Desperate Patients

Filipino-Americans are up in arms against a popular soap opera over the racist quote of the character of Susan Mayer (played by Teri Hatcher) in the hit series in the U.S. “Desperate Housewives”. In the premiere episode of its fourth season, Mayer asked for the credentials of the gynecologist who examined her and told her that she was approaching menopause. She said, “Can I check those diplomas ‘coz I just want to make sure that they’re not from some med school in the Philippines.” The episode posted on YouTube.com drew criticisms from the Filipino community on the Internet. Angry Filipino-Americans said they have written the show’s producer objecting to the “racist slur and demanding an apology.

Do American sitcoms shoot scenes extemporaneously and are script less ala Pinoy style? More likely the script dialogue was deliberate and specific. I strongly smell something fishy as the timing coincides with Congressional deliberations on the cheaper medicines legislation. The seedy reputation of Big Pharma raises suspicions, coming in the wake of the recent controversy between the Department of Health (DOH) and the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) on breastfeeding, and their atrocious pricing policy.

One of the oligarchs of America alongside the Military and the Federal Government is Big Pharma, a component of Big Business. Holding a vital function in Big Pharma is the propaganda machine called Public Relations or PR with the primary mission to furbish the company image. Common PR practices are the (1) Astroturf referring to grassroots citizen groups funded by corporations or public relations firms, (2) Corporate sponsored front groups created or used by PR firms to appear as "independent" third parties, and (3) third party technique which has been defined by one PR executive as, "put your words in someone else's mouth.”, putting their words in the mouths of journalists by hiring reporters to write stories which favor their clients, or by funding tendentious university research which they then publicize as "proof" of their client's position.

The third method was apparently chosen with studied precision - a highly popular sitcom for maximum effect and a likeable spokesperson, Teri Hatcher, who exuded lingering heroine features from her previous role as Lois Lane of Superman fame. The allusion to mistrust of Philippine medical facilities is deserved following the hubbub of the Nursing exam leak and cheating abetted by the mishandling of the licensure by the Professional Regulatory Commission. And to top it all, the PR spin shows arrogant contempt for a corrupt regime. Funded with a bruited war chest of $1 billion, placing pejorative words in Hatcher’s mouth is no big deal

The Hatcher episode is just the first salvo of Big Pharma aiming to sink the cheaper medicine vehicle. The PR spin is expected to intensify and will not remain clean and mild, the stakes being extremely high.

Update

Others view the “DH” incident from an acute angle, that it's good to find an issue around which Fil-Americans and Filipinos could get over their differences and finally unite (fractious Pinoys naturally disagree), but also pokes fun at onion-skin Pinoy sensitivity citing the sardonic racist humor of the soap has spattered other minority groups: taunted Latinos (larcenous, randy and hypocritically Catholic), African-Americans (criminal-minded), and Chinese (ignorant but grasping). Another says the producers are elated by the goaded attention, deserved or not, to boost waning interest. Racist brickbats have not been one sided.

Wasp Jokes

After successive waves of ethnic jokes it was inevitable that the harassed minorities would retaliate. A clever and anonymous cartel of these groups pooled its creative talents to produce the last word in ethnic humor: WASP jokes. Like its irreverent forebears, the WASP joke (the acronym signifies “White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) pokes fun at the peculiarities ─ real and imagined ─ that characterize the WASP. These would include the innate predilection toward big business:

Q ─ What do you call six WASPs sitting around a conference table?

A ─ Price fixing.

Q ─ What is the WASP version of the Holy Trinity?

A ─ General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. (Note: Pinoy version is Caltex, Petron and Shell)

Q ─ What do you get when you cross a WASP with a chimpanzee?

A ─ A three-feet-high blond company president.

Q ─ (On his reading habits): How do you keep a WASP uninformed?

A ─ Hide his copy of Reader’s Digest

Q ─ How do you keep him misinformed?

A ─ Find it for him.

Q ─ How do you tell a WASP at a nude party?

A ─ He’s the one reading The Wall Street Journal

Q ─ (On his politics): What does a WASP consider the chief injustice in the world?

A ─ (Chief Justice) Earl Warren.

Q ─ Name a WASP war hero.

A ─ General Franco.

Q ─ What is the WASPs favorite tree?

A ─ Birch.

Q ─ Why do WASPs fear sunburn?

A ─ Better dead than red.

His putative narrow-mindedness is a rich vein:

Q ─ What do you call 144 WASPs?

A ─ Gross bigotry.

Q ─ What do you call a WASP in Alabama with a Jewish name?

A ─ Lonely

Q ─ Why do WASPs prefer to belong to private country clubs?

A ─ It’s their final solution to the Jewish Problem.

And his lack of love for his Negro brethren is a veritable mother lode:

Q ─ What do you call a WASP with a Negro roommate?

A ─ A jailbird.

Q ─ What is the WASP version of black power?

A ─ 50 Negroes pulling a barge up the Mississippi.

Q ─ Name the two Negroes whom WASPs most admire.

A ─ Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.

Q ─ What is an Alabama WASP’s version of The Late Show?

A ─ A jury taking more than five minutes to find a Negro guilty.

Q ─ What do you call a WASP who has a Negro for dinner?

A ─ A cannibal.

Q ─ What’s a WASP dove in Alabama?

A ─ Someone who calls for a halt to the bombing of Negro churches.

Q ─ What do you call a Mississippi WASP who participates in a lynching?

A ─ A social climber.

The WASP’s physical frailty is also fair game:

Q ─ How many WASPs does it take to convict a Southern Negro of simple assault?

A ─ 24: 12 to beat him up and another 12 to find him guilty.

Q ─ What do you call a WASP prize fighter?

A ─ Lousy.

So is his religion:

Q ─ How can you tell a WASP prostitute?

A ─ There’s a Bible next to her bed.

Q ─ What do you call it when a prostitute services a WASP client?

A ─ The naked and the dead.

Q ─ What happens when a WASP couple get to know each other well?

A ─ Divorce.

Racial Bias

Why are some individuals not prejudiced? Two University professors conducted a study to investigate how some individuals are able to avoid prejudicial biases despite the pervasive human tendency to favor one's own group. What is remarkable about the findings is that only seven percent did not show any racial bias (as measured by implicit and explicit psychological tests), and that nonbiased individuals differed from biased individuals in a psychologically fundamental way -- they were less likely to form negative affective associations in general.

The authors argue that although negative affect cannot be reduced by reason alone, it could be reconditioned through positive interpersonal experiences or exposure to more positive images of ethnics in the media.

Gun Control

Rewrites of Jottings: Gun Control

Ferdinand Marcos and Martial Law are perceived by many as evil, but even the detractors must admit that not all decrees of the authoritarian regime were bad. Quite a few were actually beneficial. One of this is gun control.

Today, there are two camps with opposing views on gun control. There are the PRO-GUN (acronym for Peaceful, Responsible Owners of Guns) advocates who are fascinated by guns and who support liberalized possession of firearms, not just to own (which restricts guns to the confines of the home), but also to carry (concealed in one’s person. The main justification for ownership is self-protection and secondarily for hunting and target shooting. Gun collecting hobby is rare, indulged by a few rabid fanciers.

Opposing the PRO-GUN camp is the “Gunless Society Movement” that campaigns for a gun less society. The group claims their goal is not total elimination of firearms in our communities, but merely urges enactment of a law that strictly restricts to regular police and military personnel, in uniform and in line of duty, the reason and permission to carry firearms in public places.

A favorite argument of gun lovers is that guns do not kill, people do. The weakness in this proposition dwells in the fact that unarmed people hardly kill, merely maim. It is the man-with-gun combine that creates the mortal factor. Removing the gun from the combination enhances chances for survival. A gun settles a disagreement before words can work, usually with irreversible finality – no appeal, no reconsideration. This lesson is tragically illustrated in the Eldon Maguan and Arnie Twadles shootings, and in the deaths of lawmen who engaged in duels to conclude their heated discussion.

Without a gun, a person in an altercation uses less lethal weapons within reach , knives, clubs, fists, or can run away to fight another day. He may even use his wits to persuade rather than antagonize.

The plan of City Elders to provide Barangay Chairmen with firearms to help contain criminality in the city can only add to the increasingly difficult burden of this official. A gun holds little promise in this objective. Instead, a gun, being an instrument of violence, will surely cause more violence.

This possibility is not so remote. The City Council just recently adjudged two disputes involving Barangay Chairmen, and both incidents were complicated by alleged threats with a gun. That no fatalities resulted in the altercations are purely lucky happenstance.

Will a gun deter a crime? To get some answers, ask the bank security guards who survived the superior firepower of bank robbers that killed their fellow guards who resisted and fought back. Or, ask the lucky chauffeurs who wisely offered no resistance to the dozen armed men riding several cars that pounced on their and boss’s car to capyure the target for ransom.

It is difficult to imagine a gun preventing fraud or a snatching, and settling domestic quarrels or halting pollution by firms is best handled with the gift of gab. Rape is abetted, not prevented, by a gun. Traffic violations? – the deed is done—a gun might just invite a challenge to a duel, potentially adding more ticks to crime statistics.

Do kids have access to their parents’ guns? A senator believes so and is filing legislation to curb negligence. Imagine the dilemma of an adult faced with a child brandishing a gun (that could be a realistic toy but could be real) in boastful frolic and then pointing the gun at people. How will the adult respond --- grab the gun and maul the child? What if the trigger is pulled and a real bullet emerges after the explosion?

This cannot be dismissed as an unlikely scenario. Two actual homicides reported were perpetrated by kids below their teens, two accidents that would not have happened had there been two less guns in circulation. The guns acquired to protect the family caused the family’s devastation.

Personally, my past membership in our college rifle and pistol team served as a sobering influence regarding firearms. Participation in team competitions further deepened my awe for the power of those devices. By the time I took my oath as an “officer and gentleman” in the AFP, my respect for firearms was unshakable and these dictums deeply engrained:

“Never, never point a gun at anyone unless you intend to shoot”;

“In jest, guns are deadly”;

“Don’t shoot in anger, it spoils your aim.” Lord Acton’s “power corrupts” statement may well have undertones that apply to ordinary people. When a tiny bit of authority is vested on a puny person, there seems to be a subtle change in personality, casting an aura of superiority and an air of arrogance that makes him or her nine feet tall. A gun certainly bestows coercive power and the “giant complex”. But many people do how to handle this ogre in themselves, the urge that would gun down a helpless Hultman teenager.

A top police officer recently cited their crime statistics, a tool normally used as an aid in strategic plans and deployment of resources, in self-defense against criticisms. This official who obviously suffers from foot-in-mouth syndrome declared that the police force needs more firepower (which raises the probability of civilians being in harms way) but seemed to lack the vision to see sophisticated needs such as forensic medicine facilities, high tech detection and database info systems or even simple computers.

If Barangay Chairmen are now issued guns, this would be highly unfortunate and should be reconsidered. It is not right to construe a gun as a badge of authority; esteem for the person and respect for the position is presumed upon election to office. No accouterment can enhance the level of esteem.

The reasonable course to take in crime prevention is to provide the agency mandated to perform this function, the police, with ample support for them to do their job: more mobility, manpower, money, motivation. management and means of communication. Thus, they can strive to earn the respect, confidence and trust of the public.

Rewrite of Jottings: Gun Control 2

December 23, 1998 Mindanao Post

When I wrote the piece about firearms awhile back, I cited a few dictums, some seemingly jocular but all in dead earnest on handling the deadly device known as a hand gun. Fatalities by lethal gunshot have since been reported involving firearms with a license to carry.

Explicitly to carry but implicitly to slay, because guns are made for that very purpose. Target shooting is just an off-shoot (no pun) and pretext for possession.

Metro Manila where ferocious people live and where lack of discipline is rampant, was recently hit with a spate of shooting incidents. Picking four of these events grimly illustrates the high costs of breaching the tenets.

Case #1 – Following an argument over parking space in a cemetery, a young mother is shot dead, her son and nephew injured. Gun wielder disclaims intent to harm. Breached: never, never, never point a gun at anyone unless you intend to shoot. Lesson – the pistol might be loaded.

Case #2 – Policeman shot in mouth by fellow policeman irked by teasing of victim. Dictum: Don’t shoot in anger, it spoils your aim. Lesson – the act speaks for itself.

Case #3 – Bar owner buying a “hot” pistol from a police officer points gun at his waiter (cadging a cigarette) on the mouth to mimic a cigarette. Gun goes off, killing the waiter. Violated: never point a gun unless you intend to shoot, and, in jest guns are deadly. Lesson – buying a gun from a policeman brings trouble. Better yet, don’t buy one.

Case #4 – Birthday celebrant killed by a gun which he and is brother-in-law were playfully fighting for possession. Breached: in jest guns are deadly. Lesson – gun owners should shun B-day whoopee.

Mega Guns

According to a gun fancier, there are 609,000 licensed firearms owners. Of these 45,000 have permits to carry. These figures presumably do not include guns issued to law enforcers: police, NBI, Land Transportation, Coast Guard, jail guards and security agencies. Summing up all legally held guns, an estimate of one million would be close. Add to these the guns slipped out of barracks occasionally by the military and you have an idea of the risks the public is exposed to. No wonder then why so many civilians are shot – jostlers, bystanders, usizeros, LTO fixers, children, not to mention the casualties during Christmas and NewYear when revelers shot a bullet into the airand fell to earth we know not where.

Screening Applicants

A major flaw of the gun-permit system is its discretionary characteristics. Despite prescription of rigid guidelines and supplemental techniques such as a psychiatry test and firing-range practice, all depend on human judgment with its inherent errors, thus making the screening process selectively reliable.

Psychiatry tests presumably probe for homicidal tendencies of an applicant but may not pinpoint accurately a prime cause of shooting incidents – the spontaneous outburst of anger that pulls the trigger. The driving force behind hostility is a cynical mistrust of others. A person who expects others to mistreat him will seldom be disappointed. This generates anger that leads to an aggressive response. The first clue to hostile behavior in a situation an be gleaned from the answer to a question, “what is your purpose in doing this?” If it is to punish the other person for what he has done, then you are prone to episodes of anger. But psychotherapists know that people conceal unpleasant thoughts about themselves. Lying is a common human trait, even Presidents have been known to lie.

In one criminal trial in the U.S. a doctor testified that the defendant was an incorrigible sociopath and would go ahead and commit similar or the same criminal acts if given the opportunity. The doctor explained that his training as a psychiatrist enabled him to reach this conclusion from a 90 minute interview with the defendant.

The American Psychiatric Association protested and in a legal brief argued tha such a testimony “gives the appearance of being based on expert medical judgment when in fact no such expertise exists.” The statement had a strong foundation.

Virtually every research study before then has shown that when it comes to long term predictions about dangerous behavior psychiatrists are wrong more often than they are right. Personality tests cannot even detect whether a person has been violent in the past, let alone predict the future. And here we are asking psychiatrists to use an imprecise science to make absolute moral judgment.

Practice firing as training of an applicant takes time and is costly. Although it can arguably improve aiming proficiency, it also can boost egos, trigger the Rambo complex and enhance his maiming ability. Yet the shooting sessions may not help his emotional stability, nervousness and tension in a confrontation.

Gun-related violence in the U.S. has reached a point where even schoolchildren are shooting schoolmates, prompting authorities to tighten gun purchases. But buying a gun there is prohibited to only two types of buyer: those with a history of violent behavior or those with money problems. The prospective buyer’s dossier is checked from police files linked nationwide.

Screening with the aid of a polygraph (lie detector) test could substitute for the psychiatry phase, but this technique has validity as low as 64% according to critical scientists and besides has a fatal weakness. Because it is based on a predetermined set of questions (the standard format known as the Control Format Test) it can be leaked much like the PRC exams for professionals and thus creating a public danger by awarding a license (perhaps to kill).

Self-Protection Rationale

A favorite rationale for gun ownership is self-protection because of police invisibility. In reality, the reasoning is full of kinks. A foe with intent to kill will surely use treachery and superior numbers or firepower to assure success. Against a similarly armed stranger, the guns could incite violence stimulated by braggadocio. But the most telling of all is the significant number of unarmed victims shot, mocking the self-protection theory.

Just recently, newspapers and cable TV networks reported the story on the Capitol shooting in Washington D.C. where two veteran policemen were killed by a man with a .38. “One was shot when the man tried to evade a metal detector. After hearing the gunfire, the other confronted the man, told him to drop the gun but was killed. He shot the man as he went down. Two cops with 36 years combined experience men with firing-range refresher courses thoroughly familiar with guns, trained to be cool and deliberate and vigilant – if these men can’t preempt the bad guy, preferably without being killed or wounded themselves, who can? So much for self-protection.

Protecting one’s home from intruders is not too difficult. But aside from the passive locks and metal grilles, the aggressive methods pose problems of cost and legality. Take for instance the installation of booby traps around the house. These untended contraptions are highly effective slayers, proven in the Vietnam war in the ‘60s and the Samar jungles of the Fil-American conflict. But the major drawback is its inability to distinguish between a kid trespassing innocently from a hard-core burglar breaking in or from a household member. There is also the knotty question of premeditation in case the intruder dies.

A gun at home is just as lethal if the owner is careless in its custody.

A surefire, absolutely effective means to control guns is by reducing the number of permits to carry, preferably from the present 45,000 to zero. If Japan, Canada, Australia and U.K. can do it, why can’t we?

Rewrite of Jottings: Gun Control 3

Packaged with the right to bear (fire) arms is the inevitable risk of shooting one’s self in the foot. I say again what I stated earlier in an article published in 2003 reproduced below.

A Deluge of Guns

22 Oct 2003 Mindanao Post

The President, in her State of the Nation Address last year, vowed to crack down on crime as part her administration’s efforts to build a "strong republic." She said crime was undermining the country’s economic recovery efforts and eventually threatening national security.

In January, upon orders from President Arroyo, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Police Director General Hermogenes Ebdane stopped issuing permits that allowed licensed gun holders to carry their weapons outside their homes in an effort to curb crime. About 30,000 permits of licensed gun holders were likewise canceled, drawing protests from gun owners.

Amazingly, Director General Hermogenes Ebdane has now allowed about 42,000 barangay chairmen nationwide to carry firearms in a bid to help curb crime but on condition that the firearms be only handguns no larger than a 9-mm. or caliber .38.

Although barangay leaders would be given permits to carry guns outside their homes, Ebdane said they would be barred from bringing guns to videoke bars and other nightspots where fights are likely to occur. Barangay kagawads ( legislators) and tanods (security men) cannot carry firearms.

Whatever happened to the policy proposal that strictly restrict to regular police and military personnel, in uniform and in line of duty the reason and permission to carry arms in public places? In early 1997, Cagayan de Oro city councilors also contemplated issuing Barangay Chairmen with firearms due to, you guessed it, rising crime. (Maybe the Kapitans were issued the guns on the hush-hush but no notable reduction of crimes was sensed.) I wrote a dissenting opinion at the time and I repeat here what I said then.

A favorite argument of those infatuated with firearms is that guns do not kill, people do. The weakness in this proposition is that unarmed people hardly kill, merely maim. A gun settles a disagreement before words can work, usually with irreversible finality — as tragically illustrated in the Eldon Maguan and Ernie Tuadles shootings, and the deaths of lawmen who engaged in duels to settle their heated argument.

Without a gun, a person uses less lethal weapons such as fists, clubs, knives, or run away to fight another day. He may even use his wits to persuade rather than antagonize. Will a gun deter a crime? Bank security guards who survived the superior firepower of bank robbers that slew fellow guards who resisted and fought back can best answer the question. It is difficult to imagine a gun preventing a fraud or deterring the furtive snatch thief, and settling domestic quarrels or halting pollution by firms are best handled with the gift of gab. Traffic violations? The deed is done. A gun would just provoke a goading challenge or a duel by another gun toter. The CDO City Council at that time had to adjudge two disputes involving Barangay Chairmen in cases involving threats with a gun.

I was a member of our college rifle and pistol team, and one of my cherished mementos is a champion’s plaque that I won. This experience served as a sobering influence regarding firearms. Team competitions further deepened my awe for the power of the devices. By the time I took my oath as an “officer and a gentleman” in the AFP my respect for firearms was unshakable and these dictums deeply ingrained:

Never, never, never point a gun at anyone unless you intend to shoot.

In jest, guns are deadly.

Don’t shoot in anger— it spoils your aim.

Lord Acton’s ‘power corrupts’ statement may well have undertones that apply to ordinary people. Give a puny person a tiny bit of authority and his personality changes with a feeling of superiority and self-importance. A gun provides that feeling.

Let’s hope our Kapitans are not puny.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. --George Bernard Shaw

Update

The good news in October 2007, the Philippine National Police (PNP) will no longer apply for gun ban exemption from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in an effort to prevent unscrupulous policemen from acting as bodyguards of politicians. PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. said policemen can carry their firearms outside their stations and houses even without gun ban exemption provided that they are wearing complete police uniform. Interior Secretary RonaldoPuno reminded all policemen that they would also be arrested for carrying guns if they are not in proper uniform.

The bad news is a road rage report in an editorial – “Two lives lost and another destroyed — that’s too steep a price for road rage. But given the utter lack of road courtesy in this country, such incidents are no longer surprising. Advocates of a gun-less society will point out that the tragedy would not have happened if Hernandez did not have a pistol in his possession at the time of the accident. Because of rampant lawlessness, however, many Filipinos are unlikely to give up their guns.

The best way to discourage the use of guns for offensive purposes is by showing the public that incidents such as the one in Pasig do not go unpunished. Based on police accounts, Hernandez was within his right to defend himself from what appeared to have been a violent assault. But he went overboard, shooting to kill rather than scare or disable, and not just one but two people. Did he have a permit to carry a gun outside his home?"

A gun settles a disagreement before words can work, usually with irreversible finality – no appeal, no reconsideration.

Education Matters & Blazing News

Rewrites of Jottings: Education Matters & Blazing News

March 3, 1999

In early 1995a leading Manila daily carried a news item about the planned phase-out of Nursing in state colleges. The reason given by the chief of the newly created Commission of Higher Education (CHED) why she was recommending the phase-out was due to the fact that nursing graduates will only leave the country; only the foreign institutions who hire these emigrant nurses benefit from their schooling. So, she asks, why should Philippine government schools spend for these people whose jobs benefit only foreign countries? This logic comes from a person with a doctorate in something or other.

Later, sometime in 1998, Xavier University President Samson in a speech to the XU-PTA addressed campus concerns and mentioned among other things the closure of the Nursing School of Xavier. He said a steadily declining enrolment forced the closure of the school.

Now, there are indications of a shortage of nurses in the country. Both private and government hospitals have been losing experienced and competent nurses. They have accepted jobs in an English speaking country named England. And this country is eager for more of such English-speaking experienced nurses.

Nurses employed abroad benefit our country in two ways: the foreign currency remitted by the emigrants and the job openings they created by emigrating. This logic of course runs counter to a doctorate’s way of thinking.

In the PTA speech, Fr. Samson also expressed regrets about having to reluctantly impose tuition fee increases, knowing that these will further burden family budgets. Yet, in the afternoon 0f 17 February 1999 a rally of X.U. students demonstrated against a perceived tuition fee increase. Witnesses said that the rally was peaceful and orderly until some frat brats spoiled the message.

As a parent of teeners attending college, I sympathize with the predicament of schools, but also share the misery of parents in the tuition fee controversy. For I am painfully aware that matters of education and the academe have been forced into the mainstream of economic realities. Inflation attacks both the family budget and the school budget. But I also realize that schools that do not maintain and upgrade facilities or pay tutors attractive salaries will degrade and so will their ability to educate.

When the Magna Carta for Students bill first emerged in the news I explained to my children that studying in college is a matter of choice, just like a customer shopping for the best quality goods and constrained only by the limits of budget. The lesson: if one desires quality education, be ready to pay the price. And to drive home this point, I rebuked their elation when a class is cancelled, whatever the reason --- absent teacher, transport strike, someone’s birthday, or whatever --- they, the students, are the losers. They paid for that cancelled session but were deprived of the learning opportunity.

More than once I emphasized to them the ultimate goal of education: the acquisition of knowledge and ability to reason that will help them to be an independent, law-abiding and productive member of society, and that learning must continue for the rest of their life to keep in stride with progress in an ever changing world.

Finally, I cautioned them about too much reliance on a diploma, a piece of paper they paid for with real diligence but which can also be bought instantly from specialists in a Manila main street, complete with transcripts of records and even a thesis.

Indeed there are suspicions that some graduate students submit masteral theses they purchased at a price up to P50,000 depending on the subject. CHED deplores the practice, saying that the act falls under fraud and falsification of public documents, a crime punishable by 6 to 12 years imprisonment. But amnesty will be granted to students who snitch in court on the enterprising professor who wrote and sold the thesis. It went on to say that Congress will be asked to review the penalty for this crime, an implied threat that might end up being a heinous crime, considering the prevailing bloodlust.

And so, a caveat: beware of the diploma framed on the wall whenever consulting a doctor or other professional --- it could be spurious. And speaking of consultation, parents and students should heed the nuances of the word. Here’s what my ancient Funk & Wagnalls says of consult and its synonym: CONFER suggests the interchange of counsel, advise or information. CONSULT indicates almost exclusively the receiving of it. A man confers with his associates, consults a physician or dictionary.

Flight of the Multinationals

The Year of the Tiger, 1998, was not too gentle to the tiger economies of Asia. Even kittenish Philippines was roughed up. The flight of hot money of foreign speculators triggered the financial crisis. This was followed by the 50 – 60% devaluation of the peso which strong-armed inflation into double digits. Next came the jump in bank loan rates that induced business failures and job layoffs. To cap the debacle, multinational companies started to abandon the country in droves, shutting down their manufacturing plants and laying off their workers: Warner-Lambert, Johnson & Johnson, Colgate-Palmolive, Novartis, Pharma Phil, Philipps Electronics, Abbott Laboratories. The latest to join the exodus is Procter and Gamble, leaving only the locals in the toiletries manufacturing industry. The departed expats merely maintain marketing operations and import their products from their other plants in nearby countries where labor, power, infrastructure and raw materials are less expensive.

Thousands of Filipinos lost their jobs, workers with middle-income salaries that used to pay for children’stuition fees, housing amortization, utility bills and groceries would now seriously worry on how to cope.

The decision of the multinationals to desert, no doubt, was influenced by two factors: high production costs and wages, and the retail trade liberalization. The implication of liberalized retailing is the marketing by foreigners of cheaper goods that will threaten the survival of not only local retailers, but also local manufacturers who are burdened by the same high costs that drove away the multinationals.

So, where are the so-called safety nets promised to cushion the ill effects of globalization? Nowhere to be found. Now the paternalistic half-century old policies protecting infant industries are coming home to roost.

Rewrites of Jottings: Education Matters 2

16 December 1998

Of course education matters, It may not matter when a farmer plants his crop, or when the police arrest him for harvesting that crop. It may not even matter when a judge passes the death sentence for cultivating the prohibited marijuana plant on public land. Not anymore. For ignorance, the lack of learning and education, could be unforgiving and a matter of life or death. Ignorance of the law excuses no one.

Education does matter, even in the face of the belief that ignorance is a right, not a privilege.

SOPHOMORIC

Retrieved from dead files, this opus was written in the early 90’s.

Like any typical secondary school sophomore, our daughter tends to collect trivia to litter her study closet. And like any doting and tolerant (to a point) parent, Mom periodically unclutters the clutter. But to make sure that nothing of value is trashed, this dad scans the “litter-ature” for any trivial gems.

Sure enough, one such piece was almost discarded. Salvaged and preserved as a souvenir was a sophomoric masterpiece created in all probability during one of those inattentive moments in a boring class. It was written on a “things-to-do” prompter sheet captioned “do it or else … This dad couldn’t resist the temptation of providing repartees (in brackets) to his daughter’s witticisms thus ---

1. Get ready for the day. (DAD: a real toughie)

2. Avoid sleeping in Chemistry. (DAD: It’s OK in Pilipino)

3. Pass activity cards on time. (DAD): But fill them up first.)

4. Study the night before a test --- not 3 minutes before it. (DAD: Caveat – sleepyheads fail.)

5. Don’t scream if there is a lizard above your head. (DAD: Only if it is under your skirt.)

6. Don’t chew gum in class. DAD: Or else you’ll be classified as a ruminant.)

7. Stop acting like a know-it-all. (DAD: Just be one.)

8. Do not accuse the teacher of sputtering saliva, bad breath etc behind her back. (DAD: Be a sport, do it frontally.)

9. Pay class funds and clean on your cleaning day. (DAD: Clean out the class funds.)

10 Stop spending all your money on snacks when you’re not hungry. (DAD: Bum instead.)

SUPERLATIVE

When the kids were in high school I got sucked into their study endeavors, confirming the truism that adult education is something that continues as long as kids hve homework. It soon became apparent that there were gaps in my grasp of the subjects that I breezed through in my day. To prop up my stature as dad (the fountain of knowledge), a rapid review of their textbooks had to be undertaken, the frenzy resembling, in modern terms, a VCR rewound and then put on fast forward.

One thing led to another and soon a breakfast university evolved the result of a common wakeup time. Having arisen minutes before the children’s alarm clock rang, I functioned as a “snooze” feature that served as the backup rouser, the fail-safe gimmick for the sleepyheads and surly risers.

The “breakfast school” usually began with general talk, gradually drifting to recent classroom lessons and activities. The unobtrusive but inquisitive grilling, laced with new words and ideas to stimulate the “why” response in their young minds, worked most of the time. But occasionally a sore spot was touched and a sudden silent calm would dim the mood on the table. Most times, the soreness was gone by the next breakfast.

Yet another interesting innovation was the computer program which I created and dubbed “learn”. The software (computerese for program) was written in a computer language called Basic and covered the school subjects. The program was designed to reinforce formal school work..

Each subject module ended with ten randomly picked questions. Correct replies were then summed up and a score given, after which a final praise or scorn rating was awarded.

It was at this stage that a choice had to be made --- whether to heed the motivation principle to scold softly but praise mightily or to give emphasis to building vocabulary; in brief, feelings versus communication. Words won out.

The verbal ratings ranged from the pat --- excellent, marvelous, terrific, superb, magnificent, sensational, fabulous, fantastic, splendid, wonderful, brainy, talented, scholarly; to the bland --- average, fair, so-so, plodding, mediocre; to the rap --- stupid, moron, imbecile, idiot, vacuous, fatuous, feeblebrain, numbskull, dimwit, ignoramus, halfwit, lamebrain, birdbrain.

Crafting the program was truly a learning experience, for me more than for the children. Learning Basic, which is essentially a system of English commands translated to machine language by the computer innards, was challenge enough. On top of this, the project demanded a re-study of algorithms and the math techniques of linear programming and PERT/CPM (both too complex to detail here) to reduce branching and pathways and thus speed-up program execution.

Little by little, I grudgingly accepted the computer’s rigid rules, its distracting beeps and bells announcing program errors, and its unforgiving nature. I learned a valuable lesson besides --- it is difficult to outwit a dumb machine.

The final outcome was a working model. Not sufficiently brilliant for commercial purposes but enough of a teaching aide for the kids. And for me, a hobby was born. High school still was not a picnic for the kids but it was no longer a drag. Stumbling and frustration did not disappear, but perseverance improved perceptively.

The lighter side of the computer episode was, of course, the games, both the entertaining and instructional. One or two of the advanced games even had the temerity to admonish: if at first you don’t succeed, read the instructions.

The accumulated software library of bought diskettes was not expensive, the total cost coming to about the purchase price of a few hardcover books. The benefaction was however marred by the non-originality of the software, both diskettes and brochures being copied …to use the harsh term, pirated. The pirating of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) was commonplace then. (Albeit to a lesser extent, it persists today, even in our centers of idealism and ethics --- the colleges --- where students are encouraged to photocopy (Xerox) whole chapters of reference books. Typical third world ethics and perverse sense of economy.)

The mealtime university lasted throughout the high school years where school hours were still regular. It came to a gradual end when college and puberty brought on a disorder bordering on chaos, where punctuality was banished and procrastination became the new order. I coined the phenomenon “adiabatic peer pressure.”

As I look back on those halcyon years with nostalgia, I wistfully describe them best with one word --- superlative.

Good News Anyone?

No wonder President Estrada is sore at media --- they are too intrusive in the affairs of state. Look at some of the scandalous activities they’re ventilating:

₧3 million bribe try in contract for textbook purchase smears Departments of Budget and Executive Secretary

₧17 billion Napocor contract imputed as scam irks Erap who screams ‘libel’

Squabbling over turf in lucrative sugar, rice imports

Fake land titling syndicate; Ghost reforestation

Adulterated rice, pesticide-dosed veggies, tampered weigh scales, dyed fish

₧11 billion EXPO scam (minimum)

RSBS scam (amount a military secret)

₧7.8 billion AFP modernization fund vanishes

Murderers, rapists serving life sentences allowed luxury living inside maximum security prison

Top sports officials bickering, insinuations fly

₧1.6 billion in fake tax-credit involving 12 corporations

Toll fee hike stirs furor; pending hikes in power, telephone metering opposed

Revelations of thievery in officialdom is not new of course. The remarkable feature of the news is the influx of inflation in the alleged stealing --- rapacity is now measured in the billions (with a B). A million or two is scornfully considered small change nowadays?

National I.D. Debate

Rewrites of Jottings: National I.D. Debate

28 January 1997

The dispute over the Identification (I.D.) System issue raging nationwide makes interesting reading. When we wrote about the topic (Identification information, Mindanao Post, 24 Dec 1996), we had no inkling of the impetus and determination (it was signed 12 Dec 1996) driving the concept that finally emerged on 9 January 1997 in the form of Administrative Order 308.

The uproar raised by the announcement was not unexpected. We did warn that there was opposition to the issue, and that drawing up implementing guidelines would not be easy, which now seems to be confirmed by the scramble to redraft the E.O. wording.

We are not inclined to join the fray and side with either of the two camps (critics vs. supporters). However, should a computer-based ID System eventually be established, we would urge a demand for safeguards against the hocus-pocus that the system will attract.

When Big Blue (IBM) started dominating the computer industry, the expression “garbage in, garbage out” was coined. Data entry at the time used punch cards. The point was driven home with ubiquitous wall signs carrying the provocative word “THINK”.

The “garbage” dictum is as apt today as it was then, maybe more so now, with so many bright minds manipulating computer data, some maliciously.

The danger to the ID system lies at the input stage – the authentication of entries on the dossier (call it what you may, but this is the precise description). Since data entry points will be numerous throughout the country (a centralized system like LTO’s driver’s licensing is too cumbersome), the network must be made foolproof, a Herculean task. At this stage, a method must be devised to guarantee that only one discreet and unique dossier is made for each person, even if that person attempts to enroll/apply at several places in the country.

Digital systems, such as bar codes similar to the Universal Product Code (UPC) used by supermarkets and the magnetic keycards used by advanced hotels, cannot be this guardian. Only analog methods that record an individual’s unique characteristics and features will do ─ fingerprints read by the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, the eye blood vessel pattern read by the Eye Identifier, and security printing used in money. All three combined assures maximum security. Embedded microchips as in Smart cards may be useful but would pose questions of economy and utility.

The next precaution phase would be the revision/update stage. The plastic ID card could be lost and has to be replaced – the point where data entry could be manipulated (tampered). The photo on the ID would have to be updated periodically, again requiring complete replacement, and shredding of the old card (viewed by witnesses, just like in the burning of prohibited drugs).

Forewarned is forearmed.

Identification Information

Rewrites of Jottings: IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION

Published Mindanao Post 25 Dec 1996

Not long after birth, the newborn is drawn into a paper trail of information. Simple data at first, parents and birth data. Then as the baby grows through childhood, the information grows with it, now including schools, siblings, and abode. The demands for information keep pace with the child into adulthood and citizenship: voter’s data, driver’s licenses, permits, school records, occupation constituting the “biographical data” (biodata), the must for obtaining employment.

Now an adult and earning a livelihood, the individual continues to amass information and fills the demands for it: marriage status, children, date of employment, passport and travel, police and NBI clearance, club memberships, credit card facilities, banks, sources and level of income, and others.

Among the most demanding information seekers are the so-called Human Resources department (HRD’s) of public and private institutions. In their quest for reliable data, the applicant for employment is often asked for data irrelevant to the position sought. It does not matter that the irrelevance adds to paperwork clutter; that’s a firm’s choice. But what does matter is the manner in which the collected data is handled and protected from prying eyes.

Comes now a proposal by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for a national system of identification that is encountering heavy opposition. President Ramos, in supporting the plan, declared that he has not wholly rejected the implementation of the system but wants it designed to avoid invasion of privacy.

Proponents say that the benefits to society far outweigh the ills. Initial implementation at barangay level will help barangay officials respond effectively against crime. It will expedite the voting process and discourage cheating. It will provide a solution for the pesky demands for an I.D. by gate guards (who currently fancy a driver’s license). It can serve as a permanent police and NBI clearance until revoked by conviction, or as authentic data for employment purposes. It will be a welcome replacement for the outmoded and unreliable colonial system called the Cedula and Community tax.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, opposers counter with both legal and speculative arguments. They aver that it violates bank secrecy and that it will pinpoint targets of kidnapping and blackmail. Human rights advocates fear abuse of the system and believe it will lead to violations of human rights. And naturally, it is dreaded by those who thrive in anonymity ─ the flying voters, the ghost employees, the criminal underworld.

In this age of Information Technology, massive data can and are compiled and rapidly accessed, at times wrongfully. To preserve the individual’s right to privacy in the face of expanding requirements for information by business and government organizations, four principles of privacy are proposed:

1. Individuals should have access to information about themselves in record-keeping systems and there should be some procedure to find out how this information is being used.

2. There should be some way for an individual to correct or amend an inaccurate record.

3. An individual should be able to prevent information from being improperly disclosed or used for other than authorized purposes without his or her consent, unless required by law. click on image

4. The custodian of data files containing sensitive information should take reasonable precautions to be sure that the data are reliable and not misused.

Translating these broad principles into specific and uniform guidelines will not be easy. A proper balance must be found between limiting access to information to fulfill the needs of society on the other.

The imperative need for identification is manifested in many forms. Banks assign to each customer a unique account number for passbooks, checkbooks and special accounts, and a PIN (personal identification number) on ATM cards. The National Statistics office, not to be outdone, issues also a PIN (population identification number) automatically assigned to individuals born after a specified date in 1980’s. And much earlier in the I.D. game, taxmen in the BIR deal with taxpayers using a TIN.

So, must a citizen bear all these TINs, PINs, QINs and ZINs which all cost money, or should these be simplified into one national NIN?

Update

Biometrics ID

Frequent flyers, clients or customers normally go through an annoying process of identifying his person before being served. Today they are offered a method of expeditious identification aside from the ubiquitous ID card in laminated plastic. One can apply for a special discount card at a supermarket. The clerk enters your biodata into their computer, scans one of your existing IDs cum photo, and after a lapse of two days issues a plastic card resembling a credit card without the magnetic stripe. This card is typical of a relatively low-tech system.

Credit cards and ATM cards are an improvement over the laminated IDs but still does not protect your identity as an individual. A new system called Biometrics refers to the automatic identification of a person based on his/her physiological or behavioral characteristics. This method of identification is preferred over traditional methods involving passwords and PIN numbers for various reasons: first, the person to be identified is required to be physically present at the point-of-identification; second, identification based on biometric techniques obviates the need to remember a password or carry a token. With the increased use of computers as vehicles of information technology, it is necessary to restrict access to sensitive/personal data. By replacing PINs, biometric techniques can potentially prevent unauthorized access to or fraudulent use of ATMs, cellular phones, smart cards, desktop PCs, workstations, and computer networks. PINs and passwords may be forgotten, and token based methods of identification like passports and driver's licenses may be forged, stolen, or lost. Thus biometric systems of identification are enjoying a renewed interest. Various types of biometric systems are being used for real-time identification, the most popular are based on face recognition and fingerprint matching. However, there are other biometric systems that utilize iris and retinal scan, speech, facial thermograms, and hand geometry.

A biometric system is essentially a pattern recognition system which makes a personal identification by determining the authenticity of a specific physiological or behavioral characteristic possessed by the user. An important issue in designing a practical system is to determine how an individual is identified. Depending on the context, a biometric system can be either a verification (authentication) system or an identification system.

Verification vs Identification:

There are two different ways to resolve a person's identity: verification and identification. Verification (Am I whom I claim I am?) involves confirming or denying a person's claimed identity. In identification, one has to establish a person's identity (Who am I?). Each one of these approaches has its own complexities and could probably be solved best by a certain biometric system.

Applications:

Biometrics is a rapidly evolving technology which has been widely used in forensics such as criminal identification and prison security. Recent advancements in biometric sensors and matching algorithms have led to the deployment of biometric authentication in a large number of civilian applications. Biometrics can be used to prevent unauthorized access to ATMs, cellular phones, smart cards, desktop PCs, workstations, and computer networks. It can be used during transactions conducted via telephone and Internet (electronic commerce and electronic banking). In automobiles, biometrics can replace keys with key-less entry and key-less ignition.

ECONOMIC TWIST REDUX

Rewrites of Jottings: ECONOMIC TWIST REDUX

Published Mindanao Post 25 February 1997

EUREKA!

· Now we know what is one of the major causes of a 2-digit inflation rate – the rice farmer – if we are to believe some economic analysts. Note these series of pronouncements:

“The projected rice shortfall in the third quarter would be easily met by cheaper rice imports.” – senior agri official who asked not to be identified.

“Rice carries a weight of 10-15% in the consumer price index (CPI),” say analysts.

“Prospects of more rice supplies should temper any rise in inflation.” – vice president of a private securities firm.

“Ample rice stocks in the country at the start of the year will help keep inflation in single digits during the first six months of 1997,” officials and analysts say.

Conclusion: If our rice farmers fail to produce enough rice, rapid inflation is expected unless cheaper rice is imported before prices start to rise.

· Now we also know the culprits that keep sugar retail prices so high. According to Wilson Gamboa, Sugar Regulatory Administration head, “the sugar industry hid behind the shield of a domestic market forced to purchase expensive sugar”. How expensive? If tariffs on imported sugar are kept at 100% (which doubles the price), the sugar industry can still sing “happy days are here again”. But if the AFTA, the ASEAN trade association, pushes the application of the schedule bringing the tariff down to 52%, the sugar industry cannot compete!

Lately, the House Speaker endorsed the move to suspend the tariff cut to protect the 40,000 sugar farmers and producers. What was not said: the rest of the country won’t mind carrying the farmers on their backs for a decade or two more.

Still on sugar, “RP sugar exports surge, about 30,000 percent in November 1996 compared to the same month in 1995”. Yet a sugar shortage looms this year. Simply amazing!

Note on sugar: Mary Poppins’ memorable song line “…a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down…” failed to add that it also relieves hiccups. Can sugar substitutes, the artificial sweeteners, do this?

· Not all news in the economic front are gloomy for the consumer. Farmers in the North plan to shift their crops from tobacco to corn, in protest to the new excise taxes imposed on cigarettes. The shift may help ease a corn shortage and high prices but will make the farmers miserable and still not curb the country’s craving for the addictive drug nicotine.

CAVEAT EMPTOR

· “Schedules and rates are subject to change without prior notice.” Buyer beware. You have only yourself to blame if you meet disappointment when you patronize this sort of firm.

· If the product being advertised is so great, why then is it compared to the leading brand?

· Deregulation of the shipping industry spawned a slew of fast ferries plying the Visayas and Mindanao routes. These high-speed vessels capable of speeds up to 75 km/hr makes marine mishaps more likely. The conventional maritime “Rules of the Road” may no longer suffice to avert collisions within crowded inland waters, and this raises the possibility of higher mortality rates due to fire and severe injuries as well as drowning. A high-speed collision makes ships more likely to sink rapidly, thereby reducing chances of donning life vests.

AHA!

· Those prone to seasickness (or motion sickness on land) may find relief from a common kitchen ingredient, ginger, in case they forget to buy either of the two non-prescription drugs (Bonamine or Dramamine) before embarking.

· Good news for all air travelers: Japan’s grant (aid) to upgrade facilities and improve training methods of the Civil aviation Training Center that trains Filipino air traffic controllers will help make our airspace safer for domestic and foreign flights.

· The list of those who value precision global time (GMT) is growing. Joining Xavier U. is CEPALCO. Individuals owning precision timepieces with a quartz movement can synchronize their time to the two.

ORDER MATTERS

· News item: “…some police officers at the COCPC are grumbling over the revamp. One who refused to be identified said most of the juicy portions were given to those (elite group) …” The key word is “juicy”. In economic parlance it means “rewarding and profitable financially”. If so, there are serious grounds for grumbling over turf. Was the expression blurted out or just pure choice?

· Built-in obsolescence: throwaway vehicles given gratis for police operations sans funds for their maintenance and gas.

· Never ending story: tale of busted traffic lights on one junction, after hiatus, fixed in the nick of time as the next junction’s light conks out, as if on one. If we do not have the means to keep simple items in running order, should we expect to keep the complex ones working reliably?

· Newly appointed Traffic Caesar (Czar) Ramon Tabor, city councilor par excellence, plans to compile a Traffic Code from a collection of pertinent Ordinances and Executive Orders. The compiled code will then be used to brief enforcers, and presumably, to re-educate errant drivers. It is hoped that the re-education would include, as a social obligation, the conventions of polite motoring.

· A proposal to obtain TMEB clearance as a pre-requisite of driver’s license renewal seems, at first, a clever method to identify habitual traffic offenders for eventual cancellation of license. On second thought, the idea loses luster because it adds an extra step to an already cumbersome process and provides an opportunity for “squeeze play”, the come-across-or-else game. This step punishes the vast majority for the sins of a few.

COUNTER CLOCKWISE (CCW)

Yesterday the CHDF, today the CAFGU, tomorrow the CCW? Never heard of the last one? You’re not alone.

The CCW is a fledgling para-police organization called the Citizens Crime Watch that reportedly signed an agreement with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to set up Koban-type police stations. They are granted authority as peace officers, and DILG will direct local government units down to barangay level, and police, to extend assistance. CCW members are given PhP100 (period unspecified), and may ask government and private entities to buy for them motorcycles, vehicles, and communications equipment.

Low pay, coercive authority” a combination that spawns extortion. Good intentions? These pave the road to that place where souls roast.

DREAMERS

· Like a breath pf fresh, unpolluted air (which we used to have here in Baloy), I read about a group of young, zealous idealists (distinct from the Doctors to the Barrio ideologues) are still active in their mission to educate remote barangay residents on their duty and dignity as voters. This non-partisan group call themselves Simbahan Linkod ng Bayan. Social services at no cost to the taxpayer.

· From a consumer viewpoint, the main drawback of oil deregulation is the fact that an oil price hike urges a petition for a fare increase which, if granted, is irreversible, even when oil prices subside.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Rewrites of Jottings: RANDOM THOUGHTS

Published Mindanao Post 10 Feb 1999

SILLY QUESTIONS

How many citizens can boast of having bladders so large it can hold gallons of pee-pee? Or can suppress the urge to purge it hour after hour? Or have not at one time or another felt a compelling, bursting desire to let go?

If the answer is not many, how many places can most people -- those unexceptional individuals with normal size bladders who are in distress -- take refuge to address the urgent call, places whether public or private, for sanitarily disposing the accumulated unsanitary smelly water? And how many private facilities provide easy, convenient and hassle-free access to such piss-burdened souls?

If the answer is not many, then how many government facilities are open to the populace – Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays included – for their relief? And how many of these taxpayer-paid-for facilities welcome the general public, not just its own customers (like some government buildings that reserve its parking area for minions and customers only), facilities manned by bureaucrats who concede to the notion that such hospitality is a tiny gesture of appreciation to the silently suffering taxpayers for their excise, specific, individual, value-added, business, corporate, documentary, customs, E-VAT, community, and countless other taxes they paid?

If the answer is not many, how many ingenious ways have been contemplated as solutions before even thinking of punitive measures to alleviate, diminish, or stop the annoying odorous dilemma? How many of these innovations are ways to preserve the image and fragrance of the city, not merely another method of filling its coffers?

If not many, how many ideas can the general public offer (based on the theory and belief that it is their city)? How about you, dear reader?

If not many, how many conclusions can anyone reach about the decency and manners of the community?

Not many, silly.

SOBER QUESTIONS

A freshly erupted Eraption (the witticisms emanating from the proclivity of President “Erap” Estrada to offer one-liner opinions), which usually signals the onset of contentious debate, was about his posture on abortion. He said he opposed it.

This declaration rejuvenates the dormant issue of abortion with sonics raised to a higher decibel level. It will be boosted by the adrenalin induced by the death penalty furor. The death sentence will take center stage once again but this time the principal actor will be the unborn, in an entirely silent and passive mode so to speak, and the mother in a supporting but vital role.

The abortion issue will split both the erudite and the unlearned into two contending camps: the pro-lifers who oppose abortion absolutely and the pro-choicers who support women’s rights and the mother’s right to decide.

Will the battle be in the field of morality, of right and wrong, sinner or saint? Or will it spill, as it probably will, into the legislative tussles and court litigation?

What are the legal reference points other than the constitutional provision that the state “shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception”?

The terse phrase “from conception” has a parallel in U.S. legislation. Five years before the 1987 Philippine constitution was promulgated, two U.S. legislators, one of them Representative Henry Hyde (yes, the chief inquisitor in the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton) introduced legislation that “for purposes of enforcing the obligation of the states… not to deprive persons of life without due process of law, human life shall be deemed to exist from conception”. By law, the fertilized egg, called the zygote, begins its human existence even if ironically it has no brain, nor brain activity, the consensual vital sign whose absence indicates human death.

Our own Congressman Jaraula, who says he opposes abortion, reveals that a bill on abortion is about to be filed in Congress by a certain Rep. Padilla. How will such a bill fare? The signs indicate stormy weather and very rough sailing.

The opponents are formidable. Aside from “Tinex” Jaraula, the most visible being the uncompromising Pope, the Catholic Church, and a hostile Senate. Most daunting of all would be the expected presidential vote.

What relevance does U.S. history and jurisprudence have on our impending melee about this issue? We can learn valuable lessons for avoiding the violence and bloodshed the Americans experienced and still suffer.

For instance, are our solons capable of shedding politics and using only calm reason in elaborating their stance? Will the medical community protect and honor the Hippocratic oath and shun U.S. doctors’ record of coercion in the passage of laws criminalizing abortion to stop incursion of midwives, homeopaths, and faith healers into their profession? Will the scientific community, having played God in their cloning and cell research, and thus be in the best position to define the biological event of when human life starts to exist, take a neutral position and suggest that science has no contribution to make to the contentious issue of when human life begins?

THE MINDANAO QUESTION

In the long run, what is it to be for Mindanao? Autonomous, federalist, colonial status quo, separatist Islamic State, independent republic? Whatever the future holds for this group of islands, the territory is undergoing slow and sporadic progress, and certain areas are a bit sticky.

The recent angry exchange of ordnance fire between elements of the Armed Forces and followers of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front stirred up some anxiety in faraway Manila. Mindanaoans were more unflappable, sensing the media hype and bluster.

The initial public reaction to the babel – which from my porch was towering – was the assumption that the hostilities, hinted earlier as possibly starting right after Ramadan, had actually commenced. Broadcast media commentators expressed apprehensions that the “war” will make potential investors doubly wary. They had reason to be scared: they were being fed scary material. broadcast media spiced up the flavor of the unfolding drama.

The military versions in spot interviews flashed on TV were variegated, due perhaps to the layers of rank that spoke up, from the Secretary of Defense Mercado down the ladder: 4-star Nazareno, 3-star Reyes, 2-star Bautista and Gabison, (who lent some choppers), plus the 3 or 4 spokesmen of the various branches. A military commander even forgot decorum and manner of speech and disregarded the power of non-verbal communication when he displayed a posture of belligerence, which neutralized his audible words.

FINAL QUESTION

At the National War College, I believe they list and analyze the sensitive elements of our infrastructure that are vulnerable to disruption and are vital to our defense. To name a few, I presume these would include military bases, broadcast stations, power grid structures, bridges, and major thoroughfares. I would further presume that the defense establishment would promptly assume heightened alert status when an islandwide power outage occurs, then prepare for possible emergencies, wild speculations, and general panic.

So the question arises: when the entire island of Mindanao was plunged into several hours of blackout last January 29, 1999, where was the calming presence and voice of the National Defense Council? Just asking.

Gossamer Wings Strike Again

Rewrite of Jottings: Gossamer Wings Strike Again

(A sequel of Perils from Gossamer Wings, Mindanao Post, 31 July 1996)

Published Mindanao Post 26 Oct 1998

Now subsiding, the 1998 nationwide Dengue Fever outbreak peaked in September as expected. The frenzy of activity stirred by the outbreak followed a familiar pattern ─ frightened and anxious parents scrambling to bring their sick children to hospital, and health functionaries, normally unflappable, scurrying to cope with the medical emergency. The outbreak’s toll was not unusual for this country: of the thousands of reported dengue cases, about one percent was fatal.

As usual, there was the palpable absence of a firm agenda aimed at eliminating the scourge, a disease that has no known vaccine to provide immunity. The abatement of the outbreak is somewhat puzzling in the light of the haphazard general response to the affliction. Health authorities were less than resolute in tactics to vanquish the vector or to contain the spread of the disease. Media and the education community were certainly supportive in the campaign to inform the public about the transmission and prevention of the disease. Pharma firms happily helped the public, and themselves, with their ads promoting products and such remedies as insect repellents and “katol” insecticides. A number of households, urged more by self-preservation motives than by cleanliness, were seen actually observing the “four o’clock habit” ploy and shooing their mosquitoes with smoke, thus driving the insects toward a neighbor. Even City Hall joined the fray, but found their foggers inoperable.

The disease has somewhat subsided but may linger through out the seasonal dry period of January to April which normally diminishes mosquito swarms. If weather forecasters are to be believed, the La Niña rains will subdue the dry season and the dengue mosquito will, like a resurgent PhilippineAirLines, continue to fly. And produce more bloodsuckers.

Is there any hope for a reduced dengue threat in the foreseeable future? Can we honestly expect government to marshal sufficient resources to combat dengue? There may be a glimmer of hope for a vaccine to be developed, but in faraway Thailand.

The Virus - Dengue disease is caused by an arbovirus (arthropod borne virus) and is primarily an infection of vertebrates other than man, and of arthropods, but can be transmitted to man. (Arthropods are members of a large phylum of invertebrate animals characterized by jointed legs, chitinous exoskeletons and segmented body parts, including insects, spiders and crabs.)

Vertebrate hosts of the 480 or so known arboviruses, particularly the maintenance host, are essential for continued existence of the virus. They usually live symbiotically with the viruses without actual disease. Some of the recognized or incriminated hosts include birds, rodents, insectivores, rabbits, cattle, deer and monkeys. Monkeys are the suspected link to dengue. (Man is usually considered an incidental host, often, but not always, a dead end in the chain of transmission.)

The invertebrate host of dengue is the mosquito. After this vector has imbibed virus from a vertebrate host, the virus undergoes an incubation period (about 10 days) within the mosquito which then becomes infective for life without any ill-effects to itself. The mosquito infectivity increases with its biting frequency.

First detected in a 1953 outbreak in Manila, the virus reached Thailand (about 200,000 cases) and then Vietnam in 1963. The disease has spread and is endemic in the tropics and subtropics. There are four identified Philippine strains of the virus.

The Victim - Apart from yellow fever, dengue has caused more deaths than any other arbovirus disease, and may now have surpassed yellow fever as a killer after the discovery of the Yellow Fever Vaccine, although malaria is catching up fast. The dengue victim is often a child although adults are also vulnerable. The symptoms are fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, vomiting, headache joint and muscle pains and fever lasting about 5 days. Nose bleed and rashes may occur. In severe cases, a victim’s vomit and stool will show traces of blood and could be the beginning of dengue hemorrhage fever which could be fatal.

The Vector - The primary vector of dengue is a species of mosquito named Aedes Aegypti. This bloodsucker flying insect with gossamer (thin and flimsy) wings is found throughout a vast span of territory ranging from 40º North to 40º south of the equator. (To the meticulous, the vector is classified as: Phylum Anthropoda, Class Insecta, Order Diptera, Family Culicidae, Genus Aedes, Species Aegypti.) It is a domestic species rarely breeding more than 90 meters from houses , and can be recognized by its yellow parallel lines in the middle and curved silvery line on each side of the thorax, and a bassally banded abdomen.

The eggs are laid in water inside small, dark receptacles such as tins, pots, tree-rot holes, coco shells, cut bamboo, sagging or blocked eaves, banana leaf stems, pineapple tops, sisal leaves, bromeliads, vases in cemeteries, beer bottles, plastic cups and car tyres (a favorite). When newly deposited, the eggs are white, but darken after a few hours. The eggs can resist drying for as long as six months and could even be dormant during a drought.

The larvae emerge when moistened, usually after 2 or 3 days and feed on the organic matter in the water. The larval stage is usually 10 days, but could span a period of 6 days to several weeks, then turn into pupae for 2-4 days and finally into an adult winged mosquito. The adult mosquito with suitable food can live for several months.

Only the female of the species bites needing the protein in blood for its eggs. Biting activity is diurnal, peaking at dawn and dusk, with a foraging range maximum of 200 meters, usually hovering about 50 meters from the breeding site.

A secondary vector, the Aedes Albopictushas similar habits as Ae. Aegypti. It is known to transmit dengue virus in Japan and is now suspected to have migrated here. Members of the Aedes Scutellaria group are the main vectors of the Pacific filaria and are also vectors of the dengue virus.

U.S. researchers working on an encephalitis virus discovered that the vector, Aedes Trisariatus, if infected, could lay virus-carrying eggs that in turn produced infected and infectious offspring. This process of a mosquito inheriting the virus is known as transovarial transmission. This discovery could be extremely important to dengue research and eradication locally.

The Victor Obviously, the strategy to control dengue would have to be two-pronged: 1) to develop a vaccine, and 2) to contain the vector. The vaccine-search approach is complex and would require trained virologists, loads and loads of research funds and emphatic legislators, all of which are virtually non-existent in this poor country. So, only the vector-eradication avenue is feasible.

Mosquito eradication programs, mostly targeting larvae, have been tried by many countries with varying measures of success, although re-infestation also occurred when surveillance slackened. Old methods include draining watery breeding places, stocking fish in rice paddies and applying oil film on stagnant puddles. The use of fungus and bacteria to attack larvae are two of the newer methods. The discovery of a certain fungus found to be a parasite of larva was introduced into some Pacific islands and in Zambia, while an Israeli entomologist discovered a bacterial strain that is deadly to mosquito larva.

Holding the most promise as a comprehensive program is a research by the U.S. National Aeronautics Administration (NASA, the space people) who, in the early ‘90s conducted a pilot project using earth-orbiting satellites aimed at malaria control. The electronic remote sensors carried aboard monitors environmental conditions such as rainfall and surface water that trigger the breeding of malaria mosquitoes. The project goal is to develop a system that any nation can use, needing only a computer and a rooftop antenna to collect data for helping predict where malaria outbreaks might occur so that ground crews can take intervention measures. The technique would be applied to many kinds of insect-borne diseases.

Entomologists now seem to disfavor the insecticide method to zap the mosquito. Fogging is deemed an illusory method, killing the adult but sparing the larvae and pupae, and thus lulls people into a false sense of security. Fumigation with smoke makes no sense as it would do more harm than good. The “smoker” may drive the pests away from his yard but transfers the menace to adjacent areas, a belligerent act contradicting the love-thy-neighbor dictum, and could endanger his own family by exposing them to the toxic carbon monoxide produced by the smoke(incomplete combustion).

The clean-your-premises slogan is perhaps gratuitous to the neat households routinely performing this rite habitually. In contrast, the slothful family will do the chore only for as long as the dengue scare exists. Yet, chances are, the “litter” family would be the source of the index host in the next outbreak.