From UP Balara to Taytay, Rizal

The choice for today’s column was either a politics/economy article or summer “Now & then”. I guess choosing to write about “how I spent my summers” is a no brainer either.

I meant to write about how Senator Dick Gordon is about to lose his baby to kidnappers in Congress because the “election automation program” is being forcibly aborted by Congressmen through budgetary starvation. No money = no machines = the usual cheating = vote buying = the same families in the same Congress. 

Then I thought of adding how the same bunch of crooks have been hiding behind the skirt of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by letting PGMA get all the criticism while the Congressmen deceitfully attempt to rewrite the Constitution so they can extend their own term limits without having to spend money for their mock campaigns and election.

Of course once I wrote the name of President Arroyo, I instantly remembered how many of her cabinet members are now promoting themselves in radio commercials through the offices they handle. Whether it is to increase their popularity ratings in the surveys or in preparation for elective office in 2010, one thing I cannot forgive is that they are using taxpayers money to make them look good.

Another problem I have in this setup is the fact that they are using taxpayers money not just for their popularity but also as a form of “payola” to certain radio stations and broadcasters. This unofficial bribe helps buy peace with certain people or stations that are critical or unfriendly. Of course forces friendly to government will always be showered with advertising budgets.

One government spokesman boasted in a letter to me that they have never allowed their officials to use or be featured in their commercials. What the self-righteous leper failed to admit was how their advertising budgets were being used to buy favor so no one criticizes the government sponsored gambling all around us.

Alongside this misrepresentation by Representa-thieves, the 90-day suspension of over 24 policemen in the alleged “EDSA shootout” and the public admission of authorities that kidnapping has really been on the rise were also fighting for attention and column space. We use to have laws that dealt with dangerous criminals, but our copycat legislators and foreign funded NGOs lobbied to remove the death penalty.

Now the Public Attorneys Office has become more known for getting poor but convicted criminals out of jail rather than the good work they were known for: alleviating the hardship and legal battles of poor people who can’t afford good lawyers.

I was one of those who warned the anti-death penalty groups that a harsh law was a lot better than no law, but they refused to listen. I also warned people that once the death penalty is removed, there would be more deaths than convictions. Regrettably, I can now say I was right.

When we strip our police officers of all the legal means to stop criminals, we have in effect deleted the concept of legality in the streets. In the real world of “Cops and Robbers” when the criminal shoots at a police officer that criminal has in fact opted out of his legal rights and “all bets are off”.

By suspending the 24 policemen we have stupidly removed 24 policemen from protecting the public from criminals and “temporarily” judged them all as guilty. With all that, running through my mind I realize that most Filipinos should just grab a towel, some money and go to the nearest public pool they can find.

How to spend summer

As a young boy, I vividly remember the weekends spent at what seemed to be the biggest swimming pool, which was inside the UP Balara water filtration plant. To this day I can still recall the smell of chlorine-bleached locker rooms and the diving board that seemed to be sky high. For the longest time UP Balara was “our” water park.

Once we learned to swim like fish and splash like ducks we discovered out of town places like Pagsanjan falls, Hidden Valley, Enchanted lake, Matabungkay beach, Agdangan, Quezon and much later my wife set up “camp” on an island north of Palawan.

But like our parents we have come full circle as we now raise the next generation of water babies. But unlike us, they demand more excitement and action. The minimum is a multi spiral water slide, multi level diving platforms, they jump into deep ends etc. Every summer becomes a challenge to find an even bigger thrill.

Last weekend, the stakes just got bigger.

Imagine kids ages 5 to 8 years old excitedly paddling surfboards and learning to ride the waves in a matter of hours. Technology has changed the traditional concept of water parks from mere swimming pool areas into real action “surfing pools” or “wave pools”. The beauty of this is you don’t have to go to some far away province to learn. All this is now possible 15 kilometers from the Ortigas center or the Meralco building.

When our fellow Tuesday club member Dr. Ricky Soler invited us to the launch of the “Oceanwaves” complex at Club Manila East in Taytay, Rizal I immediately said yes because I knew my daughter Hannah would flip at the sight of a wave pool. What I did not know was that Club Manila East was a 15-hectare humongous complex with several swimming pools that cover 9 hectares showcasing one regular and one extra large wave pool big enough for people to learn to surf. 

Aside from the great facilities such as diving boards, a three-story spiral slide, Oceanwaves provides professional surfing coaches in the persons of Paolo Soler and Darryl Buckley, both of whom are accredited by the Academy of Surfing in Australia! “How cool is that! Dude”.

We used to say “life’s a beach” but with places like Oceanwaves at Club Manila East, life can be just as awesome by the pool! So lets all hang and by the way…no need to wax the boards boys and girls!