APPARENTLY without any trace of embarrassment, Jesus Santos, a member of the Government Service Insurance (GSIS) board of trustees, admitted having called up Camilo Sabio, chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), to ask support for the GSIS campaign to end the Lopez family’s “mismanagement” of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

This admission was made at the closing stages of the hearings of the three-member Supreme Court panel that inquired into the improprieties in the Court of Appeals stemming from the complaint of Associate Justice Jose Sabio Jr. that an emissary of Meralco, Francis de Borja, allegedly offered a P10-million bribe so that he would inhibit himself from the case lodged by the GSIS against Meralco.

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SECRETARY Augusto “Boboy” Syjuco, director general of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, entertains no illusion of clinging on to said post when the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ends in May 2010. It would be more logical to expect him to run for a Senate seat, since his better half, Congresswoman Judy Syjuco (2nd District, Iloilo), is eligible for her third consecutive term.

On the other hand, the unpopularity of his boss, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, might not be politically helpful to him.

In fact, we once asked him whether he is eyeing the Senate.

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IF the cops can’t protect us from criminals, we need to arm ourselves for our own protection, some city folks comment. Others express apprehension about an unsafe rest at night because criminals might attack them while sleeping.

Cops are always caught flatfooted or with their pants down as criminals easily hit their target in broad daylight.

The recent murder of the Bureau of Fire Protection provincial chief, Supt. Casiano Del Castillo in Arevalo this city and so many previous unsolved killings in Iloilo have some Ilonggos think of arming themselves against notorious criminals.

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PROMETHEUS, in mythology, was a Greek god who stole fire from heaven to benefit mankind. Zeus, the god of all gods, was angry, punished him by chaining him to a rock in the Caucasus mountain.

Zeus was a very good chief god. He punished thieves, even if they were gods. Everyday, an eagle, would come and feed on Prometheus’ liver. But at night, the liver would be restored. Later Hercules pitied Prometheus and killed the eagle.

Prometheus is always pictured as one carrying a torch and running. Running because he was afraid to be caught.

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OVER these past many years, I have been privileged to meet, get to know and write about some of the great men and women of Asia (or GMWA, as we have come to call them).

“Great Men and Women of Asia” is also the title of five volumes of easy-reading books (there’s more to come) that contain stories about the lives of Asia’s greats, both the known and the little-known, the times and milieu they live(d) in and their contributions to enrich this part of the world through their selfless deeds, courage and creativity. Plus, plus.

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AFTER the prospect of a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was bannered in media primarily due to the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order preventing the parties to ink the pact, now, scores of other cultural minorities are demanding their own autonomous region.

At the rate their demands are coming thick and fast, and unless stopped, they might result in the Balkanization of the Philippines. This will come to pass. God forbid. For, then, it might be apt to quote Jose Rizal: “Adios, patria adorada.”

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THE explosion in the face of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo following the revelation of the contents of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on establishment of an expanded Bangsamoro homeland is still too fresh for Sen. Joker Arroyo to ignore.

Before he could brush off the fallout, Arroyo has come forward to propose the suspension of the Supreme Court hearings on the MOA—to “give the executive elbow room to prosecute the military campaign against the MILF … and make a thorough and unimpeded study of the MOA.”

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THE last time we passed by barangay Nabitasan, site of the development of Henry Chusuey’s Prime Estate, we saw a billboard advertising the subdivision as “flood-free,” obviously to attract lot buyers.

Well, it’s not funny. Hadn’t we seen the same teaser posted at the entrance of Westwoods Subdivision in Barangay Dungon until June 21, 2008 when typhoon Frank submerged the entire area in a six-foot flood of mud and water?

Mr. Chusuey, who also owns Westwoods, now wants us to believe that the Dungon creek he had reclaimed to widen Westwoods had nothing to do with the flood. This was the message that a column item in another paper relayed the other day, to wit: “There is one lot owner squatting on a land owned by the subdivision; it is this that actually restricts the free flow of water.”

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THE guy was not after all a nincompoop. For he was staring and flipping something that was strange and unfamiliar to him - something that was passed as a permit but was not really a permit; because he was told by his superiors no such permits are being issued to regular buses. This was the explanation given by Dr. Tongtong Plagata, Chair of the City Task Force on Traffic (CTFT), in defense of the traffic enforcers who flag down buses full of tourists - subject of the complaint of tour operators tackled in this column a few days ago. The traffic aides were just strictly implementing the provisions of the Perimeter Boundary Ordinance (PBO). And nowhere in the said ordinance was there a mention about giving special permits to buses.

Dr. Plagata even took time to differentiate a tourist bus from a bus with tourist passengers. According to him, a tourist bus is a vehicle which has been accredited by the Department of Tourism to have met the minimum requirements of what comfortable travel must be. It has the seal of quality from the DOT as evidenced by a sticker with the shell logo which says – Accredited Tour Bus. It has been registered specifically as a tour bus with the LTO and in its franchise with the LTFRB. This is the kind of bus that the PBO allows in the city streets. This tour bus could even park in front of a hotel and a pasalubong center as a privilege. It is even prioritized to pass and traffic aides are instructed to help clear the way.

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I WAS born in the time of Ramon Magsaysay (1907-1957), the beloved of Philippine Presidents. Sad to tell, he died on a plane crash on my very third birthday on March 17, 1957, eight months away from his term’s end. Mother, a devoted fan of Magsaysay, cried a lot so father told me when the presidential plane Mt. Pinatubo, a C-47, heading back to Manila from Cebu which had him on board was reported missing in the early morning hours of that day. By the afternoon, news had it that Magsaysay died in a plane crash at Mt. Manunggal, Cebu. They all forgot it was my birthday. Father was glued to his RCA-Victor radio which had a loud speaker. People gathered in front of our house to listen to news developments.

During Magsaysay’s time, the Philippines ranked second to Japan in terms of economy. Manila is the toast of Southeast Asia. Speak of our neighboring countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand or Hong Kong and they are pictured as underdeveloped. The present economic star status of Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur were unknown then. Manila was the economic hub of Southeast Asia. Hong Kong was a city of squatters. Kuala Lumpur was not yet a city and was beset by rubber and tin commodity crashes and a volatile socio-political situation that eventually led to worse race riots the following decade. In Bangkok, Bhumibol Adulyadej was just barely four years as crowned King of Thailand and the City of Angels has not much significant international appeal. Jakarta was the new capital (again) of Indonesia and was only beginning to modernize.

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