‘… I hope — wherever he is — he has seen how I’ve tried to make up for my hardheadedness and is satisfied.’

TWO days ago, I took a trip down memory lane. I asked UP Manila Chancellor Dr. Michael Tee if I could pay him a courtesy call and he asked me to see him at 1 p.m.

So I took an early lunch at Cafe Adriatico then decided to troop over to the UP College of Medicine (UPCM) on Herran St. a bit earlier so I could drop in on my father’s old office.

My father was a professor of Physiology at UPCM from 1962 (the year I was born) to 1994 (the year after my mother passed away). Throughout those 32 years of teaching, hundreds and hundreds of students worked through his syllabus, which he would give his students at the start of the semester so they could complete the course at their own pace, with regular exams to eat their progress. From the rank of instructor, he reached the rank of professor (with some Roman numeral signifying his seniority) but I know he was equally proud of the fact that he became chair of the Department of Physiology in the 1980s, following the footsteps of his colleagues and classmates Drs Augusto Litonjua and Zenaida Bagabaldo.

His office was at the farthest right end of the second floor of the Salcedo Hall which houses the Biochemistry department on the ground floor. That building had three floors serviced by an old Otis elevator that I never rode because it took forever and often got stuck between floors. I remember a wall where you could find the portraits of past department chairpersons and I used to stare at them whenever I’d drop in for a visit.

My father never really pressured me to follow in his footsteps perhaps because my two brothers did, but yes at least twice he asked me whether I was interested. The first time was when I was in high school and very quickly, I said no, reasoning that “doctors are poor.” He calmly explained that I was wrong because his classmates who had good practices were not poor but since he chose to teach, he had to survive on an academic’s paycheck. That didn’t move me.

The second and last time he asked was when I was in the first year of my pre-law, saying that my general education could still be credited to a pre-med course. I still said no and he never asked again. He would just rib me whenever the medical board results would come out because for years and years the UPCM not only had a 100% passing rate, the topnotcher was always a UPCM grad. The same couldn’t be said of UP Law.

As I’ve grown old, I have grudgingly come to accept that my father was right. I should have taken up medicine. Perhaps I would have ended up a professor like him, living a simple life on an academician’s paycheck, but taking supreme satisfaction from the ranks of students who eventually graduate to become some of the best medical practitioners here and abroad. (Then again maybe not ha-ha). Or yes, maybe I would have chosen to practice and teach at the same time, getting the best of both worlds; in either case, I think it would have been a fulfilling life — medicine being such a noble profession.

But Fate has her ways, and so since I chose a different path, I’ve had to find ways to somehow contribute to his field and his beloved college and campus. And I’ve been fortunate as I’ve had employers (Coca-Cola and the Zamoras of Nickel Asia) that listened when I suggested we devote some support to PGH (Coca-Cola donated $1 million during the hospital centennial in 2007) and to the National Institutes of Health (a recipient of P50 million from Nickel Asia this year).

Today marks my father’s 8th death anniversary (and my 62nd birthday). While I didn’t listen to him (I rarely did ha-ha) I hope — wherever he is — he has seen how I’ve tried to make up for my hardheadedness and is satisfied.

‘No one is talking about the leakage — the corruption, the SOP — that is draining our people of their country’s wealth.’

YESTERDAY, I hosted breakfast for some friends from the media, politics and even national security (!!!), something I’ve been doing on weekends on and off since — believe it or not — 2005 when the “Hello Garci” tapes came out and we were wondering if it would mean the downfall of a presidency (it didn’t).

I remember: there were about 15 of us and we met every weekend at the Global Cafe in Greenbelt 3 each and every one of us would come with a kwento or a question and we would all try to figure out what the hell was going to happen next.

As the years passed, some people started to join less and less frequently, others would join this once, and sometimes we would have VIP guests so we could pick their brains, or grill them on this or that current or even past matter that was our “flavor of the breakfast.” Over the years, we’ve had a wide range of guests: senators, ex-PNP bigwigs, local government officials, budget experts who explained insertions in the national budget, and even young geology students. We even had James Yap once, when we decided to meet at Mary Grace in Serendra rather than in some Greenbelt restaurant; it was a timely meeting as James was then going through his legal issues with ex-wife Kris and, of course, we peppered James about “sub judice” matters, wishing him the best when breakfast was done.

It was maybe seven or so years ago when Nelson Navarro, who was such a rich source not only of pop historical trivia but also of salacious ones involving the rich and powerful, decided to dub our group “Los Rematados.” a group of a broad range of interests, backgrounds, and experience that make up for a very lively, sometimes passionate and almost always animated discussion every time we meet. Our regular weekend breakfasts are no longer that regular, but when we do get together (at times for dinner at Milkyway!) you can just imagine all the stories that get shared, all the opinions aired, and all the jokes said as well.

Yesterday was no different, as we sat around a long rectangular table at Wildflour Greenbelt 3. I was seated at one end, while my good friend Atty. Noel Ostrea was seated at the other. On both of the long sides of the table sat our regulars, the usual suspects whose names I shall not reveal for their own sake. But no, Nelson was not with us; he actually has not been coming to our meetings for some time now. Neither was Guillermo “Gil” Santos present, as he too has not been coming around for some time. But I can imagine that they were in that room, listening, but staying quiet.

The topics that provoked a lively discussion around the table were: first, the courtesy call by the current Vice President of the Philippines on the former Vice President of the Philippines; second, the courtesy call by the current Vice President of the Philippines on the former Vice President of the Philippines; and third, the courtesy call by the current Vice President of the Philippines on the former Vice President of the Philippines. Actually, there were a few more things we talked about over three hours, but I guess you can tell that for most of the people around the breakfast table, this was the topic du jour.

Without much to contribute, I just listened (as did Atty. Noel!) and to be faithful to my breakfast mates anyone sitting there would get to hear both sides: why the visit was a bad idea for the former VP and why it was good; why it was a bad idea for the current VP and why it was good. What if any were the political implications on the national as well as the local level, and what next?

The discussion was fast and furious, but there was something bothering me. As I listened, I heard this name and that, this party and that, this interest and that, this outlook and that. But to me, there was something bothersome because, on the one hand, the discussion was repetitive, while on the other hand, it was missing something very important.

What was repetitive to me was the fact that here we were, 19 years since we started the group, once again throwing names of politicians around and discussing who was for what and who was doing what. It struck me that while 19 years had passed and names had changed, we were still discussing issues that have been bedeviling us since long before “Garci.”

Which for me only further highlighted what we were missing. And that was focusing on very critical issues that are why we are a country that is always “ready to take off” but has actually been on hold at the end of the runway for 50 years now.

What was missing in my book was discussing an issue that Mayor Vico Sotto mentioned in one interview: corruption. The good mayor said that when we took over City Hall, he discovered that there was a practice of pocketing a significant amount of public funds. I just don’t remember if he said it was 10% or 20%.

Think about that. Even at the lower level of 10% — with a national budget of over P5 trillion, this means that every year P500 billion goes to pockets rather than projects, to mansions rather than municipal health centers, to sweethearts rather than to schools. That’s just 10% — P500 billion.

And that’s what bothers me about all the political talk already brewing around us for the 2025 elections and beyond. It’s about names and families and parties. No one is talking about the leakage — the corruption, the SOP — that is draining our people of their country’s wealth.

That is what is at stake. Now more than ever before.

‘As a Filipino observing the US elections from a safe distance, I am saddened and amused that this is the type of campaign being waged
in the US today.’

YES, Kamala Harris cheated during the last presidential debate. Not only did she get the questions ahead of time, but she was also wearing special earrings, one that doubled as earphones that allowed her husband, Doug, to whisper the answers to her.

Shame!

And yes, the Haitians flooding Springfield, Ohio are feasting on the beloved pets of the city residents. “Who Let the Dogs Out” is the new anthem of pet lovers all over Springfield who want to keep their pets safe from an inglorious death.

Shame!

And yes, the description of Kamala as a communist and fascist at the same time and in the same breadth is totally accurate. She does want to become a dictator to take away the freedoms of all American schoolchildren who will go to school one day, go home a few weeks later, and realize that someone had operated on their bodies to switch them from male to female or vice versa.

Shame!

The above are some of the charges flying from the mouths of Donald Trump, his running mate JD Vance, and their MAGA talking heads as they race to the finish line of the heavily contested presidential race. From my perspective, they should be laughable — except that millions of Americans take them seriously and put so many others at risk and in harm’s way. For example, the Governor of the State of Ohio and the Mayor of Springfield have time and again stated that the “eating the pets” claim is totally false and that the Haitians in their city are legal immigrants. And they’ve asked that a stop be put on the effort to spread those scurrilous claims. Both the Governor and the Mayor are members of the Republican Party.

As a Filipino observing the US elections from a safe distance, I am saddened and amused that this is the type of campaign being waged in the US today. Amused, well because the buffoonery on display for all to see is uniquely American. The claim, for example, that the Haitians have come from Haitia reminds me of a then vice president (also a Republican) who said something to the effect that he had to brush up on his Latin because he was going on a tour of Latin America.

I am also even more amused because there is an audience that laps it up. For example, years back Donald Trump was hitting then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, claiming that “she destroyed San Francisco.” Fast forward a decade or so and now Trump claims that Kamala Harris “destroyed San Francisco.” Makes me suspect that in the future, when Trump tries again and finds himself running against Gavin Newsome, Trump will again claim that Newsome “destroyed San Francisco.”

Either none of his devoted followers have noticed that it’s the same old song being played over and over again with just the names changed, or they have noticed but just don’t care.

And that’s where the sadness comes in. When the voting public seems to have no minimum standards against which they hold their public officials, then the public gets the leaders they deserve.

And this is true not just of America but also of the Philippines. As scandal after scandal is exposed which happens to you when you fall from power and are now naked and unprotected by the power and influence — even fear — that you used to wield. This is what politics in the Philippines has always been — a cycle of corruption and exposes that never ends because “weather-weather lang ‘yan” never ends, too.

Alice Guo is just the latest, with some of the more noteworthy big ones being Quirino’s golden “inidoro” (toilet bowl) to Macapagal’s Harry Stonehill connection to the Marcos years and the Cory years and PEA-Amari and BW and Pharmally.

I am not sure if there will be a new generation of Americans who will wake up. I am not sure if there will be a new generation of Filipinos who will wake up. In my six decades, I’ve seen stirrings that have been easily snuffed out. So I am not sure if I am still hopeful.

Alice Guo does not represent the rot that has eaten away at the decency of the Philippine political elite. Kamala cheated. The Haitians from Haitia eat the dogs and cats.

This is the state of politics in 2024. Shame!