Iglesia Ni Cristo Buying Ghost Towns in the USA

The strangest item showed up in the news.

http://usa.inquirer.net/5885/look-iglesia-ni-cristos-newly-bought-ghost-town-new-england

On July 7, the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) announced it purchased in June the “once-thriving mill town known as Johnsonville Village” for $1.85 million. 

This is only the latest in a series of massive property acquisitions by the INC in the last several years. In 2011, the church registered by Brother Felix Manalo in Manila in 1914, acquired a so-called ghost town in Scenic, South Dakota for $800,000.

Why in the world would Iglesia Ni Cristo be buying ghost towns in the USA? Sounds creepy and downright suspicious. Intentional communities solely comprised of true believers is the hallmark of a cult. Think The Farm or Jonestown. 

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/34205/south-dakota-ghost-town-now-owned-by-iglesia-ni-cristo

The Iglesia ni Cristo church in the Philippines shelled out $700,000 to purchase an abandoned, tiny exclave in Scenic, South Dakota.  For what?  For possible expansion of its imposing edifices with trademark narrow-pointed spires which are landmarks in many towns and cities in the Philippines.  But INC hasn’t divulged its plans for the property according to its offices in Daly City, California.

So in 2012 they buy a town in South Dakota in the middle of nowhere and don't tell anyone why.  Fast forward to 2015.

http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/church-begins-services-in-scenic/article_14a90d01-310d-5482-a788-d28ac10b81d1.html

Not much was known about Iglesia ni Cristo's plans for the small town of Scenic when the church purchased most of the land four years ago. 

But recently, a picture of the religious group that bought a South Dakota small town, and the group's plans for the future, have become a little clearer. A new pastor who arrived in South Dakota recently shared one openly stated goal: to build a house of worship and try to establish a strong regional membership. 

The Philippines-based church, the name of which translates from Tagalog to English as "Church of Christ," purchased 46 acres of land in Scenic in 2011, paying $700,000 for the properties. The land makes up nearly the entire town, including a gas station, store, museum and bar. Scenic is a small town about 45 miles southeast of Rapid City. 

Since then, Iglesia ni Cristo has not filed any building permits, nor has it stated plans for the land or filed for tax-exempt status. The church has, however, started administering services for its followers and others. 

"We have started services in the Scenic Community Hall on Thursdays and Sundays," said Jose Ventilacion, a minister in the church. "We thought it would be best to start by reaching out to people and build from there."

Three years and no construction or publicly stated plans for the land.  Now that is very odd indeed.  Why drop that much money on a town and then just let it sit for so long with no development? Could  it be because the town is literally in the middle of nowhere and 42 miles away from Rapid City?  

The minister at this branch of the INC in Scenic is Jose Ventilacion who happens to be one of the chief debaters of the INC.  Recently he debated James White regarding the Trinity.  One of the distinctive doctrines of the INC is their denial of the Trinity.  However his Facebook page tells us that he lives in California.  That must be one heck of a commute! 

Now back to 2017.  

Iglesia Ni Cristo buys another ghost town this time in Connecticut. Connecticut is home to many ghosts. You've heard of The Devil in Connecticut right? The Haunting in Connecticut? New England is filled with the ghosts of Puritans past. The INC cult will fit in just fine amongst the abandoned buildings and cold winters that bring thick snows which muffle sound and violent winds that chill the bone. 

On August 19, there will be a cleanup of Johnsonville by members of the INC belonging to the northeastern region, comprising Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. 

“It’s going to be whole day,” said a member. “It’s 62 acres…cannot finish in one day.”  

The cleanup is in preparation for the August 26 Neighborhood Appreciation Day where INC will open Johnsonville to the community. Local officials and community leaders are invited. For the first time after being closed for so many decades, Johnsonville will be unveiled to the public. 

“Restoration will be a priority,” said Crisostomo. Ultimately, the plan is to use the property for church activities and also open it to others. 

“While exact plans for development have not yet been finalized, the INC is hopeful neighbors will appreciate the breath of new life being brought into the town,” he said. “INC respects the rich history that the property will always carry.”

http://usa.inquirer.net/5885/look-iglesia-ni-cristos-newly-bought-ghost-town-new-england

The INC is going to bus in members from all over New England to clean up the town. Judging from the way they handled a tree planting activity here it is safe to say that too many people will show up and that participation will NOT be optional. 

A few observations. 

1. A foreign religious organisation is buying up land in the USA at dirt cheap prices for no specific stated purpose. On its face that is sketchy as all out. Why is this allowed? The USA does not need foreigners sweeping in and buying up land. In the Philippines it is illegal for foreigners to own property. But in the USA if you got the money then the sky's the limit.

2. Intentional communities usually end badly. Mind control, sexual abuse, and death. Jonestown would be the extreme example of this where everyone was ritually abused until they all drank the cyanide laced kool-aid in an act of mass suicide. Even the Manson Family holed up in a ghost town for a little while!

Now they don't always end up this way and the INC is no suicide cult but to retain cohesion and community they must be united in doctrine and purpose.  You can't have just anyone walking in the door. Or you can but then you have to make him stay.  Fulfil his needs and wash his brain. How do you think the INC has lasted for over a century now? My experience has been that Filipinos are ignorant when it comes to religion. They will believe anything you tell them as long as you put rice in their bowl. Try discussing Mormon doctrine, real Mormon doctrine like the manhood of God and not the missionary spiel, with a Filipino convert and you will get wide eyes and an empty I-don't-know-what-you-are-talking-about look. That's because they don't know what I'm talking about.

3. Speaking of Mormons, Felix Manalo, the founder of the INC, is basically the Filipino Joseph Smith.

The official doctrine of the Iglesia ni Cristo is that Felix Y. Manalo is the last messenger of God, sent to reestablish the first church founded by Jesus Christ, which the INC claims to have fallen into apostasy following the death of the Apostles.

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

Compare that with Joseph Smith:

Smith's teachings were rooted in dispensational restorationism. He taught that the Church of Christ restored through him was a latter-day restoration of the early Christian faith, which had been lost in the Great Apostasy.

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

And what did the followers of Joseph Smith do?  They went West and founded Utah. And then they conquered the world. Along the way they branched off into various polygamous sects and even had their own violent militia known as the Danites. Today they are an overlooked but very influential group. Because many young Mormons do missionary work overseas and become familiar with a foreign language and culture they are ripe pickings for working within the state department. As a group Mormons are politically well connected and influential.

This is akin to the machinations of the INC both inside and outside the USA. In fact the INC has churches on six continents. They have seen considerable growth around the world just like the Mormons. Undoubtedly this is due to the OFW culture which has helped to spread the message of Felix Manalo. In the Philippines this group votes as a bloc and politicians cannot win without their support. How much longer until the INC has that kind of power in the USA?

But the question remains: Why buy these ghost towns?  

The Church Of Christ in North America is really growing fast, now having hundreds of locale congregations and many more will emerge in the future. There will be a time that there are districts established in all the 50 states of the USA. So, in the future, we will need a "place" where we can built if not a Main Office complex (like the Central Office complex in the Philippines), a large House of Worship or a multi-purpose building.KA EDUARDO V. MANALO, LIKE KA FELIX AND KA ERDY, IS INDEED A MAN OF VISION.

http://theiglesianicristo.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-truth-about-scenic-south-dakota.html

Planning for the future? Central operations in Nowhere, South Dakota or Connecticut? It is surprising that the message of Manalo has lasted so long.  It's even more surprising some of the lies men will believe. How easily men are fooled by what they think is the truth. Do they really believe the INC will see so much growth in the USA from non-Filipinos that they will need to establish an elaborate and expensive headquarters in the middle of nowhere? The Badlands of South Dakota are no place to establish a headquarters. There is literally nothing there but wasteland.  It's not called the Badlands for nothing.

But there are other possibilities. Perhaps they believe that with Felix Manalo being the last Prophet to the Church and with the phenomenal growth seen worldwide by the INC that the end is coming and they will need a place to go during the apocalypse just before the Second Coming? Or maybe they think these towns will be revived with the establishment of INC congregations and they shall attract believers from all over like  a city upon a hill? Incidentally the Puritans who founded Connecticut also thought they were building a community which was to be a city upon a hill.

Perhaps they will be building self-sustaining cities just like the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi did in Iowa.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharishi_Vedic_City,_Iowa

Or perhaps they will do like several Filipinos in my neighbourhood have done which is to start building and then give up all of a sudden and for no reason.

Whatever the INC plans to do with these ghost towns you can bet they won't be telling anyone.

Fortifying the House

In the Philippines it is not enough to have a large fence or 10 dogs to prevent break-ins.  No you have to go full supermax prison complex. 

It's absolutely ridiculous. Did these people not feel safe before?  They have more than a few dogs that are constantly barking whenever they smell someone walking past. Why the need to top their fence with barbed wire? Is there that much of a threat in the neighbourhood that this needs to be done?  Not even New Bilibid Prison has this much barbed wire!

New Bilibid Prison

Nor does Batang City Jail.

Batang City Jail

But you know what place does?  Colorado Supermax Prison!

ADX Florence aka Colorado Supermax Prison

That's right! In order to feel secure in your home in the Philippines you must model your home after the home of notorious terrorists such as Zacarias Moussaoui, Richard Reid, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Theodore Kaczynski, Eric Rudolph, and Ramzi Yousef.

I guess this lady across the street is screwed.

Nachos Part 3: The Cheesoning

Nachos.  Fried tortilla chips covered in cheese, meat, sour cream, and salsa.  

Not in the Philippines. More like fried siomai wrappers cut into triangles, meat, ketchup, cabbage, and mayonnaise. 

Hurriedly walking across the mall I saw this happening:

Be still my beating heart. Look at all that melted cheese! Nachos with french fries topped with ground beef and thick melted cheese? My stomach started calling and placed an order for two of those.

Everything he sells is topped with cheese.  Hungarian sausage. French fries. Mojos. Bread.  All slathered with melted cheese.  Take a closer look.

What would you call your little booth where you sell fried food covered in cheese?

Two orders of nachos with fries for take out.  So how did they turn out?

The chips are not tortilla chips.  They look and taste like fried siomai wrappers cut into triangles. There is definitely shredded cabbage in the mix. He said he covered the nachos in cheese sauce as well as the melted cheese.  He did not put the mayonnaise because I said please don't. That hot sauce is very hot. But I've never been a hot sauce fan.

The big selling point is the cheese.  But rather than melt down into the nachos the cheese solidified into a thick large piece that had to be cut in order to scoop it onto the chip. Tasty but not very elegant. Over all these nachos are very nice. The french fries offer an unexpected pairing. Of course it's all about the cheese.  It's too bad that the cheese hardened like a lava field rather than melt all over and get everything extra gooey and cheesy. 

Certainly much better than Zark's lame nachos.

See:

Nachos Part 1

Nachos Part 2

Standing in Trucks

This will be the first of a new series titled "Standing in Trucks."  For some reason Filipinos love to stand in the back of trucks while they are moving.  Rather then sit down in safety they choose to endanger themselves by standing. Not that sitting in the back of a moving truck is safe but it is safer than standing up with the wind in your face and the risk of being thrown about if the tuck stops suddenly or gets into an accident.  Every single time I leave the house I see this phenomenon and this series will serve to document it. 

Is he keeping the glass in place? Isn't that what the straps are for?

Peek-a-boo!

Double whammy with two guys sitting in the back of a truck and a little child in the tricycle drivers seat.

Hey! Look at that guy tryin-a take our pitcha!

Corrupt Government Agency Hires Basketball Players to Convince Public the Agency is no Longer Corrupt

The Bureau of Customs is currently embroiled in a scandal. Allegations of corruption. Bribery. Declarations that the swamp needs to be drained and all the bad apples let go. Same old same old. What bureaucracy of the Philippine government is free from the slightest tint of corruption?

This recent round of scandal started with an investigation into the 6 billion pesos worth of shabu which made it through customs back in May.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/919029/senate-probes-p6-b-drug-smuggling-through-customs

The most interesting tidbit to emerge from this investigation is the fact that the Bureau of Customs hired basketball players to gather intelligence for the bureau.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/920484/philippine-news-updates-commissioner-nicanor-faeldon-retired-athletes-bureau-of-customs-drug-smuggling-scandal-kenneth-duremdes-marlou-aquino

Embattled Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon on Friday defended his decision to hire almost 30 active and retired athletes as customs “technical assistants,” saying they were the “most effective intelligence information gatherers.” 

“That’s precisely why they are there … because nobody expects them to be gathering information for the bureau … None of you will ever expect that they are part of the organization,” Faeldon told a press briefing.

“But today, they are no longer effective because they have been exposed. They will never be effective. Their covers have been exposed,” he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIzFuycHn_0

Secret agent basketball players.  Brilliant!  Who would ever expect it?  "Most effective intelligence information gatherers?" Wow. What sort of intelligence did they gather that proved their effectiveness?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/920917/athletes-say-they-receive-p40k-salary-as-customs-intelligence-officers

A Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) athlete said he has been receiving a salary of up to P40,000 from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) as an intelligence consultant, contributing to the agency’s “image-building.” 

During the resumption of the House committee on dangerous drugs’ inquiry on the P6.4 billion shipment of drugs into the country on Monday, basketball star Edward Joseph “EJ” Fiehl said they receive a monthly pay of P40,000 through a Landbank payroll account. 

Asked by Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo if he had provided any intelligence information to the bureau, Fiehl said none. 

Fiehl then explained that his function as BOC employee was to help promote the agency to the public. 

Aside from Fiehl, stars Kenneth Duremdes, Marlou Aquino, among others, as well as volleyball player Alyssa Valdez were hired by the BOC as either intelligence officers or technical consultants. 

Duremdes said Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon personally hired him to the BOC. 

Other players said Duremdes contacted them about the job opportunity. 

Duremdes said as BOC employees, the athletes are doing community work to convince the public that the BOC is no longer corruption-ridden. 

Anderson confirmed that the athletes were hired as technical assistant for special activities by Faeldon himself 

“The commissioner put in a lot of projects. Whatever he does is good for the bureau,” she said. 

But she admitted that although the athletes were not qualified to carry out intelligence work on smuggling, they provide intelligence work by getting “feedback from people on what they want customs to do.”

These basketball players did not provide any intelligence and yet Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon testified just the opposite!  Isn't that perjury?

These basketball players were hired to do PR work to convince the public that bureau was no longer corrupt and to get "feedback from people on what they want customs to do."  That is not gathering intelligence. That is Public Relations. These basketball players might as well have been going door to door with surveys or doing cold-calls from a phone bank. It's bad enough that these so-called professional athletes are nothing more than living, breathing advertisements for coffee, hot dogs, and car wax.  PBA is first and foremost an advertising vehicle. But to sell yourself to the government?  And one of the most corrupt governments in the world at that! 

They were paid to convince the public that a single bureau of one of the most corrupt governments in the world is no longer corrupt. You can't make this up!

Why does this government agency, or any other government agency, need PR work? It's not as if if you can avoid going through customs when you arrive from another country or if you receive shipments from overseas.  The whole idea that the Bureau of Customs needs image builders to promote the agency to the public as being no longer corruption-ridden is ridiculous. The public already knows that the whole government is corrupt. The fact that these unqualified athletes were hired to gather intelligence but did nothing of the sort and that Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon lied about it to Congress shows  just how corrupt and wasteful the Bureau of Customs actually is.

So does the fact that BoC officials were bribed in order to get all that shabu into the country.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/07/17/customs-broker-names-officials-allegedly-pocketing-bribes

Martial Law: 20,000 Soldiers Under Duterte

Slowly but surely the AFP is whittling down the remaining number of Maute militants hidden throughout Marawi.

http://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/national/maute-stronghold-in-marawi-down-to-two-barangays-—military/ar-AAprvhw

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/08/01/1723469/maute-fighters-marawi-down-40-lorenzana

Progress is slow because the AFP have been directed to take care for hostages. This means that despite capturing a bridge that leads directly ground zero to which the AFP now has access for the first time (consider that in 2 months they have not had access to ground zero!) they cannot rush right in, give the fatal blow, and recapture the city thereby ending the siege.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/07/31/1723245/troops-focus-rescue-not-assault-after-capturing-key-marawi-bridge

Troops have captured a key bridge leading to the main position of Islamic State group-linked Maute militants in Marawi City but won't stage a major assault and will instead press efforts to rescue civilian hostages, an official said Monday. 

"We now have direct access to ground zero," Padilla said at a news conference in Manila, referring to the bridge over Marawi's Agus River that can now be used to rapidly transport troops and combat supplies. "Our main objective is to rescue the hostages."

Not having direct access to ground zero until now, how does the AFP know there are hostages or how many Maute members are actually left?  On what basis do they make these calculations when they have been outside the perimeter for these two months? Silly me but I thought the main objective was to retake the city and if there are civilians don't worry about it because such is war.

The AFP better hurry up and finish the job or they won't be able to cash in on that free trip to Hong Kong or time with an actress Duterte has promised.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/08/07/1726089/rody-marawi-troops-stay-alive-and-visit-hong-kong

In egging them to stay alive, President Duterte promised the soldiers who fought in Marawi City an all-expense-paid trip to Hong Kong and other perks as soon as they get the job done. 

“We are winning in this battle. And as a prize for your valor, I might treat you to a trip to Hong Kong,” Duterte said during a pep talk with troops at the frontline over the weekend. 

He said the trip to Hong Kong would be an all-expense-paid family treat. 

“Hong Kong – that’s for free. You could even bring along your partner or wife,” he said.
And if anyone does not want to avail himself of the all-expense-paid trip, Duterte joked they could choose to spend time with an actress.Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Duterte vowed to give the troops more surprises. 

“Go on (and stay alive). You will have so many surprises coming your way. I hope that (you) stay alive, fight cool, do not be in a hurry, do not go into a rage or you could lose yourself,” he told the troops. 

So many surprises?? Wow-wee that sounds exciting!  A brand new car perhaps?  At the very least the heroes of Marawi will be receiving The Order of Lapu-Lapu.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/08/03/1724650/duterte-expands-order-lapu-lapu-honor-marawi-heroes

President Rodrigo Duterte has expanded the Order of Lapu-Lapu to honor the heroism of government forces involved in the operations in battle-ravaged Marawi City.  

The president added a fourth type of medal under the Order of Lapu-Lapu.

The Kamagi Medal will be awarded to government officials and personnel and private individuals who do not fall under any of the three other medals but who "actively participated in and contributed significantly to an activity pursuant to a campaign advocacy of the president."

A kamagi is a kind of beaded gold necklace from pre-Hispanic Visayas and Mindanao.

This is an exceptionally long and ancient kamagi. 15 feet!

A beaded gold necklace for fighting the terrorists. What a prize! It's like Mardi Gras. Show us your valour!

An interesting article was posted a month ago outlining the reasons why a new terrorist attack would inevitably take place again.  Five reasons actually.  Take numbers four and five:

4. Duterte Himself 

The next reason that Marawi is likely to happen again lies with Duterte himself. In trademark bluster, he recently warned: “The objective of ISIS is to kill and destroy. I will also kill and destroy!” But this was not the enemy he wanted or was ready for. 

Let us be clear, Duterte is not going to defeat the militants through force, but that is exactly what he is opting for. His campaign of 8,000 extrajudicial killings did not end the sale of drugs on the streets, but he shows no sign of reversing course. Indeed, one of his cabinet officials dismissed the Maute’s ideological goals, and linked the siege to the desire to control the drug trade. His campaign against the Abu Sayyaf have not ended the group’s spate of kidnappings. 

This is just his temperament. 

Insurgencies flourish because of weak governance. Duterte’s contempt for the rule of law and democratic norms, his authoritarian tendencies, his campaign of extrajudicial killings, jailing of political opponents, routine threats to extend martial law beyond Mindanao, will collectively weaken the hardwood rule of law, governance and system of checks and balances that the Philippines has achieved in the past 30 years. 

The Maute and Abu Sayyaf Group militants are likely to retreat and regroup to the mountainous hinterland that straddles Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao provinces, long the MILF heartland. If the AFP is tasked with going in hot pursuit of the militants, they almost definitely encounter MILF forces. And there is every reason to fear another Mamasapano-style “tragic encounter” that caused the peace process to collapse in 2015.

5. The Philippine Military’s Limited Capabilities 

Even if Duterte thinks he can shoot his way out of this, the AFP is all too aware that it has neither the manpower nor resources to cope with the host of threats that it faces. The AFP was sorely tested and resources and manpower were stretched very thin in Marawi. Yes, urban combat is very hard and it is new for them. 

In the midst of the Marawi siege, the BIFF staged a siege of a school in neighboring Maguindanao province. Were other fronts to open, the BIFF, the Ansuar al-Khalifa Philippines (AKP), a spate of ASG kidnappings, or should talks with the NPA break down, the AFP would be overwhelmed. There is too much space, and the AFP has such limited capabilities that similar attacks are inevitable. 

http://thediplomat.com/2017/07/why-another-philippines-terrorist-attack-is-coming/

Maute  militants are likely to retreat and regroup? The AFP has limited capabilities? How shocking. The AFP have already admitted that close to 300 have escaped the city. The longer the siege continues the more time Maute has to get its bearings set and launch another attack. Other fronts could soon open with the NPA increasing its attacks throughout the nation. MILF has recently launched several attacks in Maguindanao. Perhaps this is why Duterte has warned of another and even larger attack to come.

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/08/02/Terrorism-Philippines-Mindanao-Duterte-ISIS.html

President Duterte warned congressional leaders of a new Islamic State (IS)-inspired terror threat in Mindanao that could be “bigger” than the attack on Marawi City, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said yesterday. 

Duterte raised the specter of more terror attacks in Mindanao during a hastily called three-hour meeting with leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday night in Malacañang. 

Aside from Sotto, also present during the meeting were Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas and Senators Francis Escudero, Sonny Angara and Panfilo Lacson. 

Sotto said the way he understood it, around three areas in Mindanao are under threat from IS-inspired Maute, which is being supported by other extremist groups like the Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. 

“The security situation will be very serious if we don’t confront it now, nip it in the bud. I think that is the message of the President, what he wanted to relay to us. He wanted us to support and help him nip it in the bud so that it does not escalate into a larger problem than what we have now in Marawi City,” Sotto told reporters. 

Sotto said he sensed a strong urgency in Duterte’s tone when he spoke of new terror plots outside Marawi City.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/08/03/1724224/duterte-bares-new-threat-mindanao

A strong sense of urgency when speaking about new terror plots outside of Marawi City?  Somebody alert the Mindanao bloc of the Philippine Councillors League.

http://www.philstar.com/nation/2017/07/28/1722387/councilors-shrug-travel-warnings-mindanao

“These travel warnings is temporary and it will not be there forever. Besides, even if there’s a travel warning, their citizens are still coming anyway because it’s peaceful in many parts in Mindanao,” Garcia said in a conference here.

How this guy can be so stupid and wilfully blind is beyond me.  The whole island is under a state of martial law and there are terrorists looking for tourists to kidnap for ransom and Duterte himself has warned of more and bigger attacks to come and this guy just looks the other way because maybe you can go to the mall in Davao or to some filthy beach somewhere and relax for a few hours without getting blown up. Mindanao is not peaceful. It has not been peaceful since the Spanish came and started conflict with the Muslim Moros. The fact that the whole island is under marital law and that even officials from Davao and Zamboanga say martial law has made their cities safer belies the whole notion that Mindanao is a peaceful place.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2017/05/28/zero-crime-rate-davao-3-days-after-martial-law-544331

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2017/05/29/martial-law-helps-reduce-crime-rate-zamboanga-city-544587

When the crime rate is so bad that it takes martial law to reduce it, you have got a problem. When you can live safely in the Philippines without transforming your home into a high security prison with concrete walls topped by barbed wire and several dogs patrolling the inside perimeter then the claim that it is peaceful anywhere in the Philippines, let alone Mindanao, might be believable.

But as long as they remain entertained Filipinos will never ever admit there is a problem.  

And entertained they are.  With one hand Duterte appoints entertainers to his administration.

https://twitter.com/inquirerdotnet/status/887930831972556800

And with the other hand he appoints ex-military officials to his administration all the while joking about his de facto junta.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/610254/after-announcing-ano-s-appointment-duterte-jokes-about-junta/story/

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/920644/duterte-ex-military-officers-appointed-because-they-get-job-done

Unlike civilians, men in uniform get the job done fast, he said. 

“I was Davao mayor a long time,” he said. “It’s difficult with the civilians, those with eligibility. When you give them instructions, they take a long time to do it.” 

“When you tell them to finish it in one hour, these people – susmaryosep. After lunch break, they go to the mall, stroll around,” he added.

That must explain why the Marawi siege is still on-going and why earlier in the year Año stuck his head in the sand and denied there was ever a threat in Bohol despite the AFP monitoring the Abu Sayyaf militants who took a boat to Bohol in order to look for tourists to kindap for ransom and despite the pledge in January that Abu Sayyaf would be defeated by June. They are getting the job done fast.

Notice that two of the news articles from two different news organisations quoted in this blog post use the same photo.  Why is that?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/920445/philippine-news-updates-president-duterte-marawi-islamic-state-secretary-delfin-lorenza-bong-go

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday visited Barangay Kilala here to cheer up troops fighting Islamic State-inspired militants. 

The full details of Duterte’s visit were not made available as it was off limits to reporters. 

In a set of photos released by Go, the President was shown mingling with soldiers with Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. and 103rd Infantry Brigade chief Brig. Gen. Rolando Bautista.

It's because when Duterte visited Marawi this week for the second time reporters were off limits and the only photos of the event were released by his trusted assistant Christopher Go. Not that journalists were allowed access during the first visit either.

Journalists tried to request entry to the brigade headquarters but were turned down.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/176203-duterte-visit-marawi

Excluding the media is controlling the narrative and is one of those little steps toward the dictatorship Duterte promised.  Little steps that are hardly noticeable at first but as they say, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

The Garbage Bench

Outside of the house there is a nice little bench on which to sit. Right next to the gate. Relaxing spot when you want to people watch and talk with the neighbours.

Doesn't it look lovely?  The problem is the whole neighbourhood has taken it upon themselves to use our little bench as their own pit stop and restaurant.  After buying snacks from the sari-sari store they sit there and eat them.  The unfamiliar smell of strangers causes the dogs to bark. Thankfully we all know how quietly Filipinos conduct their conversations.  

But not only do they treat our little bench as their own rest spot, they also use it as a garbage dump.  Take a look at all the trash they stuff in the trees and bench and toss on the ground.

If sitting on your neighbour's bench and treating it like a garbage dump isn't the definition of rude then I don't know what is.