Major Fire Hazard In A Popular Local Mall

Ever since a popular local mall opened its  doors a few years ago there has been a major fire hazard right at the entrance. When you walk in you are greeted with a huge set of stairs which are flanked on either wide with escalators, one going up and one going down. The stairs cannot be used as they are obstructed at the top and then bottom by vendors.

Sometimes you cannot use the escalators either as they are under repair. The second set of stairs is around the corner in the back. While it is a hassle to have to walk way to the back just to go upstairs that hassle is not the real problem with this situation.

The real problem is that this obstruction is a blatant violation of RA 9514 which is the Philippines' Fire Code.

SECTION 8. Prohibited Acts. ‑ The following are declared as prohibited act and omission: 

a. Obstructing or blocking the exit ways or across to buildings clearly marked for fire safety purposes, such as but not limited to aisles in interior rooms, any part of stairways, hallways, corridors, vestibules, balconies or bridges leading to a stairway or exit of any kind, or tolerating or allowing said violations;

https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2008/12/19/republic-act-no-9514/

Why were those stairs built in the first place if they aren't going to be used? If there was a fire there would be no easy way out. People would crowd the escalator, if it wasn't being repaired, or they would have to flock all the way to the back of the building to the other set of narrow stairs.

How can this mall pass a fire code examination when this set of stairs has been illegally obstructed since the beginning? This situation has been ongoing for 4 years now. One can only speculate as to what transactions are taking place behind the scenes to the detriment of the public but we can be confident that such activities are taking place. If not then the fire inspector is either blind as a bat or ignorant of the fire code!

The Filipino is A Great Race: An Experimental Poem by Sofronio Dulay

Sofronio Dulay has written an experimental poem about the greatness of the Filipino race. Dulay is currently the patriarch of the Royal House of Tondo and the Patriarchate of the Royal Houses of the Philippines. As I wrote before about him he is basically a king. A king wrote an experimental poem about the greatness of the Filipino race. Let's take a look at his verse.

The full poem can be found on his website.

https://sites.google.com/site/totidulay/greatrace

I am not going to post the whole text here. Instead I will dissect it line by line.

"We are the only old Christian nation in Asia.
English speaker."

Indeed the Philippines is the only Christian and English speaking nation in Asia. There are of course other Asian countries that speak English and have been Christianized. But how does having a foreign language and religion thrust upon them make the Filipino race great? Haven't you heard that the Catholic Church is evil and so are the Americans?  I hear that very often. So how does practicing an evil religion and speaking an evil tongue make the Filipino race great?

"Good looking. A mixture of Hispanic and Chinese race…mga tisoy tayo.We take a bath daily, even twice a day, so we smell nice. In cold countries, they take a bath once a week, so, you can imagine how they smell….they envy us….and they like to marry Filipinos…."

The Filipino race looks good because they are a mixture of the Hispanic and Chinese race. Does that mean without that added blood Filipinos would not be so good looking? How does the addition of foreign blood to the Filipino race make the Filipino race great? Isn't that proof of being conquered and thus an inferior race?

Filipinos bathe twice a day while in cold countries they bathe once a week. That's certainly a lie but even if it were true how does that make the Filipino race great? Even a cat bathes himself. Many times  day in fact.

It is true that foreigners do like to marry Filipinos. But how does that make the race great? Miscegenation is a pollution of the gene pool!

"We are the only race on earth that won all the five major beauty contests: Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss Earth and Miss Supranational.."

This is not true because there are only four major international beauty pageants. Miss Supranational is not one of those pageants. If we look at the statistics we see that four countries have won each of those contests with Venezuela winning the most times with 23 wins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_international_beauty_pageants

If we look at the winners of Miss Supranational, which has only been around since 2009, there is only one Filipino winner. Mutya Datul won in 2013. This pushes the Philippines to 16 wins in all five contests. That is still seven less wins than Venezuela. 

How does winning a beauty pageant prove the Filipino race is great? Especially when Dulay has admitted the Filipino race is a mixture of Hispanic and Chinese blood and thus impure? How does winning a beauty pageant prove the greatness of anyone? It's a subjective contest and beauty fades. One day all those ladies will be old crones. It's pure vanity.

"We are clean…its part of who we are….."

The Philippines is actually one of the most polluted nations on earth. From the air to the water to the ground there is pollution everywhere. A great race would take pride in their land and keep it clean don't you think? Maybe he is referring to the two baths a day regimen.

"We are good businessmen. 

Our malls are bigger than most malls in the US. We are conservative bankers…"

There are indeed plenty of good businessmen in the Philippines. They are mostly Chinese. What does having a large mall have to do with the greatness of one's race?

The Mall of Asia in Pasay is the 15th largest mall in the world

On the list of the world's largest malls there are 37 Philippine malls and only 19 United States malls. In the top 10 there are 4 Chinese malls, 3 Thailand malls, and only 2 Philippine malls. The largest mall in the world is in New Jersey.

Filipinos have a wide selection of large malls from which to buy overpriced foreign luxury goods. Great. How does the ability to consume imported goods make the Filipino race great? Of those 19 US malls how many are selling Filipino products? And I don't mean products produced in the Philippines for a US owned company.

"We are family oriented. We never dump our parents to the home for the aged.

We never drive away our children from home when they reached 18."

This is simply wrong. Sometimes mom or dad get very sick and they need to stay in a home for the aged. They need professional healthcare 24 hours a day. For many this is a hard decision and it is wrong to say they are dumped in a home for the aged like a bag of garbage. This is also a misunderstanding of the West and it relates to his next line.

In the West Children are not driven away at 18. Rather children are encouraged to leave the nest and become independent adults living their own lives having their own families and homes. In the Philippines the opposite is true. Momma's little baby boy is her little baby boy until she dies and she never wants him to leave the home. That is detrimental to society and to the well-being of her son who will never grow up to be a man because of his overprotective mother. There are many such cases in the Philippines.

With their sense of personal independence people in the West do not want to live with their children when they get old. They don't want to go to the home for the aged. They will do all they can to remain independent. Filipinos do not have this sense of personal independence. Sometimes generations of families will live under one roof. How does a lack of a sense of independence make a race great? It doesn't. It makes a race of leeches.

"Our culture is European. Roman Catholic influenced. Surnames are western…our Kundimans are just like Italian songs." 

Am I reading a poem about the greatness of the Filipino race?? How does having a European culture make the Filipino race great? If the Philippines has a European culture that would make the European race who built that culture the greater race. Only an inferior race adopts a foreign culture.

The Philippines does not have a European culture. European influenced, yes. The government, the economy, even popular culture are all Western influenced. But Filipinos do not even understand those institutions. Human rights, free speech, the function of the government and politicians as servants of the people, none of that is comprehended by Filipinos the way it is in the West. Even with TV the programs are so bottom of the barrel and lowest common denominator it is a joke. You won't find innovative TV in the Philippines.

And what about those Western surnames? How does having a foreign surname make Filipinos a great race? It is a constant reminder that they were conquered by a greater and more powerful race of men. Having a Western surname is not much different from being branded.

The next bit is hilarious. 

"We have easy life. In America “no work, no eat”, not in the Philippines please."

So Filipinos are leeches? In America you can eat without working. Here is what that looks like:

That's called a homeless shelter. Why would being able to eat without working make the Filipino race great especially when the very first item listed in this poem is that the Philippines is a Christian nation? Does Sofronio Dulay not know what the Bible says?

2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

Maybe he means the bayanihan spirit? No idea. But no one is going hungry in America unless they want to. Food banks and food kitchens abound. Not to mention food stamps and other types of welfare. America supports her leeches too.

"We are hardworkers…we have double jobs…. and we save money for our family.
The Philippines is a middle income country…If countries are people, we are middle class. As a middle class, we enjoy the indulgence of the rich and we can also feel the adventures of the poor…so, why pin us down on the lower middle class side alone…. pag middle class ka..kumakain ka ng litson at tuyo and you don’t mind…"

Working two jobs does not make one a hard worker. In the Philippines wages are depressed and so is the currency. One might need to work two jobs just to make ends meet. The same happens in the West too. 

Saving money for one's family is nice but that is all tied to the lack of personal independence. Parents should not rely on their children for financial support as so many do. They should be an example of economic thrift and perseverance. Parents should teach their children how to earn, save, and spend their money responsibly. Children should not be expected to give all their money to their family. How are they supposed to build their own family and life if they give all their money away? It's a toxic and neverending cycle.

The Philippines is a lower middle income country according to the World Bank.

https://data.worldbank.org/?locations=PH-XN

What does he mean by "the adventures of the poor?"  Is living in a bamboo shack next to a pile of garbage and polluted water source an adventure? How does that make the Filipino race great?

"We are the only country who fought three world powers and got what we want.

We fought Spain, the Filipino - Spanish War, the world power then…and we won and declared our independence.

We fought the Americans, the Filipino - American War,  the world power then and now, and we won because we got our independence. If Russia defeated Germany thru its long and harsh winter, we defeated the Americans into giving us independence thru eloquence and diplomacy.

We fought Japan, the Filipino - Japanese War, ….and we defeated them by using American support to drive the Japanese in our country out…

We had a lot of rehearsals on this war stuff, and with great powers at that...we can take on any pretender at this point...pag di natin makuha ng patayo, kinukuha natin ng pahiga..di uubra kalokohan nila satin..

now tell me, if this is not greatness as a race, call it football."

Is he serious? The Philippines did not fight the Spanish alone. It was the Americans who won that war. Though the Philippines did declare independence nobody recognized it and the nation was made a colony of the United States. By the way the first constitution and the entire independence movement was Masonic in nature and based on Western ideals of governance and liberty.

"We defeated the Americans into giving us independence thru eloquence and diplomacy." That is complete lie.  As I have documented the USA always intended to give the Philippines independence once they had proven themselves to be capable of self government. Independence came in 1946, eleven years after a plebiscite in which the entire nation voted for it.  

The Philippines defeated the Japanese using American support. How does that make the Filipino race great? They couldn't defeat the Japs on their own so they used the Yanks. Meanwhile the Americans conquered and developed a whole continent defeating all hostile elements with no one's help.

"We can take on any pretender at this point?" What a joke! The insurgency has been going on for 50 years with no end in sight! The Philippines can't even defeat mountain and jungle dwelling communists and Muslims. The Philippines is also using American support to fight that war. Imagine if a real "pretender" stepped up to take over the Philippines. You know like China. 

"We dont like corruption, we jailed two corrupt Presidents so far.."

Is he talking about Estrada and Macapagal? Estrada was convicted and sentenced to life in prison but Macapagal pardoned him! He never paid for his crimes. Later she was arrested but acquitted of all charges by the Supreme Court because the DOJ failed to prepare a sufficient case against her. Meanwhile the Philippines remains one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/1/23/Philippines-corruption-worsens.html

"We are superior people, so, come on, let us work harder. And indulge. And enjoy life…because superior people like us work very hard and we deserve indulgence."

Filipinos are superior and work hard so they deserve to indulge? That's not the motto of a great race. That's the motto of a lazy and self-indulgent people. Do you think the British conquered the world and then sat back thinking they deserved a little indulgence? How about the Mongols, the Greeks, or the Romans? Let's quote the Bible again.

Proverbs 6:10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

That's the end of Sofronio Dulay's poem. He shared it with some people on the internet which caused lot of heated discussion for and against. He came to the following conclusion.

Conclusion: if you like this article, you are subconsciously a patriotic Filipino. If you feel bad about this article, in one way or another, you may not know it consciously, but you have a deep - rooted hatred or uneasiness of your being a Filipino or of your Filipino connection. You are a Filipino who can not be expected to defend our country in times of war. Huli ka, bata!!!

His conclusion, like the rest of his poem, is false. Nothing in this poem exemplifies greatness. According to Sofronio Dulay the Filipino race is great because they practice a foreign religion, speak a foreign tongue, have foreign blood mixed with their own, have won foreign beauty contests because of their foreign blood, have large malls where they can buy foreign goods, have no sense of  personal independence, and won a war with the help of foreigners.

That is not greatness. If the Filipino race is a great race then it must be judged by a higher standard than the size of their malls and the dilution of their blood. How about the marks on The Cultural Iceberg?

How does the Filipino race and culture add up compared to the rest of the world in all these categories? Everything Dulay has listed is vain and silly and the opposite of what makes a great race. In fact all the things he listed have to do with the Filipino race adopting other the cultures of other races! Funny that he could not think of anything genuinely Filipino as evidence for the greatness of the Filipino race.

Malling is More Fun in the Philippines

So this is what it has come down to. This is the level to which the Department of Tourism has sunk to promote the country to foreign tourists and which the taxpayer is paying for.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/05/19/1919055/malling-more-fun-philippines

The Department of Tourism (DOT) is positioning the country as a shopping destination as it partners with SM Supermalls to launch the “Malling is More Fun in the Philippines” campaign. 

“This nationwide campaign invites locals and tourists to experience why shopping, leisure and entertainment in the Philippines is truly more enjoyable,” the DOT said. 

Based on DOT data in 2017, shopping was the number one activity of tourists visiting the country, with 51.60 percent of visitors hitting the stores. 

Shopping is also where tourists spend money, amounting to $20.90 of the 2017 average daily expenditure per capita of $125.65. 

The DOT maintained that building up shopping tourism in the country would also spur economic growth, create millions of jobs, livelihood and enterprises. 

SM Supermalls said it continues to serve as a venue for meaningful family bonding moments where everyone can indulge in extraordinary malling experiences with its 70 malls nationwide. 

“Malls have become the modern day plaza and safe community spaces for families and friends to share moments together through shopping, dining and fun experiences,” SM Supermalls chief operating officer Steven Tan said. 

“SM’s partnership with the (DOT) celebrates the best of the Philippines through a range of fun fairs and fiestas,” Tan added. 

As part of the “Malling is More Fun” campaign, mall goers are invited to participate in special activities in SM Supermalls all over the country. 

These activities include culinary demos, regional food fairs, exclusive dining deals and the SM Supermarket Chefs Showdown.

This is not a joke. It's all very real. The DOT and SM are partnering up to promote the Philippines' most untapped resource of all: the mall. What about Ayala and Robinson? Why are they being left out  of the picture? 

One would think the DOT would focus on promoting the Philippines meaning the land with all its natural beauty and special places to see and experience but alas that is not the case.  

To achieve the projected growth in tourist numbers and expenditures over the next decade. the Central Philippines will have to move to an investment-driven strategy. Outside of Cebu and Boracay, little investment has taken place in recent years in the Super Region’s tourism sector. The result is that the tourism industry is totally reliant on its natural attractions as the motivation for tourists to visit. But the natural attractions, though unique in many ways, are not sufficiently strong in themselves to attract the numbers required to support a significant tourism sector. This is a primary factor driven strategy and characterized by infrastructure inadequacies, limited investment in product, insufficient accommodation, medium to low quality product and inadequate airlift.

http://www.tourism.gov.ph/tourism_policy.aspx

Can you believe it? The DOT on their very own website admits that the natural attractions of the Philippines "are not sufficiently strong" enough to attract visitors! If the problem is lack of infrastructure which limits access then you would think the DOT would lobby for more roads to be constructed. Rather they have accepted defeat and have now turned to promoting the malls of the Philippines as tourist attractions.

If they are going to promote the Philippines' malls to foreigners as tourist attractions then they need to implement a few very important changes at every mall.

1. Toilet paper

The malls need to put toilet paper in every stall.

Imagine being a first time newbie tourist from the West and you are at the mall enjoying fine Filipino food like McDonald's or Seattle's Best and all of a sudden you need to go. Surprise! There is no toilet paper and now you are in a right mess. What a nightmare. Foreigners, especially westerners, are going to expect toilet paper to be in the bathroom stall and it should be there.

Welcome to the Philippines. Be sure to carry a roll of TP at all times. Just in case.

2. Escalator etiquette

Filipinos do not know how to use the escalator and they need drastic education. Signs are not enough. There has to be a whole campaign. Stand on the right, walk on the left. It is annoying as anything to get stuck behind several people leaning on the rails when all you want to do is head on to your destination. Foreigners are not going to expect undisciplined use of the escalator because everywhere else the universal rule of stand on the right and walk on the left is followed.

Totally unacceptable

3. Noise

This is less of a problem but still a problem. Sometimes there will be a sale in the courtyard or centre area of the mall and loud speakers blasting atrocious techno, rap, or rock and pop will be rocking and you cannot even talk to the person you are with.  There is no need for this especially inside. Turn it down. Why can't they have one small speaker that is giving information about the sale rather than blaring loud and pointless music from a huge stack?

Unnecessary!

4. Scammers

I don't know what SM's policy is on kiosks. How do they evaluate sellers who want to rent one for a short time? Some of these people are scammers. I should know I got pulled into one when I was told I would be given a stove for free.  This led to a sit down and conversation and more free stuff being offered and a telephone call and then being told I have to pay P7000, the price of one item, to get all the other junk for free. What a waste of my time. What a waste of anyone's time.


5. Credit Cards

Believe it or not not every store at the mall accepts credit cards! This applies mostly to restaurants and kiosks. Do foreigners carry around a lot of cash? They might. They might not. But foreigners are going to be used to the ease of using a card without having to carry around a lot of bills. It is safer for them too. No one wants to be robbed. The malls should make sure all stores are equipped with credit card machines and those who are not should have signs reading, "Cash Only."


If this new DOT campaign is sustained Bacolod City could get an influx of tourists in the coming years.

https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/05/25/1920603/megaworld-putting-p12-b-lifestyle-mall-bacolod

The mall will showcase a blend of neo-classical and art deco architecture, reminiscent of New York City’s Upper East Side cityscape. 

“We are curating an architectural masterpiece that depicts the cosmopolitan vibe of our Bacolod township. This is just the first mall that we are building in this township because there is still more room for future expansion,” Tan said. 

Thus, the mall’s design will be highlighted by a 48-meter high iconic clock tower that illuminates even at night, making it a major landmark along the six-lane main avenue of the township that stretches from Lopez Jaena St. to Circumferential Road.

Hopefully this "lifestyle mall" with an iconic clock tower and modelled after NYC's Upper East Side has toilet paper in the stalls! I doubt it. The special twist of the Philippines is that they will build something so modern and expensive but the toilets won't even have the modern luxury of toilet paper!

Shopping can be a fun way to pick up a cool souvenir. I bought a magic carpet at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. There is good food to be had at the night markets in Taipei. I bought my favourite hat at a market in Cusco. However a market is considerably different from the mall. They have a character that is all their own and the products sold are unique and locally made. The mall is corporate conformity offering products foreigners can find back home.

What the DOT is actually doing by promoting malls as tourist destinations is reinforcing a worldwide, homogenous monoculture that has absolutely nothing to do with the Philippines and in fact contributes to the erosion of Filipino culture by assimilating it into the Borg of global consumerism.

It's too bad the DOT is not promoting the markets in the Philippines. Are there any worth promoting to tourists?

Little Boy Sitting on the Escalator

The picture speaks for itself.

There is not much to add.

There were no parents. Their parents probably let them run around and do what they want and haven't shown them how to properly and safely ride the escalator. But then again in the Philippines escalator etiquette is quite lacking so the parents probably do not know that you stand on the right and walk on the left and never ever, ever sit down.

This is not the first time I have seen a young boy having a hard time with escalators. Recently I saw a little boy get his loose shoelace get caught in the teeth of an escalator.

This situation could have turned into a real nightmare with the boy losing his foot but thankfully that did not happen. After it was all clear an attendant was able to turn off the escalator and rescue the shoe.

The moral here is don't horseplay on escalators and make sure your shoes are always tied.

Booksale

Booksale is one of the more enjoyable places to go in Philippines.  Every mall has one. This store is sells used books of all kinds.  It can be a real treat to walk in and find something unexpected.  Here are a few gems I have found.

The gold book is an out-of-print Book of Mormon with a gold foil cover replica of the golden plates Joseph Smith translated the basis of the Book of Mormon.  

Prices are usually between 130 - 25 pesos.  A real deal especially if you find something out of the ordinary.

Digging through the junk to find the treasure.  Now that's living in the Philippines.

The ASEAN delegates are coming! Quick, hide the garbage!

ASEAN is hosting one of it's meetings in town.  I had no idea but I should have known something was up what with crews posting flags around town and there being a larger than normal police presence. Closer to the event location I saw a large PNP group with riot shields.  What for?  Do they really think someone is going to disturb the ASEAN meeting? And who would do such a thing?  I think they better stamp out the terrorists and quickly.

I was walking to the mall when I saw all those cops with riot shields and then I saw this:

They put up a new banner on the bridge.  They did this previously when the president visited.  I was dying laughing because it's such an obvious way to simply hide the garbage while the delegates are in town.  

Let's take a look behind the banner:

Mhmm....

Just awful.  Look at all that garbage.  And the stink!  That area always smells rotten. How can anyone live there? Why don't the residents stop tossing their trash in the river?  Why don't they try and clean it up?  Why doesn't the city clean it up?  

They also covered up the market across the street from the mall:

Dressing up a squalid area with Globe advertisements is not going to solve a thing.  Perhaps the city should invest in the area and clean it up?

Security at the mall was tighter than usual.  Both inside and out.  Besides the normal frisk and metal detector scan at the entrance they added a second one inside at the hallways that connect each side of the mall:

Wow looks like they are pretty serious about security, right? But at the end of the other hallway across the mall the metal detectors were unmanned!

Now look and see how they beefed up security outside:

Now that's real security!  That's real safety measures!  Instead of using a stick with a mirror to search the undercarriage of cars for bombs they place a camera on the road and now the PNP can watch the monitor as the car passes over it and make sure there really are no bombs. 

But it's all going to go back to normal when the conference is over.  The security guards will go back to the mirror stick and the same tired body frisk at the mall entrance and the whole security charade will continue unabated.  Meanwhile the banner blocking the view of garbage creek will come down bit by bit as the weather wears it away only to become a part of and reveal all that trash once again.

And what's the point of that?

Filipinos Don't Know How to Use Escalators

There is new sign posted by all the escalators in the mall:

Yeah sure perhaps proper use of an escalator isn't instinctive but these escalators have been around for quite a few years.  Why didn't they post these signs earlier?  There's nothing more annoying than getting stuck behind somebody when you are on the move. 

But Filipinos aren't the kind to pay attention signs giving instructions.  Chances are this sign won't make much of a difference.

Toilet paper? We don't need no stinking toilet paper!

Imagine being in the mall having lunch with your friends.  All of a sudden your tummy starts rumbling and you feel the urge to go.  You race to the bathroom ready to relive yourself.  When you open the stall you see this:

There's no toilet paper! WHERE'S THE TOILET PAPER??? 

Don't be silly.  Its right here:

Why would toilet paper go inside the stall?  Surely its better placed outside to monitor it for theft. They can't risk anyone stealing toilet paper.  Never mind the fact that Filipinos use their hands and a bucket of water to wipe themselves. This totally makes sense. 

So always remember that in the Philippines there is no toilet paper in the public toilets. If there is it will be either outside the stall or hidden away someplace and you might have to pay for it! 

What does it matter anyway? Why all the fuss about hiding the toilet paper when Filipinos do not use it?  They literally use a bucket and water to wipe themselves.  Even though they sell toilet paper at the stores you will not find it in a typical Filipno house but you will find a large slimy bucket full of nasty water and a ladle.  Even a toilet in a government office might not have any paper.

The lesson is always bring your own toilet paper and never shake hands with a Filipino.