AK-47s for Blue Guards? You must be kidding!

For our special guest tonight on our talkshow on Straight from the Sky, we bring you a very special treat and an intimate discussion on a very common problem called Sleep Disorder. Are you having problems sleeping? Let's get a little more blunt. Do you snore? If you didn't know, snoring has been accepted as one of the reasons why marriages end up in divorce, of course in countries where divorce is legal. But what about here where we have no such laws? Are we simply going to suffer through many tired and sleepless nights because our husbands and wives are snoring away into a miserable life?

First of all, do you know that when you have trouble sleeping, you may have a health problem? Indeed too many of us take this thing for granted because many people do snore when they sleep. But I just learned that sleep disorder is now a major medical field and with us tonight to discuss this medical problem is the only Cebu expert on this field. He is no other than Dr. Albert Lim Rafanan, Section Head of the Pulmonary Division, Intensive Care Unit at the Center for Sleep Disorders at the Chong Hua Hospital. So watch this very interesting show tonight on SkyCable's channel 15 at 8:00PM.

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Kudos to the alert officers of the Mactan Cebu International Airport's Police Center for Aviation Security headed by Regional Chief Supt. Jose Cosio Jr. for intercepting and seizing a cache of firearms that could very well have armed a full sized platoon or a terrorist or separatist group. These seized firearms are supposedly owned by the Kadayawan Security Agency based in Davao City and was sent to Cebu for the Davao Security and Investigation Agency (DASIA) in Sitio Matumbo, Lapu-Lapu City.

Since this "sekyu" agency is not from Cebu, we do not know how big they are or what companies their clients are. But what boggles my mind is that this shipment of firearms includes 12 AK-47s (complete with a bayonet) five 12-gauge shotguns, two HK-53s submachine guns and an M16-A1. Now please tell me if you know of any security guard agency in this country that arms its security guards with the most advanced, high-powered fully-automatic assault weapons in the hands of Blue Guards? I know I haven't seen any!

Forgive me for being a skeptic, but I smell something very fishy in this shipment. How do we know that those weapons were already sold to the New People's Army (NPA) or other terrorist groups who may want to sow terror during the 12th ASEAN Summit? We still don't know the reasons but in the meantime no one has given us any explanations why their Blue Guards are armed with the most sophisticated high-powered firearms. I'd be more comfortable if that cache of arms remains in police custody until after the ASEAN Summit is over.

I just hope that we won't be seeing an impromptu "magic" show where suddenly someone from higher headquarters allows these firearms to be turned over to its owners without any explanation to the public. Abangan!

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One of the issues I've raised about the sinking of the M/T Solar I, which caused the catastrophic oil spill off Guimaras Island is the training and competence of our skippers. Again let me point out that airline pilots are routinely checked on their capability to fly a particular aircraft by check pilots of the Air Transportation Office (ATO). What about the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina)? Do they routinely check captains of our ferries, down to the first, second and third mates?

The M/T Solar I was hiding off Guimaras because of the bad weather the previous day yet when the weather cleared, the captain decided to sail right away, fearing that his delays may have caused his company money. But in the end, the government doesn't even have the money to clean up the oil spill that he has caused. I'm sure that the captain must have realized that the while the skies have cleared, the big waves haven't. But going against big waves is the risk he took and he lost!

Meanwhile in another news item I read in the Philippine Star last Saturday, the M/V Princess of the Universe of Sulpicio Lines apparently ran aground somewhere in Canigao Island because as the report said, it was "tying to avoid fishing vessels." Come now, I know that the rule in Maritime shipping is for smaller craft to avoid the bigger vessels because they can quickly veer from harm's way. But in this instance, it is the big vessel carrying 735 passengers who went aground because it avoided fishing vessels? Like what we just said, it is about time that ship captains be thoroughly checked whether they know what they are supposed to be doing.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit's columns can also be accessed at www.shootinginsidecebu.blogspot.com