Some Government Spokespersons on “fake rice” are irresponsible

Some Government Spokespersons on “fake rice”

are irresponsible

by Apolinario Villalobos

It is a fact that fake rice proliferates in the local market. However, it is just irritating to listen to government spokespersons talking about the “fake rice” and the “vitamin- fortified rice”. They do not even make a distinction between the fake rice and the vitamin-rice, the first of which is the iron-fortified rice. Now, there is a so-called “corn-rice”. They do not even emphasize that fortifying the rice with nutrients does not make it fake. They make a joke about the issue by saying that it is better for the poor Filipinos to eat fake rice because it is fortified with vitamins!…and that is what I mean by their irresponsibility.

A day after the issue on the fake rice exploded, a government official even assured the Filipinos that the fake rice processed with resin and plastic can only poison the body after at least a month of consumption! So, with those kind of government officials that the country has today, what do we expect?

While the people’s money is just left to be stolen by the greedy officials and lawmakers, the government failed to spend for an information drive about the different nutrient-vitamin rice that are now in the market. The rice-corn in the shelves of the supermarket is not given much attention by shoppers who may be presuming that it is another GMO. The iron-fortified rice, on the other hand that has been circulated for a long time now, failed to attract the interest of Filipinos, especially, those who need such nutrient.

Processing the clean rice for the fortification is different from that of modifying the genes of plants or animals, as part of the latter is “feeding” or injecting into the growing subject organism, the enhancing genes. Nothing about this information is being undertaken by the Bureau of Plant Industry or the Department of Health and other agencies involved in the consumption of rice and other food products.

The Belated Reaction of Vitangcol…a hair-pulling regret!

The Belated Reaction of Vitangcol

…a hair-pulling regret!

By Apolinario Villalobos

Had Vitangcol revealed everything that he knew to explain his side, just when he was served his goodbye notice, he would not be pulling his hair today out of consternation after the Ombudsman has charged him as regards the Metro Rail Transit transactions, while those who signed the documents went scot-free. But first, he must accept the fact that without his endorsement, Abaya would not have signed any document…that is how the functions in an office flow, be it private or government. The boss signs if the assistant tells him that a certain document is OK as indicated by either his initial on the document itself, or a “top sheet” that consists of a covering endorsement/memo. If Abaya will go technical, he can wash his hands and be slapped with just a mild penalty.

Now, very belatedly, he is detailing how the different processes in the agency that he left are being done to show that he is the least guilty, implying at the same time, the serious culpability of Abaya, the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communication, being one of the principal signatories to the questioned transactions. Why did he maintain his eerie silence for a long time? Was he hoping that the Administration will interfere in his favor, as it is wont to do in other cases of supposedly favored President’s “aides”? Sorry for him, as Pnoy must have perceived him as just a mere insignificant personality, unlike Abaya who heads the Liberal Party!

Vitangcol should have understood how politics works in the Philippines before joining the “gang” so that he could have prepared himself if he would go on a spree of questionable undertaking, and which he did thinking that he was safely leaning on a solid wall which proved to be just a pock-marked presumption, so now he is reaping what he sow.

He clearly committed the same mistake that Purisima did – by stubbornly holding on to his dear, well-paid position, thinking that he is an important fixture in the Aquino administration. He even had the courage to exchange heated arguments with a foreign Consul who accused him of bribery, still thinking that the Administration would come to his rescue. He should have left his office posthaste as soon as he felt that his misdoings were already exposing him. Just like Purisima, he waited until the public’s irritation practically exploded on his face. As usual, their cases are one of regrets coming very much late…a painful lesson to learn!

Finally, Vitangcol should better stop acting like a cry-baby, and start organizing his defense if he does not want to lose his “well-earned (?)” and “honestly-earned (?)” benefits, or worse,… face the consequence behind the iron bars?

Tolerating Corruption is Similar to Committing it, too…

Tolerating Corruption is Similar to

Committing it, too..

By Apolinario Villalobos

With the state of the nation wherein the halls of the governments are reverberating with the sound of corruption, colleagues of identified government personalities, and even the President cannot just simply wash their hands and insist on their innocence. They are not deaf and blind not to be aware of what are happening around them. They should stop playing charade and act out innocent roles to save themselves from the scandals that are rocking the already ailing political system.

The issue on the fake NGOs and buying of the lawmakers’ budgets by NGO operators, such as Napoles who is now being charged with layers of cases, is one instance. Lawmakers have been quoted before as saying that they were aware of such happening, in fact offered, but they did not “bite” the tempting proposals.  If they knew about all those shenanigans to be happening around them, why did they not do something at the earliest possible time so that more harm to the government coffer would have been prevented?

Unfortunately for them, as the scandal ballooned, most of them were dragged, but they valiantly fought for their innocence which the Filipinos no longer believed. With much effort, they countered accusations with their “ignorance” about the manipulation being done to their budget. Not even the President cannot shy away from the scrutiny, as even the alleged misappropriation of his PDAF, has been questioned by the Supreme Court.

Do the above situations show that our government is so pathetic that even the supposedly intelligent officials voted by the people to their positions do not have enough common sense in checking what are happening to their budgets? Are they not aware of their responsibilities such that every time anomalies occur, what they immediately do is just put up some kind of a defense to save their image? Or, they are just desperately making obvious cover-ups!