Iglesia Ni Cristo Plants Trees and Leaves Garbage Behind

During an early morning run I came across the following sign:

Tree Planting Activity? Sounds interesting and just the kind of reason I bring my camera every time I leave the house. Tree planting is certainly a noble sort of thing to do. Ecologically friendly. We can always use more oxygen and the Philippines can certainly use more beautification efforts.

I came across a guy carrying a very large professional camera set-up and I knew this was the guy to ask where everything was happening.  He said everyone was meeting at the stadium.  So that's where I headed.  It's actually just a basketball court though.  He said he was from the mayor's office but I never did see the mayor.

Loud music is always the signal for Filipinos on where to gather and this morning was no exception.

This little place with coffee and music is next to the basketball court and when I asked where are the trees at, the guys pointed to a place far in the distance on top of a hill just outside the barangay.  I knew exactly how to get there and proceeded accordingly and slowly though all the mud. Rains had been heavy the previous night and since the road is not paved it turns to thick slushy mud whenever it rains.

This was it. This was where they were going to plant the trees. But where are the trees?

Those are the trees.  Little seedlings.  And there didn't seem to be too many of them. Nothing a few people couldn't handle in a couple of hours anyway. Maybe it's just me but shouldn't they have waited until these delicate seedling were a little bigger and sturdier before they go planting them? Seems like they would want to plant something more substantial than just seedlings.

Why are they planting trees at all? No one I asked seemed to know.  The area in which the seedings are being planted is large and open and unprotected.  It's also an area used for growing crops. Pretty odd choice to sow a forest.  Could it be for beautification?  But the area is far away from people outside of the barangay. And if it's beautification they are after why not pick up the trash scattered all over the place?

So much garbage that needs picking up

The hour was getting late and I did not want to stay much longer.  No reason to really. But then I looked back towards the barangay from where I had come and I noticed a lot of vehicles had arrived. People were starting to show up. With all the mud the traffic cops had to direct the people to a safer and dryer direction.

People were arriving in droves. It was like Woodstock. You could say by the time I got to the barangay they were half a million strong.

The only shovel I saw.  Also notice the little paper flags.

I came upon several of these children of God walking along the road and asked them why they were going to plant trees but none of them knew what to tell me.  For people going to plant trees some of them seemed too nicely dressed and it looked like only one of them brought a shovel.  I don't even recall seeing shovels in the area where they were going to be planting the trees. A few were also waving the INC flag which looks like the Italian flag.  But why?  Why did they bring little paper flags to a tree planting activity?

It was time for me to go home.  But they just kept coming.

And coming.

And coming!

Every member of the INC in the area must have showed up.  Seems pretty silly. Why would hundreds (thousands?) of people be needed to plant a few seedlings? Did I mention they only had two outhouses to accommodate all these people?

Notice how the waste goes out a pipe and into the field! What is the point even?

I decided to come back in the afternoon and view the results.

This is what one planted seedling looks like. Surrounded by bamboo slats and planted firmly in the earth. It looks as if they used the bamboo as a shovel since the disturbed area is not as big as one would expect from a shovel.  Here is what a a whole field looks like.

Will these defenceless tress make it? Will anyone be checking on these trees to monitor their growth? Reforestation is a science. Is Iglesia Ni Cristo up to the task? I am going to go out on a limb and say no.  I mean look at the garbage they left behind.

The mark of Iglesia Ni Cristo 

If the INC really cared about the environment and the tree planting was done out of environmental concerns then they would not have left their trash all over the place. If the tree planting was done for beautification they also would not have left their garbage behind. Pretty disgusting. But not as disgusting as the human waste left behind from the porta-toilets.

So much for the pointless tree planting activity which no one seemed to know why it was being done and for which several hundred unneeded people showed up and left their garbage behind.

24 Hour Resort is not Actually 24 Hour Resort

Out for an early run I thought I would stop by this resort that is advertising 24 hours operation and see if the pool was open.

I run up to the gate and ask the guard and he says the pool is not open and that the resort is in fact closed.  

"I thought you were 24 hours now." 

"Only check-in."

A case of blatant false advertising.  The banner clearly says 24 hours operation.  Not 24 hours check-in.  

Closed gates at 5am

This place isn't that great anyway.  Hardly a resort.  What passes for a resort here in the Philippines would not pass muster anywhere else. Just next door to this relaxing getaway is an open gun range and you can hear the gunfire all day.

What a relaxing way to spend a vacation swimming and having a fun time with the family while gunshots can be heard in the near distance.

Leaning and Rotten Electric Poles

All throughout the Philippines electric poles are leaning and rotten.  Top heavy with wires these leaning poles pose an immediate danger but they are so pervasive that it's obvious no one cares.

Some of these poles are right in the middle of the road!  As if the poles were already in place and rather than move them they just paved right around them.

This situation is shameful.  But you never hear anyone addressing it. When election season comes around no one includes fixing the leaning electric poles as part of their platform. 

The Philippines wants so much to become a first world nation but it's little things like this (and this is no little thing) that will keep the Philippines back.  Without proper infrastructure how can the nation support the businesses they wish to attract?  

Filipinos cannot think ahead or plan for the future adequately.  They are trapped in the thinking that if nothing bad has happened yet then it probably won't and if it does then it will be dealt with then.  Such lack of foresight will only continue to retard Filipino culture and keep everyone unsafe.

When Will Duterte address the Child Pornography Problem?

A few months ago Philippines Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Lorraine Badoy told the EU of to stop criticising Duterte and stick to what they are good at: manufacturing child pornograaphy.

https://www.rt.com/viral/382564-duterte-eu-child-porn/

Anyone with a “teaspoon of IQ on them” would wait for Duterte to make a “huge error” before trying to topple him, she claimed. 

“Then and only then would it be the time to let your cash flow to pay the EU idiots with galls as huge as Goodyear blimps to call for the president's resignation,” she said, adding in Filipino that “those in the EU, just engage in online child pornography. Since that's what you are good at.”

In a raging outburst of Pinoy Pride she forgot the facts. That is if she ever even knew the facts.

http://www.manilatimes.net/philippines-is-no-1-global-source-of-child-pornography/267148/

It is Filipinos and not Europeans who are good at online child pornography.

But why would she even know this? UNICEF made the allegation.  Who cares what UNICEF thinks when they are just another branch of the international community which seeks to oust Duterte and destabilised the Philippines?

Duterte has made big plans for his time as president of the Philippines but it seems like protecting children is not high on that list.  During his second SONA not a word about the state of children was uttered.  Not a word about the fact that the Philippines is shamefully the global epicentre of online child pornography.  Not a word about how the Philippines will combat this insidious problem.

Instead he is concerned with the Balangiga Bells and with who owns the media and with abolishing the CHR.  He has no time for protecting the children of the Philippines.  

Will he ever have the time?

Martial Law: Military Operations Suspended?

A funny thing has happened since Congress decided to grant a 5 month extension of martial law:  Silence. Virtually no new news has come out of Marawi this week regarding AFP operations.  This is in sharp contrast to the past 60 days where there has been a flurry of activity and daily reports streaming out of Marawi. Why is this? Because Duterte has suspended military operations in Marawi.

http://archive.is/L9eeY

President Duterte has suspended the military offensive in Marawi, citing concerns over the safety of some 300 civilians being held by Islamic militants still holed up in some parts of the besieged city.

Or has he? 

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/07/26/1721632/duterte-war-marawi-go-until-last-terrorist-killed

President Duterte is allowing security forces to take their time on the Marawi crisis even as he stressed that the operations against the Maute terrorists would continue until the last terrorist is killed.

This article was originally published on July 26th at 12am and was not changed until 11:19am.  So for almost 12 hours the news was that Duterte had suspended military operations in Marawi. For some reason the first paragraph of the article was rewritten to state that Duterte was allowing the AFP to take its time and the headline was changed to reflect a decidedly different narrative from what was first published. But we already know that Duterte told the AFP to slow down and take their time three days previously on July 23rd. Why print 3-day old news? This article was changed with little fanfare and the administration did not issue a statement about it being in error.  This is odd because the Duterte administration takes every chance it can get to pummel the media. So why the change? Why did it take almost 12 hours for anyone to notice this error? Suspension of military operations would be a huge story and if it was not true from the start then how did it get approved by the editor?

Perhaps because Duterte really has either suspended military operations or slowed down operations enough that they might as well be suspended and it would be very bad for the public to find out. Or maybe not. The Filipino public doesn't seem to care about analysing what Duterte is doing and the consequences for the nation.  Joint exploration for oil in the Philippines territory with the Chinese even though China previously said that if the Philippines unilaterally drilled for oil it would mean war? That's great news because it means the Philippines is teaming up with the USA's enemy.

Virtual silence from Marawi is not the only odd thing to happen since Duterte received his 5 month extension of martial law. He is also ramping up attacks on the Commission on Human Rights even going so far as to say it would be better if the CHR were abolished.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/619330/duterte-to-chr-you-are-better-abolished/story/

So Duterte has told the AFP to take their time in Marawi because of all the hostages and that "It was the government’s “moral duty” to make sure the hostages were alive, even if the war drags on for a year" and now he is saying he wants to abolish the Commission on Human Rights? On the surface that does not make a bit of sense. Why talk about moral duty to hostages in one breath and then proclaim that the CHR is better off abolished in the next?

One could say that it makes Duterte look stupid.

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/07/25/Duterte-no-nationwide-martial-law.html

President Rodrigo Duterte clarifies there's no need to put the entire country under martial law since there is no rebellion happening nationwide. 

"No nationwide martial law. And because why? I will look stupid before the eyes of the public if I do that. And I am not ready to be called stupid," Duterte said to reporters after his two-hour-long state of the nation address. 

The chief executive said military rule was declared because there was trouble in Mindanao. He admitted, though, that there was a failure of intelligence regarding the strength of terrorist enemies in Marawi City. 

However, he assured the public that government troops in the south were not into abuses as they "are there in good faith."

Duterte is a hard man to decipher because he is constantly flip flopping so one must peer deeply between the lines to get his meaning. Two months ago it was this:

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/05/24/Duterte-might-expand-martial-law.html

"If I think that the ISIS has already taken foothold also in Luzon and terrorism is really not far behind, I might declare martial law throughout the country to protect the people."

The key to understanding his denial that there will be nationwide martial law rests on the word "presently." There is no rebellion presently, there is no reason presently, to declare nationwide martial law. But when there is a reason then he will call for nationwide martial law.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/907485/duterte-nationwide-martial-law-is-presently-unnecessary

And that reason is forthcoming.

The AFP allowed almost 300 Maute members to escape. That is one reason. Surely those terrorists will regroup and attack at some point in the future. However the most compelling and immediate reason is that the NPA is increasing attacks and Duterte has declared the peace talks over.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/07/27/1721888/npa-torches-road-equipment-disarms-surigao-vice-mayor

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/917804/2-cops-hurt-in-npa-ambush-in-samar-police-report

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/analysis/Following-SONA-Communists-Vow-to-Intensify-Fight-Against-Tired-US-Puppet-Duterte-20170724-0035.html

The ultimately phoney peace talks between Duterte and the Communists have finally collapsed and now the hour is coming and now is when action will need to be taken.  The NPA is not backing down and they have vowed to increase attacks against the government of the Philippines. When a big enough attack happens that is when Duterte will call for martial law. And no on will dare call him stupid when that time comes.

And it's right at the door.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/918737/duterte-orders-pnp-chief-wipe-out-npa

What Philippine leaders had failed to do in half a century, President Rodrigo Duterte wants done in the next five years of his six-year term — wipe out communist rebels. 

Philippine National Police Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said Mr. Duterte’s instructions to him were to focus next on fighting the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, after the government finishes off remnants of the Maute group in Marawi City. 

It remains uncertain, however, when the war on the Maute Group in Marawi would end and that on the NPA would begin, which Dela Rosa described would be a “full scale” campaign. 

Get rid of the NPA “whatever it takes” was Mr. Duterte’s instruction, according to Dela Rosa. “After Marawi, we will focus on our problem [with the NPA],” said the police chief.

Let's look at a claim which has been making the rounds since Congress granted the extension and which Duterte mentions when he says he does not want to be called stupid.  This would would be the claim that there was some kind of failure of intelligence .

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/619295/duterte-admits-failure-of-intelligence-in-marawi-city/story/?tag=sona2017

Here we have another complete turn around from his earlier statements.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/17/17/duterte-marawi-crisis-not-a-failure-of-intelligence

The crisis in Marawi City was not caused by a failure of intelligence but by connivance between local warlords and terrorists who stockpiled firearms in the city and the “soft” policy towards rebels, President Duterte said yesterday. 

Duterte said the government was aware that firearms were being stockpiled in Mindanao but took it for granted because of the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).  

“We have adopted a very soft policy towards the rebels and this came about because they were bringing firearms. Since we are thinking of getting peace with the MNLF and MILF. The game there involves firearms. We took it for granted. We just allowed it to happen because we never knew until that time who was really the enemy,” Duterte told the troops in Butuan City.  

“When they see firearms and they were told that it’s for MILF or MNLF, the standing order was maybe we can talk to our brothers so there will be no trouble (but) it turned out that the Maute were bringing the firearms surreptitiously and we did not know how much ammunition and firearms were stockpiled, and besides it was not a failure of intelligence,” he added. 

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/06/18/1711130/no-failure-intelligence-marawi

That Duterte claims the government was aware of the weapons being stockpiled in Mindanao and that they turned a blind eye because they were in negotiations with various terrorist groups is absolutely stunning and is nothing short of a spectacular failure of intelligence. What intelligent government would let known terrorist groups, even ones they are negotiating with, to stockpile weapons? And he wants to sign the BBL into law knowing full well that MNLF and MILF are armed to the teeth? What does he think will happen when these fully armed terrorist groups have their own autonomous political region in Mindanao?? This is an amazing admission of prior knowledge and incompetence straight from Duterte's mouth which confirms SolGen Calida's admission that the government had prior knowledge of the Marawi siege.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/904802/solgen-govt-had-advance-info-on-marawi-siege

To date no one in the media has followed up on this admission that the government had prior knowledge of the Marawi attacks and no one on social media is trotting out and memeing this damning bit of evidence against the Duterte administration. And that just goes to show that people easily forget or don't care and that perhaps Duterte and the media aren't the enemies he would have us believe they are. Media collusion with the government is nothing new. Propaganda is as old as war.

How about this recent bit of propaganda: national hero boxing champion Senator Manny Pacquiao visited the troops in full uniform. You did know he holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserves right?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/918603/pacquiao-visits-marawi-boosts-morale-of-soldiers

What's really remarkable is that despite urging the AFP to finish the job quickly and telling the media that it would all be finished in a few days it turns out that Duterte knew from the beginning that "it would be a long fight."

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2017/06/28/duterte-marawi-conflict-i-knew-it-would-be-long-fight-549816

"When I declared martial law while I was in Moscow, I already knew everything. I knew how long it would take for us and I knew about the deployment of snipers and where they're hiding their weapons," Duterte said at Palace's Rizal Hall.  

"I already have the complete picture and I knew that it would be a long fight," he added.

Amazing! When he was still several thousand miles away in Moscow he knew everything including how long it would take and about the snipers and where the weapons were being hid. Duterte is just that prescient. Does he happen to know when and where the NPA are going to strike and how many weapons they have and where their snipers will be? If he does it would be very helpful if he could inform the AFP and PNP beforehand so as to minimise casualties. 

When is anyone going to call him out on his nonsense? Why hasn't the media picked up on his impossible buffoonery and run him through the proverbial ringer? First he says there was no intelligence failure because the government knew that weapons were being stockpiled in the area and they had a soft policy towards terorists.  Then he says there was an intelligence failure because they did not know about the tunnels or that Maute was stockpiling weapons.  Now he claims that, despite insisting that the fight would be over in 3 days, before he had even returned to the Philippines and received a proper and thorough briefing on the situation he knew it would be a long fight and that he knew where the weapons were being hid and also about the snipers!! 

And he wants to be the one who will judge all human rights violations complaints against the PNP and AFP? Who would trust Duterte's judgement on any matter?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/918631/palace-insists-let-complaints-vs-cops-soldiers-be-addressed-to-president

Could anything be more ridiculous and outrageous!? It's no wonder he has such a high approval rating. If people were actually paying attention to the impossible nonsense coming out of Duterte's mouth and taking it seriously then perhaps his approval rating would be a lot lower than it is currently. Now that he has his 5 month extension Duterte will slowly bid his time until he can drop the hammer when it's time for action. And the people will love it.

Running the Gauntlet and Shutting Down the Party

Every time I go for a run it's like running the gauntlet.  It's always an obstacle course. Obstacles include: dogs, potholes, traffic, exhaust, smoke from burning leaves or trash, dog turds.

Garbage from stray dogs

Stray dogs

When I lived downtown I was forced to run at 4 am because running during the day when traffic is flowing is impossibly dangerous.  Even though I live in the country I still run at 4 am sometimes.   If I run in the afternoon I can run through the sugarcane fields which is a lot more pleasant than running through a squatters village or on the highway. The most dangerous thing about running through the fields is that the trails are not well kept and one misstep gets a rock through your sole.

Sugarcane fields

A few months ago some neighbourhood had a fiesta going very loud.  I couldn't tell exactly the source but I had a general idea. In the morning I woke at 4:30 as usual and I could still hear the distant boom-boom-boom of the fiesta.  So I decided I would find the party.

I ran off toward the squatter village I thought it was coming from but there was nothing. Making my way through the village and into the open sugarcane fields I still heard nothing.  But then I heard it.  BOOM-BOOM-BOOM.

So I rushed across the newly plowed field and towards the sound which I now knew was coming from a different squatter village, one I am familiar with and run through regularly. 

After crossing a muddy creek, cutting across private property, running a gauntlet of dogs, and then turning the corner I found the fiesta.  It was at a basketball court.  The entire court was surrounded by an impromptu fence of corrugated roof metal and netting.  I ran around the court banging on the metal and finally made my way into the fiesta.

This is how the basketball court normally looks

They had speakers like these set up

There were two guys asleep at the control board so I reached around them and turned the volume down.  Then I ran back out.  People were staring at me and  I shouted that it was loud and I could not sleep, thanks. For a moment I thought someone might be inclined towards violence and follow me but no one did and I did not hear the volume increase.

The way back home was the usual gauntlet of dogs, burning trash, and vehicle exhaust. It's really not pleasant to be out for a run and then come across a large cloud of smoke. Not pleasant at all.

Typical smokey leaf pile polluting the air

This is not the first time I have confronted loud noise and physically turned down the volume.  The very first time was during an election when someone parked a jeepney outside and walked away with the volume going full blast with an election song.  I walked right over and turned the volume off.  No one said a thing and no one turned the volume back up. I have also been to the church (they meet at a basketball court and not in a cathedral) in the next village over and turned the volume down a few times. They play the sound of bells for 3 hours over a large loudspeaker which can be heard for miles around.

Confronting people, especially drunk people, about their noisy fiestas is a little unnerving and I always expect violence though none has happened. I would not recommend shutting down a party.  But I would do it again personally.