How can Myanmar
be helped?

How can we understand the thinking of the generals who make up the ruling Junta of Myanmar? Their countrymen are dying, thousands have already died, swept away or crushed by the cyclone that dashed several parts of their country less than a week ago. The latest report from the country is that the Junta members still do not want to accept aid from other countries if their people come with it. They only want to receive the food and the money (they even say they prefer money), but will immediately send back – they use the word “deport” – the personnel bringing the assistance.

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And these are not just written reports, these were confirmed by the rare video shots taken there. The officials have banned the entry of workers, even doctors and medical staff from other countries, even from the United Nations. They especially do not want any media people coming, because these might tell the truth! In fact, Myanmar’s “official” statistics continue to claim that only 22,997 died and the missing about 41,000. As if they had really gone out there and counted the corpses one by one.

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And yet other estimates, including those of the United States, claim that the actual number of the dead could be nearer 100,000 than 22,000. Those who have actually gotten to the devastated areas talk about rotting bodies piling up along roadsides and about the unbearable stench in the atmosphere. Still, the Junta is digging its feet in: No people, only food, goods and CASH. They say donors should trust them to distribute the aid, not do it themselves. As of late yesterday, it looked as if even the World Food Program crew from the United Nations had given up. They have decided to stop sending their aid and their people there.

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In Manila, meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque has announced that his 15-man medical team is now all set to go to Myanmar. I’d say, Hold it, Doc! You might not be able to land there, and your doctors may also get deported, like the others. Your team may end up, like, in the saying, “All dressed up and no place to go”. Let the United Nations clear matters up first, before wasting our own resources when they may not be welcomed. By the way, another fall-out from the cyclone is that the rich rice fields of Myanmar have also been swept away, and that’s another rice producing country.

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So the honorable members of the Philippine Congress are revolted at the idea of the House door being locked to ensure that they stay in their seats while the session is going on. As its proponent had explained, this is the only way to keep his “honorable” colleagues in their places so they can discuss and vote on such important measures as the tax exemption bill for low-income earners. The House Speaker himself had confirmed that many of his members just come in for the roll call, and then disappear.

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The Speaker has also refused to adopt the locked-door strategy, so he has proposed a double roll-call, i.e, one when they come in, and another before the ending of the session. That sounds perfect – for the truant ones, that is – because they can still leave after Roll Call I and then sneak back in time for Roll Call II. I bet many will register perfect attendance at the end of this session. The honest ones should think up other ways of making sure their colleagues, at least, earn the P70 million and more from the taxes we pay that goes into their undeserving pockets and which have probably already been used to fund private businesses, build resorts, and purchase houses abroad, too.

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What happened to the case of the murdered brother of former Bulacan Governor Roberto “Obet” Pagdanganan? Ramon Pagdanganan was the former mayor of Bulacan and was celebrating the town fiesta at the house of a friend when two gunmen just walked up to him and shot him dead. The operation was “the usual”: two killers on board a motorcycle, finishing off their victim, then speeding away before anybody could identify them. Brother Obet, who also lost a son shortly after the last election, naturally claimed his brother’s killing was triggered by politics. Yesterday, the news said that the killers had been found by the police and were shot dead. Obet is dismayed, but now there is nothing more to investigate. Case closed?

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I had some appointments to attend to yesterday and only when I got to the office last night did I see the invitation from Emily Jison about their Trinity Feast. Alas, it was already almost 8 p.m. Too late to catch the mass, and even to pass on the invitations to the STAR family she had also included. Sayang.*

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