AWAY SA KARAGATAN

HANGGANG hindi tinatanggap ng maayos sa kanilang kalooban na hindi kanila ang malaking bahagi ng South China Sea, mananatili ang away sa karagatan at hindi uurungan ng mga karatig bansa ang Tsina. Sasambulat ang kaguluhan at hindi natin batid kung ano ang kakahinatnan. Hindi masusuklian ng suwerte ang ugaling nagtapang-tapangan ang Tsina sa away.

Pagtutulong-tulungan siya ng maraming bansa sa pangunguna ng Estados Unidos at mauuwi sa wala ang lahat ng kanyang pinagpaguran sa nakalipas na kalahating siglo. Lalabas na kontrabida ang Tsina dahil walang maniniwala sa kanilang pagkamkam sa South China Sea. Natalo sila noong 2016 sa isang asunto na isinampa ng Filipinas laban sa Tsina sa UNCLOs.

Pangunahing kaaway ng Tsina ang Estados Unidos na hindi papayag na sikilin ang malayang paglalayag sa ngalan ng pandaigdigang kalakalan sa South China Sea dahil lamang sa isang teyornang nine Dash Line na itinuring ng arbitral decision na isang kathang isip ng Tsina. Mapapansin ang tindi ng galit ng Washington ng nag-isyu ag U.S. Embassy sa Maynila ng isang napakaanghang na official statement noong Linggo.

“The United States stands with The Philippines in the face of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Coast Guard’s continued infringement upon freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Imagery and video recently published in the media is a stark reminder of PRC harassment and intimidation of Philippine vessels as they undertake routine patrols within their exclusive economic zone.

“We call upon Beijing to desist from its provocative and unsafe conduct. The United States continues to track and monitor these interactions closely.

“The United States stands with our Philippine allies in upholding the rules-based international maritime order and reaffirms that an armed attack in the Pacific, which includes the South China Sea, on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft, including those of the Coast Guard, would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 U.S. Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.”

Kinumpirma ng PCG confirmed ang ulat na muntik magbanggaan ang barko ng Tsina at Filipinas malapit sa Ayungin Shoal, 105 nautical miles kanluran ng Palawan noong ika-23 ng Abril. Lumapit ang isang barko ng Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) na bow number 5201 na may layong 50 yards mula sa BRP Malapascua ng Filipinas.
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ITIGIL na ang pagpapalutang ng mga walang saysay na kombinasyon para sa pampanguluhang halalan sa 2028. Hindi ito ang tugon sa malalang sitwasyon ng bansa. Ipinalutang nila ang kombinasyon na Raffy Tulfo at Risa Hontiveros laban kay Sara Duterte at sa hindi pa kinilalalang kandidato sa bise presidente.

Maraming mangyayari sa mga susunod na linggo, buwan, at taon. Hindi simple ang sitwasyon pulitikal ng bansa, sa maikli. Maraming nakikialam at kung ihahahambing sa nilulutong ulam, napakaraming sahog. Mag-abang na lang tayo dahil lubhang kaabang-abang ang sitwasyon ng bansa. Maniwala kayo at dili.
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May ilang tilamsik ng diwa si Roly Eclevia, ang aming kaibigan. Pakibasa:

Not PNP or NBI
but justice system is to blame

In the Senate investigation into the murder of Gov. Roel Degamo, Sen. Bato dela Rosa observes that the PNP takes the brunt of the blame for the breakdown of law and order. He says critics attribute the problem to corruption in the ranks of the police, but the rot, according to him, goes much deeper.

The existential threat comes from the administration of justice.
During that Senate investigation, the NBI director of the region testified that Congressman Arnie Teves, foillowing the raid of eSabong operation in Negros Oriental, asked him to drop the case in exchange for a substantial amount.

When the NBI director refused, the powerful politico filed a case against him and his men for theft. Then the prosecution advised him to settle the case, of course for a huge amount. After that attempt failed, the judge quashed the information—threw out the case—supposedly for lapses of the law enforcement agency in the implementation of the search warrant, which by the way was issued by another judge.

Sen. Dela Rosa says that the rich and powerful, once they are arrested, talk to the police, the prosecutor, and the judge, each time with a bribe and the threat of violence, implied or expressed.

An honest police officer does not have a chance against a corrupt judicial system. That’s why he goes along with what has become the norm.
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Sinabi ni Roly na hindi natin ddapat ipagmalaki ang jeepney.

Jeepney not
something to be proud of

A jeepney was once displayed in New York City supposedly to showcase Filipino ingenuity. To my mind the jeepney is emblematic of our lack of vision. It is not something to be proud of.

After World War II, Leonardo Sarao started buying surplus Jeep units, the sturdy US military vehicles, and turned each into a passenger minibus. At about that time, Choi Mu-seong of South Korea hit upon the same idea and did something very similar.

The South Koreans came up with their own version of the Filipino jeepney, but they did not stop there. They studied how the engine of the GI vehicle worked, copied it, and improved on it.

Today, South Korea is the fifth largest car manufacturer in the world, its products widely admired for their performance, styling, and design. The Philippines is still turning out the same old contraption.

How did that happen? Choi has since faded from the scene, but other entrepreneurs took up where he left off and set up car assembly and, later, car manufacture. One of them was Chung Ju-yung, who established Hyundai Motors.
Nobody came forward to bring Sarao’s operation to the next level. The country is thus stuck with the jeepney.

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Email:bootsfra@yahoo.com