Saturday, March 31, 2012

Police outpost at Sunshine Park! Good move for our local PNP

           The posting of Police officer at the Sunshine Park is a good and commendable move of our local police office. I observe this when one evening at around 1015pm when we are walking from SM with my family, we noticed that one police man was in his post at the old guard post at Sunshine Park. My daughter said to me that hope that the posting of police on the said park is not only during this “simana santa” and that the posting will be forever and hope that the PNP will add more police officer to man that outpost. I know why my daughter said that because one year ago, my eldest son and his cousin while they are walking inside the park at around 9:00pm, several men harassed them and they took their cell-phone and money. My son and his cousin give their phone and money without hesitation and the men did not harm them. A week later one of our neighbor was stab twice in that the same park. Lucky for our neighbor to survive the stabbing but those perpetrators were not caught and put behind bars.  


            During my younger years, Sunshine Park is a nice park to go to when one needs to unwind because it is quiet, but several years ago when local government officials no longer give notice to this park and it became neglected and unmaintained like other park of the city, the park became a heaven for bad element because security guard and lighting system no longer exist. It became dangerous to walk alone inside the park because it is dark and unknown bad elements of people are inside. The Sunshine Park is compared to Lions Park which is neglected and is not given proper attention by our local government official.

            Hope that someday, our local officials will give notice to all of our parks and bring them back to their glamorous glory just like when they were built. Praise to our Baguio City Philippine National Police.    

 Other readings for your information. Thank you!
               
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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

7 Nastiest attitude of Filipino vehicle Drivers on the road


7 nastiest attitude of Filipino vehicle Drivers  on the road
(As observed by the writer)

1.             No respect to pedestrians: If you are a pedestrian on the road in the Philippines, be sure to observe strictly the stop look and listen, plus be sure to be alert always, or else you might lost limb or worst life because most of the drivers will not yield nor stop for you if you are walking on designated pedestrian crossings. Most accident happens in designated and marked pedestrian crossing, especially in schools without traffic officer supervising the traffic. Drivers even blow their horn and show dirty fingers and utter bad words to pedestrians. This disrespect to pedestrians who are passing in pedestrian crossing only indicates that a driver does not truly understand the purpose of pedestrian crossing. We all know that road crossings are designated for pedestrians, and vehicle should or must fully stop when a pedestrian is crossing and yield to pedestrians who are about to walk. There are early warnings and signs available along side of the roads but most of drivers in the Philippines tend to ignore this.

2.             No road courtesy: This is one of the reasons why several road rage results to serious confrontation and death. Reports show that if only drivers operating vehicle have road courtesy on the road, this tragic useless injuries and deaths will never happen. It can be observed that majority of those involve in this serious road rages that resulted to injuries or death are wealthy and educated personalities of the Philippine society. Gun owners who are driving vehicle are the common perpetrators of this worst road rage. This does not exempt weather the gun they owned is legally registered or not registered.

3.             No proper training: The laxity of obtaining Philippines drivers license is one of the reasons why person who have no proper trainings are operating vehicles on the roads. LTO (land transportation office) is the agency concern to regulate the issuance of drivers license is said to have implementing changes to address problems such as this but result of this measures are not seen or observed to vehicle operator in the road. Some traffic enforcers are only keen in apprehending car drivers who violates selective violations like no parking, wrong way, jeepny/taxi drivers in no loading and unloading area but not once I have observe that a driver who ignore pedestrian crossing sign is apprehended.

4.             Speeding in congested area: It is easy for a driver operating vehicle to evade apprehension in violating the speed limit because traffic enforcer does not have any instrument to support allegation that the drivers is really speeding. The least traffic enforcers do is to response only when accidents happen, when vehicles collided or a pedestrian is injured due to speeding. To justify speeding in this case depends on the ingenuity of traffic investigator, skills to investigate they developed from years of experiencing such violation but in the expense of damage to property, injuries and worst death.

5.             Texting/Calling while driving: Using mobile phone while driving a vehicle is the rising cause of accident in the roads today. The convenience of using mobile phone is tantamount to the dangers it can cause if not use properly especially while driving. In most cases, a driver using phone while driving con not be apprehended because the windows are darkly tainted.

6.             Driving under Influence of alcohol: Filipinos are said to be happy go lucky type, but sometimes this attribute causes accidents in the road. News media frequently report accidents related to driving under the influence of alcohol but there are many drivers choose to ignore this and continue to drive even they are under the influence of alcohol and end-up meeting accident along the road.

7.              Car that run is ok: Philippines is a third world country and most of their old mechanical tools are still in use today like cars even if this are no longer road worthy. Drivers of this type of cars does not understand the danger it imposes to their selves and to those in the road when accident occurs because of this dilapidated and outdated cars still being used. Not all old cars are dilapidated and outdated if these cars are rehabilitated restore to meet the standards of road safety. Others tend to ignore safety and choose practicality as a reason to operate old dilapidated cars in highways.

This observation is not to offend anybody but this is to help in opening the consciousness of Filipino drivers who are operating vehicle on the road.



               

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Monday, March 19, 2012

Cruelty to Animals? Is it applicable in the Region


Dog eating in the Cordilleras and practices in Question?

Baguio old market place where dog are traded publicly for meat

(Old practice and the modern thinking in regards with animal rights? Is this really applicable in this country?)

There are practical question being asked by common cordilleran’s regarding the implementation of the RA 8485 otherwise known as the Animal Welfare Act of the Philippines “is their really necessity for laws such as this?”.

Under the law, several practices of cordillerans in preparing food particularly that of poultry and that of dogs is now under-fire by this enacted law. The following is the section of that law  that describes the prohibition in performing several ethnic and cultural practices of the cordillerans.

SECTION6: It shall be unlawful for any person to torture any animal, or to neglect to provide adequate care, sustenance or shelter, or maltreat any animal or to subject any dog or horse to dogfights or horsefights, kill or cause or produce to be tortured or deprived of adequate care sustenance or shelter, or maltreat or use the same in research or experiments not expressly authorized by the Committee on Animal Welfare.
The killing of any animal other than cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer and crocodiles is likewise hereby declared unlawful except in the following instances:
  1. When it is done as part of the religious rituals of an established religion or sect or a ritual by tribal or ethnic custom of indigenous cultural communities. However, leaders shall keep records in cooperation with the Committee on Animal Welfare;
  2. When the pet animal is afflicted with an incurable communicable disease/s determined and certified by a duly licensed veterinarian;
  3. When the killing is deemed necessary to put an end to the misery suffered by the animal as determined and certified by a duly licensed veterinarian;
  4. When it is done to prevent an imminent danger to the life or limb of a human being;
  5. When done for the purpose of animal population control;
  6. When the animal is killed after it has been used in authorized research or experiments; and
  7. Any other ground analogous to the foregoing as determined and certified by a licensed veterinarian.
In all the above mentioned cases, including those of cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer and crocodiles, the killing of the animals shall be done through humane procedure at all times.
For this purpose, humane procedures shall mean the use of the most scientific methods available as may be determined and approved by the committee.
Only those procedures approved by the Committee shall be used in the killing of animals.


The law is depriving the cordilleran’s of their ancient culture and practices that have been with them ever since. The process of killing poultry animals particularly chicken and ducks in the cordilleras is by means of beating with the use of stick. The wings and neck of the bird is beaten until the animal is dead which does not confer with the law. The process is locally known as “nilagetan” or as popularly known as “pinikpikan”. For the cordilleran’s, they say that this process enhances the taste of the meat of the chicken, and this process confers with the respect to the spirit of the animal by providing its meat for nourishment to the people preparing the chicken. 
The eating of dog is an old culture not only in the cordillera but in other regions of the country so much so with other countries in Asia or the world. Some people claim that dog meat contains live worms even after cooking it, and these worms can cause disease to anybody who eats it, but is it true? The answer is a big lie. No study had proved this and they are just using this as a bad propaganda to threaten people from eating the meat, or if the claim is true that dog meat contains a worm that is not good then dog's are dirty animals. Dog meat are considered as a delicacy by Igorots of Cordilleran's, and the meat is prepared specially during special occasions. Igorots who are not pretending to be somebody else are eating dog meat until now. Filipinos should not pretend to be foreigners, by acting like one. We should be making laws in consonance with who we are as Filipinos and not because of what other countries say we should be doing.

This law was adopted from laws favoring western countries which eliminate our local ancient tradition. Foreign government are influencing us to copy what they are doing and our politicians whom we give our trust to protect our values and culture rather chooses to upheld this western practices. To treat animal within the level of human is absurd and ignorant. Some learned people think that they are sympathetic with animals but are not to other human. They rather feed good food to their dog than give help to needy people and they reasoned their act by saying that animals are rather good companion than other people. I can not stop wondering what kind of reasoning this people has now. Several pornographic videos of a human girl having sex with a male dog is an example of absurd result of those foreign society. They think that dog are like human that having sex with them are accepted because they have rights like humans. This is the result of giving too much emphases of giving human like treatment to animals that some idiots think that dogs are already equal to humans. I am afraid and hoping that sometime or someday this thinking will not  emerges to  Filipinos who humanizes animals like dog. 

In a fast-food chain in Manila, a lady is holding a neatly groomed little dog, she give hotdogs and spaghetti to her dog. The dog can not eat all of the food and the food was wasted. Upon finishing her meal, the lady stands and left the fast-food chain with her dog. On her way out a poor child approach her and beg for any help from her, but the lady shooed the child away like an animal. I ask my self a question, how many people who are like this lady who humanize animals and animalize human? It is a fact that several of them are  with us and around us here in the Philippines. It is a shame that wealth are wasted in the protection of animals rather than using this funds to helping other human. Their are many wealthy Filipinos who provide  good things to their dog and they are commended for it for being a good pet owners, but if you ask them what they are doing to provide for the poor, no answers can be heard from them, they can even say poor people are not their responsibility.  Worst is that our politicians who are voted by majority of poor Filipinos support these laws. Maybe time will came when Filipino politician will pass a law that gives income tax cut to  people who are responsible pet owners. It is a shame that the meager budgets of our government are used to the apprehension of poor people violating this animal welfare act, than using this fund to the protection and helping this poor Filipino people. We are not a rich country that can afford to support laws like this. 

I am not in favor and personally disagree with this law but because it is enacted, poor people like me can not do otherwise but to follow and obey this suppressive kind of law. The only appeal we can do to our politicians and wealthy people is that they should not to be hypocrites of protecting the lives of dog but are not considering the life of people in the streets.  



               


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Sunday, March 18, 2012


SM Baguio TO UPROOT 97 PINE AND 43 ALNUS TREES
(my own personal opinion) 
The protest being conducted by some civil society groups in Baguio against the plan of SM Baguio to expand its parking space is not actually addressing what this civil societies claim of  saving Baguio from losing its trees but rather grand standing and riding the issue to be recognized as environmentalist (or may be) to earn money or popularity. I respect their concern, but isn’t what I see as the true purpose of this protest. What I see is that they are against development and that they are naïve with the true problem of the city. They must have laid options to curve the ballooning problem of lack of parking space in the city. Some politicians are jumping in and riding with this issue to grandstand. I can not stop smiling when I saw some of the people I personally know joining in the protest when actually even they are going to the mall, and they are complaining when they can not fine place to park their car when they go to the CBD.
Many said before that SM will kill the business here in Baguio, but did it actually kill businesses? I absolutely can say that it did not, I put to example Tiongsan, the Jacks’s restaurants, the sunshine grocery and its other companies, the goodtaste restaurant, the market and many more; I and many Baguio residences can say that these locally grown businesses are growing and expanding. May be some like that of CID books store as the owner complaints that SM is killing her business, but the question is: “is it really SM alone that is killing her business?” Why not ask simple personal question and not closing our eyes why there are 3 doors of CID books store in one area that has always been one door from ever since I can remember? I am not a business person but I am entitled to speculate what could be the reason, and may be we can have the same assumption. There were previous plans of the city to put up a publicly owned parking building like the proposal of Mayor Domogan and Congressman Vergara, but civil society groups always protested it. If this is always the attitude we have, then where are we going from here? This protesters wanted us to go back to the dark ages where people has to walk, ride horses and other old style of transport, the question is, “are this modes of transportation correspond to the fast movement and development of our modern life?” May be this group is dreaming, that life is not moving forward but backward… please wake-up and grow up!



I went over to the pictures of the old Baguio and what I have found is that; it’s true that Baguio is not the same as today. (See picture above) The Americans has to cut trees and bulldoze the place and engineered it so as so that buildings and streets can be strategically put in place. The fauna and flora was unnaturally changed to give way for the development of the City we all know today. What I am trying to say is that, people of this mountain before sacrificed what they have so that the city can be develop to this city we enjoy today. I can only imagine what will be the image of Baguio if the people before prevented the bulldozing, cutting and earthmoving in this mountain city. May be within the central business district is chaos, no proper planning of streets and building locations.    Now these protesters are shouting not to cut, uproot trees.  For what? (please see the Picture below of the old post office located upper Session Road before )We are preventing engineered and planed development, but we are not doing anything to the personal or private people who wanted to own parcel of land anywhere in the city and build houses that are not designed or engineered. Every person who buy parcel of lot in the city may have cut trees, moved earth illegally or otherwise, and yet this group can not do anything worst our government can not do nothing.
The SM city corporation is offering development and they are going through the process and yet this people are protesting, claiming that they have the answer to the problem of the city. The suggestion these protesters are saying is not to cut trees, nor move pinch of soil and just put some parking area in this lot, what are they saying? Are they crazy or something? They should open their eyes and see that the area is vertical and does really need development to maximize the space to accommodate larger number of vehicle that can park.   
I have concerns and suggestions to allow progress and development proceed and will serve as our partner in protecting, guarding and regenerating our environment:  The cutting of trees is not actually the issue, but how this tress which are uprooted or cut be regenerated or replaced and replanted. Safeguards must be laid to make sure that tress planted by SM as replacement to the trees cut or uprooted shall grow, if newly planted trees die due to any reasons, the SM corporations shall replant again, they shall protect the seedlings until all planted trees are capable of surviving naturally then the area where this trees were planted must be guarded and maintained to became a forest then we can say that this trees and this area is already ready for turned over to the people of Baguio.  The people of Baguio must urge concern agencies like the DENR, the Local Government of Baguio especially the concern official to implement strictly the conditionality’s and penalties stipulated in the laws to prevent the unscrupulous tree cutting in the city. We must be strict in monitoring the conformity and sincerity of SM in meeting all this conditions laid by laws.
We must urges our political leaders to put and emphasize in the agreement as one condition with SM corporation that the parking fees to be collected shall be regulated by local laws and shall “not” be expensive, and or put into the condition that if people who parked in the parking area had purchased specific amount, the parking fee shall be waive and not be collected from the customer. Parking taxes must be collected by the local government from all of the parking spaces in the city including that of SM.
This concern is nothing, and this will became just for reading if not acted upon sincerely by our government. People of Baguio must not hamper development but rather we must see to it that any development coming to our city shall be strictly monitored. For example, like the Camp John Hay. Politicians and government people said that this camp is for the benefit of the people of Baguio but look what is happing to this camp, no ordinary citizen of Baguio can go freely in this camp to do picnic without paying a 100 peso fee for just putting up a tent and laying same mattress under the trees in this camp, and look what this developer done to the entrance nearest to the city proper, they close this gate and put the main gate far at Scout Bario area. I can not understand the motive of such action if the camp is really intended for the people of Baguio. All amenities in the camp now cater merely to the needs of the elite and wealthy foreigners and some Filipinos, and not to the need of simple Baguio resident who wanted to savor the fresh air and quite ambiance in this camp. Look at the amphitheater and rose garden in this camp, during my child hood, it was free to go and play there, but now it wad fenced and one must pay to go inside. What a shame! Many have change in the camp ever since, now to this protesters, go to this camp and protest and I’ll join you, show them that in actuality this Camp John Hay is for the people of Baguio and to people who wanted to visit this historic city.
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