I got trapped by ‘Milenyo’

I got reminded on Wednesday and Thursday how life’s direction can be suddenly altered. Some drastically, others by minor changes, albeit unexpectedly.

On Thursday morning, I readied myself to write my column for today. I failed to write my Thursday column because I left for Manila early in the morning and immediately made a beeline to the national meeting of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations immediately upon my arrival. That precluded me the chance to catch up on my deadline.

But Thursday, I woke up early hoping to write about the impact of the small town lottery in Iloilo City and in some communities outside Bacolod in Negros Occidental. Although I had prior knowledge of "Milenyo," I never thought it was going to hit the metropolis with the vigor that it did.

I had already taken my bath, and had dressed up ready to perform my chore. Suddenly, the lights went out at my children’s residence on San Isidro Drive in Pasay City. Then the wind started to build up force. It did not howl as what happened in 1995 when "Rosing" hit Manila. But it was enough to remind me about that experience and the more serious one — "Yoling."

My children then recounted their "Rosing" experiences. But Jose Jaime (Nonoy) opted to go to the Inquirer office in Makati, confident that it would soon blow over. Inday (Salvacion Varona) close to stay put in the house. But Nenen and Mary Ann went ahead to the Cultural Center of the Philippines where they had anticipated that they would push through with the inaugural of their opera under Raul Sunico, dean of the UST Conservatory of Music.

By noon, they called me up and reported the news — the opening had been cancelled. Then the situation started deteriorating further. Power got cut off, and the TV just went out like that. Soon, even the PLDT lines conked out. Later, even the Globe and Smart connections were cut off. I was in the middle of a conversation with my daughter Mate in Bacolod, asking about the latest developments in Panay when my Smart cellphone just went out. Later, only water was available. At least, thanks to God, we had enough from the Manila Waterworks to wash the utensils. Of course, that means that our househelp had to carry them upstairs to our bathrooms.

Our thirst had to be alleviated by the tepid mineral water. The dispensers could not dish out cold or hot water anymore. And we had to boil water with the use of LPG.

That reminded me of how dependent metropolitan residents have become on communication and power networks. In short, when anything goes wrong with one or the other, it impacts on lives drastically. For a while, outside communication virtually halted. So with normal everyday living. With no electricity, we found ourselves reduced to buying batteries for our battery-powered radio. In just a few hours, we found ourselves living back in the fifties.

In short, our lives now depend on centralized network systems. The only saving factor was Manila Waterworks. Radios, which have been outpaced by television, became the sole purveyor of news and updates on the latest developments and policy decisions.

Of course, that did not mean the end of the world. But we had to read by candlelight. The battery-operated flashlights had only a limited life; they needed to be recharged and, without power available, we had to scrimp on their use.

Well, in some areas yesterday, power had been restored and some metropolitan residents returned to normal existence. But the bugging question — how long can the situation last? And what do people have to do when their comfortable lifestyle is cut short by another natural on man-made disaster?

STL in Negros and Iloilo

The small town lottery started operating in five component cities and two towns in Negros Occidental last week. It was also launched in Iloilo City, even as Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo warned of its pernicious effects.

In Negros, Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarro said the Diocese of Bacolod will continue to oppose STL and persuaded people not to support it.

They pointed out that STL distorts the values of people, who, instead of working hard, would pin their hopes on gambling.

Moreover, it also introduces the young to gambling.

In Negros Occidental, STL started in the cities of San Carlos, Escalante, Sagay, Cadiz and Silay. The towns of Manapla and Hinigaran also supported it, said Manuel Escalante, Manapla mayor and president of the Negros Association of Chief Executives.

The provincial board, however, thumbed it down. Not so in the case of Iloilo City where a big crowd of bettors showed up on the first day, hoping to reverse their fortunes by betting on the winning numbers.

Most of those interviewed by mediamen said the high prospect of returns for their bets encouraged them to bet in STL. This is different from jueteng, which it intends to replace. At least, from the viewpoint of local executives who supported it, local government units will have a share in the daily take of STL and they said it will go to social outreach projects.

In Iloilo, Gov. Niel Tupas warned that he will not tolerate STL outside Iloilo City as the provincial government had thumbed down STL.

But based on the initial reaction of the betting public, the influence of the bishops and clergymen may not be able to win over the lure of easy money.

In short, based on the initial reaction of the public, STL is here to stay permanently as the substitute for jueteng.

New Confed officials

I sort of symbolically tagged the election of Bukidnon’s Jose Ma. Zubiri as the new national president of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations last Wednesday as a harbinger of exciting days ahead for the sugar industry.

Zubiri, who represents the Eastern Visayas-Luzon and Mindanao bloc in the Confed, was unanimously chosen by the national Confed board of trustees to take over the management of the national federation.

Zubiri immediately issued a call to the Confed members to revive the "glory days" of the industry and to have its voice heard all the way from Appari to Jolo.

But Zubiri, who actually hails from Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental, aptly pointed out in his unity call that the challenges besetting the sugar industry require unity and the ability to focus on what is good for the entire industry.

The board of trustees also voted Federico Locsin III as vice president. Orlando Aquino remains as executive vice president with Narcelino Aganon as secretary and Jose Luis Tongoy as assistant secretary. Immediate past president Reynaldo Bantug was elected treasurer, and Agapito Espinosa as assistant treasurer. Mrs. C. Granada was voted auditor.

The complete board of trustees includes: Abelardo Miranda, Mercelino Agaron Jr. Agapito Espinosa, lawyer Juanito Villacete, Demihs Afabe, retired Col. Alberto Aguilar, Delfin Divinagracia, Emerterio Villanueva, Pablo Lorenzo, and Ferdinand Maranon.

The others from the Negros-Panay chapter were Bantug, Roberto Quenca, Bernardo Trebol, Tongay, Locsin, Preciosa Maturan, Julia La’O, Jose Ramon del Prado, Jose Mareja Lopez, and Raymond Montinola.

Zubiri immediately spelled out his vision and sugar mission statement. I’ll write on this later. But there was immediately an electrifying impact on the partners’ representatives to the Confed board.