An Opus Diavoli of a grandslam

Last week’s story on the understandable uproar over PhilamLife president Joey Cuisia’s winning an exclusive business club’s top two Christmas raffle prizes of a luxury all-expenses paid Mediterranean cruise for two and two business-class round-trip tickets to San Francisco seems to have taken a life of its own. We received several emails from members of the Tower Club condemning the raffle as "incredulous". They said that Joey Cuisia being the CEO of PhilamLife, which owns and sells the shares, should have returned the raffle prizes. AIG, the owner of PhilamLife, has a code of ethics that essentially prohibits officers from participating in raffles. For this reason, our reader says he plans to bring the matter to the attention of AIG Chairman Maurice Greenberg. In fact, we also received several responses from Cuisia’s brethren in the Opus Dei. One even ventured to say that he was so appalled at this action from a member of their cult. He said that delicadeza would have dictated that Cuisia give up the prizes because the circumstances of the raffle seem, and we quote, alanganin and katakataka. He added that if Opus Dei’s religiosity and spirituality cannot regulate Cuisia, then delicadeza may be a concept that the raffle winner might not have heard of. Sounds more like Opus Diavoli than anything else. Anyhow, with the growing condemnation on the issue, we won’t be surprised if Dan Brown, author of the thriller "The Da Vinci Code", joins the fray soon. He has written volumes about Opus Dei’s covert operations, especially the albino monk, Silas.

The Spratlys warfare: From real to verbal

Vietnam’s recent "sightseeing tour" in the hotly-disputed Spratlys Islands has prompted verbal protests from the other five governments claiming ownership of the archipelago. In the past, this incursion to the islands would have resulted in outright warfare. In 1988, 78 Vietnamese Navy personnel died in a clash with Chinese forces at Johnson Reef, and then another one in 1992. The recent Vietnamese "excursion" only triggered diplomatic protests, and the only warfare involved was verbal in nature. Talk seems to be the order of the day, and China and the Philippines are opening long-overdue talks on the Spratlys Islands. Five nations are contesting this resource-rich area. More important, control of this area affects Japan and America’s Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC) through the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, and Europe. Security experts anticipate the Spratlys to be a future regional flashpoint before 2020. Perhaps the Chinese are initiating talks to assuage some guilt over a past incident. Unknown to most, Chinese fighter-bombers attacked a composite force of the AFP’s Western Command stationed on Rizal Reef in 1988. Four RP troopers died in that attack. Since then, the AFP has pulled out from the area. The Chinese have been occupying it ever since. The results of these talks can endure only if we build our armed forces’ capability in the next five years with long-range patrol planes.

Our sick shipping industry

Looks like it’s rough sailing for our domestic shipping industry. There’s a growing demand for safer and more efficient transfer of people and goods across the country, but shipping firms are having a difficult time addressing this. One company had one of its ships gutted by fire, with many lives and millions in property and investments sinking along with it. Measures are being undertaken by said company to introduce newer, bigger vessels and set up a more efficient system that would take away all the hassle customers have to go through in dealing with them. Another shipping line finds itself in an even more distressing situation. Labor troubles paralyzed its operations for several days. Management is trying stop-gap measures to convince striking employees to return to work, but the company’s efforts doesn’t seem to be working. How long the impasse will last is anybody’s guess right now. Employee demands include more competitive salaries for vessel officers and crew, and benefits. If the company doesn’t act on these demands fast, industry insiders warned it will be hit by another, more crippling strike. More in next issue.

Social climbing gossip columnist

Our Eye-spy, who has been trailing gossip columnist Victor "Cachupoy" Agustin, reported to us that for many years now this character has been known to be a hanger-on at exclusive clubs in Metro Manila, particularly the Polo Club and the Manila Golf. Not being able to afford to be a member, he thinks that by hanging around them he can fool people that he’s a part of the elite. But everybody knows that he merely uses his "HoneyPie" as his passport to join "high society". Our Eye-spy, who is a Manila Golf member, reported to us that all the golfers make fun of him whenever he is seen hanging around the club. The joke is he holds other kinds of putters but definitely not the kind we normally use on the green. He reportedly goes to these clubs to gather gossip but he gets his stories all mixed up anyway, especially when he sees young male members. What a crazy mixed-up character!

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