A lot of ifs and buts
I have been out of the hospital for over a month since my quadruple bypass done early March and even as I am recovering, I am still confined to the house for all my wounds to completely heal......»»
Marauders
Wiped out, cleaned out, gone. The gall of it all is what surpasses all understanding. It’s like some people traipsed into one’s garden and started grabbing flowers, trampling on vegetable beds, leaving nothing but evidence of their disdain. One can only deduce matters at this point — about Rozul, of course, that reef in the West Philippine Sea, well within the 200-mile radius of our exclusive economic jurisdiction, “where suspected Chinese militia vessels had been spotted,” as reports said. Who’s the culprit? Is it those who “swarmed” in one day and left behind empty seabeds? Is it the keeper of those areas who came too late? Several reports quote Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, commander of the AFP Western Command, after a forum last weekend: “We noticed coral harvesting in their swarming areas. After they departed, we pinpointed the location and dispatched divers for an underwater survey. They observed that no corals remained — everything was damaged, with debris scattered.” Later, he added, “There’s nothing left in the area.” “They,” of course, refers to Chinese vessels — around 33 in the Rozul area and ten around Escoda Shoal —gathered between 9 August and 11 September. Suspected massive harvesting of corals had left “severe damage,” the Philippine Coast Guard said, “inflicted upon the marine environment and coral reef in the seabed of Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal.” A careless disregard for the environmental effects notwithstanding, the reckless disregard for Philippine rights has left no doubt of the saboteurs’ arrogance. To ravage without compunction, ignoring ongoing disputes, certainly also leaves a warning of dominion. We feel offended, violated, and worried about how the continued loss of habitat for marine life (and corals take decades to grow) will lead to biodiversity loss. When people mess with ocean life, it is also people who will eventually suffer from the adverse effects. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it, yet we see how this continues, with warnings and even protests ignored. While the government moves to address the coral destruction off our shores, it should also force us to act toward protection and propagation. It’s no longer enough to raise a cry. Although there should be no let-up in our call for China to cease encroachment, we must simultaneously fight environmental degradation with positive action. The good news is that all is not lost — not yet, anyway. While the damage to the planet is irreversible, we can mitigate the harm and strive to mindfully live in a way that would no longer rob future generations of a decent life. There are different ways to help restore and rehabilitate the environment, and the government should actively support efforts to restore a semblance of the earth as it once was. All over the world, for example, warriors for the planet work to increase the mangrove cover. For the ocean, there is coral gardening, in which scientific techniques have been proven to grow corals. In our own homes, we can segregate trash, eliminate plastic use, plant our own food, reuse materials, and so on. Admittedly, it isn’t easy to change a lifestyle, but it’s not impossible. While we’re doing all that, let’s keep our fences strong against marauders. The post Marauders appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Stop the reclaiming
Instead of falling for their heavily advertised utopian urban fantasies, it’s best for us to stand firm against the brazen cynicism of the greedy profiteers salivating over the land reclamation on Manila Bay. The brazen cynicism is in the form all of us are easily taken in by — arguments that it’s only by expanding Metro Manila’s urban sprawl through reclamation that we can save the metropolis from itself. That’s a big fat total lie. The incontestable truth is this: We all certainly know that the only way to save the sprawling nightmare that is frenzied by Metro Manila from unmitigated horrors is to decongest it. A decongestion that will only work when people are taken out of the metropolis by spurring economic development away from imperial Metro Manila’s porous borders. That much is a given. Yet, these profit-mad scoundrels arrogantly gaslight each one of us, even managing to hoodwink otherwise sound development policymakers. So much so that they have been able to convince policymakers that the outright banning of reclamation projects on Manila Bay isn’t in our best interest. Recently, for instance, senators were calling ONLY for the suspension of reclamation projects in Manila Bay, citing their adverse impact on the environment and, bizarrely enough, complaints that reclamation will spoil our view of the famed Manila Bay sunset. Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or DENR announced last week the formation of a team to review all ongoing reclamation projects for their impact on the environment. Why a review only now? So many scientific studies have time and again warned that reclamation endangers the delicate environmental balance of the bay. Hadn’t they heard of that? Similarly, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla is pushing for a review of all the contracts for the reclamation projects in Manila Bay, saying the awarding of reclamation contracts by the Philippine Reclamation Authority or PRA was “rushed” and that no public hearings were held. Again, there’s that nasty word “review.” Something is deeply unsettling about mere suspensions and reviews. It conclusively betrays the government’s lack of decisiveness and political will against a portentously disastrous issue! Without ifs, ands, or buts, the government must put out a policy banning outright reclamation on Manila Bay. An explicit and unambiguous policy that will stop all proposals and activities related to reclamation must be put in place at the soonest possible time. There really is a need to get all worked up against reclamation. As things now stand, Metro Manila can hardly cope with its environment. Earlier, I spoke of unmitigated horrors plaguing the metropolis. The metropolis perpetually endures floods, monstrous traffic jams, people crammed into sardine-can living spaces, and whatever else, testifying to the fact the world’s fourth-largest urban area is in depraved chaos. Yet, despite these horrors already causing societal and environmental collapse, our reclamation scoundrels glibly argue that reclamation projects are redemptive. Their arguments are fundamentally wrong. Primarily because reclamation tends to attract and increase further the 24-million population of the metropolis. Also, those planned gleaming urban villages in those reclaimed areas are idiotic come-ons. More likely than not, those villages will be unaffordable to most Metro Manila residents. So much so that employees of businesses in reclaimed areas will likely locate to nearby already densely populated areas. As such, there will be no palpable decrease in Metro Manila’s bursting population density. In addition, our joke of a public transport system will force even more people to take to cars to get themselves to the reclaimed areas. Throw out then any imagined metropolis free of unbearable traffic and pollution. Flooding, too, won’t be finally solved. It will get even worse. As early as 2019, scientists had raised the alarm that the planned reclamations on Manila Bay would not only worsen flooding in Manila, but also submerge coastal villages in the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Cavite. Recent monsoon rains had turned Bulacan and Pampanga into insuperable water worlds. This even without reclamation projects in place. So, you still want those damn reclamations? The post Stop the reclaiming appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Imee vs BBM? ‘Never ever’
Senator Imee Marcos has set the record straight regarding her relationship with her younger brother, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. At Thursday’s Kapihan sa Senado, Imee said despite her open criticism of the administration, she has rejected the invitation for her to join the opposition. “I am solid administration, there’s no ifs or buts. I’m only here to protect the President and the family name,” she said. She added: “We fought hard and long for this, and we’re deeply invested in making certain that the Marcos administration would work.” Earlier this week, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said he was willing to take Senator Marcos in should she decide to join the opposition. Pimentel, the other oppositionist in the Senate along with Sen. Risa Hontiveros, later clarified that his invitation was a “joke,” but that it remained on the table. ‘I love my brother’ Having differing opinions, according to Imee, is quite normal in their family, noting that their late father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., likewise was not averse to contrary positions. “In our family, we always have discussions. We have different opinions. When my father was still alive, he was happy if he was being opposed. He was annoyed, but he was happy,” she said. “I am not opposing anything. We’re trying to hammer out details. I love my brother and we will never ever separate because of one simple reason: we came from only one tree.” Imee said her role in her brother’s administration was more of a “shepherd,” stressing that role is important to “protect” their family name. “My brother in his SoNA gave all the directions. I agree with that. Now, what should we do, there should be the ones to provide details. My role now is to focus on agencies and secretaries to find the best ways,” she said. “I am protecting my brother and, most of all, our name from any failures and fiascos. We have waited for 36 years, we cannot afford to make any mistakes,” she said. The siblings’ relationship has always been the subject of grapevine talk, even before Marcos Jr. ascended to the presidency. Historian Ambeth Ocampo had noted that Marcos Sr., in a diary entry, confirmed having a “soft spot for his elder daughter, (as) the child most likely to succeed.” Ocampo claimed the Marcos patriarch even “wished” that Imee had been a boy. Despite Imee’s longer years in politics, her younger brother, their father’s namesake, has given them the biggest comeback to the political arena after they were forced out of Malacañang and into exile by the 1986 People Power Revolution. Logical Pimentel’s invitation for the elder Marcos sibling to join the opposition did not come out of nowhere. Senator Marcos, the eldest of the four children of Marcos Sr. and former First Lady Imelda Marcos, had publicly called out certain actions of the President. Last year, the President’s first act after assuming office was to veto House Bill 7575 or the proposed Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Act. Having sponsored the measure before the plenary, Senator Marcos expressed dismay over her brother’s action and even warned him that it could send a wrong message to foreign investors. Earlier this year, she found herself opposed to her brother’s take on the EDSA anniversary, the event that not only changed their lives but the course of the country. The President said he was “one with the nation” in “remembering those times of tribulation and how we came out of them united and stronger as a nation.” Likewise, he offered reconciliation to “those with different political persuasions.” In contrast, Imee shared her thoughts about what she called the “truth” of EDSA. “For beyond the lesson of people power, or even what others have called mere military adventurism, a power grab, or even the endless clash of elites, to me the truth of EDSA is that we owe millions of Filipinos still living in squalor and insecurity, ignorance and hunger the promise of change,” she said. “Together, as one nation, let us go forth to transform this poor and unjust country into a Philippines that is, truly and finally, for all Filipinos,” she added. Likewise, Senator Marcos did not vote on the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund bill, a priority measure of the President. Less than a month after the Senate approved the measure, the lawmaker admitted that she deliberately skipped voting on the measure as it was “hinog sa pilit” or forcibly ripened. “We don’t talk frequently. I only see him when we have family affairs or official functions,” she said. “Sometimes, Sandro would approach me. Sometimes, he would send Sandro to tell me something. It is like that. Sometimes, I also get annoyed.” “It is okay, we are a normal family, but we don’t have a kitchen table these days. We’re also busy. Otherwise, it would have been around my mother’s kitchen table where we argue and discuss and dispute. It’s fun.” The post Imee vs BBM? ‘Never ever’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Imee says she’s not joining opposition: ‘I love my brother’
Senator Imee Marcos has set the record straight on her relationship with her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. During Thursday’s Kapihan sa Senado, Imee rejected the invitation offered to her by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III for her to be part of the opposition given her criticisms of the administration's policies on several occasions. “I am a solid administration, there’s no ifs or buts. I’m only here to protect the president and the family name,” she stressed. “We fought hard and long for this, and we’re deeply invested in making certain that the Marcos administration should work,” she added. Earlier this week, Pimentel III said he is willing to adopt the older Marcos should she decide to join the opposition. Pimentel, the other half of the two-member minority bloc in the upper chamber, explained that his invitation, although it was only a “joke,” was still on the table. Presently, there are only two members of the minority in the Senate: Pimentel and Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros. Quite normal But having differing opinions, according to Imee, is quite normal in their family. She noted that their late father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., likewise followed this approach. “In our family, we always have discussions. We have different opinions. When my father was still alive, he was happy if he was being opposed. He was annoyed, but he was happy,” she explained. “I am not opposing anything. We’re trying to hammer out details. I love my brother and we will never ever separate because of one simple reason: We came from only one tree,” she added. Imee also noted that her role in her brother’s administration is more of a “shepherd,” stressing that it was needed to “protect” their family name. “My brother in his SONA gave all the directions. I agree with that... My role now is to focus on agencies and secretaries to find the best ways,” she said. “I am protecting my brother and most of all our name from any failures and fiascos. We have waited for 36 years, we cannot afford to make any mistakes,” she added. Sibling relationship Imee and Bongbong’s relationship has always been the subject of speculation even before the latter ascended to the presidency. In the January 2022 column of historian Ambeth Ocampo, he noted that Marcos Sr., in his diaries, had “had a soft spot for his eldest daughter, the child most likely to succeed.” Ocampo said that the Marcos patriarch even “wished” Imee to be a boy. Despite Imee’s longer years in politics, her younger brother, who shared the name of their father, gave the Marcos family the biggest comeback in the country's political history by winning the 2022 presidential elections. Imee, the eldest among the four children of Marcos Sr. and former First Lady Imelda Marcos, had publicly called out certain actions of the president. Last year, the President’s first action after assuming office was vetoing House Bill No. 7575 or the proposed Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Act. Imee, who sponsored the measure before the plenary, expressed her dismay at her brother’s actions and even warned him that it could send a wrong message to foreign investors. Earlier this year, the lawmaker also figured in a tug-of-war with her brother on their family’s take on the anniversary of the EDSA People Power revolution, the event that sent them into political exile. The president said he was “one with the nation” in “remembering those times of tribulation and how we came out of them united and stronger as a nation." He offered the hand of reconciliation to “those with different political persuasions.” Imee had a different perspective about what she called the “truth” of EDSA. “For beyond the lesson of people power, or even what others have called mere military adventurism, a power grab, or even the endless clash of elites, to me the truth of EDSA is that we owe millions of Filipinos still living in squalor and insecurity, ignorance and hunger the promise of change,” she said. Imee also abstained from voting for the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund bill, the brainchild of the President, when the upper chamber was deciding whether to pass or reject the measure. Less than a month after the Senate approved the measure, the lawmaker admitted that she deliberately skipped voting on the measure as it was “hinog sa pilit” or forced to ripen. But Imee pointed out that their family is no different from any other household, saying she is sometimes “annoyed” by her brother’s actions. “We don’t talk frequently. I only see him when we have family affairs or official functions,” she said. “Sometimes, Sandro would approach me. Sometimes, he would send Sandro to tell me something. It is like that. Sometimes, I also get annoyed.” “It is okay, we are a normal family, but we don't have a kitchen table these days. We're also busy. Otherwise, it would have been around my mother's kitchen table where we [would] argue and discuss and dispute. It's fun.” The post Imee says she’s not joining opposition: ‘I love my brother’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
A different Sharon Cuneta in ‘Revirginized’
By NEIL RAMOS There are no ifs or buts about it. “Revirginized” is bound to divide people. Some will like it for its brash, loud, unflinching take on rediscovery and empowerment. Others will hate it for the same. Whatever. “Revirginized” is not about causing a commotion just for the heck of it. As writer-director Darryl […].....»»
A lot of ifs and buts
I have been out of the hospital for over a month since my quadruple bypass done early March and even as I am recovering, I am still confined to the house for all my wounds to completely heal......»»