Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
Satire is a survival tool in an environment when one’s sense of right and wrong is being assaulted from all directions.
Don’t cry. Read Bernard Ong’s Facebook post, “Ganito kami sa bansang Fentanilia” and laugh:
President Duterte’s reaction to the Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines on the killings related to his campaign against prohibited drugs read in all Catholic churches last Sunday shows the danger when small minds are given so much power.
“Kayong mg Katoliko, kung naniniwala kayo sa mga pari pati obispo doon kayo. Kung gusto nyo mapunta ng langit, doon kayo. Ngayon, kung gusto nang matapos ang droga pero magpunta ako sa impyerno, sumabay kayo sa akin (You Catholics, if you believe in priests and bishops, go with them. If you want to go to heaven, go there. Now, if you want to end illegal drugs join me in hell),” he ranted in a press briefing in Cagayan de Oro Sunday evening.
It’s doubtful if he even read and tried to understand the full letter. The bishops acknowledge the problem of the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country and that’s in the first paragraph: “This traffic in illegal drugs needs to be stopped and overcome. But the solution does not lie in the killing of suspected drug users and pushers.”
The best way to learn a foreign language is to be in place where it is spoken. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines has announced various scholarship programs open to qualified Filipino students.
One of them is Huayu (Mandarin) Enrichment Scholarship which allows applicants to choose to pursue either 2 months or 3 months intensive Mandarin courses subject. A monthly stipend of 25, 000 NTD will be provided to cover all the expenses. Application is from February 1-March 31, 2017.
For more of this scholarship, please visit: https://taiwanscholarship.moe.gov.tw
Congratulations to the people who made the staging of the 65th Miss Universe in the Philippines a rousing success.
The publicity that the Philippines got from the pageant and the goodwill generated from the 86 beauties were a bonanza to Philippine tourism.
Last Monday’s pageant financier former Ilocos Sur Chavit Singson said the $14 million he shelled out will return in terms of more visitors to the country that are expected to fill up hotels, resorts airline seats, restaurant and other tourism-related businesses.
The more visitors, the Filipinos would be employed for a more vibrant Philippine economy.
Now, when visitors come, will they feel safe and leave the Philippines with beautiful memories of the country to share with others?
The 2015 World Health Organization’s Global Status Report on Road Safety estimates 10,379 fatalities in the country a year, half of them motorcycle riders, followed by pedestrians.
That’s more than 10,000 families deprived of a father, a mother, a brother, a sister or a member of the family, many of them were breadwinners caused by something that is preventable.
The country’s health system also share considerable burden in the treatment of injuries caused road crashes.
Just think: If the public are more road- safety- conscious, so much misery and pain could have been prevented and government resources could have been spent in other urgent needs. It could free up beds for other patients in crowded public hospitals.
Update: SC issues writ of amparo in favor of kin of slain drug suspects
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/597757/news/nation/sc-issues-writ-of-amparo-in-favor-of-kin-of-slain-drug-suspects
There’s a part in the narration by the surviving victims of Oplan Tokhang in Payatas in Quezon City last August 21 that sends chills down one’s spine.
In the petition for Writ of Amparo filed by Centerlaw before the Supreme Court last Thursday, it related that a few days after the killings, a television reporter and his crew came to Area B, Group 9, Bgy. Payatas to interview witnesses. “However, no one agreed to speak with him or even come near him because unbeknownst to him, the police escort he took with him to the area is PO3 Allan Formilleza, one of the policemen involved in the killings.All the members of the community were terror-stricken at the sudden appearance of Formilleza that day.”
That was frightening.
On the first day of his presidency, during the turnover of command ceremonies at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, President Duterte boasted that he knows the scalawags in the police service.
He issued a strong warning: “I know kung sino ang mga general who are tainted with corruption. You better resign. You have no more future in the police.. I know how you operate.. I will not run this country with a corrupt police.”
In his seven months in office under his relentless drive against illegal drugs, there have been several reports of police abuses. Extra-judicial killings have become a daily occurrence. Impunity by members of the police has reached levels never imagined.
The latest was the killing of a South Korean official of Hanjin Shipping, a South Korean company last October 17 after he was abducted from his residence in Angeles City allegedly by members of the PNP’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Group led by SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel.
The confrontation between Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Miguel Zubiri at the Senate floor last week refreshed the public’s mind of relevant issues which have been relegated to the sidelines by more horrifying reports like the murder of Korean businessman Ick-joo Jee by police officers inside Camp Crame just a few meters away from the office of Police Chief Ronald de la Rosa.
This is not the first time that Trillanes and Zubiri clashed. Way back in 2007, when Zubiri edged out Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III from the winning circle of senatorial candidates with manufactured votes from Maguindanao, Trillanes, who won while in detention, said “I believe Congressman Zubiri knows deep in his heart that he benefited from cheating. If he is decent enough, he wouldn’t accept victory in the Senate race because that is not something you want your kids to emulate.”
Zubiri called Trillanes “a loose cannon” and “immature” and threatened to sue the Navy officer -turned rebel-turned- senator.
Zubiri occupied the Senate seat that was not his for four years before he gave it up after Pimentel’s election protest prospered.
“Just be quiet all of you.”
Spoken like a despot ordering his minions what to do.
President Duterte barked that order during the 20th founding anniversary of the Premiere Medical Center in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija Wednesday.
He was reacting to negative reactions to his earlier statement about declaring martial law unilaterally without following the process stated in the Constitution.
Amid the many items in media not favorable to Vice President Leni Robredo- LeniLeaks, banned from cabinet meetings, dis-invited by Malacanang in New Year vin d’honneur, drop in satisfaction ratings – another one came up the other day.
We were told that the Supreme Court is expected very soon to release its decision on the case concerning the extension of the deadline by the Commission on Elections for the filing of statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE) for the Liberal Party last June.
“If the High Court decided that there was a breach of the rule by the Comelec, the election of all Liberal Party candidates would be invalidated. That would include the election of Robredo,” a friend told me.