"Will somebody please assure me that we are not yet a province of China?"
"Will somebody please assure me that we are not yet a province of China?"
Santa Banana, what is happening to our country?
In the midst of the rising number of of COVID-19 patients, here comes this report that a special flight arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and then proceeded to Caticlan, where 350 Chinese were supposedly ferried to Boracay Island.
My gulay, isn’t Boracay off-limits to everybody now that we are battling a pandemic? Isn’t Boracay supposed to be on lockdown, as well?
Whoever authorized that special flight from China should be tarred and feathered. Better yet, jailed with the keys thrown to Pasig River. If it was Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat who did it, then she should be fired pronto.
The fact that Senator Joel Villanueva denounced what happened gives credence to this anomaly. These Chinese could easily add to the number of COVID-19 patients, or even fatalities, in our country.
I have received information that right here at Merville Park Subdivision in Parañaque, where my wife and I are living with our daughter, there are many houses occupied by POGO workers. They continue to go in and out of the village. Worse, they are also escorted by cops in going to their place of work.
Santa Banana, what makes the Chinese so special when we mortals cannot even go out of our homes?
We are on lockdown for a reason. But why are the Chinese free to enjoy Boracay?
I am insulted, discouraged and disgusted at this special treatment. Will somebody please assure me that the Philippines is not yet a province of China? The Chinese have come to enjoy immense privilege here under the Duterte administration.
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Harry Roque has assumed his former position as presidential spokesman. This is timely because we need credible statements from the Palace.
Former spokesman Salvador Panelo has become a liability to the President. He was more like a clown. My own information has it that it was the Malacañang Press Corps that had Panelo replaced. He never had any rapport with the media.
Actually, the ideal press secretary and spokesman should come from media. These roles used to be performed by one person. Credibility and rapport with the press were top requirements.
The best press secretaries/ spokesmen were J.V. Cruz, Joe Aspiras and Rod Reyes.
I wonder what will become of Panelo. Will he continue to be legal counsel?
President Rodrigo Duterte used to have a media person in the position, but he was not the kind of press secretary I am talking about. He or she must be ideally from the print media, not broadcast. Broadcast is an impact medium, while in print, there must be analysis and interpretation.
I should know this, having gone full circle in print, television and radio.
Truth be told, I had an offer to be press secretary three times. I declined because I did not want to be in government.
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There is only one way President Duterte can stop the exodus of Filipino nurses to the United States. The US Embassy is promising an immediate issuance of visas.
He should assure our nurses of higher pay so they would stay. It is unfortunate that our nurses would risk getting infected with COVID-19 just for the pay.
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ERRATUM. In my recent column, “A tragic death,” I wrote about my dear friend Dr. Cayetano Mangahas, a doctor at the Chinese General Hospital. I said that he had died in isolation and that when he was cremated, nobody knew where his ashes were.
The truth of the matter is that he died at home, alone (he was a widower.) The maids contacted Dr. Dy Bun Yok, a noted cardiologist from the same hospital, who in turn contacted Arlington crematorium to retrieve the remains of Dr. Mangahas. After the cremation, Arlington sent back the ashes to the home of the deceased.
Dr. Dy Bun Yok was my doctor when I had a CT-Scan years ago. He did not charge me, not even a single centavo. I could not thank him enough.