Ka Jory a champion of the hoi polloi

“If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

By Alex P. Vidal

NO matter what some enemies of Bayan Muna partylist will say bout Jose Reynaldo “Jory” Porquia, history will always remember him as a patriot and a champion of the hoi polloi.

And whoever killed him Thursday (April 30) early morning near the beach in Barangay Santo Nino Norte, Arevalo district in Iloilo City, knew they didn’t silence Porquia’s advocacy for the people with his cold-blooded murder.

The 59-year-old Bayan Muna partylist coordinator and former chairman of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) in Iloilo, was reportedly fatally shot eight times at the time when he was active in the distribution of aid to the city’s urban poor communities.

We are not yet pointing an accusing finger to the uniformed authorities, but based on the chronology of events leading to Porquia’s assassination, the Philippine National Police (PNP), especially the Molo Police Station, should shed light on why a known personality in the progressive movement was slain in broad daylight when everyone was observing the enhanced social distancing guidelines in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Who would have the courage and boldness to carry guns and walk in a residential area with intent to murder an unarmed civilian amid the lockdown?

Porquia and other progressive organizations helping the urban poor amid the COVID-19 pandemic have been reportedly experiencing harassment from the PNP.

This was confirmed by the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) which condemned the “acts of surveillance and harassment perpetrated by the PNP” against the progressive organizations in Iloilo City in a statement dated April 16, 2020.

“Yesterday, April 15, police officers went to Brgy. San Juan, Molo and questioned the residents there about the source of food donations their community had received. Upon confirming that these came from Bayan Muna, the PNP discouraged the residents from consuming food brought by the said party-list and gave instructions not to allow outsiders into the barangay, even if only to give such donations,” read the NUPL statement.

“There are reports of similar instructions given by the PNP to at least two other barangays also in Molo district. Later that same day, members of Tulong Kabataan – a volunteer network of various youth groups, including Kabataan Party-list – were subjected to surveillance by PNP personnel as they were handing out food to the residents of Brgy. San Juan.”

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Added the NUPL statement: “These incidents are alarming to say the least, although not entirely unprecedented. Bayan Muna, Kabataan Party-list, and other progressive organizations are no longer strangers to surveillance, harassment, and red-baiting from security forces. But in the context of a pandemic and the resulting hardships faced by the marginalized ‘sectors of society, the PNP’s actions were downright deplorable.

Even as numerous NGOs and private individuals respond to the call of Mayor Jerry Treñas to help address the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak, the PNP here – rather than supporting the private sector’s efforts to deliver aid to those in need – seems more interested and preoccupied with monitoring activists and dissuading people from accepting their help.

“The PNP’s actions in Iloilo City, taken together with numerous reports of abuse committed by its personnel as they enforce community lockdowns in various parts of the country – from beating and threatening to shoot people leaving their homes in Quiapo, Manila, to arresting vegetable vendors and residents of Quezon City who were merely protesting the lack of government aid – and yesterday’s ludicrous display of its crowd-dispersal capabilities in Cebu City, all show a distorted understanding of its role during a public health emergency.”

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It added: “Instead of assisting and acting with sympathy towards a population beset by privation and uncertainty, the PNP apparently sees itself as little more than a blunt tool used for hammering down obedience, inflicting punishment for perceived infractions and imagined threats, and muzzling criticism no matter how legitimate and warranted.

“In case the PNP has forgotten, there is nothing illegal about giving food to the hungry. It is both a civic and a moral duty made imperative not least by the government’s own inadequacies in handling this emergency. In fact, the production and delivery of food and other basic necessities are activities that should not be hampered even during quarantine. Yet, in this city, as far as the police are concerned, the prompt and easy distribution of aid appears to have taken a backseat to political persecution.

“The PNP should immediately cease the surveillance and harassment of civil society groups and private individuals providing assistance to poor communities. The PNP should not make it any harder for these communities to get help. Most importantly, the PNP should realize that the authority it wields during this or any other emergency is always limited, first and foremost, by the law and, ultimately, by the people’s interests.”

The government should leave no stone unturned to identify Porquia’s killers and give him justice. The culture of impunity has smeared the country’s image, and unless the culprits are brought behind bars, the Philippines’ human rights records will continue to suffer a major decline in the international community.

Porquia’s murder will only embolden those who are involved in the feeding program for the urban poor and those actively involved in the pursuit for genuine social welfare and justice for the Filipino people and to continue the veteran activist’s legacy.

Justice for Ka Jory!     

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

One million and still counting?

“I’m tired of being behind this virus. We’ve been behind this virus from day one. We underestimated this virus. It’s more powerful, it’s more dangerous than we expected.”

—Gov. Andrew Cuomo

By Alex P. Vidal

UNBELIEVABLE but in the country where I currently live, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has shockingly breached the one million mark.

I’m referring to the mighty United States of America, the land of milk and honey and the most powerful country in the world militarily and economically.

There were now 1,000,100 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 56,521 deaths in the United States. Worldwide we have 3,000,004 confirmed cases and 211,000 deaths as of April 28.

According to the John Hopkins University, 29,590 of the deaths in the U.S. were from the state of New York (12,287 in New York City and 17,303 in the New York upstate).

Like the Philippines, our lockdown here has also been extended until May 15 although some state governors, especially in areas with not-so-alarming number of cases and death, have been planning to “reopen” before schedule.

I was stunned when I saw the statistics of the growing number of cases and deaths because, like most Americans today, we are also itching to go back to the “real world” after nearly two months of being out of work and strictly observing the stay-at-home guidelines.

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But there seems to be some consolation despite the sudden rise of the statistics on confirmed cases and death nearly two months since the United States started to panic and imposed a lockdown nationwide.

The number of new cases in the state of New York reportedly seemed to have reached a plateau.

“I believe the worst is over if we continue to be smart,” said Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.

With many of its thoroughfares quiet and subdued, the Big Apple now continue to look nothing like its former loud bustling self.

Ridership in poorer neighborhoods, where many must continue commuting to work (especially the “essential” workers), has not changed as dramatically while subway use has plunged.

According to the New York Times, the city’s low-income neighborhoods have been hit the hardest by the pandemic and many of the areas with the highest percentage of confirmed virus cases have the lowest median income, based on data from the first month of the outbreak.

Preliminary data on New York City’s fatalities, meanwhile, shows that the outbreak has killed black and Latino people at twice the rate that it killed white people.

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Meanwhile, experts’ understanding of how the virus spreads is still limited, but there are reportedly four factors that most likely play a role: how close we get; how long we are near the person; whether that person projects viral droplets on us; and how much we touch your faces.

If our community is affected, we can help reduce our risk and do our part to protect others by following some basic steps:

—Wash our hands. Scrub with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and then dry them with a clean towel or let them air dry.

—Keep distance from sick people. Try to stay six feet away from anybody showing flu- or cold-like symptoms, and don’t go to work if we’re sick.

—Prepare our family, and communicate our plan about evacuations, resources and supplies. Experts suggest stocking at least a 30-day supply of any needed prescriptions. Consider doing the same for food staples, laundry detergent and diapers, if we have small children.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

Don’t bite COVID-19 conspiracy theories

“There is so much misinformation out there. If you give people even a little bit, it gets blown out of proportion then you have to go put out fires. So it’s much easier to say, ‘No comment.’”

—Oren Peli

By Alex P. Vidal

WE’RE glad that most Ilonggos have ignored the saber-rattling of those who cling to a flood of conspiracy theories, innuendos and disinformation about the causes and origins of COVID-19.

If they didn’t and thus allowed themselves to be duped by these absurd theories, Ilonggos would be marching in the streets and protesting the extended enhanced social distancing and stay-at-home guidelines like what some angry Americans are doing today.

There would have been a torrent of public defiance and acts of recalcitrance.

But since the Ilonggos are among the most educated people on earth, they know what’s going on; they understand why they needed to be prevented from going to work and from opening their shops while the situation remains unpredictable in as far as infection of coronavirus is concerned.

They believe COVID-19 is a pandemic that needs to be addressed thoroughly and seriously, and a total cooperation from the public is essential and necessary so we can all go back to our normal lives in a soonest possible time after May 15.  

This growing ecosystem of misinformation and public distrust marshaled by believers of conspiracy theory mostly in the social media has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to warn of an “infodemic.”

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Meanwhile, it appears that people in the city and province of Iloilo are satisfied with the way their public officials, led by Iloilo City Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas and Iloilo Governor Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr., handle the crisis in the local level save for some miscues and missteps that normally occur when a society is under siege by a gigantic problem.

Except for those who violated the lockdown and abused the stimulus money distributed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through their punong barangay, Ilonggos have, so far, manifested a strict compliance of the rule of law and respect to their authorities while the world is trying its darn best to contain the deadliest virus to ever hit the human race in 100 years.    

Even the Filipinos in general have refused to be taken for a ride by these confusing conspiracy theories that have eroded public trust and undermined health officials in manner that could broaden and even outlast the pandemic.

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While some Filipinos are whining and cajoling their government to lift the curfew or the extended lockdown so they can go back to work soon, they don’t deny that the coronavirus is a pandemic no one had wanted to happen.

They dismiss the lies and unfounded imputations of conspiracy theories that the virus is a Chinese bioweapon, a partisan invention or part of a plot to re-engineer the population.

However dark, each claim seems to give a senseless tragedy some degree of meaning. Unlike what is happening in some parts of the United States today.

Karen M. Douglas, a social psychologist who studies belief in conspiracies at the University of Kent in Britain, in a report by Max Fisher, said the current issue on COVID-19 “has all the ingredients for leading people to conspiracy theories.”

Rumors and patently unbelievable claims are spread by everyday people whose critical faculties have simply been overwhelmed, psychologists say, by feelings of confusion and helplessness.

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“But many false claims are also being promoted by governments looking to hide their failures, partisan actors seeking political benefit, run-of-the-mill scammers and, in the United States, a president who has pushed unproven cures and blame-deflecting falsehoods,” wrote Fisher.

“The conspiracy theories all carry a common message: The only protection comes from possessing the secret truths that ‘they’ don’t want you to hear. The feelings of security and control offered by such rumors may be illusory, but the damage to the public trust is all too real.”

It has led people to consume fatal home remedies and flout social distancing guidance. And it is disrupting the sweeping collective actions, like staying at home or wearing masks, needed to contain a virus that has already killed more than 79,000 people.

“We’ve faced pandemics before,” said Graham Brookie, who directs the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. “We haven’t faced a pandemic at a time when humans are as connected and have as much access to information as they do now.”    

Fisher pointed out that “the feelings of security and control offered by such rumors may be illusory, but the damage to the public trust is all too real.”

It has led people to consume fatal home remedies and flout social distancing guidance.

And it is disrupting the sweeping collective actions, like staying at home or wearing masks, needed to contain a virus that has already killed thousands of people.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

How did some Pinoy ‘TNTs’ in NYC survive coronavirus

“Keeping an active mind has been vital to my survival, as has been maintaining a sense of humor.”

—Stephen Hawking

By Alex P. Vidal

ONE of the sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants is New York City, currently battling the COVID-19 pandemic as the “epicenter” in the United States.

Sanctuary cities are the favorite destinations of undocumented and overstaying aliens because they don’t strictly enforce the immigration laws, thus these cities are always overpopulated.

Of the 53,928 dead in the U.S., 28,745 were from the New York State, as of April 25, according to the John Hopkins University.

Of the total 900,056 confirmed cases in the U.S., 437,000 were from New York State; 18,018 have recovered.

Most of those killed were Hispanics, followed by the blacks, followed by the whites, and the Asians.

For lack of available statistics (no available records from the Philippine Consulate as of this writing), the number of Filipino casualties wasn’t immediately determined.

The Hispanics dominate the densely populated Queens communities of Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst, and Elmhurst, touted as the “epicenter of epicenter” in New York City.

Based on 2014 census, the New York City-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area was home to 262,375 Filipino Americans, 221,612 (84.5%) of them uniracial Filipinos.

A large percentage of the population is the so-called TNT or tago ng tago, the byword for Filipinos who have overstayed their temporary visa.  

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How were they doing during the coronavirus savagery?

Cesar, of Catanduanes, said he immediately “stayed at home” when President Trump ordered an enhanced social distancing second week of March.

“Until now, I’m still here stranded in my apartment,” sighed Cesar, who lives adjacent the Elmhurst Park, or 200 meters away from the Elmhurst Hospital Clinic, where a big number of casualties for COVID-19 was recorded in March.

With no insurance and earning on “under the table” scheme, Cesar said he made sure all family members were safe from COVID-19 by religiously observing the lockdown guidelines.

Cesar used to earn some $1,200 a week as a bodega stocker in Manhattan and feared he “might start all over again” if the bodega will no longer operate even after the lockdown.

Cesar, 56, his wife and their three children toured the U.S. eight years ago and didn’t anymore return to the Philippines.

Gilberto, 42, who overstayed his visitor visa in 2014, connected with his fellow TNTs in the community immediately when the lockdown order came.

“We realized if the lockdown would extend, we risk losing our jobs (in the restaurants and laundry shops) because these jobs are non-essentials,” confessed Gilberto, a former pastor in Sipalay, Negros Occidental and works as chef in a Punjabi restaurant on Queens Boulevard. “We needed to unite and constantly get in touch with each other.”

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Gilberto and 38 other fellow Pinoys, all TNTs, shared food supplies, including beer and lutong bahay pulutan (home-made viands)since March. “We didn’t violate the lockdown and stay-at-home guidelines. We cooked and brought the foods one by one to our kababayans in their respective apartments.”

Marlene, 38, of Pampanga, who overstayed her tourist visa two years ago, said she and her lady roommate, also a TNT, stocked essential food items like rice, biscuits, canned goods, noodles, water, juice, fruits before the lockdown in March.

“We had a difficult situation because my roommate had been exposed to a person positive of coronavirus; we had to observe the lockdown under a quarantine together,” bemoaned Marlene, an auditor in Lubao. “We relied on the prayers of our friends and relatives in the Philippines.”

Jeric, 46, a dish washer in an Indonesia restaurant, said he maintained a total of four vitamins: ascorbic acid, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and fish oil “because I don’t want my family (in Marbel, South Cotabato) to lose a bread winner to coronavirus.”

“If I get infected and my body will be burned, even my ashes can’t go home to Cotabato,” Jeric said in jest.

Jeric, who has been a TNT for five years, said he “killed” his time by singing and watching movies in the Youtube inside his room.

Hernan, 40, cashier in a laundry shop in southern Brooklyn, said: “I always have in mind that we need to maintain a healthy lifestyle and we can’t afford to get sick because we have no (valid immigration) papers and our families in the Philippines will surely worry if they learn that we have been infected with coronavirus.”

Hernan, single and a TNT for nine years, stayed in his apartment in Woodside together with a fellow LGBT since March after the laundry shop where he works decided to close temporarily.

Hernan’s mom in Malate, Manila sent him money for his rent and food allowance “good for three months,” he said.    

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

Don’t assume brgy officials are crooks

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

—Mahatma Gandhi

By Alex P. Vidal

MANY Filipinos have complained they weren’t given their fair share in the distribution of relief goods and cash incentives from the national government for the extended COVID-19 lockdown.

Some of them harangued their public officials and went to the social media to “seek redress for their grievances” and, in some cases, directly unloaded their heartaches in the mass media.

Either they were “identified” as supporters of the opposition, or were “intentionally” disqualified for being hostile to the barangay officials, said most of their complaints.

There may have been cases where vindictive barangay officials took advantage of the situation and really ignored those they didn’t like, or their perceived nemesis—political and otherwise—in the barangay.

The complainants have valid reasons to really protest the discrimination of selective barangay officials; the erring parties must be dealt with accordingly by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

No resident in any barangay should be denied a social assistance from the government in these uncertain and financially chaotic times for being a roughneck.

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Politics and personal wrangling have no place in this agonizing period where everyone’s life is threatened by a deadly virus that has caused tremendous inconvenience to all sectors in society.

Political, business and personal feuds should be set aside while stomachs are empty and all residents, prevented from going to work and opening their stores in compliance with the enhanced social distancing since March, face grim economic doldrums.

Humanity must prevail over grudges, hard feelings, and past and present intramural.

Jesus said in Matthew 22:21: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” Romans 13:1: “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God.”

Barangay officials who can’t control their emotions and with ax to grind against some residents shouldn’t be allowed to manage or participate in the distribution of cash and relief assistance.

In times of crisis, it is imperative that the leaders possess some semblance of humility and must act with grace and valor when administering solace to the downtrodden.  

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On the other hand, residents should be reasonable and logical when dealing with their barangay officials regarding the largesse and food subsidies from the DILG and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).  

It’s natural to become emotional nowadays especially if they can’t immediately receive what is due them, but they should treat their barangay officials with respect and consolation and avoid engaging the barangay officials in any verbal joust, if possible, when expectations and demands aren’t swiftly delivered and satisfied.

It also helps if the residents befriend their barangay officials and engage them in casual conversations instead of verbally abusing them and calling them names.

The residents should be the last people to accuse their barangay officials of being crooks especially if their accusation and suspicion aren’t supported by solid facts and evidence.

If there are issues to settle with their barangay officials related to the social and financial assistance, the residents should address the matter in a manner that isn’t offensive to the concerned parties.

Because some of them are impatient and furious, residents who don’t like the way their barangay officials handle the distribution system immediately humiliate and harass their barangay officials in the social media.

We don’t bully Santa Claus or his representatives.

An intra-barangay matter can’t be solved with dispatch and alacrity if somebody with a big responsibility in the furor has been ridiculed and embarrassed in the Facebook and Twitter.

It is still best if we face the crisis in unity and harmony, not enmity.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

Survival of the healthiest

“We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.”

—Albert Einstein

By Alex P. Vidal

IT’S becoming obvious that those who are healthier or the healthiest among us are the ones who will most likely survive the COVID-19 pandemic even if it will escalate beyond the projected period of decline.

It’s no longer a “survival of the fittest” as the phrase in Charles Darwin’s

On the Origin of Species suggests to describe the process of natural selection.

Although Darwin he did not coin the phrase and borrowed it only from English philosopher Herbert Spencer, who first talked about survival of the fittest in his Principles of Sociology, the case of those who have survived in the calamities and tragedies in the modern world had been always referred to as a case of “survival of the fittest.”

Darwinists’ “survival of the fittest”, however, is the idea that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better.

Social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics and social inequality at various times over the past century and a half.

On the other hand, the case of those who survive the pandemic or natural calamities and catastrophes should be called as “survival of the best,” according to the late Ilonggo philosopher and lawyer Ernesto Justiniani Dayot.

We survive because we are the best among our fellowmen, Dayot said. We have the best health; the best mental and emotional strength; the best physical endurance; the best ability; and the best mind.

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As rationale beings we easily rise to the occasion when the goings get tough.

Our thinking, the reason as our absolute, becomes the vanguard of our survival.

Let me add to the discussion.

Those who will survive the coronavirus pandemic will not yet die because they have the best immune system; they are the ones who strictly adhere to the “stay-at-home” and “enhanced social distancing” guidelines.

They wash their hands properly and regularly; they cover their faces with masks (preferably N95) in public; and they eat healthy foods like fruits and vegetables with vitamins that prevent or kill any virus.  

Those with underlying illnesses and will be infected have been “destined” to go first; they are automatic candidates for those who are considered “unfit” to survive under the present circumstance.

As human beings, we have certain basic needs. We must have food, water, air, and shelter to survive.

Humans cannot survive If any one of these basic needs is not met. Before past explorers set off to find new lands and conquer new worlds, they had to make sure that their basic needs were met.

In other words, in this age it’s now a “survival of the healthiest” when we refer to the inhabitants in today’s generation who will continue to live beyond the specter of coronavirus.

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Here’s the latest from the Live Science in the coronavirus epicenter:

—New York has reported at least 222,284 total positive cases of COVID-19 and 12,822 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.

That makes it the state with the most U.S. coronavirus cases. A full 122,148 of those cases and 7,890 confirmed deaths are in New York City, according to official city counts, which tend to lag behind statewide counts. The city has also reported 4,309 deaths of people who were not tested but were strongly suspected to have the illness.

—The mainland Dutchess, Erie, Orange, Rockland, and Westchester counties, as well as Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties, all have thousands of cases as well.

—These statistics likely represent an undercount, given that many people are dying in their homes but are not counted in official tallies because they have not been tested for the virus, as Gothamist and WNYC reported. There’s also evidence that infection rates in New York City are much higher than the official count.

—Still, tentatively optimistic trends are starting to emerge as of April 16. The numbers of hospitalized patients has dropped slightly, as have the numbers of intubated patients and patients in intensive care units. the number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths statewide on April 15, 606, was the lowest in 10 days. New York has begun to share ventilators with other states, including New Jersey.

—Testing is free in New York.

—Health officials are seeking blood donations from people who have fully recovered from the illness to help treat those still infected. More information can be found here.

—On April 1, Dr. Laura M. Huckins, a doctor at Mt. Sinai hospital and lead of the STOP COVID NYC project announced on Twitter an effort to understand and track symptoms of the virus across New York City. She asked individuals across the city to text COVID to 64722, complete a survey, and respond to daily texts asking for updates on their condition. The data, she said, is helpful in fighting the disease whether you are healthy or sick.

—New York has run 573,223 COVID-19 tests to date, according to the COVID Tracking Project. On April 15, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the state is asking the Food and Drug Administration to approve a fingerprick test that, he said, would allow the state to move from 2,000 to 100,000 tests per day.

—Cuomo announced an order April 17 requiring all public and private labs in New York to follow the direction of the state Department of Health, with the goal of coordinating them to prioritize and ramp up testing.

—On April 16, Cuomo extended the state’s restrictions on public activities until May 15, saying that the additional time was necessary to assure the state was ready to “unpause.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

Our sacred self

“The greatest human quest is to know what one must do in order to become a human being.”

—IMMANUEL KANT

By Alex P. Vidal

IN one of the best metaphors of a dialogue between Ego and Spirit, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, has a very interesting story to share in his book, Your Sacred Self.

Dyer, also the author of Real Magic and Your Erroneous Zones, described Ego and Spirit in his story as “two babies in utero confined to the wall of their mother’s womb” and they are having a conversation.

Spirit says to Ego, “I know you are going to find this difficult to accept, but I truly believe there is life after birth.”

Ego responds, “Don’t be ridiculous. Look around you. This is all there is. Why must you always be thinking about something beyond this reality? Accept your lot in life. Make yourself comfortable and forget about all of this life-after-birth nonsense.”

Spirit quiets down for a while, but her inner voice won’t allow her to remain silent any longer. “Ego, now don’t get mad, but I have something else to say. I also believe that there is a Mother.”

“A Mother!” Ego guffaws. “How can you be so absurd?” You’ve never seen a Mother. Why can’t you accept that this is all there is?” The idea of a Mother is crazy. You are here alone with me. This is your reality. Now grab hold of that cord. Go into your corner and stop being so silly. Trust me, there is no Mother.”

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Spirit reluctantly stops her conversation with Ego, but her carelessness soon gets the better of her. “Ego,” she implores, “please listen without rejecting my idea. Somehow I think that those constant pressures we both feel, those movements that make us so uncomfortable sometimes, that continual repositioning and all of that closing in that seems to be taking place as we keep growing, is getting us ready for a place of glowing light, and we will experience it very soon.”

“Now I know you are absolutely insane,” replies Ego. “All you’ve ever known is darkness. You’ve never seen light. How can you even contemplate such an idea?” Those movements and pressures you feel are your reality. You are a distinct separate being.This is your journey. Darkness and pressures and a closed-in feeling are what life is all about. You’ll have to fight it as long as you live. Now grab your cord and please stay still.”

Spirit relaxes for a while, but finally she can contain herself no longer. “Ego, I have only one more thing to say and then I’ll never bother you again.”

“Go ahead,” Ego responds, impatiently.

“I believe all of these pressures and all of this discomfort is not only going to bring us to a new celestial light, but when we experience it, we are going to meet Mother face-to-face and know an ecstasy that is beyond anything we have ever experienced up until now.”

“You really are crazy, Spirit. Now I’m truly convinced of it.”

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Your Sacred Self is a literal interpretation of the metaphor, which Dyer have adapted from a story told by Henri J.M. Nouwen.

“It is my attempt to introduce you to that glowing celestial light and to let you know the wonder of having your sacred self triumph over the demands of the eg-self, which wants more than anything to hold you back,” Dyer explained.

He organized the book around the following four understandings:

1. You are sacred, and in order to know it you must transcend the old belief system you’ve adopted.

2. You are a divine being called to know your sacred self by mastering the keys to higher awareness.

3. Your sacred self can triumph over your ego identifies and be the dominant force in your life.

4. You can radiate this awareness beyond your own boundaries and affect everyone on our planet.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

Treñas may be ready to become president

“A noble leader answers not to the trumpet calls of self promotion, but to the hushed whispers of necessity.”

—Mollie Mart

By Alex P. Vidal

THE true test of a good leader is shown by how he handles a big crisis, how he leads his people, how he absorbs their pain, how he finds a solution to shield them from imminent danger, and how far can he go to lift them from despondency.  

In the ongoing struggle of the Ilonggos in Iloilo City against SARS-CoV-2 or novel COVID-19, Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas has, so far, proven his leadership.

From day one until it became apparent that the coronavirus problem would blossom into a grotesque bedlam, Treñas was in the front seat steering the wheel and marshaling the city hall’s forces and might to ensure that the residents of Iloilo City wouldn’t be neglected and forsaken.

And when he felt that the national government, in spite of the much-ballyhooed P275 billion emergency funds in the 2020 General Appropriations Act to be used to deal with the calamity, appeared to be dilly-dallying its assistance to the Ilonggos, he lit the candle instead of cursing the darkness.

Treñas appears to be more effective, credible, reliable and trusted compared to the national leadership in many aspects.

If he were the one handling the crisis on a national level, things would probably be different.

There would be less politicking, less muckraking, less red tape, and people wouldn’t be complaining of discrimination in the distribution of goods and screaming unprintable at the national government.

With his impressive performance in handling the difficult situation,  Treñas can be ready to become our next president.

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Let’s review what he has done.

Most recently, the city mayor tapped three pandesal companies, the Uygongco Flour Mill, Carlos Uy Corporation, and Angelina Bakeshop, to produce the popular bread so no one would go hungry while the city is under an enhanced community quarantine.

He hailed the three home-grown companies for their “sense of bayanihan.”

The city promised to deliver around 43,000 pieces of “Ilonggo pandesal” to the residents of Iloilo City daily.

Treñas had earlier imposed a preventive enhanced community quarantine, established a community kitchens around the city to feed the constituents of each barangay, and made a plea for mass testing in Iloilo now being backed with financial support from rich local traders.   

Without waiting for help from the national government, Treñas established Iloilo City College as a temporary dorm for health care workers and other health workers helping curb the spread of COVID-19. He made sure that shuttle services were made available to the Ilonggo frontliners to transport them to their work places.

Treñas also earned praises from various sectors when he helped amend the existing “anti-discrimination ordinance” to include a provision that forbids businesses from ostracizing individuals due to their jobs with the help of the city council led by Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon.

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On March 20, Treñas imposed an enhanced community quarantine in Iloilo City through Executive Order 55-2020 as a preventive measure against the spread of the virus that has killed more than a million people around the world.

While there were chaos and confusion in other provinces and cities around the country, Treñas made these other accomplishments:

—collaboration with Iloilo Gov. Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr. in calling on Cebu Pacific Airlines to suspend its direct flights from the Iloilo International Airport to Hong Kong, and vice versa, when the pandemic was killing more people in Wuhan and fast spreading China.

—tapping the scientists and medical professionals from the University of the Philippines Visayas alumni community to establish a local test center at the West Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao district accredited by the Department of Health (DoH) which

Allotted 5,000 test kits together with The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

—receiving P15 million worth of donations in kind, from sacks of rice to canned goods and other food packs, all of which have been funneled to the city’s community kitchens and barangays for distribution.

He may be doing more to help the Ilonggos even if the national government has extended the lockdown until April 30.  

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

Did God ‘punish’ Elmhurst?

“Every blessing ignored becomes a curse.”

—Paulo Coelho

By Alex P. Vidal

“DO you know why there were so many New Yorkers killed recently by coronavirus in Elmhurst?”

Thus was the opening remark made by Robert Aguirre, a 58-year-old devotee of Saint Sebastian Roman Catholic Church, a Roman Catholic parish church located at Woodside, Queens, New York City, when he called me up April 4 evening.

“In the last novena I attended a week before the lockdown, the priest had warned and lamented that Elmhurst has the most number of abortion clinics in New York City,” narrated Aguirre, a former Kodak assistant manager who came to the Big Apple from California in 1997.   

“When Mayor (Bill) de Blasio and Gov. (Andrew) Cuomo legalized abortion in New York City seven years ago, those who clapped their hands in support of the legalization were women from Elmhurst.”

Aguirre said he wouldn’t anymore elaborate if Elmhurst, which became the epicenter of novel COVID-19 cases in New York, “was being punished or not.”

The people are intelligent and they understand what the priest was trying to convey.

Quoting the priest he didn’t identify, Aguirre considers Elmhurst as “notorious” in terms of abortions cases.

There have been so many instances where the church led the holding of prayer rallies outside the abortion clinics mostly in Elmhurst.

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“When I learned that abortion in New York City had been legalized, I immediately called tita Loida (Nicolas-Lewis) and she was so outraged saying what’s happening was already a work of the devil.”  

Three years before the Supreme Court decided the Roe vs Wade, abortion was legalized in the state of New York in 1970.

Aguirre could be referring to the Reproductive Health Act, a New York statute which was enacted on January 22, 2019 that expanded abortion rights and eliminated several restrictions on abortion in the state. The law received national media attention.

Considered a crime in most other states, abortion became a crime in New York with major exceptions.

Still regulated in the criminal code, it is reportedly a crime in New York if an abortion is performed after a woman is 24 weeks pregnant, unless the mother’s life is in immediate jeopardy.

She would have to go elsewhere to have an abortion even though the

the baby in her womb would not be able to live outside of it.

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There had been attempts from politicians for nearly a decade to pass a law called the Reproductive Health Act, which would remove abortion from New York’s criminal code and codify the protections of Roe v. Wade, which affirms a woman’s right to an abortion, with limits, in state law.

The R.H.A. had been approved multiple times by the Democrat-controlled state assembly, but it had never passed the state senate, which was controlled by Republicans.

In 1970, when New York first legalized abortion, it was one of only four states where the practice was legal. New York’s law was the most liberal of the four, as it had no residency requirement.

It was learned that roughly three hundred and fifty thousand out-of-state abortion patients came to New York between July of 1970 and January of 1973.

In the first two years after the state law passed, sixty per cent of women who had abortions in New York came from out of state, it was learned further.

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Dr. Ben McVane, an emergency medicine doctor at Elmhurst Hospital Center, said New York City’s public hospital system serves more than a million New Yorkers each year, regardless of their ability to pay.

“Beyond the undocumented and uninsured, Elmhurst Hospital serves other vulnerable populations neglected by the private medical system: prisoners, the homeless, the drug-addicted and the mentally ill, McVane said. “Public hospitals are where the police bring those too mentally ill and violent for the shelter system, where desperate families bring demented older relatives whom they can no longer properly care for.”

He admitted that the Elmhurst neighborhood has been called the “epicenter of the epicenter” of coronavirus infections in the United States.

McVane said: “While our hospital staff and the broader medical community scramble to bolster our resources and respond to the pandemic, we should pause to consider why it has so heavily hit Elmhurst, and Queens at large.”

The people living around Elmhurst Hospital, he said, are both vulnerable and neglected: largely immigrants, poor, uninsured and dependent on a public hospital system that is already overstretched and underfunded. Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Corona are the neighborhoods with the highest percentage of foreign-born residents in New York City, coming from seemingly every corner of the world.

“Over the past seven years I have developed a deep affection for Elmhurst and its surrounding neighborhoods. It pains me to watch this community decimated by Covid-19,” disclosed the doctor.

McVane said Queens represents what the world imagines New York City to be, a cultural melting pot where grit and ambition can still get you ahead. Walking to work I pass women selling tamales from grocery carts, the smell of strong Colombian coffee, the sounds of bachata and bhangra music emanating from storefronts.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

Coronavirus kills Fil-Am basketball star

“Thousands and thousands are dying due to coronavirus and yet when this thing is over the humanity will declare a victory! What victory? Fools! There is no victory for the dead people! And when it comes to the living people, everyone should have a deep sadness in their soul, not a brag of victory!”

―Mehmet Murat ildan

By Alex P. Vidal

A POPULAR basketball player in the Fil-Am Basketball League in Queens could be the first casualty of the novel COVID-19 in the Filipino community in the borough of Queens in New York City.

Robert Aguirre, a former team manager, described the victim only as “Jeffrey.”

He was one of the most outstanding in their team that won the back-to-back title in 2006 and 2007, Aguirre told this writer in an exclusive talk April 4.

Aguirre said he could not yet reveal Jeffrey’s real identity without the approval of the cager’s family.

“Once Jeffrey’s name is revealed, the family members are afraid that authorities will subject all of them to a coronavirus test and if this will spread in the community, they will be avoided and even discriminated. Bal-an mo man ang mentality sang iban nga mga Pinoy,” Aguirre, who hails from Victorias City, Negros Occidental, explained.

Aguirre said Jeffrey was one the original cagers who joined the team in their series of games played in other states and in Canada in 2007.

He added that Jeffrey had passed the league’s strict scrutiny of legitimate Fil-Am players during the recruitment stage.

Their team was financially backed by the owner of the Johnny’s Air, Aguirre said.

The basketball player was between 40 to 55 years old when he died about two weeks before New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo imposed a “stay at home” or lockdown order, Aguirre said.

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As of the cases of other Filipinos who reportedly died of coronavirus, Aguirre, popular in the Roosevelt Avenue, said he was “never informed” because even the  Philippine Consulate on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan could not give the correct details.

“How can they give us the correct information when the Consulate had been closed even before the lockdown order,” Aguirre bewailed.

Aside from Jeffrey, four other Fil-Ams reportedly died of COVID-19 in New York City and New Jersey. No names were available as of this writing.

He surmised that Jeffrey was never given a normal funeral rites.

“I have been a health worker for 18 years here in New York and I know that once somebody dies and the death is related to a communicable disease like the coronavirus, the dead body is immediately wrapped and cremated,” Aguirre added.

The former basketball manager said he learned that other coronavirus victims “never had a chance to talk or say goodbye to their loved ones” because they weren’t brought to the morgue of any hospital as what normally happened.

“There’s no formal ceremony unlike what we do to our dead in the Philippines as a Christian country,” Aguirre said.

With more than 8,000 death, confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, meanwhile, surpassed 300,000 on April 4.

The updated total came as the country’s top infectious disease expert, Anthony S. Fauci, reiterated that the risk of a coronavirus resurgence is real.

President Trump, on the other hand, said that although he can’t commit to having fans back in stadiums at a specific date, he pushed for sports to return as soon as possible.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)