Time out on political animosity

The Philippine STAR recently featured a front-page photo showing Frank Drilon with a sheepish smile and GMA obviously happy but not looking straight at the Senator. They say a picture could say a thousand words, but even if the smiles didn’t look too sincere, at least that Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting in Malacañang is a good way for the Palace and the Senate to start a working relationship once again. It’s been almost four years of constant battles between the two branches of government. GMA and Frank will never become bosom buddies. They are on different frequencies. But certainly they have to work together. The people are tired of all the brickbats and the trading of barbs and accusations between politicians. They want to see some real work being done. This country can ill afford political stalemates, and there are some pressing matters that need to be attended to. For example, there’s the Alternative Energy Sources Bill that is pending. The cost of living is getting to be really expensive and out of reach, and with the price of oil going sky high, expect the number of hungry Filipino families to go even higher than the 2.8 million reported in a recent survey.

If the price of oil reaches $100 per barrel, this country could go belly up. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist for these politicians to realize that if this happens, there’ll be nothing left in this country for them to govern. We should really call a "time out" on all this political animosity, and get back to work.

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There has been so much ruckus raised about the showing of the film version of The Da Vinci Code by novelist Dan Brown. Even while the CBCP had said it respects the R-18 rating given by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), there are still groups that continue to agitate for the movie to be totally banned. We’re the only country that continues to make a big fuss about the Code, when in fact other countries with big Catholic populations gave it favorable reception and was even classified as appropriate for children in the late Pope John Paul II’s country – Poland. Sure, the movie – and the book itself, which I’m sure has been read by many Catholics here – gives a controversial premise that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and they had children, but again, we should emphasize that this is just fiction and should not be taken as literal or even historical truth. In fact, some preachers have even said that the controversy surrounding the Code will even lead to Christians searching for truth about their faith, and will lead to a more solid Christian foundation. London Times "Preacher of the Year" Rabbi Shmuley Boteach even praised Brown because the book had caused the public to "want to inform itself about great historical issues."

But as usual, the overly conservative "Catolico cerrado" thinking here – which is causing all these problems in this country like over population – is making all this fuss about a movie that could easily be dismissed as a work of fiction. These groups denouncing the film are forgetting that this is also a country of Muslims, Protestants and other non-Catholics. They’re making such a big stink out of it so now people are going to buy pirated copies. Some enterprising hawkers are also making a killing peddling copies of a documentary on the Code and passing it off as the real thing. You can be sure that the local FBI agent who happens to be a good friend of mine will be busy once again. And together with the US Commercial Attaché and the NBI, they will be raiding all these tiangges with stalls selling pirated copies.

A friend of mine from the Opus Dei group confirmed to me that they are in fact behind the move to ban the Code completely. The character of Silas in the movie really hurt their image.

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Last week, some areas in Metro Manila, Luzon and the Bicol region experienced several hours of brownouts during the onslaught of typhoon "Caloy." A long time friend of ours and a member of the MOPC Elpi Cuna, who is also Meralco vice president for communications, rightly pointed out that these power interruptions were caused by tree branches falling and more particularly toppled billboards that cut the power lines.

Senator Miriam Santiago filed Senate Bill 1714 named the "Billboard Regulation Act of 2006" that would strengthen self-regulation in the billboard industry and make outdoor advertisers comply with safety requirements. As the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) had been pointing out, the makers of those unsafe billboards are not members of their association – which has a code of ethics and gives clear guidelines concerning safety issues. Miriam had described Metro Manila as a "billboard hell" and called the ads "nuisances that pose a danger to public safety and morality."

The sad part really is that the putting up of billboards has gone unregulated most especially because local government officials have the power to give permits to these billboard owners – with many reports of massive corruption. There should really be a national regulatory body. These billboards have become such safety hazards. Unabated, the whole country could one day turn out to be one huge billboard.

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Another photojournalist, this time from the tabloid Saksi Ngayon, has been shot dead by motorcycle riding gunmen. To think I had just finished writing my speech for the International Press Institute’s 55th General Assembly to be held in Edinburgh, Scotland this coming week. Now I have to revise my figures. I will be a panelist at a forum entitled "Dying to tell the story," about journalists getting killed all over the world. The participants are "dying to hear the story" about the Philippines being ranked as the second most dangerous place for journalists for the past three years, next only to Iraq. I just hope there won’t be any more killings before I get to Scotland.

I had lunch with PNP Director General Art Lomibao last Friday, and he assured me that the PNP "Task Force Newsmen" has been working overtime, and that 80 percent of the cases since 2001 have been solved by the police. I hope to include that in my speech.

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