Get gangsters out of España

Get gangsters out of España Philippine Daily Inquirer 8:39 pm | Friday, May 18th, 2012 The city government of Manila did a good job at making a stretch of España, within the vicinity of the University of Santo Tomas, attractive by installing gleaming streetlights and prettified street islands. It gives the impression that the place is safe and secure. That is why my wife and I usually enjoy strolling along this street on Sunday nights. However, vandals have stained the waiting sheds. There are already drawings and inscriptions on them. They now look morbid as if they were the meeting places of gangsters. Taxpayers like us, who should enjoy these beautiful projects of the government, are disheartened by those who probably are not paying their taxes. —REGINALD B. TAMAYO, acting city council secretary, Marikina City

From Marcos to Marilaque

From Marcos to Marilaque 9:42 pm | Thursday, July 12th, 2012 I concur with the idea of a letter-sender that the name of Marcos highway be changed (Inquirer, 6/30/12). However, I do not share the view that it should be changed because it is named after a despotic president. My reason for advocating a change of name is different. Marcos Highway refers to any of the following highways: Marikina-Infanta (Quezon province) Highway; the highway connecting San Nicolas, Manila and Navotas City; the highway connecting Agoo, La Union and Baguio City which at present is also known as Aspiras Highway. Confusion or disorientation arises, no doubt, as to the name of these highways. To clear up the confusion, I suggest that the name, Marcos Highway, of the highway connecting Marikina City and Quezon province be changed. This major thoroughfare is also known as Marilaque Highway, which stands for Marikina-Rizal-Laguna-Quezon. I remember this from my days as a student of UP Diliman. My classmates and I occasionally traversed this highway in going to Laguna for a field study and a professor of Anthropology told us that Marcos Highway was also referred to as Marilaque Highway. Simply put, why not change this highway into Marilaque Highway? —REGINALD B. TAMAYO, acting assistant city council secretary, Marikina City

Slate "open season" for eel exportation

Slate ‘open season’ for eel exportation Philippine Daily Inquirer 8:00 pm | Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 This refers to the article “Philippine stops eel export” (Inquirer, 5/8/12), which says that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has banned the export of baby eels or elvers, locally known as dalara, with the end in view of saving it from extinction. The decision came after the BFAR regional office in Cagayan Valley recommended the ban due to alleged excessive, widespread and undue exploitation of elvers. Many of my relatives are marginalized local fishermen from the province of Cagayan and I am sure that they are now economically displaced because of this total ban. The gathering of elvers is their only source of income. And if the gathering of elvers is totally banned, many of their school-age children would have to drop out. The fishermen would also hardly be able to provide the needs of their aging elders and sick members of their families because of abject poverty. These fishermen know no alternative means of livelihood but to gather elvers. There is no job opportunity for them in public and private entities either. But they can have a decent and respectable life if they have a modest livelihood. No word may have been heard from these fishermen. But I am sure they want to air a plea: for President Aquino to lift the total ban. This total ban, in my view, does a poverty-stricken sector an injustice. So, to rectify the situation, may I suggest the following: 1. Declare the August-December period a “close-season” (gathering of elvers allowed) and the rest of the months an “open-season.” 2. The local government units concerned should help in providing alternative livelihood to these fishermen. 3. Teach the fishermen the ways of “optimum elvers-gathering” so they would not overfish the elvers. I know the government under the stewardship of President Aquino is fair-minded and empathizes with underprivileged fishermen. —REGINALD B. TAMAYO, acting assistant city council secretary, Marikina City

Another stand

Another stand Philippine Daily Inquirer 9:53 pm | Monday, July 23rd, 2012 Nandy Pacheco, founder of Ang Kapatiran Party (AKP), recently phoned me and our talk lasted for almost half an hour. He sounded sad and disappointed, but there was no indication he was giving up. He said that AKP will still be a major political party to reckon with because it is the only party that has a clear platform of government. He lamented the fact that for the nth time, AKP keeps on presenting itself as an alternative political party, but our people are apparently oblivious to it. “Brother Nandy” as I fondly call him, is known as a fiery speaker. Hence, during our phone talk, I did not butt in as he deluged me with his sentiments on the goings-on in the political landscape. He said that many of our politicians nowadays vying for political posts in 2013 are busy aligning themselves to other major political parties to ensure their victory in next year’s polls. He also said that it saddened him that seemingly these politicians consider political platforms as secondary to a more important goal, which is winning elections. It is not surprising then that no well-known politician has openly declared that he is interested to join AKP despite its clear and definite platform of government as contained in its booklet “Passport to a New Philippines.” These politicians’ primary aim is to win, not to draw attention to political platforms, Brother Nandy said. Truth be told: In one of the meetings of the AKP executive board, we almost gave in to the temptation of allowing JC de los Reyes, our presidential bet in the 2010 elections, to join other political parties. We felt that JC has a winning edge to become the first AKP senator. And if he wins, he will open the door to other AKP would-be national and local legislators and thereafter start rebuilding the nation according to the blueprint of AKP. Brother Nandy stood his moral ground and vehemently opposed the idea of AKP coalescing with other political parties. He said that he cannot in conscience prejudice the AKP founding principles just to win a Senate seat. AKP will field a complete senatorial slate in the 2013 elections, even if this means an uphill climb for the party. It will again present itself to the people as an alternative political party. At the end of the day, it is the people who will have the final say and ultimately it will be God’s will which will reign, Brother Nandy said. I felt a twinge of guilt after our talk. Never in any of my articles published in the Inquirer did I use the name of AKP. I feel proud of this party, and I stand side by side with its founder. —REGINALD B. TAMAYO, member, Executive Board, Ang Kapatiran Party

Why save the Filipino culture

Why save Filipino culture Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 04:08:00 05/14/2011 Filed Under: Culture (general), Graft & Corruption, Religion & Belief I ONCE listened to a homily of a priest-friend who said it is the degenerating Filipino culture that is the culprit behind our present difficulties. I agree: a malignancy afflicts our culture. Government anomalies no longer scandalize us. Corruption and immorality no longer outrage us. We have become numb to heinous crimes. We are no longer incensed by the arrogance of the powers-that-be. We no longer cringe in the face of brazen dishonesty, blatant lying and lawlessness. We have grown used to social iniquities. We know the gravity and danger of ?small sins,? yet we tolerate them. We claim to be a Christian country yet we do a lot of things that are unchristian. Gone are the old traditional Filipino values of bayanihan, pakikisama, pakikipagkapwa-tao, paggalang, etc. The government has had a big role in destroying our culture of the past. With its power and influence, it has slowly instilled in many of us its crooked values, practices and ways?dishonesty, cheating, corruption, disloyalty and disrespect for life and property. We are as if we are back under the yoke of colonizers. Because of their colonizers? strong influence over a long period of time, our forebears fell into apathy and low self-esteem, and they developed a willingness to be exploited and abused. We manifest these attitudes in similar fashion these days. Let us reject these ghastly attitudes and their accompanying evils. Let us be agents of cultural change. Let us revive and preserve our traditional Filipino values. It is only then that we can bring back our country to its old glory. REGINALD B. TAMAYO, reginaldtamayo@yahoo.com

Arrogant public officials

Arrogant public officials Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:01 am | Friday, July 22nd, 2011 It is heartbreaking that some of our public officials are so ego-driven and arrogant that they can insolently display such behavior even in public, like that local official who pummeled a harmless government employee. Another official defiantly flashed a dirty finger on television. Such arrogance and egotism are often manifested not only in their cruel treatment of the lowly and the meek but also in the way they flaunt their fortunes and ride in flashy cars with vanity license plates. Take notice of their shoes, watches, rings and other personal accessories and you will find personifications of narcissism. When shall we have public officials who are modest in their ways? When shall we elect leaders who are unassuming and self-effacing? Nowadays, seldom do we find leaders we can recommend to our children as models of integrity, honesty and clean living. That is why we should be cautious with politicians who appear to be gentle and timid during elections, during which they are submissive and do anything we want them to—from singing to dancing. Their true colors, however, emerge once they are elected into office, after which they immediately reveal themselves to be uncivilized and crooked. We share the blame for their election into public office. We have not been meticulous enough in choosing the right leaders. We allow ourselves to be hoodwinked by their pretenses. We should realize that we helped turn them into monsters by gratifying their selfish political ambitions. —REGINALD B. TAMAYO, reginaldtamayo@yahoo.com

LRT's treatment of disabled

LRT’s treatment of disabled
Philippine Daily Inquirer
2:26 am | Monday, November 7th, 2011
3share17 14

It is a pathetic scene: physically impaired Filipino citizens struggling to go up and down the stairs of LRT Recto.

Escalators and elevators in this station are out of order. The staircases are also dimly lit, and LRT passengers can hardly see their way. It seems that the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) does not care about the welfare of its passengers, especially those who are disabled.

The trains are even badly maintained. The recorded voice-over announcing the next stop is almost muted, so that anyone who does not know his way in Manila would not know where the train has stopped off, especially because LRT coaches are wrapped with advertisements blocking the view from the inside.

The LRTA management should look into this. The trains are meant to be of service to the public and not for profit. It should think about the safety and welfare of the passengers, particularly our physically impaired citizens.

—REGINALD B. TAMAYO, reginaldtamayo@yahoo.com

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