Dogfight in the air

A concerned Filipino, apparently a member of the Silent Majority, wrote to say that those who are opposed to the American soldiers’ presence here are generally anti-capitalist. "A majority of the minority marching in the streets, shouting angry words, vandalizing and damaging properties are up to really something else. Communism is gone and out," he said.

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The concerned citizen also stressed that the Abu Sayyaf problem has been pulling down the confidence of investors in our country, and must now be dealt with severely. He asked that the armed forces be given all the help possible to exterminate the Abu Sayyaf. "Art, I commend you for supporting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her desire to stamp out terror in this country. "I am pro-Filipino. I am pro-American. I am pro-nationalist. I am pro-democracy," he said, just to stress home his point that our main target should be the terrorist groups operating in our beleaguered country.

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According to a friend, the concerned citizen who wrote about the "nationalist" tag really hit the nail on the head. My friend said that people are so fed up with listening to so-called nationalists and leftists bad mouthing America and yet they having nothing to show for their alternatives but failures. And he asked: Why do Filipinos opt to become naturalized Americans? His answer is anchored on the reality that America offers better opportunities. In the meantime, our "nationalists" will talk us to death. And they do not even realize that North Korea and other communist countries are going down the drain because of communism. In other words, communism does not work.

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Have you noticed the sudden surge of Filipinos who are going to Hong Kong on holidays which, in their wildest dreams, they never thought they would ever afford to spend for? Even clerks and minimum wage earners are vying for those dirt-cheap round-trip Manila/Hong Kong/Manila tickets that Cebu Pacific is offering.

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Look at the dogfight between Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific. It seems they want to knock out each other. PAL started tattling when reports came out that travel agents have been selling Manila-Hong Kong-Manila tickets with hotel accommodations for only $93 on Cebu Pacific flights using B757. People got so interested with this amazing offer that hundreds of calls were made if the package was still on. Well, unfortunately, it was all sold out. But with this kind of reception, it should be re-offered.

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When Cebu Pacific starts flying to South Korea next month, expect lower fares again. Of course, PAL – which already came out officially in a press statement last week conceding that Cebu Pacific will always have lower fares – will not be able to meet the challenge head on. PAL claims that Cebu Pacific is using the DC-9s for its foreign flights, which is not the case because regular flights use the bigger B757. And as an aside, Cebu Pacific claims that it can offer lower fares simply because it is efficient and well managed.

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Cebu Pacific has an explanation why it has lower fares. It started out with only one type of aircraft, and this meant keeping only one set of spare parts and engines, resulting in millions of pesos in savings. In contrast, PAL uses the old B737s, Airbuses, and the B747s, and it must keep parts for all of them. That means bigger expenses. PAL also has about 7,000 employees compared to only about 1,000 for Cebu Pacific. So all these extra expenses will have to be passed on to the flying public in terms of higher fares.

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Dr. David Murphy, writing from the USA, has some enlightening thoughts on health care. He reports that tobacco-related diseases (heart disease, vascular disease, strokes, cancers of the alimentary and respiratory tracts – mouth, voice box, windpipe, lungs, esophagus, etc., – and urinary bladder cancers) are the largest cause of death and disability in the US. About ten years ago, he added, lung cancer passed breast cancer as a cause of death in women.

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While he has great pride in his country, Dr. Murphy is nonetheless embarrassed that the US is a major producer of cigarettes for foreign consumption. The tobacco companies even prostitute the prestige of the US to increase foreign sales: "Gimme a Winston, The Flavor of the U.S.A." That slogan is despicable, he said. Developing nations do not need another source of death and disability to challenge their limited resources.

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After 25 years of medical practice, Dr. Murphy concluded that the quality of medical care makes a difference in some two percent of cases. Ninety-eight percent of the quality of life is determined by lifestyle, primarily, in approximate order of importance, smoking, diet, exercise, drug use (especially alcohol). Add high-risk behavior, especially reckless driving and carrying handguns, and occupation- and environment-related disease (more prevalent in the Philippines) and you have most of the causes of illness and premature death.

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Dr. Murphy has another older quote, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." He agrees that access to health care is a basic right. When resources are limited, it is necessary to spend them first on the most cost-effective strategy, public health and preventative medicine, primarily access to safe water, immunizations, nutrition and elimination of destructive behavior, especially smoking.

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"Tobacco is big business and a source of significant revenue to the government. It’s an illusory gain, an immediate income with a high future cost in human suffering as well as financial cost such as medical expenses and lost productivity. Few politicians, even honest ones, are willing to give up the immediate benefits to avoid the intangible future costs. As a consequence I don’t hold any hope for the banning of tobacco," he said.

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"Maybe, it is possible to thwart the tobacco industry’s brainwashing campaign by banning all tobacco-related advertising, including the subterfuge of sponsoring sporting events. (Isn’t it the height of cynicism to use images of healthy, active people to promote the use of an addictive product that destroys health and impairs the ability to exercise?! It’s like using images of a church to promote shabu use.)," Dr. Murphy said.

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According to Dr. Murphy, another possible action is to increase tobacco taxes to make it as expensive as possible to ruin your health. Of course, that would mean a greater need to eliminate smuggling. In the Philippines, it seems, every challenge is related to every other challenge.

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Thoughts For Today:

Let the wonderful morning inspire you,
the love you feel guide you,
the smile in your heart move you,
and let the love of God show you the way.

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You crossed my mind today as you often do,
and so I just paused for a while to say a prayer for you.
I asked God to be with you today and to send blessings your way.

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My e-mail addresses: [email protected] and [email protected]