Aging senators and the fear of computers!

It was a beautiful Sunday noon when we went to the Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort & Spa for the launching of the Stars & Stripes: An American Food Festival and the unveiling of the “Biggest Burger in Town” which was graced by the presence of US Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney at the Shang’s Tides Piazza. Indeed, it was the biggest hamburger I have ever seen in my whole life… so kudos to the Shang for this unique feat!

I don’t know how many times Amb. Kenney has been here in Cebu, but our media friends have unanimously agreed that she is without any doubt, the Best US Ambassador we’ve ever had because she is accessible to many people. She is unlike her predecessors who came to Cebu with the usual security escorts, but you couldn’t even approach them for a greeting. Amb. Kenney goes out of her way to meet people and chat with them despite her hectic schedule. She is in my book, the best representative of the American people we have ever come across.

Her knowledge of the Philippines is extensive… to the point that she came out with a Fact Sheet that detailed the relationship of the US, not just with the Philippines, but with Cebu! Just to name a few, the public and private sectors in Cebu have been getting US grants for research and development in water and electrical supply. The US has been supporting livelihood programs for poor communities in Central Visayas and not mentioned in the fact sheet was that Mactan’s Circumferential Road was a USAID project.    

Indeed, Amb. Kenney has become a good friend of Cebu and that friendship extends to the American people especially in this first week of July when we will be celebrating Philippine-American Friendship Day on the fourth of July this coming Saturday.

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Over the weekend, we have been bombarded by the fears of our Senators, specifically Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile who grilled Smartmatic officials, the winning bidder of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Sen. Enrile asked whether they could serve the farthest islands in the Philippine archipelago? Smartmatic told them that this was part of the plan of the Comelec.

But the reality is, during election time, Presidential and Senatorial candidates despite having a small aircraft or helicopter at their disposal, they don’t go to these far-flung, albeit God forsaken areas because it is no longer cost effective! Bagging a huge Barangay like Bo. Guadalupe in Cebu City more than makes up for many small islands. 

So what is there to fear? Perhaps our aging Senators like most oldies really have that inherent fear of computers because they’re too old to change! they would rather bring us back to the old ages, back to a system that didn’t give the electorate a true picture of the people’s will, rather, it was misused by well-entrenched politicians to make it appear that they won their elections because the voters voted for them. Like it or not, computers will give us instantaneous results and in less than two days, we would already know who will be the next President and Senators of this country.

For the heck of it, I asked some students if they feared a computerized elections… and on the contrary, they were excited. Lest our Senators have forgotten, 30 percent or more of our voting population are the young who are adaptable to new technologies like computers. It’s the old voters who sold (and the old politician who bought their votes) their votes in the past who are not happy with the new technology. The only fear that Sen. Enrile has to face is the fear of losing his powerful seat!

Incidentally, my good friend Sen. Chiz Escudero shouldn’t question Comelec’s using that Aboitiz-owned 2GO company to ship those computers. Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) very recently received a Silver Award in the 2008 Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) Annual Corporate Scorecard Review, a very honored and prestigious award, which is proof that Aboitiz companies are professionally run and do not mix their business with politics!

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I will be in Manila to attend the First Aviation Summit in Villamor Airbase as I have always been fascinated with flight, although I’m not a pilot. But I was reading Mon Farolan’s article “The Mustangs of the Philippine Air Force” last Monday in PDI where he gave a beautiful history of the PAF with their Mustang P-51’s. Let me just add that he mentioned “The Shark of Zambales” which was the Mustang of Lt. Col. Benito Ebuen. A couple of months ago, I got a beautiful 1:72nd scale die cast model of a P-51D with glorious PAF markings with the “Shark of Zambales” painted on her engine cowling at the Lil’s Hobby Shop at the Ayala Quad parking area. I have it on display in my office.

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