Today I Became A Filipino Lineman

Life truly is an adventure here in the Philippines.  At least every time I go for a run it's an adventure. I never know what's waiting for me when I open the iron gate and run off down the street and into the great beyond.

This morning started out great. Not many cars or people. Hardly any smoke in the air or garbage in the street or dogs roaming around. It was at the halfway point that I came across the following.

Wow!  Can you believe this? I got a sweet picture of the moon!  And only using my little digital camera with no special lenses or anything.  There's also a very dangerous and no doubt very hot electrical cable fallen across the street. This picture was taken at 5:20 am and there is no telling how long this cable had been lying there. Seems like someone would have alerted the PNP or the electrical company to take care of this. There's nothing I could do about it so I continued on my way.

Running down the street I turned the corner and I saw a pile of long bamboo poles and in the blink an eye I was filled with inspiration. Picking up the longest pole with the most knobs on it I ran back to the fallen cord.  Carefully I inserted the tip of the pole under the cord so that it snagged onto a knob and I raised it up. It was a bit of a struggle because the pole was so long and getting it to stand up straight was a little awkward.  I had to walk it back slowly making sure that I didn't snag any of the other cords.  

All the while I was doing this a group of runners ran past, a few guys were standing around, and a little boy was watching too. Not a single person offered any assistance. So I raised it up like it was my own personal Iwo Jima.

After the battle was over I continued on my run being sure to stop at the PNP and alert them to the situation. The gate to their office was locked so I picked up a stone and banged on the gate until sleepy eyed officers stumbled out to see what was the matter and who was waking them up at this early hour.

I showed them the photos and told them the situation and they said they would call the electrical company to fix the problem.  They seemed oblivious to what had happened. This would mean that the cable fell after they had done their nightly rounds. I guess no one thought to call them. After that it was smooth running back home.  

Now how does this make me a Filipino lineman?  All I did was get the cable out of the way like any person would do. (Except for all those guys standing around doing nothing who did not even bother to alert anyone to the problem or help me temporarily fix the problem.) Take a look at this photo which is not my work at all and you will see that I have utilised the same technique as the Filipino lineman.

It's a skill that will come in handy though I hope I don't have to use it again any time soon.

Here is The Vet

Just as the morning was nearing it's end the vet pulled up to the house in his large white van. He said he came because of the urgent nature of the dog's medical condition.

The whole process was a bit delicate because he had to scrape skin samples from three of the dogs.

Each of these brave doggies deserved a treat but there weren't any available. They were so brave though.  And very sacred.  The doggie in the middle picture was shaking like a leaf in the wind.  But they all endured the scraping which resulted in proper samples. (And open wounds! )

 Now for the examination of the slide.

"What do you see, Doctor?"

Dog 2

Dog 3

The first dog's sample (which is not pictured) showed sarcoptic mange but the other two dogs only showed fungus.

The result?  All 10 dogs will be treated as if they have mange.  This means shampooing and the application of medicated topical solutions.  Hopefully the dogs will recover soon.

As payment we gave him a bag of avocados.

He was also paid in cash

Thanks for coming Doctor. We hope to not have to call on your services anytime soon.

What's for lunch?

Pork Hoof Soup!

Mmmmmmm!

Yummy!!

Delicious!!

Don't forget the rice!

Where is The Vet?

Something is happening to my dogs.  They all used to be very beautiful.

So cute!

But now:

The is the same dog!

ALL of my dogs are have itchy red skin and they cannot stop biting and scratching themselves until they start bleeding.  Take a look at this poor doggie.  From long haired cutie:

To this:

Her hair has been shorn and she has to wear a plastic cone to prevent scratching her neck and socks to prevent scratching her legs and body all bloody.

What's the problem?  Mange?  Diet?  I don't know and it's very upsetting to see them suffering.

That is why the vet was called to come visit.  Thankfully he does make house calls because it is not practical to transport all 13 dogs to the vet on a tricycle or jeepney.

His secretary said they would make an appointment and call back. They did not call back so we called them again and the secretary said they would come this week.  They did not come.  Our helper went to the vet to buy some soap and he reminded the vet that he was supposed to come visit.  The vet said to call back at 2pm.  So we called back at 2pm but the secretary answered instead and said the vet was forced to cancel all house visits and that all home visits would be rescheduled.

But we have still not heard back from the vet.  And now this happened:

The poor beast scratched herself raw! Blood speckled all over the floor and her arm.

So where is the vet? Is he coming?  Does he not an have appointment book and a telephone? He is not to blame for my dog's condition but we did call him to come help cure the dogs. We have changed their diet, throughly bathed them, sprayed them with Venoma, and rubbed them with various ointments but nothing seems to work.

Where is the vet??

Martial Law With COOLEST PRESIDENT!

Ever since Duterete forced the shotgun wedding between Martial Law and Mindanao people all over the country have been clamouring for an annulment. This week the Supreme Court gave the final decision and the marriage is now official.  Martial Law is the law of the land (in Mindanao).

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/04/17/supreme-court-affirms-mindanao-martial-law

Not everyone was happy with this decision but the Father of the bride said he would respect their dissent.  

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/910896/duterte-i-respect-dissenting-opinions-on-mindanao-martial-law

Unsurprisingly some officials see the Supreme Court decision as a dangerous precedent that will enable Martial Law to take more brides until perhaps all 7000 islands of the Philippines are part of his harem.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/616830/hontiveros-sc-decision-upholding-martial-law-sets-dangerous-precedent/story/

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/911596/sc-ruling-could-embolden-duterte-to-declare-nationwide-martial-law

In a statement, Lagman, a petitioner against martial law, said the Supreme Court decision rendered the magistrates powerless in reviewing the president’s exercise of martial law, as required for in the 1987 Constitution. 

Lagman said the Supreme Court gave too much leeway to the President to declare emergency powers simply because he had access to confidential information. 

“This safeguard was denigrated by the majority decision which effectively deferred to the discretion of the President and gave him ‘much leeway and flexibility’ to declare martial law because it is he who has the arsenal of intelligence information to warrant such declaration,” Lagman said. 

“This disquisition virtually closes the door for the Supreme Court to fully review the sufficiency of the factual basis of the President’s exercise of extreme emergency powers,” he added. 

Lagman feared that the Supreme Court decision, in pronouncing that the martial law coverage is up to the President’s discretion, could “(pave) the way for an expanded territorial ambit of a martial law declaration.”

The reason the Supreme Court gave for upholding Duterte's decision to implement marital law is indeed precedent setting.  The argument of the detractors was that there was no rebellion or invasion as such to warrant the declaration.  The Supreme Court however ruled there was a rebellion because ISIS was seeking to establish a caliphate in Marawi and Mindanao. The declaration of martial law helped put a stop to that.

http://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/national/bandits’-bid-to-put-up-islamic-state-basis-for-martial-law-in-mindanao-—sc/ar-BBDO0me

The Supreme Court adverted to the following as presented by the government during the oral arguments defending the martial law in Mindanao. 

1) The Maute Group is "openly attempting to remove from the allegiance to the Philippine Government this part of Mindanao and deprive the Chief Executive of his powers and prerogatives to enforce the laws of the  land and to maintain public order and safety in Mindanao, constituting the crime of
rebellion." 

2) "[L]awless armed groups have taken up arms and committed public uprising against the duly constituted government and against the people of Mindanao, for the purpose of removing Mindanao—starting with the City of Marawi, Lanao del Sur—from its allegiance to the Government and its laws and depriving the Chief Executive of his powers and prerogatives to enforce the laws of the land and to maintain public order and safety in Mindanao, to the great damage, prejudice, and detriment of the people therein and the nation as a whole." 

3) The May 23, 2017 events"put on public display the groups' clear intention to establish an Islamic State and their capability to deprive the duly constituted authorities—the President, foremost —of their powers and prerogatives." 

4) "These activities constitute not simply a display of force, but a clear attempt to establish the groups' seat of power in Marawi City for their planned establishment of a DAESH wilayat or province covering the entire Mindanao."

But this begs the question: If the Supreme Court is worried about ISIS seeking to establish a caliphate separate from the government of the Philippines then what about the BBL?  The BBL is the government capitulating to Muslim terrorists who have killed thousands over the years by giving them their own fully autonomous region of Mindanao. What does anyone think will happen in that region if the BBL goes into effect?  It will be the prefect cover for jihadi groups to train for their worldwide war against civilisation. It will be the cradle from which much destruction in the Philippines will be born. For all Duterte's talk about not negotiating with terrorists he sure does like to negotiate with terrorists be they CPP-NPA, MNLF, MILF, or Maute.

http://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/national/duterte-pushed-deal-to-end-marawi-siege-then-backed-out-—muslim-leader/ar-BBDO07c

Duterte probably was going through back channels to negotiate a cease fire with the Muslims in Marawi. Nothing wrong with that at all and why would he admit it? The standard course of governments is to deny, deny, deny until years later when the truth finally comes out.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/07/06/1717041/duterte-reported-backchannel-talks-mautes-impossible

 “I never talked to terrorists…I would never talk to criminals and terrorists but I will talk to revolutionaries who are imbued with principles,” the president told reporters in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

So the MNLF, MILF, CPP-NPA aren't terrorists but are principled revolutionaries? Where is the public outcry against such nonsense?  Thousands of Filipinos dead at the hands of these "principled revolutionaries" cry out against such shameful rhetoric. 

Is Duterte going to extend martial law?  He has all but said so.  Martial law ends on July 22 and his State of the Nation Address is on July 24.  If he is not going to lift martial law before the SONA then it's a matter of course that he will be extending martial law.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/07/07/17/duterte-says-wont-lift-martial-law-before-sona

And he has not even sat down with his security officials like Bato who said, "We still need to review the situation."

http://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/national/bato-wants-martial-law-extended-to-hunt-down-remaining-terrorists/ar-BBDPvKB

For his part, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he and Armed Forced chief General Eduardo Año will soon make the recommendation to President Rodrigo Duterte on whether to lift of extend martial law in Mindanao. 

He said that they still need to review the situation in Marawi and the entire Mindanao before making the decision. 

"General Año and I will be making the recommendation soon to the President. We don't know if it's to lift or to extend. Tinitignan pa namin ang nangyayari sa paligid not only in Marawi, but all over Mindanao," Lorenzana said during the briefing. 

But while Dela Rosa agrees that the decision should be sound, he personally believes an extension is needed.

Duterte does not care what Bato, Año, or anyone else has to say. He said in January 2017 he would declare martial law if he wanted to and in May he actually declared martial law with no recommendation from anyone to do so.  Before he even became president he told us his presidency would be a bloody dictatorship and now that the Supreme Court has validated his decision he has the moral authority as well as the political capital to extend martial law in Mindanao as he sees fit. Nationwide martial law is only one (false flag) bombing away.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/07/05/1716585/paf-plane-back-us-rockets-bombs

It would be nice if the AFP used all the rockets and bombs procured from the Americans to blow the remaining Muslims straight to paradise but after decades of fighting is that realistic?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/911957/maute-down-to-its-last-80-men-afp

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/912369/afp-admits-some-maute-gunmen-fled-marawi-as-evacuees

Herrera made the admission when asked to explain his claim that only about 80 gunmen remained inside the war zone as of this week. 

It was pointed out to him that if the number of slain gunmen was 366 based on latest military report and the remaining terrorists numbered 80, the total would only be about 440, a far cry from the estimate that there were about 700 terrorists who laid siege to the city on May 23.

How has martial law helped the situation when roughly 300 terrorists have escaped Marawi while martial law has been in effect?

Something is seriously wrong with the AFP leadership which cannot coordinate a strategic takedown of terrorists in the one city of Marawi in two months much less the whole of Mindanao in 40 years. With all these screw-ups it seems like the AFP is allowing the Muslims to have way too much fun.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/912321/look-maute-gunmen-laughing-relaxing-in-between-clashes-in-marawi

The rockets red glare and the bombs bursting in air will no doubt blind and deafen the AFP before they destroy Abu Sayyaf, Maute, BIFF, MNLF, MILF, or the NPA. How much longer must this continue?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/912150/speaker-pushing-for-5-more-years-of-martial-law

“For me,” Alvarez said, “if the President asks for an extension, my personal position—not the position of the House of Representatives—is, as a Mindanaoan, I want to extend it until 2022.” 

“Why? To stop this thing. This is not just Isis, there’s also the rebellion of the NPA that’s more than 40 years,” the Davao del Norte congressman said, referring to the IS and to the communist-led New People’s Army. 

Asked if he favored expanding martial law to cover the rest of the country, Alvarez said this would need to be discussed.

Never forget that Alvarez initially said he wanted to extend martial law in order to fast-track the development of infrastructure projects! Now he mentions the NPA, a terrorist organisation not confined to Mindanao, which indicates Alvarez wants to take martial law nationwide. This is not about defeating terrorists which could easily be done without martial law. You don't need martial law to napalm the jungle and massacre them. This is all about control and money. The Duterte administration is taking huge loans from the Chinese government to build infrastructure. Many of these projects are in Duterte's and Alvarez's home province, Mindanao. Duterte and his cronies will be the ones to profit from these ventures. Duterte and his friends simply cannot allow the terrorists to threaten these profitable (for them) deals. Follow the money and ask "who benefits?" 

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/18/17/chinese-vice-premier-visits-davao-city-infra-projects-mulls-investments

Government officials toured Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang around Davao City on Saturday, in a bid to woo investments for the city’s infrastructure projects. 

Accompanied by officials from the Davao City government and the National Economic Development Authority, Yang visited the Sta. Ana Wharf and other sites such as the Davao City expressway project, coastal road, coastline and port development project, the Mindanao railway project, and the Francisco Bangoy International Airport.

Imagine five years of martial law and war just in Mindanao! What evil carnage! What nihilistic destruction! And can we have any doubt that justification will be found to extend martial law to the entire nation? Aside from the death and destruction five years of martial law will inevitably bring, it will also give Duterte a chance to wear cammo and posture as the Philippines' COOLEST PRESIDENT!

Kmart in the Philippines

Attention Kmart shoppers!

Who knew once bankrupt and continually-struggling-to-make-a-profit  department store Kmart opened a branch in the Philippines!?

Blue light specials right here in the Philippines!

And they even have a delivery tricycle.

Time to get shopping!

The Pig's Grim Progress

Lechon is a favourite delicacy in the Philippines. Pig blood, pig fat, pig meat, pig guts are grilled, fried, boiled, baked, and devoured by Filipinos. Let's take a look at how some terrific, radiant, humble pig goes from playing in the mud hole to being chewed in the mouth hole.

First they take the pig for a ride.  They could throw the pig in a truck but why not put it in a tricycle? The open road. The wind on your snout. What an adventurous day it is!  If only the pig knew where he was being taken he might not be so content.

It's all over now for the pig. Eviscerated. Guts in a pail.  Splayed out and ready to be sliced into bacon, pork chops, and ham.  Only the finest shirtless, cigarette smoking butchers in the Philippines will do for this delicate job.

Now that we got the pig chopped into pork chops its time to soak them in a sweet sauce.  Calamansi. Soy Sauce.  And Sprite to sweeten the meat.

Yummy, yummy.  Who does not love the smell of grilled pork chops in the afternoon?  Look at how they brown so nicely.  The woodsmoke will seep into the meat and enhance the flavour even more. Hopefully the cook didn't just light the plastic bag of charcoal on fire or else the meat will now be toxic.

It is finished. The meat is cooked. The pork chops are chopped up for easier consumption.  Just add rice!

Now dig in! Kain tayo!