Just before the Donald announced that he was rejecting the climate change agreement finally hammered in Paris two years ago, he concluded, wrongly it turned out, that the Resorts World tragedy was the work of terrorists.
Of course, IS claimed responsibility, but then again, they always lay claim to every evil act of terrorism anywhere in the world. But that the president of the United States would so conclude without checking the usually accurate US intelligence network says a lot about the man the US of A elected months ago.
In any case, he declared that “as of today, the United States will cease all implementation of the non-binding Paris agreement.”
And in a moment of arrogance couched in campaign-style language, Trump said that he “was elected to represent Pittsburgh [a coal and steel city] not Paris.”
Responding to Trump’s pointing to his city, Pittsburgh, Mayor Bill Peduto called the decision “disastrous for our planet, for cities such as Pittsburgh,” and a step that “has made America weaker and the world less safe.”
Indeed, Mr. Donald Trump.
The way the entire world is being irreversibly placed on disaster mode by climate change, we might as well remind you that Paris is the world.
America under the Donald is entering a dangerous isolationist phase. By looking at the Wall Street indicia as the be-all and end-all of his governance, Trump is surely surrendering America’s leadership to China, and is being isolated even from its closest allies in the European Union.
And China under Xi Jinping is gleefully stepping onto the plate.
No wonder there is that saying, “in the end, China will win?”
* * *
We grieve with the families of those who perished in the Resorts World tragedy that happened just as the month of June began. We condole with our friend, Rep. Dong Gonzales of Pampanga, whose wife Elizabeth died in that single night of madness.
Four Taiwan citizens perished in that tragedy, which turned out to be the handiwork of a strangely deranged man who was a big loser in the gaming tables.
But then again, do we ever learn? We had a horrible fire at the Ozone Disco in Quezon City a decade or so ago, where hundreds perished. In the Resorts World incident, clearly both managers and security agents panicked and did not know how to care for their clientele.
“Puro porma lang pala ang mga sikyu,” my driver quipped upon viewing the footages. There are so many questions that the Megaworld group who owns and operates that casino need to answer.
It was clear from the footages caught on CCTV that the fire sprinkler system was not working. For a five-star casino resort with plush hotels beside it, this is unthinkable.
There were so many obvious faults, and government must get to the bottom of these, and file cases against the miscreant. We cannot afford to be complacent, or chuck these things as acts of fate.
* * *
The day before the incident, we were holding a press conference at the Far Eastern Shangri-La in Taipei to announce the activities to celebrate our forthcoming 119th anniversary as a sovereign and independent republic.
We opened a culinary festival in that hotel, where Philippine cuisine is being featured for the next two weeks in their daily buffet offerings. Two chefs were flown in from our country, one from Edsa Shangri-La in Mandaluyong, and another from Tagaytay Highlands, to collaborate with the executive chef in Taipei, a Frenchman who has worked previously at the Makati Shangri-La.
Together with our trade and tourism attachés in Taiwan, we had been assiduously promoting our country to a potentially big market so very near the Philippines. And then, already worried about Marawi, and assuring the Taiwan media about things normalizing “pretty soon,” we got the shocking news the day after about Resorts World, where four Taiwanese citizens died.
Oh well…we cannot fold our arms and just sigh. We simply have to keep trying. These negative incidents shall pass.
* * *
Through it all, one is left being thankful that we have a strong-willed president to face all these difficult challenges.
We know he will not shirk from the responsibility bestowed upon him by his mandate, nor would he betray the trust reposed upon him by his people.
His immediate visits to fallen soldiers and policemen, and his midnight visit to some of the victims of the Resorts World tragedy in the funeral parlors speaks in dignified silence of the character of the president.
Truly, “tapang at malasakit.”
Imagine if we had a wimp leading us in these trying times?