Lessons from the current news

Unbeknownst to many, the everyday news is actually a good source for tips on how to live well and safe in the country. It is not just a source of information where one can just forget about it after the acknowledgements of sponsors and end credits have rolled. In the past days, I have come up with these tips and would like to share them with you. Of course, discretion as to whether to take stock in them is totally up to you.

As we have seen in the now famous “Thrilla in NAIA,” which will definitely be remembered in the annals of YouTube and the memory of at least two Filipino generations, female celebrities are advised to wear a blouse, rubber shoes and pants when arriving at the airport. The paparazzi cannot be stopped, as well as reporters looking for any kind of story, from taking pictures or video. That’s just the way it is. I should know myself. So the advised attire is in the event of such a brawl taking place, which may very well be instigated by poor airline service, you are ready for anything, especially if you join the fray. Poise is essential, even in a fracas.

I have written extensively about the ongoing dispute at Scarborough Shoal, and how we are up against a giant, in almost all aspects. Militarily, population wise and even economically. Probably the only thing we have going for us is the truth, which does not mean squat to Beijing. So when one is up against a superpower country of all sorts, just smile and whistle. Seriously now, don’t tell me you were considering going up against the Chinese Navy in case they do not change their position? Not to mention the Chinese Air Force, of which currently, we have nothing to pit them up against! And they don’t even have to use these resources. They have decided to let our fruits rot in their warehouses, and have withheld tourists and potential investments in the country! For them, there are easier ways to make us accept that the whole ocean and everything on it is theirs. What are we going to do? That’s why I say, smile, and just suck it in!

Facebook. Who doesn’t have an account? I know my brother doesn’t have one, and that’s probably a good thing. Lately, Facebook has been a means on how criminals choose their targets, their victims. Who said social networking is always a good thing? Maybe for Mark Zuckerberg. But definitely not for the doctor who met with two guys on the popular internet site, not knowing they were hopeless drug-addict-thrill-killers who even video their crimes! Facebook has seemed to give that tacit passage into the privacy and protection of your own home to strangers. Before Facebook, it was a no-no to let strangers in your home. Be advised, not all that happens in Facebook is good, or safe. I guess my brother got that right.

As for Chief Justice Renato Corona, well, choose your lesson to be learned from what is currently happening to him. I would say that if you already know that you are at fault, making a stand only emboldens your accusers. And that’s what Corona got, ironically at the hands of their own witness, who they had declared hostile and combative. This is none other than Conchita Carpio Morales, the current Ombudsman. Hello? Ombudsman? One who will really uphold the law? What were they thinking and all that? I’m sure you know what to learn from here.

And lastly, if a woman is not married to the person she is currently with, then she is a kabit. Enough said.