USEC Corpus na kuryente?

That was the height of the kuryente. That's the euphemism for a bum steer that DILG Undersecretary Marius Corpus announced Monday night over ANC of the ABS-CBN TV network.

And he was very candid about baring the name of the fire chief who reportedly informed him about the recovery of 50 survivors from under the mudslide that had buried the barrio of Guinsaugon of St. Bernard of Southern Leyte. Although he asked for time to clarify the details of the report, he was very positive about it.

The only bothersome thing about that announcement is he did not state whether he had verified the source of the report. Thus, he must have broken the hearts of families and kin of the Guinsaugon victims whose morale must have been buoyed up by the news.

But the truth came swiftly after. This was just when ANC called its reporters on the ground to get in touch with the US Marines spokesman, a certain Lt. Palmer. He candidly reported that the US Marines had dug out only five victims and that he had not heard of any such report of 50 survivors having been dugged out.

The US officer, of course, hoped that the signals from underground reportedly having been heard by electronic monitors was true and that there were still survivors.

The only ray of hope was the rescue of two half-dead survivors yesterday morning. Both were severely injured and had to be rushed to the hospital for urgent surgery.

But the thing is that we just continue praying that there will be more survivors who could be rescued. And the harsh realities are that every passing day virtually dims hopes of more survivors being rescued. Instead, the barangay could end up as the graveyard of more than a thousand residents, many of them schoolchildren, who were unceremoniously covered by the soil from the mountain that cascaded on them with suddenness.

Our eyes, however, were focused on the hundreds of volunteers who kept on digging into the mud hoping that somehow they could find a survivor or survivors. And they were muddy. And one could notice that most of them were fatigued. But they just kept on with the task assigned to them. The US marines were symbols of commitment. And so with the various international rescue groups such as those from Malaysia, Spain, Taiwan and other nationalities who pitched in to help the rescue effort.

Before we forget, it is time for us to acknowledge their heroism and their commitment to service to a grieving community. Filipinos should be able to extend to them a handclasp of brothers. They showed us what friendship is and they translate their concept of human fraternity into practice.

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The Bacolod police deserves kudos for having bagged the alleged maker of the counterfeit P500 bills in Bacolod.

Ronnie Esnoldo of Purok Kapawa, Barangay Sum-ag, was arrested at his residence. Police recovered also the calculating machine and checking machine with magnet indicator, etc. and several bills.

But while they deserve applause for their accomplishment, they must also heed the message from PNP regional director Doroteo Reyes to stop the series of crimes in the city and to bring the culprits to justice as soon as possible.

Reyes, I suspect, must have heard about the growing unease among Bacolod residents with the perceived upswing of criminality in the city.

Except for some high-profile achievements, he said fact is that the police seems unable to solve most of the crimes that have been happening in the city recently. Take the case of the so-called "bonnet gang". The police just dropped the investigation into their activities just like that.

And the series of swindling incidents seem headed to the archives of unsolved crimes. The police department must be able to come up with an efficient police intelligence network. This is vital to be able to pinpoint the modus operandi of the various gangs operating in the city.

I remember that it was that which set off the Manila Police Department during the Fifties and the early Sixties. Chief of detectives Enrique Morales, on noting any major crime incident in Manila, simply consulted with the chief of police intelligence. That immediately provided him the proper information on who and what was the modus operandi of the group that may have pulled the crime. If it was an independent group, that was inputted as another piece of information needed by the police investigators. But the most important thing - the police never got caught flatfooted.

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The four bishops of Negros Island did not have to point to the St. Bernard experience to come up with their opposition to "environmentally destructive mining."

All they have to do is to cite the copper mines in Sipalay City and the Philex Gold of Hinobaan.

Until now, the city and provincial governments still have to compel the Sipalay mines to rehabilitate the areas it has devastated with its mines tailings. But other than the palliative of putting up those coconut leaves to ward off dust storms, the tailings-ravaged areas remain still covered by the dregs of the copper mines.

The same is true with Philex. What happened to the areas down river of the Philex? Large tracts of land remain uncultivated. And what about those who had lost their sources of livelihood because of the mines?*

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