glorietta, media, and blogs

it was not unexpected that the philippine national police would find for a gas explosion, not for an explosive device. matagal na nilang sinasabi that evidence was pointing to a critical build-up of gases that could have been prevented if the guys in charge were doing their job.

but it was unexpected that the police would recommend charges only against the engineers, operators, and fire prevention officers who were immediately responsible for safety measures, and not against the mall owner nor city hall. unexpected because matagal na silang naghi-hint that the the pnp was not beyond charging even ayala land and mayor binay for command responsibility if warranted. kaya na nga panay ang press release ng ayala land before this, contesting findings of a gas explosion and negligence.

puno‘s excuse:

“. .. it was just that repairing the malfunctioning sewage system was not the job of the owners while those who had been charged had immediate responsibility for the repairs of the sewage system.”

pero kaya nga tinawag na “command” responsibility, di ba. kahit hindi ka directly responsible for repairs, pero kung mga tao mo ang pumalpak – june july august pa lang daw me problema na ang sewage system – ibig sabihin may pagkukulang ka rin. kasi kung on-top-of-the-situation ka, kung maayos ang palakad mo, wala sanang pumalpak, wala sanang namatay at nasugatan.

i smell a rat. maybe a backroom ex-deal (puno style) between ayala and malacanang. hmm. maybe re charter change? or maybe that is still to come, and nagpapapogi lang ang palasyo sa mga ayala.

not that i’m completely sold on the negligence charge.

i was expecting that anc, as is usual with important developments, would have some resource persons, maybe an engineer or two, to share their expert opinions, but no, not this time. later in the evening ricky carandang devoted the whole hour of the big picture to the same story, but again we had to listen to the same pnp guys rehashing what we had already heard, with ricky just clarifying the double blast, the ayala investigations, and the rdx angle.

the biggest let-down of all, not just from anc but from all media is that no one has yet asked the BIG question posed by some bloggers and, i hear, science e-groups, soon after the blast: conceding, for the sake of argument, that it was indeed not a bomb but a gas explosion. WHAT IF it was not a matter of criminal negligence but, rather, a matter of creative criminal engineering? surely it is humanly possible to orchestrate such a blast? what would it take? why is it not being considered by the police as a distinct possibility?

nakakadismaya our media. no time to read, no time to research, no time for critical thinking. paano kasi, ang he-hectic ng buhay. bread trip. one show after another, one deadline after another, no time to read read read and google and surf the internet, much less to turn on to pinoy blogs, where some of the discourse is remarkably (happily) higher than in broadsheet and broadcast media.

enough of erap!

i was all for erap’s pardon because of the questionable circumstancesof his ouster by gma, but it was always on the condition that he would not run again for public office, least of all the presidency. after all, he’s been there, been that, and he did a lousy job of it, so why should he be given another chance, pray tell?

the daily tribune’s alejandro lichauco says that erap is the only relevant presidentiable because he is the only one who is addressing the issue of poverty, and that if elections were held today erap would run away with it because poverty is the only issue that matters with the masses.

ano ba yan. poverty has always been an issue, and what did erap achieve in the two and a half years before he was kicked out? nada. so now he’s going to china to get lessons on how to lift the masses from poverty? haha. magkaintindihan kaya sila ng mga intsik? o baka naman type lang niyang pakabahin ang mga kano?

speaking of the kano, interesante ang kuwento ni manilabaywatcher anna de brux. diyata’t may kinalaman ang kano sa pagkakatalsik ni erap? hmm. siguro nga kaya siya pupunta sa china: para ma-praning si bush. ganyang ganyan ang style ni imelda nuong mid-1970s, nakipagsosyalan sa mga komunistang mao tse tung at fidel castro, sabay irap sa amerika. kuno.

but to get back to erap and his plan to run for president IF it’s the only way to unite the opposition. methinks he overestimates his popularity. fielding him as the sole oppositionist vs. gma’s annointed one is not a formula for success, rather it would be a reason to boycott elections.

the pattern has been set. erap messed up the first time, he’ll mess up again bigtime.

new year high

both our kids were off to the beach – one to montemar, the other to boracay – for the new year with their significant others, so cholo and i, after decades of hewing to supposedly good-luck traditions that never really guaranteed good luck, decided we were old enough to break out and do something different, something previously unthinkable, which was to hole up in a small makati av. hotel to escape the nerve-wracking noise and awful soot of firecrackers, feast on room service, usher in the new year quietly, for a change.

just in case cable tv got boring, cholo brought his portable dvd player and laptop. i brought a bottle of chardonnay and two books i was in the middle of, carlos fuentes’ terra nostra (what a story about spain’s phillip ii ), and rainer maria rilke’s in praise of mortality. not that i even got to open either book.

the unexpected treat was a 15th floor view of city lights. almost a 180-degree area around the makati bridge – no, not facing ayala or luneta, which would have been fantabulous, but what we got was wonderful enough, facing mandaluyong and san juan and ortigas all the way to quezon city. what a sight. as midnight approached, the fireworks grew more and more frenzied and spectacular. we wondered if we were missing something by missing the noise, should we go down and drown ourselves in the pandemonium outside kahit sandali? we stayed, deciding to be kind to our aging eardrums, okay lang the muffled sound effects, besides we’d miss the climax of the show, which was splendid, magical, fireworks of all colors and shapes shooting up from the dark to a kaleidoscope sky.  what a treat.

siyempre i remembered a friend who used to work with government who now lives in a penthouse in an ayala av. condomnium with a breathtaking 360-degree view of the metropolis. i bet she was having a party. i would, in her place. share the view from above.