DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno, kindly make us more mobile in our barangay

What is mobility? it is that capacity to move about, to be always on the go. without any hindrance. It is being able to shift one's location in a jiffy. 

The MRT nor the LRT, nor the PNR does not provide that mobility. We are hampered by their unchanged or updated old and dilapidate parts as well as the lack of spare parts to replace them. When one is dealing with the government, we can almost always expect the delays in transporting people, goods or services through the use  of these transport facilities. 

Since we cannot solve this problem on a citywide nor a national scale, let us concentrate on the barangay. Each barangay has more than a kilometer in diameter. For example, in our barangay, it takes me 500 steps from our house to that point where I can get a public transport. That is about 15 minutes of walking briskly. If I do it lackadasically, I could reach the loading point in 700 steps. 

Meanwhile, our barangay has many shutttle jeeps that ferry officers to deliver, pick up a message, etcetera. I tried hailing one but the driver was in a hurry to go back to the office, which is very near the loading point. The jeep can carry 14 passengers and the driver had only one passenger in front. I did not bother about it because I am used to psyching myself up -- "God does not close one door without opening another," I had told myself. 

Seriously though now, I would propose to the new DILG Secretary to make each barangay provide a shuttle jeep that would carry residents from one point to the other, around the place. Ayala Center has those e-jeepneys which go around it for a fare of P8.00 and 20% less for senior citizens. Ateneo de Manila University in Katipunan provides a shuttle also and for free. 

I don't see the reason why the barangay cannot provide that facility. We have many senior citizens I am sure who want to be able to go to the commerial centers which are found just near the barangay. Yet are too hard up to afford the fares. 

Right now, tricycles are the main transport vehicle. Each ride to the end of the barangay where one can get a ride to Quiapo, to Cubao, or to Divisoria, charge P20 oer oerson. Back to the house that would be another P20.00 So all in all in a day's time, we are spending P40 per day x thirty days and that would amount to P1,200.00 per month. In a year's time, that would be P12,000.00 + 2,400 or P14,400.00. wow! That is already a big sum which we could use to buy us a meal for 144 days or four months at P100 per meal, that is if you have a big meal only once a day. 

The problem is that it is the Quezon City Council which is in control of the fares that the tricycles charge and kahit na magngangawa kami sa barangay office, walang mangyayari pa rin.

And so here is what our first request to them Mel Sarmiento kindly make us more mobile in our barangay, sans expensive transport fares or a free or almost free shuttle jeep. 

A blessed day to you. 

BARIL O CAMERA?

Bakit tayo dapat matakot sa kawalan ng pagpigil sa pagkakaroon ng baril/armalayt at anumang pamatay-tao dito sa mundo? 

Ang ating bansa ay nahaharap sa malaking pagsubok lalo na sapagka't lulong sa droga ang maraming probinsiya mula Luzon hanggang sa Mindanao at Sulu. Hindi lamang sa larangan ng droga; may gumagamit pa ng mararahas na armas -- ang mga Abu Sayaff at lahat ng mga grupong naniniwalang sa pamamagitan lamang ng marahas na pagsakop ng kapangyarihan maaaring magkakaroon ng matagumpay na pagkilos.

Saan nanggaling ang mga armas? Wala naman tayong pabrika liban sa gumagawa lamang ng paltik dito sa ating bansa. Karamihan ay galing sa mga banyagang bansa.

At ang nakakalungkot, kahit na ang mga mapayapang pamamaraan, ang mga ligal na hakbang ay di nabibigyan ng kahalagahan ng pagkakaroon ng mapayapang pamamaraan sa pagresolve ng mga di pagkakasundu-sundu, kung sa personal man o sa sosyal na levels mismo sa mga bansang ito.

Ang pinakagrabe pa, sa Amerika, kung saan, dito nagsimula ang demokratikong gubyerno, ay nagkaroon ng pagkatalo ang pagkakaroon ng mas mahigpit at masusing pagsusuri sa katauhan ng mga nagnanais bumili o magkaroon ng mga baril at ibang mapamuksang gamit.

Mga duktor na rin ang nagsasabing na puwera sa mga awtoridad na binigyan ng permisong gumamit ng baril at iba pang armas, ang pagiging marahas at paggamit ng baril ay nagpapakita ng isang taong may problema sa buhay. 

Sa Amerika, hindi na mapayapa ang lipunan. Sa eskuwela, sa sinehan, sa disco bar, at hindi lamang sa mga kalye, may pagbabanta sa buhay ng mga tao na gawain ng mga taong tiyak na may problema sa buhay.

Paanong makakapag-aral ang kabataan sa eskuwela; paanong magiging maligaya ang mga pamilya; o kaya paanong magpapaligaya sa panonood ng sine o pumasyal sa bar ang mga tao kung walang kaabug-abog ay mayroong darating at gagamit ng mararahas na pamamaraan para sila ay patayin ng walang dahilan? At kahit na may dahilan mali pa rin dahil may ligal na pamamaraan para malutas ang mga suliranin.

Sa ating bansa, may mga pamamaraan ang ating mga katutubo sa pagresolba ng mga alitan, at dito lahat ng mga nakatatanda ay kasali; at sa mga problemang tribo laban sa tribo, nag-uusap ang mga lider nila upang malutas ito at matigil o hindi humantong sa pagpatay ng tao.

Subali't itong pamamaraan na ito ay tinuturing na uniko, at para bang hindi katanggap-tanggap sa “sibilisadong” lipunan daw. Kung tutuusin ay napakamakatao nitong pamamaraan na ito. Sa katunayan sa tinatawag na “sibilisadong lipunan” mabusisi pa ang pamamaraan na ginagamit para maglutas ng kawalan na kapayapaan.

May isang imbentor akong nakausap, imbentor ng bala. Ang sabi niya, ang naimbento niya ay balang iikot sa katawan ng tao at ito ay mamamatay kaagad. Parang umikot din ang aking tiyan sa pagbanggit niya sapagka't iba ang aking paniniwala – na dapat ay tahakin natin ang daan kung saan hindi na gagamit kaylanpaman ng baril o anumang pamuksa ang sangkatauhan. (Sumalangit nawa ang kanyang kaluluwa.)

Kung susuriin ang baril, para lamang itong laruan subali't napakalakas ng epekto sa katawan ng tao. Ewan ko kung bakit naimbento pa ang baril. Saan ba ito nagmula?

Ayon sa mga kasaysayan sinulat ng mga eksperto, galing daw ang baril sa Tsina. (Kaya pala warrior-minded ang Tsina tungkol sa Scarborough Shoal, sa West Philippine Seas.)

Ayon din sa mga ibang nasulat, may sakit daw sa pag-iisip ang mga pumapatay ng mga tao ng walang habas kahit na mga inosente ito o yung tinatawag na mga mass shootings. 

Sa anggulong ito dapat din nating tingnan ang pagkakaroon ng grupong Abu Sayyaf na walang pagsisisi sa pagpugot ng mga kinikidnap nilang mga tao. Ang mga kasapi nito ay may di nakikitang pagkahaling sa pagkakamatay mismo o suicidal tendencies. Kaya sa paghawak nila ng baril o malakas na pamuksa, nagkakaroon sila ng lakas ng loob. Nguni't "do or die" ang naging polisiya nila.

Sayang. Palagay ko dapat magkaroon ng psychiatric tests ang mga myembro ng grupong ito na mahuhuli. Lahat ng mga duktor ng ospital ay kinakailangang magsama-sama upang matingnan ang kalagayan ng pag-iisip nila. Madaling sabihin na kahirapan ang dahilan kaya sila sumasapi; ngunit sobra pa run. Ang kahirapan ay maaaring igpawan sa maraming paraan; ngunit ang pumatay ng mga inosente ay ibang klase ng pag-iisip. 

At dapat din nating tanungin, ano ang kalagayan ng komunidad, ang uri ng pagpapalaki ng mga kabataang lalaki, at ang kalagayan ng kababaihan sa kanila upang makita natin ang mga relasyon na hindi nagpapausbong ng makataong at higit sa lahat, tunay na makaDiyos na pananaw sa sangkatauhan. 

Panahon na para palalimin natin ang pagtingin sa problema ng Abu Sayyaf at lahat ng mga grupong humahawak ng baril na nagdudulot ng pagkabalisa, takot at matinding kalungkutan o depression sa karamihan. 

Higit sa lahat, sa halip na baril, ang kabataan ay dapat turuang humawak ng pluma, brush para magpinta, lapis para mag-drowing, at video cameras para makalikha ng makasining na mga larawan hindi ng mga pugot na ulo.

Ang larawan sa taas ay isang mural sa isang kuweba sa Indonesia na sa panahon ay kasabay ng mga dinodrowing ng mga tao sa Europa. Ang painting ng isang baboydamo, babirusa, ay nadiskubre sa kuweba sa Indonesa at may idad na 35,400.  Basahin ang Ingles na caption sa ibaba. 

(The new research suggests that humans were painting murals on the ceilings and walls of their caves in Indonesia at the same time as people in Europe. Only remnants of such artwork remain. This painting of fruit-eating pig-deer, known as a babirusa, was discovered in an Indonesian cave and dates back around 35,400 years ago. CREDIT: Screengrab, Nature Video.)

ON MARGINALIZING MEDIA

ON MARGINALIZING THE MEDIA

Marginalizing the media is not a very good way to start a new administration. Treating them as of secondary importance in the scheme of things is the start of a future dictatorial regime. I think that the incoming regime must provide an open space for media to do their job, and not put them in a corner as if they were just one of those objects to be dispensed with at any time. 

When did this acidic relationship with the incoming regime start? That was when the Reporters Without Borders (RWB), or Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) mentioned one time that they were going to boycott his press conferences because of what he had said about some media practitioners being on the "take" in exchange for a favorable write-up.

I think that the incoming President was able to explain his side about that comment but he had taken everything personally. He refused to be covered after that and has had the government bureau alone as the tool for his communicating with the people. 

That smacks of the Marcosian rule before wherein Imelda and Marcos controlled the press so much including which pictures of theirs should appear in the papers or get released on TV. That era is past and should not be resurrected. 

We need not comment on the value of media for disseminating information about how the president and other officials think of serving the people. Media and government should be partners, one checking the other in terms of adherence to truth, service and honesty. 

I think that the people around the incoming president should explain to him that putting media at arm's length is not a good way to educate the youth about how to treat them. The value of media in society is being run aground by his snobbish attitude towards them and could backfire. A second-hand source of news could lead to erroneous opinions and wrong reporting. A second-hand source of news could lead to corruption -- news companies competing with each other for the latest news about the president by bribing those who are close to him. 

Our youth are very watchful now about how the incoming president would be acting -- whether he would be true to his campaign pitches or not. Ergo, their getting varied opinions based on unassailable sources could make them produce their own educated views about how the government should be run and where it should go. 

All mass communication departments of various universities and colleges must make a stand on what is going right now, not only the present crop of mass media

NARCISSUS BY CARAVAGGIO

I wonder if UP President Pascual is aware about this hacking.

Once Pres. Duterte comes into office, I think he should ask Bato to overhaul the PNP assigned here in UP Diliman. They have outlived their purpose.

The PNP intelligence group here is hellbent in curbing my writings although I even have suggestions for the problems of the country. You see how truncated their idea of democracy is?

I think that you can see here Folks, that even here at UP where I am typing my article, freedom of the press is not recognized.

I also said that the Bureau of Internal Revenue must provide tax deductions to those companies that have that facility for women. And should they refuse, then they should be taxed more.

What I said there was that the Department of Labor and Employment has to ensure that women workers at night must have a safe transport home provided by the companies they work for.

LABOR CASE

Dear Folks, I have just lost my article about the raped women in the van which is the news all over the country today

CHANGE ...PRIDE IN BEING FILIPINO AND FILIPINA

"Change is coming. Wait and you will be surprised!"

What change are we waiting for with the ascendacy of the new president?

Change should aim at restoring the dignity of the Filipino people and nothing more. 

Change is making people feel they are on top of the world, their needs being served and with gracefulness. 

Change is making the people feel safe, proud, and honored for being Philippine citizens-- Filipino and Filipina.

SOME WAYS OF STOPPING VIOLENCE

Tracking chips? Have you heard of them, Folks? The first time I did it was when I attended the trial of a former agent who was being hounded by his country's secret service. He had a chip in his body so he could be tracked down wherever he went. 

I was very much shocked at that invasion of a live physical body and the assent of the individual who must have had very high feelings of loyalty for his organization. 

Now with regard to the beheading of a foreigner by the ASG, I would like to suggest that all tourists who want to visit Mindanao and other places that are dangerous for leisure activities, should submit to having a chip being placed in their bodies. In this case, when they do get abducted, the military can readily track them down whereever the kidnappers would try to hide them. 

Then with regard to this recalcitrant group, I would like to suggest that all the residents of the dangerous area of Jolo, those near the mountains and where their relatives could be located, should all be moved out of the place. The wives especially should be hidden to make the gangsters famished. 

But you see Folks, I think the military is aware of these tactics already. I wonder why they did not lift a finger to do them as well as to put up a reward to those who could pinpoint where the rebels had taken the hostages. 

It is such a shame that our country is not a safe place for travelling anymore, considering that we could earn dollars from the trips. Also, having foreigners in our midst broadens our idea of this planet, that the world is not only us but other people as well. 

By the way, I commisserate with the relatives of the victims of the Orlando massacre. Homophobia should be taught as anti-humanity in every country.

Let us not wait for an Orlando-like massacre to occur in our midst. I am sure we can neutralize those groups that are wreaking havoc on the peace and order in our country. We just need to be able to count on our armed security forces. They are the key to the stoppage of violence. Raising the salaries of the police is one could motivate them to perform their duties well. But givng national awards to those who excel in performing their duties should be done more with bruhaha. Allow the people to see them roam the streets of MetroManila in floats and make everyone aware of their sterling achievements. I am sure that accolade will give them and other members of the uniformed sector more motivation to feel heroic in doing their jobs. 

DEBUREAUCRATIZING GOVERNMENT OR A BIT OF HOUSECLEANING

The Social Security System or SSS has been on fire since the pension of the senior citizens was not increased. Their main reason was that they do not have enough funds to foot the big allocation for that item. However, the fighters for the senior citizens' right and plight say that the SSS has not been doing its job. It has committed a lot of faux pas in terms of investment (By the way, will the officers who botched those deals not be asked to defend themselves at all? Ganun ganun na lang ba yun? "Nagkamali e di sorry." Wow!)

Another reason is that the SSS has been poor at collecting from companies the contributions of workers which they have given. So those contributions have just been pocketed by the officers of the companies without guilt nor shame. 

How come we allow these things to happen at all?

Actually, businesses are supposed to report to the Bureau of Internal Revenue quarterly. Why don't we make the BIR include in the reporting their payments of SSS contributions? Then make the SSS check on the veracity of the reports? Is that too difficult to do for the SSS employees?

Or, the Department of Labor and Employment has regional directors. Why don't we ask them to check on businesses as well if they are paying to the government the workers' contributions and if they are remiss in their duties, then padlock their offices. 

I think really, there is too much "lagay" going on to the detriment of the health and welfare of our workers. I can cite many companies, which even make their workers go overtime without any additional payments. Another company also do not give them any day off at all during the week. Yet the workers endure the oppressive working conditions because at least theya re being paid regularly; hence, they could send money to their relatives in the province, no matter how meager their earnings are. 

So, what I am suggesting to force the issue of the higher SSS pension for our elderly citizens, the SSS must have joint undertaking with the BIR and the DOLE to trade secrets to find out which companies are not giving the workers their just due. 

This kind of triumvirate attack could make the guilty companies truly work along the legal ways and not sweep their profits under the rag all the time. Is this not a way of de-bureaucratizing the government?

Maybe we must also have a contest to ask the opinions of the people on how best to solve similar problems. Then any of the agencies can provide incentives to motivate the people to come up with creative solutions to the problems. 

CONFUSED

"Excuse me, Mr. President, you have just whistled. Was that for me? And if so, why did you whistle that way? Is that a sexual bait?"
Simple, isn't it? Why belabor the point too much? We, women, when we meet men with acts or statements that have double meanings, just simply confront them, titles or no titles. 

That would clear the air right away, and would stop us from guessing, "what did he mean by that?"


Now, finally, we are faced with a down-to-earth leader. We must welcome that because many times in the past, we have been mesmerized by the seemingly formal, "maginoo" looks of leaders and what have they turned into? 

We just have to confront confusing signals all the time, especially when covering figures who would render our lives meaningful or not meaningful in the future. 

WHEN CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES ATTEMPT TO REACH THE SKIES

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF

THE PHILIPPINE CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES

Also for Perusal and Consideration of Architectural Firms, Environmental Groups, Senior Citizen Offices, Hospitals and Other Institutions as well as Organizations That Aspire for a Peaceful and Quiet Country

For about a year now, I have suffered greatly from the construction activities of one of your members. In my first complaint, because I suffered from asthma as their workers conducted cementing at our driveway, they paid me P30,000,00. In the succeeding anti-environmetalTO activities – noise and air pollution, they have not paid a single centavo and even considered me an enemy of the construction business. What are considered environmental problems and sins have been turned into anti-business complaints simply because their operations have been hampered. The noise polluting activities include: working beyond and above the permitted hours of operations. Instead of 8 o'clock in the morning, they would start at 7 a.m. Instead of ending at 6 p.m. They have asked for extended hours until 10 p.m. And work even beyond that up to almost midnight, despite the calls to the Barangay Tanod to stop them.

So what are the sins of this company against the peace and order in our barangay, which is actually residential but has been turned into semi-residential  and the heights of buildings from 4 to 7 storeys, officially without open public consultations?

1. The noise pollution affects the sleeping habits of the residents, especially of the sick and the elderlies. In our house, which is beside the lot where currently, construction activities are going on, there are two elderlies, one is sick with respiratory disease. The other is a middle aged man who has to sleep early and wake up to go to his job at SMX-MOA daily; and myself, an asthmatic and recently had a bout with heart condition as well;
2. The nature of noise polluting activities include:

a. concrete mixers which arrive at unholy hours and continue churning out cement mixing for about five hours;

b. hammering, pounding, throwing of steel bars here and there, creating fire-cracker sounds like those heard during New Year's day and causing nerve-wracking pricks into our bodies;

c.workers used to shout here and there but recently have quieted down;

3. The nature of air-polluting activities include:

a. concrete mixers and their trucks emitting carbon monoxide that penetrate our house;

b. cement powder which above I have mentioned caused me to develop asthma;

Letter a is the worst because we cannot find any space in our house where we could breathe fresh air. The pollutant just blows over the interiors of our house;

4. Why the height is such a great liability:

a. it has dimmed the light in the surrounding areas;

b. the skies can no longer be viewed right away by the residents as they walk through the streets of the barangay;

c. the circulation of air has been limited by the heights of the buildings. Some tall buildings do not cover much the wind from circulating in the area because they are located beside the creek. But those within the barangay truly block the circulation of air; and

d. due to the limited circulation of air, breathing in and out becomes difficult, too. Respiratory illnesses and heart conditions could easily be developed because of that.

Hence, I am citing the above to ask if you have an ethical code of conduct for your members. I complained to the head of the particular construction company mentioned above but his reaction was downright insolent and arrogant. Deep inside I think he believes that everything can be bought with money.

When he gave the P30,000, it was for my medicines and my upkeep. Then he gave an additional P30,000 for my other relatives. However, he said that the first P30,000 was just for me. Now, he had told my other relatives that that was for everybody and now I am being made to account for that P30,000. Do you see the duplicity of his acts? He also told me

as I had refused to sign the papers without writing down my name and adding “with reservations” that the document was only internal to his company. But now it appears that he has bandied it around to destroy my reputation and to cite that I am not that idealistic after all. Now what kind of an ethical conduct is that?

By the way, he was the one who gave me the name of your association. When I tried looking up your name in the telephone directory, it was nowhere to be found. And so I am writing this open letter to you so that this company would at least be humane and considerate to:

1. Operate only from 8 a.m. To 6 p.m. And that any hammering, pounding and all noisy activities should be done between those hours, and not beyond. By the way, I have woken up on a several Sunday mornings which I value very much for meditation and praying with the noise from their activities penetrating all over the house, thus making me lose concentration;
2. Stop operations every Sunday as it is a day of rest for everyone; If the owner does not belong to our religion, then he should at least respect our right to worship peacefully on that day;
3. Stop operations after 6 pm. and observe it faithfully;
4. Hammering and pounding should not be continuous. Every two hours, there should be a thirty-minute recess in order to relieve the people around of the tensions and stresses they cause;
5. Please tell your members to desist from building beyond 5 storeys here in MetroManila, especially at residential, semi-residential areas as they are changing the emotional atmosphere here. We are being made to suffer the stressful looks of high-rise builldings for the sake of the profiteering motives of owners; and
6. Kindly tell your members to have ethical relationships with those who will be affected by their construction actities; and should they have violations, volunteer to pay us for the inconvenience we have suffered ungrudgingly. They should respect our right to peace and order in our areas of residence.

I hope that with this letter, we could have a peaceful life, even if the ambition of this construction company above is to build an edifice that should reach the skies. How ironic because I am sure the heavenly beings would not even bless their attempt to come up as this has been done at the expense of stepping on the human rights of people for a decent, humane, peaceful and secure life.

Hoping for your immediate, conscientious and sincere attention on the points I have raised, and for your disciplining your members and/or training them on the value of ethical practice of their business, I remain

Sincerely yours,

WILHELMINA S. OROZCO

Resident

“I have omitted the particular names of the construction company and its official, in order to respect their desire to continue their business without any taint of malpractice.