Now that the rainy season is always also flood season, thanks to decades of deforestation and corruption and bad governance, this week has been more depressing than usual, with most of our kababayans on disaster-mode, tapos lumabas pa yung balita na bilyunbilyong piso na naman ang nakalaan for flood control programs sa 2025 budget na alam naman nating walang patutunguhan as usual dahil sa laki ng komisyon ng mga mambabatas at mga kontratista, at dahil wala naman talagang master plan na sinusunod para kabit-kabit at pang-kabuoan ang solusyon.
ALEX MAGNO. Shortly, we will be given some numerical estimate of the destruction caused by rain. It will always be an understatement. It cannot possibly quantify all the horrors, the discomfort, the dislocation, the loss of productive time and the great heroism put in by our small army of rescuers – all these escape national accounting.
We are wrapped in an overpowering sense of helplessness inflicted on our people by incessant calamity. My phone is full of calls for prayer from those completely daunted by the warning that rains will continue pouring the coming days. Having given up on government, our people are pleading for divine intervention. https://www.philstar.com/
Yes, the collective sense of helplessness is more pronounced than usual, with, I imagine, a simmering stewing discontent, coming, hopefully, from the populace being now more aware, better informed, via their smart phones, about who is, are, to blame for the terrible miserable state of affairs countrywide, i.e., no less than our powerful government officials, past and present — fat politicians and their minions and subalterns — who don’t really care about nation, only about making hay while the sun shines, because it can’t go on forever, it’s not sustainable, one day the system will collapse, crumble, from sheer instability.
MEANWHILE, as we await BBM‘s SONA (na sana hindi nakakasuya) and some First Lady video that’s soon to drop (or so we hear, at sana fake nga) and the Supreme Court decision on the impeachment (na sana ipaubaya sa Senado) and VP Sara‘s impeachment trial (na sana masimulan na nang matapos na), like everyone else I am so looking forward to the boxing match that Davao City Vice Mayor Baste Duterte sort of challenged PNP Chief Gen. Nicolas Torre to.
“Matapang ka lang naman, you have the position. Pero kung suntukan tayo, alam ko kaya kita kung gano’n lang. You are a coward. You are nothing without your position,” said Duterte during an episode of his podcast Basta Dabawenyo on July 20.
The PNP chief accepted the challenge on Wednesday, July 23, and suggested turning the 12-round bout into a ‘boxing match for a cause,’ aimed at raising funds for victims of the recent floods and southwest monsoon or habagat. https://dzrh.com.ph/
Di lang malinaw kung saan magaganap — Araneta Coliseum, Amoranto Stadium, o Rizal Memorial — pero ang mas dumadagundong na tanong ay, sisipot ba si Baste? Sabi ni Ronald Llamas sa Storycon, kung hindi daw sumipot, ok lang, basta nandoon si General Torre at “yung mga iba, magdadala ng mga relief para sa mga nasalanta, magiging parang relief operation.” https://www.youtube.com/
At heto pa si Senator Ping Lacson who tweeted early Thursday morning @iampinglacson:
A credible source told me last night, the CEO of a popular resort casino hotel, a well-known philanthropist is willing to open their ballroom for the “charity boxing match” between Nick Torre and Baste Duterte. For the sake [of] the many poor flood victims, let’s do it! https://x.com/iampinglacson/
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BREAKING NEWS. Thursday, just before 6 p.m. the Dabawenyo responded to the general:
BASTE: ‘Wag ka mag-alala, Torre, kasi matagal ko na talagang gustong makabugbog ng unggoy. Kung gusto mo lang talaga ng suntukan, bakit kailangan mo pa ng charity-charity. Why do you need … kailangan mo pang gamitin yang nangyayari ngayon na baha diyan sa Metro Manila. If you’re really serious about this, kung gusto mo yung charity na yan, and you’ve laid some conditions, let me lay my own conditions for the event. Kung serious ka talaga, ha. These are my conditions. Pakiusapan mo yang amo mo na presidente, and let it come out of his mouth, that all elected officials should undergo a hair follicle drug test. Papalagan ko yang charity-charity mo na yan. Walang problema. If it will answer the issues nitong bansa natin, I can do that. https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=baste%20torre%20fight
I’m so disappointed, lol. Bakit biglang na-drag in (no pun intended) si BBM? Eh it was all about Baste bragging that he could beat Torre in a fistfight. Gusto ko lang naman makita, maalaman, kung totoo. Given that Torre is all of 18 years older than he, Baste is kinda llamado. What if, pinatumba muna niya si Torre, AND THEN he followed it up with that demand — na hindi pa rin masusunod malamang, na magpa-drug test lahat ng elected officials, but at least then he would be coming from a stronger position than now, when he’s being seen as the one pala who’s duwag (or so commenters are saying on facebook threads).
And then again, baka wala lang sa kondisyon si Baste, so he’s playing for time? Which would mean that Torre had a fighting chance sana, kung sa Sunday na ang laban. Shucks, we’ll never know now. Back to regular programming, ika nga.