I HAD a very bad experience when I booked with Air Philippines (Airphil) on Saturday, October 25, on the 7 a.m. flight to Iloilo City. Our flight was rudely delayed for about five hours, which to my mind had neither rhyme nor reason, but more like a deception played on the more than a hundred anxious passengers of that morning flight. This airline company should have known that to catch the 7 a.m. flight, one has to wake up at 4 a.m. at least, and rush to the airport without breakfast, or at least some coffee.

At 7 a.m., Airphil people at the gate announced a “slight delay” of our flight but told us not to worry since the aircraft was already “positioning” to take in passengers. The so-called positioning lasted up to 8 a.m. after which came announcements that the aircraft was being “serviced,” followed by more announcements to “bear with us” for more delays because of “further servicing” of the aircraft. Finally came an announcement that the flight to Iloilo will leave at 9 a.m. This was followed by announced flights to Surigao, Ozamis and to other southern airports, but no Iloilo flight. I was already exasperated because I had several appointments waiting in Iloilo City starting with the inauguration of a new project in one of my biggest barangays, then a TV-radio interview scheduled at around 11 a.m. This was to be followed by a meeting of all barangay officials in the district of Arevalo. Still no flight announcement for Iloilo City.

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BACOLOD CITY — History is divided into chapters called, Era, Age, or Epoch. This time can be called the Era of Bolante. And because history is the linkage between people and events, the Era of Bolante can be called the maturization or sadly, the immaturization of our people.

The verdict of history of this era is in the hands of the Personality of that Era, Jocelyn “Joc Joc” Bolante, outstanding insurance businessman, official of Rotary International, and Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, accused of engineering a so-called “P720 million fertilizer scam” to allegedly help fund the election campaign of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, was called by the Senate for investigation.

He escaped in 2005 going from one country to another, then to the U.S. where he was apprehended with an expired visa, charged and jailed, for two years, and eventually deported.

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SO much have been said about illegal drugs, drug lords and drug trafficking. The role of law enforcers should be looked upon favorably otherwise, it will destroy institutional integrity like those of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the PNP.and the National Prosecution Service.

PDEA-6 in Western Visayas has been doing well in its drive against the proliferation of illegal drugs. The successful campaign is with support of concerned sectors of society including the DOJ under Sec. Raul Gonzalez and the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).

As noted, the continuing role of PDEA-6 in Demand Reduction resulted to the proper knowledge of our law enforcers, concerned groups and non-government organizations in dealing with this menace of society.

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ACE Builders Enterprises, on one hand, is in tantrums for another P26 million payment from the city government and, on the other, Mayor Jerry Treñas is acting like a frightened dog with its tail between its legs.
We smell rat here.

The contractor is not alone in that zarzuela of huff-and-bluster, threatening suits on Iloilo City government to collect payment for an undone or half-done contract called “housing scandal in Pavia.”

It is not alone in resurrecting the monumental thievery we thought is already lost in the dead files of the Ombudsman.
Three graft complaints were separately filed with the Ombudsman in 2003 for the unfinished, substandard and overpriced housing units that Ace Builders erected in Pavia for city employees.

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NOT even the investment wary business pessimists could stop people from getting together to look into development opportunities. So notwithstanding the Wall Street financial crunch, the National Competitive Council (NCC) went on with the 2008 Local Governance Code Anniversary Conference held at the AIM Conference Center last 9 October 2008. The NCC conference identified tourism as one of the four (4) sunrise industries; the others are mining, business processes outsourcing, and agri-business.

Mr. Samie Lim, vice chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PCCI), expounded on the so-called Tourism Chain of 5As – Arrival, Access, Accommodation, Attractions, and Activities. He identified the business and investment opportunities in the 5As which would generate more business establishments and millions of jobs.

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ALL Saints’ Day: It’s the shortest of the many Philippine holidays. It cannot compete with Christmas, which we celebrate for months; but some people still confuse it with All Souls’ Day.

Which one comes first? How is one different from the other?

Actually, All Souls’ Day is technically the day of the dead in the calendar. But we always associate our dear departed with the saints. It’s a handover from our colonial days from Spain and Mexico.

In any case, we mark November 1 as the time when we pay our respects to our dear departed and pray for them.

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THE broadcast by ABS-CBN of its interview with Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebel leader Commander Bravo has sparked a fresh confrontation between the media and government over the matter of press coverage of conflict situations, involving press freedom and security of the state. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez was quick to denounce ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. for allowing itself to be used to “disparage the government,” saying that in the process it “abetted subversion.”

Another state institution, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), has filed a complaint with the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP — Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines) against ABS-CBN for violation of the 2007 Broadcast Code of the Philippines. Article 21 of the Code states: “Broadcast facilities shall not be used to or allowed to be used for advocating the overthrow of government by force or violence”; and “The broadcast of materials which tend to incite treason, rebellion, sedition, or create civil disorder disturbance is prohibited.” On the other hand, the section on “news sources” under Article 1 states: “Suspects or fugitives from the law may be interviewed as news sources. However, they should not be aided, abetted or encouraged when in the act of planning or committing a crime, or to be accompanied on their way to committing a crime.”

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“COUNTRIES cannot fight the menace of organized crime individually since the tentacles of criminal groups stretch into banks, businesses and pockets of corrupt officials up and down the supply chain.”- Dir. Antonio Ma. Costa, UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

It was the message of the director during the Anti-Drug Liaison Officials Meeting for International Cooperation (ADLOMICO) attended by 16 countries at Jeju, Republic of Korea on June 13, 2007.

The countries are the United States, China, Japan, France, Russia, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines and Korea.

Among the listed drugs discussed at the meeting is heroin. It mostly originates from the mountainous boundaries of Burma (now Myanmar), Laos and Cambodia. This region is better known in the underworld as The Golden Triangle.

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WHENEVER I pass by the long line of e-card bearing Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) members and pensioners — mostly old, including weak octogenarians – patiently waiting for their turn to withdraw their money from the one-and-only ATM of Union Bank on Iznart St., I no longer wonder whether GSIS President Winston Garcia has a stone heart. He really has. I no longer wonder who gets the commission whenever millions of e-card holders nationwide withdraw from non-Union ATM, to avoid standing in long line, and be debited a service fee of P100.

As pitiable is the scenario of a thousand people flocking daily to the Iloilo City regional office of GSIS for whatever transactions. There are not enough seats available there for them.

If you personally know an employee thereat, he or she would probably confess it’s the e-card system that is making life hard not just for pension claimants but also for them GSIS employees. In fact, I know of one who is seriously thinking of retiring ahead of schedule because she could no longer cope with work-overload stress.

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THE exorbitant gasoline cost had exacted its toll on the driving habits of the normally nomadic American people. Last June compared to last year, the American people drove 11 billion FEWER miles, the steepest decrease in driving ever recorded in one month. As a comparison of total mileage traveled by ALL vehicles in the Philippines in ONE YEAR is less than 5 billion miles while in the US, the 11 billion miles is only a reduction in just ONE month. One recent move to ease the fuel crisis in the US is that residents in Union County, South Dakota had voted unanimously to approve a measure that clears the way for a $10-billion oil refinery that will process 400,000 barrels (1 barrel equals 159 liters) of thick Canadian crude oil a day. This type of crude will produce more diesel than gasoline and hopefully will bring down diesel cost in the US nearer that of gasoline where it is 20% more expensive. As usual the moratorium on refinery construction (a major cause of high fuel cost in the U.S.) was a product of the irresponsible objections of environmental activists, a very stupid and imbecile move that prevents the processing of the production of EXISTING oil wells. (May ara na gid oil, indi pa magamit kay indi ma process!) Finally the American people have awakened to their technical swindling and it’s the same here in Iloilo with the final approval of the 164-MW coal-fired power plant of Global Business Power Corporation by DENR Secretary Atienza whose construction will soon commence.

The June 20 devastating flood in Iloilo wherein my town Pavia was ravaged most and whose vivid destruction was seen on website in the U.S. is an eye opener that a drastic change be made in the management of the Tigum and Aganan Watershed. By drastic I mean Governor Tupas and Mayor Treñas should join forces in firing ALL members of the watershed management board especially its chairperson and endorsing the management to the DENR and MIWD. Private companies especially those with carbon emitting projects such as Global Business Power Corporation with its P18-billion coal-fired electric plant should be required to acquire an area for reforestation.

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