“The best way for P’Noy to show that there has been a dramatic change in our country is simply by arriving in the US without the usual horde of accompanying tourists.”
by Ducky Paredes
For a long time, before Cory Aquino, our most beloved and most popular president ever was Ramon Magsaysay and, while it was not because of this, the fact that he never traveled out of the country probably contributed to our love for Monching.
The President we most love to hate, on the other hand, is our most traveled president, who besides logging record air miles was also the most spendthrift of our leaders par non. Now that it has been announced that P’Noy’s foreign trips will begin next month, we can only hope that he will have the good sense not to do as Gloria did.
Don’t spend our money on trips that, in the end, are pointless and do nothing for us; and don’t spent our funds just to give every hanger-on in Malacanang a chance to see the world and Obama. The first trip will be a working visit to the United States in September.
According to Budget Secretary Butch Abad, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo are now in the US in preparation for the initial foray:
“The main focus is to show to the world that the Philippines is once again open for business and we mean business about making sure that dramatic improvements in governance are being made and the Philippines will once again be an attractive area for investment, especially in terms of good governance, political stability, and lower cost of doing business.”
Aquino is also expected to attend the UN General Assembly.
The best way for P’Noy to show that there has been a dramatic change in our country is simply by arriving in the US without the usual horde of accompanying tourists that they have learned to expect whenever a Philippine President visits Washington and New York,
In presidential trips, half the people with our President are actually excess baggage. P’Noy will make a better impression if he arrives, as much as possible, by himself, without the usual gang of alalays.
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We have letters: “I’ve been an avid reader of your column. I may have disagreed with you (silently) on some issues but with this one about Pag-asa, I couldn’t agree with you more.
“If their weather forecasting is made inaccurate by their supposed lack of equipment, then they should not make forecasts, at all. Would we follow where a GPS wants us to go even if that GPS does not have the proper signal? Would you ride with a driver who is wearing the wrong grade for his glasses? I’ll throw away the GPS, fire the driver and drive the car myself, entrusting my fate to myself, just like how our kababayans in Bulacan trust their experience with the protection given to them by the Sierra Madre when a storm approaches.
“I don’t know if it is human nature or a distinct Filipino trait but we always look for excuses and blame everybody, and everything, except ourselves. This is so true with the Pagasa. They make excuses and blame their equipment (or lack of it) and they blame the typhoons that change direction. A subtle excuse but an excuse nonetheless is the location of the Philippines and the characteristic of our islands. When will they take responsibility for a wrong forecast or a misjudged volume of rain that a typhoon brings?
“If they can’t do their job well enough, we might as well not rely on them (because they themselves admit that their forecasts are unreliable) and have the agency abolished altogether (and depend upon our experience and our neighbor’s reading of typhoons). We might as well Google “time of sunrise in the Philippines” to get our facts straight and confirm “manaka-nakang pagkulog at pagkidlat” by judging cloud formations ourselves, instead of having a “forecaster” tell us the same thing over and over again.
“Pag-asa is the only agency that can give us a reading of threats brought about by weather conditions. If they can’t be accurate with their reading, then they should not publicize their wrong predictions. After all, every time they provide an inaccurate reading, people’s lives are put on the path of raging storms that Pagasa predicted would go someplace else.
“Thanks Ducky and more power.” — Denys Cruz, Toronto, Ontario , Canada
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*A friend points out that Pagasa was wrong in not seeing (although it was on CNN days before) that Ondoy would bring the most rains ever of all typhoons that hit the Philippines. Less than a year later, they are using the same excuses for not seeing Basyang’s eventual target. How truly, truly dumb.
*The Agham puts the blame on the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) saying if a storm is predicted for Bulacan, the NDCC should also put out on alert Manila, Laguna, Cavite and Batangas, too.
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And one more on the last BI Chief: “No, Mr. Paredes. this is not the last time you would be hearing about Mariano Libanan and his evil deeds while he was an official in Eastern Samar. I’m glad that many are reacting to your article about him. It could be very true.
“He was formerly the Governor of Eastern Samar province and then he ran for another term and won again. Since he couldn’t run anymore for third time, he let his wife run while he himself ran for congress. His wife lost because, sukang-suka na ang mga kababayan namin sa kanya.
“He was able to get the position in the Immigration dahil naging sipsip siya kay Arroyo. Oh yes, nandiyan siya kay Aquino ngayon because of his connection to Boy Abunda. They both were products of Seminario de Jesus Nazareno in Borongan, Eastern Samar and Boy Abunda is a fan of his music.
“While he was a governor, and later on as congressman, he sent his children to school in London. He built an air-conditioned cockpit for Borongan but left the roads open with holes. He bought a number of island resorts in the province and it is said he even have a yacht which he leaves in the port of Tacloban so the people in Eastern Samar won’t notice. He never helped his constituents while he was still an official.
“And yes, he was involved in the fertilizer scam. His brother-in-law in Dolores, Eastern Samar who then was the mayor of that town when this scandal broke, was made to answer for that and was lying through his teeth when he said, his town received the fertilizer for the farmers and distributed the same. The real farmers deny receiving it, while at the same time, the head of the Department of Agriculture in Borongan denied that they received it. What they received was money and not fertilizer. They bought a few overpriced fertilizer as evidence and probably left to rot and was never distributed.
“If you want to know more about his misdeeds, contact someone in the www.iborongan.com. Pick up a legitimate address and anyone can tell you who this Libanan really is.
“I am a Boronganon but now living in Germany since 1986 with my family. I would appreciate it very much if you don’t publish my name. Just say, I am a concerned citizen in Eastern Samar. Thank you.”
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hvp 08.11.10
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