If it’s too good to be true

Do not be surprised if more and more fires are reported in the areas of Mindanao where electric power is reported to be not available for long periods of the day. The fires cannot be blamed on the usual short circuits but, very likely on the use of candles or gas lamps that people resort to when there are so-called “power outages” or brownouts. Officials of those areas, therefore should campaign among their people about the safe use of candles and lamps that they need for lighting purposes.

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When it comes to fires, which seem to strike with greater frequency during what is ironically designated as Fire Prevention Month, officials, especially those from the fire departments or volunteer fire brigades, should also focus their campaigns on the importance of saving lives first, and that people should not be tempted to look back or return for their worldly goods. Only the other day, a lady doctor in Quezon City, who came home to see her house on fire, still took the chance of running inside to save some of her things. Unfortunately for her, the flames were faster, and she got burned severely, as her hair got ignited, and her hands, back and other body parts got severely burned.

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A big blow to depositors of the former Legacy Group of Companies was the announcement yesterday of the death of its president, Celso de los Angeles. De los Angeles had already been diagnosed with throat cancer when the scandal broke out, so he could not even explain himself to the hundreds of depositors, who are now mourning, not his passing away, but the loss of hope for the return of their money.

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This is another lesson to those who succumb to the glib invitations of agents or owners of get-rich-scheme outfits who entice people with wonderful promises of easy money. The slogan to remember, therefore, is that, if a scheme sounds too good to be true, then it is really too good to be true. And the end of the line may be too bad for you. The problem now of the Legacy depositors is how, if ever, they can get their money back. Can the company answer for it?

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Last Sunday, I was fiddling with the TV remote long after midnight and suddenly stopped when what was coming on was what appeared to be a concert of the late Michael Jackson. So I sat up to watch, since it was very entertaining, with the costumes, the cast, and even the musicians all performing very perfectly. How surprised I was when I found out when they called a break, that it was only a rehearsal for one of his shows.

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It was really very realistic, and even if it was getting to be long past midnight, I stayed up, noting that the show, or the tape, was titled “This is it”. I had the good fortune to watch Michael Jackson in person when he performed in Manila, so I realized how much effort and preparation he actually puts into his concerts. He seemed to be tuned to all of his singers and support groups, and they all seemed to be devoted, even worshipful of him. And he did not come out as a temperamental artist, going into tantrums when his instructions were not followed perfectly, he even apologized when he made a wrong call, saying “Sorry, sorry” or “God bless you” to those who performed well.

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I am now sorry I did not pay much attention to him when he was at his heyday, thinking that he was just one of those lucky artists. But the songs he introduced in that concert under rehearsal were about the environment and about family and childhood. He was, indeed, a truly gifted man, and it is a great pity that he was drawn into drug use later in his career. Who knows how he could have influenced humankind as far as climate change is concerned?

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As for that concert in Manila, it was only by chance that I was able to be among the thousands, maybe millions(?) who walked and jostled with the crowd where the Star development area now stands, because a businessman we knew had tickets he could not use. I did not realize how lucky I was then, but I was able to take pictures of Michael Jackson, some of which were published in the STAR. And it is only now that I am convinced that Michael Jackson was truly a genius, in his own way.*

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