Damage control won’t solve ‘laglag-bala’

The Aldub phenomenon could still be lording it in global Twitterland as garnering the most  tweets, more than 40 million at its peak. But with the laglag-bala (bullet-planting) controversies hogging almost daily national and local headlines including overseas newspapers and TV channels, especially online, the attention of most netizens is  no longer focused on the former split-screen lovers.  But unlike in the Aldub craze where fans both young and old share kilig moments (romantic thrills), people are anxious, confused and very angry over the laglag-bala scam and over state officials’ continued inaction  on the situation at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Government officials clearly misread the situation when they tried to dismiss the problem by saying that only a few passengers with bullets found in their luggage have been apprehended  compared to hundreds of thousands who pass through the national gateway daily without any hassle.

Netizens right away decried Secretary. Herminio Coloma’s utterances, and I agree with most of comments that are spreading in social media.   The NAIA is the Philippine gateway that carries the name of the father of the sitting president.  One case is too many.  The airport should be a showcase for efficiency and safety, a pleasure for passengers to pass through, not a place where you need to have a lawyer at arm’s length in case a bullet pops up from your plastic-wrapped luggage.

I think CNN and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were the first to report the story, followed by Time Magazine and the New York Times quoting the BBC as source.

Time Magazine put out a very harsh headline, “Airport Security in the Philippines Have Been Putting Bullets in Luggage to Extort Passengers” in its World News section on October 30, 2015.

These days, Filipino news services manned by OFWs follow up the story with online updates coupled with harsh comments that usually end up in social networking sites.   The latest round of international news to strike another wound in our national pride is the United Nations’ warning to its staff members, to be careful and to mind their luggage when passing through NAIA.

Practically the whole world is convinced a crime syndicate plies its nefarious trade inside the airport, with overseas Filipino workers and foreign tourists as main targets.  The wonder of it all is that the administration continues to adopt clumsy damage control strategies in addressing the deplorable situation by resolutely keeping NAIA general manager Angel Honrado and by assigning the investigation to the Department of Transportation and Communications, the very agency that failed to act on the problem when it first reared its ugly head, thereby allowing the situation to deteriorate.

By sweeping the problem under the rug, the administration virtually puts a bullet in its head.

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President Aquino is going to visit Cebu to attend  a public rally similar to the so-called “Show of Force” mobilized by the cooperative sector on Oct.  24, 2015 in Pasay City, marking the centennial celebration of Philippine cooperatives.

Cletus Villamor, senior cooperative development specialist of the regional Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), revealed this  during a taping of the advocacy show, “Co-op TV” over CCTN Channel 47 last Tuesday.

According to the CDA executive, P-Noy, who was a no-show during the centennial celebration, will engage Visayas cooperators in a gathering spearheaded by Co-op Natcco Partylist through Rep. Cresente “Cres” Paez.  Congressman Paez is in the senatorial slate of the Liberal Party as guest candidate representing the co-op partylist bloc.

The “Show of Force” in Pasay City, which assembled more than 24,000 warm bodies, was meant to underline the political muscle of the cooperative sector: 13 million members who, if they’re united in next year’s elections, can make or unmake a national candidate.   Politicians who had moved to scrap the tax exempt status of co-ops better watch out in 2016.

The centennial celebration of PH cooperatives was lonely in the sense that the president was not around to boost the people’s movement.  Co-ops are very resilient; they certainly don’t need politicians to prop them up but the centenary was like a birthday party where you expected your parents to attend and give you importance.

I guess P-Noy will try to make up for lost opportunity, that is, if he can make good his supposed commitment to grace the cooperative gathering on  Dec. 12, 2015 in Hoopsdome, Lapu-Lapu City.

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One of the bright spots in the PH Cooperative movement is the setting up of a cooperative media consortium called the Cooperative Federation of Mindanao or CO-OP TV for short.  The country’s big cooperatives have joined forces to form a cooperative-run TV channel based in Cagayan de Oro City.

The Cooperative Channel 99 will be launched today in Cagayan de Oro City.   I offer my warmest congratulations.  As a co-op advocate, I’m humbled and privileged at the same time to be invited to this historic occasion.