I cope with large amounts of Tanduay rum and take-out food. And mangos, loves me some mangos.

My room was disgustingly foul because the owner thought it would be a good idea to open the back door while I was gone so the walls, clothing, bedding, furniture, every single item is covered in a layer of unsanitary mold. As I sat watching her person clean it, she dares tell me its not bad. Had to throw out a lot of clothing, ruined. Even the medicines in blister packs were molded, which tells me the place was flooded with steam at one point. I thought about confronting her on this but of course, shes Filipina so its automatically a lost argument.

While I’m cooling from the day, she tells me I have to move because someone is renting my room for 6 months. I object about getting kicked out after renting for a year and still having deposit credit: she says I’m not getting kicked out… “you can move to the room next door”… I said, “thats kicking me out!” She thinks not.

Think I’ll be looking for another place to live.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=484134&publicationSubCategoryId=65

Of the 38 foreigners, there were nine Indians, six Americans, five Koreans, four Bristish, three Germans, two Australians, two Canadians, and one each from Japan, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Iran, France, Malaysia and Switzerland.

MANILA — A plane carrying 32 people from the Philippines resort island of Boracay skidded off the runway after landing at Manila’s main international airport on Sunday, officials said. The plane got stuck in the grass at the side of the runway, he said. The runway was temporarily closed while repair crews tried to move the plane, which suffered damage to its landing gear.

The plane was returning from Caticlan, the town that serves the island of Boracay, one of the country’s leading beach resorts, airport officials said.

The accident came less than a month after a hard landing by a SEAIR plane at Caticlan airport forced flights there to be briefly suspended.

In January, at least two passengers were seriously injured when a small plane operated by Zest Airways missed the runway on landing and smashed into a concrete wall at the Caticlan airport.

Another SeAir crash relating to Boracay

And the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), which referred to the story of the New York Post that was posted August 7 on its website, is demanding an explanation.

Richard Johnson wrote the brief report in the Page Six “Eat and Drink” section of the NY Post online edition.

It read: “The economic downturn hasn’t persuaded everyone to pinch pennies. Philippines President Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was at Le Cirque the other night with a large entourage enjoying the good life, even though the former comptroller of her country’s armed services, Carlos Garcia, was found guilty earlier this year of perjury and two of his sons were arrested in the US on bulk cash-smuggling charges. Macapagal-Arroyo ordered several bottles of very expensive wine, pushing the dinner tab up to $20,000.”

“Malacañang has a lot of explaining to do about this latest allegation which came out in an American paper. Who spent for the lavish dinner?” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said in a statement.

In a statement issued Saturday, Makati Mayor and United Opposition president Jejomar Binay said: “How Mrs. Arroyo and her administration can justify blowing P960,000 for dinner and expensive wine at a time of economic difficulty is beyond me.”

‘Just dinner’

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, who was with the President’s entourage, did not respond to calls on Saturday.

But he sent a text message explaining that it was Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez who hosted the August 2 dinner for the President and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo.

“It was Congressman Martin Romualdez who invited the First Couple to dinner at Le Cirque in New York. As to how much the dinner costs, Malacañang does not know as it was the host who chose the menu and picked up the tab,” Remonde said.

“There was no partying. Just dinner pure and simple,” he said.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer managed to reach Romualdez Saturday afternoon by phone. He said he was busy at the moment because there were people with him, and that he would call back.

He never did. The Inquirer tried to reach him again several times later in the day but he did not pick up.

Arroyo and her entourage flew to the United States for a working visit on July 29.

She met with President Barack Obama at the White House on the night of July 30 – the high point of her visit – and from Washington flew to New York for a series of meetings with multinational companies.

The President was billeted at the Waldorf Astoria, several blocks away from Le Cirque, when she was in New York.

Caviar and champagne

Arroyo arrived back in Manila early on August 5, and went straight to Manila Cathedral where the remains of former President Corazon Aquino lay in state, to pay her last respects.

The purported menu included caviar; such appetizersas lobster salad, wild burgundy escargot and soft shellcrab tempura; main courses of black cod, halibut, Dover sole, saddle of lamb and prime dry-aged strip steak; and Krug champagne at $510 a bottle.

Bayan’s Reyes wondered if it was “appropriate for a head of state of a Third World country like Mrs. Arroyo to wine and dine in such a manner, given that we’re in the midst of a crisis.”

“This is one dinner that certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth, at least for the rest of the Filipino people,” he said.

Reyes said that even if someone else had picked up the tab, it still did not look “appropriate.”

Embarrassing

“It’s embarrassing for the Philippines to have such writeups appear in a foreign paper. It begs the question, what is Mrs. Arroyo really doing during her trips? Are taxpayers being made to shoulder the lavish lifestyles of the so-called rich and famous?” he said.

Reyes also said the mention of Garcia in the report was a sad commentary on Philippine officials’ reputation as corrupt.

“This ostentatious display of affluence reminiscent of [strongman Ferdinand Marcos’ widow] Imelda Marcos reinforces the perception that Philippine officials are corrupt and are living it up while others wallow in crisis. It is truly disappointing and disgusting,” he said.

He pointed out that in a November 2008 study that was part of Gallup’s World Food Day survey, 40 percent of Filipinos reported having experienced hunger “often or sometimes” in the last 12 months.

‘Food not bad’

Sought for comment, some of the lawmakers who were among the President’s entourage did not want to make much of the affair.

Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said he remembered dining with the President in a New York restaurant but added that the place did not seem “fashionable.”

Suarez said there were probably more expensive restaurants in New York’s five-star hotels.

“I don’t find it fashionable. The food is not bad. As for the place, the surroundings were not pretty,” he told the Inquirer.

Deputy Speaker Amelita Villarosa said she doubted that a dinner bill during the trip could reach $20,000.

Villarosa said she remembered dining at Le Cirque but not the details because she had several lunches and dinners during the trip.

She said she did not think that the bill could run that high because servings were big in US restaurants and members of Ms Arroyo’s party usually shared their orders.

Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella said he missed the dinner because he came down with a cold and a cough in New York.

Hypocrisy

“The extravagance showed the Arroyo administration’s insensitivity and hypocrisy,” Binay said, adding that the dinner was held hours before Ms Arroyo and her party flew back to Manila ostensibly to catch former President Aquino’s wake.

Binay said spending a huge amount of money equivalent to three square meals for almost 3,000 poor families appeared to be Ms Arroyo’s idea of honoring and respecting Aquino.

“What they did was deplorable, especially if taxpayers’ money was spent. If they spent private money, what they did was in bad taste and again showed insensitivity to the millions of Filipinos who face hunger daily,” he said.With reports from Leila Salaverria and Niña Catherine Calleja

In the January 2009 crash, (truly a crash), they painted over all the Zest Air markings and colors within hours of impact. Seems that almost all their cashes involve landing and I can recall one that slammed the landing on a trip Manila. Having been in 2 minor plane crashes in the past 8 years, I was surprised the Asian Spirit landing gear didnt collapse from our landing.

• 1996, April: Asian Spirit starts operations.
• 1999, Dec 7th: Let L-410 Mountainside crash near Kasibu killing all 17 pax, (Asian Spirit).
• 2002, Sep 4th: de-Havilland Dash 7 from Manila to Caticlan (Boracay) could not deploy the right-side landing gear and returned to Manila for a crash landing, (Asian Spirit).
• 2005, Nov 14th: BAe-146-200 overshot the landing and stopped in a rice paddy at Catmaran, (Asian Spirit).
• 2008, Jan 2nd:  NAMC YS-11 overshot the landing and skidded off the runway in Masbate City, (Asian Spirit).
• 2009, Jan 11th: An MA-60 undershot the runway upon landing at Caticlan (Boracay), swerved sharply to the left and smashe through a concrete barrier, finally stopping parially insite of an airlines waiting lounge. Seriously crushing its nose. The plane’s landing gears and propellers also suffered major damage. Multiple injuries. (Zest Air)
• 2009, June 25th: An MA-60 overshot the runway when it landed at Caticlan, the airport serving Boracay, (Zest Air).

“MANILA: The Department of Health is officially announcing this evening the first confirmed case of influenza A(H1N1) in the Philippines,” Francisco Duque told reporters here by teleconference from the Geneva headquarters of the WHO.

A 10-year-old girl has become the first Influenza A(H1N1) flu case in the Philippines, the health department said on Thursday.  http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/430947/1/.html

Another woman is under observation in Aklan for H1N1.  When you consider that most foreign visitors to Boracay are the same countries with H1N1 (Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK), I’m surprised Boracay isn’t slammed.

I find it interesting they’re calming people by implying it came from the girls recent trip to the US (which is probably true), while on the same day Taiwan’s 4th  and 6th case of H1N1 came from people just returned from the Philippines, a day before being quarantined.

While in the Philippines capital, both the mother and her daughter participated in an international yoga event, which was also attended by people from the United States, Canada and Australia, all swine flu-affected areas.  taiwan news

That was four (4) days ago in Manila on Boracay and I’m wondering why the Philippines hasn’t made any public announcements trying to track everyone involved with this yoga class. The DoH and DoT keep saying it won’t have any impact on tourism, but its a Friday night on Boracay and the bars are empty.

Lunch

.
Howie Severino (GMA News) was doing a documentary on endangered birds called Bye Bye Birdie. Amazingly, they found and filmed a female Turnix worcesteri, the first such pictures/vid of a living specimen in history!

Thought to have been extinct, little known information on record, globally isolated only to Luzon….. it was sold the next day for ten pesos to a man for a meal of wild bird meat.

... and then there were only 40 left... again

.

.

.

.

Another local item; this one closer to my interests.  Number 41 of only 40 previously seen rare Megamouth Sharks was discovered in the Philippines, caught and later eaten. One of the rarest fishes in the world with only 40 others recorded to have been encountered, the World Wildlife Fund said it was 1,100-pound, 13-foot , caught March 30 off Burias island in the central Philippines. It was taken to nearby Donsol in Sorsogon province, where it was butchered and eaten, said Gregg Yan, who took pictures and tried to dissuade the fishermen from eating it. (endangered species be-damned apparently)

The fish was tagged “Megamouth 41″ — the 41st megamouth recorded in the world — by the Florida Museum of Natural History ….. then it was lunch

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/155286/Arroyo-orders-Boracay-cleared-of-moss            

MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo wants Boracay Island cleared of moss that gathered on the island-resort’s waters.The President gave the order after hosting visiting Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare there last weekend, during which she noticed moss encroaching into the shoreline, a report of online news site Visayan Daily Star (www.visayandailystar.com) said Thursday.

Boracay Eminent Persons Group secretary and island administrator Virtus Gil said they will hire workers to put up nets 150 meters from the shoreline to block the moss from the bathing area.

I’m not sure where they did that. I never saw any nets and the algae bloom was around for months. Must’ve been only in a certain area.

.

.

.

In other news, a plane is missing.

A twin-engine aircraft has gone missing today in the Philippines.  The plane, a twin-engine Britten-Norman Islander (RP-C764), departed Tuguegarao City Airport in the northern Philippines (Cagayan Province) at around 8:55 AM today, but failed to reach its destination in the town of Maconacon only 35 minutes away. ..The airplane carried five passengers and two crewmen.  …Weather at the time was reported to be “fairly good” by CAAP officials.

Here’s what the US taxpayers spent last year in ‘free lunch money’ to the people of the Philippines. Remember, this is only USAID. A single agency not including military money/equip. Several other agencies also spend monies here:

• $15 mil for education programs
• $15 mil Energy and Environment
• $26 mil Mindanao Peace and Development (WTF?)
• $10 mil Economic Growth / Democratic Governance
• $25 mil Health
• $21 mil over 2 years for anti-corruption (thats 10.5 mil/year going… where exactly? USAID cannot tell us because it’s handed directly over to to the RP gov’t.)
• $5 mil to the local area after Typhoon Frank (Fengshen) (really? Never saw that in the local news)
  
• Giving free health care in 639 cities in the RP (but Americans have none?)
• Gives food aid to the RP government for ‘peace’ although the govt is allowed to turn around and sell it through concessional sales. (PL 480 and Title I)
• Provides unspecified financing of UN programs where only the RP benefits.
• A KICKER: if you read page 17 of this new USAID document, an entirely new program starting this year (2009) will give … wait for it…. another $560 million American Taxpayer dollars to the Republic of the Philippines over 5 yrs.. for free!

NOW, JUST EXACTLY WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TELLING TO GET OUT!

And this is only a single US agency. There are many more doing similar things here. How is it that Korean and Chinese groups are allowed to make millionaires of themselves, locals insanely wealthy… but the Americans are still paying tons of cash into this country.. for free? No loan, no investment return.

• I was called racist when relating how my 3 dental and 3 medical events (local) were so bad, it would normally be malpractice and a loss of a medical license.
• I was threatened with deportation for breaking up a fight because a Filipino was assaulting an American with a weapon. I was called a racist. (she didn’t know the Filipino was an American Marine from California on his first trip to the RP)
• I spend money here, lots of it but am not allowed to have a job. The cash flows out of my pocket into the local economy.
• I am constantly getting ripped off by:
  • tricycle drivers always try charging white people triple the legal amount.
  • wet/produce market always try charging me double local rates.
  • store clerks ask for more than is shown on the register and try not giving a receipt.
  • I pay a delivery fee for some items and the drivers insist I owe them another fee or tip.
• The utility companies tried charging me a higher rate than was current at the time.
• I was ‘shook down’ by the traffic cops in Makati when it was obvious no-one they were pulling over had violated any laws, but were all white.

And if I EVER mention any of this in public, I’m called a racist against Filipino people and the next words are all the same “If you dont like it, then get out!”………. intersting……. If I did that…. If I got out and went back to America, and found one of those thousands of FIlipino bloggers working in the USA that complain about Americans, and I said that to them (if you dont like it, then get out)? – - – oh hell, the entire Filipino blogosphere would erupt with cries for my death and once again, calling me a racist!

That roachmotel I was in, Travelers Inn, it had to go. I even left my last night up for grabs. The snobby bitch downstairs kept interrupting me to say she wouldn’t deal with me until after 12 noon, checkout time. Huh? There was a roach on my arm that woke me up, but you cant (…interrupted again with the noon comment). She clearly expressed that updating her Multiply page was more important that an issue of health that should have them shut-down. Screw that mess, I walked a few blocks away for a room 3 times more expensive, I’m worth 5,000 php/night – right?

I like this 24hr room service, but now its coming on 2 weeks and I only went out once with G. Couldn’t walk for 3 days after that and was set to goto the hospital but M is back in country and we got sh*tfaced in my room… next day, I could magically walk.