Island of opulence in sea of poverty - DEMAND AND SUPPLY

I had the opportunity to visit Punta Fuego in Nasugbu, Batangas last Sunday. I must say that what I saw is definitely impressive. Nature and capital worked together to bring about something that is truly world class. The views of sea and hills are spectacular, specially from the balcony of the residence of Nanding Balatbat, a finance expert I had the privilege of working with many years ago.

Getting to Punta Fuego was not bad either. I guess the developers found it to their interest to improve the rough roads. The last few kilometers were nicely cemented. Food and service in the clubhouse are good. And I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon on a nice summer day than resting in one of those folding beach chairs under a shady tree, reading a book or doing absolutely nothing.

I was too intimidated to ask how much a membership costs, more so how much they sell those nice beach lots with the fancy vacation homes. I figured if I had enough money to afford one of those homes, I will elect to put that in a money market account so I can spend my days writing columns and travelling around. Dreams being what they are, I guess the trick is finding out who is a member and who has a home there. And get yourself invited again and again.

The place is just perfect as a refuge from the stresses of Metro Manila. I was even starting to imagine that my chronic sinus problem was starting to heal in just a few hours of nice sea breeze. You don't notice that it is time again to drive back to the fumes and pace of Metro Manila.

Then again, even if I could afford it, the other reason I will hesitate to buy a property there is some kind of unspoken fear that such an island of opulence can't be safe in that sea of poverty. A few meters from the imposing gate of Punta Fuego are red banners and protest signs of local residents who are accusing the courts of conspiring with the moneyed class in depriving them of their land.

I realize this is a typical Philippine scene. In Metro Manila, ritzy villages share a wall with squatter colonies. But it is different when you are out there in open country. The contrast is stark and threatening to one's equanimity.

No doubt, the NPA or other so called "pro people" organizations are working very hard to win the local residents towards their way of thinking about the imperatives of class struggle in that community. I don't know how convincing the NPA had been, but it seems they have made headway in that area. On the other side of the cove, another developer had been unable to do much by way of a Punta Fuego type of development, because of similar conflicts.

I understand the farmers in the area are protesting the way they had been thrown out of the land they had hoped would be given to them by way of land reform. I am not familiar with the manner by which the land developers dealt with them but it seems they should have given the farmers a lot more attention and reason not to feel alienated by all that opulence.

In fairness to the developers, it seems to me that the land in question is best utilized as a high value tourist or vacation haven. I can't imagine much intensive farming is possible in that rocky environment. But the developers should have come up with ways by which the local farmers will feel a stake in the upscale development.

And I don't mean merely offering them jobs as waiters, security guards and cooks. While making these jobs available are expected and directly beneficial to some of the locals, it might have been better if a more comprehensive program were in place. Maybe some of the farmers could be assisted in growing vegetables and other foodstuff that would otherwise be bought elsewhere. Or helped the residents to have small poultry operations to provide chicken and eggs to the affluent community. Or share access to utilities like water, power and telecommunications.

In the end, I think the residents of those affluent communities will feel a lot safer if they knew the locals outside their high walls also feel a sense of belonging to the larger community. I don't know if that is possible, but it must be worth a try.

Kidnapping

Peace and order is still one of the main concerns of most citizens. And rightly so. Yesterday, The STAR carried two stories that should bother all of us. In the first story, a UP Baguio student and his girl friend were kidnapped and later killed. The student happens to be the nephew of former Finance Secretary Ernest Leung. The kidnappers may have thought that because of the Chinese sounding name, the boy's family is rich. They aren't. They are just an ordinary, honest and hardworking family. In the second story, a UP Law student was almost kidnapped right on campus by Armalite-carrying men. He fought them off and luckily, they did not shoot him in the process.

No wonder citizens are alarmed. Here are excerpts from an e-mail we received from reader Bayani Martinez De Leon Caparros.

What is National Security Adviser Roilo Golez saying that hostage taking in the country have declined under GMA regime? The question here is stopping the crime, not comparative statistics!

DILG Secretary Joey Lina and PNP Chief Leandro Mendoza said statistics were exaggerated. On the contrary, the statistics were under stated, if you consider undisclosed occurrences whose settlements are secretly negotiated.

Kidnapping is one of the remaining issues that make our country unstable. Let the Philippines not be the kidnapping country of the world!

Children

Dr. Ernie Espiritu sent us this one for today. Rachel and Esther meet for the first time in 50 years since high school. Rachel begins to tell Esther about her children. "My son is a doctor and he’s got four kids. My daughter is married to a lawyer and they have three great kids. So tell me Esther, how about your kids?"

Esther replies, "Unfortunately, Morty and I don’t have any children and so we have no grandchildren either."

Rachel says, "No children? ... and no grandkids? So tell me, Esther, what do you do for aggravation?"

(Boo Chanco's e-mail address is [email protected])