EDITORIAL - The killing cauldron

Last Tuesday, a man was shot in broad daylight in front of hundreds of people near busy Colon. With the weatherman no longer needed to tell which way the wind blows, the assumption was that the man must have had a checkered record.

This is because given the developments of the past eight months, all shootings in Cebu City seem to fall into just one category -- vigilante killings, with the targets invariably being those with criminal records.

The only exception perhaps are the shootings related to an ongoing war of attrition between two gangs which have the audacity to call themselves fraternities, to the eternal chagrin of the legitimate ones.

But the "fraternity" shootings are not as frequent as the vigilante killings. Since the vigilante killings started right after Christmas of 2004, more than 80 people have already been gunned down. The Colon shooting victim was Number 87.

Such an abnormality in normal times would have merited big news, even for Cebu City with its growing metropolitan pretensions. But far more titillating developments on the political scene have succeeded in wrenching everything else away from center stage and into the wings.

And so, vigilante killings no longer have the same shock value than when they first emerged after we last celebrated the birth of Christ the Savior. For all the human capacity to be shocked, the killings have simply runneth over our cup.

We have become callused and inured to the unwelcome fact of relentless murder with no accountability. And in the sense that all killing diminishes us, so have we become unfeeling and insensitive, throwing no more than a cursory look at the victim before moving on.

This is the Cebu City whose founding fathers first called the City of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, an appellation that, adapting to the changing times, later became the Queen City of the South.

And in the freedom to assume that which is not criminal, Cebu City embraced every tag and label that was within its means to assume with a certain degree of confidence. Hence, we are also Dream City, Regional Capital, Commercial Center, Educational Hub, etc.

But with 87 victims of vigilante killings, and not even the faintest shadow of a trigger finger traced to the rest of an accountable body of a perpetrator, what are we to call ourselves in the context of this mounting heap of dead bodies -- the killing cauldron? Ilad sa kemikal ARANGKADA By Leo Lastimosa

Karon nahibawo na ko nganong managsama ang katin-awan sa mga konsehal sa Syudad sa Sugbo nga agresibong niduso sa pagpamalit sa mahalon nga mga kemikal ug mga makina batok sa dengue sa pagpanalipod sa kuwestiyonable nilang transaksiyon. Pulos diay sila nakabasa, ug posibleng pulos nakasag-u, sa leaflets nga giapod-apod sa supplier sa paborito nilang kemikal.

Ang Colonie Enterprises nga nagbase sa Tipolo, Mandaue City maoy bugtong niapil sa subasta pag-suplay og 500 litros sa "agua resigen" chemical nga gipangayo sa Cebu City Health department. Bisan wa silay karibal, wa mokumpiyansa ang Colonie. Gipabahaan nilang mga opisyal sa syudad sa leaflets nga nihulagway sa ilang kemikal nga MaxiFog nga "fogging concentrate for the control of dengue-carrying mosquitoes."

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Ang linya sa leaflet nga nakapa-ilad sa mga konsehal, samang Jack Jakosalem, ug maoy ilang gikopya pagpasabot sa publiko sa ilang bulilyaso mao ni: "MaxiFog 2.5 EC functions through contact and acts quickly on the insects' nervous system, causing paralysis and eventual death within minutes. It kills mosquitoes instead of repelling them."

Sa yanong pagkasulti, mo-epekto lang ang MaxiFog kon maigo ang lamok. Ang problema mao nga bisan gamiton pang mist spray machines gikan sa Germany, nga nakompra sab tungod sa paningkamot ni Jakosalem, di madutlan sa MaxiFog ang mga itlog. Gawas nga pikatan lang sa dagkong lamok, kay wa pa may makinang na-imbento nga makapatugpa sa makamatay nga mga lamok gikan sa paglupad paingon sa laing lugar, pagtakod sa bag-ong mga biktima ug pagpalapad pa sa problema.

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Pero ang Colonie wa motoo sa ilang propaganda. Kay sa ilang gilista nga mga paagi pagbadlong sa dengue, nakalimtan pag-apil ang panginahanglan pagbomba sa MaxiFog: •Remove water from plant plates; •Change water in flower vases every seven days; • Overturn pails and watering cans and store them in a sheltered place; •If going for a holiday, cover toilet bowls and drains; •Check your roof gutters for blockages regularly; and •Dispose of unwanted containers into a refuse bin lined with plastic bag; Fill up tree holes and ground depressions with sand or cement.

Mao ra. Sa ato pa, ang Colonie mismo kumbinsido nga igo nang panagang sa dengue ang pagpanlimpiyo sa palibot. Sila na lang gyod diay si Christopher Alix, Gerardo Carillo ug Jakosalem ang nagpabilin sa langob sa ka-ignorante.

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Kahibudngan nang daan nganong giisnab ang subasta sa ubang suppliers sama sa 4A Agro Enterprises, mahimo bang tubagon sang Cabugao ang mosunod nga mga pangutana: •Kinsa may nagtudlo niya sa kemikal nga gamiton? •Kinsa may nagdiktar niyang 500 litros ang pangayuon? •Kinsa may nisugo niya pagtakda sa presyong P3,000 kada litro? •Makapasalig ba siyang wa gitino ang kemikal aron Colonie ray mosubasta?

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Email: [email protected] Humility in governance. A very rare trait! SHOOTING STRAIGHT By Valeriano Avila

A week ago, we wrote about the problems besetting the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) especially what happened to Sachiko, the mother of my brother-in-law, Yuki Kono. Well, they're back home from their short trip from Japan and things seem to fall in the right place for Yuki and his mother. First, the immigration officer who overlooked that Sachiko was a holder of a Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) visa, went out of her way to rectify that error… and apologized for that faux pas.

Last Wednesday morning, I accompanied Yuki and his mother to the Immigration Office in Mandaue City to personally meet with Regional Director Geronimo Rosas and to my complete surprise, Director Rosas also apologized for the mistake of his people… and he told us that he would never tolerate arrogance or discourtesy under his office and he meant what he said.

It turned out that Director Rosas was the reason why the Philippine Immigration Academy was created in Clark International Airport, the very office that provides training and seminars to new immigration officers and the rudiments of good manners and right conduct. In my book, a man who apologizes for the wrongs under his office is a man clothed with humility, a very, very, very rare trait with our elected or appointed public officials.

Reading a magazine article from Business Profiles about Director Rosas, I realized that he is a very religious man and completely understands the need for leaders of private or public organizations to be servants first. This was exemplified when our Lord Jesus Christ washed the feet of his Apostles despite their protestations. That's humility in governance for you.

Director Rosas also told us that he has ordered Immigration Officer Acari Datu-imam to be relieved of his duties from the immigration counters at the Mactan International Airport so as to send a message to our tourists that they would only be greeted with the warm and friendly smile of our immigration officers; after all, the Filipino smile is legendary to many foreigners and like it or not, immigration officers are the first in the long line of Filipinos that our tourists would meet when they come for a vacation here. My heartfelt thanks to Director Rosas for his letter and his immediate action on this problem. I can only hope that other regional directors of government agencies would follow his good example in governance.

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With the world prices of oil or crude skyrocketing faster than the Space Shuttle, it is time to push the panic button and act swiftly before this problem gets out of control. When the oil crisis hit us way back in October 1973, the Marcos Dictatorship moved quickly to implement a nationwide rationing of fuel. Back then, the problem we faced was not only high fuel prices, but also a serious lack of petroleum products. I'm sure many people won't forget the kilometric lines of cars, waiting their turn at the gas pump. The long lines to the gas station soon disappeared when the fuel rationing was put in place. Perhaps the only lucky ones were motorcyclists because we did not have to line up for gas.

Well, at least we heard one good idea from Malacañang for a change. I gathered that this energy saving measure would be given to Congress so it can be passed into a law… that's if this Congress can get their eyes off the ongoing impeachment deliberations. But as we've learned from that old saying, "The devil is in the details". While the proposed fuel rationing scheme will be patterned after what we did during Martial Law, it just makes me wonder how they would implement this scheme; after all, like here in Cebu, back in 1973, there were much fewer cars then. Today, we've got so many cars on the road, implementing a rationing scheme could be nightmarish.

When we think of rationing fuel, one also thinks of gasoline coupons. Meaning, you can't purchase gasoline unless you have these coupons. This just brings to mind the front-page story of The FREEMAN yesterday about that computer printing shop, which was busted for manufacturing fake SRP passes. Now that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has collared these scammers, I'm sure those who are into this kind of shenanigan would not refocus their plan to make fake gasoline coupons!

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Today, we bid a good friend, Neil Rumbaoa a warm farewell as he is leaving the Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort for something even bigger. Replacing him as the new Director of Communications for the Shangri-La is Ms. Sharon Samarista. So there you are… farewell to Neil and we sure will miss your company. So here's a warm welcome to Cebu, Ms. Sharon Samarista.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila's columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com The destabilizers TO THE QUICK By Jerry Tundag

A statement attributed to Rep. Francis Escudero by the ABS-CBN News Channel, if correct, clearly defines the real intention of the political opposition in the Philippines with regard to the ongoing political crisis involving President Arroyo.

According to ANC, Escudero threatened to bring on "ten years of impeachment complaints" against Arroyo if their own complaints, which come in the form of amendments to the original impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Oliver Lozano, are rejected or otherwise not carried.

We shall not join the debates that have raged on which complaints ( there are three ) must be recognized and heard (the constitution allows only one per year). We will go beyond that to what Escudero has threatened.

The threat of Escudero to bring on "ten years of impeachment complaints" against Arroyo, apparently in reference to the president's intention to serve out her term which ends in 2010, is sinister, to say the least.

And it is also very revealing of the true position of the opposition, which is not to seek the " truth " despite its adamant claims, but to oust Arroyo from power, an initiative that apparently begun even before the-now-contested 2004 elections.

To be sure, "ten years of impeachment complaints" is a hyperbole, a figure of speech. As such, it cannot legally bind Escudero, clearly a clever lawyer, to any culpable consequence arising from that threat.

But a figure of speech is often employed to stress a point that normally would not be so forcefully emphasized had the speaker used mere conventional means of expressing a thought in plain everyday words.

In other words, Escudero and his allies in the political opposition may not necessarily resort to using " ten years of impeachment complaints " against Arroyo. But the message is clear. They are going to hound her like hell.

And that brings us to the point, that the opposition is lying about seeking the truth because there is no way for them to know the truth until it happens. How can they project a future of impeachment complaints, regardless of whether that future takes ten years or not?

Brilliant as Escudero and his opposition cohorts may be, they are still mere mortals who simply do not have the power to divine that which is yet to be. The opposition just cannot threaten to sue Arroyo with an impeachable offense unless that impeachable offense happens.

But to say so, to promise the entire nation that that is the future that awaits Arroyo, effectively nails the opposition to a predetermined position. And a predetermined position is not one that is predisposed to accept the truth, especially if it contradicts the position so taken.

What Escudero and his opposition cohorts are saying is that they have already prejudged the president all the way to 2010, that they will spare no effort and expense to bring about her downfall. And somewhere in there is nowhere that even an inch of truth can prevail.

Given this position, there is no word left to describe the opposition but that it has become a destabilizer. To promise " ten years of impeachment complaints " is to rule out reason. It is now a schemer driven by one purpose and one purpose alone -- to force the ouster of Arroyo.

The opposition is rocking the country far harder than its capacity to absorb the rocking. Some of the causes it espouses may be valid, but validity does not always presuppose immediate or even eventual redress. You just do not burn the house down to get rid of the rat.

There used to be a time when members of the opposition were hailed as heroes, a notion helped along by the excesses of the Marcos dictatorship. The regime was so evil everyone who was outside it could not be anything but a hero of the oppressed. That is what polarization does.

Right now, many things are admittedly evil. But perhaps they are not as evil then, otherwise polarization would have set in again. What we see happening instead is not polarization but an evolving open-mindedness of the center.

It is this open-mindedness of the growing center that allows more and more people to see that while there are indeed grave excesses by the Arroyo administration, the opposition, on the other hand, is no angel itself. It is, in fact, a far worse alternative. Some apples a day drive dengue away HAVE BAT WILL STRIKE By JUANITO JABAT

Ate Glo has advised us, again, to tighten our belts. Me, I've been doing that. But the waistline has remained at 36. Tee-hee!

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What Ate Glo means is we must tighten our belts because of the looming economic crisis. Didn't the Ate say months ago that we were already in crisis?

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At the rate Pinoys have been tightening their belts time might come when they would be having hour-glass figures.

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It says here some females or women have caused many historical disasters. I don't know about that. But I do know that dengue is caused by a female. The female mosquito known as Aedes Aegypti.

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Of course, you've heard that an apple a day drives the doctor away. But did you know that eating apples can keep one safe from dengue? Or if one already has the disease, some apples a day can help hasten one's recovery?

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I learned about that fact after reading the public service flyer distributed by International Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IPI) as part of its campaign against dengue fever which has hit the country in near-epidemic proportion.

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Here's how apples fight dengue as explained in the IPI literature on how to prevent and cure dengue fever:

"At the onset of dengue fever, it is advisable to let the child eat apples. Apples are rich in pectin and when fermented turns into a special kind of alcohol compound believed to weaken the virus that causes dengue fever. The pectin in the apples will readily join the blood plasma and prevent hemorrhage. Especially, it is very effective in eliminating toxins from the body in cleansing the liver."

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The IPI literature continues: "Peel off the skin, remove the core and the seeds so the apple can easily ferment. Scrape with a spoon and mash it, when it starts to discolor, fermentation could occur right away so it is the time to feed that apple to the patient. The best time to give the apple to the patient is at 6:00 in the evening when the body temperature is cooler. However, you don't have to wait until nightfall if the fever has started in the morning. Feed the patient as much apples as he can take. The following day, the patient will defecate, urinate and then he will be hungry. Feed him with brown rice, sweet potatoes or white fish but still in soft form. And then you can give again the apple but don't do it simultaneously."

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Congratulations to my favorite colleagues who have thought of reviving -- no, not reviving, reactivating -- the National Press Club of the Philippines, Cebu chapter. It's been a long time since we last had a press club whose members all come from the press media. I saw the photo of the NPC-Cebu "reactivators" in the Cebu Daily News and they all looked great. There was Maning Oyson Jr., elected president; and his subordinate officials (ugh!) Job Tabada, Manny de los Santos, Tonee Despojo, Eddie Barrita -- old turks all in the Cebu press! Kudos and good luck to you all, guys! See you. Politics meant to perfect us HINTS AND TRACES By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Yes, dear, politics is supposed to perfect us, not to tear us apart. It's actually endowed with a very important and indispensable task. Sadly, right now and here in our country, it's anything but that.

You see, politics is part of our life, essential and unavoidable. We just have to learn how to live and do it according to our respective personal circumstances.

That's why the Catholic Church encourages its lay faithful to participate in it as actively as possible. Repeat, the lay faithful. The clerics should stay away from direct participation.

Some brother priests ask me why this should be. And my answer has always been that as priests we are supposed to take care more of the spiritual and eternal needs of the people than their material and temporal needs.

Besides, we are supposed to be ministers of mercy and agents of unity, and politics by nature will inevitably involve partisanship and other conflicting opinionative positions.

You know, when things get hot, volatile and explosive-and politics can create this atmosphere-we are supposed to be an element of sobriety, reminding one and all of the need to work for peace and unity.

We priests, however, can do a lot in this field by evangelizing politics and inspiring the lay faithful to do politics in a Christian way. This area, it seems to me, is hardly tackled by clerics. This is one of our underlying deficiencies.

I believe that this is an area that is waiting to be explored and developed, and I'm sure many things can be discovered and done that would be very helpful and relevant to the world of politics.

My impression is that we have a clergy who in general are ill-prepared to handle this responsibility. Hardly anything is done about this.

So the net result would be that we have a clergy who are indifferent to political concerns, or if not, they do it improperly, entangling in stupid partisan positions. It's a vicious dilemma-either being pietistic or being politicized.

But for those lay faithful who can be directly involved, this is what the Church says:

"Those with a talent for the difficult yet noble art of politics, or whose talents in this matter can be developed, should prepare themselves for it, and forgetting their own convenience and material interests, they should engage in political activity." (Compendium 531)

This is because politics is part of our life, since it flows directly from our nature not only as individual persons but also as social beings. These two properties in us are inseparable.

We are always a social being. We come to life, thanks to our parents. We start to grow and to learn things through our family. We develop further and mature always with the help of others.

Precisely on this point, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

"The human person needs to live in society. Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature." (1879)

We are called to exist not only for ourselves, but "with" and "for" others.

This, in fact, is when we as persons attain our fullness.

Given this human condition, we cannot avoid being political. Banish the idea therefore that we can live without politics. Sorry to disappoint, but that would be utopian, that is, nowhere to be found.

Politics is our conscious way of organizing ourselves to build and live in a society fit for us, sensitive to all our needs, material and spiritual, and effective in bringing us to our common good.

Politics is always present even in our basic life in the family. At this level, of course, it is done quite automatically and unconsciously, since things are quite simple then.

It's when we enter into our higher levels of social life, as in making ourselves one nation or one world family, that we require the enormous and complicated resources of politics.

And with it, we concretely express our love for others. With it, we attain our perfection meant for us, both as persons and as social beings. We become more human that way.

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Email: [email protected]