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Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980
ISSN–1655-3853 • MAY 29 - JUNE 4, 2009 • VOL. 30, NO. 22 • 8 PAHINA • P10.00
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virus pag-aaralanna sa pagbubukas ng klase
 
 Basahin ang ulat sa pahina 5
TAMANG PAGHUHUGAS NG KAMAY 
Ipinaliliwanag ni Corazon Macalinao sa kanyang mgaestudyante sa Grade 1 ng Hagonoy East Central Schoolang tamang paghuhugas ng kamay sa unang araw ng klase.Nakasulat sa black board sa kanyang likuran ang mga gamitna kailangang dalhin ng mga estudyante bilang bahagi ngpag-aaral sa kalinisan.
— D
INO
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 ALABO
 
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Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980
MAY 29 - JUNE 4, 2009
EDITORIAL
Alfredo M. Roxas, Jose Romulo Q. Pavia, JoseGerardo Q. Pavia, Joey N. Pavia , Jose VisitacionQ. Pavia, Carminia L. Pavia, Perfecto RaymundoJr., Dino Balabo
 ADVERTISING
Jennifer T. Raymundo
PRODUCTION
Jose Antonio Q. Pavia, Jose Ricardo Q. Pavia,Mark F. Mata, Maricel P. Dayag, Charlett C.Añasco
PHOTOGRAPHY / ART
Eden Uy, Allan Peñaredondo, Joseph Ryan S.Pavia
BUSINESS / ADMINISTRATION
Loreto Q. Pavia, Marilyn L. Ramirez,Peñaflor Crystal, J. Victorina P. Vergara,Cecile S. Pavia, Luis Francisco, Domingo Ungria,Harold T. Raymundo,
CIRCULATION
Robert T. Raymundo, Armando M. Arellano,Rhoderick T. RaymundoThe
Mabuhay
is published weekly by theMABUHAY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
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is entered as Second Class MailMatter at the San Fernando, Pampanga PostOffice on April 30, 1987 under Permit No. 490;and as Third Class Mail Matter at the ManilaCentral Post Office under permit No. 1281-99-NCR dated Nov. 15, 1999. ISSN 1655-3853Principal Office: 626 San Pascual, Obando,Bulacan
 
 
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Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980
Jose L. Pavia
Publisher/Editor
Perfecto V. Raymundo
 Associate Editor
 Anthony L. Pavia
Managing Editore-mail
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TAPOS na ang bakasyon. Pa-sukan na naman sa eskwela. Anokaya ang first lesson?Sabi ng Department of Edu-cation, ituturo nila sa mga es-tudyante ang pag-iingat at kung paano makakaiwas sa Influenza  A H1N1. Nakapag-seminar na kaya ang mga guro tungkol dito?
* * *
 Ayon kay Dr. Ermingardo An-tonio, ang medical officer ng DepEd sa Bulacan, madali na para sa kanila na ituro sa mga estudyante ang pag-iingat sa In-fluenza A H1N1 kahit hindi pa bahagi iyon ng kurikulum na itinuturo sa mga bata.Sinabi pa niya na may kara-nasan na ang DepEd sa pag-tuturo sa pag-iingat sa mga sakitdahil noong 2003 ay kanilang itinuro kung paano mag-ingat sa Severe Acute Respiratory Syn-drome (SARS).
* * *
Promdi
D
INO
B
 ALABO
Pasukan na naman sa eskwela
 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ 
EDITORYAL
Ang pamanang talino
BALIKTANAW: Pasukan na naman sa mga paaralan. Tunghayan ang editoryal  sa sipi ng
Mabuhay 
 noong Hunyo 8, 1980 kung kailan noon at magpa- hanggang ngayon ay pareho pa rin ang problemang kinakaharap natintaun-taon. — Patnugot 
SIMULA bukas, daragsa na naman ang milyun-milyong kabataan sa mgapaaralan sa buong bansa.Tulad ng nangyayari taun-taon, nahaharap na naman sa malakingproblema ang ating Ministri ng Edukasyon at Kultura, lalong-lalo na sakung paano matatanggap lahat ang mga batang nais na mag-aral.Bukod dito, kasama rin sa problema ang malaking kakulangan saguro at sa mga silid-aralan. Gayunman, ginagawa ng pamahalaan anglahat upang ito ay mabigyan ng lunas.Ngunit ang higit na nagpapasan ng hirap sa pagbubukas ng klaseay ang mga ina at ama ng tahanan.Alam nating lahat na pangarap ng mga magulang na mabigyan ngkarunungan ang kanilang mga anak kahit na mangahulugan ito ngmalaking bawas sa kanilang kakainin o sila man ay magtrabaho ng 16na oras sa isang araw.Sa nakaraang taon, hindi napigilan ang pagtaas ng halaga ng haloslahat ng bagay — pagkain, transportasyon, damit at iba pang bagay nalubhang kailangan sa pang-araw-araw na pamumuhay.Kasabay nito, ay tumaas din ang halaga ng libro at iba pangkagamitan sa paaralan. Bagaman ang mga bagay na ito ay nasa ilalimng tinatawag nating price control, malaki ring kabawasan sa kinikita ngpamilya ang itinaas nitong halaga.Dagdag pa rin sa sakit ng ulo ng mga nagpapaaral ang patuloy napaghingi ng mga paaralan ng dagdag sa kanilang sinisingil na matrikula.Sa kabila ng hindi mapigilang pagtaas ng presyo ng lahat ng bagay,patuloy pa rin sa dating antas ang ating mga sahod na kung naragdaganman ay hindi sapat para makatugon sa ating mga pangangailangan.Magkaganoon man, hindi pa rin mapigilan ang pagdagsa ng mgakabataan sa mga paaralan, maging ito man ay pribado o gobyerno.Ang pagtuklas ng talino ay likas na sa ating mga Pilipino at matandana nating kasabihan na higit pa sa salapi ang pamanang talino.
 Ayon kay Antonio, ang mga karaniwang sakit na dumadaposa mga batang mag-aaral ay ang sakit ng ngipin, pagkakaroon ng kuto at lisa, sipon at ubo, at ma-ging mga sakit sa balat.Malaking problema daw ang mga sakit na nabanggit dahilnakakaapekto sa pag-aaral ng mga bata.
* * *
Totoo yan. Mahirap mag-aralkapag sumasakit ang ngipin.Kahit matatanda nahihirapandiyan.Dahil dito, itinuturo nila sa mga bata ang tama at regular na pagsesepilyo ng ngipin. Peromarami pa rin ang mga kendi na itinitinda sa mga kantina ng paaralan at maging sa mga tin-dahan sa labas ng paaralan.
* * *
Mabilis namang kumalat ang kuto at lisa sa mga bata, at kapag nagkahawa-hawa sila, mas na-uuna ang pagkakamot ng mga bata ng ulo kaysa pagsusulat atpag-aaral.Solusyon ng DepEd, mamaha-gi ng mga suyod sa mga paaralan.
* * *
Sa pagtatapos ng bakasyon,nagtatapos rin ang panahon ng mga piyesta na sinamantala ng mga pulitikong naghahangadkumandidato sa susunod na halalan.Kaya naman ang mga tarpau-lin poster at mga streamer nila ng pagbati sa mga kapiyestahanay nagkalat. May mga pagkaka-taon pa na parang mas maramipa ang mga tarpaulin ng mga pulitiko sa gayak para sa piyesta.
* * *
Siyempre, layunin ng mga pulitiko ay maximum exposure.Makita, makilala at matandaansila ng mga botante sa susunodna halalan.
sundan sa pahina 4
Buntot Pagé
P
ERFECTO
V. R
 AYMUNDO
Pulitika sa Bulacan
MALAMANG kaysa hindi na sidating Gob. Josie M. Dela Cruzang makakalaban ni Bise Gob. Willy Sy-Alvarado sa pagka-gobernador ng Bulacan sa nala-lapit na halalan sa darating na Mayo ng susunod na taon.Bagamat unang termino pa lamang ni Gob. Joselito “Jon-jon”Mendoza, marami ang nagpapa-lagay na pagbibigyan niya ang kanyang Ate Josie na siyang lumaban sa pagka-gobernador sa darating na halalan.Si. Gob. Jon-jon ay medyollamado kung siya naman ang tatakbong kinatawan ng Ika-2Distrito na binubuo ng mga bayan ng Baliwag, Balagtas,Bocaue, Bustos, Guiguinto, Pla-ridel at Pandi.Malamang na one-on-one ang labanan nina Josie at Willy kung hindi makikihalo si dating Gob.Obet Pagdanganan, na sa palagayng marami ay medyo magpapa-hinga muna sa pagtakbo sa dara-ting na halalan.Pulsuhan naman natin ang mga botante sa bayan-bayan.Sa Ika-1 Distrito na binubuong mga bayan ng Malolos, Hago-noy, Paombong, Calumpit, Pu-lilan at Bulakan, medyo parehasang laban sa nasabing mga ba- yan. Walang itulak-kabigin ika nga sa kanilang dalawa.Sa Ika-2 Distrito ay tiyak na makukuha ni Gob. Josie ang 70porsiyento ng mga botante.Sa Ika-3 Distrito na binubuong mga bayan ng San Miguel, SanIldefonso, San Rafael, Norza-garay, Angat at Doña RemediosTrinidad ay bukam-bibig ang pangalan ni Gob. Josie. At sa Ika-4 Distrito na binu-buo ng mga bayan ng Obando,Meycauayan, Marilao at Sta.Maria, medyo palasak ang pa-ngalan ni Gob. Josie sa mga botante.Suma total, kayo na ang hu-matol.
Edwin Santos sa Obando
DAHIL sa mga tulong na gina-gawa ni Edwin Santos sa mga mamamayan ng Obando ay na-giging bukam-bibig na ang kan- yang pangalan.Sino ba namang pribadong taoang makagagawa ng kanyang ginawang pamimigay ng multi-cab sa lahat ng barangay ng Obando.Dahil sa nadarama niya ang kalagayan ng maraming kaba-taan na hikahos sa pamumuhay,marami siyang tinulungang para maipagpatuloy ang pag-aaral. At nitong kapistahan sa bayanng Obando ay iba’t ibang tulong ang ipinagkaloob niya sa ika-sasaya ng kapistahan. Ang pagtulong kapag bukal sa puso, may kapalit na biyaya sa hinaharap.Kayo ano sa palagay ninyo?
Tapat na security guard
ISANG security guard sa SM CityBaliwag ang pinagkalooban ng P10,000 cash incentive at inalokdin ni Gob. Jon-jon Mendoza ng posisyon sa Provincial Securityand Jail Managament Officedahil sa katapatang kanyang ipinamalas.Isinauli ni Trinidad Quintana ang mahigit sa P2.4 milyon na cash at tseke na napulot niya sa loob ng SM City Baliwag kamaka-ilan. Ayon kay Beverly Cruz, pub-lic relations officer ng SM CityBaliwag, si Quintana ay emple- yado ng Roger Jerson Cosme
sundan sa pahina 4
Kastigo
B
IENVENIDO
A. R
 AMOS
Pagsasanib ng uwak at buwitre
NANG mabasa ko sa pahayaganang pormal na pagsasanib/ koa-lisyon/pagbubuklod ng KAMPIat Lakas-CMD ay hindi naiwa-san ng malikot kong imahinas- yon ang humanap ng mapag-hahambingan. Ang una kong naisip ay itulad ang pagsasanibng KAMPI-Lakas-CMD sa pag-sasama ng mga pating at buwa- ya, o sa pagsasanib ng mga lawinat agila. Pero ang mga nabanggitna hayop at ibon, bagama’t mga 
 predator
, ay maseselan — buhayna hayop o tao ang inaatake nila at sinisila. May delikadesa, kung baga.Higit na angkop, sa palagayko, na ihahambing ang pagsa-sanib ng KAMPI-Lakas-CMD sa pagsasanib ng mga uwak atbuwitre — ang dalawang masisi-bang ibon na walang selan,walang delikadesa, kumakain ng mga patay, ng mga bulok.
Nagpasasa sa bulok na rehimen
SA metikulosong pagsubaybay atpagsusuri ko sa paparuming pulitika sa bansa — mula nang makamit ng Pilipinas mula sa Estados Unidos ang kalayaang pampulitika ang noong 1946 —napatunayan kong totoo ang Kasabihang,
“Power corrupts.”
Sa bawat eleksiyon, natatan-daan ko, ang graft and corruptionsa pamahalaan ang lagi nang pangunahing issue. At ang graftand corruption ay kakambal ding isyu ang nepotismo (pagkalinga sa kaanak) at paboritismo (pag-kalinga sa malalapit na kapar-tido, kumpare, kabarkada, ka-eskuwela, ka-fraternity, atbp.)Pero ang isyu ng katiwaliansa gobyerno ay nagsimulang nakaalarma hindi lamang sa mga Pilipino kundi maging sa mga ahensiyang dayuhan nang ideklara ni Marcos ang martiallaw. Noon din nagsimulang ma-sa-pulitika ang pulisya, konsta-bularya at Sandatahang Lakasng Pilipinas. At ang pagkakasa-pulitika sa Sandatahang Lakasng Pilipinas (kasama ang pinag-sanib na PC-INP) ay naging simula rin ng pagkalat ng virusng graft and corruption sa mi-litar.Para maipatupad nang epek-tibo ang martial law, kailanganni Marcos na suhulan, kunsin-tihin maging ang pag-aabuso ng military — hindi lamang ang pagkakamal ng yaman, kundimaging ang pagpatay at iba pang paglabag sa mga karapatang-pantao.
Ginaya ni GMA si Marcos
KAKAMPI ngayon ni Pangulong Macapagal Arroyo ang LAKASna nalabi sa rehimeng Marcos,at diyan ay kabilang sina naging Pangulong Fidel Ramos, Pangulong Senado Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose De Venecia, Luis Villafuerteat ilan pa. Sa panig ng militar niMarcos, mababanggit ang ma-raming nagtapos sa PMA, ka-bilang sina Sen. Ping Lacson,Sen. Honasan, Berroya at ma-raming iba pa.Hindi man pormal na idine-deklara ni GMA ang martial law,nagawa niyang suhulan ang militar — upang huwag sumu-porta ang PNP at AFP sa nami-mintong pagsiklab ng isang people power revolt.
sundan sa pahina 4
 
MAY 29 - JUNE 4, 2009
Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980
3
Depthnews
J
UAN
L. M
ERCADO
A republic of letters
Regarding Henry
H
ENRYLITO
D. T
 ACIO
Cebu Calling
F
R
. R
OY 
C
IMAGALA
Brim with thanksgiving
TUNA is the country’s top exportcommodity, according to the re-cent report released by the Na-tional Statistics Office. Despitethe economic crisis the world iscurrently experiencing, tuna products (like fresh tuna, frozentuna, poached tuna and cannedtuna) remain in big demandabroad.“Tuna as a food commodity ishighly in demand in the world’smarkets, especially in the UnitedStates where most of our tuna products are shipped,” pointedout Domingo Ang, chief executiveofficer of Davao Marina Tuna Corporation. “They are a basicnecessity even in a global reces-sion.”Since 2005, export of Philip-pine tuna to the U.S. market hasbeen declining. However, data from the U.S. National MarineFisheries Services reported thatin last year’s first quarter, tuna exports broke the slowing trendwith tuna shipments racking up9.934 metric tons, rising 22 per-cent over the same period theprevious year.This is good news, indeed.“The Philippine tuna industry isan important element in thecountry’s economy contributing over 100,000 direct jobs andUS$156,938 million in foreignexchange earnings,” a positionpaper prepared by the Laguna-based Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine ResearchDevelopment (PCAMRD) notes.“Direct dependents include fish-ers, processors, canners, export-ers and traders.”Tunas are migratory oceanicfishes, which are capable of at-taining large sizes. It also in-cludes tuna-like species such asbillfish, swordfish, and marlin. Inthe Philippines, twenty-one spe-cies have been recorded. “Butonly six species are commerciallyimportant,” says Dr. Rafael D.Guerrero III, PCAMRD executivedirector. Among the shallow-water/ 
Chicken of the sea
The President “ain’t” deaf. PressSecretary Cerge Remonde gavethat spin to Ms. Arroyo’s sensibleorder to Finance SecretaryMargarito Teves: scrap taxesclamped by Bureau of Customs,on imported books and reading material.“Books give light to my eyes,”the Ibanag proverb says. Thus,“President Arroyo wants books tobe within reach of the commonman,”
 spinmeister
Remonde ex-plained. “She believes reading isan important value for intellec-tual formation, which is the foun-dation of a healthy public opin-ion necessary for a vibrant de-mocracy.”Manuel Quezon III openedprotest sluicegates by showing, in
 Inquirer
columns, that FinanceDepartment Order 17-09 frac-tured the Florence Agreement.The Philippines is party to this1950 treaty. It would spur “freeexchange of ideas and knowl-edge,” Quezon wrote. Tax collec-tors instead clamped on a pre-mium for ignorance.Customs claimed that theword —“only”— in Republic ActTHIS is the ideal situation. Ourhearts should overflow withgratitude. In the first place, be-cause there are many, endlessreasons to be thankful. Then,such gesture would make ussimple, very human and ulti-mately united to God and the oth-ers. A heart that is not thankful isan isolated heart. It’s a lonelyheart that thinks it can live anddo things simply by itself, in vio-lation of our nature and what weactually feel deep in our hearts.It has no other way but to be un-happy. A thankful heart will never bealone and sad. It recognizes themany blessings and good thingsthat it continues to receive. Andit knows where they come from,and also for what purpose theyare given. It will always be happy. We need to do everything tocultivate this abiding mentalityof thanksgiving. We have to de-liberately do this task, given thedesensitizing effect of the flurryof activities and other concernsour modern world is bombarding us with.“FATHER, is scandal a sin?”Philip, a third-grade student,asked.“Why do you ask?” I inquiredfurther to know how to properlyrespond to his unexpected ques-tion.“Oh, just wonderin’ ’coz mumsaid I shouldn’t ask her scandal-ous questions,” he shrugged hisshoulders.“Questions? Like what,Philip?”“Like, I asked what ‘virgin’means ’coz my other classmatesmentioned it,” he looked at meconfidently hoping I could givehim some answers.“Really? What did mum say?”“She said sumthin’ ’bout the Virgin Mary and ...,”“But what do you and yourfriends understand by
virgin
,Philip?” I interrupted him.“Father,” he gave me a widecute smile that revealed his two
Forward to Basics
F
R
. F
RANCIS
B. O
NGKINGCO
iScandals
 JUST when I was starting tothink that development journal-ism was already a dying cause, Irecently realized in-depth inter-views with the right resource per-sons could bring out policy direc-tions that could be suggested tothe proper executive agencies orlegislative bodies for appropriateaction, for whatever these areworth. In some cases, the privatesector could even act on these di-rections as possible program orproject actions. When I interviewed Dr. RogerBirosel in my TV show, I learnedfrom him that most of our localgovernment units (LGUs) do nothave hazard mapping systems,even if the law requires it, andeven if it is relatively easy to putthese up. To add to that, Dr.Birosel also said that most of ourLGUs do not have hazard warn-ing systems, even if the law re-quires it, and even if it does notneed high science to put it up.I recently met with Ms. NikkiMeru, a program coordinator of Growth with Equity in Mindanao(GEM), a project of the U.S. Agency for International Devel-opment (USAID). GEM has beenhelping Mindanao based smalland medium enterprises (SMEs)and as a result of that meeting, I
Fair & Square
I
KE
S
EÑERES
Gratitude forms an essentialpart of our relation with God. Itis the adequate response we giveupon seeing the continuous at-tention and care God gives us. Itmakes us stick to the reality of our life. It keeps us from invent-ing a world unhinged from itsCreator and from others.More, when we are thankful,we exercise our heart in one of its most spiritual modes. We bareit to God and to others, and al-low it to stay vitally connectedwith them. It makes our heart a heart of flesh and not of stone. Itkeeps us simple and humble. When we are thankful, weopen our heart to the workingsof grace and the innate goodnessthat comes with our nature, atleast that part that is still unaf-fected by sin. In a way, gratitudeis a main language of the heart.It’s a major expression of love.This is one of the main prob-lems we have. We see people be-coming less and less thankful. Wenow seldom hear the word. Andif we do, we can’t help but noticeit to be simply formalistic, just anexternal sign of courtesy, with nosoul. It’s quite dry. We have to make sure thatthanksgiving comes pouring outfrom our hearts everyday. In theGospel of St. John, there’s a littleexpression that can serve as a spur for us to be thankful, words Jesus spoke to the Samaritanwoman: “If you only knew whatGod is offering…”
(4,10)
It might be worthwhile to re-member these words, if not to sayit often during the day, to remindus about God’s loving providenceover us. To be sure, he continuesto intervene in our life. He cannever be detached from us, indif-ferent to our needs.This is our problem. We tendto take all the goodness of Godfor granted. We are notoriouslyshort-sighted and narrow-minded. We hardly consider any-thing beyond what our senses canperceive, what our intelligencecan understand. We fail to beguided by faith that allows us tosee the spiritual and supernatu-ral reality of our life. We have to see to it that ev-eryday, we are conscious that we
continued on page 7
missing front teeth, “Does itmean
never been kissed before
?”
* * *
Philip is amusingly just begin-ning to acquaint himself withsome of life’s moral realities. Itis, however, so timely to onceagain remind ourselves aboutthe important moral principlesregarding scandal. This is espe-cially true in our days when theillness of moral relativism leadsmany to disregard the causes andgrave consequences of a scandal.Moreover, this subjective outlookis making something distaste-fully sinful into something dis-gustingly fashionable.The Greeks called
 skandalon
an object (e.g. a rock or log) in-tentionally placed in someoneelse’s path in order to trip himor block his way. Latin takesfrom the Greek and defines
 scan-dalum
in the moral sense of a “trap” or “temptation” laid forsomeone. Present times havesomewhat watered down theseideas by focusing more on thepublic outrage or disapprovaltowards a misconduct of person.God created man in His im-age and likeness. This is thesource of every person’s dignity.This is why Jesus strongly de-nounced scandal as a grave sin.In Mathew’s Gospel, He taughtthat whoever causes a scandal —especially when it corrupts the young and innocent — shouldhave “a great millstone fastenedround his neck and to bedrowned in the depth of the sea.”The Catechism of the Catho-lic Church includes scandal un-der the offenses against the FifthCommandment. It is “an atti-tude or behaviour which leadsanother to do evil. The personwho gives scandal becomes hisneighbour’s tempter ... Scandal
continued on page 7
small tunas, the most commer-cially important are the frigatetuna or “tulingan” (
 Auxisthazard
), the eastern little tuna or “kawa-kawa” (
 Euthynnusaffinis
), and the bullet tuna (
 Auxis rochei
). Most of these tu-nas are consumed locally.The important species among the deep-water/big tunas are the yellowfin tuna or “albacora”(
Thunnus albacores
), the big-eyetuna or “tambakol” (
Thunnus obesus
), and the skipjack or“gulyasan” (
 Katsuwonus petamis
). These are caught using commercial fishing boats withpurse seines and ring nets. Smallfishermen catch these speciesusing handlines (hook and line).Tuna is found in all of themajor temperate and tropicaloceans of the world. The westernand central portions of the PacificOcean of the Food and Agricul-ture Organization (FAO) Statis-tical Area 71 contain the biggesttuna resources among the world’soceans. The Philippines straddlesFAO Area 71 in which half of theworld’s yellowfin tuna is har-vested.“Tunas are caught throughoutPhilippine waters,” says Dr.Guerrero, “but the most produc-tive fishing grounds are the SuluSea, Moro Gulf and waters ex-tending to the North Celebes Sea. Viable tuna fisheries also exist inwaters off Western Negros, aswell as Northwestern and South-ern Luzon.”Deep-water or oceanic tunasare believed to be breeding in theMoro Gulf when 3-4 years of age.The juveniles (less than l yearold) stay in shallow waters (in-shore) until they swim out to the West Pacific or Indian Ocean de-pending on the current. This isthe reason why the big tunas arecalled “fishes without a country.”They have also been referred toas migratory or straddling stocks.“The Philippines is in a stra-tegic position because of its prox-
continued on page 7
will soon be interviewing Min-danao business leaders in my TV show. I will also be receiving phoned in reports from Mindanaomedia about what is going onthere.I am very much concernedabout the environmental safetyof the people in Compostela Val-ley, the province of my birth. Iwas born in Compostela townwhen it was still a part of the oldand undivided Davao province.The news about the mudslidedeaths saddened me so much, butI was happy about what Dr.Birosel said, that he could helpput up hazard mapping systemsnot only in that area, but all overthe Philippines. As far as I know, GEM is fo-cused mostly on enterprise devel-opment, but what good wouldbusiness assistance be if the se-curity of the businesses in thearea is always threatened by en-vironmental damage? In thecourse of my interviews with theMindanao business leaders, Ihope to get some support for theinstallation of the hazard map-ping systems, which do not reallycost a lot of money. A hazard mapping is onething, a hazard warning system
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Environmental threats
8047 authorized taxes by way of exception. Nonsense. “The wordseems to be a Customs intercala-tion,” constitutional scholar Joaquin Bernas, SJ noted.“I don’t believe Congresswould attempt to repeal a treatycommitment by the mere inser-tion of one word,” he added. “Nei-ther may Customs attempt to in-sert for whatever purpose whatCongress did not insert.”This book levy uproar re-sembles the firestorm that earlierengulfed Cebu City officials. Vice-mayor Michael Rama and Coun-cilor Joy August Young tried topadlock the 69-year old Rizal Me-morial Library. Like our taxmen,they cited “reasons of economy”.But citizens, who built the li-brary in 1939 beat them back.Today, the library is undergoing a million-peso renovation. That’sa significant victory too. This is,after all, a country where half of those between 7 and 21 don’tread anything — not even com-ics. And by Grade 4, many stu-dents still can’t read.Illegal book taxes interlockwith flawed textbooks. AntonioCalipjo Go, for example, docu-mented, for over a decade, errorsthat studded science and Englishtextbooks. Some columnistspounced on Go. They didn’t ques-tion his findings or concern overmiseducating students. Rather,they fretted over publishing mo-guls’ balance sheets. A Senateprobe fizzled.Twelve years after the LowerHouse documented textbook er-rors, German national HelmutHaas — who lodged the com-plaint — found flaws yet again.His Grade 5 son’s copy of “The Wonderful World of Science” text-book claims “algae as a fish” and“dust as a minute organism”“The Department of Educa-tion’s committee on instructionalmaterial has not done a singlething since the 1997 inquiry,”Haas told
Sun.Star
“How will thePhilippines come out of this eco-nomic situation when they teachthis in schools?”Led by Rep. Raul Del Mar, theinquiry found error-filled text-books proliferate nationwide.The problem stems from negli-
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