Honoring by attacking

People like President Duterte may not realize it, but when he publicly attacks critics or persons he dislikes, he is actually making them more popular or famous. Some of those people even actively use the presidential attack and attention as a “badge of honor” or proof of courage to make themselves look influential or gutsy. In their twisted view of things “notoriety” is just as good as “popularity.” On the other hand what really drives these same people crazy is when they are ignored, treated as “insignificant,” or referred to indirectly like someone whose name you can’t recall because they don’t make an impact.

Every time a President criticizes, praises or acknowledges an individual or a group, he brings public attention to them. Why add to their ratings? The president should simply recognize those who are helpful, or sensible without promoting ass kissers either. Every human being seeks inspiration, recognition or affirmation. There are so many people who are more deserving of the President’s attention and like kids vying for their father’s attention, the same applies to Digong, with his critics as well as supporters. Simply give honor where honor is due and ignore the dishonorable.

“Challenge accepted”

Those were the words of DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu after reading about the BORACAY CHALLENGE here on Ctalk. Secretary Cimatu shared how he had the impression that he was being asked or challenged to join a “Fun Run” or some fitness-based event to raise awareness for some cause or just to get people conscious about healthy living. But to his surprise if not alarm, he quickly realized that he was being challenged to face and fix the environmental disaster on the island and how the article essentially put him on the spot if only to make people realize there is a major problem confronting everyone.

Not only did Secretary Cimatu immediately accept the challenge, he wasted no time in rounding up a team of lawyers and technical experts and arranged to fly to Boracay Island, meet up with the Mayor, go to Kalibo to speak with the Governor and send out individuals to investigate and assess the situation on the island yesterday. No, it was not an excuse to go on a junket because the team was following such a hectic schedule that I told one member to extend their stay because they would have to be on the ground for a full 24-hour cycle or 48 hours to make valid observations. In any case, Secretary Cimatu has responded and took initial steps, which is already a good start.

I don’t know what team Cimatu will come up with but 2 things I am sure of; the local DENR officials will soon be under the microscope in terms of doing their jobs or not doing their jobs. Another thing that I hope the team will realize is that the Island of Boracay, particularly the main beach from station 1 to station 3 has a limited carrying capacity for human presence and activity. Whether we like it or not, government will eventually have to limit or place quotas on the number of guests staying on the island. Even if all the manpower and supplies are imported to the island, the truth of the matter is that none of the human waste and much of the garbage goes off the island.

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Every time I travel by land to the provinces, I am immediately reminded of the fact that the LTFRB and the LTO have not been paying attention or are playing blind to the thousands of commuter vans carrying tourists or employees to various destinations. I find this disturbing considering the fact that so many accidents with so many deaths have involved commuter vans but the LTFRB has not put the fear of law in the hearts of the colorum operators and reckless drivers.

My single issue with the commuter vans is their reckless over speeding even in crowded areas or sleepy towns. The scary part is that even the national media is not picking up on the problem because the van related deaths are smaller compared to sensational mass homicides in buses. Even with the comparatively low kill ratios, vans outnumber buses and when you add up all the accidents and deaths, I am certain that people would be shocked. Do we wait for all cities and municipalities to impose a nationwide 60 kph speed limit or can the LTO start going after the overspeeding vans trying to make as many trips as they can in one day? Remember that one reason we had so many bus accidents was because the drivers were trying to reach their quotas by means of reckless driving. Now we have commuter van drivers following in the footsteps of bus drivers!

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Every time I stay in a hotel in the provinces I immediately check their cable TV offerings and I’ve started to notice that provincial operators give more choices than the national cable TV operator.

I’ve also noticed that The national cable TV operators have not given channel space or provide “Christian or Protestant” viewers with channels like Daystar or Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), which are shown or featured by provincial cable operators. I don’t exactly know who regulates cable operators and their programing, but even if you’re willing to buy or pay for a channel, it would be very difficult if the cable operator has a religious bias or labels such as “none revenue generating” or simply does not feature it. I for one would appreciate seeing BBC2 that features more of British life and lifestyle as well as TBN. But my (national) cable provider has not included them on my choice of programs along with many other interesting cable channels.

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