Intramuros: A heritage worth preserving

This letter comes from our reader, Mario Garcia, on our series of columns on the development of Intramuros into a world-class tourism site for the Philippines. Here goes:

“I am really glad I was able to read your article on Intramuros. I am very much excited about the plans of the Intramuros Administration to finally redevelop Manila’s tourism gem. With their new approach to involve the stakeholders (especially informal settlers) even in the planning stages, I am confident that this time it will work.

“What I think is lacking though is a campaign for people to really appreciate the significance of Intramuros. If you ask people, even those living in Manila, on how they see Intramuros, a lot of them would sadly tell you that it is just an old place inhabited by a lot of ghosts who died in the war.

“The youth, on the other hand, find it irrelevant in their lives simply because they were not prodded to go beyond the idea of it being just a staple part of their field trip itineraries. That explains why they don’t treat it well.

“If only they realize how amazing it is to still have a historical district that can still be revived, they will respect it more and help in its renaissance.

“I think that Intramuros Administration should partner with advertisers or marketers to develop a campaign that can certainly make people realize the significance of the place. This should be done in parallel with their reconstruction efforts so that by the time they finish it, there will be a market ready to enjoy and fight for this great heritage.

“I am thinking that this campaign should be able to do what ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’ campaign did to Filipinos: by providing them with the single best answer why Intramuros should be saved and cherished.”

Supporting RH

Nelly Dayon Duckett of Bacolod City sent us another letter after we devoted a recent column to the subject of reproductive health and its bill that is currently hotly debated by our lawmakers. Here is what Nelly wrote:

“Well done (for your column). ‘God-fearing believers of the RH Bill.’

“It was good that you touched on the real abortion issue which is never written about in the Philippine Star or mentioned by those who are for the Reproductive Health bill.

“To go back to 1994, the figure (of abortions) stood at an estimated 400,000; and by the steady climb through the Arroyo years, hit an estimated 800,000. This was announced by Arroyo’s health secretary and did not receive any retraction by GMA.

“Therefore, measures that we are looking at over the period have been stopped by the Catholic Church-supporting politicians. Millions of Filipino babies have suffered abortion, many in the most gruesome way. All the Catholic Church will say is, well, abortion is illegal.

“However the world knows contraception stops both pregnancy and abortion. It is no wonder that respected health organizations like the World Health Organization are frustrated by the likes of (Senator Vicente) Sotto.

“So why are the pro RH bill politicians putting the question of real abortion to him and (Senator Juan Ponce) Enrile? The root of evil in the Philippines can be put at the door of over population.

Strange bedfellows

“Sotto should be told he is the hero of the real abortionists in the Philippines. They have made a good living out of performing abortions on desperate girls and women. They hate P-Noy and his views on pro-choice as it will reduce the demand for abortions.

“This includes those peddling abortion-inducing drugs (foreigners in Manila too). The Catholic Church position seems to have become that anything that stops pregnancy is abortion.

“The life of a Filipino baby from a poor family is a price worth paying to keep the doctrine of no contraception in place. Recently, it was made clear that the ‘morning after pill’ cannot not be regarded as (a cause for) abortion by the way it was designed to work. The Catholic Church immediately called it abortive.

“This pill was produced as an emergency pill which what actually to prevent the need of a termination. This would have been the case of a woman suffering an evil act, i.e., rape, incest, etc.

Quick, simple operations

“Vasectomy would be ideal for the Philippines if you remove all the lies to scare Filipino men from having one. It’s really just a simple quick operation.

“Obvious is the fact for both men and women the mental fear of producing an unwanted child is gone.

“The only drawback is whether a country with so many unfit husbands (often because of over-consumption of cigarettes and alcohol) can handle wives with a new found wanting for love-making.

“The excuses of being too tired and having aches will all come from the husbands. That is, after a period of thinking it was like being in heaven!”

Game of junior champs for Ilog Pasig

The junior champions of UAAP, NCAA and CESAFI will challenge each other in a mini-series dubbed as “Game of Junior Champs” for the benefit of ABS-CBN Foundation project, “Kapit Bisig Para Sa Ilog Pasig.”

The games will serve as appetizer to the start of the Final Four round of Champions League (PCCL) 2012 National Collegiate Championships.

Sacred Heart Schools-Ateneo de Cebu Magi Eagles, CESAFI Juniors champion, will participate for the first time in the showdown among the top junior teams in the country. The Magi Eagles will meet the perennial NCAA junior champion, San Beda College Red Cubs at FilOil flying V Arena, San Juan on November 18, 2012.

UAAP junior champion, Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws, will test the CESAFI champion, Magi Eagles, on Nov. 19, 2012, at the same venue.

The last game of the mini-series is the showdown between the UAAP and NCAA junior champions. The match-up between the two leagues is even as the Ateneo Blue Eaglets, led by then top junior player, Keifer Ravena, beat San Beda Red Cubs on a buzzer-beating jump shot in the 2010 series. The following year, the Red Cubs got back at UAAP junior champion, National University Bullpups, to even the match-up.

The benefit games will be covered by ABS-CBN Sports and will be shown on Channel Studio 23. Tickets for the benefit games are available on-line and at all SM Tickets outlets.

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Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.