WITH DEEP CONDOLENCES

From Reggie of LASALLE GREENHILLS HS 82, DLSU GS 78

Batchmate, Ramon Eugenio (restaurant owner of Myron's at Rockwell and Greenbelt 5) lost his youngest son, his mother and a nephew in a tragic capsizing of a boat that left Puerto Galera, 23rd of May 2009. The eldest son is still in critical condition.

Details of the accident: MB Commando 6 sank at about noon near Verde Island, 85 miles (135 kilometers) south of Manila on 23 May 2009.

Chief Supt. Luisito Palmera, police chief for Region 4B (Mimaropa), said in a text message to reporters that the boat had sunk when one of its outriggers broke.

The Coast Guard in Manila said there were 57 survivors, including five crew members.

As of 3:59 pm, the last count of fatalities was 12, including two young boys, one young girl, seven adult women and adult men, and that one of the dead victims was a Japanese tourist, said Palmera.

Relatives of Reggie include: Daisy Eugenio, Quezon City; Franco P. Eugenio, 3 years old, White Plains, Quezon City; and Anton Cruz Eugenio, 2, White Plains, Quezon City.


NOTA BENE:

Sometime during the first years of the millenium, I traveled to Puerto Galera and back. On my way home, I found the same overcrowding on the boat which was the cause of the capsizing and drowning of the above relatives of Mr. Ramon Eugenio. The seas became rough after a few hundred meters from the island. So I asked the pilot and his mates to distribute safety devices to the passengers, especially the children. The boat mates and the crowd just looked at me, and no one acceded to my suggestion. It was as if I had said something out of this world. I told them, I would report it to the marine authorities in Batangas, but someone said that it is a useless exercise. Anyway, I did and to this day, I have not received a reply.

As these deaths have occurred, five marine officers of the government agency in the area, according to reports, have just been sacked for allowing the number of passengers to exceed by 20, 60+ instead of 40 only.

May these deaths be not in vain. Philippines for Righteous Governance extends our deep condolences to Mr. Eugenio and all the relatives of those who had drowned.

FR. REUTER LOVES THE FILIPINO PEOPLE AND THE PHILIPPINES

FR. JAMES REUTER who has taken our country as his own writes his last column in the newspaper and has a lot of good things to say about the Filipino people...


I
am ten days away from my 93rd birthday. God has been kinder to me than
I deserve, giving me such a rich life, in such a beautiful country,
among such gentle people. He has blessed me with so many kind,
affectionate, generous loving friends.
I found that the best time
for me to write was 3:00 A.M. My mind is clearer, my heart is warmer,
and I am overwhelmed with the goodness of the people God sends to me.

…

I have tried to give .... to give
the only thing I have to give ... Myself. I have tried to share my
thoughts, my feelings, the wonderful holiness that I see in the simple,
gentle people that God sends to me.

As soon as I came to the
Philippines I realized that the Filipinos were the loveliest people in
the world. It was a gift of God, a special blessing, that He sent me
here.

I have been thanked for giving my life to the Philippines.

Thank you .
* for your gift of friendship through these many long years
* for reading "At 3:00 A.M.." from the time I started writing my column
* for your reactions through letters and phone calls when you liked or
did not like what I wrote
* for sharing your stories which inspired me to write them so they
could inspire others
* for your love and concern
*for your prayers which comfort me and which I need.

…
What
I have found in the Philippines is union ....union of hearts and minds
... It is marked by sharing .... The simple, gentle Filipino is willing
to share all he has, with everyone.

That is holiness ... That is sanctity ... That is being like God.

CALLING ALL OFW VOTERS: HOW THE SWISS SAFEGUARD VOTES

In a Swiss magazine, a brief description of electronic voting is explained which was instituted in order to encourage the Swiss people wherever they are in the world to vote during elections. So all voters need only to open a computer and follow the steps mentioned below. This particular method of e-voting would be applicable to all the Overseas Filipino Migrant Professionals and Workers found in the different countries who would be voting in 2010. However, the date of the magazine is 2003 and many changes could have been made already to provide more measures to keeping the vote safe from hackers. Due to pressures of time, we are not able to update news about this. However here is how the safeguarded e-vote operates:

Every voter receives a personal 16-digit code along with documents for voting.

Any hacker without an ID number would have a one in 5 billion chances of succeeding.

Then another form appears on screen. The voter enters his/her date of birth, where a secret 4-digit code appears in an area in the voting documents.

Then upon entering the voter's domicile the ballot appears and the voter can fill it out.

Vote counters and party representatives are also assigned several passwords for accessing the virtual ballot box of e-votes.

- Geneva City Chancellery
Swiss Review #2, April 2003



-Reported by Wilhelmina S. Orozco

WOMEN IN DISTRESS

PHILIPPINES: First Grade Nancy Gadian's life is under threat for having told about the anomalies and corruption in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Lt. Gadian accused retired Lt. General Eugenio Cedo, then chief of the Western Mindanao Command, and other senior officers of misusing the P46 million intended for the RP-US Balikatan exercises in 2007.

MYANMAR OR BURMA: Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is being tried for breaking the terms of her house arrest, when she allowed an American who swam to her house to rest. She had told a court she committed no crime, her lawyer says. BBC News.

Commentary on Carp Extension: FARMLANDS, YES; SUBDIVISIONS, NO

LET US INSURE THAT ALL THE BENEFICIARIES OF THE CARP AND CARP EXTENSION RESOLUTION SHALL MAINTAIN THE FARMLANDS AS FARMLANDS, NOT AS SUBDIVISIONS. CARPLANDS ARE SUPPOSED TO PRODUCE FOOD, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE, NOT SHELTER WHICH REQUIRES ANOTHER SPACE IN THE LAND.

IN THE SIXTIES AND SEVENTIES, WE COULD STILL VIEW ACRES AND ACRES OF GREENLAND FROM MANILA TO UP NORTH. BUT NOW, THE LANDSCAPE HAS CHANGED TO CONCRETE BUILDINGS, HOUSES AND WHAT-HAVE-YOU.

LET US RESPECT MOTHER NATURE WHICH IS THE BASIC PRINCIPLE BEHIND THE CARP. DISRESPECT OF MOTHER NATURE RESULTS IN HUNGER AND FAMINE. LET US PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING NOW, IMMEDIATELY.

WILHELMINA

FOR CARP EXTENSION

"Given that millions of Filipino families subsist on farming and continue to live in poverty due to the high rental expense that they pay their landlords, a genuine land reform program will go a long way towards uplifting their lives.

Thus, I believe that the real challenge for our Presidentiables, some of whom come from landed families, is being able to go beyond lip service and lead the initiative to ensure that CARPER is passed before June 5, 2009.

It is always easy to say that you pro-poor and that you understand their plight. But it is harder to stick up for your convictions when your own personal interest and that of your supporters are at stake.

Many civil society groups including Kaya Natin’s local government leaders and the Catholic Church have already expressed their support for CARPER. My unsolicited advice to the Presidentiables? If you truly are for the poor then now is the time to show it, support and actively campaign for CARPER.

The Ateneo School of Government (ASOG) is currently working with the Award-winning Director, Ditsi Carolino for a red carpet screening of her documentary entitled, Lupang Hinarang on May 28, 2009 at the Ateneo de Manila University. This by-invitation only event aims to gather different leaders from government, civil society, business, academe, media, youth and the Church in support for the passage of CARPER. For more information on this, please contact Cristyl Senajon at (02)426-5657."

by Harvey S. Keh, Director for Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG). harveykeh@gmail.com

SUCCESS

I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.

G.K Chesterton (1874-1936)
English poet, essayist, playwright, short story writer

Rethinking the launching of the SILENT SOCIETY

by Wilhelmina S. Orozco

The Silent society was launched yesterday, May 19th at the Christ the King Compound in Quezon City. The aim of the group is to empower the voters by making them hold sacred their votes. Keep them secret.

This move, is harnessing that "creative force to transform the nation and manifest goodness in all segments of society including government through the pwoer of silence, armed with a tool for goodness called the Katapatan card." The card makes the individual reflect and pray on goodness.

The objectives of the group are laudable, to hold the vote sacred. But to keep quiet as to who one will vote is defeating the very essence of democracy, to my mind. Democracy means gathering collective effort at bringing about a society free from hunger, thirst, and ignorance, among others. To keep mum as to who would be the best person/s or even party/ies that can help attain that, is to be defeated already in the polls.

Maybe the group has to rethink its core values -- exercising suffrage cannot be purely meditative, nor reflective. Reflection can only come about for about 30%. To realize the desired effect of having leaders who will guide us to prosperity, freedom and better understanding of our life and this world, is to interact with everyone, to debate, discuss, and to analyze, such activities so necessary for shaping a society.

So elections 2010, cannot be an exercise in meditation or reflection alone, but also engagement with groups that are working for the same objectives that will benefit the majority of the Filipino people.

Suffrage is exercising the mind, the spirit and the body (which includes emotions) that will take action.

LESSONS FOR LEFT-LEANING GROUPS

by Emma S. Orozco

In our country, leftist groups exist and so far their number has not increased in the house. Their supporters in the Senate have turned somersault in their stand vis-a-vis the present administration. It would be good for them to look for lessons from the experiences of the leftists, now having problems of dwindling numbers in the parliament in West Bengal, India. Following is an excerpt of the news of BBC. With deep apologies for having shortened it to fit into this blog.

Bastion of Indian communism crumbles

For decades it was a fortress for the Left, but now Indian voters have radically reshaped the politics of West Bengal. The BBC's Subhir Bhaumik, in Calcutta, considers where it all went wrong for a once untouchable political force.

Anti-incumbency has finally caught up with the ruling Left coalition in the Indian state of West Bengal, which has been in power for 32 years. On Saturday, the coalition could only manage to win 15 of the state's 42 parliament seats.

The opposition alliance of Trinamul Congress and Congress swept the thickly-populated state, where the Leftists had pioneered land reforms and institutionalised local self-government to build up what appeared, until not so long ago, an unbeatable political support base with the rural poor at its core. The fiercely anti-Left Trinamuls won 19, the Congress won five and a smaller socialist ally won one seat.
…
Some say the use of organised muscle-power by the CPI(M) to take over the fertile croplands, especially in the embattled southern enclave of Nandigram, dented the party's pro-poor image.

"The police firing that killed 14 peasants at Nandigram two years ago, the terror struck by armed CPI(M) cadres on rows and rows of motorcycles donning red neck scarves, and the defence of peasants by the opposition supporters were all captured live on television, " says Bengal Left-watcher Ashis Ghose.

"The whole state saw the face of Red Terror for the first time in three decades and that turned even the urban middle class against them."

Even the highly-respected Bengali intelligentsia - some of India's best writers, playwrights, poets , film-makers and artists - turned against the Left coalition and took to the streets demanding political change.

The Nano, the world's cheapest car, was to have been made in West Bengal.

"In Bengal, the intelligentsia commands huge respect. They are generally anti-establishment and have been largely with the Left, but no longer ," says Basu Ray Chaudhuri. Bengal's leading psephologist.
17 May 2009