Filipino custom: No touching

The luxury ship Philippine Dream was back in the news recently. The news says the government, through the Bureau of Customs, is getting something like P12 million from it. That’s not a dream. That’s for real.

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Speaking of dreams, many of our people, especially the young, dream of becoming someone someday. To make that dream come true, they shouldn’t sleep. They got to stay awake.

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Have you heard of that college coed who took the Citom to task for failing to do something about the drug traffic problems?

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Trivia: If your top government official drinks, listen to this: George Washington spent about 7 percent of his annual salary on liquor. — From an e-mail.

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Someone said: “Why was Angelo Reyes given a hero’s burial?” He added: “P50 million plus ra man ang nadawat niya. Si kuan bitaw nga grabe ang nasakiyo nganong di man sila hatagan og hero’s burial sa Libingan?”

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During the liberation period, the GI Joes (US soldiers) were jestingly reminded of the Pinoy custom in relation to Pinoy women: “No touching, Filipino custom.” A feature article on this came out in “Yank” the magazine for the US soldiers overseas.

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This “no touching custom” still holds true today. Or so it seems. A police officer was accused of breaking this custom (I said accused) and is now in trouble.

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Commenting on the three beleaguered Pinoys facing execution in China for drug trafficking, a radio commentator was heard saying: “Once again it is proven that money is the root of all evils.”

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But in many cases, it’s also the lack of money that is the root of all evils. The 639 Pinoy drug mules languishing in jail in many countries broke the law because of lack of money. The PDEA says the bottom line of all these drug cases involving Filipinos is poverty.

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It’s good to see Graeme Mackinon back in the local news. Graeme is an Australian who speaks good Cebuano. He is remembered here as the person who tried to popularize football. There was some kind of a “football revolution” in Cebu during the time Graeme gave soccer a big kick here with the strong backing of Sir Michel Lhuillier. That was before the Azkals came barking in.

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