Just call him Lucky Mike

A court in Basilan has declared the Abu Sayyaf a terrorist group. Oh, it found out only now? Seems the whole country has long known what kind of people the ASG members are. But then, maybe, the judge just wanted to put it on record. Does this mean that those members who get caught can be condemned outright as terrorists? That will certainly make things easier for law enforcers.

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What an irony it was to read the news that five former members of the Philippine Commission on Good Government, or PCGG, are being charged by the Ombudsman for alleged fraudulent agreements with the heirs of the former mayor of Muntinglupa. How is that for an illustration of how the commission they were members of, could behave? And the five are joined by another member, a director, who is alleged to be in on that transaction, too. How wrong could the ones who appointed them be?

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The election season is not yet on, and candidate have not even filed their certificates of candidacy yet. In fact, some prospective ones have not even confirmed their plans so far, but already the dirty tricks are starting. Among them is the circulation of P500 bills bearing the picture of Mar Roxas, the anointed one of the President. Who do you think has the guile and the gumption to think of such a scheme? I wonder what Roxas thinks of that, but I don't think he is the type who will retaliate in kind. Maybe he will just wait for his opponents to overdo things, and by doing so, self-destruct.

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It was amusing to read the news item discouraging Filipino “yayas (nannies)” from seeking jobs in China. A few generations ago, it was the opposite, Chinese “amahs”, the equivalent of our “yayas” were coming to the Philippines to work for wealthy families. It was then a sort of status symbol to have Chinese amahs in a family, and this went on for a long time, because, even during the World War II, there were still families with Chinese yayas. Now things have turned around, and Pinays are now going to China for the same purpose. As my grandmother used to say, “The world is round, indeed.”

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It looks as if more and more local government officials, especially members of Congress are being discovered to have been involved in the scandalous fertilizer affair where the millions of pesos supposedly intended to purchase fertilizers for agriculture, were, instead allegedly used for election purposes, and not to grow crops, but to buy votes. The Ombudsman has again released the names of several of them. Strangely, some of those who did buy fertilizers, did so at overprice, and mostly without going through the requisite of public bidding. Seems the Ombudsman really takes a hard stance against those who omit public bidding in their transactions, because, as she explained, these people “lost opportunity for the government” to get a better deal.

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After hearing so many tales of inconveniences and fright from passengers who flew to Manila the other night and found themselves landing elsewhere, my mind went back to an international wire story recently about a Qatar Airways plane that encountered what they call “clear air turbulence” on the way to Manila. Because several passengers had felt comfortable with the calm flight, they had taken off their seat belts, and were tossed around during the turbulence. Luckily those injured had only bruises and scratches, but it could have been worse.

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That is why, plane crews often stress that passengers should keep their seatbelts fastened while on flight. One never knows when such extraordinary movement of nature will occur. I experienced one several years ago during a night flight from Manila when it was so calm many passengers were dozing. Suddenly, the plane seemed to hop up and down in a way I had never experienced before. Some passengers were shouting, the stewardess kept telling us to keep our belts fastened. It lasted for a very short time maybe two or three minutes, and then it was all calm again. I narrated what happened to then PAL manager Job Lamela when we landed, and he told me, “That was clear air turbulence that you went through”. Thank God I never experienced it again.

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Don't you envy former first gentleman Mike Arroyo? Although the guy is facing serious charges involving government funds, the Sandiganbayan has again given him permission to travel starting September 15 to Madrid, Munich, Amsterdam, Zurich, and Rome. Strangely, it will not even allow his poor wife house arrest. Lucky guy.*

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