Ducky Paredes

Malaya (08.25.07)

“Even from just professional pride, the manly thing to do is to get out of the way when others are doing your job for you.”

by Ducky Paredes

If the President will hold a monthly command conference with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs in order to make sure that tax collection is properly done, why do we still need a Secretary of Finance?
What could Margarito Teves be doing as Secretary of Finance? Of what use is he if he needs Gloria Arroyo to do his job for him?
There are obvious times when a cabinet member ought to resign. To me, when the boss begins to do your job for you. It is a clear sign that you have reached the limit of you competence and that you have been found wanting. It ought to be time to go.
Even from just professional pride, the manly thing to do is to get out of the way when others are doing your job for you. But, then, I may be being unfair trying to impose standards for more honorable men to our present crop of officials. One notes that Gloria can actually rub her people’s faces in the mud, yet, when she calls on them to do another job, they meekly follow.
That has to be leadership. I guess she cows them all into submission. Why they take it is beyond me.
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I’m glad that it is over and that Malu Fernandez has resigned. My reason for being glad about this is that my e-mail inbox is overflowing with letters from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) who were out for this society columnist’s blood.
Apparently, Malu thought that she was being smart and funny when she wrote about her trip to Greece. On a stopover in Dubai, she wrote in People Asia, which is read not only by Filipinos: “I forget that the hub was in Dubai and the majority of OFWs were stationed there. The duty-free shop was overrun with Filipino workers selling cell phones and perfume. I wanted to slash my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them.”
I suppose that society columnists regard themselves differently from the rest of the people who are classified as Pinoys; but, that is really too much. The OFWs were right to ask for her blood.
Here’s more: “I had resigned myself to being trapped like a sardine with all these OFWs smelling of AXE and Charlie cologne while my Jo Malone evaporated into thin air.”
I have no idea what she is talking about. I never use perfume and hate it on others but I suppose that “Jo Malone” costs more than “AXE” and “Charlie.” That can be the only reason why a society columnist would prefer it – for the snob appeal.
At any rate, she has resigned as columnist for the Manila Standard and for People Asia. This shows the awesome power of the OFW on the Internet. They are intelligent and obviously voracious readers who have the means to make themselves heard all over the world.
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Did someone in the intelligence community hand Senator Ping Lacson a red herring in T/Sgt. Vidal Doble? The tale told by Doble may not hold up when it is checked against reality. For instance, there is apparently no basement in the “White House,” the Chief of Staff’s quarters in Camp Aguinaldo. Yet, Doble says that his family was kept in the basement of that house.
It is also highly unlikely that a cell phone would be tapped right in the main office of a telecommunications company.
Tapping is best done on a particular cell phone rather than at the hub where all cell phone traffic passes. Just as a landline is more easily tapped at the source – on the phone itself or on the line leading out of the house, a cell phone’s signal can best be picked up by a portable Cellular (or GSM) Intercept System which can be purchased by allied intelligence agencies from the United States. If we have this equipment at ISAFP, it is more likely that this is what they use for tapping cellular telephones.
Doble’s tale that employees of the phone company were doing the tapping for the ISAFP by splitting the cell phone signal seems dubious to me and sounds like an overly wild tale.
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There is a television program called “On The Television” which, according to a review, is “a fake Siskel and Ebert reviewing fake TV shows.” This was on “Nick at Nite,” some programs of which we sometimes see on cable television.
One recent sketch featured “Our Maid Imelda.” The blurb says: “After her fall from power, Imelda Marcos plays a maid.” Karen Maruyama plays Imelda complete with bouffant hairdo, butterfly sleeves and an attitude.
You can view clips of “Our Maid Imelda” on www.youtube.com. It is pretty funny.
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We have a letter from Dan Pena: “Pall Mall was my cigarette back when I was living in our country (until 1984). It used to be manufactured by Columbia Tobacco. I don’t think it is a new brand name.”
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To one Finance Undersecretary, it is obviously a new brand.
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Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com,/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com

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hvp (08.24.07)