Can the police eat 21 million pesos worth of hamburgers?

The new PAGCOR leadership thinks the previous administration's large food orders for the Philippine National Police (PNP) is irregular. The food orders were purportedly for policemen securing rallies and demonstrations for eight dates between January and June.

McDonald's quickly said the food orders were legitimate. It noted that dates indicated in the official receipts reflect the date of payment and not necessarily the date of the food delivery.

Over the radio, a police general belabored the excuse that policemen securing rallies were provided meals for the whole duration of the rally. But can we remember long rallies in the first half of the year? And even assuming that the dates do not reflect the rally dates, it is safe to assume that the rallies were held before those dates. Which means that the rallies were held before the elections. Could they possibly be campaign rallies? For which candidate or political party then? Who controlled PAGCOR during that time?

The 21 million peso bill translates to P2.625 million pesos per rally. Again assuming that they spent 500 pesos per policeman, a princely sum for a day's meal, that means more than 5000 policemen per rally day were fed. Can we remember a big rally that required one third of the police force to secure?

Can the police eat 21 million pesos worth of hamburgers? PNoy said "kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap". Conversely, PAGCOR-rupt, hindi mahirap.

Hopeless Pag-asa X

Reports say PNoy criticized the PAGASA for not warning the residents of Metro Manila about a strong tropical storm that pummeled the nation's capital. Hopeless PAGASA had it coming. Our weather bureau could have used a dart board in predicting the weather and it might have gotten better results. They are that bad.

PAGASA's own website says public storm signal no. 1 is raised when winds of 30-60 kph may be expected in at least 36 hours or intermittent rains may be expected within 36 hours. Public storm signal no. 2 is hoisted when winds of greater than 60 kph and up to 100 kph may be expected in at least 24 hours. This is summarized in the Philippine's first website on tropical cyclones.

What did PAGASA do this time to deserve the presidential ire?

They wrongly predicted the places where typhoon Basyang will hit. They raised signal no. 1 in Metro Manila. When winds over 100kph started to batter the metropolis, they hastily upped it to signal no. 2, only to quickly lower it back to no. 1 after 6 hours, when the typhoon  has passed. You raise public storm signals to notify residents of impending weather disturbances, so they can prepare for contingencies. With its performance, PAGASA does not forecast the weather, it describes the weather. Last night when they raised signal no. 2, they did not mean to forecast winds up to 100kph will come in 24 hours. They meant to describe the winds we have now at 100kph as signal no. 2 category.

Back to the heat

After a hot week at the office, my family went to Baguio City. The city is busiest this time of the year. Popoy and Vito hate long travels but we convinced them to make this trip. Vito has been to Baguio before, he likes it but he hates the long journey. Popoy hasn't been there yet, and he hates being out of his comfort zone that is watching TV and playing with this cousins. They were initially cold to the idea, but the moment they felt the cold breeze, they immediately warmed up to the City of Pines.

I got the chance to watch Mayweather-Mosley too. The kids enjoyed Burnham Park and the Wright Park. The wife escaped from the searing Manila heat. In all, we had a good time. It's just bad we have to return to the heat today.

The people know GMA's color

This micromanaging government feigns innocence that it wanted the prime suspect in the Maguindanao massacre to turn yellow and endorse Noynoy. Everyone knows it could happen without the approval of higher ups.

What I find more intriguing is the new colors worn by the other suspects. The suspects now wear yellow, as shown in the photo when they were escorted by jail officers to the hearing at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig yesterday.

Before, suspects were shown wearing other colors. Just last month, suspects in a drug case wore green when they were presented to media.

For a long time, suspects used to wear orange. The last photo shows PGMA and suspected terrorists who were presented to the media.

But no matter what color they try suspects to project, to a man, GMA's motives are suspect. We all know her true colors. After June 30, the people will make her wear the usual orange.

White hair chronicles XXIV

Two weeks ago, more than thirty years after my elementary graduation, I was invited to the recognition day of my beloved San Juan Elementary School, a public school. I was asked to speak before excellent kids from Grade 1 to Grade 6. When they were told the year of my graduation, a teacher was heard to remark he wasn't born yet at that time.

Indeed, it was a long time ago. I have gone full circle. I remember having received some of those awards myself. Anyway, I told them the usual blah-blahs. I told them that their time spent in those classrooms will serve them in good stead later in life. That being a long time San Juan residents, my father, my siblings and I all graduated from the school.

I also told them that my even if my batch went on to different schools, we all had an easy time not just because of the lessons learned but also because of the discipline acquired. I told them I had the chance to work abroad and I observed Filipinos to have the ability to adapt to any situation. We are also persevering - matiyaga. That is why there are many Filipinos able to find work everywhere. Those traits – perseverance, discipline, adaptability - I learned at SJES.

It was also a nostalgic trip for me. The gym where the program was held is the same grounds where we played running games. In hindsight, there are many things I failed to say to the kids and their parents. I would have wanted to tell them that the '70s were difficult times. It was a time when one man tried to stay in power forever. It was also Erap's first term as mayor. And his family has controlled San Juan politics since then. We are still in difficult times today. Today we still have one person who wants to stay in power forever. Times have not changed much.

White hair chronicles XXIII

Today is the 3rd death anniversary of my father. He would have just turned 71 if he were still alive. When he was my age today he already had two grandchildren. In contrast, my eldest is just turned 13 last year. My father dyed his hair regularly, I do not. An elementary school classmate of my father thought I was his brother. He was profusely apologetic when I told him I am a son not a brother. It's ok with me though. I just don't know if he thought I was the elder brother.

At SM grocery stores, they have a special lane for senior citizens (60 years old and above). SM personnel routinely tell me I can use that lane. I amuses me because it's still more than a decade away before I can use that lane. What amuses me more is they offer me a seat while waiting for my groceries to be checked out. It will worry me if they start to offer me a wheelchair.

Indeed I seem to excel in looking old. Maybe it's not just the hair. Maybe that's why pickpockets think they can easily pick things off my bag. Which they did successfully the other day when they took off with my cellphone, leaving my earphone literally hanging. On Monday, I want to look and walk the way I did last Thursday so they can pick my bag's pocket again. In the spirit of Jose Rizal's throwing of his remaining slipper when he lost one in the water, I'll let them take the phone charger and extra battery and earphone. I'll have no use for them now.

I recall that my father, being a lawyer, used to have connections with the police. I remember that he can ask his connections' connections to recover items snatched or taken through stick ups. Those were the times when a Seiko 5 was really a Seiko 5 and not just some cool knock off. I wonder if such connections still exist and whether people still want to go through the trouble of recovering stolen items. After all, replacing lost items seem to be the easier route than asking the police who'll just mulct you twice over. But I want my SIM back. It has been my number for the past 8 or 9 years. Maybe I would want to ask my father to assist me in recovering my phone and maybe sneak in a punch or two on the perpetrator. Never mind my brittle fists.

Pickpocket victim 3x over

A funny thing happened on my way to the office today. I lost my cellphone and ID/access cards to pickpockets. I took the usual MRT ride to Recto and crossed Recto to board a jeepney to the office. This is the most efficient way. Kid Charlemagne (Steely Dan) was playing on my cellphone. During Larry Calrton's riff, the music suddenly stopped. Instinctively I grabbed the phone to check if the earphone got unplugged, only to find out that my bag's zipper was open and the phone gone.

Realization dawned on me - nadukutan ako. I checked what else is missing. My ID and office access cards are gone too. Na naman.

So my dear friends, if you get a text message from me starting 7:00am Thursday March 18, 2010 Manila time, please beware. I tell you it's not from me.

More twenty years ago, my pocket was picked while in a jeepney also along Tayuman. I found out when I was about to get off the jeep. I blurted "yung wallet ko?". Two passengers suddenly alighted and I noticed my wallet on the space where they were seated. I took my wallet and checked. The money's gone but I lost track of where the two went. Then around three years ago, in Mabini, also in a jeepney, I was again a victim. And again today.

The phone contained contact nos., pictures of my family, to-do list, saved passwords to email accounts and social networking sites. Now I have to find an Internet cafe to change passwords since my office blocks access to social networking sites. Whew!

Sinful and shameless

At yesterday's mass, the homily touched on confession as a powerful sacrament. The priest said fewer Filipinos are going to confession. True. Filipinos seem to never ever make mistakes. Filipinos almost never admit anything, even when caught red-handed. We don't have politicians like Clinton, Sanford, or Spitzer, and sports stars like Kobe or Tiger who come out in the media confessing their sins. We don't have the Japanese politicians who commit seppuku in shame. Instead, Filipino sports stars defiantly plead for their privacy while politicians who amassed wealth though their public office try to perpetuate themselves in power.

What's in a name?

The campaign is on full-blast. Each candidate sounds very optimistic of winning. It is often said that no Filipino candidate ever loses, they just get cheated of victory. At the moment everyone has a catchy nickname that ensures name recall. How will they be called in the event they lose? Here's how.

Noynoy Aquino - "NGOYNGOY" (sobs)
JC de los Reyes - JC "the LOST REYES"
Erap Estrada - "HERAP" Estrada (poor)
Dick Gordon - "FLUSHED" Gordon
Nick Perlas - Nick "PERLAST"
Gibo Teodoro - "BIGO" Teodoro (fail)
Manny Villar - Manny "BELAT" (jeers)

Except for Noynoy, the rest better start getting comfy with their new names.

Female power rise poses challenges

The Economist says that the gradual women empowerment in the last 50 years, though a welcome development for both sexes, have brought social consequences that will be the challenge of the next 50 years.

Hillary Clinton noted that her 18M votes in the primaries represent 18M cracks (pun intended?) in the ceiling. Women now make up half of the work force in many economies. In the other economies where it is not, the ratio of women in the work force is rising.

How did this come about? Politics (feminism) brought governments to pass equal-rights laws. Economics and technology also did their share. The demand for brain power grew as the world entered the post-industrialized era.

Demand has been matched by supply: women are increasingly willing and able to work outside the home. Women now have more time to work as the time for traditional traditional female work of cleaning and cooking was reduced by better technology at home. Additionally, the contraceptive pill and family planning became widely accepted. The pill has not only allowed women to get married later, it has also increased their incentives to invest time and effort in acquiring skills.

But the men still dominate the upper ranks of management. In America and Britain the typical full-time female worker earns only about 80% as much as the typical male. The article says prejudice may be the key but there is a deeper reason why this is so: many women are forced to choose between motherhood and careers. Childless women earn almost as much as men, but mothers with partners earn less and single mothers much less. The cost of motherhood is steep for women. Child rearing deprives the women of the time to gain the professional experience/education that they could have. The reason for the income gap may thus be the opposite of prejudice. It is that women are judged by exactly the same standards as men.

This Hobson's choice is imposes a high cost on both individuals and society. Many professional women reject motherhood entirely. Others delay child-bearing for so long that they later resort to fertility clinics. Some may opt not to work at all, thus depleting the collective investment in talent. But a choice must be made. Studies found out that, years after graduation, just over half of those who had chosen to have children were working full-time. About a quarter were working part-time and just under a quarter had left the labor force. Almost all of women who left work to have children want to return to work. But only 74% managed to return, and just 40% returned to full-time jobs.

While making women work leaves too little time for their children, this trend will continue. The rising cost of living and the empowered women's mind makes this a necessity. In the west child care takes a sizable portion of the family budget, and many childminders are untrained. The private sector can make more women-friendly and family-friendly work environments. Governments can make school hours coincide with working hours so the children can be at school while their parents work. But quitting work to look after the children can mean financial disaster.

This is where the Philippines' extended family system come in handy. Our extended family and the practice of grandparents staying with the family afford working moms to have caretakers for the children.

Happy three kings

Today is the twelfth day after Christmas. The twelve days of Christmas ends today, the Feast of the Epiphany - Three Kings Day. Facebook, which is good in reminding me of events, tells me that I have three friends named Melchor who are all celebrating their birthdays today. Happy birthday to them. Happy three kings to all of us.

I also know of a Mang Gaspar. I bet it's also his birthday today. I don't know anyone named Baltazar. It's more common as a surname than first name. Available online text bills the three kings as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. But in the Philippines, I remember the billing went as Melchor, Gaspar, Baltazar. That's probably why for those born on January 6 more are named Melchor than Gaspar or Baltazar.

Unfriended

Early last year they said that the 35-54 age group is the fastest growing age group in Facebook. That has since been replaced by an older group, the 55+, but my age group still remains 2nd fastest. It's no surprise then that I manage to see many of my long lost friends and relatives in social networking sites. And as we continue to use technology to try to reconnect bonds, we conjure up new words to describe the experience.

Pinoy online power produces CNN hero of the year

A week after Manny Pacquiao's heroic feat, another Filipino is heralded a hero in the world stage. Efren Peñaflorida, who started a "pushcart classroom" in the Philippines to bring education to poor children as an alternative to gang membership, has been named the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year. He fully deserves the award but he definitely cinched it with a lot of help from his fellow Filipinos' online power.

Congrats Manny! Please stay good.

Congratulations Manny!

I watched the fight at a theater and unlike the previous PacMan fights I watched, the crowd was more relaxed all throughout. Perhaps it was because of the boring undercard. Or maybe it was because you were the 3-1 favorite. In the dela Hoya fight where you were the underdog, there was a nervous air. And unlike the Marquez fight, the audience was not taunting the opponent. It's as if we (and it seemed you yourself too) didn't want you to finish Cotto off brutally.

Noynoy na!

A new blog featuring an open letter to former president Fidel V. Ramos from his niece made a buzz at the political scene this week. In it, she asks FVR to endorse Noynoy. She sums up the argument for Noynoy/Mar - "...he (Noynoy) is now the one candidate with the potential to unite the opposition against the ruling party. For his part, Mar is no slouch, moreover, and the Liberal Party appears to have some progressive elements."

Philippine politics is characterized by a weak party system. Political butterflies abound. That is why many different configurations or tandems for president/vice president are floated around. The situation is very fluid. You can hear possibilities of a Villar/Loren, Villar/Chiz, Chiz/Loren, Chiz/Ping, Gibo/Loren, Chiz/Dick, etc. Any of which is a real possibility. Now that Chiz decided to bolt from the NPC, the possibility of a Gibo/Chiz may not be far-fetched despite the previous anti-GMA stand of Chiz. The administration says it is open to a Gibo/Chiz team.

Consider this: Chiz's tweet last night indicated that he might be supporting the gerrymandering bill that gives Dato Arroyo a congressional district. With that tweet, Chiz hints of an alliance with an Arroyo son and at the same time takes a potshot at Noynoy. Noynoy is opposing the bill.

Chiz portrays himself as a follower of the Quezonian "my loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to my country begins". It is not immediately clear what party stand he is against. Why Chiz would shun party politics this time after doing so in all his political life gives credence to rumors that the NPC boss, Danding Cojuangco, would finance only a fraction of his campaign.

By now, it is clear that only the Noynoy/Mar tandem stands squarely against the current administration. All the rest can be seen to offer to or gain some accommodation from the administration. All the others do not consider the interests of the country. They all belong to the parte-parte party. With them, patronage politics will still be in place.

Man got paid for 5 years without working a single day

An Illinois man got US$469,000 in paychecks without working for a single day. Anthony Armatys of Palatine, Illinois, pleaded guilty Monday on one count of theft. He accepted a job with Avaya Inc. in September 2002, but later changed his mind. The company's computer system did not remove his name from the payroll. Paychecks were deposited into his bank account until February 2007, when Avaya auditors discovered the mistake.

Could this ever happen in the Philippine government sector? With contractualization of labor, employees are forced to take 6-months contracts, subject to renewal. But there are indeed 15-30 employees, those who show up only on paydays. There are many of these employees especially in the local government sector. In general the government workforce cannot deny that many get paid without working. All they have to do is show up. That is called management.

Typhoon Santi to hit RP in 3 days - pray for Bro to spare us again

Exactly one month after the great flood and just two days after declaring that the country would be free from any low pressure area at least in the next two to three days, PAG-ASA announced another weather disturbance is threatening to hit the country within the next three days. The new storm would be named Santi.

Once again, we should pray to Bro for Santi(no) to spare us. As in the telenovela "May Bukas Pa", we should be reminded that miracles don’t just fall from heaven but comes to those who keep their faith.

Climate change spooks weather bureau - Hopeless PAG-ASA VII

Climate change has made weather forecasting doubly hard. The Philippines now have four seasons, dry, very dry, wet, and very wet. The agency hardest hit by climate change is the PAG-ASA. The Philippine weather bureau, long ridiculed for wrong forecasts, continues to suffer setbacks with its weather forecasts. The people don't mind though. We have learned to expect the opposite of their predictions. We continue to prepare for the worst, but often, PAG-ASA's predictions of very bad weather do not come true.

Typhoon Pepeng was supposed to veer away from Luzon. But it came back a number of times, pouring rains that necessitated the opening of dams, causing much destruction of lives and property. Of course, PAG-ASA does not have Doppler radars to determine rain volume, but that's for the rain volume. Is the Doppler also needed to predict the typhoon's path?

Before Pepeng, typhoon Ondoy was not advertised as it was. In many other times, PAG-ASA raised the alarms for impending strong typhoons. Signals were raised, classes were suspended, only for the sun to shine mightily the next day. PAG-ASA is the weather bureau who cried wolf.

With typhoon Ramil, PAG-ASA once again raised the signal and even hinted of a signal no.4. The country, particularly the northern part, prepared for the onslaught and prayed to high heavens to spare the country. The weather gods listened and once again PAG-ASA was red faced. Other weather agencies predicted Ramil will veer away, PAG-ASA expected it to hit us. Kaya ang iba nagsasabing huwag nang umasa sa PAG-ASA - 'wag asa.

But wait, if we want to be spared of a typhoon's wrath, we have just to make PAG-ASA predict a landfall, and the typhoon will go away. This space has been underestimating the value of the agency. PAG-ASA is not hopeless after all. My apologies.

The Age of Stupid 5

When Ondoy flooded San Juan last September, our small city did not get any media attention at all. I just thought that other areas are worse hit, that's why. In fact, other places that never experienced flooding before were suddenly under water. Some places will be under water for months. Indeed, Ondoy swathed a wide area of destruction.

But still, San Juan itself suffered the worst flooding ever. The Youtube video of cars swept away by the flood currents was taken at the UERM hospital, just across the San Juan river. So why is San Juan not in the news? Not that we are kulang sa pansin, we just want to say that "hey we were victims too". Fortunately, despite the lack of press notice, aid still poured in.

It was also noticeable that during the floods, rescue operations were nowhere in sight. Again, I attributed that to the many people that needed rescuing. But after the water subsided, victims were in unison in saying that no help from the city officials arrived. The rescue efforts that saved hundreds were all initiated by friends and families from higher grounds.

Days after the flood, giant banners were put up by the mayor to exhort San Juanenos to be strong, to work together to make the city rise again from its own efforts, to work together to enliven the people's spirit. Good idea, only if people did not learn that the good mayor sneaked out of the country in the morning of the floods for Singapore to watch(?) the races. Surely, he could not have foretold the great flood. Definitely, he has the right to watch horse races. Absolutely, he is the son of his father.

But talks are rife that his people asked the media to be out of San Juan so people won't notice his absence. Without the media coverage of the people's pleas, help did not come. With the mayor absent, his men were clueless in the rescue operations. He did the wrong thing in going to the races. He did the wrong thing in isolating the city from the media. He is wrong to think that the people does not know any better.

This is the age of stupid.

The Age of Stupid 3 - Ironies of the Times

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink - Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner

The scenes at the aftermath of Ondoy and Pepeng are replete with ironies.We all know that non-biodegradable plastic bags and bottles contribute largely to the environmental problem we now face. But given their practicality and with the lack of alternatives, they are widely used now in the distribution of relief goods. We use them to pack the goods, keep our dry clothes from the mud and flood, and as trash bins. These plastics will eventually find their way to clog the waterways and fill the landfills; which will cause further floodings and environmental degradation.

 The recent floods brought us more water than ever, but people trapped on their roofs are thirsty. The evacuation centers do not have access to clean water, even if it was water that forced them there.

At the clean up operations when mud started to cake, I wished for more rains even if it was rains that caused the floods, so I can easily sweep away the sludge.

At the evacuation centers, hapless people were happy to see politicians pretending to care even if it were the leaders' ineffectivity contributed to the people's misery.

I remember Heber's song:

At kung tayo'y nanahimik/ Huwag kayong magalit/ Ang dapat sa atin ay tawagin/ Mga gago!/ Subalit hindi ganyan/ Hindi tayo dapat ganyan/ Marami nang nahihirapan/ Marami nang sumisigaw/ Marami nang namimilipit/ Maging ako'y nahihirapan/ Kaya ako'y sumisigaw/ Sumisigaw! - - Heber Bartolome's "Hoy Utol, Buto't Balat Ka Na'y Natutulog Ka Pa"