Siyam Na Pu’t Dalawang Libong Bumbilya
Importante kay VP Leni Robredo na kahalubilo niya ang laylayan ng lipunan. Dito, minamanmanan niya ang isang feeding program para sa mga paslit. (Photo credit: untvweb.com)
ni Wilfredo G. Villanueva
(Please scroll down for the English version.)
Inimbita ako sa press briefing ng Office of the Vice-President sa No. 100, 10th Street, Barangay Mariana sa New Manila, Quezon City. Ito ang dating Boracay mansion ni Pangulong Erap Estrada. Wala na ang marangyang kaanyuhan, wala na ang swimming pool na may white-sand beach. Businesslike na ang dating. Halos isang linggo na ang nakalilipas, at hindi ko pa rin malimutan—tumatak sa isipan ko—na nakapagpakalat ng 92,000 light bulbs ang Angat Buhay nitong nakaraang taon.
Minarapat na unahin ang Metro Manila: Marikina, Navotas, Taguig, Pateros, Pasig, Valenzuela, Malabon, San Juan, Parañaque at Pasay. GE (General Electric) Philippines ang Angat Buhay partner na nag-supply ng mga bumbilya—mga LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs para mas maliwanag, mas matagal ang buhay at mas matipid ang konsumo ng kuryente. Ang ka-partner na RAF International Forwarding ang taga-deliver sa Department of Education division offices. Pati ang mga tahanan ng estudyante nabigyan din ng ilaw. Nakapag-aral si Nene o si Totoy, natutong maige, marahil naging valedictorian pa gawa ng maliwanag na ilaw. Subukan mong gumalaw sa bahay na madilim at malalaman mo kung gaano ka-importante ang ilaw. Kumikinang lahat ng bagay, kasama na ang pananaw mo sa buhay, ganda ng tanawin sa kinabukasan. Malay natin dahil sa bumbilyang matingkad, magiging leader ang mga batang ito sa susunod na henerasyon at magdadala sa atin sa katiwasayan.
Ang punto, binigyan ng importansya ng upisina ni Vice-President Leni Robredo ang ilaw. O Ilaw, sa gabing madilim. Napakadilim ng paligid, tama po ba? Pagmasdan:
Nobenta por siyento ba naman ang ibinaba ng foreign direct investments sa bayan, ayon sa Bangko Sentral. May nagsabing 81 per cent lang daw, pero ganun pa rin yun, malaki ang ibinaba.
Panay pa rin ang mura ng kagalang-galang at pinagpipitagan na Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, malamang para sumaya ang mga taga-suporta niya, pero nailalayo naman tayo sa maraming bansa na tutol na tutol sa extra-judicial killings (EJK). Sinauna na daw ang istilong iyon. Uso na ang human rights.
Ang kaso ni Senator Leila de Lima lalong lumabo nang itinumba ang petisyon ng panig niya sa Korte Suprema para maituring na kaso ito sa Ombudsman at hindi sa Regional Trial Court kung saan criminal at walang piyansa ang mga charges. Samakatwid, mananatili sa loob ng Camp Crame custodial center si Ma’am Leila: naikulong dahil lang sa mga testimonya ng mga drug lords and personalities na nakapiit sa ob-lo. Kailan naman naging kapanipaniwala ang taong hawak sa leeg ng gobyerno?
Si Pangulo, ‘di daw siya uto-uto para pirmahan niya ang bank waiver sa paghimok ni Senator Sonny Trillanes para masilip na sa wakas ang deposit history ng kanyang mga accounts sa Bank of the Philippine Islands.
At ang tato ni Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte ay mananatiling nababalutan ng hiwaga dahil ayaw niyang ipakita ito kahit na sinabi ni Senator Trillanes na malamang miyembro ang Vice Mayor ng Triad, patunay ang tato. Ayaw ba niya pabulaanan ang magiting na senador? Tapos na sana ang political career ng nag-akusa kung ‘di nag-atubili ang anak ng Pangulo. Kung ikaw, ‘di ba gagawin mo ‘yun? Kung walang tato.
Madilim nga ang kapaligiran. Tila sementado na ang mga posisyon ng mga magkakatunggali. Dutertard laban sa Dilawan. Ang taas ng political noise, nakaririndi, parang New Year sa ingay—araw-araw. Baka maapektuhan ang pinaghirapang economic progress. Sabi nga sa wikang Inggles, something’s got to give, ibig sabihin, tensionado na at malapit nang pumutok kung ano man ang dapat na pumutok.
Pero heto ang Office of the Vice-President (OVP). Lumalangoy pasalungat sa agos. Kung gaano kadilim ang kapaligiran, siya namang liwanag sa OVP. Para kang nasa ibang planeta dahil mapayapa ang upisina. Mahirap yun, ha. Pero ano ito? Nakangiti ang tagapagsalita! Parang walang kaproble-problema.
Ngayon ko lang nakita si Georgina Hernandez na magsalita nang malapitan. Siya ang tagapagsalita ni Vice President Leni Robredo. Nagsalita sa wikang Pilipino, tuloy-tuloy na walang patlang, hindi nauubusan ng salita, parang batis na umaagos. Samantalang tubong Ateneo ‘to. Malutong mag-Pilipino. Nakangiti at tila nakasindi ang 92,000 bumbilya sa loob niya, nahiwagaan ako. Ang sabi ko sa sarili ko: Pilipino ‘yan. Taas noo tayo. Ganda ng lahi natin. H’wag mong akalain na hanggang Mocha Uson lang tayo.
Heto ang report ni Georgina Hernandez tungkol sa Angat Buhay, programa ng OVP para sa laylayan ng lipunan:
- Mga kalahating milyong Pilipino ang natulungan ng Angat Buhay—85,000 families ‘yan kung bawat pamilya ay anim ang miyembro;
- Umikot ang P145 million worth of resources na galing sa private partners, ibig sabihin, tumulong ang mga pribadong organisasyon;
- Public education, women empowerment, universal healthcare, housing and resettlement, food security and nutrition, and rural development, ito ang anim na halige na pinagtutuunan ng pansin ng Angat Buhay;
- Youth and disaster and relief operations, ang mga ito ay isasama na rin.
Konting salaysay ayon sa OVP:
Isang bata na nagngangalang Junjun Cabareno ng Lambunao, Iloilo, tumaba’t lumakas ng nakatanggap siya ng walang humpay na feeding program sponsored by Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation.
Sa Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, si Nanay Jamila Lotao ay nakatanggap ng donasyon na kalabaw para sa kanyang vegetable farm, sa pangangalaga ng Bubong Kamapian Farm Producers Cooperative, kung saan siya ang namumuno;
Sa Sama Bajaus community sa Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, sa pamamagitan ng leader nito na si Zenaida Beloy, nakatanggap ng sampung water pumps;
Nagumpisa sa 50 cities and municipalities ang saklaw ng Angat Buhay. Ngayon, 153 na;
Meron na ring Angat Buhay Youth, mga kabataan na tumutulong sa mga projects para sa laylayan ng lipunan;
Meron ding Angat Buhay in Schools, kung saan nanggagaling ang mga guro’t estudyante at iba pang miyembro ng akademya na na-assign tumulong sa mga communities;
Ang Angat Buhay Disaster and Relief Operations ay nakatulong ng P38 million worth of donations galing sa OVP para sa mga nasalanta ng bagyo, lindol at iba pang mga delubyo;
Ang Angat Buhay Metro Laylayan, nakatulong sa social services, livelihood and employment ng laylayan ng lipunan sa Metro Manila; at
Ang Angat Buhay Bridging Leadership Program ay nakapagpa-graduate na ng first batch ng mga opisyales ng local government units para plantsado ang pagpalaganap ng development agenda.
Andun ako nang inilunsad ang Angat Buhay program sa SMX Convention Center nuong Oct. 10 ng nakaraang taon. Nakita ko kung paano naipagtagpo ang 1) gustong tumulong sa 2) nangangailangan ng tulong. Parang may mga nasunugan: 1) ang nawalan ng bahay at 2) ang kayang magpatuloy sa bahay na buo. Simple lang ang Angat Buhay, wala halos publicity, pero nakita ko ang init ng pagmamahal ng mga Pilipino sa isa’t-isa. Isa nga tayong bansa.
Nakaka-guilty rin kung iisipin. Heto ako, halimbawa, batikos nang batikos sa ating Pangulo, kesyo palamura, kesyo ipinamigay ang teritoryo sa West Philippine Sea, kesyo mga bilyon na deposits sa bangko. Pero ang mahihirap ay mahihirap pa rin. May pagbabago ba sa akin? Wala ba akong bahay na buo para sa mga nasunugan?
Yung batang Junjun Cabareno, kung walang Angat Buhay, malamang binawian na ng buhay na dilat ang mga mata dahil walang makain. Si Nanay Jamila Lotao, kung hindi natulungan ng Angat Buhay, marahil wala siyang aning gulay kasi itak at putol na kahoy lang ang gamit, walang kalabaw na panghila at pagbungkal ng tigang na lupa. Si Zenaida Beloy, nagiigib pa rin sa kabilang ibayo, ubusan ng lakas, kasi wala siyang water pumps.
Sabi nga ni Santa Teresa ng Kolkota nang bumisita siya sa Pilipinas, Catholic country daw tayo pero bakit may mga taong kumakalkal ng basura para makakain?
May mga tumutuligsa kay VP Leni Robredo. Hindi daw klaro ang paglaban sa Pangulo. Alam ko kung bakit. Wala siyang gaanong panahon sa tuktok ng lipunan. Andun siya sa laylayan, ginagawa ang sinabi niyang gagawin niya nuong kampanya.
Nakaka-proud po kayo at ang mga tauhan ninyong the best and the brightest, Ma’am.
(Bukas, Oct. 17, ilulunsad ang Angat Kabuhayan. Nawa’y magtagumpay ang programang ito para sa laylayan ng lipunan.)
*******
92,000 Light Bulbs
by Wilfredo G. Villanueva
The Office of the Vice-President invited me to a press briefing at No. 100, 10th Street in Barangay Mariana, New Manila, Quezon city. This used to be the Boracay mansion of President Erap Estrada. Gone are the supposed opulence, the swimming pool with white sand has ceased to exist. The place is all business. A week has passed since the event, a press briefing, but I still cannot shake off the fact that Angat Buhay, the project front and center, has seeded 92,000 light bulbs in the first full year of operations.
These areas in Metro Manila were first to receive the light bulbs: Marikina, Navotas, Taguig, Pateros, Pasig, Valenzuela, Malabon, San Juan, Parañaque and Pasay. GE (General Electric) Philippines is the Angat Buhay partner that supplied the LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs that give brighter light, longer life and more efficient use of electricity. The other partner, RAF International Forwarding delivered the bulbs to Department of Education division offices. Even the homes of students received light. Nene or Totoy were able to learn properly, maybe even graduated valedictorian because of better lighting. Try moving around in darkness to know the difference light makes. Everything shines, your outloook improves, the future looks bright. Maybe because of better lighting, these kids will be the next generation leaders to lead us to progress.
The point being made is that the office of Vice-President Leni Robredo gives importance to light. Where would we be without light? Right now, we are surrounded by darkness. Witness:
Ninety per cent. That’s how much foreign direct investments retreated, according to Bangko Sentral. Some are saying it’s actually 81 per cent, but it’s still the same. FDI decreased.
The honorable President Rodrigo Duterte continues to spew curses, probably to feed his supporters, but what it’s doing is to alienate us from countries who abhor extra-judicial killings (EJK). That concept is passe. Human rights is now in.
Senator Leila de Lima’s case is getting murkier with the rejection by the Supreme Court of her side’s petition to transfer the case to the Ombudsman and not the Regional Trial Court which treats it as criminal and without bail. In other words, Ma’am Leila will stay in Camp Crame custodial center: detained because drug lords and other personalities in prison have testified against her. Since when did people under duress become credible witnesses?
The President has said he is not dumb to succumb to Senator Sonny Trillanes’s insistence to sign the bank waiver so the deposit history of his accounts in the Bank of the Philippine Islands can finally undergo scrutiny. And Vice-Mayor Paolo Duterte’s tattoo will remain wrapped in mystery even if Senator Trillanes has said the President’s son is probably a member of Triad as evidenced by the tattoo. Why doesn’t he disprove the senator whose political career would have come to an end if he didn’t hesitate? Will you not do it? That is, if you have no tattoo?
We live in times of darkness. The positions of adversaries seem to be cast in stone already. It’s Dutertard versus Dilawan. Political noise is defeaning, like New Year’s every day. The economic progress we diligently nursed may be imperiled. Something’s got to give. We are approaching crisis proportions and what can erupt, may erupt.
But here’s the Office of the Vice-President (OVP). Swimming against the tide. The office is as illuminated inside as it is as dark outside. It’s like you’re in a different planet, such peace. That is not an easy task. But what is this? The spokeperson smiles! Like it’s problem-free Philippines.
It was only last week when I saw Georgina Hernandez in action. She’s the spokesperson. She delivered her report on Angat Buhay—OVP’s centerpiece program—in flawless Pilipino, talking without pausing, like a spring of water. Mind, she’s Ateneo born and bred. But her Pilipino is crisp. Shining like all 92,000 light bulbs are turned on inside of her—such splendor! I said to myself: She’s a Filipino. We shoud be proud. We have a magnificent race. We do not start and end with Mocha Uson.
This is Georgina Hernandez’s report on Angat Buhay, VP Leni Robredo’s program for the last, lost and least:
- About half a million Filipinos were assisted by Angat Buhay—that’s 85,000 families if the average is six to a family unit;
- P145 million worth of resources circulated in the program, coming from private partners, meaning non-governmental institutions lent a helping hand;
- Public education, women empowerment, universal healthcare, housing and resettlement, food security and nutrition, and rural development, these are the pillars of Angat Buhay;
- Youth and disaster and relief operations will be included;
Some narratives from the OVP:
A child named Junjun Cabareno of Lambunao, Iloilo gained weight and is in the pink of health after having received a sustained feeding program sponsored by Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation;
In Marawi city, Lanao del Sur, a mother, Jamila Lotao received a donation of a carabao for her vegetable farm, under the auspices of Bubong Kamapian Farm Producers Cooperative, which she heads;
In Sama Bajaus community in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, through its leader Zenaida Beloy, received a donation of ten water pumps;
Angat Buhay started in 50 cities and municipalities. It is now in 153;
Angat Buhay Youth also exists, so the youth can help out in target communities of the last, lost and least;
Angat Buhay in Schools, from where teachers, students and other workers in the academic community come to be assigned to communities being served;
Angat Buhay Disaster and Relief Operations was able to provide P38 million worth of donations from the OVP for those who bear the brunt of storms, earthquakes and other disasters;
Angat Buhay Metro Laylayan was able to help deliver social services like livelihood and employment for Metro Manila’s last, lost and least; and
Angat Buhay Bridging Leadership Program was able to graduate the first batch of officials of local government units to roll out the development agenda.
I witnessed the launch of Angat Buhay in SMX Convention Center Oct. 10, last year. I saw how two elements came together: 1) those who want to help out, and 2) those who need help. Like a fire broke out and there are: 1) people who lost their homes, and 2) people who are willing to offer their homes as shelter. Angat Buhay works on a simple principle, it has almost no publicity, but I saw the passion of Filipinos who want to help out other Filipinos with love. In this, we are one country.
Sometimes I feel guilty. Here I am, for example, criticizing the President for his language, for giving up territory, for his bank accounts. But the poor remain poor. Did something change in me? Don’t I have a home I can offer as shelter for those who lost their homes in fire?
The child Junjun Cabareno, if not for Angat Buhay, he would have died with his eyes wide open from hunger. The mother, Jamila Lotao, if not for Angat Buhay, she would not have a harvest of vegetables because she only had a machete and a piece of wood to till the land, with no carabao to open up fallow land. And Zenaida Beloy would still be fetching water in some distant hill, draining her strength, because she did not have water pumps.
It was Saint Teresa of Kolkota who, when she visited the Philippines, asked how can we be a Catholic country if people had to look for food in garbage?
Some people are critical of VP Leni Robredo. She isn’t categorical in dissent. I know why. She has no time at the top of society. She’s at the fringes, doing what she said she would do in the campaign last year.
Proud of you and your crew from the best and the brightest, Ma’am.
(Tomorrow, Oct. 17, Angat Kabuhayan will be launched. May it be successful, may it benefit the last, lost and least.)
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[…] finding a way to something just a little better. I thank Will Villanueva and those who commented on his recent article for making this point so […]
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Angat buhay combined with a Litter of Light
http://climateheroes.org/portfolio-item/illac-diaz-light-by-the-liter/
Will surely brighten and enlighten most of our citizenry.
We need light at the end of the tunnel, the guiding light, the one who lights up our lives, so let there be light!
@boyal10852 or Wil
There are sometime or even one tine commenters here criticizing Leni for lack of outrage or whatnot.
I even remember Irineo telling you to not let Leni look like an under dog or something like that.
I know Leni cannot do the in your face stuff because even if she does nothing she’ll be damned.
Better be damned if you do, than be damned if you don’t.( of course that is doing only what is right)
The difference between Leni and Cory is that Leni really knows the grassroots. AND I think she can fight back when she has too, we may yet see that at an appropriate time.
Yes. Bicol has volcanic soil, so agriculture isn’t rocket science. But it’s the typhoons. Before you know it, the rice fields are flooded by robust rain, the crops are gone, the coconut trees ravaged by 220 kph winds. That’s where VP Leni grew up. She’s middle class, but she lives among people who eke out a living, rising and falling by divine habit. She knows what matters—the basics: education, food, water, electricity, peace and order, family. She understands the pain of being in the laylayan ng lipunan, and is equipped to fashion out a country that’s inclusive, full of Bicolano religiosity, resilience and recovery. And love. Bicolanos know how to love because nature itself is a beauteous maiden with whom to fall in love. Falling in love is Bicol’s answer to the slings and arrows of outrageous climate.
Light. What will we do without light? And VP Leni. What will we do without VP Leni?
PAGBABAGONG HINDI PUSAKAL
Tubong Tanauan B ang Lola ko
sa Ama apelyido’y Villanueva
kaya kay tamis na alaala tuwing
nababasa ko sinulat ni Wilfredo.
kaya seguro kay Wilfredo kita ko
dangal at galing galing ng Lola ko.
Pero sa tingin ko pareho sila
di mawari na ang ngalan nila
Bayan Bago ay simbolo
ng mga umu unlad sa mundo.
SIGAW NG BAYAN pagbabago
pero tila Bitin laban sa gutom,
Kapus sa kahulugan
Kulang sa banat ng masel at buto.
Parang himagsikan sa bibig at utak lang.
Ano ba talaga ang kailangan
laban sa katiwalian at kahirapan?
hindi ba PAGBABAGO na ang kaakibat
pasan pasan ang KAUNLARAN?
Sabi sa radyo sa programa ni Ilarde
Napakasakit Kuya Eddie, napaka bigat.
Sa estudyante ang turo ko naman
Kaya natin yan kahit dalamhati
kahit buhay ni Ninoy inialay ni Cory
kahit buhay ni Jesse inialay ni Leni.
Sino ba ang may lakas at tatalo
Gagapi sa mga bayani ng history?
Sa tigang na lupa pag walang asarol
at walang pandilig, walang binhi
masamang damo lang , tumutubo, lumalago.
Dapat lang seguro, TSOH ang asarol
Si Leni naman ang pandilig
sa dumaraming semilya ng
pagababgo at kaunlaran ng Bayan Bago.
Ang bombilya ni Wilfredo na naghahasik liwanag
sa kadilimang tumatagal ay puede rin
tularan kahit sa tula lamang ng binhi
at semilya ni Leni na dahan-dahan, unti-unting
tutubo, lalago, titibay na kamagong at narra
sa naghihirap na sambayanan.
Ganda naman, Popoy! Frameable.
Villanueva daw motherside lola nya, baka magpinsan kayo.
Karl purong Batangenya ang Inay ng Tatay ko. Kababayan ni A. Mabini.
Halos lahat tayo mga Pinoy meron dugong Bayani.
Salamat sa sagot Popoy.
Si Mary Grace ay taga Batangas.
yep…the poor relations of the Laurel clan. my maternal great grandfather was Sotero Laurel.
Jose P Laurel was your maternal grandfather and Doy Laurel was your cousin.
Hah, hah, hah, Ala Eh, kamaganak ng Lola ko yung Gonzales naging mayor ng Tanauan noong fifties. Kumpare ng Tatay ko si Speaker Pepito. Ninong sa binyag ng Panganay ko the youngest provincial veterinarian ng Batangas si Dr. Bernie Castillo. Ano ga ire, small world baga? Pero kami lang yata ang walang sinabi.
Magpinsan si Popoy at Wil at magpinsan din si Popoy at si Mary.
Pinsan na ang turing ko kay Popoy, Karl. Thanks.
Walang anuman.
Karl, kung si Brad Pitt at si Barack Obama magkamaganak daw, wala naman nagre-reklamo, okay lang bastat ang pangalan hindi pa naupakan at naipagtanggol ng mga aso sa ating senado…
Oo nga.
WGV kahit saan sulok ng mundo tayo dumako
dugong Filipino tayo nanggaling sa ating Lola at Lolo.
Salamat sa pansin.
Salamat din, pinsan.
*******
It’s so nice to read simple, uplifting stories after the daily political bombast.
We are so used to looking for big stories of grand ambitions and mega projects costing billions of pesos. Commuter and connector roads. Subways. Fast trains and railways.
But as a programmer, I know that attention to the least detail is foundational.
The promotion of social justice is a goal of government. And social justice is the domain of Leni’s Angat Buhay. The upliftment of life.
And “laylayan ng lipunan” is the locus of Angat Buhay. The periphery of society. The social periphery.
Put it all together and we get — the upliftment of life at the periphery of society.
Perhaps this is a grander ambition than the mega projects? It says that all human life is valuable. And where our brothers and sisters have fallen temporarily at the edges of the world, their upliftment is a central duty of government. Repeat: their upliftment and not their massacre.
The fulfillment of this sacred duty is a measure of a government’s loyalty and honor.
*****
How true, what you said, Edgar. With the least drama and budget, VP Leni has put a finger on the leak of the dike, knowing that poverty will soon engulf the nation, but something has to be done, even with the littlest resource. What a woman. VP Leni is simple, down-to-earth, knocked out but standing up bloodied, still fighting. And smiling. A steady flame on a lamp stand, defying winds of turmoil.
How fitting this blog article. A prime example of doing with sincerity all the little things that can be done even without the clout that VP Robredo should have in a functioning democracy. Thank you Leni. Thank you, private contributors to the projects of Leni — projects that bring light against the “darkness more than night” (a title to a hard-boiled novel of one of my favorite authors). Thank you Wil for hitting the home run again on this one.
Wanted to interview her, NH, but she’s busy with laylayan. No matter. The results of her work precede her. Thanks for the appreciation. Pampalakas.
I wish the foreign aid and grants which are being arrogantly declined by Du30 can be channeled to the OVP.
Can that be done?
Me too. The real ones, of course. Not the “Imbento” lang. PRD recently said that he declined Eu’s offer of financial aid but DFA countered that there were no new offers from EU.
Anyway, VP Leni is doing well despite the OVP’s measly budget because she knows how to appeal to the private companies with social responsibility.
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/160887/rodrigo-duterte-uk-financial-aid-dfa-department-of-foreign-affairs
*EU’s offer
Oo nga, Gracie. Ano kaya?
Mabuhay po kayo, VP Leni Robredo!
You are a cross between Maria Clara and Lady Bird Johnson: a demure, classy lady with uplifting and life changing advocacies.
You are stronger than what your detractors say. Only a strong woman will be able to hold it together through all the bashings/pettiness of those who want to see you fall apart.
Your programs on a shoestring budget and donations from private companies are saving lives and making Filipinos future brighter and better.
May you persist in your passionate fulfillment of your Oath of Office. You have shown Filipinos that you will defend the Constitution, preserve the rule of law, do justice to all, devote yourself in humble service of the nation and its citizens and use your power wisely.
Salamat po sa inyong serbisyong tapat!
Oo ngâ, Juana. May Maria Clara tayo, panlaban sa kapre.
These projects of the VP Leni are not being given enough exposure in the mainstream media or even in the social media. What the masang Pilipino are being bombarded with on a daily basis are the arrogant put downs, insults and black propaganda (her lovelife, her non existent interesting condition, her supposedly unpatriotic comments in an interview, her daughter’s recycling of appliances in Harvard) by Uson, Sassot and Badoy.
Compared to VPs Estrada, Arroyo, de Castro and Binay who all had high numbers in the surveys, VP Leni is always lagging behind.
I think we need to help the OVP in spreading the press releases and project status.
*******
On the other hand, I like it that the VP’s projects are low-key. They are in earnest and not for show. Not epal.
*****
True, but my concern is how the general public, specially those being manipulated, those gullible masa and the supposedly educated middle class compose the majority of the voters, who were not that aware of her low key projects and her excellent records in the HOR. She won by a very slim margin, hopefully the PET’s recount will reflect the true results of the recent election or we will be face with the nightmare of having BBM just a breath away from the presidency.
As MLQ III has pointed out, reason doesn’t rule in our elections, emotion does.
err, will be faced…sloppy editing again…sorry
*******
Mary, thanks.
That makes me question: shouldn’t the Philippine News Agency (PNA) and related state-owned media entities be making people aware of Leni’s good works?
The PNA is under the Presidential Communication Operations Office (PCOO). Its mandate is to “disseminate the government’s message to private media entities.”
Does “government” mean only presidential undertakings? Or does it include vice-presidential undertakings?
*****
They did the opposite, they maligned her. Since the President prefers BBM as his VP (remember he introduced him in China as the next VP), all the government agencies (and his super majority in the Legislative Branch), including the PCOO, followed his lead.
*******
Aha! There is something wrong with the institutional structure.
*****
Yes, it wouldn’t be so obvious if the President and the VP belong to the same party, or in the case of BBM, one that a sitting President is indebted to.
thanks sir edgar…much appreciated…rusty memory, that’s my lot nowadays.
I am reminded of a quote (the quote only, not the author) that states “if you couldn’t help someone, just don’t endeavor to hurt him/her” or words to that effect.
Truly, a little kindness will hurt no one.
The PCOO gang and VACC are unkind, vicious and cruel, just like their Poon.
*******
That quote is from the Dalai Lama as originally posted by LCpl_X.
*****
The first I read this quote from a book, I remembered it as,
“The most you can do in life is to help one person; the least you can do, the very least, is to not hurt anyone” (so far from the meme above) , which to me focuses more on the Self, than the above focus (seemingly) on Others (not the focus of Buddhism) ,
which to me is related to Gnostic principles (hoping sonny could comment re the Catholic Church’s cosmology vis-a-vis gnostic cosmology) here: https://joeam.com/2017/10/09/kontra-bulate/#comment-228620
Because she is the real humble public servant. She does her job without fanfare and press releases. Her classy demeanor is often equated to being weak by people who revere flamboyant, vapid and foul-mouthed leaders.
The PRD trolls are cruel, mean, deceptive and manipulative. Only the gullible believe their pasabog. Lenileaks, Nagaleaks and Basuraleaks fizzled liked flat colas because they are petty and malicious.
There is this forced dichotomy in the Philippines at the moment:
1) disente: well-mannered but weak (daw), most probably not good but hypocritical.
2) balahura: bad-mannered but sincere and strong (daw), BAD but for real.
This is not really new: Tagalog action movies are full of those tropes.
They have fed people a simplistic view of reality for decades.
You are right, Irineo. I remember the bida-kontrabida formula of the Filipino movies. The bida seems to be always an underdog, a well-mannered, decent person. The kontrabida is the baddie, a bad-mannered, nasty person. In the end though, the bida always win.
I am cheering for the disentes to win against the balahuras. I am also hoping that when that time comes, we would have learn the lesson of discerning that being disente is what we all need to be.
Andyan na, andyan na.
Sino?
Andyan na, andyan na.
Sino ngâ?
Sino pa kundi ang anghel
ng kalangitan.
Bakit? Bakit bumabâ ang anghel?
Tuwing takipsilim, pag nag-aagawan
ang liwanag at dilim, bababa’t bababa
ang anghel para hugutin
ang sangkatauhan sa kuko ng
kadiliman, para pati kadiliman
ay yuyukô sa Diyos ng Awâ,
mundong mahabagin,
ang tao ay para sa Diyos lamang,
‘yan ang bigkas ng anghel,
ang kalangitan mismo
ay nakangiti, busilak, nakasisilaw.
I salute VP Leni for initiating this project. I wish the government would do the same thing with the marginalized people in our midst. Thanks for this write-up.
You’re welcome, Arlene. Fight on lang tayo.
events and people make history which is food that nourish the brains of philosophers which aid the scientists to establish the truth about nature which time washes into conjectures like your character is your fate and your fate is your destiny which constitute what you can do or fails to do with your fellowmen. Fate and destiny was all written for Leni when Jesse went missing and Noynoy and Mar stayed with her for days till everything is okay. Leni’s fate and destiny then became quite clear she will likely replicate that of Cory and so are all events that might happen. Wait and see. They who sleeps and stay snoring in the noodle house will one day wake up like Rip Van Winkle to see the changes wrought by fate and destiny brought down on the shoulder of a woman.
see the first edited version of the above ramblings as wannabe poetry way way down the end of this thread.
Leni’s projects are crucial for the Philippines. A lot of the social stress in the country comes from the wide differences in living standards: modern as Singapore in The Fort, backward as Bangladesh in many barangays all over Metro Manila. There are studies that people feel poor RELATIVE to other people. Surely in the 1950s nobody had the stuff everybody even the slum kids all have now, but the difference between the people in the huts and the ancestral homes was not as big. What do people in ghettos do? Some steal from the rich or slightly richer. Some take drugs.
Psychologically speaking, something as simple as street lighting can improve the sense of safety people have. In addition to the livelihood projects that VP Leni is already undertaking to slowly lift people out of poverty. In the long run, a country can only succeed if the gap is not that huge.
Fully agree with Edgar that details matter here. The poor usually don’t have the capital for even small stuff, so you have to jump start things for them. Most people are not lazy, given the chance.
MAKING DIGONG AND GANG IRRELEVANT
what Leni is doing could be the best approach in PI today: just continue building better environment for people and not ask anything from Digong. To anyone positively touched by Leni and similar minded individuals’, this makes Digong and his government irrelevant.
If ever, the Electoral Tribunal recount goes for Bongbong as it seems to go negatively for Delima, then these events may just put to complete irrelevance this crazy episode of Du30-Marcos reign (it may just be the tipping point for people to oust this crazy Duo’s control of the Philippines, similar to the Computer Tabulators walkout on Marcos proclamation as winner over Cory in the 1986 elections).
Good will triumph over bad, but the suspense kills.
No EJKs in PH? Filipinos say… MERON!
But plenty still support PRD’s war on drugs.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/938201/breaking-news-pulse-asia-ejks-extrajudicial-killings-war-on-drugs-drugs-survey
Vice-President Leni Robredo has clearly delivered much more than the loudmouth president whose only credit is his shameful war on drugs by killing his own people. Beauty with brains and the foolish beast.
The contrast, the contrast, Alicia.
Thanks, Wil (for the English version too! 😉 ).
I was wondering if Angat Buhay also does housing and/or basic shelters (for emergencies, etc.), came across this Aircrete video today, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Gmor0I3mw If practical in Thailand, why not the Philippines?
“In the 80’s Hajjar founded Life Designs to support rainforest preservation. For over 10 years he designed and managed the production of responsibly harvested rainforest products to fund legal action that granted indigenous people ownership of over 25,000 acres of virgin rainforest.
After his beloved brother’s tragic death, Hajjar was inspired to follow his spiritual calling to author The Return of The Prophet. Hajjar’s award winning sequel to the spiritual classic The Prophet by his great uncle Kahlil Gibran was published in 2009 in more than 40 countries around the world. While building The Gibran Center in Thailand, Hajjar developed an innovative way of building beautiful low cost AirCrete domes that has gained international recognition.”
https://elsesociety.com/the-5000-diy-house-of-the-future/
HAJJAR GIBRAN: Building boxes with sticks, that just happened when we started logging our forests. Before that, we’ve lived in domes.
When you go into a cathedral and you’re in domes and arches, it gives you a wonderful feeling. There’s no reason our homes shouldn’t have that same elegance and beauty.
I built a seven-sided and a six-sided building at the Gibran Center before I built the domes. They’re approaching roundness, but there is nothing compared to having just the pure dome without any facets to it.
I also love concrete in the tropics. It’s so nice because the insects can’t deal with it. There’s no place for the cockroaches to room in. It’s so clean and pure. In terms of the structure, it’s so simple: one material making one shape, and it’s impervious to moisture, and insects, and fire, rot.
Then with AirCrete, you expand the volume of the cement about five or six times with air, which is essentially free. You have to run an air compressor and use soap to create the foam, but it’s low-cost, and you end up with a material that’s easier to work with, that’s much cheaper, and has insulating value.
ELSE: Right. So for our readers, AirCrete is basically concrete, but with air infused in it so it becomes a lot lighter, but still strong and easier to work with if you need to drill into it. It’s also more cost-effective than concrete because you’re expanding your materials.
This type of material is typically only available with really expensive construction equipment, yet you created a do-it-yourself alternative that basically anybody can use to make AirCrete. Is that right?
HAJJAR GIBRAN: That’s true. I’ve created what I call The Little Dragon which is a continuous foam generator, and I also developed a method of injecting the foam right into the mixing paddles of a handheld mixer.
It makes it really easy to mix it by hand. It’s kind of like a bigger version of a mixer in the kitchen. If you can mix pancake batter, you can mix AirCrete.
ELSE: Wow! And you lead dome-building workshops, something that the average person can learn with a little bit of skill and teaching.
…
HAJJAR GIBRAN: This airform system will make it faster because we’ll be able to build a building that costs $5,000 in 2 days. Inflate the form in 1 day, pour the AirCrete in that afternoon, and the next day, take it off and paint it.
ELSE: So, what is the best place to start for those who are interested in building a dome home or getting creative with AirCrete?
HAJJAR GIBRAN: Come to a Domegaia workshop! We just hosted our very first workshop in Mexico, we have one coming up in Hawaii, and more to be announced soon. In the workshops, you learn how to make AirCrete, how to do a block-building dome, how to build arches and round windows, and all the different aspects.
Or, you can order the equipment and start making your own AirCrete for just a few hundred dollars. If you want to build a Little Dragon yourself, we sell the plans for $39, and then there’s about $150-$200 worth of parts in it. Or you can buy a kit with all the parts or the complete unit all ready to use. All of that’s available on the Domegaia website.
Also, since much of the original rain forest growth in the Visayas, also Luzon, fast depleting in Mindanao, any chance the rubber tree will make a come back over there?
I’ve walked thru rubber tree plantations and palm oil plantations, and there was something about walking thru those rubber trees with their big leaves, just spewing oxygen above and below (I read somewhere also how they’re great for detoxifying the air), not to mention the possibilities of inner cropping between rows (can’t do that for palm oil!!!).
How about it Angat Buhay? Bring rubber trees back to the Philippines! 😉 Pls. forward to VP Robredo, Wil. 🙂 Rubber Trees.
http://businessdiary.com.ph/2872/rubber-tree-production-guide/
“Though the income growth starts only in the sixth year, the returns for the succeeding years are well worth the wait.
Not costing the farmer’s labor, which can be done during his spare time, the P12,000 investment for rubber inputs over five years is fully recovered in the sixth year. Gross income hits its peak of P318,750 on the twentieth year.
During the first five years, the farmer has to spend only two to three hours, three times a week nurturing the rubber plants. This is not such a big sacrifice, since the farmer can still carry out his daily routine.
We often think of rubber solely grown in plantations by large multinationals. But the greater benefit are to the small farmers planting rubber as an additional crop for their increased incomes. In addition, since rubber is a marginal crop, it can be grown successfully in our un-utilized upland areas (now more than 13 million hectares) where other crops cannot thrive.”
We have invested in a small scale mahogany plantation in our province…I wonder if rubber trees would have been a better one.
Is there a whole business ecosystem for small scale mahogany plantation, Mary?
I’d imagine for small scale rubber plantation you’d have co-ops, or a guy or company to sell rubber sap to, they process, while the farmers simply harvest, then get paid for the rubber sap.
as lumber, what’s the process for harvesting mahogany and bringing it to market?
rubber trees are productively consistent for 30 years,
LCpl_X
Those who have already matured mahogany trees sell to a neighbor who owns a power saw and enough staff to cut the trees. That neighbor then cut those into appropriate sizes and sell them back by board feet to others who construct or renovate their homes.
What we are thinking is to fashion them into tables, or benches, etc in the future and sell them ourselves as finished products.
Our trees are still young so when we built an extension church beside our provincial home we bought 20K worth of lumber from that neighbor.
Rubber trees are interesting…we don’t need to kill the entire tree to recoup the investment.
Wished we have thought about this sooner.
excepts from karl’s link:
A budded rubber tree not only grows faster than unbudded trees: budded rubber trees can produce latex of 200 grams minimum, and harvesting is every other day.
A hundred budded rubber trees can yield 20 kilos of latex, or 300 kilos in a given month —and at just a little above a greenback (P50) per processed latex, a rubber farmer can yield P15,000 every month from a hundred trees.
A rubber tree (or Havea brasiliensis, which is of South American origin) even gives farmers latex that lasts up to 35 years.
“What we are thinking is to fashion them into tables, or benches, etc in the future and sell them ourselves as finished products.”
See the link I just shared with karl below, Mary .
I do hope you can keep us in the loop with your plans for furniture making, Mary. What do you think of custom/made to order (or small batch) furniture making, specifically marketed to EU, America & Australia? And doing all this via internet.
Look into this type of design, less work for you IMHO, you’d just provide the hardwood (or rubberwood in the future 😉 ) , and just collaborate with local blacksmiths there, https://floyddetroit.com/ourstory (then just put together, transportable too! )
LCpl_X
Thank you for the suggestions and the link.
Right now, a brother in law is slowly building up his stock on DIY gadgets, from grinder to electric saw and welding machines.
I hope this goes through…am not that techie enough to post videos, but this interesting
in my haste to go back to BIR matters, I did another sloppy editing…that should have been, I hope this goes through.
Now back to my office duties.
Typo’s are God’s little reminder that humanity is our lot, and humility our proper way.
Mary,
I’m a big fan of these origami to furniture designs, when everythings set with your furniture making enterprise, do share some photos here with us, and I hope your furnitures make people think Elegance & Parsimony (like the video you linked above), or just make people think period 😉
Had an OFW friend whose family owns a small rubber plantation in Mindanao. I think somewhere in Dipolog.. They just collect latex, smoke them into sheets, and sells to Dunlop companyy who has a buying station nearby.
She spent half her time fighting her father who bullies the mom and squanders on beer. The other half her time fighting the foreman who steals the latex. Difficult to manage out of the Middle East. Oh year not to forget the ocassional threats from Muslims.
I wonder what other companies aside from Dunlop have buying stations there, chemp. Hopefully your OFW friend can comment on here, re rubber trees and the economics of this industry. Very curious.
That’s Filipino provincial life in a nutshell.
We’re luckier in Batangas, we only have drunkards for cousins who sometimes engage in brawls, fistfights and all but no NPA or Muslim threats. And of course, those who are forever asking for loans after squandering what little earning they have for beers, hard drinks, pulutan and cigarettes.
Haha, oh, my, Mary. You are getting downright literary. 🙂 Yes, that is life in the provinces.
Haha… Hard not to be a bleeding heart when their little children stand to sleep with empty, rumbling stomachs or when hospital bills keep their parents running around like headless chicken.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rubber-forest/rubber-trees-for-tire-industry-shrink-china-rainforests-idUSSHA7974020080407
Man,
Every advantage has a corresponding disadvantage.
“With rubber prices rising like crazy, any tree that can be cut down has been cut down to make way for rubber,” said Liu, a professor at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, run by the Chinese Academy of Science.
…..
karl, Thanks.
I was thinking more along the lines of re-forestation, not de-forestation , in the Philippines.
Old growth, original , tropical jungles should be protected from further demise, ie. in Brazil it’s the cattle industry (the West’s demand for hamburgers and steak) actually causing de-forestation.
But my question, I know there are a couple of places with jungles still in Mindanao, are there original tropical intact jungles in Luzon? Visayas are pretty much gone (not sure Palawan). hence rubber trees, for de-forested areas, same for Mindanao.
so National Parks or a solid Forestry agency (like US Forest here, vis-a-vis National Parks)? To protect tracts of lands, and also to responsibly use other lands.
Mary, not so sure about mohagany, I know that tree is more lumber than say a tree like rubber you can tap into for quite awhile. So as far as investing you’d have to compare that aspect, though I know much of the lumber demand (especially for hard wood) is China driven and they are paying good money (they are cutting down trees in Africa and S. America too for lumber 😦 ).
A yeah, like turning open mine pits into garbage dumps is now feasible.
http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/05/22/1702223/abandoned-mines-eyed-trash-dumps
But I think one thing you are against is becoming an option here.
Genetically modified trees.
http://davaotoday.com/main/blog/philippines-expert-says-philippines-might-turn-to-gm-trees-to-meet-timber-pulp-paper-needs/
I’ll have to read up on this genetically modified trees, I know much of the lumber grown in Oregon and Washington states are genetically modified, fast growing yet strong, etc.
But if you think about it, everything with a DNA is genetically modified, just by who and how long over time is the difference, karl.
Correct.
Nothing is new, nothing is original so we reinvent,rediscover,recreate and what else ?
“She said the Philippines has yet to conduct research and development for such purpose, although there are already at least 32 genetically engineered species and hybrids of trees being grown in field trials, mostly belonging to the genus Populus“
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populus , interestingly, Lewis & Clark’s expedition relied heavily on the cottonwood tree for their canoes and other uses for their expedition, both strong, yet soft, quality (easy to carve, as in dug-out canoes… they’d later learn to make kayaks out of seal/otter skins upon getting to Washington/Oregon areas now, Columbia River).
Genetically modified trees seem less of a problem (from a layman’s view , me 😉 ) than say Genetically modified foods, ie. if it can withstand chemicals and other processes, how am I gonna digest it ???!!! in my non-genetically modified stomach, LOL!
LC, in 2011 I had a chance to drive along a coastal strip of highway in Oregon. The majestic heights of these trees were quite a sight to behold. What a gift to the national patrimony, I thought then. And with these arborial thoughts came also the big corporations such as Weyerhauser and Georgia-Pacific that take care of the country’s paper needs. I wondered if the reforestation thrusts (such as where, what kind, how many, etc., what patterns) of those involved were the direct results of computer studies that took the resultant eco-systems (flora & fauna) into consideration. In the Philippines as I understand, only 2% of the original rain-forest covers are still surviving with disastrous results. The lost opportunities were incalculable, IMO.
sonny,
Yeah I thought the de-forestation was recent , ie. 1960s, or so… but surprised to learn de-forestation in the Philippines, at least for the Visayas was due to the Spanish, ie. for Galleon trade, etc.
Lance,
Irineo opined that there was more logging activity during the Marcos era.
http://filipinogerman.blogsport.eu/a-stable-country/
Colonial centuries are excuses even some very intelligent Filipinos use as a bargaining chip, again one more example from Duterte’s recent ramble: “When you left my country after 400 years, you brought home the best of everything in this country. Tapos ganunin ninyo ako? [laughter]”. Probably the worst logging in the Philippines took place during Marcos times with forest cover visibly reduced. There are indications that some of the most rapacious mining has taken place in the last 20 years. And population increased 5 times since the 1950s, when Manila was still spacious.
I can see that, karl.
I guess when I asked this Cebuano guy about forests (old growth) in Cebu and surrounding islands like Negros and Bohol. His answer was more historical, ie. we’ve not had old growth forests here since the Spanish. Cebu was ship building specific, while I think Negros island was sugar, forgot what Bohol was used for.
Old-growth rain forest covered about 70 percent of the Philippines in 1900. By 1992, that had been reduced to only about eight percent, in scattered, usually small, fragments.
http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/vanishing_treasures/forstcvr_Enlarge.htm
“At the end of more than 300 years of Spanish colonial rule, rain forest still covered about 70 percent of the Philippines. Some islands had been heavily deforested, while others remained nearly untouched. Cebu was so badly deforested that ornithologists visiting the island in the 1890s reported that they could find no old-growth forest, and the neighboring islands of Bohol and Panay had less than half of their original forest. Although the fertile lowland plains of Luzon had largely been cleared, much of the highland rain forest remained intact. Mindoro’s rain forest was protected by an especially virulent strain of malaria, Palawan’s by its isolation, and Mindanao’s was largely left untouched because of the aggressive independence of the Moro people. The plant and animal communities retained their integrity, readily able to provide resources to human populations in all but a few places.
In 1992, the date of the most recent forest survey, old-growth rain forest had declined to a shocking 8.6 percent. In late 1997 that percentage has probably dropped to seven percent, and perhaps further still. The extent of rain-forest destruction in the Philippines may represent another “first”: In addition to probably having the highest density of both unique and endangered species in the world, its decline in old-growth forest from 70 percent to seven percent in less than a century is probably the most rapid and severe in the world. This destruction is a primary reason the Philippines is ranked as having the most severely endangered mammal and bird faunas in the world. The degradation is also responsible for the increasing floods and droughts in the country, as well as massive erosion, coral reef siltation, and groundwater depletion.”
sonny, Thanks! that’s a great website, https://www.fieldmuseum.org/ (your local museum there, and found the exact relevant topic we’re covering here! 😉 ).
I once discovered that all the pine trees in the US are actually a fairly recent infestation of new vegetation over old. There are still forests and jungles in the Philippines, and way too many snakes for my personal taste, but the forests are a conglomeration of any vine or fast-growing tree that blows in. Many are coconut forests. The most dangerous creatures there have two legs and really nasty firearms.
LC, 1998 was my historiophany – the Philippine centennial. Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History was co-sponsor of the year-long celebration of Philippine culture. Lawrence Heaney (Curator) and Jacinto Regalado Jr. (resident botaniist) had oversight of the Museum’s coverage of things Philippine. As you can guess the Philippines-Chicago connection is strong and still to be recognized by many from both sides. Chicago architect Daniel Burnham was the original city-planner of Manila & Baguio, among other things. The Field Museum of Natural History has 42,000 sq ft of Philippine artifacts, all told.
You’re quite welcome, LC. Your interests in Natural History is so worthy of John Muir. 🙂
(of note)
Joe, Mr Heaney is an expert on mammals. Biliran Island was part of his inventory for fauna (mammals).
Wow, that’s most interesting. I know we have really large bats that will send a parent scurrying to get his child indoors mighty fast. That is only a slight exaggeration. My yard for sure has its drama, with snakes and rats battling dogs and cats for territorial rights. And we have big-ass moths, but they aren’t yet considered mammals.
Ha ha. I like that moth morphing to be a mammal, Joe. 🙂
Them babies are big! With eyeballs on the wings that look creepy.
Joe, if it’s furry and big, it’s a mammal! LOL!
sonny , That’s a great connection to Chicago! it was rather serendipitous , and filled a hole of curiosity for me rather quickly (ie. when exactly did de-forestation take root, Spanish era, or post-Spanish); as for John Muir, a great Californian, I thank the public schools here for always stressing this man and his philosophies.
There’s a story of him, attempting to climb Mt. Whitney (the highest peak in the lower 48 states), he went to the town of Lone Pine (Google map it), spied a peak, he was sure was Whitney, so climbed it; half a day got to the peak, and saw another peak, much higher, he was on the wrong peak!!! so he got down, climbed the other peak! he wasn’t the first to summit Mt. Whitney,
but the extraordinary feat was two summits in one day.
As far as great Californians go, he, Mark Twain and Jack London are up there. All lovers of Nature.
@Lance,
Re: Genetically Modified Trees
Here is an anti-GE trees site that cites the dangers.
https://stopgetrees.org/ge-trees/
Mary, just found this article:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/foreign-investments-thailands-rubber-tree-plantations-dr-ulrich-eder
In Thailand, rubber brings in more money from exports than rice. The export value of natural rubber between 2010 and 2013 averaged US$ 9.3 billion a year, compared with Thai rice at an average export value of US$ 5.3 billion a year, as statistics show. But more Thais are employed in the rice industry. An estimated 1.2 million Thai households have someone who works on a rubber plantation, which is only about one-third of rice-farmer households, according to government data.
The long-term outlook for the rubber price seems still to be promising. There will be definitely sooner or later a globally growing demand for this special commodity. However, currently the latex rubber price has dropped dramatically in the world market due to oversupply. As a spontaneous reaction, Thai farmers have been chopping down rubber trees for the last several months and eliminated many Rai of rubber fields.
From a local farmer’s prospective, it is quite normal to grow one crop when he finds it profitable and then chop the plants down when prices drop to levels that cannot sustain profits. However, this does not take into consideration the long life-cycle of a rubber investment. Therefore, from an international investors point of view it makes perfectly sense to take advantage from the shake-out of market adjustment in the rubber industry.
Key factors for the financial modeling of rubber farm investments are as follows:
Acquisition costs for land, trees, fencing, reforestation/replanting, etc.
Labor costs for plantation workers
Costs for weeding, fertilizer, plowing etc.
Additional watering costs in dry areas
Trees per Rai, size of plantation, growth cycle of the trees
Latex output per tree – after sharing with plantation workers
(Future) market price for latex, market fluctuations and guaranteed prices
Central rubber market auction price as shown on http://www.rubberthai.com
Income from pineapples, etc. during the seven years gestation period of the trees
Income from sale of rubber wood as furniture, plywood and composite boards manufacturing, when latex yields tend to decrease to an uneconomic level after 30 years
Is there a “Central Rubber Market” in the Philippines?
(please, OK the comment above, Joe, missed that 3rd url link as I was copy/pasting, sorry)
Aside from the lighting projects, here is a short accomp,ishment report of Angat Buhay.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/07/24/robredo-vows-to-sustain-anti-poverty-initiatives/
English version specially hand-sewn for Lance!
They’re reading this post.
Thanks for rubber-tree concept!
Hahahaha… “specially hand-sewn for” me!!! 😮 Thanks, again, Wil.
The rubber tree was just something I was reading in Google about how natural rubber is far superior to synthetic, and since we will always have wheels (especially planes, ie. take-off, but especially landings, will always be on demand).
But that Aircrete I think is something totally do-able in the Philippines, I mean $5,000 (or less) for a dome house is pretty cheap when NGO and Western money is put to use, I’m thinking if you marry that dome/Aircrete house idea with floating homes ie. like those found in Seattle and Denmark/Netherlands, I think there will be places fit to live still over there.
Now just focus on sewage 😦 ; As they say all engineering is military engineering, so keep your eye on clean water to dirty water flow; or simply the water cycle, as learned in elementary!
“hand sewn”, this project is actually sewing machines.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/08/27/robredo-helps-sewers-in-negros-occidental/
You know, karl. The best back-pack, I mean for hardcore back-packing, it was made in the Philippines, custom made mind you, I just drew up some specifics and picked colors and came back like 1 week later,
and I assure you way better than Patagonia, Northface, etc. extra stitchings , I’m surprise the Philippines never broke into this market, I mean for itself (not as slave labor for other big merchandizing), that whole custom or small batch manufacturing coupled with social media can totally pull
business from the West. Kinda like how you can custom make BMW or Benz and pick it up in Germany, karl. Bam’s Negosyo Centers should totally look into this model of business. Are Bam’s and VP Robredo’s two pet projects collaborating? That i’d like to read.
Heard success stories of a dried fruit exporter who gained her experience working for multinationals, but tried going solo, well not actually solo, and now she is doing great.
And backpacks there is a success story for that one too.
http://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/run-and-grow/akaba-bags-social-enterprise-a746-20160125
Another success story. Phinix footwear made use of recycled textiles.
https://www.changemakers.com/fabricofchange/entries/phinix-footwear-asian-recyclers-textiles
“The idea gave birth to AKABA Ltd. Design Co., a lifestyle company which designs bags made from hand-woven textile from the Ilocos provinces, local fibers, and cow leather.
In collaboration with GKonomics, one of the entrepreneurship programs of Gawad Kalinga, the group used P150,000 ($3,126.95) worth of capital from the organization’s investors to launch its own online store. The group works with and supports different indigenous groups in the Ilocos region, thereby providing livelihood to the weavers in their community.
“We’ve been long-time volunteers in Gawad Kalinga, and the organization is one of the things we all have in common. Having been exposed to the weavers of Ilocos opened us to a business opportunity,” Mariano said.
The first bag they ever sold was to a friend, what would have been considered a “pity buy.” But while Mariano admitted that it was a little underwhelming for them, he saw how their stocks have gradually sold out in the next few weeks, which affirmed that they were on to something.”
—–
karl,
I’m familiar with this business model, usually it’s the Europeans, Americans, Australians, having traveled to the 3rd world, then comes up with said business , ie. shell necklaces, rug, etc.
But glad to see local kids actually doing this from start to finish.
Question: are Gawad Kalinga, Angat Buhay, Negosyo Centers, etc. etc. are they all collaborating or are these all piece-meal efforts? Is there a bigger strategy at play here?
If only there was more synergy,cooperation and collaboration.
I hope one day that would be the case.
Profit trumps social responsibility.
Who knows maybe they will get their acts together soon enough.
There is a success story for rubber plants too.
http://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/01/07/11/seaman’s-wife-stretches-income-rubber-plant-investment
Now the mahogany tree success story.
http://business.inquirer.net/15361/money-grows-from-tree-farming
Thanks for those links , karl.
though I’m less convince with the mahogany plantation, though economically viable, the 30 years to maturity seems problematic, ie. you’d have to have an actual plantation to assure sustainability here. Mary‘s doing small scale, I wonder if she can comment on this aspect of the venture.
But at least they are not cutting down old growth, so mahogany grown/farmed is better than logged from forests—- I believe the Gov. of Palawan was responsible for much of the de-forestation in Palawan (if I recall correctly, karl).
Making money off a nation’s treasures, NO! , grow your own trees if you wanna cut ’em down and profit! 😉
Those two links seem to me, two opposites, karl, rubber you can use for 30 years, while mahogany you gotta wait for 30 years before you fell and sell it.
It turns out the rubber tree after 30 years is still also viable as wood for furniture, I don’t know if mahogany makes up the difference when sold (hoping Mary will know this viability soon),
but that 30 years producing latex, then after latex production using it for furniture makes for a very useful tree, karl, here:
“Rubberwood is strong, flexible, resistant to fungus, bacteria and mold. It’s compatible with most industrial adhesives, easy to work with and has a beautiful grain suitable for quality furniture.
Rubberwood has a Janka hardness rating of 980 newtons, which is a measure of the amount of force it takes to dent its surface with a steel ball bearing. This is harder than most coniferous species, comparable to black walnut and teak and quite a bit softer than oak or birch. It has a straight, coarse grain and accepts stain easily.
It has little resistance to rot and fungus, so you rarely find it unfinished. It works easily, although it tends to warp if it hasn’t properly dried. Because it’s plantation-grown, it’s considered a sustainable forest product.” https://www.hunker.com/12186919/what-is-rubberwood-furniture
If genetically modified trees are already accepted by the ethical standards setters, then the scientists can find ways to accelerate growth of trees.
Dueling banjos will be totally pleasant and beneficial. 🙂
Aircrete dome houses is not fit for humid hot tropical country like Philippines that has ambient average temperature of 90% Fahrenheit paired that with 85% humidity you would have a unhabitable baking oven worthy of boulangerie. Due to the form of a dome when it rains water dribbles thru openings.
Houses in the Philippines should have double doors, floor-to-celing post-to-post wide windows so the whole house can breath and financially sustainable not requiring A/C.
Mediterranean style houses are in vogue in the Philippines: NOT HABITABLE. Small Windows+Security Grill+insect screened doors and windows compound the heat issue. Concrete absorbs heat that radiate inside that needs 24/7/365 A/C.
Conventional Nipa Huts are practical but not when Typhoons obliterate the Islands every year. In Basco, we have stone houses like those islands off Ireland. No problem. It’s always windy out here like in Falklands.
Has anyone noticed sidewalks in Thailand, Vieitnam, China and others except Philippines have designs? In the Philippines their sidewalks are cement set in place nary any designs at all: BORING
“average temperature of 90% Fahrenheit paired that with 85% humidity you would have a unhabitable baking oven worthy of boulangerie. Due to the form of a dome when it rains water dribbles thru openings.”
Sabtang, thanks for your input here! Maybe the issue is more of design and not material?
I’ve always wondered, to alleviate heat and humidity, if this wind/water airflow tower, popular in the ME, especially Iran, would do well in the Philippines (save money on Air Conditioning! ), i notice the dome house design already has an egress for warm/hot air to rise thru,
Thank you for the English Version. Now I can comment.
90% FDI Retreated or 83%. This is how Trading Economics looked at FDI: https://tradingeconomics.com/philippines/foreign-direct-investment
BusinessWorldOnLine: http://bworldonline.com/foreign-direct-investments-philippines/
Does “Retreated” means They FDI’ed then took the money out and invested it elsewhere?
Leni Robredo should touch base with foreigners helping Filipinos in their own very meager ways, here they are:
Foreigner in the Philippines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJTFImXUxhM
BlindOwl Outdoors: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFuFHFgHPya17g6lbKrlCXg
to name a few.
Korina Sanchez has already interviewed Bud Brown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNN4HDfCO2k
As you already know in my previous comments in this site, Bud Brown lives in Dumaguete City giving “tsinelas” or flip-flops to children who needed it that brought humongous smiles, tears and salamats ….
We foreigners contribute to this country in our very small ways. I hear Joeam has had audience with former President Benigno Aquino. Joeam, as usual, kind enough to answer Presidential spokesperson Valte’s covert private messages that eventually landed him in Malacanang with Lacierda meeting him at the airport.
I could post plenty of foreigner blogs in the Philippines “not really helping Filipinos” … WE ARE MAKING THEM FEEL GOOD THAT WE CARE.
Foreigner in the Philippines helps build bahay kubo, dig potable waters to poor families in Bohol thru donations from abroad.
Blind Owl Outdoors do the same as Foreigner in the Philippines.
Peter White who lives in Catmon, Cebu VLogs about country life living in Cebu. He invites children to party in his home and allow them to frolic in his pool. This guy is wealthy. Huge house. Sprawling property. Respected in the community of Catmon as what I can see in his Youtube VLog
One Day in the Life of a Philippine Rice Farmer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH1WZjwkfoI&index=19&list=PLlfBl3_CI6_2z2etvNxIpOvLT6kCsq5mS AWESOME VIDEO !!!
Three links puts a comment in moderation. Abigail Valte’s messages were courteous not covert, and I’d had correspondence with her long before the lunch invite. Take care not to ooze superiority. It’s not a good look on either foreigners or citizens.
Love the post. This kind of informing posts are becoming the signature work of the author. I am grateful to be apprised of such work, mainstream news reporters miss to do.
LG, in blogs is where you can find great analysts because they do not depend their food-on-the-table blogging unlike journalists. Or, maybe, Philippine journalists just lack idea of their responsibilities to their trade and to their readers.
LG, when you read Philippine News do not take it seriously. Heard about Philippine Army using thermal imaging technology remote control weapon system deployed in armored personnel carrier they used in killing Maute?
I nearly fell of my rocker. Thermal imaging is not high-resolution images. It is over-saturated color images of anyone that emits heat. According to the “news” Maute hid himself among 30 hostages. Wonder how they were able to know who Maute was among 30 hostages using thermal imaging. Thermal Imaging is also infra-red imaging. Barely can know who among them are Mautes.
UNLESS IF PNP CAN SHOW ME A THERMAL IMAGE OF MOCHA USON AMONG MANY WOMEN I’D BE VERY VERY VERY CONVINCED FOR NOW I AM CONCERNED.
I see a 4-year-old geography whiz I was forced to watch over the weekend. I have a strong feeling the 4-year-old was coached of the questions and what to answer. At 4-year-old he is already taught corruption at a very young age.
”UNLESS IF PNP CAN SHOW ME A THERMAL IMAGE OF MOCHA USON AMONG MANY WOMEN I’D BE VERY VERY VERY CONVINCED FOR NOW I AM CONCERNED.”
They will recognize Mocha because she will be ”red hot” in the thermal mage… 🙂
Good AM…..
Even for cctv cameras all the villains got to do is wear a cap and bow their heads.
Google Earth can be used eventually for cctv like purposes if no activists prevents that from happening.
The guru of TSOH said in writing my prose can be poetry but I paid no attention until I divided the sentences to shorter lines. A guru of poetry said a poem becomes real only after editing it 14 times. The wannabe poem below has been posted above as prose and needs its second editing.
Her Character Is Her Fate, Her Destiny
Events and people make history
which are food that nourish
the brains of philosophers;
which help scientists to establish
the truth about nature;
which time washes into conjectures
like your character is your fate
and your fate is your destiny;
which the passage of time constitute
WHAT YOU CAN DO OR FAILS TO DO
to come to the aid of your fellowmen.
Fate and destiny was all written for Leni
when her Jesse went missing and
Noynoy and Mar stayed with her
for days till everything was okay.
Leni’s fate and destiny then
became quite clear she will likely
replicate that of Cory and so are
all the events that might happen.
Wait and see. They who sleeps and
stay snoring in the noodle house
will one day wake up like Rip Van Winkle
to see the changes wrought by fate and destiny
brought down on the shoulder of a woman;
VP Atty. Maria Leonor Gerona Robredo.
Let me just attempt to clarify. Character is of human genetics and nurturing origin. Fate is specific and closely personal and ultimately destiny is the beneficial or harmful historic interaction between self and fellowmen. If Leni’s character is like solid iron to withstand and survive the onslaught of time Leni in old age becomes a GOLDEN GIRL. But that’s being metaphored into a metal and mineral. As a metamorphic rock the evolution will be from marble to granite to finally to a DIAMOND.
To be playful will that be poetry again in motion?
METAMORPHOSIS
Let me just attempt to clarify.
Character is of human genetics of nurturing origin.
Fate is self- specific and closely personal while
ultimately destiny is the beneficial or harmful
historic interaction between self and fellowmen.
If Leni’s character is like solid iron
to withstand and survive the onslaught of time
Leni in old age becomes a GOLDEN GIRL.
But that’s being metaphored into a metal.
As a metamorphic rock and mineral
her evolution shall be from marble to granite,
and, finally like Cory to a DIAMOND
in her country’s history.
———–
heh. heh. Fake Poetry eh . . . Uso ngayon kasi.
The monicker Iron Leni came to my mind while listening to the proceedings of the launch of Angat Pangkabuhayan today at SMX in Mall of Asia again. Iron because she can’t be dissuaded from her original intent to address the needs of laylayan ng lipunan (fringe of society). Iron because she creates an impact, other materials naturally bend to her will. And yet, behold the winning vice-presidential smile—compared to the presidential smirk, but that’s being petty. She’s Cory on steroids. It seems that she has nurtured a movement that’s exactly how People Power should have evolved. all sectors helping out for the last, lost and least. She said in her speech that “malayo na ang narating natin,” (we have traveled far and wide). Literally, too. The names of places no one has heard of resonated throughout the cavernous hall presided over by another widow made of something hard to quell. The program has evolved from Angat Buhay (roughly, Uplift Life) to Angat Pangkabuhayan (Uplift Jobs) in a year’s time. I’m trying not to be starstruck, knowing my proclivity for spotting gold, so I will end here.
She is gold, a decent, hard-working person who sees politics as the trivial part of what she has to do, which allows her to set trolls aside with a smile, and once in a while set social media afire by cooking up a batch of roasted Bato.
Gold standard:
Iron Leni … Cory on Steroids.
Wil, you do indeed have the natural inclination for spotting gold.
More! More!
Why do the news fakers have to do this? Here is the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) response to a fake news saying CBCP condemns death of Maute leaders:
The enemy of the Catholic Church is the devil, and it will use all resources, trolls and fake news included to sow confusion and hatred.
“… to sow confusion and hatred.”
… and most especially division!
I am throwing this question to the floor:
Is Duterte making another fairy tale when he claims that it was a Chinese made sniper rifle that killed those two ISIS-Maute leaders?
Because the chatter I am getting from the ground (who claim to come from the armed forces) is that the equipment used were all US-supplied- thermal scopes, range finders, etc.
What makes Duterte’s claim questionable:
1. The Chinese donations were very recent acquisitions and would have required field testing first.
2. The compatible support equipment to the sniper rifle to use it successfully – if it was Chinese made- would not have been available. Or was it?
Perhaps Def Sec Lorenzana can clarify.
Who among the Secretaries is going to be the “snake oil salesman” on this? You are suggesting that Def Sec Lorenzana clarify or be the salesman. That aside, if we are in the manufacturing business that endorsement is gold — nothing less than from the President. (Methinks the Administration continues to butter-up to the friend who owns the South China Sea otherwise known as the China Lake.)
On anything precision, non-China would be in the running, say: made in USA, or Germany, or Russia, or Switzerland, or Japan, or Italy, or France, or Holland, or England. Take your pick or add to the list from your own experience and perception. My list would include a tradition/culture of proven standards & measurements, and innovation/reliability beyond toy-scale.
“Philippines has received some 3000 assault rifles, 90 long range sniper weapons along with respective ammunition donated by China to fight the Maute terrorist group which has laid siege to Marawi city for more than two months.” http://www.defenseworld.net/news/19708/Philippines_Receives_China_donated_Sniper_Rifles_To_Fight_Maute_Terrorists
1. The Chinese donations were very recent acquisitions and would have required field testing first.
2. The compatible support equipment to the sniper rifle to use it successfully – if it was Chinese made- would not have been available. Or was it?
Does the AFP really have a long elaborate sophisticated “testing” period? Methinks, it went more like this, “Hey, fellas, we have new toys from our Chinese friends, let’s go out and use ’em!!!” (Wooooohoooo!);
Sniper rifles, doesnt really need compatibility , it comes complete and ready to go, you’d just need to zero it in the range, and you can do that in 5 minutes (you can even do it in the field while out there).
Sure there are preferences for this and that, and you can usually machine things to fit.
Now, the ammunition (ie. caliber used) would be crucial, but i would assume the Chinese would’ve provided that as well , as part of the package.
sonny, as far as precision, yeah snipers do have their preferences and I’d never hazard a Chinese sniper rifle would be on anyone’s list; with that said, FREE sniper rifle is FREE sniper rifle, if Filipino snipers were fielded these,
ie. ordered to use these, like any good soldiers they’d make do with what they are given, my point here, is the sniper makes the sniper rifle (have you seen Enemy at the Gates?).
Now the PR aspect andew’s concerned about should be looked into, but i’d guess if found out, old man DU30, will just say “I was just kidding, they were American sniper rifles! Who cares!”. But i’d love to talk to those Filipino snipers and ask them for their compare and contrast with
both American and Chinese rifles, especially the caliber. The ergonomics, snipers can adjust themselves, but as far as optics and material (of components) I think all nations producing said weapons are pretty much on even keel nowadays, sonny
(especially since re optics the Chinese would’ve stolen the optics R&D from Western nations, no doubt). 😉
Ahhh… did it again, Joe! 3 links and you’re Out! Sorry.
Posted by a millennial FB friend:
DUTERTE CAUGHT LYING AGAIN!
A soldier reacted to claims by Duterte in Marawi today …that Chinese-made sniper rifles were used to kill Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute, “Sinungaling yan (si Duterte) sir. Lahat ng sniper rifle na ginamit namin sa operation ay galing sa US, pati na yung mga night vision at thermal scopes.”
While Pres. Duterte claims that Chinese made sniper rifles were used to kill Omar Maute and Isnilon Hapilon, there are several instances that this is disputable.
Earlier statements made by AFP high officers and even the SND mentioned that only Omar Maute was killed by sniper fire, while Isnilon Hapilon was killed by machine-gun fire from the secondary gun of an RCWS-equipped M113A2 tracked armored vehicle supplied last year by Elbit Systems of Israel.
Secondly, several MaxDefense sources from Philippine Army and PA’s SOCOM, and even sources of other defense pages confirmed that the team that killed the 2 terrorist leaders did not use Chinese rifles, instead were using standard-issued sniper rifles made in the US. SOCOM operators currently use the Remington M24 sniper weapon system and the Knights Armaments SR-25.
Thirdly, while the CS/LR-4 sniper rifles China provided are with the AFP, they are still being evaluated and tested until now and are not used yet in combat. Meanwhile, the Dragunov-copy Type 85 marksman rifles were distributed to the PNP, not the AFP.
Obviously Pres. Duterte is making a story to make his earlier statement thanking China and Russia relevant.
#MaxDefense #MaxDefensePH
http://www.gmanetwork.com/…/duterte-touts…/story/
I wonder if it was Duterte’s rather odd way of trying to show China he is working to promote their good reputation. Meanwhile, he would really piss off AFP if they knew it was not true, and he was being deceitful at the expense of the AFP reputation.
Duterte and AFP. Relationship is rather like the beaten wife (AFP) who must stand up and pretend all is well even though as soon as they get back into the house, out comes black and blue.
And yet as posted by an FB friend:
RollyJames Esling
23 hrs ·
Take note of this congratulatory statement from the US Embassy. Duterte is never mentioned, even in passing, even in a footnote. 🤣😅😅
The statement reads:
We congratulate our partners in the Armed Forces of the Philippines for their reported success in killing two of the leaders behind the months-long clash in Marawi: Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute.
The U.S. is proud to support the AFP’s counterterrorism efforts in Mindanao through intelligence, surveillance and reconnaisance (ISR) capabilities, and other technical assistance.
The U.S.-Philippine alliance is built on a 70-year history. We will continue working with our Filipino friends, partners and allies to eradicate violent extremism and terrorism.
Molly Koscina
Press Attache, U.S. Embassy
October 17, 2017
Yes, there is a delicious four-way dance going on, Duterte and China, the AFP and US military. No one has control of the dance floor, but they are all elbowing and swinging and tap dancing away trying to be John Travolta winning big.
Philippines Defense Forces Forum 4 hrs ·
Nope, not by Chinese sniper rifle as claimed by Duterte, the consensus from sources who were part of the operation is Omar was killed by a .50 cal round from the RCWS of one of two M-113s from 14LCAT providing armor support to 8SRC. The gunner, ‘Toto’, used the thermal sight of the RCWS to aim at the limping form of Omar Maute who was wounded in a previous firefight and fired, killing him instantly with half of his head blown off.
The US donated more than 100 M-113s sometime in 2014, the Aquino Admin then contracted Elbit Systems of Israel to refurbish and install 25mm and .50 cal RCWS on several of the M113s.
*******
1. RCWS – Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station
1.1. A remote weapon station is a remotely operated weaponized system for light and medium caliber weapons which can be installed on ground combat vehicle or sea and air-based combat platforms. Such equipment is used on modern military vehicles, as it allows a gunner to remain in the relative protection of the vehicle.
2. M-113 – is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier
3. 14LCAT – 14th Light Cavalry Armored Troops
4. 8SRC – 8th Scout Ranger Company
*****
Thanks, sir Edgar for providing clarity to the highly technical abbreviations provided by the Philippines Defense Forces Forum. Sharing that without what kind of animal..err sorry, weapons they are is like parroting mumbo jumbo, too many words with no meaning…thanks again.
Those are the weapons that PNOY has strived to purchase…brand new, not hand me downs… he also strived to provide naval ships for the coast guard, and fighter jets for the army, all from the dollars realized from the positive trade balance we had from EU markets when we were granted preferential status because of the excellent anti-corruption measure put in place in various government agencies – BIR, BPLOs, etc – and the improvement in our human rights records.
Those 2 are up for review, I understand, in January next year. Hopefully, that preferential status will not be withdrawn after our sorry state in human rights records and the corrupt practices now being exposed in BOC and the insulting way Aguirre played the justice system by removing P1K from the P30M under the care of the DOJ to evade plunder charges against his and his poon’s frat brothers. Woe unto us if ever we lose that status, as thousands of our products, the exporters, the related workers’ jobs and our dollar balances will be negatively affected.
All the good works done by PNOY slowly going down the drain, with the 80% (SWS); 67% (PA) of the people blindly approving and trusting this mayor turned president.
Laughing-Out-Loud these PnPs. PnP does not mention if it was PnP Special Forces that killed Maute and Hapilon or some random soldiers. WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
1) thermal imaging scope is not handed to everyone this is a special forces tactical weaponry
2) special forces has to be shown thermal/infra-red image of Maute and Hapilon not just some random Facebook picture BUT THEY DO NOT because if they have had thermal image PnP would have blown their heads off in the first place why wait now
3) Before Special Forces, not random soldiers, go to a mission they are shown the picture of their targets according to “news report” the Maute/Hapilon takedown was not random happenstance or a quirk of coincidence IT WAS PLANNED! Well that is what the “news report” says which I take with a grain of sea-salt. If it was planned they must have some sort of “intelligence” on the ground … WHATEVER
4) it may not be Special Forces after all if I were to believe Mary Grace P Gonzales because she mentioned Hapili was killed by machine-gun fire. Special Forces do not use M113A mounted machine gun directed at their target if the target is among hostages they use sniper rifle with suppressor because the operation was in the crack of dawn
5) it cannot be machine gun that they use because Machine gun loses acquisition of target when they are fired meaning there could be collateral casualties that Filipinos are not informed about
The execution of Maute and Hapilon reminds me of Mamasapano’s misinformations which was happily reported by fake newspapers. Fake newspapers? Yes, Fake Newspapers they have become purveyors of misinformation from the government agencies. these Fake newspapers PARROTS not ask question like I do all the time because when it comes to news I am cynical.
What was hilarious about Mamasapano was based on Philippine newspapers, oh boy, they have designated survivor so they can pass-on the the target’s finger to an FBI cloak-and-dagger agent in Zamboanga as proof of death. And the designated survivor made it to Zamboanga and knew exactly who was the cloak-and-dagger FBI agent! WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCE WHEN THEY WERE PINNED DOWN BY VOLLEYS OF MACHINE GUN FIRE …. So, therefore, DO NOT LAUGH NOW, everybody in that team including 42 dead knew who was the FBI agent in Zamboanga and everyone of them knew who they hand over the finger to.
So to cut the chase, their mission was not to carry the dead body of their target but they were there TO CUT THE FINGER OF THEIR TARGET !!!
MAKE sense !!!!
Since they came in M113A, therefore, it must be happenstance not planned. Special Forces do not creep in a noisy diesel-powered M113A. Since they “acquired their target thru thermal imaging”, therefore, all soldiers in that APC must have them … Orrrrr ….
somebody in PnP Information command and Philippine press are not doing their homework … maybe the news is meant for Filipinos not for foreigners … because if this event happened in the U.S. and the news was reported this way like Philippine News … the editor-in-chief down to newsprint section would be pounding the streets looking for another job.
I will not respond in detail to your post here, MRP…I just shared that post put up by groups more knowledgeable than yours truly.
I will repost a portion of the US Embassy’s congratulatory message…word for word as I don’t possess nor claim to have special knowledge in these matters.
“The U.S. is proud to support the AFP’s counterterrorism efforts in Mindanao through intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, and other technical assistance.
The U.S.-Philippine alliance is built on a 70-year history. We will continue working with our Filipino friends, partners and allies to eradicate violent extremism and terrorism.”
MRP? Hmmm …
US Embassy’s congratulatory message? in Diplomat’s world they use Diplomatese.
I’m pretty sure it’s MRP.
Joe might have noticed that I have used a computer located somewhere in BGC and another in another city in my comments lately. I mean different IP address?
Whether at BGC or at another city, I’m still MGPG and my simple English shows.
Whether in the US of A or in Basco, Batanes or wherever, it’s still MRP. He has a definite style I can detect in some mainstream media comments and even here, no matter how many handles he use. It’s MRP. I think.
“Diplomatese” is a mastery of language of the unsaid in communication (the meaningful silence).
Is this really MRP as Sabtang? I’m not detecting the razor sharp sarcasm, that cuts, slices and dices (I don’t think it’s him, Mary). Joe can you verify? I do miss MRP.
I have no idea and contact details are private to the contributor. So ask him/her, not me. 🙂
Well, he hasn’t answered Mary, so he wants to remain incognito, Joe— I’ll smoke him out (that is after all one of the duties of a Chief Troll, no? 😉 )
LCpl_X
He outed himself through affidavits…hahaha!
Here is what must have happened in Mamasapano, IMAGINE A COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROSE BOWL GAME USC vs UCLA Marwan Finger is the Rugby BALL
1. Everybody in that team knew who the covert FBI agent was in Zamboanga …
2. Unless they have designated survivor …
3. The soldier who had the MarwangFinger/Rugby ball calls out “I’m hit, here, take the finger…”
The designated survivor did not go to his command instead took a night-owl to Zamboanga … HE! HE! HE! FUNNY INDEED ….
I wonder: There must be a way to make the country aware of all these good things. It’s a pity because filipinos of all stripes will welcome “good news” for a change. In fact I think there must be a concerted effort to project a lot of good happenings/events. The country, especially the young, need it.
On 10/16/17, The Society of Honor: the Philippines