NUMBER ONE

Number one issuance from Congress is to assure the people of protection of their rights to free speech and the press, without any intimidation, distortion and harassment.

Let the mouth be an oasis of wise words.

The duty of every senator is to insure that all words that come out of their mouths are words of wisdom.

SCREEN DROWNING WITH ADS

DICT HLP!!!!

Everytime I use my ipad to do internet, several ads insert into the screen every one minute which breaks my trend of thought. Please investigate the role of the PNP intel group in drowning my use of internet with ads in order to prohibit me from thinking and writing well. This is clearly anti-freedom of information as well as business malpractice since I pay my fees on time and completely.

FISHING AT WEST PHILIPPINE SEA ONLY FOR STARVING COUNTRIES

What are the nutrients that can be had from fish? Here is a paragraph lifted from the Department of Health, Washington State:

"Fish is a low-fat high quality protein. Fish is filled with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins such as D and B2 (riboflavin). Fish is rich in calcium and phosphorus and a great source of minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, and potassium. The American Heart Associationrecommends eating fish at least two times per week as part of a healthy diet. Fish is packed with protein, vitamins, and nutrients that can lower blood pressure and help reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke."

I myself am very partial to fish esp salmon because it alleviates the pain in my limbs. However it is very expensive in our country as it comes from the Scandinavian countries. By the way, why can't the salmon business people give preferential prices to Third World countries like ours, whose population are in dire need of nutritious foods? They cannot possibly be standardizing their prices even if it becomes extremely expensive in this part of the world.

However,  Folks, this is not the main subject matter of this article. What I really want to say is why let rich countries with healthy citizens fish at the West Philippine Sea? Is it not ironic that the Filipino  people are in need of nitritious food from the sea and here we are being forced to competefor the wealth of the sea with fisherfolks from other countries?

Truly, there should be a standard for being kind and generous to other countries who have more resources to feed their population. I'm sure God gave us this blessed land and sea so that we can eat well and live longer. 

WHEN PUBLIC MIXES WITH PRIVATE INTERESTS THROUGH "DONATIONS"

QUESTION:

Should a private company be allowed to donate to a government agency, more specifically the PNP? Will this not compromise the integrity of public service? Will this not bind the PNP in providing concessions to the giver should certain occasions arise?

I do think Congress should investigate if it is ethical for the PNP to receive motorcycles or anynother vehicle from San Miguel Corporations. It sounds and looks odd.

WHY IV

WHY III

I don't feel different from you at all. My mother has 1/4 Chinese blood; her family name is Sioson. And according to our History mentor, Dr. Serafin Quiason, Sioson is originally SIO only and SON was just added to make it sound Filipino. Our grandfather Pastor was half Chinese.

And I could feel the Chinese blood in my mother, as she had exhibited great working spirit, not readily found in Filipino folks, you know. She would wake up early, pray, and work herself to the bone in order to feed first five children by her first husband and then with the sixth child  by her second husband as well as send them to school.

She was very good in numbers too as most Chinese are.

Her skin  was also fair, like the yellow race.

By they way again, I always buy beads from Pinpin, a Chinese woman who hails from Xiamen.  And I make the beads into balls for giveaways to friends who have touched my heart. I give them away because the materials are very expensive and I cannot price them good enough to recover their costs and my labour. I hope you could tell your manifacturers of the beads to lower the price of the beads.

Pinpin gives me a delicious cup of jelly everytime I buy beads from her. She talks sparingly but I understand her and she understands me. That is all that matters.

And so we are all here in this world because of destiny I think - you up there in PRC, and us down here in the Philippines.

Your symbol of power and strength is the dragon. Don't you think it is time for you and your people to tame the dragon and make it a friend not a conqueror?

But geography should not divide us. We are here to all live in peace and harmony. You have achieved development and economic equality with men in your country.

Now, ask and let the men exercise peaceeful co-existence with our country. I think it is time for us to realize the themes we had in 1995 -and make them operational finally. Your military men should lessen their warrior streak and learn to live as humans. Their appreciation of your culture - beautiful dances, meditative music, watercolor paintings, and many more could be their stepping stones to learning how to be refined, sensitive to colors, textures, shapes and lines - how to feel for the next human being beside them.

Rationality only is not enough in this world; emotionality is as highly important. When we say that life has yang (masculine) and yin (feminine) aspects, we mean they are balanced, not one towering over the other. We Filipinos and Filipinas are highly emotional which many other races have termed as a sign of weakness. But that is what makes us feel for other living beings. We also think of how our acts will affect other people, especially Mother Nature.

We could go on and on talking about this but our exchanges will never end. And I hope you would never stop reading my thoughts also.

I would appreciate receiving a reply from you.

WHY II

TO THE CHINESE WOMEN IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA:

I think you must make your men practice having nurturing feelings. They should value life as we, women, always do and to be caring and sensitive to the plight of others.

True you have a long history of being superior in terms of medicine, of culture, of arms as the gunpowder was discovered by the Taoists in your country and many more.

However, whatever high achievements you have had they should be coupled by magnanimity of heart and mind. Life is too short  to be spent in exterminating your enemies all the time.

Human beings are equipped with mental and intellectual faculties so that we may use them in dealing with the world, not in abolishing it and its residents.

You know, while I was attending a music conference somewhere in Asia, I met two Chinese musicians from your country, the PRC, and they sadly narrated to me what the Cultural Revolution had done to them - they were labelled reactionaries for playing European classical music and were told to spend time in the rural areas among the farmers.

They looked very sad when they were telling us that story; how they had felt so weak in the face of State Terrorism.

I don't remember if they could play any music they want to, then as it was 1989 and your country had been under a new dispensation.


But you know my Chinese women friends, I don't feel different from you at all.

WHY?

To the CHINESE WOMEN OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Greetings from the Philippines.


In 1995 I was there at Huairou, where all the NGO women's organizations were billeted to shut them out from communicating with the government women delegates who were placed in Beijing. Later on we were allowed in the latter city after the formal rites were through. We were supposed to celebrate:

"the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace. (This is the) name given for (the) conference convened by the United Nations during 4–15 September 1995..."

I felt so elated attending that not only because of the Tee Shirt which had Chinese characters of the theme of the conference but because I saw the huge picture of Chairman Mao Ze Dong in the plaza. It was awesome for me to see because I had read his books in the seventies thinking his ideas would help our country overcome the dictatorial regime of Marcos.

I can still remember reading his views about women being liberated for the country's sake.

Well, I had thought that because your country had sponsored that huge conference (by the way my participationas overall coordinator of MAKAMASA, an urban poor women's organization in Tondo, Manila, the biggest slum area in Asia at the time,  was sponsored by the Japanese women in tandem with the Graduate Studies on Women by the City University of New York, headed then by bless her soul, Dr. Sue Rosenberg).), then your country would have a different method of having a communist regime, a more benevolent one.

By the way, I was able to travel a bit in your country and I noticed then that smoking was allowed inside buses which made me choke a bit. And my friend from Puerto Rico who was my companion, said that China had not heard yet about pollution then. I also bought a thing from the supermarket and it was broken when I had brought it home, But when I tried to exhange it, the supermarket had refused. And so I told the cashier, who always spoke Chinese, that they have to learn from the people from democratic countries because goods may be exchanged or returned when they are not in order upon purchase.

Now after 24 years, your country is up there high in the list of economic superpowers. However, militarily your officials are being extremely difficult to be dealt with. Despite UN declaration of our ownership of certain zones in the sea, your government continues to insist they are your own.

Lately, our country fisherfolks have been suffering greatly from the intrusions of your military ships in our high seas. The latest is one Chinese ship rammed down a Filipino fishing vessel and had left the local sailors almost drowning after it had sunk. Without the Vietnamese sailors help, their life could have been shortened.

Why is your government acting such a big bully now? What has happened to the theme of our Beijing International Women's Conference of Equality, Development and Peace?

I think it is time for you to discipline your men and make them practice tolerance.

FILIPINO WORKER GETS THE JOB AFTER SIX MONTHS

How do we solve the overcrowding of Chinese workers in our midst?


Every Chinese worker who gets a work here must have a Filipino partner who will study the ropes and then takes over after six months the job from him.

This is insuring that no other Chinese will get the job vacated.

BAKIT MAGASTOS ANG PAG SUBMIT NG SOCE?

folks,all  candidates,winners or not are required  to submit their statement of contributions and expenses or SOCE to the COMELEC.

I downloaded the forms and the were in English. The forms are readable for those who have reached fourth year high school and college, not below.

Kaya, kung ikaw mga kumare at kumpare, Pilipino o ibang dialect ang alam mo lamang, talo ka na. Kailangan kumuha ka ng abugado o isang educator o isang marinong talgaa sa Ingles na tutulong sa iyo, para mapunan mo ang mga tanong sa SOCE. Ang forms nito ay handang handa sa mga nakapag-aral, at marunong ng Ingles.

Isa pa, binibigyan ng SOCE ng trabaho ang maraming abugado. Sa isang form, kailangan ang abugado na tatanggap ng mga katanungan ng COMELEC hinggil sa na isubmit na form. Kailanga din ng Special Power of Attorney, peo, dito kahit hindi abugado puwede. Tapos ipa nonotaryo mo.

Mga requirements ng Comelec para sa soce at gastusin:

1. SOCE form isang pahina = P0.70 per page x 5 kopya bawat pahina  = P3.50
2. Yung SPA dalawang pahina kaya P0.70 x 2 pahina = P1.40 x 5 kopya = P7.00
3. Soft copy - CD halagang P15.00 Pagkopya = P50; total P65.00
4. Downloading ng SOCE tatlong pahina  x P4 per page printing= P12.00.
5. Internet rental P20 per hour
6. 6. Notary public - P150.00.
7. SPA - Notary Public - P250.00

SUMA:
xeroxing:
P3.50+
   7.00
Total xeroxing: P10.50
+ download.        12.00
Internet rental.    20.00
Notary puublic.  350.00

Total P392.50
Pamasahe papunta sa Comelec, District 5 at pabalik ng bahay P60 x 2= P120.00

Grand total = P392.50 +P120 = P512.50

MGA TANONG
1. Tanong: Kailangan pa bang mag submit ng SP ang mga hindi nanalong kandidato?         Sagot- Hindi.
2. Kailangan pa bang magsubmit ng soft copy? Sagot: Hindi kasi tiyak marunong magbasa ng papel ang mga staff ng Comelec. Ang lalamanin ng soft coly ay mga datos na useless na after a year kasi magkakaroon na naman ng bagong eleksyon. Bakit magiimbak ang Comelec ng mga basurang CD at bond papers na wala ng pakinabang?
3. Taning: Mahalaga ba ang mga dokumentos na ipinasa submit sa mga hindi uupong kandidato?                                                                                                 Sagot: Hindi. Ang mga dokumentos lamang ng mga uupong kandidato ang dapat na ipa submit at suriin ng mabuti  at kailangang alamin kung hindi sila sumobra sa paggasta, kung nandaya, kung namili ng boto, kung may contributor o padrino o donor na malaki ang binigay para makapag imprenta ng sangkatutak na tarpulin na inilagay sa legal at illegal na pamamaraan, kung may binayarang mga purok leders para hikayatin ang constituents na iboto sila,  (syempre itatago ang mga pangalan ng mga yan at ang gastusin ay kokoleretehan), etsetera, etsetera.

Ang kalakarang hindi pa nababago ay isang paraan para paliitin ang puwNg para makakusot ang mga taong nagnanais manilbihan sa ating bayan na walang atik para maglagay. Kailangan lamang ay ang mga may pera, may kayang mag appiint, mag hire ng mga tatakbo at gagawin ang mga rekisitos na itinakd ng Comelec.

Tayo mga Kapatid, Kababayan, Kapuso, Kapamilya,  tayo ay istranghero sa mga mata ng taga COMELEC.Sila ang boss kapag eleksiyon, hindi ang taumbayan. Bakit nagkaganito ang marubdob nating pagmamahal sa ating bayan? Pinahihirapan tayong maka comply at makasunod sa mga patakaran? Kelan ito nagsimula? Sino ang nagpakana ng mga ito?


MGA HISTORIANS: taga history departments ng mga eskuwelahan pakisa eksplika nga.Saan nagsimula ang korapsyon sa Comelec?

PANANAW NA PANLIPUNAN

.

Noong bumisita ako sa isang Oriental medical doctor, sinabi ko na sana ay mabasa niya ang aking blog. Nung sumunod na pagbisita ko, sabi niya, bakit daw marami akong sinusulat; ibig niyang sabihin, palampasin ko ang mga bagay na sinusuri ko. 

Ang hirap kasi sa mga ayaw magsuri, nabubuhay sila ng 8 to 5, kumakain ng tatlong beses at may snacks pa sa isang araw, at marahil ay nakakapag travel pa kahit saang bansang gusto nila. 

Mga kababayan ko, kapag tayo ay malapit, nakikita kaagad ang mga naghihirap sa ating paligid, kinakalabit tayo para humingi ng pera; nagpupunas ng sapatos sa jeep para makahingi kahit magkano; o kaya natutulog sa tapat ng isang exhaust tube sa kanto ng Banawe at E. Rodriguez Avenue para makasagap ng hangin na malamig-lamig; o kaya  nagpupunas ng salamin ng kotse pag umuulan, palagay ko mahihirapan tayong hindi magmura, o magalit, o kaya ay magsulat sa mga nangyayari sa ating bansa, hindi ba?

Yan ang kaibahan ng nakatira sa mga kanluraning bansa. Doon malawak ang middle class. Sa atin malawak ang lower class, kaya karamihan sa ating mga kababayan hindi maaaring ipikit ang mga mata sa mga nahihirapan nating kababayan. 

Yun lang, isang leksyon sa  kung bakit tayo may pananaw na panlipunan o social consciousness. At lalalim ang ating pananaw kung parati tayong magsusuri, magbabasa ng mga naaangkop na mga aklat o artikulo tungkol sa mga isyung mag kinalaman sa mga tao, sa komunidad, sa relihiyon, sa batas, sa daigdig at marami pang iba. 

Ngayon, may isang social issue sa atin ngayon - kung dapat bang magimbestiga ang United Nations sa atin tungkol sa extra judiicial killings. Mabigat ang mga salitang EJK at dapat bigyan ito ng tamang kahulugan. Kailangan, yung mga humihingi ng katarungan sa mg a namatay, magbanggit ng pangalan, petsa ng pagkamatay, paano namatay, at kung may kaso, nasaan na ito.

Sa ngayon, puro batuhan ng labels, pero walang kinahihinatnan at pagkatapos hihingi pa ng tulong sa labas ng bansa. Kailangan i-resolve muna natin dito upang matuto rin ang ating mga kababayan na magsuri ng mabuti, hindi puro banat. 

Tapos na ang panahon ng mga utak pulbura. Gawin na nating maginoong talakayan ang mga bagay-bagay. Ang pagresolba ng mga alitan sa lipunan ay nagsisimula sa malalim na pagsusuri, kung kailangang itemize, isa-isahin sige. 

SOCE ISANG STATISTICAL PRESENTATION PARA KANINO?

I went to the District 4 office of Comelec to submit my statement of contributions and expenses. I typed it on one sheet piece of paper since my expenses were not so big and Imhardly got contributions.

Instead of accepting my submission, the guy wanted me to 1. download several forms od Comelec for SOCE; and 2. submit a USB (P280.00) or a CD of my SOCE which would cost me a hundred pesos to be done by a computer store.

I told the guy, "Ang galing nyo naman, nanggagaliiti kayo sa pamimilit sa amin na sundin ang pagsunod ng SOCE rules ninyo pero yung pandaraya ng ibang kandidato ni hindi kayo nanggaliiti. Ano ang mas masama, ang magsentro kayo sa papel o sa mga paglabag ng mga rules nyo tungkol sa electoral practices?

Folks, what is happening to Comelec? Instead of saving on paper by allowing simple declaration of expenses and contributions, they are making it a very grand project, a big statistical presentation, as if the SOCE is one thesis or dissertation for the perusal of the Law Department. I have been told to complainto the LD. Magreklamo daw ako sa LD.

Bakit sila ganito mag-isip parang hindi Pilipino. Ang rules nila ay anti-poor, impractical, magastos, at walang saysay.

Narito ang aking nagastos at mga kontribusyon:

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS

QUEZON CITY

WILHELMINA S OROZCO

EMMA OROZCO

MAYORALTY CANDIDATE FOR QUEZON CITY 2019

11 June 2019

To the Chairman, Comelec:

Below, please find my Statement of Contributions and Expenses.

Sincerely,

WILHELMINA S. OROZCO (OROZCO EMMA)

STATEMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENSES

CONTRIBUTIONS: 

1.       Donation A – ……………………………………………………………………………………..P2000.00

2.       Donation B – flyers and pamphlets  ………………………………………………… 15,000.00 

3.       Donation C – ……………………………………………………………………………………… 2,000.00

TOTAL …………………………………………………………………………………………  P19, 000.00

EXPENSES:

1.       Brake fluid ……………………………………………………………………………...P95.00

2.       Gasoline……………………………………………………………………………….    200.00

3.       Secretarial Assistance………………………………………………………...  45,000.00

4.       Tarpaulins …………………………………………………………………………..  1,090.00

5.       Riso Printing – ………………………………………………………………………… 700.00

6.       Xerox  Blessings………………………………………………………………………  164.00

7.       Transportation Expenses – Per day P200 x 30 …………………… ..6,000.00

8.       Meals – Per day P300 x 30 days ………………………………………......9,000.00

9.       Globe Sifi ……………………………………………………………………………   2,199.00

10.   Tee Shirts Fruit of the loom………………………………………………..       135.00

11.   Photographs Picture City ………………………………………………………….. 60.00

12.   Padlock…………; ……………………………………………………………………….  350.00

13.   USB CDR King………………………………………………………………………….   280.00   

14.   Internet rentals P20 per hour x 20 hours ………………………………..   400.00

15.   Computer printouts P2 per page x 150 pages…………………………..   300.00

                                                                         Total Expenses………P65,973.00

                                                                     

 O, simple lang di ba? Kailangan pa ba niyan ng pa USB USB  o kaya mga forms na pupunuan ng datos samantalang isang tingin nyo lang, tapos na ang kuwento ng paglahok ko bilang mayor ng Quezon City?

Parang akala yata ng mga taga Comelec, ako ay bano sa mga gawain ng burukrasya. Ang burukrasya ay mahilig sa mga papel papel na akala mo kung gaano kalalalim ng mga sinasabi yun pala mare-reduce mo sa isang sentence and sinasabi.

At ang mga forms na hinihing ng Comelec ay ipapanotaryo pa. Lalagyan pa ng mga selyo? Bakit ganun? anong kababalaghan ito, liban na lamang kung may kuwestionable sa aking ihahaing mga datos. Kung meron man, walang gagawin kundi, magpa-submit ng mas detalyado na mga datos.

Hay naku, Committees on Electoral Reforms of Congress and the Senate, kindly investigate down to the forms being used by the Comelec, not only the cheating. Let it be an overhaul of the the whole Commission. It is already a big burden to the people; but having to deal with the mindset of a bureaucrat is worse. 

IN THE EYES OF THE PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR HUMANE AND COMPASSIONATE LEADERS

MMDA

WHEN AWARDS LOSE THEIR MEANING IN THE EYES OF THE PEOPLE               SEARCHING FOR HUMANE AND COMPASSIONATE LEADERS

One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion. Simone de Beauvoir

WHAT FOR ARE THE AWARDS IF THE INDIVIDUAL TURNS OUT TO BE ANTI-PEOPLE?

*  Presidential Medal of Merit (Philippines)

*  Martial Law Unit Citation

*  People Power I Unit Citation

*  Distinguished Service Star

*   Bronze Cross Medal

*  Gold Cross Medal

*  Military Merit

*  Wounded Personnel Medal

*  Military Commendation Medals

*  Military Civic Action Medal

*  Disaster Relief & Rehabilitation Operation Ribbon

*  Anti-Dissidence Campaign Medal

*  Luzon Anti Dissidence Campaign Medal

*  Visayas Anti-Dissidence Campaign Medal

*  Mindanao Anti-dissidence Campaign Medal

*  Long Service Medal

*  Scout Ranger Qualification



GUESS WHOSE BIODATA I AM CITING HERe.

RESPECT DOWN TO THE LAST COINS

"...And say, when I am picking the coins for my paying the tricycle driver my fare, I wish the coins could be distinguished easily and I don't have to look for a lit area (in case it is nighttime) in order to be able to see if it is a five peso or a ten new coin. You see Folks, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has a designer who is desensitized to the needs of the Filipino people. It has produced five and ten pesos coins with very similar looks. Hence, you really have to squint your eyes to detect the difference between the two. You cannot automatically pick one and say that is a five- or ten-peso coin...."

The is a part of an article I wrote in 2018. Folks, I am starting a petition  to remove five-peso and one-peso coins from circulation because they are causing confusion due to their similar sizes. 

I will also include for dropping from circulation fifty peso bills bcause its color at night resembles that of the P20 peso bill and the one-thousand peso bill because its color is difficult to distinguish from the 100 peso bill. 

I would like to request all banks, pawnshops, and all finance dealers to start their own similar acts in order to make the Bangko Sentral sensitive to the plight of the people. Also the supermalls with cash registers I hope would support this. 

I once rode a cab one evening. In my desire to get out right away, I mistook a P1,000 peso bill for P100. The driver was thanking me profusely and Imcould not understand why when I had paid him less the 20% discount for seniors. Only upon my arrival at home did I find I had lost a P1000 paper bill. 

It's time for us to rise up and point to the BSP officials they cannot be playing tricks on the people anymore. Governance is treating the people with respect down to the last centavo coins.

WIPING OUR TEARS LIKE HALIPHAT

What gift did the Comelec give to the mainstream media so that they could earn millions for advertisements? A free rein on who to interview, who to let shine in the limelight, who to favor as the likely candidate to win?

Yes all of that. The mainstream media featured those candidates who could afford their rates that ran into thousands and millions of pesos per minute depending on the medium, whether, radio, TV or print. 

So the truly happy people in these elections are the owners of mainstream media and their writers, and production staff.  

But is that fair? 

Why were the low-funded candidates not given any airing at all? A handful did like DZXL which featured a low-budgeted female mayoralty candidate from Quezon City many weeks before election time, who stuck on up to the last minute despite overtures of being paid to back out by some rich candidate. I was lucky because the QC PAISO liberally gave me a copy of my digital interview by their staff which I circulated around a few days before May 13th, 2019 election day. 

The Comelec is busy strategizing on how to make their selected candidates win, and so dismissed, ignored if not neglected the plight of sincere candidates whose aimsi are be of service to the marginalized groups, among others. 

So what is our lesson for today, Folks? Legally require all media to appropriate sixty per cent of the budget paid by a rich candidate to featuring other candidates unable to pay their rates. So the rich candidate gets a full budget of 40% of what he or she pays, and the 60% is divided among all other candidates, one or twenty, depending on the circumstances. If there is only one competing candidate versus the rich one, then the media outfit shall feature him or her nonetheless. 

A law should be passed requiring this appropriation so that every election time, all of the candidates can troop to the media offices and claim their right to be featured. After all, the media offices are  making a lot of profits already year in, year out and especially during election time. It is high time that they revise their policies to be democratic. 

That is fair enough. In other words, the aim is to make the people see the broad picture of the elections, bringing to their homes through media, the faces, names, backgrounds, accomplishments and programs of action of those said candidates.

Now I urge all underfunded candidates to support this because when the people are well-informed, they will not choose vote buyers, nor sell their votes, nor influence others to do anti-democratic electoral practices. 

This democratization of media resources is just the start for a truly honest and fair elections in the future. 

As Haliphat, a young girl in Syria who lived i 231 BC, let us wipe our tears of sorrow over the treacherous outcome of the Philippine 2019 elections. We shall be more courageous, persistent, see with our eagle eyes and pounce on whatever hocus-pocus will come the next time. 



Haliphat Funerary Bust 231 BC, Palmyra, Syria, limestone 

Palmyra: Ruins that inspired the architecture of power

By Jane O'BrienBBC News, Washington

• 27 July 2015

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Image copyrightBBC/TAYLOR KATE BROWN

What do the ruins of an ancient Roman city in Syria and some of the most iconic buildings in Washington and London have to do with each other? A new exhibit aims to connect US audiences with antiquities under fire in Syria's civil war.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Haliphat. She was rich, but also modest and virtuous. She lived in a magnificent desert city that glowed pink when the sun set.

This could be the beginning of a fairy story - except the tale is true and right now there is no happy ending in sight.

Haliphat really did exist about 1,800 years ago. Her home was Palmyra, a vibrant commercial hub at the heart of the Roman Empire. Today its ancient ruins stand at the crosshairs of Syria's brutal civil war.

We know about Haliphat thanks to Charles Freer. He acquired her limestone bust in 1908 to and gave it to the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington DC. The sculpture was taken from her tomb and shows her dressed in her finest clothes. According to an Aramaic inscription, she died in 231 AD.

Image copyrightBBC/TAYLOR KATE BROWN

The museum has decided to put the bust on display for the first time in almost a decade after the group calling itself Islamic State (IS) overran Palmyra in May.

WHEN STATISTICS DO NOT LIE

1. Gab Valenciano, choreographer and dancer, recovering after motorcycle accident.

2. The working age group is most vulnerable to road crashes nationwide.

The working age group consists of people 15-64 years old. In 2015, 82.17% or 8,227 of the total road crash casualties nationwide came from this sector.

3. More than 500 children die every year due to road crashes.

An average of 667 children – those 14 years old and below – died every year from 2006 to 2015. Among the children, the most vulnerable are those 5-9 years old, and those 10-14.

4. The total number of deaths due to road crashes nationwide has been increasing since 2006.

In 2006, the PSA recorded 6,869 deaths due to road crashes. Nine years later, in 2015, that number jumped to 10,012.

Since 2010, the number of road crash deaths never dipped below 8,000. The year with the most number of road crash-related deaths is 2015, with 10,012 people killed. This is 1.79% of the 560,605 total deaths (including non-road crash ones) recorded by the Philippine Statistical Authority that year.

- https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/road-safety/166151-road-crashes-philippines-awareness-safety

5. The Philippines got a dismal 1 out of 10 rating in the implementation of its drunk-driving law in the World Health Organization Global status report on road safety 2015

Folks need we wonder any more why we got 1 when we have highly industrious MMDA personnel ready, willing, and able to put up liquor and alcohol ads in the streets for viewing of everyone including children? 

CALLING ON ALL DOCTORS, EDUCATORS, SOCIAL WORKERS, TRANSPORTATION OFFICERS, AND ALL CONCERNED INDIVIDUALS: SAVE THE LIVES OF OUR DRIVING POPULATION AND THEIR PASSENGERS.   WRITE TO MMDA TO BE MORE SENSITIVE TO THE PLIGHT OF ALL DRIVERS. 

CURDLING STOMACH

Good Evening Folks, I am avoiding Araneta Avenue now with its liquor and alcohol 

advertisements. My stomach curdles everytime I see such ads as I imagine motorcycle and 

other vehicle drivers who are drunk and colliding with each other. 

Bless their souls and guard them, o God from the callous individuals responsible for putting 

up such ads.

HARD NUTS TO CRACK

Folks,
I wrote about those liquor and alcohol ads, didn't  I?

Would you believe three huge billboards of such ads are on the Skyway pillars right there in the middle of Araneta Avenue urging the drivers to drink? 

Really now. I am calling on the Departments of Health, Education,Social Welfare and Development, and the LTFRB to educate the MMDA on what is reponsible governance of our roads. It seems there are hard nuts to crack in it. It is headed by an ex military guy, by the way. He should study I think corporate responsibility,  or pressure his underlings to do so.

Hay naku, kelan ba magbabago ang lipunan natin? Ka simple simpleng problema hindi masolusyunan kaagad. Puwede ba, guys? Ease our problems and don't add to them? Leave your problems at home and attend to the people's with greater dignity and not hanky panky administration.

TAX INCENTIVES FOR HERBAL MEDICINES, ETC

Medicines are highly expensive and can deplete our savings. I believe that the BIR and the DOF should find a way of removing taxes from medical companies who manufacture medicines using our natural resources and coming up with herbal mdicines. We should then cultivate our own resources and give our medical laboratories the boost they need by giving them huge tax incentives, if not tax exemptions directly.

Senior citizens woll benefit greatly from that. As it is, whay we have reserved for a holiday outside of MMLA is used up due to the purchase of much-needed medicines.

Also, bookstores and other educational institutions should be included since their aim is to expand the mind of the Filipino people. Include also the computer shops which provide printing, internet and xeroxing services. Exempt those computer shops that are only gaming. Tax incentives only for shops without games.

How fast do you think can the Department of Finance and th BIR act on these? Time is of the essence especially where medicines are the concern?

t