Lunes, Nobyembre 28, 2016
Biyernes, Nobyembre 25, 2016
Solon worries on Senator's Ex-Paramour Safety
By Mortz C. Ortigoza
DAGUPAN CITY - A Pangasinan congressman manifested to
his colleagues the safety of a former lover of Senator Leila de Lima who was
arrested recently.
 |
SAFETY. Pangasinan congressman Leopoldo Bataoil (2nd
District) appealed to national police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa
to take custody of arrested former driver and body guard Ronnie Dayan when he (Dayan) told a congressional hearing that he had
personal knowledge about the eight
million pesos given by dangerous drug lord Kerwin Espinosa to Dayan’s
former mistress then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. Photo: Mortz C. Ortigoza.
|
Ronnie Dayan, charged for contempt of Congress for failure to attend its hearing, was arrested last November 22 at Sitio Bato, Barangay Lacong at San Gabriel town in La Union.
“Being the father of the Second District, I feel that I am responsible for his safety including that of his family. And it is important that he is kept alive so that his testimony for whatever purposes is seen necessary be put to good use,” Representative Leopoldo Bataoil (2nd District, Pangasinan) stressed.
“Being the father of the Second District, I feel that I am responsible for his safety including that of his family. And it is important that he is kept alive so that his testimony for whatever purposes is seen necessary be put to good use,” Representative Leopoldo Bataoil (2nd District, Pangasinan) stressed.
Dayan told the members of the Committee on Justice and
Human Rights how he received eight millions pesos of narcotic monies from
drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and how he slapped then Justice Secretary de Lima
upon hearing she had promiscuous relationship with former Metro Manila Development
Authority (MMDA) motorcycle traffic enforcer’s Warren Cristobal.
"[N]agkakalabuan na kami ni ma'am. Kesyo hindi na
daw kami masaya sa pagsasama naming (sic), lagi kasing bangayan, at laging
nag-aaway kami," Dayan told the congressmen who relished the revelation.
I lost my watch in a Davao City’s taxi
By Mortz C. Ortigoza
At 1:10 pm recently, I was inside a Davao City’s taxi
bound for meeting with friends at a coffee shop near Ateneo de Davao University
(ADDU).
“The text message was not complete. It should be MTS
(Matina Times Square) near ADDU-High School,” I told the taxi driver when I
hailed him for the correct destination.
 |
| The Maro taxi where I lost my Rudy Project's sports watch. |
As we drove to MTS, Edwin, the driver, told me that he
came from Barangay Kalaisan, Kidapawan City a neighboring village of Barangay
Calunasan of my town Mlang, Cotabato Province.
As we conversed I felt the rubber strap of my Rudy
Project’s watch was wet after I rinsed my face at the rest room of Aldavinco Market
near ADDU.
I unstrapped my watch and put it on the upper part of my knapsack I was
carrying on my laps in the front seat of the cab.
“This is quite a spacious car. Is this Toyota?” I
posed.
“Yes sir, Vios 2016 model,” Edwin, who is the son of
the former Barangay Captain of Barangay Kalaisan, said.
I told him that
my brother has a rubber plantation in Barangay Calunasan near his village.
When we reached the coffee house I thanked him and
fished out P100 bill when I saw P75 appeared on the taxi meter.
“Kini ang bayad, sa imuha na kanang kambio (Here’s the
P100, the loose change is yours),” I said in Visaya.
When I settled with my friends at the table of the
coffee house, I noticed, son of a gun, my sports watch ain’t on my left wrist.
“I knew it fell
inside the taxi,” I told them as I lost hope I could no longer recover it just like what happened when one left his precious stuff in a Manila taxi.
Biyernes, Nobyembre 18, 2016
The Immoral Senator Leila de Lima
Hindi available ang buod na ito.
Mag-click dito para tingnan ang post.
Biyernes, Nobyembre 11, 2016
Bababuyin versus Bababooey
By Mortz C. Ortigoza
United States No.1 radio shock-jock Howard Stern (worth
almost $100 million a year) of the The Howard Stern Show at
Sirius XM Radio did not only interview with then Citizen Donald Trump, the just
elected U.S president, on the latter dalliances that became issues hurled to
him by presidential rival Hillary Clinton.
 |
| The feisty Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. |
Stern and co-anchor, the infectious laughing black woman,
Robin Quivers commented last Friday on Philippines President Rodrigo
Duterte by juxtaposing Duterte’s word to the nickname of their Show’s executive
director Gary “Bababooey” Dell'Abate .
Here’s the conversation:
STERN: This is just cool Bababooey’s reference. Do you guys hear
this? The Philippines President Rodrigo Duarte, this is the actual interview. This
is the guy whose name is Rodrigo Duar.. Duarte…
QUIVERS: Duarte!
STERN: Duarte ! Yeah. Du..Duarte and he is like in the
middle of getting rid of the drug dealers in the Philippines.
QUIVERS: Yeah, it’s a real drug war.
STERN: He is killing a lot of people, and kids have been
killed and he says: “Hey, that’s collateral damage, y’know he seems doesn’t
fucking care but he gives a speech that it sounds like “Bababooey”. Gary, in the Philippines what does Bababooey means?
GARY: It means…. to
drive out the pigs.
STERN: Ya here, the actual Bababooey means.
(Excerpt of the tape recorded speech of President Duterte)
“Do not say that to… bastos ka sabi ko sa inyo don’t do that kasi bababuyin ko kayo!!
So now the doors are open again, the windows are open e
talagang bababuyin ko kayo!
(Stern’s staff laughed)
STERN AND GARY: Bababooey!
STERN: It’s catching.
ROBBINS: Gary’s going international!
 |
| U.S No. 1 Radio talk host Howard Stern (R) and his underling Gary “Babaobooey” Dell'Abate. |
***
“Just like in the 8.2 million population’s New York City
where crime rates in 2012 plunged to 450 deaths versus the 3 million populated
thriving gun-for hire province Pangasinan where killers snapped out 249 lives
in the same year” I wrote in my blog in 2012.
I argued there that crime rates like bank, other commercial
establishment robberies, and other crimes like mobile phone snatching,
akyat-bahay, hold- up can be lowered by using the stop and frisk methods (SFM
for brevity).
SFM is the situation in which a police officer who is
suspicious of an individual detains the person and runs his hands lightly over
the suspect's outer garments to determine if the person is carrying a concealed
weapon (The Free Dictionary).
Look what we got here. A high ranking police official in the
other province called me recently because he wanted to study SFM and adopt it
at the province he is presently assigned.
“Ano ba iyong sinulat ninyo Kuya sa blog niyo na parang
Oplan Sita (Operation Accost),” he posed to me.
“E Google Search mo iyong blog ko “Police Stop and Frisk help Lower Shooting Incidents” at marami akong data doon and
jurisprudences that I incorporated,” I told him.
I argued on my blog
that SFM was necessary because of the following observations by the court in
the U.S:
1) Police need a certain flexibility in dealing with quickly evolving and potentially dangerous situations that arise during routine patrol of the streets;
2) A rigid and unthinking application of the exclusionary rule (The rule means that a search of a person should be with the benefit of a warrant or object that was seen by a lawman to be inflagrante, may exact a high toll in human injury and frustration of efforts to prevent crime.
3) The court made room for the idea that some police action short of a traditional arrest (through Plain View and Search Warrant) could constitute a seizure—that is, "whenever a police officer accosts an individual and restrains his freedom to walk away, he has 'seized' that person.
Thus, when the police detective Martin McFadden took hold of John W. Terry and patted him down on that Cleveland street, the detective "seized" Terry and subjected him to a "search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment (where Philippine Constitution adopted it at Section 2, Article III ( Illegal search and seizure" of the Bill of Rights).
But the Fourth Amendment protects only against unreasonable searches and seizures, so the Court next had to determine whether Terry’s seizure and search were "reasonable".
4) Reasonable search for weapons is for the protection of the police officer, where he has reason to believe that he is dealing with an armed and dangerous individual, regardless of whether he has probable cause to arrest the individual for a crime.
The court however cautioned the police to avoid using good faith or hunch to stop and seize a person.” If subjective good faith alone were the test, the protections of the Fourth Amendment would evaporate, and the people would be 'secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,' only in the discretion of the police," the court quoted Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89 (1964).
5) Evidence found on Terry's person was properly admitted because the search was reasonable. The detective had observed Terry and his companions acting in a manner of a stick-up. A reasonable person in the detective's position would have thought that Terry was armed and thus presented a threat to his safety while he was investigating the suspicious behavior he was observing. The events he had witnessed made it reasonable for him to believe that either Terry or his cohorts were armed.
6) The police detective here limited his search to the outer surfaces of Terry's clothing. His searched was reasonably related for his own safety that justified the stop from the beginning. Accordingly, the Court concluded that the revolver found on Terry's person was properly admitted into evidence.
7) The sole justification of the search ... is the protection of the police officer and others nearby, and it must therefore be confined in scope to an intrusion reasonably designed to discover guns, knives, clubs, or other hidden instruments for the assault of the police officer”.
1) Police need a certain flexibility in dealing with quickly evolving and potentially dangerous situations that arise during routine patrol of the streets;
2) A rigid and unthinking application of the exclusionary rule (The rule means that a search of a person should be with the benefit of a warrant or object that was seen by a lawman to be inflagrante, may exact a high toll in human injury and frustration of efforts to prevent crime.
3) The court made room for the idea that some police action short of a traditional arrest (through Plain View and Search Warrant) could constitute a seizure—that is, "whenever a police officer accosts an individual and restrains his freedom to walk away, he has 'seized' that person.
Thus, when the police detective Martin McFadden took hold of John W. Terry and patted him down on that Cleveland street, the detective "seized" Terry and subjected him to a "search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment (where Philippine Constitution adopted it at Section 2, Article III ( Illegal search and seizure" of the Bill of Rights).
But the Fourth Amendment protects only against unreasonable searches and seizures, so the Court next had to determine whether Terry’s seizure and search were "reasonable".
4) Reasonable search for weapons is for the protection of the police officer, where he has reason to believe that he is dealing with an armed and dangerous individual, regardless of whether he has probable cause to arrest the individual for a crime.
The court however cautioned the police to avoid using good faith or hunch to stop and seize a person.” If subjective good faith alone were the test, the protections of the Fourth Amendment would evaporate, and the people would be 'secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,' only in the discretion of the police," the court quoted Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89 (1964).
5) Evidence found on Terry's person was properly admitted because the search was reasonable. The detective had observed Terry and his companions acting in a manner of a stick-up. A reasonable person in the detective's position would have thought that Terry was armed and thus presented a threat to his safety while he was investigating the suspicious behavior he was observing. The events he had witnessed made it reasonable for him to believe that either Terry or his cohorts were armed.
6) The police detective here limited his search to the outer surfaces of Terry's clothing. His searched was reasonably related for his own safety that justified the stop from the beginning. Accordingly, the Court concluded that the revolver found on Terry's person was properly admitted into evidence.
7) The sole justification of the search ... is the protection of the police officer and others nearby, and it must therefore be confined in scope to an intrusion reasonably designed to discover guns, knives, clubs, or other hidden instruments for the assault of the police officer”.
(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)
Huwebes, Nobyembre 10, 2016
Duterte extols Vietnamese poacher as “ladies man”
By Mortz C. Ortigoza
SUAL – Known as lady charmer, the Philippine president grudgingly lauded one of the Vietnamese fishermen who developed an affair with a Filipina when he was in jail in Ilocos Sur.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who led the sent off here of the 17 fishermen, said that Vietnam Ambassador Truong Triey Duong whispered to him that one of the Vietnamese jailed at Vigan City, Ilocos Sur had an affair with a Filipina when he and 15 of his compatriots where locked up there.
The other Vietnamese was a minor thus presumed to be under the watch of the Department of Social Welfare & Development.
“Bumulong iyong ambassador daw. Iyong isa daw dito raw may naka uyab raw ng Filipina. Sino?! Mabilis ito? Iba ang yawa! (The Vietnamese ambassador whispered to me that one of them had an affair with a Filipina. Who is he?! He was fast. This demon is different!), the president declared before the hundreds of amused crowds from the national, regional, and municipal offices of the government who attended the first official visit of the president of the republic in this rustic and coastal town and the province of Pangasinan.
On September 8, the 17 Vietnamese fishermen on board three fishing vessels were arrested by the Philippine Navy off Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
Government authorities filed charges against them like violations of Section 91 of Republic Act No. 10654 or An Act to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing; violation of Republic Act 8550 as amended by Republic Act 10654 for poaching and CA 613, Section 37 (a)(1) & (7) for entering Philippine waters at Poro Point, La Union without inspection, admission, and in the absence of nine entry visa and record of arrival in the country.
The Philippine authorities however dropped all these charges because it was argued that the fishermen were forced to reach the Philippine waters due to Typhoon Ferdie and the southwest monsoon from the South China Sea. On October 10, the Justice Department issued a memorandum allowing them to return to Vietnam without fine or penalty.
On October 24, a joint resolution issued by concerned agencies cleared the 17 Vietnamese fishermen to sail for their home country on board their three fishing vessels.
Q & A: DSWD Sec hopes corruption on projects identified by solons minimized
During the sent off last November 2 of President
Rodrigo Duterte of the 17 Vietnamese fishermen who were detained for almost two
months after “poaching” at the sea off of Vigan City, Ilocos Sur, Northern Watch Newspaper’s correspondent
Mortz C. Ortigoza chanced upon Department of Social Welfare & Development
(DSWD) Secretary Judy Taguiwalo at Sual Wharf in Sual, Pangasinan. Ortigoza
asked her about the previous tussle she had with the congressmen who insisted
that members of congress through the power of the purse should have entitlement
on the identification of the recipients of government projects. He asked the
Secretary if the solons continue the malpractice of conspiring with the private
contractors in rigging the government bid where two of the three bidders quoted
a higher construction cost thus losing the bid while receiving a bribe from the
winning bidder. Ortigoza also posed to Taguiwalo if the old practice of 20
percent S.O.P, euphemism for cut, continues to be given by the winning bidder
to the congressman. Excerpts:
 |
| TENSION. Lawmakers drew tension duringthe budget hearing on DSWD as they raise concern over Secretary Judy Taguiwalo's memorandum that seeks to eliminate the culture of patronage. TEXT AND PHOTO CREDIT: RAPPLER.COM |
Mortz C. Ortigoza (MCO): Media man ako diri, maam. Ilonggo
ako. Taga diin kamo? (I’m a media man here. I’m illonggo. Where are you from?)
Secretary Judith Taguiwalo : Bacolod, indi ka Ilocano?
( Bacolod, so you’re not Ilocano?) (Her staff chuckled).
MCO: Nakapangasawa ako diri. Sa radio program ko, kinumentaryuhan
ko ang ginawa ng mga congressmen sa inyo. Kay kabalo kamo, hampang nila ina mga
projects sila naga identify. Sa ila ang contractors kay ginatagaan sila sang 20
percent S.O.P. Is still there a pressure from them that they should prevail on
what they wanted? (I married a Pangasinense. In my radio program I discussed
about the roughed treatment given to you by congressmen when you appeared at
Congress. It is still their practice where they identify recipients of
government projects and then received 20 percent S.O.P from their favored
contractor? Is still there a pressure from them that you should acquiesce that
they should prevail on what they wanted?).
SEC: Ang usapan puwede sila maglagay ng mga projects nila
during the deliberation because that is the role
of congress. Di ba? Pero sa implementation na post enactment na, it would be
the department.
For example, emergency shelters. Do congressmen insist
for their favored contractor?
Hinde naman…
Hinde nila gagawin iyon...?
Wala naman…
Sa Aquino Administration ganoon ang ginagawa nila.
May mga bidding iyan dapat.
Biyernes, Nobyembre 4, 2016
Arum souped up Pacquiao vs Vargas with Donaire vs a bum
By Mortz C. Ortigoza
Radio anchor Audrey Hidalgo
and her tandem Mike Goyagoy of DZXL
RMN Manila Radyo Mo Nationwide and Bombo Radyo – Koronadal City interviewed me
recently and asked my take on the boxing bout of Bantamweight Nonito Donaire
versus Jessie Magdaleno at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas
on Sunday morning.
“It’s a non-fight and I
should not be discussing it. Although Magdaleno’s knocked out (KO) ratio was 74
percent on 23 wins, 0 loses (Donaire has 60 percent on his 37 wins, 3 loses),
his records showed he knocked out or technical knocked out those bums and
probably tricycle and funeral parlor’s cars (psst they called that in English
as “hearse”) who ferry those victims of extra judicial killings,” I stressed.
Look baby, what kinda unknown
opponents Medrano had in his last four fights : Rey Perez 20 wins (W) 7 loses (L) 0
Draw (D) Vergel Nebran 14 W- 10
L- 1 D, Raul Hirales 22 W- 4
L – 1 D, and Erik Ruiz
13 W- 1 L- 0 D .
What kinds of wins and loses
ratios these four bums have?
Boxing Promoter Bob Arum is indeed a snake
merchant. He pulled in Donaire to soup up the lousy matched up of Manny Pacquiao
versus ho-hum Jesse Vargas fight.
Vargas, my foot, he had a KO
ratio of 36 percent only in a 27 W-1 L- 0 D records while the Philippines
fighting Senator Pacquiao has 58 percent KO ratio in a 58 W- 6 L – 2 D.
Vargas only elite opponents
in his 28 professional fights were Tim Bradley who outpointed him in June 2015
and TKO’d in March 2016 Sadam Ali (and he was not even Iraq’s Saddam Hussein)
who was an olymphic U.S player.
Huwebes, Nobyembre 3, 2016
PMYers’ feats while we wait for Commander-in-Chief
By Mortz C. Ortigoza
While
waiting for the arrival of President Rodrigo Duterte last Wednesday at the
wharf in Sual, Pangasinan for the send-off of the 17 Vietnamese “poachers”, I,
some congressmen, Pangasinan political leaders, mayors, military and police's regional and provincial
top brass were killing our time at a German restaurant exchanging pleasantries.
 |
BRASS.
Top politicians like Pangasinan Congressman Leopoldo Bataoil, military and
police brass
that include three stars Marine general wait for the arrival of
the five powerful engines presidential
Bell helicopters that carry and escort
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte for the send-off last
Wednesday of the 17
Vietnamese fishermen apprehended by law enforcement at the Philippines’ sea.
Photo: Mortz C. Ortigoza
|
“What
is chocolate in German? I asked the bearded German entrepreneur who served us
the chocolate crowned halo-halo.
“Van
Houten,” he said.
“How about that priest,” I glanced at the
priest and the nun who had a lunch in another table.
“Priester”
he said
“How
about that nun? ” I posed again.
Before
the German could open his mouth so he could utter “Now” the German's translation for nun, a mayor in the western Pangasinan town, who could be mistaken to be a
driver of a mini-bus quipped: “Takot sa Hauten!”
***
 |
PRESIDENT
RODY. President Rodrigo Duterte speaks before the crowd mostly composed of
Pangasinense before he leads the send-off at the wharf in Sual, Pangasinan last
Wednesday afternoon of the 17 Vietnamese fishermen released from detention by
the Philippine government.
The
presidential visit was the first in Sual and the three million population
province after Duterte was elected as president and assumed officed at noon of
June this year.
Background
was the two of the three Vietnamese vessels that would be used by the 17 to
sail for six days to Vietnam. Photo: Mortz C. Ortigoza |
I told
them it would take two hours from Davao to Clark, Pampanga in his jet and
another less than 30 minutes from Clark via a helicopter to the rustic town of
Sual.
Why I
know it? Geez, I used to ride in Air Asia via Clark, when the mostly Malaysian
Tony Fernandes’ owned airline used to service the routes, whenever I went home
via Davao City.
Why I
know it took 30 minutes from Clark to Sual?
When
then presidential candidate Mar Roxas barnstormed San Fernando City, La Union,
one of the pilots of his night capable flying helicopter told me that Manila to
San Fernando City took one hour for a chopper to fly, thus I just estimated it
that Clark and Sual, host of the next two biggest more than two thousand megawatts
coal power plants in the Philippines, take less than 30 minutes for the five,
with each powerful two –engine and four blades presidential Bell made helicopters,
to traverse.
***
“Did
it occur to you when you were a cadet at the PMA (Philippine Military Academy)
to join the air force?” I posed to Pangasinan 2nd District
Congressman Pol Bataoil (PMA Class 1976) while he was watching with Region 1
Regional Director Chief Superintendent (one star general) Greg Pimentel,
Pangasinan Police Director Senior Superintendent (full colonel) Ronald Lee
while two air force’s UH-1H” Super Huey” were landing and taking off around
2:30 pm at the wharf probably for some scouting of the area or testing the
gustiness from the Lingayen Gulf.
He
said it never occur in his mind to be a fly boy despite the air force only had
25 percent quota for the graduating class at the long gray line in Baguio City.
“Many
of us then want to be with the PC (Philippine Constabulary). We idolized the
likes of Amado T. Espino, Jr (PMA Class 1972 who later became a three termed
governor of Pangasinan) that apprehended top communist leaders like Dante
“Kumander Dante” Buscayno," Bataoil said.
 |
Author
posing with Navy Captain (Colonel) Erick Kagaoan and Army’s Special Forces Colonel
Batle.
|
“Son
of a gun, so the PC had the likes of Espino while the other branches of service
had their heroes. Were you familiar with Army’s hero Julius Javier a goat or
the last in the honor roll of the PMA Class of 1970 but became general and
legendary artillery man Army General Rodolfo Canieso (PMA Class of 1956). Si
Julius Javier may movie pa titled the Scout Ranger!” I enthused.
Bataoil
emphatically told me the feats of Javier, an ilonggo like me.
“Even
as company commander he joined patrol and engaged the Muslim rebels in Mindanao
in a fire fight. There was an incident where Moro snipers were hiding on the
trees in the forest and they were pinning down his troop”
Bataoil
recalled how Javier ordered one of his men to run as bait for the sniper.
“Ninerbiyos
ang sundalo but he had to comply while running as the sniper tried to pin him
down. Javier watched where the shot came from then Javier fired at the location
of the sniper”.
Sometimes
the sniper, the solon explained, could not be hit and he had to order another
soldier to run as bait.
“One
of the soldiers feared that he would die would not comply with the order. An
angry Javier then asked him to watch and fire where the shot came from as he
would use himself as the running target.
After
he ran, he shouted at the nervous soldier if he hit the shooter from the Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF).
“Hinde
po sir,!” the soldier shouted back.
Javier
asked the soldier to run as bait. The soldier hesitated.
“Javier
shouted pag di ka tumakbo, ako ang babaril sa iyo!”
The
former two- star police general said the poor soldier complied as Javier
trained his Armalite rifle to the whereabouts of the Moro’s marksman.
“Sir,
may mga tall tales about Canieso, an ilonggo and kanyonero, I heard among
non-officers when I visited Awang Dinaig , Maguindanao Air Force base where my
father was assigned in the late 1970s,” I said.
PMYers’ feats while we wait for Commander-in-Chief
By Mortz C. Ortigoza
While
waiting for the arrival of President Rodrigo Duterte last Wednesday at the
wharf in Sual, Pangasinan for the send-off of the 17 Vietnamese “poachers”, I,
some congressmen, Pangasinan political leaders, mayors, military and police's regional and provincial
top brass were killing our time at a German restaurant exchanging pleasantries.
|
BRASS.
Top politicians like Pangasinan Congressman Leopoldo Bataoil, military and
police brass
that include three stars Marine general wait for the arrival of
the five powerful engines presidential
Bell helicopters that carry and escort
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte for the send-off last
Wednesday of the 17
Vietnamese fishermen apprehended by law enforcement at the Philippines’ sea.
Photo: Mortz C. Ortigoza
|
“What
is chocolate in German? I asked the bearded German entrepreneur who served us
the chocolate crowned halo-halo.
“Van
Houten,” he said.
“How about that priest,” I glanced at the
priest and the nun who had a lunch in another table.
“Priester”
he said
“How
about that nun? ” I posed again.
Before
the German could open his mouth so he could utter “Now” the German's translation for nun, a mayor in the western Pangasinan town, who could be mistaken to be a
driver of a mini-bus quipped: “Takot sa Hauten!”
***
|
PRESIDENT
RODY. President Rodrigo Duterte speaks before the crowd mostly composed of
Pangasinense before he leads the send-off at the wharf in Sual, Pangasinan last
Wednesday afternoon of the 17 Vietnamese fishermen released from detention by
the Philippine government.
The
presidential visit was the first in Sual and the three million population
province after Duterte was elected as president and assumed officed at noon of
June this year.
Background
was the two of the three Vietnamese vessels that would be used by the 17 to
sail for six days to Vietnam. Photo: Mortz C. Ortigoza |
I told
them it would take two hours from Davao to Clark, Pampanga in his jet and
another less than 30 minutes from Clark via a helicopter to the rustic town of
Sual.
Why I
know it? Geez, I used to ride in Air Asia via Clark, when the mostly Malaysian
Tony Fernandes’ owned airline used to service the routes, whenever I went home
via Davao City.
Why I
know it took 30 minutes from Clark to Sual?
When
then presidential candidate Mar Roxas barnstormed San Fernando City, La Union,
one of the pilots of his night capable flying helicopter told me that Manila to
San Fernando City took one hour for a chopper to fly, thus I just estimated it
that Clark and Sual, host of the next two biggest more than two thousand megawatts
coal power plants in the Philippines, take less than 30 minutes for the five,
with each powerful two –engine and four blades presidential Bell made helicopters,
to traverse.
***
“Did
it occur to you when you were a cadet at the PMA (Philippine Military Academy)
to join the air force?” I posed to Pangasinan 2nd District
Congressman Pol Bataoil (PMA Class 1976) while he was watching with Region 1
Regional Director Chief Superintendent (one star general) Greg Pimentel,
Pangasinan Police Director Senior Superintendent (full colonel) Ronald Lee
while two air force’s UH-1H” Super Huey” were landing and taking off around
2:30 pm at the wharf probably for some scouting of the area or testing the
gustiness from the Lingayen Gulf.
He
said it never occur in his mind to be a fly boy despite the air force only had
25 percent quota for the graduating class at the long gray line in Baguio City.
“Many
of us then want to be with the PC (Philippine Constabulary). We idolized the
likes of Amado T. Espino, Jr (PMA Class 1972 who later became a three termed
governor of Pangasinan) that apprehended top communist leaders like Dante
“Kumander Dante” Buscayno," Bataoil said.
|
Author
posing with Navy Captain (Colonel) Erick Kagaoan and Army’s Special Forces Colonel
Batle.
|
“Son
of a gun, so the PC had the likes of Espino while the other branches of service
had their heroes. Were you familiar with Army’s hero Julius Javier a goat or
the last in the honor roll of the PMA Class of 1970 but became general and
legendary artillery man Army General Rodolfo Canieso (PMA Class of 1956). Si
Julius Javier may movie pa titled the Scout Ranger!” I enthused.
Bataoil
emphatically told me the feats of Javier, an ilonggo like me.
“Even
as company commander he joined patrol and engaged the Muslim rebels in Mindanao
in a fire fight. There was an incident where Moro snipers were hiding on the
trees in the forest and they were pinning down his troop”
Bataoil
recalled how Javier ordered one of his men to run as bait for the sniper.
“Ninerbiyos
ang sundalo but he had to comply while running as the sniper tried to pin him
down. Javier watched where the shot came from then Javier fired at the location
of the sniper”.
Sometimes
the sniper, the solon explained, could not be hit and he had to order another
soldier to run as bait.
“One
of the soldiers feared that he would die would not comply with the order. An
angry Javier then asked him to watch and fire where the shot came from as he
would use himself as the running target.
After
he ran, he shouted at the nervous soldier if he hit the shooter from the Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF).
“Hinde
po sir,!” the soldier shouted back.
Javier
asked the soldier to run as bait. The soldier hesitated.
“Javier
shouted pag di ka tumakbo, ako ang babaril sa iyo!”
The
former two- star police general said the poor soldier complied as Javier
trained his Armalite rifle to the whereabouts of the Moro’s marksman.
“Sir,
may mga tall tales about Canieso, an ilonggo and kanyonero, I heard among
non-officers when I visited Awang Dinaig , Maguindanao Air Force base where my
father was assigned in the late 1970s,” I said.