I left Cebu for Manila Thursday afternoon and saw from the plane that the haze supposedly from Indonesia forest fires has truly engulfed a great area of the Visayas. It was then I realized that I was having a slight cold, which worsened while I was having a retreat in Mt. Makiling. While in Laguna, it was cold due to a tropical depression and rained almost daily, hence walking around the beautiful forested area of Mt. Makiling was not a good idea.
I got back Sunday evening and since I still had a bad cold, my wife told me to stay home and rest for most of Monday. It was then that I realized from the news that the haze in Cebu had reached “unhealthy” levels, making the air unsafe for the sick, the young children, and the elderly. The public has been advised to take precautionary measures like staying indoors, avoiding outdoor activities, and wearing masks. I further learned that Particulate Matter 2.5 tests results showed 56 micrograms per standard cubic meter. EMB-7 chief Cindylyn Ochea said the result was above the safe value of 50 micrograms per average cubic meter.
The EMB-7 still has to know how long the haze in Cebu has been in the atmosphere. “We are still tracking the trend based on the results. Various meteorological factors could. There are various meteorological factors that could affect its concentration in the air. First is the rain, which could wash it away. Others include wind direction and wind speed,” they said. Meanwhile, the Department of Health warns that the haze may increase the risk of respiratory illnesses. We were also told that the haze also reached the Davao region, Soccsksargen, Bacolod, Iloilo, Dumaguete, Zamboanga, Puerto Princesa, Tagum City, and Koronadal City. So this haze is not only affecting us in the Visayas, but also including Mindanao. So take an extra precaution.
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Last Saturday was the 47th year of the declaration of martial law in the Philippines. That time I was already in the US with my brothers driving to Washington DC when we heard the announcer over the radio saying, “Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos has declared Martial Law in the entire country.” Then he had nothing else to say simply because those were different times.
When we got into our motel in Washington, we immediately tried to call the Philippines, but the operator said that the Philippines was closed and no calls to and from could be connected. The following day, we saw all the US newspapers carrying the news that martial law had been declared back home. My first thoughts were, why the entire Philippines when it was peaceful in Cebu? A few days later we returned to New York and walked towards the United Nations building where my brother was working and passed through the Waldorf Astoria Hotel where the Philippine flag was being displayed.
I talked to the doorman who told me that Philippine foreign secretary Carlos P. Romulo was in the UN to explain why martial law has been declared in the Philippines. It disappointed me that Sec. Romulo would explain the imposition of martial law to the UN when we knew that Pres. Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in order to extend his political power. Of course, the rest is history and Marcos was able to extend his power 14 years more until we had the EDSA Revolution and ousted him.
Call this piece hindsight. But when Marcos declared martial law, there was already an ongoing effort to revise the 1935 Constitution. So in 1973, the Constitutional Convention was declared finished and efforts were made for the Marcos dictatorship to legitimize their rule by having the Filipino approve the 1973 Constitution. I was with many friends in Camp Sergio Osmeña when a group of military men and mediamen with cameras listened to what the speaker was asking us; to raise our hands for those who did not have lunch yet. Everyone raised their hands…and the 1973 Constitution was approved. That photo came out in The FREEMAN.
Unfortunately Marcos was just a year old as a dictator and he could have used the 1973 Constitution to shift our country into a parliamentary system of government. Alas, Marcos said that our parliamentary system was similar to the French system, so he took the office of the president and installed Cesar Virata as prime minister without any power. This is history!