian burial--and an answer, at least, as to how and why their loved ones died, Sulpicio responds by unleashing a storm of court cases and injunctions, and a list of bureaucratic requirements to tie up families with red tape for a generation to come. If Sulpicio must pay, it will only do so after it has maximized interest on its insurance payoffs.

The public, in the end, is all bark and no bite. No one, it seems, is prepared to deprive Sulpicio of income to pressure it into at least submitting to a thorough investigation and the kind of management shakeup that should be the minimum fallout from a tragedy of this scale.

After reading this, will Cardinal Vidal still allow Sulpicio to sail?

Earlier, our good Cardinal of Cebu, His Emminence was quoted in the local papers having assked government to allow Sulpicio to set sail. I hope he was misquoted.

Editorial
MV Scandalous

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:35:00 07/14/2008

MANILA, Philippines- The list of accidents Sulpicio Lines has figured in makes for chilling reading. According to Lloyd’s of London, Sulpicio ships have been involved in 45 accidents since 1980, including seven sinkings. (The complete list can be downloaded as a file at http://www.inquirer.net/verbatim/table.pdf.)

The seventh, of course, was the sinking of MV Princess of the Stars last month, at the height of typhoon “Frank.” Lloyd’s, the world’s leading clearinghouse of maritime information, estimated the casualty toll of the latest accident at “150 dead and 700 missing.”

Each death, each missing person claim, was avoidable, if government authorities or the shipping line’s management itself had recognized the company’s safety record for what it was: a scandal, an outrage. We have raised this question before, we raise it again: If an airline had this kind of record, would it still be in business?

We do not need to dwell on the seven engine-trouble accidents involving three ships. (We cannot but note, however, that one stalled ship, the Filipina Princess, was “stranded for 3 days.”)

The record of fires breaking out on board is a little more worrying. Four of the six incidents happened in the last eight years; a fire struck the ill-fated Princess of the Orient several months before the ship capsized (in the middle of a storm); in 2003 a fire on the Iloilo Princess was so severe it caused the ship to roll over. No casualties were reported then, but the vessel was declared a total loss.

The record of Sulpicio ships running aground is even more disturbing. In 28 years, the firm has suffered 19 groundings, including four ships that sustained so much damage they were subsequently declared a total loss. At least two ships ran aground during typhoons. One ran aground and caught fire.

The record of collisions does not build confidence either. A Sulpicio Lines vessel has collided with another ship six times since 1992; a collision has occurred every two or three years.

It is the record of sunk ships, however, that proves that Sulpicio Lines does not deserve its franchise. In particular, the sinking of three ships in the middle of a typhoon—one every 10 years, quite literally—tells us that the shipping company has failed the basic test of common carriers. To assure the safety of its passengers.

We’ve said this before; we’ll say it again. After Doña Marilyn sank in 1988, while sailing in the middle of a typhoon (“Ruby”) and claiming 150 lives, and after Princess of the Orient sank in heavy seas in 1998 (during typhoon “Vicki”) and claiming 150 lives, why did Sulpicio allow its flagship Princess of the Stars to set sail in the middle of typhoon “Frank”?

Its safety record should have told Sulpicio to wait the storm out. (As we’ve noted, at least two other Sulpicio vessels were involved in an accident while sailing during a typhoon.) Its failure to do so can only mean that having the worst accident record among the country’s major shipping lines did not mean a thing to Sulpicio management. If they got away with murder before, what’s another storm, another sinking?

It is true that suspending Sulpicio’s franchise would cause some economic dislocation, but that is the price we have to pay, the price we should have paid many years and thousands of lives ago, to protect the public. That we seem to lack the political will to do so (as we wrote yesterday and we write again today) “all points to a culture that confuses one’s own interests with the public good.”

Sulpicio, you can fool us once, twice but never all the time

Sulpicio sues PAGASA for inaccurate weather forecasting
By Allison Lopez, Katherine Evangelista
Philippine Daily Inquirer, INQUIRER.net
First Posted 17:26:00 06/30/2008

MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) Sulpicio Lines Inc. filed a P3-million civil damage suit against the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration for allegedly giving inaccurate weather forecast on typhoon Frank (international codename: Fengshen).

SULPICIO WAS ABLE GET OFF THE HOOK FOR THE SINKING OF MV DONA PAZ, MV DONA MARILYN and MV PRINCESS OF THE ORIENT. THEY THINK BY FILING A CASE AGAINST PAGASA THEY CAN CREATE REASONABLE DOUBT LEADING TO AN ACQUITTAL .

ACCORDING TO A RECENT EDITORIAL OF THE PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER "on Oct. 29, 1988 the Board of Marine Inquiry absolved Sulpicio Lines of any responsibility in the sinking of the MV Doña Paz and found MT Vector at fault. In 1992, a Manila regional trial court held Sulpicio Lines “solely responsible” for the accident and ordered it to pay P1.2 million to the heirs of two victims. In 1996, the Court of Appeals absolved Sulpicio Lines of any liability and laid the blame on Vector and Caltex Philippines, which had leased the tanker. In September 2006 the Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling ordering Sulpicio Lines to pay P14.9 million to the family of an engineer who died in the sinking of the MV Doña Paz.

In the case of MV Doña Marilyn, the Board of Marine Inquiry said the disaster was due to force majeure or “an act of God,’’ and held no one responsible. In September 2000, the Department of Justice dropped the criminal case against Sulpicio Lines in connection with the sinking of MV Princess of the Orient, saying that it could not be held criminally responsible for the accident.

LET US NOT ALLOW SULPICIO TO GO SCOT FREE. TELL YOUR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS TO BE VIGILANT. AS I SAID BEFORE AND I WILL SAY IT AGAIN, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

In praise of David Diaz, Manny Pacquiao's latest knockout victim

Here is the transcript of David Diaz interview after he was floored by Manny Pacquiao. Truly a world class boxer and sportsman, worthy of praise.

Jim Lampley: ... a moment of great sportmanship here. David there was a moment between rounds that you said to your trainor Jim Strickland: "I can handle his punches, he's just too fast." Was that basically the story of the fight?

David Diaz: Yeah, he was too fast. The fucker was too fast.

Jim Lampley: Did you have any idea coming here that he would be that way?

David Diaz: No, I actually saw him on tape and I was like "Yeah, I could deal with that speed," you know. The power was the one I was worried about. But he was too fucking too fast man. Fast, fast, fast.

Jim Lampley: Amazingly fast.

David Diaz: Fast. I though Freddie was in there hitting me too.

Jim Lampley: Hahaha...

David Diaz: Well, you go to the fight, you go in and you risk it. Well, with a guy like this Manny, shit, at least I can say that I fought a good fighter man. And that's all I want. I want to fight. That's it.

Jim Lampley: You got cut in the nose, I think, in the first round. By the 2nd or 3rd round, a cut above your eye appeared. Obviously, Jimmy was trying to do everything to stop, but the blood kept coming. How much did that bother you during the fight?

David Diaz: No, it didn't bother me at all. I thought, he has a knife with him though. I thought he was cutting me a blade. 'Cause he was fast, he was faster than what I expected. I could deal with the power, but it was the speed was more than I thought it was. And I got tricked by his speed.

Jim Lampley: All right, Floyd Mayweather has retired, the argument is who's the best pound for pound fighter in the world now? Is it Pacquiao, is it Joe Calzaghe, is it maybe rising superstar Miguel Cotto. After what you saw tonight, is there really an argument?

David Diaz: Well, yeah, I'm not going to say he's not, he just beat me man. He's good, he's fucking good, my hats go off to him, we went in there, I fought and I gave it my all, and his speed is just a fucking, that thing that sealed it for me. His speed is too uncontrollable. My hats off to him, he's a good fighter and you know, what else can I say? We lost today, tommorow we'll win.

LET'S CLOSE SULPICIO. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

PLEASE TELL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO PRESSURE GOVERNMENT TO REVOKE SULPICIO'S FRANCHISE. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. TOO MANY DEATH IN THE PAST 20 YEARS. YOUR LOVED ONE MIGHT BE NEXT IN THE HANDS OF SULPICIO.

Editorial
Another sea tragedy

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:34:00 06/23/2008

"If Sulpicio Lines were a human being, it would be considered a “recidivist.” It has not been sanctioned and made to pay enough for the big toll in terms of lives lost in the three worst maritime disasters in the country since 1987. On Oct. 29, 1988 the Board of Marine Inquiry absolved Sulpicio Lines of any responsibility in the sinking of the MV Doña Paz and found MT Vector at fault. In 1992, a Manila regional trial court held Sulpicio Lines “solely responsible” for the accident and ordered it to pay P1.2 million to the heirs of two victims. In 1996, the Court of Appeals absolved Sulpicio Lines of any liability and laid the blame on Vector and Caltex Philippines, which had leased the tanker. In September 2006 the Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling ordering Sulpicio Lines to pay P14.9 million to the family of an engineer who died in the sinking of the MV Doña Paz.

In the case of MV Doña Marilyn, the Board of Marine Inquiry said the disaster was due to force majeure or “an act of God,’’ and held no one responsible. In September 2000, the Department of Justice dropped the criminal case against Sulpicio Lines in connection with the sinking of MV Princess of the Orient, saying that it could not be held criminally responsible for the accident.

What all these cases, including the latest tragedy, indicate is that there is a very low regard for the value of human life, a very loose and relaxed set of rules on clearances for sailing, and possible irregularities in the issuance of such clearances."

No solid proof against GMA. Media reports say she is "guilty as charged".

It’s been several weeks since J-Lo, the "probinsyanong instik" told the Senate about how he tried to "moderate their greed".

He narrated how President Arroyo and his husband Mike is the top recipient of the billions of pesos of kickback from ZTE for the NBN project. At this time J-Lo is going around the major university campuses trying to look like a hero and exciting the youth about the possibility of another people power. The youth who were too young to have joined Edsa one and two are now being aroused with the possibility that this time around they can be at the forefront of bringing down a sitting president.

What worries me is how we as a country get easily swayed by theatrical expose of corruption. Despite the absence of solid proof that can stand up in the court of law we tend to base our judgment on tear jerking whistleblowers.

As a public relations practitioner, I know there is what is called the court of public opinion where you can be found guilty before proven innocent. Here in this court, for the longest time, GMA and his minions have been successively found guilty before proven innocent.

I think it is because we are so convinced about the existence of corruption in high places. I think it is because we also see proof of corruption even in our own barangays. That is why when GMA, his husband or a member of her administration is accused of receiving kickbacks, without solid evidence, the public immediately believe it’s true.

In this situation, I hope the media should play its role as the bulwark of our democracy. Instead of riding on the political roller coaster the media should work double time to help us see what is fiction and non-fiction.

Sadly, the media is so concerned about ratings that they tend to go where the wind blows. They would rather join the chorus of the civil society, some holier-than-thou bishops and the opposition in urging us to search for truth.

While they are marshalling us to search for the truth we are already hearing a clarion call for GMA to step down. Is this not double-speak? This is where media should come in. They should be able to help us decode what the opposition is telling us. In this way we can hand the right verdict. Not just move towards what the opposition wants us to do. Instead, what our nation deserves.

GMA must not resign. Protest against corruption must continue.

Amidst the ZTE scandal I decided against throwing my two cents into the murky political well. First, I do not want to let go of my last two silver coins. Second, the political noise is so discordant that I think it's wise to just keep mum.

In the 1986 Edsa revolt and in the Estrada impeachment I was one with the people who opted for change. This time I chose to sit it out and wait for the dust to settle. I don't want to brand my fence-sitting as a sign of resignation that things will stay the same and that corruption will continue to eat up our political life.

But tell me, when the people booted out Marcos and installed Cory Aquino was corruption stabbed to death? Was cronyism demolished? Duh, there was "kamag-anak incorporated" during Tita Cory’s presidency. After Erap fell from power and was later convicted for plunder, the church, civil society, the left and the right banded together to catapult President Gloria Arroyo to the highest office of the land. The communal hope was for her to lead the eradication of corruption in government.

But, what happened to our nation after Edsa Dos. GMA's administration since then until now continues to be rocked by scandal after scandal. In fact, gone are the days when we hear about 100 million pesos of loot. Now were hearing stories about billions of pesos of kickback.

I don't think GMA and her cabals are solely to blame for the continued wanton plunder of our country’s meager wealth. In fact, I don't think Erap was totally to blame for the massive corruption in his time. The Marcos dictatorship destroyed our nation's moral fabric. It eradicated this country's sense of right and wrong. When Cory took over, the government leaders whom she worked with during her reign were lured to the same corruption that Marcos practiced for 20 years.

The poor sensing the futility of their predicament continues to beg from every politician. The politicos whose lust for power is unprecedented will not hesitate to steal from the government coffers to feed the poor and deepen their own pockets.

GMA must not resign. It will not solve corruption. Whoever will replace GMA in the unlikely event she will be booted out of power will be forced to dip his or her fingers in the well of corruption.

The problem is not solely with our leaders. The problem is the state of disrepair of our political system. The problem is also with the church, the civil society, the left and the right.

Unfortunately, senators with ambition, many men and women of the cloth together with civil society and the left all claim to have the sole bragging rights to moral ascendancy.

GMA must not succumb to mob rule but let the protest action against corruption in government, church and society in general continue.

Banning cameras inside Perpetual Succour Hospital is futile

I visited a loved one confined at Perpetual Succour Hospital. Like any visitor of that hospital, I had to pass through a security check. (It feels safe to see security guards conduct routine inspection). I was carrying a bag with a digital camera in it. At that time it never dawned on me that camera's are prohibited inside the hospital building. I breezed through the security check as I readily submitted my bag for inspection.

The next day I went to the same hospital. Again, I brought with me a camera. This time however, the security guard on duty stopped me on my tracks. He would not let me inside the hospital until I return the camera I was carrying inside my car. He explained that the hospital management prohibits the entry of any camera inside Perpetual Succour Hospital.

Since I was talking with someone on my cell phone, I did not bother to insist to the guard on duty that the night before I was allowed by another security personnel to get in despite bringing with me a digital camera. I just made a u turn to my car and left my canon eos 400D there.

When I returned to the entrance of the hospital after leaving behind my camera, I decided to confront the guard. I wanted to tell him that the night before I was allowed entry to the hospital even after a security guard saw me carrying a digital camera. I went on to tell the guard on duty to inform the hospital management that some of their security personnel are not consistent in implementing the rule against bringing a camera inside the hospital premises.

In this time and age, it is nearly impossible to disallow people from bringing a camera inside a building. Practically all cell phones are equipped with a camera. If Perpetual Succour Hospital is indeed serious in imposing a ban on camera inside their building for whatever reason then they should not allow anyone even with a camera phone enter their building.

But, if you stand near the entrance of Perpetual Succour Hospital building you will be amazed at how the security guards allow anyone with a camera phone enter their building premises.

I suggest that the hospital management rethink their clearly outdated rule against the bringing of camera inside Perpetual Succour Hospital.

When it is not black or white it is grey. But is there really a grey area?

I am perpetually amazed by this opinion maker's penchant to be more popish than the pope. My presumption is that he is losing his grip on the ratings game because he pretends to be the only person on earth who is right and the others are all wrong. In other words his listeners have started to turn their backs on him since he only looks at life either as black or white. No grey area.

One night, I had coffee with two close media buddies in Davao. Our conversation drifted towards the question whether there is such a thing as "grey area". When asked, I answered in the affirmative with the thought that only people like the broadcaster I earlier described do not believe on the existence of a grey area.

Yet, it struck me when one of the two respected Davao journalists pointed out that "there is only right and wrong, nothing in between...no grey area". My writer friend stressed that "if it is not right then it is wrong".

After that coffee talk, I started to scan the web for more insights on the meaning of "grey area". I stumbled upon the word "moral relativism". In sum in means morality is relative to the cultural, social, personal or historical background of the person.

As a Catholic I acknowledged the existence of a Divine Being. I believe God is "the way, the truth and the life. He who believes in Him shall never die". So, in the back of my mind, I know there is only one truth and that is God. But, as a public relations practitioner I am subjected to many truths (Is there really many truths?) This has led me to become a little relative about what is the truth. (I am not trying to point out here that I peddle lies as truth that is why I have become less judgmental about the truth.)

As a communicator I always try to be more understanding to both sides. In my struggle to please others I fool myself into believing that there is indeed a "grey area" when there is none.

The plain truth is that there is only right and wrong. When you are wrong you are not right and when you are right you are not wrong. Nothing in between. Just like there is only an absolute God. One true God.

My only reason that I would like to believe that there is a “grey area” is that I don’t want to be judgmental. I would rather that man be allowed to use his free will whether he is right or wrong.

Trillanes failed "power grab", Makati standoff now lost in translation

The overriding message of the Makati standoff led by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig Gen. Danilo Lim was CHANGE.

There is moral bankruptcy in each and every social stratum. Corruption is in epidemic proportion in our country.

It is time to call for an honest to goodness moral revolution. It must start from each and every one of us, Filipinos. This moral revolution is not just for politicians, businessmen, church leaders but also for those in the middle class and the downtrodden.

The Philippines is in dire need of CHANGE. There is a "social volcano" waiting to erupt. If nothing is done about it, chaos will ensue. A civil war might not be farfetched.

Unfortunately, Trillanes, Lim and their cohorts the Magdalo group, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Bishop Julio Labayen, Fr. Robert Reyes and former University of the Philippines president Francisco Nemenzo Jr. garbled the message of CHANGE when they holed up at the Manila Peninsula to demand the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

When the police rammed the entrance of the plush hotel with an armored personnel carrier and hauled journalist covering the failed "rebellion", the media too lost its focus. Instead of homing in on the message of CHANGE, opinion writers and commentators are now talking about how their colleagues were manhandled by government forces out to restore law and order.

The message of CHANGE was lost in translation. We all failed to clearly process the situation because self interest came into play. The supporters of President Arroyo came up with there own message. The opposition also had their own message. The media too talked about their own predicament.

The crux of the matter here is that there is an unseen but clearly felt social unrest. This is because of the fact that our country is hounded by massive corruption and moral bankruptcy.

While we all whine over a decadent society, the businessmen who are experiencing economic stability, the middle class who are able to make both ends meet, the politicians who are recipients of "grease money" all refuse to rock the boat.

We should all focus on CHANGE. It must start from within.

Churchmen, CBCP shut up! Lead by example instead of just criticizing Arroyo

I think Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's presidency is hanging on the balance. I would like to believe that she is hard working and is doing a pretty good job in the economic front. But the lady president's administration is morally bankrupt. No question about it.

What is disturbing is the way the opposition and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) are behaving amidst the possibility of an eruption of a "social volcano".

Instead of providing a beacon of hope and encouraging the country to unite, fight moral bankruptcy and even poverty, the opposition and the Catholic church is setting the stage for a bloody revolution. They are inciting Filipinos to hate and become overly angry against the present administration.

"To start this moral revolution, I must cease to be dishonest, unjust and unfair to my fellow Filipinos. I will tell and act on the truth that I confess or affirm. I will return what I have unjustly and deceitfully acquired. Only then can I ask pardon from God and the people I have wronged," GMANews.TV, quoting the blog of CBCP president Angel Lagdameo.

But, Lagdameo was not speaking for himself, he was directing his statement to President Arroyo. "As a response to the state of moral bankruptcy in public life, of probably irremediable loss of credibility and trust, a call has been made for 'moral revolution.' If only to stop our country from continuing to become a 'social volcano' (Heaven help us!), we support the ideal of a 'moral revolution' — moral transformation, moral renewal, moral reform. The CBCP has proposed it before in many ways through the years. And we would like to say it again. Nothing new, but the resolve may be," he further stated.

"These are not purely socio-economic issues. The Church's social doctrine insists on their moral connotations. The relationship between morality and economics and poverty is necessary, intrinsic and reciprocal," he said

Look who's talking. A leader of the Catholic Church in the Philippines would only go as far as lambasting the present government. He would only go as far as criticizing the moral bankruptcy of the administration of President Arroyo.

But, Lagdameo and the CBCP are not ready to accept part of the blame. Please, we the laity have seen upfront and personal the excesses of the leaders of the Catholic Church. Some priests are reportedly involved in sexual abuse cases. There are bishops who we are told live a life of luxury. Even owning mansions and riding on SUV's while their flock could barely eat a square meal a day.
What did Jesus said when the Pharisees brought to Him a woman who committed adultery? He who has not sinned cast the first stone. I am sure the CBCP and the tongue-lashing Catholic Church leaders fully know this teaching of Jesus. But, what strikes me is that they don't seem to live by the words of Jesus. What abhors me is that they don't seem to practice what they preach.

Our country is in a cross road. We can choose as a nation to fight together the war against immorality, indecency, corruption and poverty. When I say together, I mean all of us and not just the politicians and Malacanang.

Or we can decide to heed the words of Lagdameo and the Catholic Church and even the opposition, to be angry and hateful at President Arroyo and her cabals. To look the other way amidst the callousness of the Catholic Church leaders as they live a life of comfort and luxury.

I hope we make the right choice.

Is media fickle minded?

As the lamp post controversy hit fever pitched months before the May 2007 polls, the media in Cebu were like savage beasts.

It relentlessly attacked government officials accused by a bidder who lost a contract at the height of the ASEAN summit preparations.

Like a hungry pack of wolves, the media in Cebu went for the jugular and slit the throats of government bureaucrats and politicians who were perceived to have pocketed millions.

The public, enraged by what they were made to believe as the mother of all corruption in Cebu would not settle for less until heads rolled down Mount Olympus. And so it happened, two mayors and their deputies, several DPWH men were placed in preventive suspension.

Six months after the controversy broke; one of the two Hizzoners was again accused of alleged corruption. This time the business community rallied behind the accuser.

The losing bidder who exposed the alleged lamp post overpricing publicly complained that he never got the same support that another whistle blower received from the financial sector.

Immediately after the public whining by the lamp post whistle blower, the Cebu media accused the guy of having a hidden agenda. The Cebu press began to question the person's credibility. They castrated the man for doing an expose without hard evidence.

But, if you will look back during the lamp post brouhaha, the media never questioned the credibility of the losing bidder, instead hailed the guy as a local hero. The members of the fourth estate practically took the person's statements like gospel truth then.

A few weeks ago, the media took the government to task for the "suicide" of a poverty stricken 12 year-old girl from Davao. A national broadsheet even labeled the girl as a "poverty saint".

A new twist to this story surfaced. The girl might not have committed suicide. Instead, she could have been murdered.

And so a hard hitting columnist of a Manila newspaper led the media to start beating their breast in mea culpa for coming up with ferocious statements against the failure of government to fight poverty.

Judging from these two separate media events, I am starting to ask the question whether the press is fickle minded. Are they?

(Next Page) That suicide in Davao of a 12 year-old poverty stricken girl

Since the story of Marrianet Amper hogged the news headlines, we have been beating our breast in utter shame and even disbelief. We were awakened from a deep slumber of indifference to the fact that poverty is still staring us in the face. A national daily even went as far as branding the despondent teen as a "saint of poverty".

While her death sent shivers down our spine and eventually moved us as a nation into becoming more aggressive in our fight against destitution let us not parry the fact that depression, a mental state, can cause suicide.

"Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for teens. Girls try to commit suicide more often than boys. The important thing for you to know is that it doesn't have to happen. It is also important to know that suicide is not a heroic act, even though sometimes media images can make it seem so. Often, a person who is thinking about attempting suicide isn't able to see that suicide is never the answer to problems. Remember, there is always help – as well as support and love – out there for you or a friend," according to a respected medical internet site, WebMD.

We have become engrossed with media reports that Mariannet's suicide could have been triggered by her being mired in poverty. This can be gleaned by what she wrote in her diary detailing their impoverished state.

But there is another side to this melancholic tale. That, "many young people face high levels of stress and confusion, along with family problems. When you throw in raging hormones, it sometimes seems more than a teen can handle. Perhaps it’s not surprising that teen suicide is increasingly common...If you want to prevent suicide, it's important to understand depression. Depression is often used to describe general feelings of helplessness, worthlessness, and hopelessness. When teens feel sad or low, they often say they are depressed. While most of us feel sad or low sometimes, feelings of depression are longer lasting and often more serious."

It is not only when a teenager is dirt-poor that he is prone to suicide. Many young people who come from rich families are also apt to attempt suicide.

Here is a quick look at depression and suicide from WebMD:

"Depression and suicide sometimes go hand in hand, but it is important to remember that suicide can be prevented. In most cases, there are warning signs that an individual is considering a suicide attempt. The most effective way to prevent suicide is to recognize the warning signs, and respond immediately.

Some warning signs of suicide include the following behaviors:

• Talking about suicide
• Frequently talking about death
• Talking about feeling hopeless, helpless, or worthless, saying things like "It would be better if I wasn't here" or "I want out"
• Individual exhibits signs of depression, including deep sadness, loss of interest, trouble sleeping and eating
• Abrupt change of mood, from extreme sadness to happiness or calm
• Risk-taking behavior, e.g. driving too fast
• Person exhibits loss of interest in things he used to care about
• Person calls or visits people to say goodbye
• Person seems to be putting affairs in order (e.g. changes will) ,

Along with these behaviors, a person is at higher risk of attempting suicide if he or she has a chronic or terminal illness, is separated or divorced, is underemployed or unemployed, or has a family history of suicide."

As we continue to mourn Marrient’s death, let us also focus on our youth and their mental state. Let us not take any chances. If you think there something is psychologically or emotional bothering you that might lead to suicide don’t waste time tell someone close to you or seek professional help.

That suicide in Davao of a 12 year-old poverty stricken girl

The suicide of Mariannet Amper, a 12-year-old Filipina who lives in Davao is just the tip of our country's social iceberg. Despondent over the harsh reality of their family's poverty, she reportedly decided to end her own life by hanging herself inside their makeshift house.

It's a fact that many of our brethren our mired in abject fortune. But despite the political noise that has continued to reverberate in our nation, there are also many of us who are slowly getting out of the financial rut.

According to a survey, self-rated poverty has been on a decline. The Social Weather Survey stated that it ranged between 55 and 59 percent from December 2005 to June 2006. Now it’s in the vicinity of 47 to 53 percent. By all indication it is still on the high side, but if there is any consolation, it is going down. Meaning there is hope.

The problem is that our media is milking our penchant for underdogs for hideous profit consideration. The broadcast media in particular the giant television and radio networks come out with storylines that portray poverty as a valiant way of life that has to be lived.

Just watch the soap operas on prime time TV or listen to the afternoon drama on radio. Catch how Willie Revillame on Wowie induced people to cry as he dangles the prospect of getting 500 bucks. Listen to the emo music played over the airwaves and sang on karaoke bars. These music suggests suicide as an option.

Worse, many of us have this victim mentality. We brag about our dire strait, subconsciously preferring to stay poor if only to feel good inside. Nauseating, but evidently true.

Notice how PUJ drivers insist on changing their flat tires in the middle of the road for all to see even if it will cause a traffic jam. Go to a politician's house and see the long line of people asking for anything under the sun even bringing with them fake doctor's prescription to ask for money.

It's hypocritical for us to complain and lay blame solely on government and our corrupt politicians.

In the end, we are all to blame for the death of that little girl. Her blood is in our hands because either we choose to ignore the poor or we would rather want them to stay poor for our own pathetic interest.

The fault is yours and yours alone

Do not allow a golden parachute to fall to the ground without hanging on to it to heal the wounds of your past.

In your lifetime there will be several life changing moments that would come your way. It could be in the form of a family crisis, a loved one who without warning becomes terminally ill or it can be a broken vow.

As you stroll to the present, you leave behind moments of time that will haunt you in the future. It is not impossible to leave a trail of your bastard past. You are only human and as such prone to commit tempestuous acts.

And when your past finally catches up with you and it always will, you will experience
deep-seated emotional, psychological and spiritual anguish.

In turn, this will affect your relationship with the people around you, your friends, relatives and more particularly your very own family. Most unfortunate, you will not even realize that your haunted past is destroying you and tearing your world apart. Often you will blame others except yourself.

Luckily, the universe where you revolve, although often belatedly, will start to get their acts together to help you keep your balance. They will strive to help you restore your sanity and give you a priceless memento - peace of mind. You will resist for a time, but pray that soon you will see the light of day.

As these unfold, the people around you will also stitch the emotional, psychological and spiritual wounds that happened in their own past.

And so true healing occurs. You will someday be freed from the pain of yesteryears. Your loved ones will also benefit from the process.

Except that there are some of us who perennially misses to capture the golden moments of healing that usually stares us in the face. It is either by willful action or just plain inaction.

In the end, the fault will be your and yours alone.

The sins of our fathers

I have read about a prostitute whose mother was at one time in her life was also engaged in the flesh trade. I have read about an alcoholic father whose son later became hooked on alcohol.

I have also read about a pious mother who has a daughter now serving a life sentence. I have also read about a hardworking father who has a drug dependent son.

More often than not, a renegade parent begets a problematic child. But what surprises me is how a God-fearing mother or a father who is a good provider can have a child who is the exact opposite.

This goes to show that there is no assurance of what your child will become. But I have this theory.The sins of our fathers are the root cause of why there are children who as adults become a bane to society. But to blame the sins of our fathers as the reason why there are children who as adults create chaos is grossly unfair.

The sad reality is that the sins of our fathers are the result of the sins committed by there fathers before them. And so a vicious cycle is created.

I am not talking here of sin in the spiritual sense. But rather I refer to sin here as a parental failure or mistake that is unintentional. Or if I may point out more clearly, a parenting act that is born out of lack of understanding about being a parent.

Parenting is the most difficult job in the world. Yet, there is no curriculum anywhere in the world that teaches parenting. If you want to be a builder you have to take up a five year course in engineering. If you want to heal the sick you have to study medicine for up to ten years. If you want to hear confession and say mass you have to enter the seminary and become a priest.

But if you wish to become a parent all you have to do is find a partner and the next thing you know is that you have a child. I don’t know of any curriculum in the world that will prepare you to become a father or a mother to your child. Yet, parenting is considered by many as the most important work in human society.

Despite the lack of parenting skills, not having undergone a parenting course since none is available anyway, there are still so many more children who become adults that live a life fulfilled.

This is because there are also so many parents while ignorant about parenting have consciously made it a point to connect emotionally with there children. Emotional connection is a very important ingredient in bringing up a child who will become at peace with himself as an adult.

A child who lives in fear, a child who is insecure, a child who feels unloved can grow up disturb and unstable. A child who is praised more but sometimes put to task for a mistake committed may soon understand that life is kind but not perfect.

You are a product of who you were as a child. Who you are today is the sum total of your past. So if you are who you are now probably sad, angry or depress there is no one to blame except you. For what you will become tomorrow is how you live your life at the present.

What's emo and the youth of today?

While walking with friends along the sugar beach of boracay on a moonless night, I was eavesdropping on a conversation between a teenager and a lifestyle editor. It was the first time I heard the word emo to describe a genre of music. A week later I heard my son described being alone as "emo". While I was choosing a theme for my multiply site, I saw several designs by young artists labled as "emo".

So I finally decided to "wiki" the word emo and this is what I found: "Emo is a style of rock music which describes several independent variations of music with common stylistic roots."

"Emo is also sometimes associated with a certain fashion. Emo clothing is characterized by tight jeans on males and females alike, long fringe (bangs) brushed to one side of the face or over one or both eyes, dyed black, straight hair, tight t-shirts which often bear the names of rock band (or other designed shirts), studded belt, belt buckles, canvas sneakers or skate shoes or other black shoes (often old and beaten up) and thick, black horn-rimmed glasses."

"As certain fashion trends and attitudes began to be associated with "emo", stereotypes emerged that created a specific target for criticism. In the early years of the "third wave", the criticism was relatively light-hearted and self-effacing. In ensuing years, the derision increased dramatically. Male fans of emo found themselves hit with homosexual slurs, largely a reflection of the style of dress popular within the "emo scene" and the purported displays of emotion common in the scene."

My understanding of "emo" is simple. It's the shortcut for the word emotion/emotional.

When I was a teenager I learned that being emotional is only for women. But a June 2006 article by the Reader's Digest entitled "Big Boys Don't Cry stated that "new research reveals that a man's emotional life is a complex and rich as a woman's, but often remains a mystery - both to him and to her. Although emotions have long been considered a female trademark, men report feelings as often as women, and describe their experience of emotions similarly.

It is only recently that the human race has started to accept the fact that men have emotions too. Except that they always have kept it in check because showing it was considered a sign of weakness.

Since the world is now more ready to see men show their emotions, the modern day teens have coined the word emo to describe the act of expressing emotions. In this way, the blog and social networking generation is trying to make the word more fashionable and acceptable. In this way, when men expresses emotion it becomes trendy. What do you think?

"Measure of a Man"

"I am who I am, and whenever I am treated in a way that I feel is contrary to how I hold myself, I will defend myself by improving myself," he says. "The more I improve myself, the more of a man I become, the more of a humane person I become."

This was what Sidney Poitier told millions of audience who watched Oprah Winfrey Show one day. It was "The Dinner of a Lifetime with Sidney Poitier"..."It was an event months in the making—the dinner of a lifetime for one of Oprah's heroes, Sidney Poitier.

Enthralled with Sidney from the time she was 10 years old and saw him win the Academy Award® on her black-and-white television, Oprah set out to create a magical evening with Sidney and seven lucky readers of her book club selection The Measure of a Man."

After watching that episode, I could not stop thinking about what Sidney Poitier said during that dinner interview. I rushed to find his book in National Bookstore. Since I could not find one, I decided to search Oprah's website hoping to find excerpt of that interview.

Luck was on my side. I found the entire interview, the conversation among guests. It was transcribed and posted on Oprah's website. And so I now have the exact quote that I was looking for.

As we reached adolescence, we start to search for our very own identity. Unfortunately, many of us end up hooked in drugs or become alcoholic for the very simple reason of failing to answer the question, "Who am I?".

This has got to do with how people around us help create for us our sense of who we are. This has got to do with how people criticize or praise us. As a social being we want to belong. When we live a life of too much praise or abundant criticism, we begin to lose our personal identity. We no longer could not answer the very important question, "Who am I?".

I know who I am. I know my strength and my weaknesses. Everyday I am bombarded with contradicting statements about who I am from people I meet and from persons close to me. Like Sidney Poitier, I have learned to fully understand who I am. If I am told that what I think about me is not what others think of me then I step back, remind myself of my identity and work hard to strengthen my being.

I strive to become who I always want to become while conscious of the fact that I am only human born to do what's right but bound to commit mistakes.

Land Bank Robs Customer of Self Worth

One day, I accompanied my Mom and Dad to a Land Bank branch in Cebu City. As usual, line in this government bank is long. What with slow poke tellers. So having to wait a long time for your turn in this bank is not abnormal.

My dad who is almost a septuagenarian needed to go to the rest room. To his horror the security guard led him out of the bank since he is not welcome to use the rest room inside.

So my dad had to go out and look for a comfort room to answer the call of nature. He had to pay 20 bucks to avail of the service from an establishment just near the bank.

As my dad went out of Land Bank, another old fellow approached the security guard of the bank to ask where the men's room was. To my shock the security guard led the man outside of the bank where there teller machine used to stand. He was told that's where he can relieve himself.

Angry at how my dad was treated, rather humiliated, my mom approached the bank manager to report the way my dad's self worth was broken into pieces. The bank manager profusely apologized but her slip showed when she explained that the use of there bathroom is on a case to case basis because of security reasons. She went on to explain that the location of there comfort room is very near the bank's vault. In sum it's a security risk.

Clearly, the security guard was just doing his job. He was just following orders. Clearly, the error is not of the lowly paid guard but how this bank treats there customer. Imagine, placing a rest room very near the bank's safe. Its not hard to imagine that such layout is indeed a security risk.

But, the executives of this bank should have thought that while the location of there comfort room is a security risk, they are robbing there customer blind by having to shoo them out of there branch when nature calls.

I hope that after you read this you will pass on this blog until it reaches the president of Land Bank. They cannot just continue to rob there customer of there self worth.

Jousnalist at Work

Shooting to kill

September 28th, 2007, filed by David Viggers

In this Reuters picture reproduced on newspaper front pages all round the world today, Japanese videojournalist Kenji Nagai lies dying in the street, still trying to record the scenes of violence after he was shot through the chest when soldiers fired live rounds at protestors in Yangon yesterday.

It is a chilling image and yet another reminder, as if any were needed, of the risks faced by the thousands of journalists whose job it is to bring us the news from areas of conflict and instability. At least Kenji Nagai had chosen to be there. He lost his life putting faces to what without pictures are just numbers.

My condolences to Kenji Nagai’s family, friends and colleagues.