Showing ugly fangs to foreign investors - JAYWALKER by Art A. Borjal

How unpatriotic and bigoted those anarchists were, they who staged a mass action designed to embarrass the leadership of Chairman Felicito Payumo of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. The anarchists formed a human barricade to prevent Subic Freeport workers, visitors and dignitaries from entering and exiting from the Freeport, and they timed their move to coincide with the inauguration of the new $20-million plant of Japanese lumber products company Juken Sangyo. Apparently, the anarchists wanted the 270-member delegation of Japanese investors to feel discouraged about the Subic Freeport, and probably get their investments out of our country.

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How parochial these anarchists were, just to put Tong Payumo down. The inauguration of the new Japanese plant at the Freeport should have been an occasion for rejoicing and great pride, something that Payumo passionately wanted. But the anarchists, displaying a distorted form of People Power, opted to put our country and the Subic Freeport down. All merely because of political turf and narrowmindedness.

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The wheels of the government machinery were already moving, when the Subic protesters decided to show their ugly fangs. The Civil Service Commission, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Philippine Export Processing Zone Authority were already doing what should be done, regarding the protesters’ plaint. But the protesters were not only restless, they also wanted to get what they wanted, no matter what the law mandates. That is plain and simple anarchy – and concerned citizens hope that the Macapagal-Arroyo administration will not be bamboozled into caving in to unjustified demands.

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The Commission on Elections claims that it is the law that now prevents it from holding a special registration day for new voters. The law is the law, and it should be followed, so says the Comelec. But it is also a fact that a law exists mandating the use of automated machines in the counting of ballots in specified areas, like the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao. Yet, the Comelec has opted not to use the automated polling machines, despite the existence of a legal mandate. What gives?

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That is the trouble with many government authorities. They invoke the law when it is for their own convenience. Yet, they disregard similar laws when they find these detrimental to their own personal agenda.

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Cindy B. Small, my close kin in the United States, who lives at Raymer St., Northridge, CA, and whose mother, my sister Faye, and aunt, sister Linda Belle showed genuine concern over my recent crisis in life, sent a Get Well Prayer entitled "What God Hath Promised" composed by Annie Johnson Flint. The Prayer is so meaningful and inspiring, so fitting for Sunday reading, I decided to share it with my readers:

Got hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through;
God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.
But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.

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When one overcomes another challenging trial, one feels as though another morning has broken. One wants, too, to exult over God’s goodness – and how one wishes that God’s blessings be heaped in abundance on all those who, in one way or another, showed genuine concern and love during an autumn in life that suddenly turned into spring.

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Now that I have climbed another mountain, my yearning is to immediately go out there, to interact with people with golden hearts, personages like Ambassador Alfonso T. Yuchengco, the tycoon whose heart truly bleeds for his country and his fellowmen. As a trustee of the AY Foundation, the social arm of the Yuchengo Group of Companies, I intend to give my all in helping assure that the Foundation’s wonderful projects – Mother Teresa Awards, National Discipline Awards, and other projects designed to instill Christian and moral values in our society and a strong sense of patriotism among our people – will play a major role in the task of building our nation. This is my way of saying Thank You and acknowledging the nationalism and humaneness of Ambassador Yuchengco.

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The last social gathering I attended, prior to my bout for life, was the inauguration of the towering and majestic RCBC Plaza at Makati City. At that time, I was already suffering great pain and inconvenience. That was the reason why I did not have the chance to recount what I saw and felt during the brief time that I was at the RCBC Plaza inaugural bash, attended by no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself. It would have been really nice to interact with some of the dignitaries and the thousands of guests who went to the RCBC Plaza.

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How I wished I had felt well then, for I could have written an eloquent testimonial about RCBC Plaza, about the fact that it is not merely an architectural marvel of marble and stone, but that the RCBC Plaza symbolizes all the treasured values, hard work, creativity and determination nurtured by Don Alfonso Yuchengco. When I thus read STAR colleague Rosalinda Orosa’s column item about the RCBC Plaza rituals from my sickbed, I felt comforted, that this great journalist with the highest moral standards expressed somehow some of the thoughts that I wanted to articulate about RCBC Plaza, the new beautiful landmark at the corner of Gil J. Puyat Avenue and Ayala Avenue.

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PULSEBEAT: Now, it can be told. Clarissa Ocampo, the celebrated witness in the Impeachment Trial against President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, and her family stayed at the Linden Suites, at Ortigas Center, as their hideout, after the brave lady came out with her dramatic and damaging testimony about the Jose Velarde account. This was one of the many contributions of Sonny Dominguez to the downfall of Erap Estrada… Emma T. Perez of 9 Auchly Lane, St. Peters, Missouri, USA, sent a Get Well card and an inspiring prayer that is worth reading and rereading.

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My e-mail address: <[email protected]>