Coronavirus Lockdown: Free Jabs From Google, Home Service Tuli, and More!

More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.

Filipinos search Google for information but Google is searching the Philippines for those who need a vaccine.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138332

Google.org, the charitable arm of tech giant Google, is funding vaccines for 250,000 people in several countries, including the Philippines, through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that works with the COVAX facility and the World Health Organization to ensure equitable vaccine access globally.

Other beneficiaries include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, and Laos.

“The presence of vaccines gives us hope that we may be nearing the end of the pandemic but barriers to equitable access exist especially in low- and middle-income countries. We hope that through Google’s efforts and partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, we can help more people from countries in need to be vaccinated,” Google Philippines Country Director Bernadette Nacario said in a statement on Wednesday.

Nacario added Google will be leading an employee-giving campaign to secure more vaccine shots, with the Gavi Matching Fund and Google.org matching the donation to triple the impact.

Well, that is rather vague. No word on which brand or who will be eligible to avail of these vaccines. But what is the Bill and Melinda gates Foundation doing for the Philippines? No word on that but perhaps the vaccine they are backing will make its way to the Philippines eventually. This is just one way the Philippines vaccine supply will grow by leaps and bounds next month.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138304

The Covid-19 vaccine supply in the Philippines is expected to grow “by leaps and bounds” starting May, Malacañang said on Wednesday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this assurance to allay concerns over delays in the delivery of vaccines to the country amid limited global supply.

Roque earlier announced that the arrival of the first batch of Russian-made “Sputnik V” Covid-19 vaccines will not push through this month due to logistical concerns.

He explained the logistical challenges rose from “being no direct flights from Russia and that vaccine requires -20 temperature.”

“(Now, we don’t have enough but we expect that at the start of May, our supply will grow by leaps and bounds),” he said in an interview over DZXL-RMN.

Roque said the country is expected to receive around 4 to 6 million vaccine doses by May.

“(If I am not mistaken -- I just can’t recall -- but we expect to receive 4 to 6 million vaccine doses this May and come July we will get almost all of our supply),” he added.

This has more to do with the Russian vaccine known as Sputnik but surely more vaccines from elsewhere are coming.

If you have a teenage boy in need of circumcision but you can't leave the house because of COVID-19, never fear!

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/healthandwellness/785214/this-doctor-is-offering-home-service-tuli-for-teenagers-amid-pandemic/story/

A doctor started a "Home Service Tuli" for adolescent boys as free circumcision operations are temporarily halted amid the pandemic. 

In an episode of "Pinoy MD," Dr. Jamille Mabalo said that she came up with the initiative in the hope that it could help reduce the spread of the COVID-19.

"Instead of parents and kids going to clinics or hospitals, the doctor will just go to their homes for their safety now that we're in a pandemic," she said in Filipino.

She added that she finds this more practical than being exposed to other people and patients also won't have a hard time going home after the procedure.

Mabalo said she makes sure to keep herself protected from COVID-19 by taking a swab test every two weeks.

Upon arriving at her patient’s home and before doing the procedure, she immediately disinfects herself and puts on personal protective equipment (PPE).

One of her patients was 13-year-old Amiro Amat, whose circumcision has been postponed twice since 2019.

According to Amiro's mom, Yasmin Amat, she really wanted her son to get circumcised already so she tried looking for one online and succeeded.

Amiro, meanwhile, said that he prefers doing the circumcision at home because it's more comfortable and safe.

The procedure usually lasts 45 minutes and the area should be given much care afterwards to ensure that it heals properly.

13 is pretty old to be having your genitals mutilated. Why was Mom so eager to have this procedure done? Why not just do it at birth or eight days later like Jesus?

Have you lost your job because the government shut down the economy? 3.500 jobs were lost because the government bought PPE from outside the country. Take one of these classes and learn a new skill.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138363

Displaced workers in Ilocos Norte are given more options to survive the pandemic by taking free skills training being offered by various government institutions.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), in partnership with the Ilocos Norte government, announced on Wednesday the opening of a series of training to help residents become "technically competent, innovative and creative in a specific trade to become skilled workers”.

To avail of the program, applicants may register at https://workin.ilocosnorte.gov.ph/ and apply for the available training options offered.

The list of new trainings available includes the following: hydraulic excavator, hydraulic wheel loader, driving NC II, Swine Production NC II, Masonry NC I, English language course, computer system servicing NC II, Electronics products assembly and servicing NC II and shielded metal arc welding NC I.

According to Provincial Employment Service Office (PESO) Manager Anne Marie Lizette Bitancor-Atuan, these are among the most in demand skills in the province.

Some of those skills are pretty advanced. In the picture accompanying the article you have women in a cooking class but that does not reflect the article at all. Masonry, arc welding, and electronic products assembly require a lot of skill. Swine production? Wouldn't you need capital to start a swine farm? Needless to say none of those professions are meant for women and apparently women have been the hardest hit by this pandemic. 

Everyone know Duterte hates the media. He thinks they portray him in a bad light. Now he is pleading with the media to report the the Philippines is doing great in the war against COVID-19. Government run media anyway.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/785489/duterte-wants-gov-t-media-to-report-phl-faring-better-in-covid-19-fight-pcoo/story/

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) has confirmed the existence of a memo directing all state-run media to present world data on COVID-19 situation showing the Philippines is faring better than other countries.

In a statement, Director Virginia Arcilla-Agtay of PCOO Integrated News Team said that such memo is in accordance to the instructions of President Rodrigo Duterte to provide adequate information and convey working policies, particularly those which address the effects of the pandemic.

The memo read "all government media platforms are hereby directed to carry regular updates about the world data on COVID-19, specifically to convey to the public that the Philippines is faring better than many countries in addressing the pandemic."

"These updates should be incorporated in, but not limited to, TV and radio newscasts (morning, noon, primetime and ate evening), as well as daily social media posts," the memo added.

“Yes, there is a memo directing us to give updates on world data regarding COVID-19 and to convey that we are faring better than other countries. There is nothing wrong with this, nor is it a lie, it is simply amplifying facts,” Agtay said.

If this is the case then they should end the lockdowns and quarantines effective immediately. They cannot have their cake and eat it too.  Remember the revery rate is officially 91.3%! And that is not because of the great care people receive in the Philippines. Have you ever been to a Philippine hospital? 

The ivermectin situation has reached new heights of insanity as two members of the House distributed pills to those who had a prescription.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/29/21/2-lawmakers-give-out-free-ivermectin-to-qc-residents

Two lawmakers on Thursday distributed free capsules of anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to residents in Quezon City, which they believe could fight COVID-19.

Residents of Barangay Matandang Balara were required to fill up a form before on-site doctors prescribed them with the de-worming drug.

Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Mike Defensor and Sagip Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta proceeded with their planned distribution despite warnings from various health authorities and medical groups.

In a press briefing Wednesday, Defensor, who had recovered from coronavirus, said he would "fight" the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in court should the regulatory body stop them from giving out ivermectin.

"Legally, we are compliant. On two occasions during the hearings, they said this process can be done. If they will again block this, then the people especially the poor will not be given the drug. I will fight them in court. They are too much," he told reporters in a mix of Filipino and English.

Interviewed on ANC Thursday, FDA Director General Eric Domingo said he saw no problem with the distribution of ivermectin.

"I believe they will be sourcing it from a licensed compounding pharmacy. As long as they have doctors there who will take a look at patients and prescribe their medicines, then that's not a problem. It's the responsibility now of the doctors," he said.

The DOJ disagrees with the FDA saying there is no sound legal basis for these two men to be distributing the drug. Furthermore it turns out the prescriptions were written on bond paper and not a prescription pad.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/04/30/2094909/duque-says-fda-must-probe-token-prescriptions-ivermectin-pantry

The Food and Drug Administration should look into the prescriptions—that lacked doctors’ information—given to recipients of anti-parasitic drug in Quezon City, the Department of Health said Friday.

At the so-called “pantry” organized by two lawmakers despite warnings from medical authorities, doctors handed beneficiaries for ivermectin. But the prescriptions, written on sheets of paper, did not contain their names, license numbers and professional tax receipt numbers.

“If the reports that the prescription was written on a tissue or bond paper were true, then the FDA needs to investigate such reports. But the accountability is clear it’s the doctor who prescribed it who has to answer for his actions,” DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.

“All prescriptions must contain the name of the prescriber, office address, professional registration number, professional tax receipt number… They should follow this. They cannot issue token prescriptions,”

With this distribution already skirting the lines of legality what else would one expect?

Everyone is forced to wear a face mask when they go out but actress Alice Dixon has taken that insanity to a whole new level by spring a portable air filtration system.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COTzotngIVH/

My airplane go to outfit these days. For more information about my personal air filtration system, or how to order pls visit my store at http://store.alicedixson.com 

How ridiculous is this?  She might as well be wearing a huge gas mask with a large filter like a doughboy from WW I.

Duterte finally got vaccinated.

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/5/4/Palace-Duterte-Sinopharm-vaccination-not-illegal-smuggled.html

"The President's use (of the Sinopharm vaccine) is not illegal because a compassionate use (permit) has been issued for the PSG Hospital. He also did not use a smuggled vaccine because this was donated by the Chinese government."

Duterte on Monday received his first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine, which the Palace earlier said was his preferred brand. Sinopharm has yet to formally apply for emergency use authorization with the Food and Drug Administration.

The chief executive's inoculation, however, is a shift from the Palace's earlier pronouncement in March that he will await the EUA issuance of Sinopharm before using it. 

You know something is wrong when the Palace has to reassure the nation that the President has not committed a crime in taking an unapproved vaccine. They say he did not use a smuggled vaccine because it was donated by the Chinese government but that only raises the question of how the Chinese government was able to smuggle in illegal vaccines?  

If he really wanted to raise confidence in the vaccines then why did he not take one of the brands which are available and approved?

Historic Tricycle Ride Across the Golden Gate Bridge Pays Homage to Illegal Filipinos in the USA

In the Philippines the nation has been celebrating the historic voyage of Ferdinand Magellan. With his arrival in these islands 500 years ago came Christianity and after him the Spanish period of colonization. Though he did not make it alive out of the Philippines his ship and remaining crew finished the first circumnavigation of the globe. It is a truly historic journey all of humanity should celebrate.

Meanwhile in the USA Filipinos are celebrating an altogether different historic journey. A Filipino rode a tricycle across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco.

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/philippine-tricycle-makes-history-by-crossing-golden-gate-bridge-160042486.html

A legendary Philippine vehicle crossing an iconic US landmark is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

A humble Philippine tricycle, dubbed TNT Traysikel, recently became the first such trike to cross the famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

The historic trek was made possible by two Filipino-Americans, Michael Arcega and Paolo Asuncion, joined by 60 other Fil-Am riders in the parade.

TNT Traysikel described by the Fil-Ams as a “mobile public artwork that operates as a cultural marker for the SOMA Pilipinas Cultural Heritage District” in San Francisco, California. It resembles the motorized sidecar made in the Philippines.

The motor vehicle includes several features that shout out to the Filipino culture.

"Hoy" can be seen on the windshield and it is used by Filipinos to call someone's attention.

The "TNT" on the front and back of the sidecar means "Tago ng Tago", and is a colloquial word for undocumented Filipinos in the United States.

On the front of the tricycle sitting above "TNT" is "Por Wan Pibe" or Four One Five, a nod to California Penal Code 415 – Disturbing the Peace. Tricycles in the Philippines are typically boisterous contraptions like their big cousin, the Filipino jeepney!

At the back are the big bold "UFO" letters that supposedly means "Unidentified Filipino Object". But one can never take its meaning at face value, so it could also mean "Unapologetic Filipino Object". Again, a nod to the tricycle's tough reputation on the streets of the Philippines.

Inside the sidecar are two clever signages usually seen on jeepneys – “God Knows Hudas Not Pay” and “Basta Driver Sweet Lover”. The former is a call back of familiar scene in the Philippines where some commuters jumps out of a jeepney without paying their fare. Such people are likened to Hudas (Jesus Christ's betrayer). The latter is a common perception that Filipino (jeepney) drivers have a soft, sweet side, specially for their partners, in spite of their tough work environment.

This tricycle is less a functional mode of public transportation and more of a "mobile public artwork." Funny that this piece of art pays homage to illegal Filipino aliens and admits that the tricycle can be unduly noisy to the point of violating noise ordinances. We also get a reference to Filipinos being likened to Judas for skipping out of paying their fare. Breaking the law is surely something a Filipino wants to highlight when they are attempting to show off Filipino culture, right? 

I do not believe I have ever seen, in the Philippines, a tricycle like the one which made the historic journey across the Golden Gate Bridge. Allow me to show one of my favorite tricycles from the Philippines.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2020/08/picture-of-week-filipino-nazi.html

And just one more.

Now, that is the Philippines I know and love. You cannot duplicate that in the USA. God bless them, every one.

But this tricycle celebrating the traditional Filipino pastime of law breaking is not just public art. It's also propaganda.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CL7zKLAln41/

TNT Traysikel is a mobile public artwork that operates as cultural marker for the SOMA Pilipinas Cultural Heritage District in San Francisco. The aesthetic of the traysikel is adjacent to Filipino-customized transport Jeepneys left by Americans after WWII. TNT Traysikel is an immigrant metaphor constructed from a deep colonial history. As a social sculpture, TNT Traysikel was used as an aesthetic object, a protest tool and symbol of solidarity with the Black community against Police brutality and delivery vehicle during the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be the main site for collecting stories of Filipinx diaspora in a forthcoming documentary. This is a collaboration between @mike_arcega and @pao_silog with help from our communities. Hand-Painted by Meng Nguyen, @allthingsmeng


TNT Traysikel was funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Artist Commission #sfacfunded with additional financial support from Awesome Foundation, San Francisco State University @sfsu_school_of_art and Balay Kreative @balaykreative .

What is the metaphor this tricycle is supposed to represent? Funny that this thing is funded by the City of San Fransisco and is "a protest tool and symbol of solidarity with the Black community against Police brutality."  Tell that to all the Filipinos who have been brutalized by the Black community. And what exactly do family oriented Filipinos have to do with Black Lives Matter which wants to "disrupt" the family?

https://web.archive.org/web/20200408020723/https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/

We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.

We foster a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual (unless s/he or they disclose otherwise).

What does a Filipino-style tricycle have to do with any of that? You know, to heck with the Filipinix diaspora. You know what Filipinix is? It means they are including delusional, self-mutilating transexuals. Just like Latinx. It is also "a relatively new label that Filipino-Americans have been using to differentiate their own “identities and experiences.” It's an attempt to avoid gendered language to be inclusive despite Tagalog having a plethora of gendered language. 

To heck with these people. So many Americans and Europeans and others come to the Philippines to live. Do they build Little America's or Little UK's or wherever they are from? Do they drive around in "mobile public artwork" which shows-off their culture? Do they wring their hands about their "identities and experiences" and invent fake words to refer to themselves? No. They assimilate. They learn the language, they eat the food, and they embrace the culture. They marry the women and have miscegenated children. 

But Filipinos abroad? They don't assimilate. They attempt to reestablish the Philippines wherever they go. Just stay home! If you want to live in the Philippines then live in the Philippines and not the USA or the UK or Germany or elsewhere. Save yourself the fake self-serving identity crisis of you and your children by staying home. Heck anyone with a single drop of Filipino blood, like Dave Bautista, is hailed as a Fil-Am hero. Now, Dave Bautista is an American, born and raised, but his father is the son of Filipino immigrants. That means Dave can obtain Filipino citizenship and vote in the presidential election! That is nuts! But that is the end result of citizenship based on sanguinity.

This is a good place to segue into the next part of what this tricycle stunt is about. 

It's a commercial for a TV show called TNT SideCaraoke which is to air on the television network TNT. That is really funny because as noted above TNT means illegal Filipino alien. Here is a teaser for the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK03mMigki0

I think when I think about my Filipinoness the first thing that comes up is food which is why it's a good thing we're eating.

So this person, when they think about their Filipino heritage, the first they think of is food. I guess that is fitting because it's not like Filipinos built large empires or huge monuments of stone that have survived millennia or vast philosophical systems or tremendously beautiful pieces or art or anything of cultural value and importance really. From reading Pigafetta's account it would seem Filipinos didn't even know what clothes were when first encountered in 1521! 

These people live in liberty and according to their will, for they have no lord or superior; they go quite naked, and some of them wear beards, and have their hair down to the waist. They wear small hats, after the fashion of the Albanians; these hats are made of palm leaves. 

The women also go naked, except that they cover their nature with a thin bark, pliable like paper 

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:First_Voyage_Round_the_World.djvu/149

But they do have the delicacies known as balut and red hot dogs on sticks with marshmallows.

Mmmm....masarap! That is Filipino culture looking back at you! Duck fetuses and red hot dogs which are used in everything from pizza to spaghetti sauce. I cannot find any word on when this show is set to air but I will be keeping my eyes open.

Let me say here that you don't get a TV show or government grants without knowing people. I am sure if we dig further into those behind this joke of a tricycle masquerading as art and cultural expression we can find unsavory and un-American elements. Heck, we already have with its alignment with BLM.

So, let's peer a little further at artist Mike Arcega who is the creator of this tricycle.

Michael Arcega is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in sculpture and installation. His research-based work revolves largely around language and sociopolitical dynamics. Directly informed by Historic narratives, material significance, and geography, his subject matter deals with circumstances where power relations are unbalanced. His investigation of cultural markers are embedded in objects, food, architecture, visual lexicons, and vernacular languages.

Michael was born in Manila, Philippines, and migrated to the Los Angeles area at ten years of age. He relocated to San Francisco to attend college. He currently lives and works in San Francisco, California where he is an Associate Professor at San Francisco State University.

https://arcega.us/contact.html

Arcega is a man who uses his art to make socio-political statements. Here is one of those statements called "El Conquistadork."

https://arcega.us/artwork/2052326-El-Conquistadork.html

A Manila galleon made primarily of Manila file folders was successfully sailed by the artist in Tomales Bay, California to commemorate the famed trade route of 1565 through 1815 between Mexico City, Manila, and California. Based on one of the first intercontinental trade routes, the performance and installation is a humorous critique on contemporary and historic issues of colonialism and cultural exchange.

That performance is never going to be repeated so all there is now is this large Spanish Galleon constructed out of Manila file folders. Get it!?? Spain conquered the Philippines and the capitol of the Philippines is....Manila!!! What a bunch of "Conquistadorks!!" The subtle humor here is what makes it such a "humorous critique on contemporary and historic issues of colonialism and cultural exchange." Not! It is a neat looking thing though. What would be humorous and critical is if it were inside an equally oversized bottle and on the bottle were drawn the countries of Spain and the USA. 

Here is a little bit more about Michael's method.

Michael Arcega: I was born in Manila, the year after Benigno Aquino got shot. That was like, fifth grade? A year later we moved to L.A. and I lived there until I moved to the Bay Area to go to Art Institute … Other people would say my work is humorous, well-crafted, political, identity based. They would probably say that it’s smart, probably smart-ass (laughs). But I try to stay away form being locked into “identity art.” It has so many connotations, I’d like to see myself and other people working in topical or political issues go beyond that. I want to be more open so that other people can relate to it. That’s the attempt at least. I hope that my work is humorous but with a bite. In the end or the beginning or wherever, but with a bite somewhere. 

How do you balance playfulness with the themes of conquest, colonialism, war and violence? How do you reconcile humor and history?

It’s a tricky balance. I take mental notes on how comedians communicate. They deliver the message with a spoonful of sugar. I think The Simpsons do it best. But I’m also afraid of being didactic. I’m not here to lecture. I’d rather begin a conversation rather than end it. Like “El Conquistadork Project.” If it weren’t called “Conquistadork” it would be this macho thing. But by adding this one little “k,” it creates a change in perception and it becomes self-deprecating.

https://hyphenmagazine.com/magazine/issue-9-play-summer-2006/all-puns-intended

"'I'd rather begin a conversation than end it." That is the essence of modern art. Zero objectivity. 

In modern art the artist lacks a vision. He has a conceptual idea but the goal is to make the art subjective and thus about the viewer and not any objective vision of the artist. Michelangelo had a clear vision when painting the Sistine Chapel. Everyone experiences it differently but the objective vision of Biblical history remains the same. Michael Arcega's art is completely different in that there is no objective vision except in so far as it leads to a "conversation" with the the viewer. Thus the viewer and his experience becomes the real subject of the art. This lack of objectivity is why there will never be another Hieronymus Bosch or Rembrandt. Instead our age gets Yves Klein, Duchamp, and Michael Arcega. In fact Micheal Arcega is now the subject of middle school classrooms!

https://a.s.kqed.net/pdf/arts/programs/spark/404-arcega.pdf

Conceptual artist Michael Arcega likens the titles of his works to punch lines. The titles speak to the artist’s quirky sense of humor and his obsession with wordplay, while mobilizing humor to delve into weighty issues. Born in Manila, the 30-something artist uses his puns to address his interests in Filipino history, imperialism and global socio-political issues.

Pretty sickening how even art has become politicized today. Being that this is the liberal Bay Area you just know this is more of the anti-white narrative being pushed on children. Would Arcega even be noticed if he was not a Filipino and he did not make commentaries about "imperialism and global socio-political issues?" Imagine if a white American came to the Philippines and began making conceptual art about how awful this place and its people are but did it in a humorous and subversive way. Do you think the people would be amused? No, because too many people here are humorless and not self-deprecating or introspective. Besides what people in their right mind would tolerate an outsider besmirching their culture and uplifting another? Yet Michael Arecga is in the USA and is commenting on "imperialism and global socio-political issues" so he is a darling of the local art scene.

Despite Arcega's admission that he does not want to become locked into "identity art", as so many immigrant artists do, he has failed. The TNT Tricycle celebrating illegal Filipino aliens and fare skippers is proof of that. Heck the majority of his "art" testifies to the contrary as it is almost all steeped in socio-political critiques of "colonialism and cultural exchange." Behold his art known as SPAM/MAPS.

https://arcega.us/artwork/2062382-SPAM-MAPS-World-Detail.html

A series of maps made of Spam luncheon meat. Spam was used as ration by the United States Armed Forces during WWII. It ultimately spread through many Pacific Island nations as a standard source of meat. Spam’s diasporic nature is symbolic of America’s ongoing influence on many nations. S-P-A-M is M-A-P-S in reverse.

You know I am inspired. Looking at this map entirely made out of SPAM has given me a great idea. I'm going to save all my dog's poop and I will construct a detailed map of the Philippines out of it. This project will be representative of the stray dog problem which permeates this nation as well as a political statement about the state of the government and the environment. Who knows but maybe it will launch my career and lead to my own TV show? Now, excuse me while I go reread Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word where he exposes the fraud that is "Modern Art."

Insurgency: Defund NTF-ELCAC

Calls to defund the NTF-ELCAC are nothing new but a few Senators have sounded the bell once again after Parlade and Badoy linked community pantries with the CPP-NPA.

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/4/22/senators-push-to-defund-ntf-elcac.html

Senators are pushing to defund the national anti-communist task force next year following its alleged red-tagging of community pantry organizers.

In an interview with CNN Philippines' The Source on Thursday, Sen. Richard Gordon described the profiling and red-tagging activities of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict as "imbecilic, stupid, and shameful."

"They have no right to do that. People are doing their business in peace. They are not violating the law. Why should they bother with this? Dapat magfocus sila sa iba (They should focus on other matters)," Gordon said.

"Bakit sila nagfo-focus dito sa mga taong tumutulong sa kapwa at nagpapakita ng bayanihan sa ating bayan? I think it’s imbecilic, it’s stupid and shameful," he added.

Gordon also shared the sentiments of his colleagues, including Senator Joel Villanueva, who recently said in a tweet that the government should stop allocating public funds to the NTF-ELCAC and should just “reallocate the current ₱19 billion budget” for financial aid.

The NTF-ELCAC was given a ₱19-billion budget this year despite criticisms on the agency’s intensified red-tagging activities. Bulk of this will be spent to implement infrastructure projects and support barangays that were cleared of insurgency threats.

P19 billion is quite a lot of money. As the article says the bulk of the funds will go to build infrastructure projects in areas that have been cleared of the insurgency. That is why some LGU officials are against a move like defunding the NTF-ELCAC.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138501

Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang said defunding the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) would be a big disservice to the barangays which fought long and hard to clear their communities of communist influence.

“We appeal to those who are calling to defund the ELCAC to open their hearts and minds to the plea of our people," Dayanghirang said in a statement in response to several lawmakers' call for the realignment of NTF ELCAC PHP19 billion budget to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) efforts.

The Barangay Development Program (BDP), he said, will sustain the peace in communities already cleared from the Communist influence through development projects and programs that will ultimately improve the lives of the people in these hinterland barangays."

The BDP,  a hallmark program of NTF ELCAC with the end goal of bringing development to former conflict-prone communities, has identified 822 barangays nationwide that were former guerilla fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army (CPP-NPA-NDF).

Of the PHP19 billion total budget of the NTF-ELCAC, PHP16.5 billion is allotted for the development of 822 barangays cleared of insurgency.

Each recipient barangay would receive PHP20 million for the following: 1-kilometer farm-to-market road worth PHP12 million; classrooms (PHP3 million); water and sanitation systems (PHP2 million); health station (PHP1.5 million); and livelihood projects (PHP1.5 million).

Dayanghirang said it is "sensible to finish what was started, to deliver the last stroke, to give what our people truly deserve an insurgency-free community.”

He does not say exactly how he or any other LGU official fought long and hard to clear their area of communist influence. The bulk of real fighting has been done by the AFP. It is a fact that the AFP has been unsuccessful in eradicating the CPP-NPA which is why the insurgency has lasted for 52 years. Why are the people being punished for the AFP's inefficiency? There should be constant development throughout the nation and NPA presence should have no bearing on that except on how to secure projects from being destroyed. 

What makes this whole situation even more head scratching is that some claim that development will help end the insurgency. So why not keep developing the nation's infrastructure in far-flung places?

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138568

The call of the lawmakers to defund the country’s anti-insurgency task force would “undo” the gains of the government’s campaign against the decades-old insurgency, a regional development and security official said on Thursday.

“The Filipino people deserve our continuing effort towards social justice and inclusive development. The call to defund the NTF-ELCAC would be a blow to the huge portion of the budget for barangay programs, now being implemented by local government units,” Energy Secretary and concurrent Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) of Region IV-B (Mimaropa) Alfonso Cusi said in a statement.

Cusi said the NTF-ELCAC ’s mission is to support the country’s shared goal of ending the decades-long thievery, mass murder, terrorism and economic sabotage being done by the communist terrorist group (CTG).

“Communism and the continuing armed conflict that their ideology espouses has hurt the people and this nation for so long. We cannot stand at the sidelines and watch as young people, and our indigenous countrymen are lured into this culture of violence,” he said.

He said the NTF- ELCAC has been providing the means to demystify and debunk the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) that have victimized the poor and misinformed the people.

“The government is serious in battling the communist insurgency problem which is the biggest peace spoiler in the country,” he said. “The NTF-ELCAC offers a holistic approach that would resolve conflicts deeply rooted in poverty and boosts the delivery of social services in remote areas.”

Cusi said livelihood projects of the government through the NTF-ELCA’s BDP are being funneled in identified conflict areas with the aim of uplifting the lives of the recipients.

Again, if "Filipino people deserve our continuing effort towards social justice and inclusive development" then one has to wonder why this development has not been ongoing and has strings attached. The strings are that the area has to be cleared of CPP-NPA influence but that is the job of the AFP.

Perhaps the craziest reason to not defund the NTF-ELCAC is not because Filipinos deserve these programs but ex-NPA deserve these programs.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1137993

A former member of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) has described some lawmakers’ move to defund or realign the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC) funds as an act of treason.

“From our point of view as former rebels and to those victims of communist deception and exploitation, defunding NTF-ELCAC is an act of treason to the people,” said Joy James Saguino alias 'Ka Amihan',  who served as secretary of Guerilla Front 20 under Sub-regional Committee 1 of the New People’s Army’s Southern Mindanao Region.

“Ka Amihan”, in a recent press conference here, said he is puzzled by the proposal to realign NTF ELCAC’s Barangay Development Program (BDP) budget of PHP16.5 billion for the development of 822 barangays cleared of insurgency.

“Bakit natin i-de-deprive ng isang kaunlarang programa na deserve nila (Why would we defund it? Why would we deprive a development program they [NPA surrenderers] deserve?) For how many years?,” he added.

Why do NPA surrenderers deserve anything but justice for the many crimes they have committed? Some of the people have killed soldiers, burned equipment, extorted politicians and businesses, and have committed many other crimes. But with the NTF-ELCAC and the E-CLIP program they will never be held accountable for these crimes. That is the problem here that no one, including these contrarian Senators calling for the NTF-ELCAC's defunding, is talking about.

While this ex-NPA member says defunding the NTF-ELCAC will be a detriment to ex-rebels Bato says defunding it will benefit terrorists.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138218

Communist terrorist groups are the only ones that will benefit from the threat of defunding the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa on Tuesday rejected calls for a zero-budget NTF-ELCAC in 2022 and to re-allocate its current funds for other purposes.

"A huge portion of the NTF-ELCAC's budget goes to the development of barangays cleared of insurgencies. Now if the government will retract this promised development when the people there have been waiting for it, what will likely happen? If that's the case, the people will consider to support the New People's Army (NPA) again. The communist terrorists will benefit," he said in a statement in Filipino.

His reasoning is that if the barangays are not developed then the people will support the NPA. Why would this be so? What is the foundation of this reasoning? He does not say. He simply states it as a fact. But the fact is if development is so crucial to defeating the CPP-NPA then the government should be developing these areas sans any requirement to be rid of CPP-NPA influence. That is the job of the AFP. 

One LGU official says NTF-ELCAC funded projects have actually resulted in the surrender of many rebels.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138643

The Regional Development Council in the Ilocos Region (RDC-1) has attested that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) funded projects and programs boosted the anti-insurgency efforts in the region.

Vigan City Mayor Juan Carlo Medina, Ilocos RDC chairperson, said with the whole of nation approach to end armed conflict institutionalized through Executive Order 70, the armed communist terrorist fronts in the region particularly in Ilocos Sur province, have been dismantled.

“We hope that in next quarter or two quarters, Ilocos Sur will be insurgency-free,” he said during a forum hosted by the Philippine Information Agency in Ilocos Region on Thursday afternoon here.

Medina said because of these projects, insurgency in the province was curbed and more rebels have surrendered.

“In 2020, 18 former rebels surrendered and given assistance worth PHP1.1 million including reintegration activities and livelihood projects. In the first quarter of this year, 11 former rebels surrendered and were given assistance worth PHP400,000,” he said.

He added that 30 projects have been accomplished in the region in 2020 through the different national government agencies.

“There were infrastructure projects, farm to market roads, irrigation systems, training, and support, that have helped the region especially Ilocos Sur,” Medina said.

Two villages in Ilocos Sur province have also received projects this year under the Barangay Development Program (BDP).

“The projects include school buildings, farm to market roads, farmers’ livestock trading, technical-vocational training, assistance to indigent residents, and the other barangay also got a barangay health center,” he said.

Medina reiterated the need for these projects to reach residents in far-flung barangays.

“Through NTF-ELCAC, these services from education to economic through the roads and farmers reach the residents,” he said.

With or without the NTF-ELCAC developing the country is important. If such projects cause rebels to surrender that is a good thing but not the most important thing. The most important consideration is the law abiding people. The people pay taxes and they deserve to see a return on that money via roads, schools, and other valuable infrastructure projects. So why doesn't the government just do it? Duterte's promise of Build, Build, Build should not be limited to populated areas like Manila. It is way past time for the Philippines to fully enter the modern age.

The God Culture: Lapu-Lapu Did Not Reject Colonialism

Here we go again. Timothy Jay Schwab of The God Culture is spouting off more false history about the Philippines. One need not even watch his videos to know he is lying as falsehood comes naturally to him. This time he makes the claim that Lapu-Lapu killed Magellan in a defiant act against colonialism. Is this true? Of course not!

https://youtu.be/130c3XUuPEs

Today is a very special day for the world. It marks the five hundredth anniversary of one of the greatest stories in the fight to stop foreign invaders from coming in and taking over our lands. Yes, the story of a man and his followers who indeed stopped the invasion, killing their leader Magellan. Then in a separate encounter killing his replacement and brother-in-law and other leaders and then they chased them out of the country with a fleet of ships. That’s what Pigafetta’s journal says, and we cover. This is an inspiration to the whole world who was being conquered by colonialism yet this man and his people put up a standard and stopped them the story of Lapu-Lapu five hundred years ago today. Wow.

The introduction of this 8 minute video is only a minute long. Nothing after the word "wow" is of any significance here because the rest is merely a commercial for Timothy Jay Schwab's books. So is any of that true? It's rather disgusting that Tim takes a perverse joy in the death of Magellan. What exactly does Pigafetta say? Well, you see that is the problem. Timothy relies ONLY on the account of Pigafetta. There are other eyewitness accounts to this battle and why it happened and they do not agree wth Pigafetta. In fact you could say they are the Jubilees to Pigafetta's Genesis except whereas Jubilees is all lies their sworn testimony is true.

The basic story everyone is told is that Lapu-Lapu refused to recognize the authority of the Spanish crown and pay any tribute. Magellan then immediately took three boats of men and went to wage war. He was killed in the process. The lesson to be learned is that foreign interlopers are not welcome in the Philippines. That is certainly the story Pigafetta relates. But three other eyewitness, the ship's barber-surgeon Fernando de Bustamante, the pilot of the ship Maestre Bautista, and Captain Juan Sebastian Elcano, all relate something quite different.

The following comes from Dr. Danilo Gerona who wrote a book titled, "Ferdinand Magellan, The Armada de Maluco and the European Discovery of the Philippines." This history is based on years of research and reading primary source documents tucked away in Spain. Here is what he writes concerning this alternate testimony.

Some sources however offered a different version regarding Lapulapu’s response claiming he readily accepted Magellan’s offer of Spanish sovereignty, even expressing willingness to comply with the demands for the payment of tribute. According to a manuscript by one who simply signed himself the Genoese pilot, but probably Maestre Bautista, Magellan demanded from Lapulapu, among them, “three goats, three pigs, three loads of rice, and three loads of millet and other provisions for the ships.” The source noted that the chieftain was prompt and straightforward with his reply. As to the “threes” being asked, he had no opposition in complying with “twos” and if Magellan was satisfied with these, they would be complied with at once. If not, he would send whatever pleased him. 

Another version concurred with the narrative of Lapulapu’s outright submission to Magellan’s demands, including the payment of tribute. It was the demand of Magellan for him to accept the leadership of a fellow native chief, Humabon, which provoked the Mactan chieftain to anger. Primary sources claimed that the reason which prompted Magellan to explode in anger was Lapu-lapu’s alleged refusal to kiss the hand of Humabon as an acknowledgement of his subordination. Another member of the expedition who made his testimony upon their return in Spain, Fernando de Bustamante, barber-surgeon of the Victoria, in agreement with the other testimonies, also recalled that the natives of Mactan were actually willing to accept Spanish sovereignty but were not disposed to accept Humabon as their overlord: “...those of Mactan wished to obey the king of Castile but the said Ferdinand Magellan told them to kiss the hand of the king of Zebu and those do not wish to kiss the hand of the king of Zebu.” It appears that Lapulapu was not the only chief who regarded the order of Magellan to accept Humabon as a supreme ruler of the islands for others shared such animosity as evident in the testimony made by Juan Sebastian Elcano on October 18, 1522, few weeks after their arrival, in Valladolid. 

His testimony reads: 

Magellan went from the island of Zubu to the island of Bohol, or to the island of Matan, sending bateles to wage war with the mend so that those from other islands may obey the King of Zubu; and those they say that they would obey the King Our Lord, and would give him parias, (a tribute paid by one prince to another); but that they would not obey the King of Zubu since they are also of the same status; and that they would give the King Our Lord jewels of gold.  

While Magellan seemed to have used Humabon as a political ally to establish his base in Cebu as a springboard for establishing Spanish hegemony, Humabon, on the other hand had also used Magellan to coerce others to submission to his authority. As Pigafetta recalled Humabon was said to have asked Magellan: “but that if the captain would send him the following night one boat full of men to give him assistance, he would fight and subdue his rival. On the receipt of this message, the captain decided to go himself with three boats.” 

https://sulugardenfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Gerona-Battle-of-Mactan-for-Miagao-with-foreword-from-JRM-and-for-Web-FINAL.pdf

Do you see how this story is not so cut and dry? Not so black and white? According to these three men the rest of the story is that Humabon, the King of Cebu or Zubu, was using Magellan to manipulate others to be placed under his authority. He was playing political chess like those in power still do today. The old man Lapu-Lapu, eyewitness accounts describe him as an old man about 70 years old, refused to kiss Humabon's hand though he did not refuse to recognize the sovereignty of Spain. Why did Pigafetta omit these details? More of this alternate testimony, given while under oath, can be found on pages 285-295 of volume 4 of Martín Fernández de Navarrese's collected documents concerning Spanish voyages to the east. Those ten pages are in need of translation so all can read that eyewitness testimony which fills in the gaps in Pigafetta's account.

It does not matter much anyway that Magellan was killed because the Spanish would return in force in 1565 and eventually the natives would submit to the Spanish suzerainty. But they would do so willingly. When Legazpi arrived he made alliances with local chieftains and in 1599 the inhabitants of these islands voted in a referendum, at the behest of King Philip II, to accept Spanish rule. The complete story is much more expansive and more colorful and nuanced than Tim knows or is telling. It makes one question his claim of leading an international team of researchers. Do none of the members of this alleged team have access to a library? Do none of them have any real and verifiable expertise in the history of the Philippines? 

But there is more. 

Contrary to what Tim writes in his book the natives did not reject the Santo Niño or Catholicism. Here is what I wrote elsewhere concerning this fact.

On page 257 of "The Search for King Solomon's Treasure" Tim says the Spanish found the Sto. Niño which Magellan gifted to Rajah Humabon, whom he does not even name, in Mactan which is proof that the natives rejected the statue and did not worship it because Magellan gave it to him in Cebu and not Mactan.  His source for this is "History of the Philippine Island Vol 2." However this very same source contradicts him! Estevan Rodriguez, chief pilot of Legazpi's fleet, records the following.

The fleet set sail for Cebú, where after landing they found the village deserted. Legazpi ordered that each mess of four soldiers should take one house and the rest of the houses be destroyed. Everything was removed from the houses before any were destroyed.

"In this town when we entered we found therein a child Jesus. A sailor named Mermeo found it. It was in a wretched little house, and was covered with a white cloth in its cradle, and its little bonnet quite in order. The tip of its nose was rubbed off somewhat, and the skin was coming off the face. The friars took it and carried it in procession on a feast day, from the house where it was found to the church that they had built."

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/13280/pg13280.html

The Sto. Niño was found in Cebu not Mactan. The natives also did not reject it. They worshipped it and it "wrought miracles for them." So says Antonio de Morga who also attests it was found in Cebu, not Mactan.

He continued his voyage until reaching the island of Sebu, where he anchored, induced by the convenience of a good port and by the nature of the land. At first he was received peacefully by the natives and by their chief Tupas; but later they tried to kill him and his companions, for the Spaniards having seized their provisions, the natives took up arms against the latter; but the opposite to their expectations occurred, for the Spaniards conquered and subdued them. Seeing what had happened in Sebu, the natives of other neighboring islands came peacefully before the adelantado, rendered him homage, and supplied his camp with a few provisions. The first of the Spanish settlements was made in that port, and was called the city of Sanctisimo Nombre de Jesus [Most holy name of Jesus], because a carved image of Jesus had been found in one of the houses of the natives when the Spaniards conquered the latter, which was believed to have been left there by the fleet of Magallanes. The natives held the image in great reverence, and it wrought miracles for them in times of need. The Spaniards placed it in the monastery of St. Augustine, in that city.

History of the Philippines, Antonio Morga

The natives kept that statue in a box for safe keeping and they worshipped it because it "wrought miracles for them." When the Spanish returned they unsurprisingly accepted Catholicism whole-heartedly. 

The history here is so much richer than Tim knows. He does not know this because he is a poor researcher with a one-track mind who is only seeking to confirm his thesis that Filipinos are saintly Israelites while colonizers are evil nephilim. I was able to find the article about the 1599 referendum which he lists in his book as one of his sources but does not quote from because he did not actually read it.

In a future article I want to go through it and discuss the little-known history it relates. In another article I want to take a look at the colonization of these islands and what happened and contrast that with Tim's fake history of how the nephilim conquered the Philippines in order "to rape and pillage the wealth of Adam." That fanciful story is to be found in the last chapter of his book. In essence I want to compare the story in the book, "My Country's Godly Heritage" with that of "The Search for King Solomon's Treasure." They are very different.

I don't know if I will ever get to any of that. But I hope to do so. One thing I know for sure: Timothy Jay Schwab of The God Culture is an inept researcher who knows very little about the history of the Philippines.