Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Retards in the Government 2

Inspired by the previous post "Retards in the Government" this will be part of a continuing series showcasing headlines depicting elected officials and appointed bureaucrats in the Philippines behaving in a manner unworthy of their office. From filing spurious charges to childish dares to impeach or oust to just plain silliness and outrageous statements, even outright lies, I hope to present, without commentary, an accurate picture of why politics in the Philippines remains a corrupt and petty game of fools.


http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/18/17/farias-wants-immunity-from-minor-traffic-violations-for-lawmakers
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/934334/philippine-news-updates-president-duterte-trillanes-bank-accounts-destabilization

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/934182/trillanes-to-koko-oust-dick-or-else
https://coconuts.co/manila/news/philippine-ombudsman-opens-investigation-dutertes-wealth-duterte-threatens-investigate-ombudsman/

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/934743/duterte-wont-submit-to-ombudsman-probe

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/627961/duterte-s-threat-to-probe-ombudsman-just-his-form-of-defense-solon/story/

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/934839/drilon-duterte-ombudsman-conchita-carpio-morales-word-war


http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/10/02/1744819/lp-senators-threats-against-sc-ombudsman-veiled-attempt-consolidate

http://news.abs-cbn.com/trending/09/28/17/call-me-anytime-pacquiao-says-in-chicks-in-the-office-hosts-live-video-chat

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/913134/speaker-alvarez-robredo-sereno-may-face-impeachment

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/10/02/1744820/jinggoy-claims-ombudsman-investigator-extort-him

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/627922/bato-says-police-organizations-around-the-world-want-to-copy-phl-s-war-on-drugs/story
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/627958/focus-on-teen-killings-may-incite-rebellion-says-bato/story/

Martial Law: Ends this September

The recent successes of the AFP in pushing back the Maute group and retaking most of Marawi has been exciting and has led many to speculate that the battle could soon be over.  
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/933228/philippine-news-updates-marawi-maute-group-terrorism-islamic-state-maj-gen-carlito-galvez-jr
“It won’t take any more a month. It will take days na lang siguro or weeks,” Western Mindanao Command commanding general Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a press briefing in Marawi.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/933348/marawi-siege-over-in-october-says-military
He said the city would be liberated from Islamic State (IS)-affiliated criminals in “10 days or two weeks.” 
“That’s our timeline,” he said.
10 days or two weeks?  That's great.  Slow and steady always wins the race and the AFP doesn't want to get too excited and distracted by arbitrary deadlines because that would be absolutely careless.  Get the job done by picking off each terrorist one by one and just know that victory is right around the corner. Setting exact dates would lower morale especially if these target dates are not met as was the case back in June when the government said it would all be over in three days.
We don't want a repeat of that.

“It could be over at the end of this month,” Lorenzana said. 
“That’s what the people on the ground told me,” he told reporters later in an ambush interview. “So I trust them… They were the ones who told us matatapos na sa katapusan.”
How did the people on the ground tell Lorenzana that the battle could be over at the end of the month when they were previously quoted as saying it would take another 10-14 days?

http://www.manilatimes.net/marawi-war-ends-september-duterte-says/353706/
In Eastern Samar on Thursday, Duterte again admitted that the government underestimated the capabilities of the Maute terrorists. 
“Actually, it is the SAF, the Special Action Force, which were organized to meet urban terrorism. Nabigla lang talaga tayo doon (We were caught off-guard). We knew that they were stacking arms. We knew that there were arms going around and passing around. But we never realized the extent of their ordnance and bombs, explosives and guns and ammunition,” he said in remarks marking the 116th anniversary of the encounter between Filipinos and American troops in Balangiga. 
“Today, we are still fighting but I hope that by the end of the month, we’d be able to resolve the issue,” the President said.
Because the September 30th deadline was not met the AFP is now asking for an extension.
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/10/02/1744793/afp-seeks-marawi-deadline-extension
Security forces have asked for an extension after failing to meet the announced September 30 deadline to retake Marawi City from ISIS-inspired local terror groups. 
Last week, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced that the security crisis in Marawi “could be over at the end of this month.” 
The Armed Forces of the Philippines, however, said that the clearing operations may take 10 to 15 more days. 
"We will ask for some leeway... Maganda naman 'yung usad ng operations," Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) commander, said in a television interview. Westmincom is the area command in charge of Marawi operations.
How more ridiculous could the AFP get? Ask for an extension? What if Duterte said, "Sorry but you failed for the last time.  No more extensions." Will the war stop? Will everyone just pack up and go home? The notion of asking for an extension is absolutely ridiculous. This is not a term paper, this is war! The AFP must fight to the finish. 

Not only was Duterte wrong about the fighting ending by the end of September but he is also lying about being caught off guard.  As he admits in the next sentence the government knew the terrorists were stacking arms!  So what if they did not know the exact extent or the specifics of Maute's ordnance?  They KNEW Maute was stacking arms and nothing was done because, as Duterte has previously admitted, of the soft stance on terrorism due to the peace process with the MILF.

Duterte cannot get his stories straight about anything. Remember why the Marawi siege started? 

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/612229/how-a-botched-raid-led-to-martial-law-in-the-philippines/story/
Well forget about all that!  That's not what happened at all.  A botched attempt to arrest Abu Sayaf leader Isnilon Hapilon is not what led to the Marawi attack and subsequent extended battle. It was actually drugs that caused the whole thing.  Specifically the attempt to arrest a drug lord.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/183446-duterte-marawi-war-arrest-warrant-drug-lord
President Rodrigo Duterte claimed on Tuesday, September 26, that the war in Marawi was ignited by an arrest warrant for a drug lord in the southern Philippine city. 
"The Marawi war was ignited by the service of a summons and a warrant of arrest for one of the drug lords there. There was a firefight, and that started the rebellion," Duterte said in a speech past 8 pm on Tuesday. 
"And I was really aghast to know that until now they have so many bullets, ordnance, and everything, that the fight is still going on," he added in his speech during the 56th anniversary of the Philippine Constitution Association at the Manila Hotel.
What is the name of the drug lord?  Why was the AFP and not the PNP attempting to arrest a drug lord? Duterte is aghast to know they have so many bullets and ordnance? When he has already admitted that he knew they were stacking arms?  The craziest thing about this speech is not all the brazen lies but the fact that he gave it at the 56th anniversary of the Philippine Constituion Association!  This is the man who said he wold not listen to Congress or the Supreme Court if they contradicted his martial law order! This is the man who has sought to abolish the CHR, a constitutionally mandated bureaucracy. This is the man who said, "They keep on talking about the Constitution. That's nothing to me, actually. Do not give me that piece of paper. It doesn't mean anything to me at all." This is the man who said in 2015 that he wanted to impose martial law, declare a revolutionary government, and write a whole new constitution in order to set up a whole new system. Why is he speaking to a group whose website says:
We are what we make of our Constitution. When we respect and obey the Constitution, we respect and honor the sovereign people. When we trifle with or desecrate the Constitution, we betray our nation and we become traitors to our people.
As the AFP continues its push through Marawi they will have to contend with other conflicts in Mindanao. 

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/933647/is-bombing-plot-stopped
The Army here on Monday said it had prevented the execution of a terror plot to conduct bombings targeting heavily populated areas in North Cotabato with the arrest of a student of the late Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, and the recovery of bomb-making materials and high-powered firearms in his hideout. 
Lt. Col. Gerry Besana, head of the 6th Infantry Division Civil-Military Operations Battalion, said the arrest of Muslimin Ladtugan, a bomb expert belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), prevented what military officials said was a string of bombings meant to divert military focus away from continuing operations against Islamic State (IS) followers in Marawi City and Maguindanao province.
This incident underscores just how foolish it is to say the battle is almost over.  Marawi is not where the battle lies. The real battle lies in the hearts and minds of all the ISLAMIC community in Mindanao.  The battle has been raging for centuries and it will not be over in 3 days. What is happening in Marawi is a much larger symptom, the cause which is ISLAM.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/934327/marawi-city-conflict-war
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has called for a kind of assessment that would go beyond the physical needs of affected residents in the war-torn Marawi City, as the government embarks on preparations to rehabilitate the conflict-stricken area in Mindanao. 
At a gala dinner at Manila Hotel on Thursday, Lorenzana noted that spiritual and moral recovery is “even more” important than the physical rehabilitation of the city
”As we are in the process of rehabilitating and reconstructing the physical aspects of war-torn Marawi City, it is even more important to assess the spiritual and moral recovery of the people,” Lorenza said. 
It is only when the people have morally recovered that we can finally say that Marawi has risen again,” he added. 
Lorenza pointed out that social and spiritual recovery essential in countering the spread of radicalism and violent extremism in the area
“Let us make sure that we will win the war against the extremism by winning the hearts and minds of the people,” he said.
Lorenzna is out of his head. Spiritual and moral recovery? Marawi and Mindanao have been plunged into chaos and conflict because of ISLAM. There is no morality or spirituality in Mindanao and there never was. Islam is a religion of violence and horror and it has transformed the region into a place full of honour killings, gang conflicts, terror, and criminality of all sorts.
"On the first day, we weren't too bothered because it was just gunshots. Marawi has always been very chaotic: family feuds or fights over women and money. They're called 'rido' (honour killings). When it's a 'rido', the police don't bother following up." 
Mindanao is a patchwork of local magnates: the former Davao Mayor and now President Rodrigo Duterte is a classic example. For nearly two decades, he ruled his city firmly, creating a rare haven of peace and prosperity. As Manila's authority fluctuated; men (and women) such as Duterte were literally the law in their respective bailiwicks. However, if you were to drive just a few miles from Davao, the "Pax Duterte” totally evaporates.  
On the one hand, there is an “alphabet soup” of Muslim groups –from the MNLF to the MILF. Indeed, the Maute were an MILF splinter group led by Abdullah Maute, founder of a so-called “Islamic State” in Lanao. If that wasn't complicated enough, Mindanao is also a major theatre of operations for the Communist fighters, the NPA. It's a confusing blur of religion, ideology, separatism and criminality.  
Marawi is an enigma for many in the Philippines. Besides it being predominantly Muslim, there are a number of urban legends that reinforce the city’s exceptionalism. Its inhabitants are said to be fiercely independent and generally resistant to authority.  
Talking to locals has led me to see the conflict not as some huge civilizational show-down – ISIS attacking the Catholic Philippines – but more as an ultra-violent gangland conflict that has assumed a religious agenda. 
http://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/opinions/08/21/17/shattered-lives-marawis-refugees
Read this testimony from a former Marawi hostage.
Acopio confirmed military reports that hostages were asked to enter abandoned houses to collect arms, ammunition, and jewellery 
"Si Omar mismo nagsasabi na lahat ng bahay dito sa Marawi ay may baril at bala(Omar himself said all houses in Marawi have guns and bullets)," Acopio remembered Omar Maute saying. True enough, the hostages often had 'good harvests' from the abandoned houses. 
He also made friends with the foreign fighters whom he sometimes served as interpreter, and child warriors who liked him and treated him like a big brother.  
Acopio said the children made the fiercest fighters in Marawi and they liked to watch ISIS propaganda videos, including the beheading of hostages. He said they have been clearly brainwashed to fight for the radical ideology they're too young to even understand.  
"It's disgusting," he told them once but the children defended the violence.
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/183510-maute-hostage-lordvin-acopio-marawi
Every house filled with guns and ammunition, honour killings, family feuds, criminality, chaos, children who enjoy watching ISIS beheading videos; there is absolutely no spirituality or morality to recover in Marawi because there never was any.  Or maybe Lorenzana means he wants to restore Marawi to exactly how it was before the siege. Only the most  soulless and heartless would wish such a dreadful thing.

The spiritual and moral heart of Marawi is not the only thing Lorenzna is clueless about.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/627258/lorenzana-admits-gov-t-clueless-how-thousands-of-maute-fighters-entered-marawi/story/
“The Marawi is a class by itself because we have not yet found out how they got in, a lot of them coming from other places, from outside the Philippines, from Malaysia, Indonesia, from Jolo, Sulu, Basilan and other places in Mindanao,” Lorenzana said during a press conference on the recently concluded Tempest Wind drill. 
He said he did not expect the Maute members to be big in numbers. 
“I estimated at the start of the conflict that there [were] about 250 terrorists there. It turned out there may be more close to a thousand of them that are being killed every day as if the number of people fighting us does not stop,” he said. 
He said they are going to intensify their intelligence effort with assistance from the United States and other countries. 
“So we are going to intensify our intelligence efforts, we are trying to upgrade our technical capabilities with the  help of the US and other countries [that] are capable of those technical capabilities,” he said.
Undoubtedly the people are eating this story up. "We were caught off-guard but now we are addressing the problem the best we can," says the government. "Yeah they were caught off-guard and they are doing the best they can now," echoes the government supporter not realising that the government admits they knew and that they did not know in almost the same breath. "We were caught off-guard?" If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.


It's good that Lorenzana says the Philippines will intensify their intelligence efforts with the help of the USA but only if the Philippines will actually listen to what the USA has to tell them. The Philippines had intelligence reports from Indonesia and Malaysia about ISIS but they totally ignored those reports.
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/09/28/1743650/duterte-changes-tune-says-hed-rather-be-friendly-us
Like a dutiful husband to an unfaithful wife or a big brother to his weak and ignorant little brother the USA has continued to give weapons and money to the Philippines in the face of the ungrateful Duterte who has publicly said "Goodbye America" because he wants an alliance with China and Russia. You don't know what you got until it's gone and it seems as if Duterte and the Philippines have to learn that lesson the hard way.

http://www.benarnews.org/english/news/philippine/troop-drawdown-09262017124321.html
A significant drawdown of U.S. troops in troubled areas of the southern Philippines early this decade may have helped the Islamic State (IS) infiltrate local Muslim extremist groups, the nation’s defense chief said Tuesday. 
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana made the assessment as he pushed for a stronger partnership with the United States, noting that at the height of joint efforts to combat terrorism from 2002 to 2010, hundreds of American soldiers were on the ground on a rotating basis in the country’s south as part of Washington’s global terrorism fight. 
The Americans later pulled back to just dozens of advisers after assisting Filipino troops fight local Abu Sayyaf militants, the IS forerunner in the south, who were involved in kidnappings of foreigners for ransom. 
“Because of that drawdown, maybe we were blindsided and that this is the time the other threat groups came in that are already ISIS-inspired people,” Lorenzana told reporters, referring to another acronym of the Islamic State.
The Philippine army is unprepared for a long term fight with any enemy and the support of the USA is crucial to success in the war against ISLAMIC terrorism in Mindanao.

 http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/540694/enrile-says-dnd-afp-unprepared-vs-internal-external-threats/story/
We have no preparedness whatsoever. That’s a fact,” Enrile told reporters after scrutinizing for two hours the DND's P158.86-billion proposed 2016 budget. 
“Mr. Secretary, I’m telling you, the amount of your budget is minuscule to the needs of this country. You better work it and tell Malacañang, this is not enough,” Enrile told Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.
The senator also compared the department's budget to that of their counterparts in the region. 
“In 15 years, with our...funding compared to [that of our] neighbors, what kind of credible defense would that be to us? You have to remember they are also spending money and you are also spending small funds. Sila advanced na, tayo hindi pa. Are we really absolutely committed to safeguard [the country and] mounting territorial defense?” he said. 
Enrile said that with the Bangsamoro Basic Law, "we are surrendering almost the whole sink [sic]." He added, "What they have conceded to the MILF [Moro Islamic Liberation Front] is actually an act of surrender." 
Enrile added, however, that while "the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf can be handled by ground forces," external threats and "looming changes, the remapping of the world" can only by handled by "sophisticated armed forces of the Philippines." 
Enrile also advised the DND to secure an alliance with the United States. 
“America is challenging China in the West Philippine Sea not because of the Philippines but because of free trade, freedom of seas, that is the one that is stabilizing the economy and security of the present world,” he said.
In an interview after the budget hearing, the senator said that the US will remain the world's most powerful country this century.
This article is from 2015. How prophetic. And how sad that, like Cassandra, nobody listened. 155 AFP soldiers dead after four months of fighting all because they were not prepared to handle a situation like the one in which they are currently embroiled. We can only pray it will all be over soon.
http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/01/17/mass-held-at-marawis-battle-scarred-cathedral
 Let's say by October 15th.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/934575/marawi-siege-mindanao-martial-law-islamic-state-romeo-brawner-joint-task-force-ranao

But likely not.  

Monday, October 2, 2017

Highway to the Danger Zone

Is this the world's most dangerous construction zone? 

In Bacolod City a section of road is being torn up so that the sewage system can be upgraded. Take a look at these photos and tell me this is not the most dangerous and unsafe construction zone you have ever seen.  A huge open chasm with no protective barriers.  Workers in sandals and shorts.  The road literally crumbling and liable to break underneath the weight of traffic.

How is this allowed???  Whoever is responsible for this needs to be fired immediately.  






Look at how close we are driving to this deep open hole!







None of these workers are wearing protective gear of any kind!  This is a major safety violation.





A deep open chasm with absolutely no protective barriers!  Some careless driver, and there are plenty of those to go around, could fall right in! So could any of the numerous stray dogs or even a stray drunk!




The road is literally crumbling away and these drivers don't even realise the danger they are in. The flimsy barrier is not even standing in place.


DANGER DEEP EXCAVATION!!??

Yeah we can all see that but how is that safety tape going to prevent a wayward motorist from falling into the crevice?  How will that flimsy string prevent the road from crumbling? Why are there no workers hurrying to finish the job except for a few idiots wearing absolutely no protective gear?

There needs to be concrete safety barriers along the edge of the chasm to prevent anyone from falling in.

Concrete safety barriers
Someone's head should roll for this unsafe and potentially deadly nightmare. This unsafe and dangerous construction zone screams either incompetence or wilful negligence. Someone must be held accountable.  Every jeepney, taxi, car, and truck that passes down this road is in grave and immediate danger from the road crumbling beneath them or from falling into the deep open pit!

These pictures show an incredible Philippine Fail!!!

Sunday, October 1, 2017

The World's Rarest and Most Expensive Coffee

I love coffee.  Every morning and in the afternoon I have a very large cup. It's the equivalent of 2.5 cups. Years ago I used to sit in the cafe reading and drinking coffee for hours.  Living in the Philippines or anywhere in SEA means access to the world's rarest coffee:  Kopi Luwak.
Kopi luwak (Indonesian pronunciation: [ˈkopi ˈlu.aÊ”]), or civet coffee, refers to the coffee that includes part-digested coffee cherries eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus).
Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms, selection and digestion. Selection occurs if the civets choose to eat cherries. Digestive mechanisms may improve the flavor profile of the coffee beans that have been eaten. The civet eats the cherries for the fleshy pulp, then in the digestive tract, fermentation occurs. The civet's protease enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the cherries are then defecated with other fecal matter and collected.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak
The first time I drank this coffee was in Manila at a place called the Frazzled Cook.





I don't remember the taste.  It was coffee.  It was black. That's how it tasted to me. Like black coffee.  I could not tell that the beans had passed through the intestines of an animal on its journey to my cup.  Look, the cup even has Alamid written beneath a picture of the creature.  How cute and authentic.  The price was authentic too.  I think it was 750 pesos for one cup.  I had two and I bought a bag of whole beans for 3000 pesos.


The second time I was able to drink this rare coffee was in Kuala Lumpr.  


Again I do not remember the taste.  It was coffee. It was black.  And it was about $50 for a cup if I recall correctly.  I was told by the owner of the cafe that she personally selects the Kopi Luwak beans and that they are authentic.  See how they are stored in what looks like a small apothecary's bottle? See how she poured them out onto a plate to inspect like they are magic beans?

It would be inauthentic and suspicious if the beans came in large numbers since the traditional way to gather these beans is to allow the civet to eat what he selects and harvest them from wherever he chooses to drop them. If you ever come across large amounts of civet beans then you can read assure they are either fake or they are not collected the traditional way which is very problematic.
The traditional method of collecting feces from wild civets has given way to intensive farming methods in which civets in battery cage systems are force-fed the cherries. This method of production has raised ethical concerns about the treatment of civets due to "horrific conditions" including isolation, poor diet, small cages and a high mortality rate. Intensive farming is also criticised by traditional farmers because the civets do not select what they eat, so the cherries which are fed to them in order to flavor the coffee are of poor quality compared to those beans collected from the wild. According to an officer from the TRAFFIC conservation programme, the trade in civets to make kopi luwak may constitute a significant threat to wild civet populations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak
At a market in Kuala Lumpur I did come across large cans of civet beans for sale which automatically set off my warning radar.  It was obviously fake.  I asked the seller how they were harvested and he reassured me it was the traditional method and that the coffee was genuine. Very doubtful.

The third time I had the pleasure of drinking a cup of the world's rarest and most expensive coffee was a few days ago.  At the mall.

 



This coffee tasted sharply bitter. A little tangy. I don't know how to describe it really.  It tasted like black coffee.  The thrill is knowing that you are drinking a coffee brewed from beans which passed through an animal's intestines and then out his butt. Don't tell anyone but harvesting coffee beans from faeces is the only way the slaves were able to obtain beans to drink.
The origin of kopi luwak is closely connected with the history of coffee production in Indonesia. In the early 18th century the Dutch established the cash-crop coffee plantations in their colony in the Dutch East Indies islands of Java and Sumatra, including Arabica coffee introduced from Yemen. During the era of Cultuurstelsel(1830–70), the Dutch prohibited the native farmers and plantation workers from picking coffee fruits for their own use. Still, the native farmers wanted to have a taste of the famed coffee beverage. Soon, the natives learned that certain species of musang or luwak (Asian palm civet) consumed the coffee fruits, yet they left the coffee seeds undigested in their droppings. The natives collected these luwaks' coffee seed droppings, then cleaned, roasted and ground them to make their own coffee beverage. The fame of aromatic civet coffee spread from locals to Dutch plantation owners and soon became their favourite, yet because of its rarity and unusual process, the civet coffee was expensive even during the colonial era.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak
I am wary of this third experience. 200 pesos for a cup of the rarest and most expensive coffee in the world? I don't believe it.  The barista assured me it was genuine.  The tiny amount of beans assured me that it was genuine. The relatively high cost, relative to everything else on the menu, assured me that it was genuine. I have passed by this coffee stand many times and I do not recall seeing that they sold civet coffee.  It could be that I was not paying attention but it could be that this is a brand new offering.

It's nice to think I can go to the mall and buy a cup of the world's rarest and most expensive coffee for 200 pesos but after all the trouble I have had buying authentic honey I have my doubts and like any good skeptic must suspend my judgement on the matter for now.