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For the first time in history, President and VP face separate ouster moves in lower chamber
Impeachment wars
rage in House
President Duterte addresses thousands of the country’s municipal councilors during their 10th National Congress on March 8 in Pasay City. AP/Bullit Marquez
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Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo delivers her inaugural speech at the Quezon City Reception House on June 30, 2016. AP/Aaron Favila
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
ven if it threatens to affect the legislative agenda of the 17th Congress, House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez has vowed to pursue an impeachment case filed against Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo, justifying that, in doing so, the lower chamber is only doing its mandate under the 1987 Constitution.
“Whether it will affect or not [our legislative agenda], we are mandated by the Constitution to process all impeachment cases,” Alvarez said in a text message. But Alvarez’s position appears to run counter to the latest pronouncement of President Duterte. Returning from his official visits from Thailand and Myanmar, the President said he will disallow any attempt to impeach Robredo. “Guys, lay off. Stop it. You can do other things but do not tinker with the structure of the govern-
ment. Kakatapos lang ng election, bakit mo sisirain? Malay mo ako ’di na ako magising bukas sa bangungot, eh di okay na, siya na. You know this is a democracy. Leaders are elected. [Even if one] is a son of a bitch, it’s still the people’s choice. Remember that,” he said.
‘Scrap of paper’
Currently, there are at least 39 priority bills that are now pending for congressional action. These measures include the proposed amendments to the 1987
Constitution, or Charter change, the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, the proposed Traffic Crisis Act and the proposed salary standardization law. Earlier, Deputy Speaker and Liberal Party Rep. Romero S. Quimbo of Marikina City said Congress should not waste time on a “scrap of paper”. “Congress will only end up wasting time better spent on much-needed legislation, including those on tax reform, Traffic Crisis Act, as well as those that seek to
make economic gains more inclusive,” Quimbo said.
Termite?
On Monday lawyer Oliver O. Lozano and Cesar Chavez asked Alvarez to endorse their draft impeachment complaint against Robredo. “We respectfully request that you endorse the attached complaint for impeachment against Leni Robredo. She is the termite of the government. Her unfaithfulness has extended to the betrayal Continued on A2
Police, military uncover terrorist cell operating in Metro Manila
Manhunt for Maute Group terrorists
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By Rene Acosta
he Philippine National Police (PNP) is hunting down members of the Maute Group, three of whom have been identified, following the earlier arrest of their colleague during an operation by a combined police and military team in Quezon City.
The three—Isnadie Ibrahim, a certain Najib and Yusof Macoto—were reported members of the group’s terror cell based in Metro
Manila, although the Armed Forces is still yet to categorically admit the existence of the Islamic State (IS)-allied group in Metro Manila.
PESO exchange rates n US 50.3390
Police Director General Ronald M. dela Rosa said members of the Lanao del Sur-based Maute Group are currently the subjects of continuing operations by the police, although he did not discount the possibility that they could have already slipped back to Mindanao.
Jihad ‘teacher’
Ibrahim, a subleader of the Maute Group, supposedly planned the foiled bombing on the US Embassy in Manila, while Macoto was the mastermind of the attempted attack. Macoto is an imam at the Tejeros Mosque in Tanza, Cavite.
According to a report prepared by the Quezon City Police District, under Chief Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar, Macoto has been facilitating the teachings of jihad at the mosque. The presence of the terrorist group in Metro Manila, or at least the existence of a plot to attack, was first confirmed by dela Rosa immediately after the foiled embassy bombing on November 28 last year, which subsequently led to the arrest of four suspects who are members of the Ansar al Khilafa Philippines (AKP). Continued on A2
Dela Rosa: “I do not want to sound alarmist or cause panic, but prudence, it has been said, is the better part of valor. I, therefore, urge our people to remain calm, yet alert and vigilant of the presence of threat groups in our midst.” AP/Bullit Marquez
n japan 0.4538 n UK 63.0395 n HK 6.4813 n CHINA 7.3103 n singapore 35.9795 n australia 38.3885 n EU 54.2956 n SAUDI arabia 13.4245
Source: BSP (24 March 2017 )
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Impeachment wars rage in House with the hearing of the case.
Continued from A1
of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution,” they said. “She betrayed the people by shaming the nation with her dishonest message to the United Nations. [She] is duty-bound to act within the framework of the Constitution, but her acts of dishonesty and moral bankruptcy breached the bounds of the fundamental law,” they added. A separate group of volunteer lawyers and professors, at the same time, is mulling over to file a second impeachment complaint against Robredo. At a news conference in Quezon City on Thursday, lawyer Bruce Rivera said his group is already laying the groundwork in drafting the impeachment case against the Vice President, which could take two to three weeks of case-building. The group is composed of Rivera, lawyers Tom Berenguer and Trixie Angeles, Prof. Antonio Contreras and Interior Assistant Secretary Epimaco Densing III. “Leni Robredo has gone too far. We demand accountability. She needs to answer to us now. It is clear that, in her determination to further her political stature, she is willing to bring the Filipino nation to perdition, even at the cost of Filipino integrity and selfdetermination,” Rivera said. “We have decided to file for her impeachment. She can no longer be allowed to continue in this manner. Not anymore. Not at our expense,” he added. Without giving specifics, Rivera said the general grounds for impeachment against Robredo are betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution and other high crimes. The group is expecting to file the impeachment case at the House of Representatives before sessions resume in May.
Quick defense
Alvarez, however, was quick to dismiss a similar move to unseat Duterte from the Palace.
Hole in the head
President Duterte and Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo face the media, as the two meet for the first time at the change-of-command ceremony for incoming Armed Forces chief Gen. Ricardo R. Visaya on July 1, 2016, at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. AP/Bullit Marquez
The House Speaker also expressed confidence that the House Committee on Justice will dismiss the impeachment complaint filed against Duterte. “Recommendation to dismiss the impeachment complaint is definite,” said Alvarez of Duterte’s Partido Demokratikong PilipinoLakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban). Alvarez has tagged Robredo for direct involvement in the filing of the impeachment complaint against Duterte by Party-list Rep. Gary C. Alejano of Magdalo, who filed the impeachment complaint last week.
Alejano said the impeachment complaint was based on Duterte’s alleged culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption and other high crimes. According to Alvarez, Robredo is likely worried that a recount of the ballots cast for the vice-presidential seat in the last elections would reveal she is not the real winner. Robredo is facing an election protest lodged by her rival, former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, which recently decided to proceed
Meanwhile, Nacionalista Party Rep. Luis Raymund T. Villafuerte Jr. of Camarines Sur asked his colleagues to shift their focus on passing important measures. “We need this impeachment complaint like a hole in the head. I believe that we lawmakers could better spend our time right now crafting reform laws that would help President Duterte achieve his government’s ambitious goal of sustaining the growth momentum, drastically reducing poverty and transforming our country into an upper-middle-income economy by the time his term ends in 2022,” Villafuerte said. According to Villafuerte, the impeachment complaint filed against Duterte “is an exercise in futility, given his overwhelming support not only in Congress but from the Filipino people, as well.” “Given that the impeachment process is a numbers game, it is wishful thinking on the part of the President’s critics that they could even reach first base in impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives,” Villafuerte said. The House Committee on Justice has to decide first if the impeachment complaint against the President is sufficient in form and substance before endorsing it to the plenary. If the committee finds by a vote of the majority of all its members that a probable cause exists on the basis of the evidence adduced before the committee, it shall submit with its report a resolution setting forth the Articles of Impeachment. Otherwise, the complaint shall be dismissed. Also, under the rule, a vote of at least one-third of all the members of the House is necessary for the approval of the resolution setting forth the Articles of Impeachment. If the resolution is approved by the required vote, it shall then be endorsed to the Senate. On the other hand, should the resolution fail to secure approval by the required vote, it shall result in the dismissal of the complaint for impeachment. With PNA
Manhunt for Maute Group terrorists Continued from A1
The AKP and the Maute are two groups allied with the IS. Lately, however, all local terrorist groups in Mindanao have already joined together under the banner of ASG Basilan Commander Isnilon Hapilon as the ISIS-recognized leader in Mindanao. The existence of a terror cell in Metro Manila was further confirmed by the arrest on Monday of Nasip Ibrahim, 35, a native of Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, and resident of 31-A Libyan Street, Salaam compound, Barangay Culiat, Quezon City. Eleazar said a joint police and military team took in Ibrahim after his house yielded three firearms and a homemade bomb fashioned out of a 60mm mortar shell with a detonating device.
Plot to bomb US Embassy
The Quezon City police director said the operating team was actually attempting to serve a warrant of arrest against Jamil Baja Tawil for illegal possession of firearms. “Tawil is a suspected ally of the Maute terrorist group believed being coddled by Nasip Ibrahim y Sarip and sheltered in his residence,” the report prepared by the Quezon City Police said. The arrest of Ibrahim, who was presented to dela Rosa by National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Chief Director Oscar Albayalde and Eleazar, completed the picture on the failed US Embassy bombing.
Ibrahim, Eleazar’s report said, was the driver of the blue Toyota Revo with plate number XKT-424 that was used in the attempted bombing. It was reportedly driven all the way to Manila from Mindanao. The report added that a few days before the foiled bombing, Ibrahim met with Najib, Rashid Kilala and his uncle, Isnadie Ibrahim, alias Bro Akh a.k.a. Inspire near SM department store in Marilao, Bulacan. Ibrahim also facilitated the accommodation of the three at the Park Villa on Quezon Avenue, where they stayed for two nights. After the failed bombing, the PNP arrested Kilala and three others, identified as Jiaher Guinar, Mohammad Jumao-as and Elmer Romero. Dela Rosa said the arrest of Ibrahim prevented any other possible attack by the terrorist group in Metro Manila.
ISIS-inspired
“The PNP has foiled another sinister attempt by the ISIS-inspired Maute group to launch terrorist activities. I am glad that alert operatives of the NCRPO discovered and intercepted in time an improvised explosive device being prepared by the suspects even before it can be delivered to its possible target or used elsewhere,” the PNP chief said. “We are yet to uncover the circumstances surrounding this incident involving the Lanao-based
Maute Group, but this discovery leads us to believe that the Maute Group has already established presence in Metro Manila, as to what extent, that is the subject of our follow-up investigation and operations,” he added. In disclosing the presence of the Maute in the nation’s capital, dela Rosa said he does not want to create an alarm, but wanted Metro residents to be vigilant. “I do not want to sound alarmist or cause panic, but prudence, it has been said, is the better part of valor. I, therefore, urge our people to remain calm, yet alert and vigilant of the presence of threat groups in our midst,” the PNP chief said. The military is working with the PNP to validate the reported presence of a terror cell in Metro Manila, saying it does not still have the data on the report, while belying it was contradicting the police stand. “There is no contradiction with the PNP headquarters on that account because, at that time of the media event of the PNP headquarters, the Armed Forces did not possess the information and the data that were necessary to make a more extensive statement...so, we could not link anything, or conclude anything until we have the information,” military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto C. Padilla Jr. said. Padilla added that whether there is a threat, what is important is the readiness of security forces, including the police, to deal with it.
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Malaysia central bank braces for challenging year as inflation climbs
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alaysia’s central bank said this year will be another challenging one for monetary policy as inflation pressure builds and risks loom over the economy. GDP is forecast to expand 4.3 percent to 4.8 percent this year, Bank Negara Malaysia said in its annual report in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. That compares w ith the gover nment’s earlier forecast of 4 percent to 5 percent for 2017, and a growth rate of 4.2 percent last year. “Although growth is expected to improve due to better performance of the external sector, the economy will be challenged by higher inflation, volatile capital flows and lingering uncertainties in the global economic and financial environment,” the central bank said. Inflation is projected to reach 3 percent to 4 percent in 2017, compared with an average of 2.1 percent last year, it said. After a surprise interest-rate cut in July, Bank Negara has left borrowing costs unchanged in the face of a weakening currency and rising prices. While signs of a recovery in exports are growing stronger—reducing pressure on the bank to ease again to support the economy—the global trade outlook is still vulnerable to shocks, including the threat of protectionism in the US. That’s complicating the outlook for monetary policy in Malaysia, with economists surveyed by Bloomberg diverging in their views on whether the central bank will raise, cut or keep interest rates unchanged this year.
Growth outlook
Domestic demand will continue to be the main driver of GDP growth, particularly from the private sector, the central bank said. Investment growth is projected to remain modest in an “environment of cautious business sentiment and continued uncertainty in the economy”, it said. A recovery in commodity prices may be a boost to the Malaysian economy and exports. Shipments of crude palm oil will likely rise this year, following the increase in prices and production volumes as yields recover from the effects of El Niño, according to the report. Malaysia’s current-account surplus is forecast to narrow to 17.4 billion ringgit ($3.9 billion) this year, from a projected 25.2 billion
ringgit in 2016, according to the central bank.
Inflation outlook
Inflation is projected to average higher in 2017, mainly due to the impact of higher oil prices on local fuel costs, the central bank said. The forecast range is higher than the finance ministry’s projection last October and comes after a spike in consumer prices in January. The ringgit, which has dropped 7 percent against the dollar in the past six months, is another contributor to faster inflation. These cost-push factors aren’t expected to cause significant spillovers to broader price trends and core inflation is forecast to increase only modestly, the central bank said.
Currency policy
The central bank said its exchange-rate policy remains the same: that the currency should ref lect the “economic realities of Malaysia”. Bank Negara warned foreign banks late last year against using offshore nondeliverable forwards to bet against the ringgit and vowed to limit speculation. It also imposed rules for exporters to hold at least 75 percent of export proceeds in ringgit from no such restrictions previously. “As exchange-rate volatility has become more pronounced and prolonged, it is important for policymakers to manage the trade-off between the benefits of allowing exchange rate flexibility to act as a shock absorber to the economy and the potential costs of allowing sharp adjustments in the exchange rate,” the central bank said.
Fiscal deficit
The government’s fiscal deficit is set to narrow further to 3 percent of GDP this year, from 3.1 percent in 2016, according to the report. Prime Minister Najib Razak removed subsidies on fuel and sugar and diversified revenues away from oil by introducing a 6-percent goods and services tax in 2015. Malaysia has been running a fiscal deficit since the 1998 Asian financial crisis and aims to gradually move to a balanced budget. The contribution of oil-related revenue in the budget is expected to fall to 13.8 percent in 2017, from 14.6 percent last year, Bank Negara said. Bloomberg News
ZTE pleads guilty to violating sanctions on Iran tech sales
Z
TE Corp. pleaded guilty as part of an agreement to pay as much as $1.2 billion to resolve allegations that the Chinese company violated United States laws restricting the sale of American technology to Iran. The company’s plea deal calls for it to pay $892 million in fines and forfeitures and be subjec t to an additional $300 million in penalties if it violates the terms of the settlement. A federal judge in Dallas is considering whether to accept the deal. Although it’s the largest US criminal fine against a Chinese company, an obscure provision in the plea agreement may deny the Justice Department the kind of cooperation that it typically receives from such deals. The plea agreement will end a year of uncertainty about the ability of China’s second-biggest network equipment maker to do business in the world’s biggest economy. The company pleaded guilty to three felonies: violations of export laws, making a material false statement and obstruction of justice. Like many of the plea agreements struck in recent years between the Justice Depar tment and European banks over sanctions violations, the deal requires ZTE to provide full cooperation with US and foreign law-enforcement authorities, with standard
exemptions covering attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine.
Unusual exception
But the ZTE plea deal also contains an unusual exception, in that the company isn’t obligated to disclose any information that might violate Chinese law governing state secrets. US law firms operating in China have warned their clients that the statute lets the Chinese government define a wide range of information as state secrets. “That covers, like, everything,” said Eric Dubelier of Reed Smith, who says it’s the first time he’s come across the invocation of the Chinese law in a plea agreement. “The Chinese are very, very aggressive about what constitutes a state secret.” At the same time, Dubelier said, the qualification makes sense. “You have to give credit to the DOJ,” he said. “You can’t compel a company to violate a law of their own country.” ZTE, based in Shenzhen, China, sells smartphones, as well as networking gear, throughout Europe and Asia and buys components from American companies, including Qualcomm Inc. and Micron Technology Inc., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bloomberg News
Sunday, March 26, 2017
A3
Oil rises as US fuel-supply drop counters crude-stockpile gain
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il rose as an increase in US crude inventories was countered by a drop in fuel stockpiles in the world’s largest oil consumer.
Futures for May delivery added as much as 0.9 percent in New York after falling 0.4 percent on Wednesday. Speculation that refiners will increase oil purchases and reduce US crude supplies grew after data on Wednesday showed gasoline stockpiles slid a fifth week to the lowest since January and distillates dropped a sixth week to the least since December. We s t Te x a s I nt e r m e d i at e (WTI) dipped below $50 a barrel this month for the first time in 2017, as swollen US inventories and rising American production weighed on output cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and
other producers. W hile Opec won’t decide until May whether to prolong the curbs, officials will meet this weekend in Kuwait to discuss their deal’s progress. “Bulls were further disheartened” after “another week and another build in US crude-oil inventories”, said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates in London. “Product data, on the other hand, were pricesupportive as both distillate and gasoline inventories fell harder than originally anticipated.” WTI for May delivery rose as much as 44 cents to $48.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $48.43 as
of 9:56 a.m. London time. Total volume traded was about 40 percent below the 100-day average. The contract dropped 20 cents to $48.04 on Wednesday.
2.8M barrels The drop in US gasoline inventories, to 243.5 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration. Stockpiles of distillate fuel, a category that includes diesel and heating oil, declined to 155.4 million barrels. Crude supplies climbed by 4.95 million to 533.1 million barrels last week. Brent for May set t lement gained as much as 46 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $51.10 a barrel on the
London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices on Wednesday traded below $50 for the first time since November 30. The global benchmark was at a $2.61 premium to WTI on Thursday. US gasoline inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels to 243.5 million barrels, data from the Energ y Information Administration (EI A) showed. Stockpiles of distillate fuel, a categor y that includes diesel and heating oil, declined to 155.4 million barrels. Crude supplies climbed by 4.95 million to 533.1 million barrels last week. L ib y a’s c r ude produc t ion , meanwhile, has risen back to the level before clashes disrupted output three weeks ago and forced the Opec nation’s two biggest oil ports to halt shipments. Algeria’s state-run energy producer plans to boost crude-oil output by 14 percent in the four years to 2019 and invest billions of dollars in exploration projects. Bloomberg News
Europe’s atomic monopoly pivots to China as American power wanes T
he European nuclear company that operates the only United States reactor-fuel manufacturing site is refocusing its strategy with an eye on Asia because of the dim outlook for atomic power in North America. Urenco Ltd. is developing new technologies and pivoting toward emerging Asian nuclear markets to boost its value as the world ’s secondbig gest m a ker of atom ic fuel, CEO Thomas Haeberle said in his first interview since he was appointed in January 2016. “Our market has changed fundamentally,” Haeberle said by phone from the company’s headquarters in Stoke Poges, England. “This change is of a permanent nature. As a company, we have to react.” Urenco has been buffeted by market and ownership challenges since completing its multi-billion-dollar US uranium enr ichment factory seven years ago. The meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan in 2011 crashed the global market for reactor fuel. All of the closely held company’s owners—the Dutch and British governments, as well as German utilities EON SE and RWE AG—say they’d be willing to sell their stakes to the right buyer. Slack US nuclear-fuel demand led Urenco earlier this month to report the first loss in its 46-year history. The company took a €760 million ($821-million) impairment on its factory in Eunice, New Mexico, and finished 2016 with a loss of €456 million. “ The drop in our prices are going to be sustained for a while because of the inventory that has been built up in our industr y,” said
Haeberle, a German chemical engineer who worked at Evonik Industries AG before joining Urenco. “ This is the very clear reason we had to do the impairment.” At its four factories in Europe and the US, Urenco operates thousands of centr if uges—sensitive meta l cylinders that spin at supersonic speeds to separate the uranium isotopes needed for fission. The company competes with Areva SA in Eu rop e. T he e n r ic h me nt business is subject to strict re g u l at ion s b e c au s e t he technology can be used for nuclear weapons. Asia and the Middle East are the only global markets where Urenco sees “strong growth potential” for nuclear energy, it told ownership this month. The company could supply about a third of the enriched uranium at China’s Daya Bay Nuclear Power Operations & Management Co., according to the London-based World Nuclear
Association. Urenco declined to confirm the report and said it doesn’t name clients. “China is not a market that is easy to access,” Haeberle said. “We are in close discussions and intense negotiations with some of the Chinese players already.” Haeberle pointed to fuel contracts in the Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates to show that Urenco can compete outside its core western European and US markets. Moreover, t he December 2015 Paris climate accord helped Urenco’s business because “the world isn’t going to meet carbon dioxide” reduction goals without nuclear power. Haeberle said he’s working with Urenco shareholders “in different ways to grow the value of the business”. The possibility of a sale hasn’t impacted day-to-day operations, which focus on fulfilling Urenco’s €15.5 billion of reactor-fuel orders for 50 customers in 19 countries.
China is not a market that is easy to access. We are in close discussions and intense negotiations with some of the Chinese players already.” —Haeberle
Urenco needs to expand its global reach because low US natural-gas prices and liberalized markets are undercutting the outlook for nuclear power, the company wrote in its March strategic review. It trails only Russia’s Tenex, controlled by state-owned Rosatom Corp., as the world’s leading supplier of reactor fuel, according to the WNA industry group. In a histor ica l t w ist, Urenco, which was incorporated in 1971 to break US monopoly power over Europe’s nuclear industr y, became the last commercia l atomic-f uel producer in America four years ago, after USEC Inc. filed for bankruptcy and closed its last enr ichment plant. Even if the amount of power generated from reactors has stalled, the US stil l leads the world in number of operating nuclear reactors, according to the most recent Nuclear Reg u lator y Commission data. For all of the US market ills that dragged Urenco to a loss last year, the company managed to increase sales 3 percent to €1.89 billion. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose 4 percent to €1.17 billion, yielding a 62-percent Ebitda margin, which puts Urenco near the top decile of global corporate profitability, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bloomberg News
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Sunday, March 26, 2017
The World BusinessMirror
Birth of the biggest lie
A
few things are clear after the congressional testimony of James Comey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation director, this week: First, Donald J. Trump owes Barack Obama and the American people an apology for his vituperative lie that Obama committed a felony by wiretapping Trump Tower. It was specious, libelous and reckless, regardless of the weak revelations of “incidental collection” that the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and Trump transition team member Devin Nunes outrageously made public, briefing the president without first briefing his fellow committee members. Nunes’s announcement was a bombshell with no bomb, just enough mud in the water to obscure the blood in the water for those too willfully blind to discern the difference. Second , Tr u mp w i l l never apologize. Trump’s strategy for dealing with being caught in a lie is often to tell a bigger lie. He seems constitutionally incapable of registering what others would: shame, embarrassment and contrition. Something is broken in the man—definitely morally and possibly psychologically. Third, and to me this is the biggest, Comey confirmed that the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to the Russians who tampered with our election is not “fake news” manufactured by Democrats stewing over a bitter loss, but a legitimate investigation that has been under way for months and has no end in sight. Individuals who were associated with the president of the US’s winning campaign are under criminal investigation. That is an extraordinary sentence and one that no American can allow to be swallowed up by other news or dismissed by ideologues. Depending on the outcome of this investigation, we could be facing a constitutional crisis. Oddly, it is likely that the reason Trump is even in the Oval Office is Comey’s original, extraordinarily inappropriate and unprecedented action. The Trump machinery then used that action to scare Americans about Hillary Clinton, in one of the most astonishing acts of deflection and hypocrisy in US history. The timeline of how the lie of Clinton’s constitutional crisis was born and grew is full of Machiavellian-level misdirections.
On Friday, October 28, a little over a week before Election Day, Comey sent his now infamous letter to Congress saying that “the FBI has learned of the existence of e-mails that appear to be pertinent” to the Clinton e-mail server investigation and that “the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.” Soon after the media reported the letter, Trump said at a crowded rally in New Hampshire: “Hillary Clinton’s corruption is on a scale we have never seen before. We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office. I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made.” That day, Fox News tweeted a quote from the Trump campaign manager Kellyanne “Alternative Facts” Conway, with an image of her appearing on “The O’Reilly Factor” and text that read: “@KellyannePolls on HRC: “If you’re under your 2nd FBI investigation in the same year then you do have a... corruption & an ethics problem.” About an hour later, Conway retweeted the Fox News tweet, adding, “Most honest people I know are not under FBI investigation, let alone two.” That night, as reported by The Des Moines Register, Trump said at a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, rally: “ T he i nvest i g at ion i s t he biggest political scandal since Watergate, and it’s everybody’s
hope that justice at last can be delivered.” He went on, “The FBI would never have reopened this case at this time unless it were a most egregious criminal offense.” Two days later, on October 30, Doug Schoen, a pollster for former President Bill Clinton, said on Fox News that having a president under criminal investigation would pose a constitutional crisis, and the next day he wrote about that in The Hill, saying: “I am now conv inced that we w ill be facing the ver y real possibility of a constitutional cr isis w ith many dimensions and deleterious consequences should Secretar y Clinton w in the election.” He continued: “In the best case scenario, there will be at the very least a criminal investigation of President-elect Clinton. And there will be a criminal investigation of Huma Abedin, which is apparently ongoing. Furthermore, there will be potential investigations into the actions of the Justice Department and most of all the FBI and its director, James Comey. “After the past eight years wherein A merica has become progressively more and more divided and a campaign season that has magnified these divisions, I fear for that we will not be able to withstand this kind of continued scandal.” T he Monday that Schoen’s “constitutional crisis” column appeared in T he Hill, Trump quoted it at a rally in Michigan. Trump added: “She would be under protracted criminal investigation and probably a criminal trial, I would say. So we’d have a criminal trial of a sitting president.” Then that night Fox News host and Trump f lunky Sean Hannity repeated the warning on his own show: “Think about the magnitude of all of this for a second. Hillary Clinton could be sworn into office
Hillary Clinton’s corruption is on a scale we have never seen before. We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office. I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made.” —Trump
while still being under investigation from the FBI, which would then put this country into a major constitutional crisis.” Hannity continued: “Now Clinton says Donald J. Trump, oh, he’s not fit to serve in the Oval Office. But she, and she alone, has created a situation that could do severe damage to this country and the office of the presidency and prevent this country from solving problems.” Three days later, on November 3, the Trump campaign released a television ad called “Unfit” that said in part: “Hillary cannot lead a nation while crippled by a criminal investigation.” On Sunday, November 6, just two days before the election, Comey sent another letter to Congress, saying that based on the bureau’s review, “we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July with respect to Secretary Clinton.” In other words, oops, false alarm, nothing there. But the damage was done. The Trump campaign had already honed its “constitutional crisis, unfit for office” message, and it had sunk in with many Americans. W hat those A mer icans didn’t know—what we learned from Comey’s testimony this week—was that although there was no reason to continue investigating Clinton about her e-mails, the Trump campaign had been under investigation since July about possible contacts and collusion with Russia in its efforts to influence our election. Now the very thing that Team Trump and its Fox News media arm warned about, Trump himself has delivered: A compromised presidency and a possible constitutional crisis. As The New York Times reported after Comey’s testimony: “Mr. Comey placed a criminal investigation at the doorstep of the White House and said officers would pursue it ‘no matter how long that takes.’” The lie these people promoted about Clinton and shielded about Trump are two of the biggest lies ever told in this country in service of electoral advantage. No act of this presidenc y — go o d or bad , b e ne f ic i a l or de t r i me nt a l — c a n e ve r b e con s ide re d w it hout f i r st con te x t u a l i z i n g t h at t h i s pre s i de nc y it s e l f w a s conce ive d i n de ce pt ion a nd i s b e i n g i nc u bated u nder a n e x t raord i n a r y l ie. The Trump presidency is a corruption that f lows from corruption. It is damned by its own damned lies. NewYorkTimesNewsService
Steady fall in suicide offers glimmer of hope in Japan
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OKYO—Fewer Japanese are taking their own lives, a positive sign in a country with one of the world’s highest suicide rates.The Health Ministry said on Thursday that 21,897 people committed suicide in 2016, down from more than 30,000 in 2011 and the lowest number since 1994. Of those, 15,121 were male and 6,776 were female. It was the seventh straight year that the number of suicides had declined. Experts say it’s difficult to pinpoint a reason for the decline, attributing it to a combination of factors. The government has made a determined effort to tackle the issue, starting with national legislation in 2006. Consumer-loan laws have been revised to try to keep people from taking on too much debt, while awareness campaigns have helped bring the issue into the public eye. “Now we can talk about suicides,” said Yasuyuki Shimuzu, founder of Lifelink, a nonprofit that lobbies for suicideprevention measures. “I believe the change in environment has made it easier for the needy to seek help.” Before the good news, however, came bad news. The number of suicides in Japan jumped sharply in 1998 to more than
Kazuo Sawato, a suicide survivor who has since become a counselor for people seeking help, talks to a participant at a suicide prevention seminar organized by a local government in Saitama, near Tokyo. The 31-year-old Japanese office worker ran to the roof’s edge and jumped. He landed on his legs, and initially regretted surviving. Now 42, Sawato says he is glad to be alive and wants to share his journey back to the world of the living with others who struggle under the societal pressure that makes Japan one of the world’s most suicide-prone societies. Kazuo Sawato via AP
30,000 and remained at that very elevated level for more than a decade. It was a year when Japan’s economy fell into recession, and bankruptcies and unemployment soared. The suicide rate rose to about 26 per 100,000 people. The only silver lining was that suicides
didn’t jump again after a deep recession from 2008 to 2009. Then in 2010 the decline started and has been steady since then, bringing the number back to pre-1998 levels. A closer look at the data shows that the main factors driving both the rise to more than 30,000 and the drop back to
close to 20,000 were health issues and financial problems. The decline has been sharpest for people aged 50-59. Experts say the steps taken since 2006 have been effective in addressing the socio-economic problems common among middle-aged men. Prevention efforts are shifting their focus to the elderly and young, whose suicide rates have not come down as much. Even with the decline, Japan’s suicide rate of 17.3 per 100,000 people in 2016 remains high compared to most other countries. The US suicide rate is around 13 per 100,000, and the UK is under 10. Shimizu said Japan should aim to get the number of suicides down to 14,000 to 15,000 per year. The still-high suicide rate means Japan is a difficult place to live, a society that is not kind to troubled people, said Dr. Yutaka Motohashi, head of the governmentfunded Japan Support Center for Suicide Countermeasures. “Suicide prevention is not a job for experts and special people supporting the cause, but it’s for everyone,” he said. “We can be a little kinder and try to reach out to others.” AP
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Trump admin steps up search for new Secret Service head as White House security is tested
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ASHINGTON—In the century or so since Congress first assigned the Secret Service the task of protecting the president of the United States, its top job has always gone to an agency veteran. Like so many things in the Trump era, that may soon change. Aides to President Donald J. Trump are narrowing a list of candidates to lead the Secret Service, the beleaguered agency that protects the country’s top government officials and investigates certain crimes. Unlike in transitions past, no clear front-runner has emerged. But top aides have been looking at candidates inside and outside the agency who can improve its morale and regain the credibility lost after a string of embarrassing lapses. They hope to name a new director in the coming weeks. The search has taken on new urgency in recent days, as a series of attempted intrusions on the White House grounds—including a successful one in which a man was able to wander close enough to peer through the windows—have reignited concerns about management, training and security vulnerabilities thought to be on the mend. Critics of the agency have seized on the most recent cases to amplify calls for the White House to recruit a leader from outside the Secret Service, which would be unprecedented in the famously hidebound agency’s modern history. They insisted that only someone untethered from the agency’s ways of thinking could institute the kind of reforms necessary to guide the organization. “I still believe they have a deep-seated cultural problem,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Republican-Utah, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in an interview. “We need a transformative figure to truly change the culture at the Secret Service.” The agency has been without a permanent leader since early this month, when its director, Joseph P. Clancy, stepped down to allow Trump to shape it as he saw fit. Since Clancy’s departure, the agency has again been tested by a series of attempted intrusions at the White House. The most serious of them happened March 10, when a California man carrying pepper spray and a letter for Trump scaled fences and roamed the grounds for 17 minutes before being caught. It has prompted both the Secret Service and the House oversight committee to open investigations. After receiving a closed-door briefing on the incident Monday, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the oversight committee’s top Democrat, said it was clear the agency needed to go back “under the microscope”. He told reporters that “a culture of complacency” was plaguing certain parts of the agency. At the same time, the Secret Service has found itself grappling with unexpected costs and travel demands posed by protecting Trump and his large family. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the agency had requested an additional $60 million in funds for next year to help pay for the protection of Trump’s Manhattan residence and the family’s higher-than-expected travel costs. Indeed, few jobs in government matter more to the fate of the president or the country than director of the Secret Service. Though the agency oversees a vast investigations arm targeting counterfeiting and other financial crimes, its reputation rests on its protection of the presidency and many of the country’s most important figures.
“Quite literally, at the end of the day, it is going to come down to the president’s comfort,” said W. R alph Basham, who ser ved as director of the agency from 2003 to 2006. “If you are going to turn the security and safety of your family over to someone, the president needs to weigh in.” John F. Kelly, the secretary of Homeland Security, whose department includes the Secret Service, will also have a say in the decision. “The US Secret Service is a vital federal law enforcement partner and the White House is working closely with Secretary Kelly on filling this important position,” Michael Short, a White House spokesman, said on Tuesday. In the interview, Chaffetz said he had pressed Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, and Donald McGahn, the White House counsel, to choose an outsider, in part because he saw no “natural fit” for the top job within its ranks. But ot hers br iefed on t he search pointed to several potential candidates within the agency or its pool of former agents. They include George D. Mulligan, the agency’s chief operating officer and No. 2; Robert Buster, who was the top agent in charge of President Barack Obama’s security detail; and Mickey Nelson, a former assistant director overseeing the agency’s protective assignments, and now a security consultant. Only Mulligan is not a career Secret Service officer; he spent most of his career in the military. William J. Callahan, the agency’s acting director, was briefly under consideration before he bowed out early this month, according to an official at the Department of Homeland Security. Basham said he expected that the White House would also consider current or former leaders from the military, the FBI or other law enforcement agencies. Keith Schiller, Trump’s longtime private security director who followed him to the White House, has also been mentioned in connection to the job. W homever Tr ump c hooses will inherit an agency still trying to recover from a series of f laps between 2011 and 2014 that badly hurt its credibility. T hose incidents, from highly publicized cases of drunken misbehavior by agents and officers to the failure to prevent an armed private security guard from riding in an elevator with Obama, prompted an investigation by the House oversight committee and the creation of a four-person independent panel convened by the Department of Homeland Security. Both groups eventually made recommendations that the agency look outside its ranks to help clean up the mess. The low point came in September 2014, when an intruder armed with a knife, Omar J. Gonzalez, made it all the way to the ceremonial East Room of the White House. The incident prompted the agency’s director, Julia Pierson, to resign. “ These things have really undermined the confidence of the American people, the confidence of the Hill and even to some extent of the W hite House,” Basham said. “And that is something the next director is going to have to deal with.” The new director will also be expected to re-evaluate whether the agency should narrow its mission to pare some aspects of its investigative work and increase resources for protection. The Secret Ser vice, once a unit of the Treasur y Department, investigates counterfeiting and financial crimes. New York Times News Service
Editor: Lyn B. Resurreccion
Science
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Sunday
Sunday, March 26, 2017 A5
‘Bridge’ connects R&D to people By Allan Mauro V. Marfal & Rodolfo P. de Guzman
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Special to the BusinessMirror
ho would have thought that the carrageenan from the seaweeds that is usually used as a binding agent in toothpaste and shampoo can actually be an effective plant-growth promoter?
Recent research found that carrageenan, through modified irradiation technology, can make plants more robust and healthy. It can boost rice yield by 65 percent, because it makes rice stem stronger and improves rice resistance to lodging. It is also compatible with farmers’ practice, thus, giving higher grain yield. It also makes rice resistant to tungro virus and bacterial blight. Further, it is environment-friendly, as it has no harmful effects on natural enemies or beneficial insects. This research output, when commercialized, will greatly help farmers in the country to have access to less expensive but highly effective plant-growth enhancers. They will also have more opportunities to improve their harvest and increase their income. This helpful research was made possible through the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) attached agencies, the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development and the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, in partnership with University of the Philippines Los Baños. The three institutions worked together for this important study on carrageenan, an indigestible carbohydrate (polysaccharide) extracted from edible seaweeds. In the province of Isabela, farmers are gradually witnessing the tremendous help of this research in their own rice fields. Efren Tagacay, a rice farmer, has already harvested crops sprayed by carrageenan. “At first, I harvested 120 sacks per hectare, but now I am already reaping 140 sacks per hectare. Thus, my reaping goes up by 20 per hectare,” he revealed. “We, farmers, are happy that we have been given the chance to try this carrageenan product because our yields have increased, and we are hoping that it will continue with the help of the DOST.” Meanwhile, another rice farmer, Engr. Isagani Concepcion, also became interested with the carrageenan plant-growth promoter when it was introduced in their area in January 2016. “I saw the effect, my harvest increased. Previously, I was harvesting just 523 sacks of rice from my 4-hectare field. Now, I am already reaping 583 sacks of rice. My harvest has increased by 16 percent,” Concepcion said.
Issues in health care
Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, access to health-care services is also a big problem. Take the case of Teena Rosales, a 19-year-old single mother in Uyugan, Batanes. Rosales observed the lack of medical equipment and few experts willing to serve the countryside are two of the greatest challenges in the health-care services in far-flung areas, like Uyugan. She shared there are mothers in their community who die unnecessarily because they are poor and cannot afford the high out-of-pocket cost of health care. Moreover, local health centers and nearby hospitals have inadequate medical supplies and lifesaving equipment.
Students read the Bridge book at the Department of Science and Technology library. Henry A. de Leon/S&T Media Service
RxBox saves mom and baby
When Rosales was about to give birth, she thought she would be just one of the statistics of mothers who would die of childbirth. But she and her baby were saved from danger with the help of RxBox, a biomedical telehealth device capable of capturing and transmitting physiologic signals across distances. Through the RxBox with its built-in medical sensors that measured her blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate, heart activity, womb contractions during labor and delivery, and even the baby’s heart rate, her vital signs were recorded and sent via Internet to a doctor located in the city. Thus, she was able to deliver her baby aided efficiently by health worker under the guidance of a doctor. Because of its lifesaving features, the RxBox may be one of the most important tools generated by the research community. Funded by the DOST, through its Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, and developed by Ateneo de Manila University, R xBox addresses the inequity in access to health care by enabling health prov iders and managers to use technology in diagnosing and treating patients, and in managing health systems better. T he R xBox and the car rageenan plant growth enhancer are just two of the thousands of local research outputs that can be used to improve people’s lives. Researches supported by the DOST have a broad range: traffic system, coral reefs, health of senior citizens and other sectors, wind energy, emergency shelter,
the layman’s language that they could understand.” By publishing Bridge, we hope we could help raise awareness and appreciation on how hard and conscientious our researchers work, and how the fruit of their scientific inquiry could help us have a better life, he said. Besides the DOST’s R&D projects, articles on some of the most successful beneficiaries under the DOST ’s Sma ll Enter pr ise Technology Upgrading Program, as well as stories of former DOST scholars, are also included in the coffee-table book. complementary food, drug development, hazard maps and many other interesting subjects that have very practical uses. These researches are done by Filipino researchers and scientists who have geared their studies for practical application. However, the huge challenge is on how these research and development outputs can reach their intended beneficiaries—the Filipinos and their communities.
Bridging knowledge and products to people
T o m a k e p e o ple, e s p e c i a l ly those outside the science commu n it y, ap pre c i ate rese a rc h and development (R&D) projects better in a lang uage understood by most, the DOST, for the first time in its histor y, produced a coffee table book featur ing stor ies on its R&D projects. Titled Bridge, the book was launched on the 30th anniversary celebration of the DOST- Science and Technology
Information Institute (STII) on February 27 at a hotel in Manila. The coffee-table book contains 83 stories culled from R&D projects funded by DOST from 2010 to 2015, particularly in the areas of agriculture and aquaculture; health and nutrition; and industry and emerging technologies. As the researchers wrote their own articles, they were able to share significant insights as they were working on their respective R&D projects. Bridge would not only serve as a very useful information resource, but also as an inspiration and motivation to our scientists, engineers and researchers as we pursue our purpose—‘Science For The People,’” Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña said. Meanwhile, former Science Secretary Mario G. Montejo, who laid out the idea of this book back in 2015, said, “We owe it to the citizens of the Philippines to bring these products of scientific inquiry to the public, written in
Informing the public on S&T
STII, as the information and marketing arm of the DOST, continues to find noble ways to bring science and technology closer to the people through various modes across platforms. Last year it launched “DOSTv”, the Filipino Weather Channel that was aired through YouTube. This platform enabled STII to broadcast weather news and updates, documentaries on different DOST technologies and innovations, S&T news, interviews of scientists and experts in different S&T fields, S&T trivias and other features. It is aired from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, Monday to Friday at http://www.dostv.ph. STII also developed the Science and Technology Academic Research Based Openly Operated Kiosk (Starbooks), the first Filipino library in a box that contains thousands of S&T materials in full text, video and audio files that are ideal for schools in remote areas with no Internet access. Meanwhile, Starbooks was
Waterways clearing for climate adaptation in Davao Oriental
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he Ph i l ippi ne gover nment-hosted Sout heast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca), the Climate Change Commission (CCC) and the municipality of Boston in Davao Oriental kicked off a project called “Community-based Waterways Clearing Project as an Adaptive Measure to Reduce Flooding” this month. Headed by Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit Jr. and now in its 50th year, Searca is mandated to build capacities
of individuals and institutions working in the broad area of agricultural and rural development. The clearing project is under the auspices of a larger initiative of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the CCC called “Climate Resilience and Green Growth in Critical Watersheds,” which is funded by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. By mid-April 2017, almost 3 kilometers of waterways running through barangays Carmen and Cabasagan, as well as
the Poblacion, in Boston, will have been dredged and cleared by workers from the local community organizations tapped by Searca and its partners. Jud it h C a st res, e xe c ut ive assistant at the Office of the Mayor of B oston, e x pressed appreciation for the assistance prov ided by the A DB, CCC and Searca Consortium to their municipa lit y. He added that the hope among his people is that the CCC w il l f ur ther extend its suppor t to Boston.
On the other hand, the commu n it y r e p r e s e nt at i v e s e x pressed commitment to support the municipality. They said they did the same with the previous rehabilitation projects with the United Nations Development Programme and the Inter national Labor Organization, after Boston was ravaged by Typhoon Pablo. In response, Alexis Lapiz of the CCC said the Boston local government can submit a proposal to access the People’s Survival Fund for its priority
climate-change adaptation initiatives. He added the CCC gives premium to community-based and people-oriented projects, pa r t ic u l a rly t hose t h at dea l with environmental conser vation and protection, livelihood a nd enter pr i se de ve lopment and climate-change adaptation. Searca also offered assistance to Boston in the preparation of the feasibility study of its project proposal covering the sea wall, mangrove rehabilitation and ecotourism development.
conferred the American Library Association Award for Innovative Library Project in February 2015 in San Francisco, California. It also won gold and silver awards from Anvil recently. STII also led the advocacy o f t h e Ph i l i p p i n e S t a n d a r d Time (PST) that has become a law under Republic Act 10535, with Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Ser vices Administration as the official timekeeper. Every January, STII leads the DOST family in the observance of the PST with different activities from hosting events to promoting the advocacy on radio and television. The ongoing campaign is dubbed “Juan Time, Pinoy Ako, On Time Ako!” Moreover, STII, in partnership with dzRH of the Manila Broadcasting Co. produced Handog ng Agham para sa Bayan, a radio drama series that started airing last year as a segment of the prime-time radio program Radyo Henyo anchored by Angelo Palmones and Ruby Cristobal every Sunday, from 4 to 5 p.m. The drama series featured success stories of individuals whose lives were made better by science and technology. STII a lso embarked on var ious campaig ns, such as “I ba na ang Panahon: Science for Safer Communities”, to promote disaster preparedness among loca l gover nment units; “Ig nite the Mind ”, to raise the level of unit y w ithin the DOST family; and “Science Nation Tour”, to bring DOST programs and projects to the reg ions. With Framelia
V. Anonas/S&T Media Service
ERRATUM In the story“PHL Science Centrum marks 27th year of ‘scienterrific’ interactive science”, which was printed on the Science page on March 19, 2017, the fourth to the last paragraph should read: “De la Peña announced the P10-million grant to PFST from the DOST to accommodate 200,000 students and teachers of Central Mindanao and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in visiting PSC’s traveling exhibitions.” The Philippine Science Centrum would like to apologize to the readers for this inadvertent mistake.
Faith
Sunday
www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
A6 Sunday, March 26, 2017
Joseph the Carpenter, by Georges de La Tour, 1640s Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan CBCPNews
‘Repentance essential to conversion’
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Catholic archbishop reminded the faithful that genuine repentance is a necessary step to conversion. In his Lenten message, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said repentance and conversion go together, both need forgiveness and a desire for a new life. “Everybody touched by God is changed. The start of change is repentance. When repentance is sustained, it leads to new life,” Villegas said. The archbishop cited the stories of supposed self-confessed killers “Edgar” and “Art”, who confessed their sins and begged for mercy. “Edgar and Art are true stories of conversion. They want to pay for the murders they got paid for,” he said.
‘Edgar’
He said Edgar was an illiterate “who did not know God, too,” and had no guilt at his first murder and was only afraid to be caught. “His fear of getting caught became less and less because a voice was always there to assure him ‘You will not be caught’”, Villegas said. “Killing was not a sin. It was not a crime. It was livelihood. He fed his family from killing people. He killed to earn a living,” he said.
70% The estimated percentage of judicial error in deathpenalty cases as Supreme Court records show
B ut E d g a r ’s s lo w p at h to conversion bega n when he felt h i s for mer bosses w a nted to get r id of h i m a nd m a ke h i m a sc apegoat. “He escaped and fled for his life. At that moment, the God of mercies rescued him,” Villegas said.
‘Art’
On the other hand, the prelate said Art was a policeman, who had killed criminals in the hundreds, believing that he was serving humanity by “removing” bad people from society. “He was a fanatic follower of the vision of a peaceful and orderly society no matter the price,” he said.
But the policeman was “disturbed” when he was already being used to kill even innocent people. “Like a good Catholic in his childhood years, he asked for mercy confessing his sins. He knew his soul was clean and he was ready to die or get killed. He didn’t care. He was touched by mercy,” Villegas added. “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who have no need of repentance,” he also said.
“No study has shown that the imposition of death penalty is an effective deterrent to the commission of crimes. It may also weaken any appeal for clemency we make for our countrymen and women who have been sentenced to death in other countries,” they noted. “For all these reasons among others, we ask you, dear senators, to reject the reimposition of the death penalty,” Villegas, CBCP president, said in the letter.
3 arguments vs kill bill
Strong opposition
Meanwhile, in an effort to d ia log ue w it h l aw ma kers on the issue of death penalty, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) wrote to the country’s senators, presenting three ultimate reasons the bill should be rejected. Citing facts, the bishops said reviving death penalty is “not necessary”, it will “not be helpful”, and it “will not be a move toward greater justice”. T he letter emphasized how the rev iva l of capita l punishme nt i s not a move tow a rd justice because “the trend in dealing with crimes now should be toward restoration, which seeks hea ling and refor m, not v indictive justice.”
More than 70% judicial error
In addition, they noted, Supreme Court records show judicial error in death-penalty cases is more than 70 percent.
The CBCP issued several pastora l letters show ing st rong opposition to the measure, as well as one, which expressed disappointment over the House of Representatives’s approval of the bill on March 7. In one pastoral letter, Villegas expressed the bishops’ admiration for members of the House who willingly accepted ouster from their positions in the Chamber because they voted against the Duterte administration’s pet bill. On several occasions, the lay community has also voiced out their resistance against the bill by joining candle-lighting ceremonies, “Walk for Life” events and noise barrages throughout the nation. Now that reimposition of the death penalty lies in the Senate, the bishops continues to ask the faithful to pray for the senators and their votes. Christine Paguirigan/CBCPNews
FTS Foundation holds sharing at Asociacion de Damas Filipinas
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he Fel icid ad T. Sy Found at ion Inc., a n a f f i l i ate of SM Fou nd at ion t hat pursues its relig ious advocac y, held a n a nnu a l sha r ing w it h c h i l d r e n a t t h e s e t t l e m e nt house r u n by t he A soc i ac ion d e D a m a s d e Fi l i p i n a s I nc . (A DFI) in Paco, Ma ni l a, in coll aborat ion w it h SM bra nc hes in Ma k at i, Cubao, Ma r i k ina, Or t igas, Tay t ay a nd Ma ni l a. The activities were preceded
The Asociacion de Damas de Filipinas Inc. community with SM volunteers led by Mel Elido, Felicidad T. Sy Foundation executive director
by a Eucharistic celebration followed by a short program where the children interacted with SM volunteers, who came w ith gift bags prepared by the par ticipating SM branches. Toiletries, inc lud ing toot hpaste, toot hbrush, bath soap and small towels, among others, were g iven to the children. The child-caring facility for abandoned, neglected, orphaned, foundling and dependent children
was founded by ADFI, an organization of wives of members of the Philippine Columbian Club established in 1913. Before it was transferred to its present location, the settlement house was along Avenida in Manila and was used as temporary shelter to indigent aged widows and orphans. A new building was inaugurated in 1999 after a fire gutted the old building in December 1998.
The programs of ADFI are geared toward the fulfillment of its mission “to serve socially, emotionally and economically disadvantaged children, uphold their rights and interests, and provide a nurturing environment that will enable them to experience the conditions of a loving family through quality care that will help them grow and develop as God-fearing and holistically healthy children.”
Children entertain their guests with a song number.
Saint Joseph, his sorrows and joys By Corazon Damo-Santiago
Conclusion
Presentation in the Temple
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orty days after birth, mother and child, as required by Hebrew law, should go to the temple—for the mother to be purified, and the child as first-born son to be presented in the Temple of Jerusalem. The holy family, after a 5-mile journey of unusually severe cold weather, lodged for the night in the home of a devout couple. On this night, an angel appeared to Simeon, a very old priest to whom the Holy Spirit revealed that he would not die until he had seen the promised Messiah. The angel told Simeon to observe carefully the first child to be presented in the morning, for the child is the destined Savior. In the morning, Simeon performed the rituals. Taking the child in his arms, he said: “Now Master, You may let Your servant go in peace according to Your word for my eyes have seen the salvation which You have prepared in the sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles and the glory for Your people Israel,” according to Luke 2: 29-32. Then turning to Joseph and Mary, he said: “Jesus is destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce,” addressing Mary as said in Luke 2:34. The prophesied suffering of Jesus and Mary made Joseph extremely sad. He consoled himself with the thought their sufferings will be for the salvation of countless souls.
Flight to Egypt
On the fifth day after Jesus’ presentation in the temple, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: “Rise, take the child and his mother, f lee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him,” according to Matthew 2:13. For 10 days, the Holy Family journeyed in the great barren desert between Palestine and Egypt. On the first night, they slept in a cave along the regular caravan route. They passed through stretches of land “infested with many dangerous snakes which slithered toward them, reared up, hissing menacingly”. Accord ing to myst ics who described their journey extensively, they did not only suffer hunger, thirst and fatigue but were sometimes completely lost. They prayed and sang hymns of praises to the Lord for direction and safety. Springs of water were suddenly f lowing near, tall date trees bending for them to eat the fruits, birds perching on their shoulders chirping melodiously, friendly wild animals showing what way to take strengthened their faith as they traverse the desserts.
And when they arrived “the idols of Egypt trembled before him” they fell and were smashed to the ground, Isaiah 19:1 said.
Back to Israel
After King Herod’s death, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead,” said in Matthew 2:20. Fear, though, gripped him for Archaelaus, replaced his father Herod. The family departed for Galilee and settled in Nazareth. Joseph, engaged in carpentry work and the young Jesus helped his father and mother whenever He could. Joseph enjoyed the peace and lived in security with Jesus and Mary.
Boy Jesus in the Temple
To celebrate the feast of the Passover, the Holy Family went to Jerusalem ever y year. Once in their return, Jesus was not with His parents, he stayed behind. Mar y and Joseph thought He was with them in the caravan. W hen they found out He was not with relatives and acquaintances, they got worried and went back to Jerusalem, according to Luke 2:41- 45. After three days of searching they found Jesus in the temple, sitting among learned teachers, who were astounded at His ability to understand and answer questions, which was a great surprise to His parents. Because of the great anxiety He caused them, His mother said: “Son, why have You done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for You?” “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:48-49 said.
Chaplet’s origin
Two Franciscan priests were caught by a storm in the coast of Flanders, Belgium. The vessel with 300 passengers sank. With presence of mind, the two priests seized a plank, hold on to it while they were tossed by great waves. They prayed to Saint Joseph while floating on the waters for three days and nights. In such a terrifying condition, they continuously prayed to Saint Joseph for his assistance. A young man of beautif u l features appeared and led them safely to the harbor. W hen they inquired who he was, to acknowledge the great blessing, he introduced himself as Saint Joseph. He adv ised them to recite seven times the Lord ’s Prayer and Hail Mary in memory of his seven sorrows and seven joys. Then he disappeared. n Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.
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Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua
Sunday, March 26, 2017 A7
A ‘meaningful travel’ to the highlands
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Story & photos by Marky Ramone Go
appiness and kindness is something if you give it away—then it comes right back to you,” the song reverberates harmoniously inside the classroom as the pupils of Ogo-og Elementary school sing in unison. A few minutes more and we will be distributing the school-supply kits to each one of them. Everywhere, the wide smiles are in display as the little ones happily goofed around with each other, unable to contain their excitement. We arrived at this highland town the previous night—after almost 24 hours of land trip prolonged by a few misadventures on the road; suffering a f lat tire, getting delayed by a landslide and getting stuck in a deep mud on a long stretch of rough road heading to K aleo, Barlig, Mountain Province. As I looked back to that exact moment when the kids concluded their song and we started to hand out their school supplies, I felt the kindness they were pertaining to in their song, the one the comes back—is what we are receiving from the community and the realization of seeing how they live their daily lives. Close knit and planted in simplicity, fueled by backbreaking farming jobs in a setting surrounded by a beautiful set of nature, the townsfolk ’s of Kaleo and Ogoog has definitely not only shown to us what a peaceful and loving community they have, they also handed back to us what we came to bring. In a place wrapped by stunning visuals of snaking rice terraces and rolling hills, and beyond the fog-covered foot trails, kindness certainly comes full circle in this part of Luzon.
The road to Barlig
As the sprinkle of raindrops and a thickening fog starts to envelop our surrounding, we stood by the side on the road—or what looks like endless path of mud, fallen trees and skidded rocks—and watched as a number of men try to pull our jeepney that got stuck in a deep sludge rendering our vehicle immovable, to no success. “ This is what we always encounter on our way to my hometown,” Jeric told me in Tagalog. “I hope by the month of April, the whole road will be cemented, so it would be easier for everyone to reach our place.” Jeric is a young teenager who hails from Ogo-og, the town of our destination, who is now based in Baguio City, after he became an Internet sensation after a highland tourist took his photo while he was filling up and carrying sacks of carrots. That photograph became viral, and earned him the moniker, he became known as the “Carrot Man”. While he seem to avoid any questions about his foray into the world of show business, he tells us that he went straight from Baguio City after he learned that a group of travelers will be visiting his home town to bring box loads
Kids endure difficult trails and weather just to attend school.
Rice terraces sprawled widely en route to Ogo-og Elementary School.
A child is seen opening her school-supply kit.
Jeric, a.k.a. Carrot Man, helps in distributing the school-supply kits.
of school supplies. “It is nice for all of you to come a long way and share school supplies to the school I attended,” Jeric tells us.
at some points in your travel. In short, you connect and build relationships,” Cunanan adds.
A trip buoyed by the spirit of sharing
When the 10 of us hopped inside the Banaue-bound bus at the Ohayami bus terminal in Sampaloc, Manila, we were strangers to each other. Along with us were boxes filled with school supplies donated by dozens of random individuals, who heeded the call of Meaningful Travels PH to help raise funds for the students of Kaleo and Ogo-og elementary schools. On the 11th hour of our trip after our brief stopover in Banaue, we were all laughing together on top the jeepney, top-load style, as it threads the snaking road of Mountain Province. It will take us another eight or nine hours of traveling together, and by the time we reached the town of Kaleo, we’ve become not only Facebook friends, but real-life friends, as well.
I came as part of a group of travelers organized by Ann Marie Cunanan, the founder of Meaningful Travels PH. As an avid traveler, even way back when she was still in the corporate world, Cunanan decided to take her travels on another level—in terms of accomplishing the dual goals of satisfying one’s wanderlust and also to form a genuine relationships with the communities she visits. “I remember talking to a dear friend when we were conceptualizing about travels that make an impact. She mentioned that when people travel, they take a lot with them; memories, photos, souvenirs and anything in between. But what if we take our travels a notch higher? What if we also give back to the places that we go to?” Cunanan recalls. “So I realized, what if you take the time to say ‘hello’ to the very people who lives in the places you visit, sit down, share a meal with them and listen to their stories
From strangers to friends
A warm welcome on a shivering cold night
Almost to the day of the minute we left Manila, and another hour of trekking under darkness and a heavy downpour, we finally reached the school of Kaleo. Despite the challenging travel,
the whole experience taught me to just shrug off whatever commuting inconvenience we had that day, realizing that these kind of unfortunate instances are everyday occurrences for the locals living in the remote villages of Ifugao and Mountain Province. Where the towns, schools and markets are separated by mountains and long stretches of dirt road—traveling to and from one place to another do takes to another level of difficult. “Our students were here waiting until 5 p.m. and excited to meet all of you,” the school principal of Kaleo Elementary School told us. Since we arrived deep in the night, the children has gone home and, instead, left “thank you” notes with happy faces and words of gratitude. After sharing stories and simple introductions over a sumptuous hot dinner and soya coffee, we all surrendered to sleep that night.
Meeting the kids of Ogo-og Elementary School
Since we missed meeting the students of K aleo Elementar y School, we just left the schoolsupply kits with the teachers to be distributed the next school day. The next morning, though, we were able to visit Ogo-og
Elementar y School on a Saturday and chanced upon all the students who were attending make-up classes. The school of Ogo-og situates on top of a hill almost an hour away from K aleo Elementar y School. The trails in between dishes a picturesque set of rice terraces sights. As the greens of the mountains and the misty fog collided, a dreamlike scenery opened before us as we pass by a community far from almost anything but so near to all the beautiful things Mother Nature has to offer. We started giving away the school-supply kits as soon as the kids entered and filled the biggest classroom of the school with laughter and exhilaration. After we made our introductions, several teachers responded, Jeric delivered an inspirational talk, and then the kids stood up in front and started singing, “Happiness and kindness is something if you give it away—then it comes right back to you.” Throughout the whole morning, kindness once again took a life on its own, marking our long journey to Barlig, Mountain Province, one of my most meaningful trips ever.
DOT targets Italian divers at Eudi 2017
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he Department of Tourism (DOT) is bullish in attracting a huge share of the 350,000 estimated active diving population of Italy as it participates first time in this year’s European Dive Show (Eudi 2017) at Bologna, Italy. Targeting Italian free divers, underwater photographers and other dive enthusiasts, DOT’s presence in this prestigious annual dive exhibition is, likewise, timely to establish partnerships with the tourism bodies, underwater photography clubs and dive tour operators. This year organizers hope to exceed the 2016 record of 220 top-level exhibitors representing leading brands of dive products and services, dive clubs, tourism and marine conservation organizations, and over 39,000 participants just from Europe. Tourism Undersecretary Katherine Chloe de Castro, head of the Philippine delegation, said, “We are truly honored and excited to be part of this big event. Our contingent is raring to present the Philippine dive products that are just incredible. On top of being at the heart of the Coral Triangle, we boast of a veritable smorgasbord of sites that appeal to the different preferences of the amateur and professional divers. More important, our ‘more
fun’ brand will work to amplify our must-experience proposition.” During the three-day show, there were presentations highlighting the biodiversity of the Philippine depths led by worldrenowned underwater photographers Marcello di Francesco, Pietro Cremone and Erik Karl Goossens. Many were drawn to the Philippine booth, especially to experience the Underwater 360 interactive tours through virtual-reality technology. Participating dive tour operators received interesting queries for the exciting dive packages for sale at the venue. Visitors from Italy registered 25,945 in 2016, up by 20 percent. The DOT hopes to tap into the dive population, which has about 40 percent, or 120,000 divers, regularly traveling outbound. With the growing air connectivity between continents, eyes are set on novel, long haul and emerging dive destinations such as the Philippines. The Philippine delegation included officials of the National Association of Diving Operators of Italy and Diving Equipment Association of Italy. Team Dive Philippines consists of Gerry Panga of DOT London, Rita Doctor and Gary Politico of DOT Central, representatives of Buceo Anilao, Asia Holidays and H20 Viaggi.
New partners Locale publisher Dominga Rufina Cabangon Chua (seated, right), BusinessMirror Vice President for Sales Marvin Nisperos Estigoy (standing, right), and 2GO Express, Inc. Vice President and General Manager Randolph R. Arroyo (seated, second from right) forge a new partnership on March 22. Also in photo, (from left, standing) BusinessMirror Advertising Sales Manager Aldwin Maralit Tolosa, Locale Editor in Chief Carla Mortel Baricaua, Circulation Manager Grace P. Conde (seated, from left) Advertising Manager Gina P. Verzosa, 2GO Express, Inc. Marketing Manager Rocky A. Castillo and Senior Business Development Manager and Marketing Head Elainne T. Platon
AirAsia celebrates inaugural flight to Caticlan/Boracay
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irAsia guests traveling to Boracay this summer get to enjoy more connectivity to the island with two new direct flights from Manila to Caticlan airport daily. AirAsia celebrated its maiden flights to Godofredo P. Ramos Airport (Caticlan) with flight Z2 221 departing Manila on time at 10:55 a.m., followed by Z2 223 at 2:30 p.m., both with full load. Philippines AirAsia Director for Flight Operations Capt. Gomer Monreal said, “We are thrilled to be finally flying to
and from Caticlan using our big planes or jets after the much-needed improvements and airport runway expansions have been completed.” The newly constructed Nabas Apron at Caticlan Airport has nine parking bays with a total length of 1,800-meter single runway, making it accessible for bigger and more modern aircraft, like Airbus A320s, than the smaller turbo propeller aircraft. “Travelers will get to see more of our Airbus A320s iconic red planes at Caticlan in
the coming weeks as we will also begin to fly Cebu-Caticlan and Davao-Caticlan on April 22,” Monreal added. To celebrate AirAsia’s first flight to Caticlan, a send-off program was held at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 4 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by officials from AirAsia, Manila International Airport and Azalea Hotel with all guests onboard the first flight getting free Sunnies sunglasses. AirAsia flight Z2 221 was also welcomed with a
water-canon salute in Caticlan airport. AirAsia flights to and from Caticlan operate using the airline’s fleet of Airbus A320s that can accommodate up to 180 passengers. AirAsia also maintains four daily flights from Manila to Kalibo airport, including international flights from Kuala Lumpur, China and Incheon/Seoul. The airline voted the Worlds’s Best Low Cost Carrier for eight years running by Skytrax has earlier announced it will restart Clark-Kalibo flights tomorrow.
A8 Sunday, March 26, 2017
Sports BusinessMirror
Editor: Jun Lomibao | mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph
TO REST OR NOT TO REST THE league’s five most valuable players at the moment—LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard—have rested for a total of just seven games this season, with five of them going to James.
What makes this a tricky situation is that the extra rest seems to help the players involved, but create bad optics for a league that sells itself on its superstars.
By Benjamin Hoffman
The New York Times News Service
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ITH only five players to a side in the National Basketball Association (NBA), people tend to notice when the biggest stars go missing. So what happens when, in the span of a few weeks, a number of top players sit out games, despite
being fit? A healthy dose of controversy ensues. It seems that everyone involved in the league, past or present, has had something to say about whether they think rest days for key players is good or bad, or right or wrong. And leading the way is Adam Silver, the NBA’s commissioner, who sent a memo to the league’s owners calling the decision to sit out players a significant problem and warning of the potential for “significant penalties.” What makes this a tricky situation is that the extra rest seems to help the players involved but create bad optics for a league that sells itself on its superstars. The strategy of resting top players was popularized by coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, who would regularly hold out Tim Duncan and other top players during particularly strenuous parts of the schedule. Popovich’s approach has been credited with helping the Spurs keep their aging players from falling apart. “We have definitely added years to people,” Popovich told reporters this week. “So it’s a trade-off. You want to see this guy in this one game? Or do you want to see him for three more years in his career?” A closer look at this season shows that despite the recent controversy, the problem may not be as widespread as it seems. For instance, if you leave out Kevin Durant, who is hurt, the league’s five most valuable players at the moment—LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard—have rested for a total of just seven games this season, with five of them going to James. But that didn’t keep the grumbling from getting louder after two recent games in which the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors sat out all of their star players. In the Warriors’ case, they were trying to pull out of their worst funk of the Steve Kerr era, while also grappling with Durant’s extended injury absence. Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Curry all sat out a road game against the Spurs, and the Warriors proceeded to lose for the fifth time in seven games. (They lost just nine times all of last season.) Still, the strategy of resting everyone at once seemed to work. Curry, in particular, had been playing poorly, going 0 for 11 from three-point range in a win over Philadelphia on Feb. 27, and then
going 18 for 65 (27.7 percent) in the six games before his sitting out against the Spurs. But since that rest day against San Antonio, Curry has regained his form, going 23 for 49 from 3-point range (46.9 percent) while helping his team to five consecutive victories and re-establishing Golden State’s place at the top of the Western Conference standings. The Cavaliers also did a mass benching, with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and James sitting out in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. But both Irving and Love were working through injuries, so only James was truly a healthy scratch. James is keenly aware of how his absence tends to become an issue, and he has experimented with various forms of rest over the last few seasons, including an unexpected and controversial two-week absence in the 2014-2015 season to let a lingering knee injury heal. This season, he said, the five rest days were a result of coach Tyronn Lue’s wanting to keep him fresh for the team’s inevitable deep run in the playoffs. That hasn’t kept others from giving him, and Curry, a hard time for taking a break. Among the critics is Harden, who has played in all of Houston’s games this season and has called himself a “hooper” who will “rest when I’m done.” But the criticism of James—whose rest days have all involved back-to-back games—ignores the realities of his unusual situation as a player who has played in the NBA finals in each of the last six seasons. Harden may see no point in rest, but he has appeared in 34 playoff games over the last four seasons, compared with 84 for James. And Harden, who is 27, may start to feel differently about rest days when his 22,955 combined minutes in the regular season and playoffs get closer to James’ total of 49,227. Indeed, at the age of 32, James is already fourth in career playoff minutes, with nearly 1,000 more than Bill Russell or Michael Jordan had in their careers. Another deep postseason run this season would push him past Kobe Bryant and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, leaving only Duncan ahead of him, in terms of playoff workload. It is likely no coincidence that the resting trend started with Duncan, who played 9,370 playoff minutes in his career (the equivalent of nearly four regular seasons). And it has continued with James, who will almost assuredly pass Duncan’s mark in the next few seasons. To some extent, the issue of rest days could diminish on its own next season, which will start a week earlier, spreading out each team’s 82 regular-season games. But even so, as James continues to age, fans hoping to see him play in person should be mindful of the Cavaliers’ back-to-back games. He may continue to sit in those situations, regardless of what anyone says.
National University’s Audrey Paran kneels on one knee to recover the ball after an Ateneo offensive. Stephanie Tumampos
When NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights sought trainer, they turned to circus NU rides momentum of win over Ateneo
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HEN the National Hockey League’s (NHL) newest franchise went looking for a keen, energetic mind to help oversee the training and performance of its players, it did not confine its search to conventional hockey circles. Instead, the Vegas Golden Knights, who will be the first major professional sports team in Las Vegas when they begin their inaugural season in October, went in a drastically different direction. They named Jay Mellette, a longtime Las Vegas resident, as their director of sports performance and head athletic trainer. Although Mellette acknowledges he has much to learn about hockey, there are not too many people in the NHL— or any pro sports league, for that matter—who have such a versatile and colorful background in sports medicine. Mellette was in the US Air Force and was a member of the Colorado Rapids’ medical staff during Major League Soccer’s initial season, in 1996. But he has spent the past 12 years with Cirque du Soleil, the Canadian entertainment company known for producing some of the world’s most ambitious and elaborate performances. Working most recently as Cirque du Soleil’s director of performance medicine, Mellette led 20 sports medicine teams assisting 1,300 athletes, including Mongolian contortionists, South American aerialists, Scandinavian tumblers and Chinese martial arts experts. That variety of athletes presented Mellette with an even
greater variety of potential mishaps and injuries. Bernard Petiot, Cirque du Soleil’s vice president for casting and performance, said, “The kind of business we’re doing, we’re taking risks and we’re exposing ourselves to human risk that can be life-threatening.” Working with such a diverse collection of elite athletes, Mellette, 47, was forced to think outside the parameters of conventional sports medicine. “Contortionists are interesting,” he said. “They fold themselves in half and then they come in the next day and say, ‘I have back pain.’” “If I’m going to integrate this person and they do handstands on someone’s head, there’s no return-to-play protocol for doing headstands. That’s not in the literature,” he added. “You’re not going to the British Journal of Sports Medicine and getting return-to-play protocol on head balances. How do you take your understanding of anatomy and biomechanics and physiology and integrate that into a physical requirement you’ve never been exposed to?” These were the types of questions that caught the attention of Murray Craven, a former NHL player who is a senior vice president for the Golden Knights. Looking for a Las Vegas resident who could introduce him to the local medical network, Craven got in touch with Mellette. Over the course of a few meetings, Mellette impressed upon Craven his approach to providing state-of-the-art athletic care and exploring innovations in sports science and physical therapy.
“North America is not the center of the universe for sports medicine,” Mellette said. “Some of the work being done in Australia that they do with workload management and monitoring, and some of the work being done with injury prevention and screening in Europe—there is good stuff going on everywhere. Are we going out into the world and getting information?” Mellette’s appreciation for the global spectrum of sports medicine emerged after he arrived at Cirque du Soleil. His first job for the company was with Ka, a Las Vegas show built around a meticulously choreographed arrangement of acrobats, puppeteers, martial artists and pyrotechnics, set upon a series of moving platforms and lifts. Mellette found himself working with a group of martial arts experts who had just arrived from China. “We were doing 476 shows a year,” Mellette said. “How do you teach someone who has never done a dead lift why it’s important for them to do a dead lift when you can’t communicate with them? I learned a lot about working with international coaches and international athletes at Cirque du Soleil. You look at hockey, and hockey is an international sport.” Roughly three months after their first meeting, Craven introduced Mellette to Golden Knights general manager George McPhee, who quickly offered him a job. But it was not easy for Mellette to leave Cirque du Soleil, where he had spent more than a decade and met his wife, Stephanie, a trapeze artist. New York Times News Service
as Lady Bulldogs take on Lady Maroons
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ATIONAL University (NU) rides the momentum of its recent victory over Ateneo de Manila as it tries to boost its Final Four bid against University of the Philippines today in the Season 79 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Lady Bulldogs will bring with them the thrust of their 17-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13 win of the Lady Eagles last Wednesday when they take on the Lady Maroons at 4 p.m. The Lady Eagles, on the other hand, are expected to throw all their frustrations in an effort to regain the solo lead when they take on the winless Adamson University Lady Falcons at 2 p.m. NU, however, will miss Head Coach Roger Gorayeb who will attend to his child’s graduation day. Assistant Coach Edjet Mabbayad, who handled the Lady Bulldogs in Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Collegiate Conference and led the team to a title repeat, will take charge for the meantime. “I know that the team is in the right hands with Edjet. He already showed that he can handle the team in the V-League,” Gorayeb said. “Edjet and the team could do it,
especially that we earned a great win over Ateneo. They have a high morale and they could capitalize on that.” The Lady Bulldogs are currently in third place with a 7-4 win-loss card. Jaja Santiago, Jasmine Nabor, Risa Sato, Jorelle Singh, Aiko Urdas and the rest of the Lady Bulldogs will try to duplicate their 25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 18-25, 15-12 five-set win over UP in the first round. The Lady Maroons, however, believe that they already learned their lesson from their previous slumps, as Isa Molde, Diana Carlos, Kathy Bersola, Nicole Tiamzon and Arielle Estrañero try to keep their Final Four chances alive and improve their 6-5 record. “We are looking forward to this crucial match against NU,” UP Assistant Coach Rald Ricafort said. “The players regained their confidence from our win over Adamson University and that would be a great help for us coming into this game.” In men’s action, Ateneo de Manila guns for its 12th straight victory against University of the East (1-10) at 8 a.m. and Far Eastern University (6-5) seeks to tighten its grip of solo third spot against Adamson University (2-9) at 10 a.m. Lance Agcaoili
Sunday, March 26, 2017 A9
In Joan Juliet Buck’s Memoir, a Parade of Stars and Styles »A12
The War After
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A short story by Eddie Ilarde
andra Damon a veteran television reporter of an international news network based in New York looks out the window of the plane about to land at the regional airport of Legaspi. She is obviously fascinated by the view on the ground and of the famous Mayon volcano which now seems so close to the plane as it veers to the left for landing. Sandra gets assigned mostly to cover special coverages of developing stories which attract worldwide interest. This time her assignment is to interview the most wanted communist rebel in the Philippines, an aging – they say dying – revolutionary leader known only as Ka Luis. He is an icon and a national symbol to many people, even to some sectors in the military, whose campaign to capture him for years has failed. His cunning ability to elude capture for years has confounded the authorities making him some kind of a hero to anti-government groups. The recent assassination of an American official from Washington while on a visit to the country has attracted worldwide attention especially with the resurgence of hostilities in the countryside, not only by a dwindling communist guerilla group but also from a growing Muslim
Abu Sayaf fundamentalist clique in Mindanao. Ka Luis is immediately the main suspect. By special arrangement Sandra and her cameraman are secretly flown by helicopter from the airport deeper into the province’s dense forest where she will travel by car, then by foot, to where the interview is to take place. If not for periodic violent encounters of government troops and the ragtag New People’s Army (NPA), Sorsogon, a province in the region, which some travel writers call “the green alps of the country,” may have been considered a prime tourist attraction. Nowhere in the world can one see an active volcano in the middle of a lake situated at the summit of a mountain. The province is dotted by endless rows of tall coconut trees punctuated by thick jungle patches on rolling hills terminating into white
sand beaches fronting the Pacific. In the recent past this was the favorite destination of trekkers and nature lovers. The place is now isolated and marred by a violent and senseless ideological war among the people which started since the end of World War II. A full moon is rising over a hill nearby making the swaying coconut leaves glisten in the moonlight. Sandra, her guide and her cameraman enter a small thatch-roofed hut in a small clearing the middle of the forest. A kerosene lamp on a small bamboo table in the middle of the room flickers as they sit down. An evidently dour young man barely visible in the ill-lit room is seated beside Ka Luis. There are no armed men as would be expected around such a well-known killer; the place is strangely quiet, and only eerie nocturnal birdsong and intermittent sound of
tropical crickets and cicadas interrupt the silence. In the flickering light, Sandra sees a hunched graying man with a weather-beaten face; she discerns a strong presence, and the glint of penetrating eyes like that of an angry beast. When he spoke to greet his guests, she feels awed by the cutting resonance of his voice though said in near-whisper. Your name is Raymond Leshkah Jr. Your father was an American, a World War II veteran. What made you a communist and kill Americans? “I’m not a communist. You must know that this ideology one day shall be irrelevant and communists shall be like you Americans who worship money. But I don’t subscribe either to a corrupt capitalist order. I’m alone in a tactical alliance with people in this country against American foreign policy. I don’t hate America; it is its war economy that I condemn – its arrogance and the culture of violence in that country. That is why I am with the Left, as you call them. But not for long.” There is a long pause before Ka Luis continues. “I don’t care to remember how many Americans I have killed – innocent people you might say – just like the thousands of innocent people in my country killed by American bombs and bullets. Age has caught up with me, perhaps the reason why hate and violence are slowly fading away from my heart. I wish I could further my statement against hypocritical,
abusive and arrogant Americans, but no more. Enough. My flesh has weakened against my willing spirit. I am at the end of the road that is why I have consented to this interview. You are American I can see. 50% of my blood is American. My father chose to be a citizen of this country because he loved our people. My mother loved him, she bore two of us – my sister who is already dead and me. My father loved this country. And he fought in the war of America not because he was American, but because he believed in the friendship of this country and the U.S. who abandoned us anyway when the Japanese came. Douglas McArthur was a fraud and the people of this country at the time were easily deceived by ostentation and his grandstanding. He left ill-equipped soldiers with 30-year old arms and returned after cooling his heels in Australia for more than three years. And yet my father still believed in the old American virtues of compassion, honesty and sincerity. I resent, I despise the attitude of an arrogant country who thinks it owns the world and can impose its so-called democratic beliefs on everyone. You say you honor your father and you don’t hate America. So are you terminating your war against Americans in your country? You’re the mysterious killer since the time of the American bases here. This is the war after – my personal
war against your country who killed our people, who killed my parents. Let me tell you everything. I was barely ten years old when the Japanese came. My father who was an old-timer in this country first came with an American company which successfully did business here in the 1930s. My father decided to settle permanently and consequently married my mother, Teresa Silva. When the war broke out, my father was a volunteer with the Philippine Scouts, a military-training contingent under American tutelage. The Japanese even at the height of the Bataan encounter lost no time and proceeded to Manila. Civilians were randomly shot and some herded like animals to mini concentration camps. While on our way to a place near the city where we can hide, I remember asking my mother when Papa was coming home. She just looked at me with tears in her eyes and did not answer. She knew then that my father was in Bataan fighting the enemy. It was early 1942 when we knew that the Filipino-American forces have surrendered. “In the Death March my father, the strong-willed man that he was, escaped. Cold and hungry, he ran, walked, crawled, and slept on rice paddies and dirt roads until civilians helped him and guided him towards Manila. I shall Continued on A11
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Sunday, March 26, 2017
www.businessmirror.com.ph
Time for Rest
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By Kenneth Yu
i, Edson! Sorry for the late reply. I only just saw your message. I accept your challenge! Your requestfor a ghost story to share with our friends is apt and timely, it being near Halloween and all, but I’ll go you one further, if you don’t mind.
But, before I get to that and the tale, I’d like to ask you a question: have you noticed that we have all entered the realm of middle-age that our fathers once inhabited? I’m sure you have, and I’m pretty sure many of our peers have, too. I see it in the shapes of our bodies: sagging, expanding; the growing wrinkles and spots on our faces and hands; the white hair, the diminishing hair. I hear it in our voices: the hoarseness, the beginnings of the croaks of old age. I listen to it as well in the litany of our complaints of painful bones and joints, aching muscles, poor blood chemistry results, and growing illnesses. I notice how much more often we reference the music, movies, and TV shows of our teen years in our conversations, as if they were harbingers or sources of wisdom of what we are experiencing today. Most of all, I hear it in the stories we keep on telling each other. We repeat the same ones from our high school and college years over and over again, and we never tire of them. Almost everytime we get together, we repeat them like broken records (Ha! Only we would understand that reference; no, wait, vinyl is making a comeback, isn’t it?). We always talk about the teachers we liked, or the teachers we didn’t; the way Chemistry, Calculus, English, or History drove us crazy; the way we got away with our antics
and mischief both during class hours and after, and even more, the times we didn’t get away and were caught; the girls we liked but who never liked us back; the fights we had with each other that now seem so shallow but had been such serious vendettas back then. We sound so much like our fathers did whenever they talk about their youth. Edson, what is it with nostalgia? What makes people think so fondly of their past, like it was some golden age, once they hit their 40’s? I think there must be something about a growing mortality that makes men look back. Or perhaps it is a hankering for a happiness brought about by youthful ignorance that was previously unappreciated. I think, right now, it is more of the latter than the former, but it will reverse itself in time, I’m quite certain. Both reasons sadden me. In my opinion, to look back is not evil, but nostalgia can become a temptation to stagnation. We should never forget to look forward, as well. Anyway, back to the ghost story; and yes, why not, for this time at least,back to nostalgia as well. As I said, I’d like to go you one further with the tale I’ll tell, if you don’t mind. All of us being old classmates, I’d like to tell a story from when we were teenagers, with characters out of our time in high school, and set in the X_____ School of our youth. No, not the cur-
rent one with all the new buildings and edifices named after our fellow alumni of wealth, but the one we studied and grew up in, the one with more open spaces and greenery, the one that, because of our younger age, seemed bigger than the X_____ School we see today. I hope that the story will be worth the time to read. Here it is.
O
n a visit to X_____ sometime in the 1990’s, I ran into Fr. L____ P______. I was there to pick up my younger brother that day (he was still a high school junior), and he was late to meet me at the Admin gate. I had found a seat near the accounting office and was just twiddling my thumbs, waiting, waiting…when Fr. P______ came walking by. If you remember, Fr. P______ was our guidance counselor when we were seniors in 198_, and one of the pioneer missionaries who came from Europe to Asia to teach and establish our school. In high school, I remembered him as having this perennial fast gait, his head and chest leaning slightly forward, and his feet just fast enough to quickly catch up with his body, preventing him from falling over. He always carried an air of being busy, always rushing, always with something on his mind, but that is not to say he never found time for us when we needed him. It was because of him that many of us found a way to a university. If not for his recommendation letters, I’d say a good number of us wouldn’t have been able to enter the colleges of our choice. But that time I ran into him, his pace had slowed down considerably, as if he couldn’t keep his speed up any longer, and I felt for the first time that he trulywas in danger of falling over. Fr. P______ and I made eye contact at the same time, buthe was the first to smile and approach. I stood up to greet him, and when I took his hand and shook it, I was dismayed not just at the weakness of his grip, but at the cool, clamminess of his skin. Yet, where I instinctively knew that he ailed physi-
cally, I also knew there was nothing wrong with his mind. He addressed me by name,then he asked how I was doing in both my course and my college, identifying both as if he had just read my records a few minutes before. I answered, politely saying that I was doing fine, and in turn asked him how he was. He just shook his head and said, “It’s been difficult, but, you know, the older you get, the better you are at leaving matters to God.” He said that it was good to see me, shook my hand again, and waved as he walked off. I didn’t know that that would be the last time I would see Fr. P______. In hindsight, I had caught him at a moment of deep and growing illness, and, I suspect, a gradual—and I hope, peaceful—coming to terms anda reckoning with his Creator. We all know that it was only a year or so later that he became bedridden. An all-too-brief period after that, Fr. P______ passed into the arms of mercy.
I
n the mid-aughts, I again found myself back at X_____. I don’t exactly remember how, but I somehow became involved as a writer in an alumni fund-raising project whose regular meetings were held on school grounds. This time, I ran into Fr. S_____ M___, another one of the original missionaries, walking one of the corridors near the alumni office just before my meeting was to begin; he was our Religion teacher when we were sophomores, if you recall. In contrast to Fr. P______, Fr. M___, being younger, was very much still spry and strong, still larger than life with that big smile and tall frame. We spoke a bit, talking about all that was happening at the school (so many new buildings!), and how he felt that “strong winds of change were coming” for X______. I said something about how the school was beginning to look very different from what I remembered. “The only thing constant in life is change. Always remember that. Time spares nothing and no one,” Fr. M___
said through a toothy grin. Where Fr. P______ was very logical, practical, and, to me, almost martial in discipline, Fr. M___ I found to be a more “out-of-the-box” thinker, certainly not in the mold of a stereotypical Catholic cleric. That is not to mean that he didn’t have any discipline (all our teacher-priests did, as far as I knew), but he was the unorthodox one, the one who was more open-minded to doing and thinking things that were not, should we say, “conventional”. He was, after all, semi-famous (or was that notorious?) among his students for saying that he would like to have all his relatives’ cremated remains placed around his office. “It’s a comfort,” he had said, “to have all their urns on my shelves,” I recall him telling us. He had also said that if he were to die in an accident, he would like his organs to be donated to some blind person. “Maybe that blind person will end up with my eyes, and see the world the way I do,” Fr. M___ had joked. He was well-meaning and generous, but as teenagers in a conservative all-boys’ Catholic school, I know that we found his declarations morbid, nonetheless, even downright creepy. And these were the less shocking of his idiosyncrasies. That Fr. M___ was the writer among our school’s priests is not, therefore, a surprise. I bring up his eccentricities because, I believe, of all our teacher-priests, he would have been the one most open to what people say happened on the fourth floor of the old high school building at X_____. This was the place, they say,where the night came when Fr. M___ met Fr. P______ again.
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eing the least conventional of our teacher-priests we have had the privilege to have been under, it was Fr. M___ who habitually walked the empty corridors of X_____ in the dead of night, even at the—ahem—ungodly hour of 3 a.m., when everyone else at the school was asleep. The wee hours of the night, when darkness is at its deepest, is the time of
the thinkers, the writers, the dreamers, the artists, so therefore it was no surprise that Fr. M___ would not be uncomfortable to be active at this time. Where the other priests would perform their devotions in the quiet of their rooms or the solitude of their residence chapel, Fr. M___ would pace the corridors of the school tirelessly in the darkness, mumbling his prayers under his breath and through his steps. I can imagine him criss-crossing the school’shallways, starting out perhaps on the second floor of the high school building where there was easy access from the priests’ residence via a short bridge, fingering the beads of his rosary, muttering his Hail Mary’s to himself. He would climb up stairs, or down, as his random fancy led him-“letting the Holy Spirit guide my feet” he would probably say--taking him past the empty classrooms that were as filled with so much silence at night as they were with noise during the day. Can you imagine him, Edson? In my mind’s eye, I can see Fr. M___’s silhouette as he passes, in the dark, the typing room, or crosses the high school gym diagonally and then back, becoming visible only for scant seconds whenever his body passes between shadows, through slivers of light from the rays of either the street lamps or from the moon. I can hear his footsteps softly echoing in the gym or in the corridors, as well as the quiet mumble of his prayers. He would cross the quadrangle near the old grade school gym, pace the area near the ping pong tables, slip through the canteen and dining hall area, or walk the places that overlook the football fields. I think Fr. Mena would have probably spent a lot of time there near the grass and the trees, enjoying the cool, night wind, and the sound of rustling leaves, as he prayed. In my mind’s eye, X_____ was bigger before than it is today. I’m struck sometimes that the school even seems to have shrunk. Of course, we Continued on A11
Sunday, March 26, 2017 A11
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The War After Continued from A9
never forget that day. My father suddenly appeared. Then he said we have to hide but I wondered why he decided to bring us back to the city. He said it’s better to be where people are; the crowd is the best shield especially for a white man like him. “We lived a normal life under the Japanese occupation. My mother sold cooked food in front of the apartment where we lived. Passers-by including Japanese soldiers patrolling the area were daily customers. My sister who was barely four helped my mother. My father cannot do much being in hiding and spent most of his time in the lower first floor which served as our bomb shelter which the Japanese government ordered everyone to build. It staggers belief that the enemy should order the building of bomb shelters as if they want the people to be saved from what was being whispered everywhere – the bombing of the city by the Americans soon. I knew my father was in contact with people who were supplying intelligence information to the American forces outside the country. During the night my parents talk in whispers about possible events about to come. I was consoled with the thought that we are in no danger. In my innocence I kept telling myself that the Americans will save us. “For a time life seemed normal in the city. My mother and my little sister Esther have built more customers including some Japanese soldiers who seemed to have accepted assimilating with the civilians in our area. Onishi San, a friendly Japanese military officer drops by my mother’s stall often to eat. He waves at me and my sister everytime he passes. When my father was apprehended and about to be brought to the garrison for interrogation and possible
beheading, Onishi San intervened. I said he is not an American but a Spanish mestizo. Onishi San ordered the soldier to set him free. Then he whispered to me to leave the city as soon as possible. He intimidated that the Americans are coming and there will be fighting. “One day, the air-raid sirens all over the city continuously blared. Then we heard bombs bursting everywhere. At first the explosions were in the distance but in a few minutes came nearer until very loud explosions were all around us. Big planes in formation darkened the sky. The sound of their engines was deafening and the ground vibrated violently. The whistling sound of hundreds of bombs falling from the sky was terrifying. It is hard to describe. It was hell as bombs continuously exploded everywhere. Civilians were scampering in all direction, women and children screaming; some just ran and ran like headless chickens not knowing where to go. We hid in our makeshift bomb shelter laying flat face down on the ground. In my innocence I kept wondering why the Americans are bombing even civilians. I kept telling myself that we are friends. Then an ear-splitting explosion! A blinding light at first, then smoke and burning debris enveloped the whole place. My mother screamed in pain and kept calling us. With Esther holding on to me tightly and trembling in fear, I tried to crawl to where my mother and father were a few feet away. When the smoke and dust cleared we saw our mother still alive, lying in a pool of blood. We embraced her and after a while she was quiet. Beside her we saw father with one of his arms blown-off, blood gushing from his neck. He beckoned us and in barely audible words tried to say something. I just embraced him crying not knowing what to do; his last words which I barely understood were, “run away with your sister and live, live,
live.” He breathed his last as American bombs kept on falling all over the city. “The explosion and gunfire seemed forever. When it ended thousands of dead bodies littered the streets, most buildings were totally destroyed, fire and smoke were everywhere. We learned later that the order of the “liberating forces” was to burn Manila and many more died. I cannot describe enough the horrible sight that I beheld after that bombing carnage. Tired and hungry, my sister and I walked for hours toward the town outside the city where my mother’s relatives lived. It was the time I learned that injury and anguish caused by one you trust and love like what America did to us is more painful than one inflicted by the enemy. In my tender age I told myself that only death can erase the pain of the victim, and death for the perpetrator is the equalizer. Through the years that hatred remained. “I did all kinds of odd job to survive. Through the help of relatives I finished high school. I refused to let poverty stop me from graduating with honors. Not much but enough perhaps to have made my parents proud. My sister Esther grew up with the sister of my mother in another town. After high school I enlisted in the Army and lucky to pass the test for Special Forces training. That made my preparation for my plans complete. Later, in one of the war games with the U.S. forces in the Pacific based in one of their bases in the country, an American platoon commander was hit and died instantaneously. They never found out from whose rifle the bullet came from. Hazard of the game, they admitted. The next day a Sergeant Dean was found dead in his tent with bayonet wounds. In the investigation I was never even asked any question. The day before, my squad was assigned a few hundred meters away from where it happened. “Near our camp there were many
bars frequented by soldiers on R&R. One place was the favorite of American sailors whose ships dock in the harbor often. I was on pass one night and with a friend went to this place. Three men in navy uniform, two whites and one black, were drunk and noisy. Before leaving, they went to the men’s room. There was commotion later when one of the waiters shouted for help. The three men were found sprawled on the floor. One of the men was still alive when brought to the nearest hospital and was able to give a sketchy description of the killer. A few minutes later he died. In the investigation the day after, my friend admitted that I followed the three men to the toilet and did not see me after that. The order to arrest me was late because by then I was already in hiding in the mountains. I was declared AWOL and the military wasted no time in circularizing the investigation in all military camps, posting my name with the others who were wanted by the law. “It was at a time when the government was almost winning against the communist insurgency when I decided to join its “people’s army.” My being from the army was good qualification for a quick admission in a declining armed group already being branded as nothing but bandits and armed robbers victimizing civilians in the countryside. In the years that I have been with them in the mountain, I have grown to respect their discipline and courage. I have seen action in many ambuscades of military patrols; there were countless encounters where both sides suffered losses of precious young lives especially from our side – students who left school to go underground for a cause which to them seemed glamorous and exciting. Then I fell in love with Jennifer, known in the group as Ka Mutya, a comely young member and former student of the Uni-
versity of the Philippines. It is against the code of the group to co-habit with one who is not married to you so in a unique marriage ritual Jennifer and I got married. When she became pregnant she was giving permission to be on leave until the baby was born. I visited her often until our baby boy was born. I convinced her to leave the cause she swore to defend to the death to care for our son. With much hesitation she finally consented. “After years in the mountains I thought of going down and pay my sister a visit. Our auntie who took care of her and spent for her education told me in tears that it has been years since she last saw Esther. After graduation in high school she left to seek her own destiny. I found out later that she was working in one of the beer joints outside the US Naval Base in Subic. I tried hard to convince her to leave her job and go home to help our auntie in her small business. She refused and told me to go away and mind my own business, obviously nursing a bitter resentment against me for all the years that I have not even cared to find out how she was. I understood. “A year later I heard on the radio that a young girl was in a hospital near the naval base after being gang-raped by four American servicemen. I was about to dismiss it as one of those things American soldier s do against the natives when I heard the name of my sister. Doctors and nurses were attending to her when I arrived. She was obviously in terrible pain when she tried to speak. She whispered in my ear the names and description of the men who raped her. After asking for my forgiveness, she died. I died with her that day. I kept to myself the seething rage in my heart until the day I have consummated my revenge against her killers. Three of the four have met their gruesome death in my hands after al-
most a year hunting them down. “Miss Damon, I have nothing to do with the assassination of Special Envoy Wilson last week. I am told I have been presumed guilty even before I am proven innocent. I know this incident has brought you here. I wish I can tell you who did it but the truth is I don’t know. All I know is, many people in this country and for that matter in many countries in the world have nothing but contempt against your country. Tell America to look in the mirror and be honest with itself about what the mirror reflects. I have done enough to avenge to death of my family in the hands of a country who does not care killing innocent people in the name of democracy. Others justify it but the weak who are victims can only cry and accept their fate. Ms. Damon, beware the portent you face – the rise of Muslim jihadist movements around the world. I want you to meet his young man beside me. He is my son Raymond III. Her mother Ka Mutya died only last year. He is leaving for Mindanao tonight. By the way his name has been changed to Abu Ahkmed. Thank you, Ms.Damon and goodnight.” n (Eddie Ilarde, the longest-living radio-tv personality in the Philippines today, is a former councilor, congressman, senator and assemblyman. He is presently a free-lance writer, independent radio and television producer-host. He is the founding president of Maharlika Movement for National Transformation, founding president-chairman of Golden Eagles Society International, Inc. for the welfare and dignity of older persons; he is a Lifetime Achievement awardee for radio-television. He is heard every Saturday and Sunday afternoon at 1:30 in his radio program “Kahapon Lamang” over DZBB GMA AM RADIO. He may be reached at PO Box 107 Makati City, Philippines.)
Time for Rest Continued from A10
know for certain that the school’s size hasn’t changed. I believe that it is we who have been altered, by time, by life; it is we who are not as small as we used to be.
S
urely, Fr. M___’s feet would have taken him to the fourth floor of the old high school building on one his jaunts. We, as students, would remember that area most as the storey where St. Joseph’s workshop was located, that large classroom right at the top of the rightmost flight of stairs, the room which, at that time, was the only one with its own airconditioner. What many of us would probably not recall as well is that on the other end of the corridor was—besides the restrooms—Fr. P______’s old office. I’m sure many of us have had the good fortune of talking to Fr. Papilla there one-on-one when we were consulting him over which college to apply to. It was here, I believe, where many of us got to know him better. I can imagine Fr. M___ in the dark, climbing the stairs to St. Joseph’s Workshop, then turning right at the top, maintaining a rhythmic pace to
match the prayerful cadence of his Hail Mary’s and Glory Be’s. He would have finished maybe half a decade, maybe a bit more, by the end of the corridor, his feet instinctively turning right again to go down the flight of stairs at the end, perhaps already at the end of his fifth decade, ready to return to his room at the priests’ residence, when, in the middle of all that X_____ silence, he hears the muffled clack of typewriter keys from just to his side and behind. Fr. M___ stops, retraces himself, and looks back. The sounds of the typewriter do not stop. Fr. M___ pauses, maybe grips his rosary a bit tighter, or maybe not, since after all, this is Fr. M___ we are talking about, a man, as I have said, who wasvery much open to thinking “outof-the-box”. He does not go down the stairs; he does not return to his quarters. Instead, he follows the sounds of the incessant clacking, muffled as they are because, as he nears the source, he discovers they are coming from behind the door of Fr. P______’s old office. Maybe Fr. M___ hesitates before raising his hand to the doorknob, or then again, maybe not. Again, this is Fr. M___, after all. By all rights, the door should be locked, correct? After all, security has always been tight at X_____. All our
classroom doors are locked at the end of each day. The security guards make sure of that, or the janitors. And every owner of every individual office always makes sure to lock up behind him at the end of every day. Besides, no one has occupied Fr. P______’s office since his passing. His files have been boxed and stored away, surely, but of course, back then, every office still contained a typewriter, and they left Fr. P______’s there, waiting for the next occupant to use, whoever he may be. Fr. Mena reaches for the doorknob, twists—it is unlocked!—and pushes the door open. he typewriter stops. Of course it would. It would also be funny, (well, depending on the person imagining the scene), if the typewriter’s bell also went off right at this point, leaving a high pitched “ding” that faded into the darkness. What did Fr. M___ see? The window of Fr. P______’s office is large, and would have let in enough moonlight to see by, surely. What would have gone through Fr. M___’s mind, I wonder? Would he have turned on the lights?I doubt it. The harsh fluorescents would have jarred Fr. M___’s vision. I think he would have preferred the darkness,
T
where in the dimness, he would see the shadows of Fr. P______’s desk, the outline of the swivel chair turned to the side, facing the old Underwood on the squat typewriting table. I wonder, if it had beenI in that darkness, would I have just continued walking down those stairs, or, if I had been able to open the door, would I have then just shut it behind me and retreated once the typewriter stopped? How about you, Edson? What would you have done? But, this is Fr. M___, not us. And this is Fr. P______, his fellow priest for so many years at a school they had founded and served, and whose mission they so dearly believed in. They had been together for so long, had traveled across the seas and continents. What is there to fear, between long-standing comrades, no matter whether one has moved on and one has not? With his “out-of-the-box” thinking, it makes sense that Fr. Mena could have, would have, simply said: “It’s time for rest, L____. We’re still here, your brothers. We’lltake care of the boys, do not worry. But for you, it’s time for rest.” Fr. M___closes the door. He then continues his paces around the school until he finishes his rosary, then heads
back to his room. When dawn breaks, X_____ school is ready for another day.
I
guess that’s the end of it, Edson, hehe. If this story was expected to scare for Halloween, I’m sorry. After some time of reflection, it does not, really, and in the end, it was not meant to. Fr. M___ himself has moved on already; it’s been many years since his own passing. For all you know, he and Fr. P______ visit X_____ School still, praying for us, their students, invoking constantly that we remember and stay true to the lessons and principles that they have taught us. These are twopriests, after all,who cared for all of us when we were still teenagers; I must emphasize that we, their students, are not a part of this story I have just told. We should not dare to insert ourselves here. This is their story, the story of two brothers not by blood, but by mission and faith, who had been part of a larger group of missionaries who had set up a school with a vision for educating and training God-fearing citizens for this country. Whether this story is true, as has been proclaimed by some students and alumni over the years, or just the fancy whimsy of some few to pass the dark
nights away whenever nostalgia about X_____ for our generation hits, I think thistale really speaks more of the brotherhood these priestshad—or rather, have—with each other; these foreigners who came from the other side of the world to ours, to teach, so far away from their familiar homes, because they believed in their mission. With their belief deeply ingrained, when any one of them moves on, you can be certain that they all wish him well; and with their belief in the life hereafter, that when they do see each other again, they can then resume their brotherhood in their rewarded faith. Ah, enough nostalgia! This tale is so full of it, Edson! I am sure Frs. P______ and M___, grateful as they are that we remember them, would not have us wallow too much in the past. “You each have a mission in life!” I can still hear them say in their strong, young voices, the voices they used when they stood in front of us in the classroom. “Faces forward! Keep moving forward!” they encouraged us, egging us on to always do more, and be more, notwithstanding whatever stage of life we are currently in, not even if we are soon to join the ranks of the seniors and the elderly. And so we should. n
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Sunday, March 26, 2017
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In Joan Juliet Buck’s Memoir, a Parade of Stars and Styles
By Janet Maslin | New York Times News Service
The Price of Illusion: A Memoir By Joan Juliet Buck 404 pages. Atria Books
J
oan Juliet Buck, the daughter of the film producer Jules Buck, and Anjelica Huston have been friends since girlhood. It’s the kind of friendship that requires long spells of angry silence between them, and Buck’s new memoir makes it easy to understand why. She was the older of the two, and the bigger name-dropper by far. During one of Buck’s visits to St. Clerans, the Hustons’ grand Irish homestead (about which Buck rhapsodizes as romantically as any Huston ever has), Anjelica showed Joan the old dairy that served as her playhouse. Joan replied: “I used to live in a palace, too, but mine was pink marble.” The Price of Illusion takes Buck from that gaudy palace of her 1950s youth (a “1900 copy of the Grand Tri-
anon at Versailles, but smaller,” located in an unfashionable Paris suburb) to the haute halls of French Vogue’s offices, where she eventually presided as editor-in-chief. Story arc alert: After occupying this pinnacle of fashion power from 1994 to 2000, Buck was edged out of French Vogue—and would be banished from the Condé Nast kingdom again years later in the face of
controversy. She is now living happily ever after in upstate New York as the authentic, simplicity-loving person she never had a chance to be. But few will come to The Price of Illusion for its lessons in fabulousness rehab. This eagerly dishy book’s main draw is its march of stars and styles. Yes, Buck has mastered the art of couturier-dropping, too. We hear a lot about what Buck wore, and when. We learn that Manolo Blahnik was her “matron of honor.” When hired by Vogue, Buck was told she would have to meet people like Karl (Lagerfeld) and Yves (Saint Laurent). But she had known them—and their friends, their muses and photographers—long before she was even a glint in Vogue’s eye. As a young girl, she knew only that “Peter Autoul,” as she thought of him, was an Irishman with brown, curly hair and a slightly crooked nose who had something to do with her father’s business and might be a big success some day. That was before Autoul—actually Peter O’Toole, who had formed a production company with Buck’s father—appeared in his first conspicuous movie and agreed to the hair color and nose changes that would land him the role of T.E. Lawrence in a big desert spectacle. Law-
rence of Arabia was the only O’Toole movie that Jules Buck did not produce between 1959 and 1975, the glory years of the actor’s career. When O’Toole squired Joan to the premiere of Lord Jim, he gave her enduring advice for how, at least, to look like him in the spotlight: “Shut your mouth and look surprised.” But he “gave no clue as to how to raise the inner edges of his eyebrows to create the expression of amused disdain that made him look like a prince,” Buck remembers now. During her teens, as she tells it, Buck became a romantic magnet for talent. In London, at 17, she met a writer who was just beginning to become very well known. “What is the most important thing in the world?” she asked him. “Status,” he said, “and added that he’d marry me if I wrote a book.” She didn’t write a book, and he didn’t marry her, but she says she gave him one of the phrases for which he remains best known. The phrase is “starved to near-perfection,” and the man was Tom Wolfe. Think of anyone who had cachet in the worlds of movies, literature or fashion, starting in 1970 or so, and chances are good that they pop up in this book, even if all Buck ever did was
consider the person’s proposition and turn it down. Go to the Greek Island of Hydra with Leonard Cohen after meeting him only casually? She thought his skin might be wrinkly, so made apparently weak excuses. He sent her flowers with a note that read, “Never lie to a great poet, or even a minor one.” Despite their globe-trotting and anything but parallel careers, Buck and Huston seemed to maintain a competition, mostly at Buck’s instigation. She acknowledges being envious of Huston’s acclaimed acting career and movie star boyfriend (Jack Nicholson). Buck, who did a lot of interviews with stars, went to the set of 1900 and wound up falling hard for Donald Sutherland. But however well Buck knew freerange celebrities, she wasn’t truly intimate with the way the fashion world worked until she became part of it. The book describes her naive shock at seeing erstwhile friends in the business start behaving like advertisers; trying to be politically and culturally neutral in her wardrobe choices (not easy at all); and deciding what kinds of values Vogue ought to endorse. Less interesting: thoughts about whether or not her apartment was haunted, notes on office politics and even this quick, witty sum-
mary of a runway show: “Lights, music, girls, no plot.” It would take a more heavily illustrated book to weigh the pros and cons of Buck’s most daring moves, like using quantum physics as the theme for an entire issue of Vogue. Did her editorial choices have anything to do with her removal? Or was it simply, as she says, some confusion about the vials of seawater she carried everywhere, which catty co-workers mistook for syringes? All of this pales in comparison with the catastrophe that derailed her freelance career: accepting an assignment from Anna Wintour’s American Vogue in 2011 to go to Syria and interview Asma Assad, the wife of the Syrian president, Bashar Assad. “It was a terrible idea, but I didn’t call Anna to ask her what she was thinking,” Buck writes. Soon after the article ran, Assad’s forces began attacking civilians, and Buck became a pariah in the magazine world. There are many things in The Price of Illusion that don’t sound candidly complete. But Buck has been a fabulous Zelig in the world of memoirs. She has witnessed or experienced a book’s worth of tellable tales, tall or otherwise. She’s certainly entitled to a version of her own. n