Taking our red alerts for granted!

Pardon me if this announcement sounds like a reprint of last week because it really is. Actually, last week's show was supposed to feature our guests tonight, but because of a snafu, the show slated for this week was announced in The Freeman last week... alas, we wrote this piece already. Hence the ad and this column made things confusing. Well, there's always a first time.

Once again, let me say that for our special guests on our talkshow, Straight from the Sky we bring you the story of Cebu's dynamic duo... no, they're not Batman and Robin, they're a couple who came from humble beginnings and from their personal experiences and hardships, was born not one, but two Non-Governmental Organizations that has helped many poor families in Cebu City. Thus it is my great honor to have on the show, Mr. Franciso "Bimbo" Fernandez and his wife Tessie for theirs is a story Cebuanos ought to know.

Bimbo is today the administrator of Cebu City, but he is also the founder of the Patambayayong Foundation, Inc., an NGO that has helped a lot of homeless families own a home, while Tessie is the founder and executive director of Lihok Pilipina Foundation, Inc. an NGO that has helped empower women, upholding their rights way back in the 1980's when domestic violence was virtually a taboo even from the media's perspective.

Today Lihok Pilipina is one of the finalists for the Eduardo Aboitiz Award for Outstanding Institution; one of the programs by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. Triennial Awards and Tessie is a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize for her outstanding achievement. See them tonight on SkyCable's channel 15 at 8:00 p.m. and see for yourself what ordinary couples can do with extraordinary work, all while raising a growing family!

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Last Friday, the Asian Wall Street Journal, in its "Review & Outlook" corner, came up with a short commentary entitled "Misbehaving in Taiwan" which talked about the other week's incident at the Taiwan Legislature where Kuomintang Legislator Chang Shuo-wen got hurt in what tantamount to a "schoolyard brawl" or rumble in our Philippine context. As you know by now, the government running Taiwan is a democratic government, while the People's Republic of China has a communist government.

So when that very public, live on television parliamentary rumble happened, the propagandists of the People's Republic of China wasted no time and quickly used that embarrassing TV footage in mainland China to warn the Chinese people of the "dangers" of democracy. How clever! Call this a setback to democracy as henceforth, it would be more difficult to convince the people in mainland China that democracy is better than communism... no thanks to the Taiwanese legislators who still have to learn the art of debating without physical violence.

Come to think of it, in a way, at least the people of Taiwan are luckier than the Filipino people. In Taiwan, when their legislators get into a violent brawl, they only tend to hurt each other. Here in the Philippines, because we are considered "Asia's first democracy" our politicians have long learned the art of savage debates without lifting a finger to hurt their fellow politicos. Hence when our politicians get into a brawl inside the hallowed halls of Congress... they tend to hurt only each other's egos.

Unfortunately, when that happens, it is the Filipino people who get physically hurt by their ugly politics, especially when politicos cancel certain programs designed to improve the health of Filipinos just because it is a program of the opposition!

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Supposedly, there was a red alert last weekend as our security forces prepared themselves to nab a possible Jemah Islamiyah operative who may attack shopping malls, churches or other public places here in Cebu in order to embarrass our government. There was also a red alert in Cebu Province, as intelligence reports showed that the New People's Army was poised to attack anytime in the week.

Well... there was indeed an NPA attack in Sumon, Tuburan town, where three soldiers were confirmed to have been killed. All I can say is; so much for red alert warnings. From the way the report goes, it would seem that 50 NPAs were able to surprise the military detachment of the 78th Infantry Battalion. From the way these terrorists have threatened our peace... calls for a red alert has become so normal in our everyday life, it has been taken for granted. While this maybe in hindsight, but prudence dictates that we should observe our red alerts on a daily basis! It is time to know that when we drop our guard down the enemy always strikes!

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila's columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com