No-holds-barred

It is now or never, in the government’s drive to crush and exterminate the Abu Sayyaf. If the military and the police fail to pulverize this extremist group, then expect more kidnappings and acts of hostage-taking in the future. But if the government’s all-our war against the Abu Sayyaf turns out to be a howling success, then that might just be the key to bringing our country back to economic recovery.

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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s "no-holds-barred" policy against the Abu Sayyaf is well-advised. Giving this group a kid’s globe treatment will not solve the problem. Neither will it stop the Abu Sayyaf from going on and on and on with their dastardly crime. It is now very clear that the Abu Sayyaf cannot be trusted. Negotiating with them will thus be an exercise in futility.

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The only costly lesson that the Abu Sayyaf will understand is a hard-fist policy designed to pulverize them from the face of this earth. Here, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police should give no quarters. Among the great majority of Filipinos, there are high hopes that the military and the police have the clout and resources to finally put an end to the Abu Sayyaf menace that has been hounding us for many years.

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Yolanda A. Fernandez, business development manager of Sinclair Knight Merz (Philippines), and her husband recently visited Baguio. While there, the couple decided to drop by the Mt. Province Museum located at the Baguio Convention Center in Sunshine Park. What they saw was really appalling and disappointing.

* * *

Apparently, no efforts have been taken to maintain the museum. The place has worn-out paint, its walls and floorings are cracked, and the site looks like a backroom bodega. Even the entrance to the museum has no signage at all, with garbage cans piled up in various corners.

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Ms. Fernandez was saddened by the sight of the artifacts, priceless pre-historic figurines, and the famous Igorot mummy. These are housed in what looked like a narrow hallway. Obviously, the Baguio City government has not put in the needed financial resources to maintain the museum. The pathetic and revolting result is that the museum’s priceless artifacts and historical items are gradually going to waste.

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Ms. Fernandez appealed to me to help save the Mt. Province Museum. "Please help preserve a piece of our history so that the children of today and the next generation could still have a glimpse of what Baguio was before," she said.

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We as a people are slowly losing our sense of history. This sad situation has been the result of negligence and apathy on the part of the authorities concerned. Which is ironic, because the government itself should be the prime mover in restoring, maintaining and improving our museums that are the centers of our historical heritage.

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Without a sense of history, the Filipino people will find it hard to unite for a common national goal. Remove from the minds of today’s generation our country’s heroes and the lofty deeds they did, and erase from the national conscience the priceless artifacts and historical items that symbolized our nation’s growth, and you will see a people without a vision, without a sense what nationalism is all about.

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I have directed the Good Samaritan Foundation to return the $50 donation of a Gloria Kagawa and Martin Holmberg of Ontario, Canada, to the couple. The $50, or P2,500, is for the "Bambet Fund." They can remit the money themselves to the Mirandilla family, instead of coursing it through the GS Foundation.

* * *

This move is being taken, because of Ms. Kagawa’s suspicion that the Foundation is toying around with her $50 donation, without even considering that the GS Foundation recently deposited P100,000 with the National Kidney and Transplant Institute for the account of Abraham Mirandilla. Isn’t it possible that her $50 (P2,500 in Philippine currency) was part of the P100,000 now with NKTI?

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From Ms. Kagawa’s letter, it seems the Mirandillas, who apparently contacted her, think that all donations given to the Good Samaritan Foundation are for the Bambet Fund. Wrong. The GS Foundation has scores of indigent beneficiaries it is helping, and it has many donors who send donations on a regular basis. These donations I always acknowledge – and these are not for the Bambet Fund. Ms. Kagawa and the Mirandillas are terribly way off the mark if they think that all the donations cited here for Bambet.

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As a result of Ms. Kagawa’s or the Mirandilla’s mistrust of what the Good Samaritan Foundation is doing, or what it did with the $50 donation of Ms. Kagawa, we have decided to put an end to our fund-raising effort for the seminarian who, by the way, finally got his kidney transplant last week, thanks to the helping hand of Dr. Enrique Ona, executive director of the NKTI. Henceforth, let all donors or friends of the Mirandillas communicate directly with the family.

* * *

This is the first time in the Good Samaritan Foundation’s long service to the poor that a donor has – because of wrong info from a beneficiary –been accused of wrongdoing, in this case concerning a P2,500 donation from Ms. Kagawa. Apparently, Ms. Kagawa or the Mirandillas do not know that there have been many instances in the past when the Good Samaritan Foundation spent much, much more for a beneficiary than the total donations given to that particular beneficiary. Why then would the GS Foundation take interest on their P2,500 donation?

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PULSEBEAT: Thanks to the Philippine Medical Association for the "Exemplary Civilian Service Award" given to me during the recent PMA Convention held at Midtown Plaza Hotel …. Salvador Castillejos, accountant of an American NGO in Oakland, California, USA, called "RIDES for Bay Area Commuters", wrote to suggest carpooling, vanpooling, using the public transport, and riding in bicycles as a mode of easing traffic and ensuring clean air in urban areas.

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Let us now yield some space to some of the inspiring text messages that I have been receiving through my cellular phone. I hope you will be inspired by the following:

The Lord did not want us to doubt,
To fear or to grieve.
He wants us to believe, to hope,
to love & 2 see lyf d way He made it.
Gud AM! God bless!

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Step by step the journey goes on.
Little by little it may seem so long.
The things we learn will keep us on.
With faith in God He’ll keep us strong.
Good day!

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As we go older, it’s not the things we did

That we often regret but the things we didn’t do.
That"s why God created tomorrows for us to make things up.
Liv a gr8 day!

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Don’t simply thank God

For the blessings you receive.
But thank Him because He has chosen you
To be a blessing to others.

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Our God is a God of success.
He created us to be winners.
He can help us achieve
Beyond what we think we can.
Trust Him.
Good AM to a champion.
God bless!

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My e-mail addresses:
<[email protected]> and <[email protected]>