Nestor agonistes

CAVEAT EMPTOR. The old Roman admonition for the buyer to be fully aware of what he buys may as well be appended to all collaterals of The Lakeshore.
The July 12 order of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board for the premium estate to “CEASE and DESIST from further selling of subdivision lots” beclouded the brilliance of Nestor Mangio’s prized jewel. As it did altogether rock his solid reputation founded on his skills and popularity as an architect, and maculated his haloed religiosity as elder of a Canaesque ministry and perennial kisser of the pontifical ring of the soon-to-be-sainted John Paul II.
In effect, Mangio, who some years back soared to the firmament of spirituality after an epiphany in the crossfire of an Army-insurgent encounter in the hills of Porac, was suddenly pulled down to earth and reincarnated in a wheeler-dealer akin to the never-to-be-trusted double-dealing used-car salesman of legend, if not to Tricky Dick himself.
For that is implicit in the HLURB order, to wit: “…selling of lots without the required License to Sell, Development Permit, clearance from the Department of Agrarian Reform, Environmental Compliance Certificate from the DENR and water permit from NWRB.” The last agency I guess referred to the National Water Regulatory Board.
Selling without the necessary permit is fraud and trickery, plain and simple. An ingenious way to dupe or cheat an unsuspecting victim. Mangio a trickster? The Pope a sinner? God forbid!
Ah, what agony must it have been for Mangio!
That on July 17, the same HLURB regional officer – one Editha Barrameda – had a sudden epiphany too, and reversed her order provided little balm to ease Mangio’s pains. It was a Pyrrhic victory. So the order was suspended. So more questions were raised.
Wrote Barrameda: “After examining the supporting documents submitted by Central Country Estate, Inc. relative to the requirements for The Lakeshore project, this Office hereby suspend (sic) the implementation of the earlier temporary cease and desist order pending the result of the July 19, 2006 hearing.”
There the HLURB outdid itself, nay, the whole Philippine bureaucracy even, with the speed with which it rendered the order. The order was dated July 17. The supporting documents referred to were contained in a letter of Mangio dated July 17 too. Government offices open at 8:00 in the morning. The suspension of the cease and desist order was announced by Mangio in a well-attended press conference past 3:00 in the afternoon. Wow, that was really fast. I hope Barrameda will be amply rewarded for it.
Still the clouds of doubt bestirred by the “same old issues…invented by Mr. Luisito Hipolito and which we (Mangio, et al) have appropriately addressed before” remain hovering at The Lakeshore. Clouds that – if we are to believe some people other than Hipolito – are fast gathering into a thunderstorm that may not just soak but totally inundate Mangio’s life and leisure showcase when unleashed.
But back to the issue at hand. A restoration of the corporate integrity of The Lakeshore is in order. The onus of obligation is upon Mangio’s shoulders. That he owes to the thousands who so believe(d) in his project that they entrusted their life savings and their retirement funds in his hands. (Pampanga News, July 20-26, 2006)

Coming to America

PHILADELPHIA, the city of brotherly love, capped a twenty-six hour haul from St. Jude Village in the City of San Fernando to NAIA, onto Nagoya in Japan, across the expanse of the Pacific and the breadth of continental USA – coast to coast.
The jaded traveler’s been-there-done-that snootiness that comes with frequent flying crashes at the immigration booth in Detroit, the usual port of entry for the traveler to the East Coast.
Gone here are the courtesies of INS officers in SanFo or the niceties of those in LAX, my frequent entry ports to the US. Detroit is all business, jaggedly edging on arrogance. All arrivals are virtually deemed potential terrorists, money launderers or dollar salters; Filipinos, specifically-targeted as probable illegal migrants.
“So, what’s your business going to the US?” It made me feel as though the INS guy just saw Saddam’s clone in me.
“We’re here to attend a class reunion,” the wife sounded matter-of-factly.
“What kind of reunion?”
“A school reunion.”
“What school?”
“The Collegio de Sagrado Corazon de Jesus, a Catholic school in the Philippines.”
“A school in the Philippines having a reunion in the US? What’s this?
The wife was unperturbed: “This is an annual affair of the school alumnae who have long lived here and are US citizens. We were invited.”
“How many are they?”
“Over a hundred, gauging from the e-mail my sister sent us.”
“So what do you do in the Philippines?”
“I am housewife.”
“And you?”
“A free-lance journalist and book author.”
“How would I know you are what you say you are. Have you any proofs?”
I nearly collapsed when the wife suddenly fished out a copy of my book Brigada .45 from her bag: “Here’s one of his books.”
At the sight of the Colt .45 pistol pictured on the book cover, the INS officer as though found before him Osama bin-Laden himself.
“What’s this all about?” He demanded waving my book at my face.
“A novel on the insurgency in the Philippines.”
“What in..surgen…cy?”
“The communist insurgency. Rebellion. Fighting the government.”
“Ah, communism. Are you a communist? Have you been arrested?”
“No and no.”
“What’s your proof that you’re a journalist?”
It was providential that the only copy of Pampanga News I got in my laptop bag was the July 13-19 issue with my face prominently displayed by the masthead with the rest of the Society of Pampanga Columnists and our distinguished awardees.
“There, that’s me,” I told him pointing at my smiling mug.
“So, where’s your name here?”
I showed him my column.
“How much money are you bringing?”
“Over five thousand dollars.”
“How did you get them?”
“I earned them.”
“How much is your salary as a journalist and author?”
“I have no fixed income. I get paid for what I write, especially for commissioned work as in my books.”
“How long do you intend to stay in the US?”
The wife answered: “Maybe until September.”
“What maybe, you don’t have any fixed schedule? Where is your return ticket?”
Wife handed him our tickets.
“It says here September 15, you’re not fixed yet on that?”
The wife again: “No. We intend to visit my husband’s relatives in the West Coast too. But our stay depends on whatever length of time you will give us.”
“Supposed I give you beyond September, what then?”
“Then, thank you but we have to go home before the end of October?”
“Why?”
“It is the fiesta in our parish community and we have to be there prior to the actual feast day.”
“Okay, thank you for answering my questions. Enjoy.”
I wanted to give him the finger. But I realized he was just doing his job. With all those threats from Osama and company, America is a nation under siege. And stringent security is the price everyone has to pay for the nation to be safe. But never shall I come here again. Not through Detroit that is.
Ah, yes, the guy gave us till January 18, 2007 to stay. Neat.
(Published in Pampanga News, July 21-August 2, 2006)

League of Distinction

“TO be in such distinguished company, to be awarded by such distinguished group, I, truly, am most honored.”
City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar Samson Rodriguez, in his brief extemporaneous remarks, captured most succinctly the essence of the awards given last week by the Society of Pampanga Columnists to outstanding Capampangans and companies.
Awards give honor to those upon whom they are bestowed. Of a higher value though is the honor the recipient gives to the award. Thus it was with the SPC awards.
The SPC Order of Merit is given to those whose very names invoke signal accomplishments.
World Mayor. Can there be any one hereabouts other than Mayor Oca himself? Third runner-up in the World Mayor 2005 Awards, Oca too was named fellow of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Merit in his capacity as vice president for Luzon of the Consultative Commission on Charter Change.
In only his first term as city mayor, Oca has already achieved for San Fernando the 2004 Galing Pook Award and the 2005 Most Competitive City- Mid-Size Category awarded by the Asian Institute of Management and the US Agency for International Development.
Only Capampangan in the GMA Cabinet. Ed Pamintuan, that is, and as head of the Subic-Clark Area Development Council, the advocate of the development of the full potentials of the former US military bases as engines of national development.
World-class expressway. And comes to mind Jose “Ping” de Jesus, president, Manila North Tollways Corporation, that actualized the gateway to development of North and Central Luzon in the now aptly-named North Luzon Expressway.
In his past persona as Public Works and Highways Secretary, Ping was instrumental in the very salvation of Pampanga from the ravages of the Mt. Pinatubo eruptions with his determined stand to stave off the lahar rampages with engineering interventions.
The Smokey Mountain transformation from Third World blight to human development habitat. Reghis M. Romero II, chairman of the Board, RII Builders Group of Companies is the wielder of that miracle. As he is too the pro-creator of the Manila Harbour Centre that has emerged as one of the best seaports in the Asia-Pacific region.
Think socialized housing and you won’t miss thinking of Rico A. Laxa too. He is the general manager of the National Housing Authority, builder of living communities for the poor and the underprivileged, especially those displaced by the North Rail Project, affording the marginalized sectors their own place of dignity befitting every member of Filipino society.
The global parol. Robert R. David, lantern-maker, it was that took the San Fernando parol to the world stage, in the 1992 World Expo in Seville, Spain, in Australia and for three years starting in 2003 in San Francisco, California which city government bestowed upon him the title “master artist.”
Lest it be forgotten, Don Robert it was too that brokered the SM and Robinsons land deal in San Fernando.
Awarded as Distinguished Fellows for their own achievements as well as their solidarity with the SPC were:
Bacolor Mayor Romeo “Buddy” Dungca engineer of the rise of his town from the devastations of Mt. Pinatubo, and in reclaiming its glory days as the Athens of Pampanga.
Mabalacat Mayor Marino”Boking” Morales, distinguished not only by the length of his term in office, but moreso by the depth and expanse of his dedicated service to his constituency. This is patently manifest in the booming economy that has made his town exceed the qualifications for a component city.
Board Member Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales whose programs and projects, especially in infrastructure development, go beyond the boundaries of his third district and spread through the rest of the province – an indubitable proof of the supremacy of his inhered essence of service over the dictates of parochial politics.
Rox Peña, the “green apostle” with his advocacy of responsible environmentalism manifested not only in his teachings and writings, but moreso in his praxis of the green principles of composting biodegradables, and reusing and recycling other wastes.
Ma. Teresa A. Laus, entrepreneur, humanitarian, even a social worker at heart; truly, a woman of substance, and the beloved de facto Muse of the Society.
Outstanding firms were given The Good Corporate Citizenship Awards.
Metro Clark Network 3, for its pioneering efforts as cable television provider in Pampanga. Its community-based and –oriented news and public affairs programs fill the information needs, and thereby raise the level of consciousness of their audience about the day-to-day issues affecting their lives.
Family First, a leader in the pre-need industry that rises above the rest in the strength of its character, in the solidity of its resources, in its high credibility and in its solidarity with the community where it locates as manifested in its computer donation project to local government units for public schools in the City of San Fernando and the Province of Pampanga
Mekeni Food Corporation, the catalyst that took the Kapampangan processed food industry literally from the humble backyard to the world -class factory, its efficacy from the local palate to the metropolitan taste, thereby further enhancing the richness and expanding the primacy of the culinary excellence of the Kapampangan.
San Miguel Corporation, as perennial top taxpayer and for its programs geared at the uplift of the socio-economic well being of the communities where it operates.
These were the first ever awardees of the SPC. To them our gratitude for the honor they gave the Society by accepting their awards. (Published in Pampanga News, July 13-19, 2006)

Holy Crusade

“AQUI en la Pampanga hay mucha piedad pero poca caridad.”
For the sake of those indios pobresitos ignorantes en la lengua de Madre España, we ilustrados y insulares take that to mean “in Pampanga, there is much piety but little charity.”
Fifty years ago, Bishop Cesar Ma. Guerrero, the first to occupy the bishopric of San Fernando, uttered those words, noting “the stark class differences between the rich and the poor, the strife between the landlords and the tenants, and a deteriorating socio-political-economic situation bordering on socialism.”
These were manifest situations of the imperative of revolution in his See. And a revolution did indeed obtain then in Pampanga, with the Huks already “at the very gates of Manila.”
Marked as apostates pursuing the establishment of a “godless” society, the Huks naturally had to be stopped, and their ideology uprooted to “save the country and Mother Church.” A strategic policy of the Cold War placed the Church at the bulwark of the war against communism.
Thus, Bishop Guerrero organized the Cruzada – the Crusade for Penance and Charity – in 1952 . In revolutionary praxis, the Cruzada served the ends of a counter-revolution. Unrepentant communists would readily see it as the affirmation of the Marxist dictum: “Religion is the opium of the people.”
Images of the Virgen de los Remedios and Santo Cristo del Perdon were taken all around the Pampanga parishes were they stayed for days, the faithful seeking their intercession and intervention through non-stop prayers and nightly processions.
A hymn to the virgin was composed with peace as recurrent refrain: “…ica’ng minye tula ampon capayapan / quing indu ning balen quequeng lalawigan / uling calimbun mu caring sablang dalan / ding barrio at puruc caring cabalenan / agad menatili ing catahimican…” (…you gave us joy and peace / to the mother of our province / when taken in procession / in all the barrios in the towns / peace descended upon them…) Forgive the poor translation.
The charity end of the crusade – Lamac – was institutionalized – all the barrio folk, even the poorest of them, shared some goods that would accompany the images to their next destination and given to the neediest there.
The Cruzada in effect became an equalizing and unifying factor among the faithful, regardless of their socio-economic situation. And relative peace did come to the province. For a time.
The breadth and depth of the devotion to the Virgen de los Remedios of the Capampangan moved Pope Pius XII to approve her canonical coronation as the patroness of Pampanga on September 8, 1956.
Fifty years hence, “the stark class differences between the rich and the poor, the strife between the landlords and the tenants, and a deteriorating socio-political-economic situation bordering on socialism” still obtain in Pampanga and in the rest of the Philippines. So has the Cruzada of peace through charity and prayers failed?
Pray not, else the crusade of an all-out war waged by another Pampanga lady shall find more cause in collateral blood. And while at it, may the Pampanga clergy have the discernment not to ask her to do the crowning of the virgin on September 8, as they did with the Cabetican icon. Her government’s crusade of death blasphemes all that the Virgen de los Remedios represents.
Ours is the Indu ning Capaldanan (Mother of Remedies) that is the Tula ding Capampangan (Joy of the Capampangan). Never the indu ning camatayan (mother of death) that is paldas ding Capampangan (grief of the Capampangan).
Pray.
(Published in Pampanga News, July 6-12, 2006)