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For the past 17 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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WITH the House committee on justice throwing out the impeachment conplaints against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the public will never get to know the truth behind the allegations of vote-rigging and jueteng payoffs against her and her family.
Although the pro-impeachment advocates still have their final do-or-die chance to send the impeachmane raps to the Senate, the pro-Arroyo congressmen have the number -- and most obviously the resources -- to thwart any effort to impeach the sitting Chief Executive. Even some solons within the anti-Arroyo camp admitted they were no longer optimistic about their chances.
What the August 31 junking of the impeachment raps by the House panel did was to signal the death knell of the search for truth, not just by her political foes, but by the people who wanted to get to the bottom of it.
The dismissal of the three impeachment complaints is akin to the Senate vote against opening the second bank envelope containing the Jose Velarde accounts during the impeachment of then-President Joseph Estrada in 2001. The Senate’s envelope vote sealed the truth forever from the public’s view; the House panel’s junking of the complaints thwarted whatever hope the public may have at arriving at the truth.
The opposition by now may have lost their battle, but the real losers here are the people. The Filipino people have the right to know. They pay their taxes, they choose to elect their leaders peacefully, they follow the laws of the land. They deserve to know whether their president was really the choice of the majority, whether their chief follows the law and whether their leader has the moral ascendancy to lead and inspire the nation.
But as things stand now, they will never know.
If President Arroyo is as lilly-white as she and her public relations handlers claim her to be, then why suppress the truth? Why not face the allegations in the proper forum? If they are not true, they will just blow away.
Perhaps there’s something there that she fears might come out. (NP)
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NEW YORK --- A friend sent an e-mail recently warning his friends about a car repair shop which was supposed to have fixed his car. Instead, his car was stolen while in their possession and the shop is now dodging responsibility for it. He was bluntly told that the shop was not at fault.
I was stunned to have learned of my friend’s plight and the experience he had with them. Not only because the shop is owned by a fellow Filipino but the manner by which it quickly absolved itself from being blamed. The car was found days later by the police stripped to the bare.
Would have the shop given my friend a swift disavowal if he weren’t Filipino? Without a blink, the response would be a big no. Maybe I’m naïve but I believe that even among ourselves we discriminate.
Stories like my friend’s continue to abound in our midst. It happens in any business: insurance brokers, mortgage lenders, realtors, travel agents, store fronts, restaurants, building contractors, lawyers, accountants, freight consolidators and a host of others. But it becomes more disheartening if the pain came from a Filipino business you would normally trust.
Most often, we are told to patronize our own products and the businesses of our kababayans. Yet when things go wrong, we are shoved away to silence and treated differently as if we were a trouble maker. Isn’t this an oxymoron like when someone says working vacation?
Shouldn’t it follow that if one buys goods or services, we, as consumers should be given the same rights, respect and courtesy other non-Filipino businesses extend to us? If something went wrong, wouldn’t it better to have found first the reason for it instead of evading guilt at once?
Although some people are saying that the shop is not a run-of-the-mill type and enjoys a growing clientele, there are others who feel gypped and suspicious of their services; they keep going back to the shop to have the same problem fixed again and again.
That of course is a summary of responses I gathered from people who had used their services. How then would we expect to promote the businesses of our fellow Filipino business owners who treat us shabbily? If problems arise, do they think Filipinos can be dealt with easily than Americans?
From a business viewpoint, there is truth to the maxim that a customer is always right. Whether selling a product or service, business owners should be able to put themselves into the shoes of the consumer. That’s a basic requirement followed by honesty and sincerity in dealing with people. And yes, a smile is important too.
There are quite a number of successful businesses that are anchored on that principle. To this day, they are still around and growing stronger each day.
And how many Filipino businesses do you think have lost their clientele when earning a quick buck comes first into their mind? They may be around a couple of years until their cash flow runs short and eventually lead to the demise of their business. There might not be that many but we remember which ones these are and had earned a place in the hall of shame.
It is not quite late for this car repair shop to correct what is utterly wrong. It may not be its practice to accept responsibility but word goes around quickly to its disadvantage.
And it is one that may lead itself to a hall of shame.
Send comments to rickyxpres@aol.com or visit Website at PinoyOnBoard.com.
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Chicago, ILLINOIS --- Samuel Morse could not have anticipated it that after more than a hundred years since he came up with the telegraphic codes, his codes would spawn other cryptic messages that can even play havoc upon a country’s political life.
For instances, in some of of the words that came out of his codes, such text messages as “CUZ” for “BECAUSE” or “CUL” for “See you Later” are still gaining currency just like “NIL” for “Nothing” or ‘SASE’ for “Self-addressed, stamped envelope,” which are still in use.
Even among writers, a popularly used wire signal is the use of number “30” for “no more or end” that has been a fixture among headline writers when it is about a writer’s obituary.
Doctors who would recommend drugs for their patients will simply write “rx” while postmen will return to sender letters with such initial as “nsa” for “no such address.” Or when telegram operators will deliver messages to recipients with the dreaded word, “coll” for collect.
Smile to cut cost
During the peak of telegram industry, one of the more popular acrostics or acronyms invented by students before their midterm or final examinations was the sending of messages to their parents or guardians with the single word, “SMILE,” accompanied by the amount of money, to cut costs.
Of course, this word must have stumped telegram messengers no end as they tried to decipher what this word was all about. It turned out that SMILE is the acronym for “Send Money Immediately Lacking Energy.”
This definition of SMILE brought chills down my spine when a nephew told me about it recently.
“You see, Uncle, when I was a college student in Manila, I used to send this single word, SMILE, in my telegram to my Mom and my Dad, when I needed the money badly to pay for my tuition fees during mid-terms or finals,” my nephew told me. “I got this idea from my classmates, who were getting hysterical when the examinations periods rolled around.”
Smile in Garci tapes
And the word “SMILE” rang a bell to me.
As I replayed the three-hour tapes of the “Gloria-Garcillano Tapes” posted by the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism on its website, I remembered that “SMILE” was used in the context my nephew defined it to me.
InTape No. 16, recorded at 6:30 p.m. on June 3, 2004, it was disclosed: “In the conversation between Garci (Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano) and “Lyn,” Garci said, “Hello Lyn, ipaalaala mo kay Rolly, may reward sila ng isang “M” (one million pesos), meron isa pa sana kung puede, pero hindi ko lang alam kung meron silang kuwan yung “SMILE” din, kay kuwan pa naman yan sa kaibigan ko diyan sa tabi. Pero yong isa sigurado na yong sinabi ko. Pero tatanungin ko pa yong isa. Pero unahin niyo na yong sinabi ko na at tatawag na lang ako.”
The conversation was preceded by a voice of what appeared to be that of Sen. Robert Barbers, who was desperately asking Mr. Garcillano if Mr. Garcillano could add 70,000 more votes for him from the Basilan Province and its capital of Isabela City. Barbers was willing to give away additional money from his campaign chest surplus.
Earlier, Mr. Barbers was supposed to have given Mr. Garcillano from P1.5 to 2 million to prop up his votes for senator in the count. The latest request “for consideration” to SMILE appears to be an additional one million pesos that Barbers was willing to hand over.
If and when Garcillano will testify during the impending impeachment of President Arroyo, he should be able to add up the money that were “SMILED” to him during the canvassing of the May 2004 presidential elections.
Garcillano’s revelations should certainly make the Filipino people SMILE last!
lariosa-jos@sbcglobal.net
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MANILA --- Yearly, the Washington Post’s “Mensa Invitational” asks readers : alter any word -- by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and come up supply a new definition. Here are this year’s winners:
Ignoranus: A person who’s both stupid and an asshole. Then, there’s Glibido: All talk and no action. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period..
Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out. Caterpallor (n.): is the color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you’re eating. However, giraffiti is vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
Sarchasm is the gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn’t get it. But hipatitis is terminal coolness. Reintarnation is coming back to life as a hillbilly ( or as a promdi? ). But bozone is the substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
Our play on words tend to weave in and out of Pilipino and English. That results in “Filglish”? If you speak Filglish, these combos should be easy for you.
Use “be cool” and “I’ll buy” in a sentence. Answer : .The tourist went to Mayon volcano in I’ll buy, be cool” ( Albay, Bicol ) . Use “laity” in a sentence. Taga “laity” si Imelda Marcos.
Or use “deletion” in a sentence. Answer : The balat of “”deletion” is crispy. How about using “schooling” in a sentence?. Answer : As the phone rings, you say ‘Hello? Who “schooling” plis? Then, use “decanter” in a sentence. Answer : .You can order that medicine over “decanter”.
Why, there’s even an extended section for those who can read and understand Tagalog. Read on :
Use “borrow” in a sentence. Ang dumi naman ng “borrow” mo. Use “cadet” in a sentence. “Cadet” ko si Monina nung isang gabi. Ngayon, ikaw naman ang “cadet” niya. Or use “cardiac” in a sentence. Na “cardiac yung kotse ni Pedro noong isang gabi.
Can you use “dedicate” in a sentence. Pag ginamitan ng glue, siguradong “dedicate iyan”. Use “mention” in a sentence. .Ang laki ng bahay nila, parang “mention.” Use “diffusion” in a sentence. .Brownout...siguradong “diffusion” pumutok.
Signs on street food stalls can also be uniquely Pinoy. They can help you choose what and how to order your meal. “Here’s a sanitized version of Karinderya Menu”, Ding Roces writes. “Some items were a bit too sexually explicit for General Viewing:” .
You’ve bumped across Tapsilog” . This is, by far, the most ubiquitous signboard. That’s from “tapa” or dried beef; “sinangag” is fried rice while “Itlog” is egg.
Fried rice and eggs anchor various combinations. These are signaled by the first syllable.
Thus “Longsilog” means longganisa or sausage is the main staple. “Hotsilog” is where hotdog is centerpiece. “Porksilong and “Chicksilog” are self-explanatory.
But have you tried the exotics? “Azucarrera” for example? That’s shorthand for “Adobong Aso” or fried dog meat – something the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals decries. . “Kalkal” is “Kalderetang Kalabaw” or stew from carabao meat, not goat this time. .
For penny-pinchers, there are budget meals: “Kalog” is from kanin and means no frills rice and eggs. “Luglog” is eggdrop with soft-boiled rice – what the Chinese call “congee”. “Pakaplog is the Pinoy version of Continental Breakfast : Pandesal, Kape at Itlog.
And there is : “bahaw”. This is “kaning lamig ito pero may nagtinda”--- cold left over rice that is still being peddled.
Finally, have you look at our billboards recently ? There’s one about “Signature Brands” from the Philippines? Displayed at a souvenir store in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, this large signboard reads: “Choice Signature Brands ( All Made in the Philippines )” .
A list of the “signatures” offered then follows : CK ------- Cavite Kamiseta; YSL -- Yari Sa Laguna; UCB --- Under the Coconut tree in Baclaran; DKNY------Divisoria Kanto Ng Ylaya; and GQ------ Galing Quiapo
Adjacent is a sign pitched to Balikbayans who have complete immigration and customs checks for their return fights :
“Mga Balikbayan! Ito ang inyong bilhin at signatures na signatures po ang mga ito. Magandang ipa-salubong sa mga kamag-anak ninyo sa America at as EU : ( Returnees -- These are genuine signatures you should buy. Your loved ones in America and Europe will appreciate these as gifts )
On display at Tiangge in Greenhills was this child’s Superman costume with the text : “Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly.” [Don’t blame the company, blame the parents!]
“Just passing on the good news folks,” Ding writes. “I recently bought a signature shoe and shirt myself.”
E-mail: juan_mercado@pa-cific.net.ph
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