His own worse problem

I watched the 40 minutes or so of video showing the controversial conversation between Mar Roxas and Mayor Romualdez. It gave me a headache...

The crazy thing about this conversation is that it took place while the devastated city of Tacloban was waiting for help. That has to be one of the lowest points in the history of Philippine politics.

I recall that when Sandy, a recent strong hurricane,  struck the US East Coast, President Obama called New Jersey Gov. Christie and asked him only one question: how can we help? President and Governor subsequently toured the most devastated areas together, a Democrat and a Republican who are in the midst of a bitter election campaign but united to ease human suffering in this natural calamity.

At some point in that conversation of the deaf and the dumb, I thought Romualdez should have just given Roxas that piece of paper he wanted, but specifying only the areas where he needed help and not a general statement that he cannot function.

Romualdez seemed too dazed to think and the conversation seemed too one sided. Romualdez looked like a wet puppy being scolded by its owner for messing up the bathroom. It also looked like a mafia loan shark trying to collect from a deadbeat debtor who can only plead with his sad eyes for compassion.

The body language of both came out strong in that video. It reinforced our suspicion about an incompetent mayor who didn’t understand what a storm surge is, didn’t bother to find out and couldn’t save his family and himself from it, much less his city.

On the other hand, it also showed a Mar Roxas complete with hand gestures, badgering and bullying Romualdez into confessing he is incompetent and signing the papers to legalize a National Government takeover of Tacloban. Mar was clearly pushing the mayor to the wall.

For a non lawyer, it is unbelievable how legalistic Roxas can get in that 40 minutes I watched. He kept on repeating the need for legal basis for National Government to move in...

Said Roxas time and again: “for the National Government to take over, there has to be a reason... need a trigger for that...”

To an ordinary mortal like myself, I thought the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda more than provides the trigger or the reason for action. Now I understand what happened to DOTC under his watch. Unless he is convinced his ass is legally covered, he would do nothing.

But more than the statement about the mayor being a Romualdez and the President being an Aquino, what I found offensive was what Roxas said after that... “so we just want to legalize, if not legalized, well ok you are in charge bahala na kayo sa buhay n’yo”

I can understand Mar’s fear of being misunderstood as usurping local government function in “enemy” territory. But to say “kung ayaw nyo bahala na kayo sa buhay nyo” is out of place in the wake of the historic devastation and massive human suffering. All those suffering Taclobanons are Mar’s responsibility too, the clueless mayor notwithstanding.

If I were Mar, I would have just quickly brought in enough troops to maintain order, clean up Tacloban, collect and identify the dead and distribute the relief goods … the legal niceties be damned. I am sure no citizen will question the need for fast action at a time like that. And if someone did, and criticized him for supposedly acting without legal basis, normal human beings will side with him for acting with dispatch in an emergency.

I would even have a photo of myself arm-in-arm with Romualdez showing that calamities can make bitter enemies cross partisan barriers because even a minute of human suffering is a minute too long. Manuals with set protocols for action are nice, but common sense and humanity are better guides in a crisis situation.

From watching that long version of the conversation, I conclude Mar needs a stress debriefing as much as the mayor. Mar also has to realize he is his own worse problem. Every time he speaks, he puts his foot in his mouth. Waste 40 minutes of your time and watch that video and see what I mean.

Oh well... such is life I guess when self righteous technocrats rule.

 Oplan chicharon

 Some of you folks are probably planning to spend the holidays with relatives in the United States. If your relatives are like mine, they will want you to fill up an Alisbayan box with goodies from the homeland. On top of the list is chicharon… like the one from Lapid’s. Don’t even think of it.

It seems US Customs has launched Oplan Chicharon and is brutally enforcing a ban on such delicacies from the Philippines. They are using sniffer dogs too so don’t think concealing it in a Pringles container will fool them. Here is something a dear friend of mine posted on Facebook last week about her experience… and she didn’t even have chicharon.

Whew, rough landing at JFK yesterday. Customs people have definitely changed at least in terms of temperament and significantly belonging to one Asian ethnic group now. One of them flagged me and told me to step aside BECAUSE? I came from the Philippines.

“So why are you discriminating against people coming from the Philippines?”

Customs agent: Because you have NO IDEA what people bring in from the Philippines. So please put all your bags on the conveyor belt and we will have to monitor them and when you go around, please open your box for that agent over there.

Me: huh? (thinking to myself, so they are looking for treasure, I suppose. Are Filipinos now carrying drugs or ammunition to the US in record numbers to be singled out like this?) And what dangerous things are Filipinos bringing into this country nowadays?

Customs agent (with a deadly serious straight face): oh you know, chicharon!

I thought for a few minutes that he was joking, you know how the Immigration officers used to joke with me every time I came in asking me if I ate balut (yawn, funny joke).

And I turned to lift all my heavy bags for inspection to a growling pitbull customs agent who insisted to me “that I can open any bag or package of yours anytime and I don’t have to explain anything to you what I do. And Ma’am the law says I can remove all the items from your bags and package and I DO NOT HAVE TO PUT THEM BACK!!! You will have to repack your own bags!”

And the little dick turns to the next group of Filipinos they have corralled into our corner of the customs area and demands: “Do you have chicharon with you?”

That is what really puzzled me. I can understand fresh meat or fish and even that is questionable because if it is in small quantities, what harm will that do? I can totally understand fresh fruits because of the bugs that they bring in. But CHICHARON? I guess there must be a Lapid hater in the Customs dept (or addict and eats it like crazy).

You should have seen this very small power hungry group of guys lord it over. They were even made more deranged when I questioned them and told them that they did not need to act the way they were doing.

You should have seen one of them lunge at me with foam coming from his mouth when I reminded them that I was a US citizen and they should not treat anyone that way. That’s when he demanded that I show him my passport again and threatening me and told me to open up all my bags not just the box.

I think they were upset that I did not get scared at all (I guess all those years of organizing and reminding people of their basic human rights paid off because I knew they would not get anywhere with me).

And so boys and girls you have been warned… no chicharon for Christmas. It is an item that is as hot as cocaine for US customs agents, I guess.

It’s in the name

@HecklerForever is on a roll these days. Here’s another one from him: Mandela served 27 years in prison. He would have been released much earlier if his surname was Leviste.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco