Tossing the gauntlet at the police

The gunslaying of another mediaman yesterday morning amounts to a virtual challenge to the country’s police force. It’s as if those behind the series of murders of the country’s journalists are actually treating all the avowals of a crackdown on them as just that — a big joke.

That should spur PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao to ride hard on the task force against the murders of journalists so that they really produce results as promised. No excuses anymore.

And speaking of media, First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo literally rescued the Negros Press Club from an internal crisis when he gallantly offered to resign his membership from the press club amid a brewing controversy over its legality.

In fairness, Arroyo resigned his membership after learning that NPC president Primo Esleyer had found himself in the vortex of a media storm with several officers resigning in protest over the induction of Arroyo which was not approved by the board of directors.

Besides, as pointed out by vice president Arman Toga and secretary Jaime Espina, not only did they not meet on the matter, Arroyo’s application for membership did not meet the qualifications under the constitution and by-laws of the club.

Director Cesboy Centina also resigned. And so did Carla Canet. Director Allen del Carmen texted me that he was also resigning. So did several others. That plunged the press club into a crisis.

Esleyer, on the other hand, called for an election this month. But the remaining members of the board as well as the club elders pointed out that such balloting will be illegal since there is no provision for such an eventuality in the by-laws of the club.

Esleyer, in fairness, announced that he was recalling his precipitate call for a special election, saying precisely that it is not authorized by the club’s constitution and by-laws.

In short, the First Gentleman, by voluntarily relinquishing his membership upon being informed about the blistering row that has rocked the club, rescued the beleaguered Esleyer from a major embarrassment.

The incident, however, showed that the members of the Negros Press Club whose independence and idealism Arroyo had called attention to in his speech during the Saturday induction of officers, have proven to be dynamic and positive. In short, the club officers could not be led by the nose.

By rebelling against their own top man, the NPC members displayed a zest for freedom of the press that augurs well for the country’s media profession — at least, in Negros Occidental.

El Niño Toll

Metro Manilans are not the only ones who are suffering from the El Niño heat. Athletes participating in the Palarong Pambansa 2005 in Iloilo City have also fallen victim to the heat, although initial reports did not indicate as to what degree.

Cedolf Tupas of the Visayan Daily Star reported from Manila that some 50 cases of "injuries" from the scorching heat have been reported by the Palarong Pambansa medical team headed by Adoracion Callado.

Apparently, these are cases of heat stroke since the athletes had to play in an open field under the scorching heat of the sun, with the temperature reaching as high as 38 degrees Celsius on Monday.

Callado admitted that even coaches have requested tournament officials to pour ice into the swimming pool of the Iloilo Sports Complex just to lower the heat of the water.

She also gave assurance that they have adequate equipment and manpower at the sports complex as well as ambulances to respond to the medical needs of participants felled by the heat.

As of press time, Tupas did not report if any of the stricken athletes have been hospitalized.

The medical equipment are also deployed in the other Palaro venues around the city.

Actually, health officials have warned the public against staying under the heat of the sun, urging everyone to drink a lot of water, wear light clothing and caps, and carry umbrellas.

I earlier noted during the formal launching of the Palaro the fact that the athletes and officials must have been sweltering under the heat of the sun, although the rites started at sundown and the temperature had already fallen down by then.

Yesterday, however, there was some relief from the summer heat. After the luncheon, a heavy downpour fell on Bacolod City during a thunderstorm.

In fairness, Negros Occidental has had sporadic rainfall in the past weeks due to the cloud-seeding operations undertaken by the provincial government.

There were rains in some parts of Negros that provided relief to farmers, especially in southern Negros, although reports indicate that there was a perceptible drop in the buying of canepoints by northern Negros planters due to the El Niño.

But yesterday’s heavy rains over Bacolod and the heavy overcast skies in nearby areas signal that the El Niño may have ended — at least, partially.

Uproar Over Kraft’s ‘Tang’

Negrense sugar producers reacted vigorously to the reports that Kraft was insisting on the importation of powdered "Tang" juice at only one percent tariff.

Rosendo Lopez, president of the First Farmers Association, pointed out that the Tariff Commission imposed last year a 48 percent tariff on sugar products which contain 65 percent of more sugar.

This was the position enunciated by Reynaldo Bantug, national president of the Confederation of Sugar Producers’ Associations Inc. (Confed).

What alarmed local sugar producers were rumors that a compromise formula had reportedly been hatched between Kraft and the Tariff Commission to settle for a three to five percent tariff.

If that is allowed, it opens the floodgates to the entry here of finished food products to the detriment of the sugar industry that employs millions of Filipino workers, Bantug pointed out.

The Philippine Sugar Alliance, Bantug said, has asked its representatives in the United States to do a research on "Tang" and its classification by the US Customs and Tariff Code.

Bantug pointed out that Kraft, a multinational company, earlier closed down its factory making "Tang" here and then just shipped out the same products from its factory in Thailand.

"In short, they are threatening the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of Filipino workers for the sake of earning profits for Kraft," he said.

Bantug, who flew in from Manila yesterday, said he will confer with restive sugar leaders to discuss what steps should be adopted to put things right.

You can be sure that there will be bruising days ahead.