Embarrassing fiasco

There was no storm when the country’s premier airport’s air control and navigation system suddenly conked out.

Inbound and outbound planes could not land or take off, resulting in chaos.
Upwards of 60,000 travelers, local and international, were affected. An Australian woman, who was scheduled to fly to Brisbane, had to go back to her resi-dence in Metro Manila to wait for flights to resume.

But those who came from the provinces had to spend a cold night at the airport.
It was terrible for families with babies in their arms or those leaving for jobs abroad. They had spent all their money on the fare to the airport, leaving them with nothing for a contingency that they, or anybody else, could not have foreseen.

In practically all cases, the airlines would not provide any accommodation. The fiasco was not their fault, after all.
It was a first in the history of the country’s aviation and, as far as this hardened old-timer is concerned, the entire world.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, under whose agency the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) operates, attributes the failure to antiquated equipment.
Bautista adds that the system was at least 10 years behind the best – the one used in Changi International Airport in Singapore, for instance.

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Past presidents would have blown their tops over the grave situation and embarrassing fiasco – embarrassing to the entire world.
But President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., informed about the fiasco, seemed not to have been bothered. He just told Bautista that a backup air traffic control system should be set up.
He did not even hold a press conference to assure the people that the fiasco was being addressed.
Instead, Junior and Vice President Sara Duterte – both wearing hoodies – discussed their New Year’s resolutions.
As if people cared about their f%$#* personal resolutions for 2023!
“Thousands of inconvenienced passengers in the NAIA fiasco and yet no word from the country’s leaders? Do we still even have leaders or are they just vloggers?” a netizen wrote.
Another netizen wrote: “The entire radar system was an epic fail yesterday affecting 282 flights and 56k passengers. What did we get? A vlog.”

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Interior Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos made a “first” in the history of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and even of its predecessor, the Philippine Constabulary.
He asked all generals and full-fledged colonels in the Philippine National Police to hand in their courtesy resignations.
The move was intended to ferret out high-ranking police officials who have been identified as protectors of traffickers of illicit drugs.
This will do away with the tedious “due process” of investigating and putting on trial those involved in the drug trade.
All the authorities have to do is to dismiss outright the tainted police officials by pointing to their resignation letters.
Those who are innocent will remain.
However, those who don’t submit their resignations will be considered suspect, relieved from their posts and closely watched.
The police officials covered by the resignation request start from the PNP chief, a four-star general, down to the deputy regional directors who hold the rank of full colonel.
It was a brilliant idea by Abalos, a lawyer, who was probably briefed about the involvement of many police generals and colonels in the drug trade.
The drug situation in the Philippines is only several notches below those of Mexico and Colombia, where most members of the police are on the payrolls of drug lords.
The country hasn’t become a narco-state yet, but it soon will be if drastic moves are not taken.

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A P1-million reward has been put up by unidentified donors for anybody who can provide information that can lead to the arrest of two helmet-wearing men who killed businesswoman-model Yvonnette Chua Plaza in Davao City.
Plaza was shot on Dec. 29 while she was about to enter her home in the city’s Mintal district.
The reward money was put up after police had a hard time cracking the murder case.
Rumors are flying thick and fast that a military general, who allegedly was a boyfriend of Plaza’s, could be behind her murder.
Photos of Plaza with bruises on her face that she posted on social media are going viral. She claimed the general beat her up.
The photos were posted a few days before she was murdered.
“We are appealing to the public not to make conclusions based on social media posts,” said a spokesman of the Davao regional police office.
The spokesman, a police major, said that the military general was not yet a person of interest. “We do not confirm yet the involvement of somebody based on social media posts.”
“What is clear is that our investigation is directed to two persons of interest,” he said.
Why is it that a particular person is not a suspect because he is a military general?
What kind of police investigators do we have?

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The general in question is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).
He was the chief of the Palace guards during the time of president Digong Duterte.
His liaison with Chua is public knowledge in Davao City, as they were always seen together.

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Joke! Joke! Joke!
What’s in a name?
Indian brave to his would-be wife: Why are you sad, Deep Cave?
Would-be wife: You wouldn’t understand, Small Arrow.