An international drug bust soon forgotten?

The Arroyo Administration has less than a month to go and soon we shall have a new President in Malacanang and we can only hope that things would be better than this administration. In the meantime, we must emphasize that the Arroyo Administration is still mandated to solve problems that happened during her watch even in the last dying days of her term.

Just two days before the May 10 elections, I read a news item in the Manila Bulletin entitled, “PASG uncovers int’l drug base on island off Quezon.” This was based upon a report from the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group acting on a tip from US Intelligence that ended up with a raid on a safehouse in Sitio Sabang, Barangay Judith in Burdeos, Icolong Island. This raid uncovered chemicals that are used in the manufacture of metamphetamine hydrochloride (the main ingredient for shabu) at the Akira Sakurai & Hiro Taniguchi, Howa, Inc. Pearl Farm.

The information earlier leaked by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (USDA) said that some $8.4 billion (P384 billion) worth of dangerous drugs were either generated or passed through drug syndicates in the Philippines. Since Icolong Island belongs to the Province of Quezon, suspicions ran high that the local leadership in Quezon, then under Governor Rafael Nantes who also doubled as Liberal Party (LP) treasurer had knowledge of this operation. I remember how many text messages we got about the possibility of narco-politics tarnishing the Presidential elections.

If anyone had this kind of money and used it in the campaign, they could very well buy this election. What complicates this issue is the sudden and unexpected helicopter crash that killed Gov. Nantes days after the elections. All the more that eyebrows were raised that he probably knew too much and someone wanted him out… and a chopper crash was something that a drug syndicate could arrange very easily. But after his death and burial, it seems that there is no longer anyone interested in pursuing that crash, including the PASG investigation, even by the press. Could this case be so big and too hot to touch, no one wants to dig deeper into this case? Abangan!

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A Cebuano, Mr. Chris Go who is an amateur astronomer made news last June 3 when he recorded on video a comet hitting the surface of Jupiter. This rare discovery was shared by an Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley who was also gazing at Jupiter at the same time and recorded this cosmic event. This is something we Cebuanos are proud of!

On July 16-22, 1994, the whole world witnessed two solar bodies collide as the Comet Shoemaker-Levy (named after the astronomers who discovered it), a string of comets impacted into the surface of Jupiter and left a gaping hole on its atmosphere. Incidentally, a couple of years ago, Chris Go found another Red Spot in the planet Jupiter and the Scientific Community acknowledged his discovery and dubbed his find as “Red Spot, Jr.”. Even more remarkable is that, Chris Go made this discovery in the comfort of his home in Maria Luisa and not from a huge space telescope from high up in the mountains. This is why Chris is the only Pinoy I know who can use the famous Hubble Space telescope in order to confirm his discoveries.

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Last Friday, we huffed over to the Ocean Pavilion of the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa to grace the launching of their new Global Brand Campaign entitled, “It’s in our nature.” Actually this TV ad is already out and it brings out a subliminal albeit powerful message about the culture of the Shangri-La hotels and resorts worldwide, which is expressed not only by its management, but its 33,000 employees all over the world.

The TV ad starts with a man walking in a snow-filled forest and he gets caught in a snowstorm, while silently, a pack of wolves observe him carefully… but he treads on to the point of exhaustion and collapses in the snow. At this point, the audience are thinking that the wolves would now pounce on this weak and defenseless man. But the wolves do come and sniff him, then the leader lies down beside him and the rest follow the lead wolf and surround the man with their warm furs… and he survives his ordeal. Then the Shang’s message appears “There is no greater act of hospitality than to embrace a stranger as one’s own.”

Indeed, this is one TV ad that had a real story. It somehow reminded me of the famous legend of Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers who founded the City of Rome who were left on the banks of the Tiber River and a She-Wolf came to rescue them and nursed the babes as its own. Kudos to the new advertisement of the Shangri-La… I fully agree with the message in their ad because they have truly acquired one very famous Filipino trait – hospitality – and it has become part of Shangri-La’s culture.

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