May 16 - 31, 2018
OPINION
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
Rey Fortaleza - Publisher
Carlito Pablo - Editorial Consultant
Rosette Correa - Senior Editor
Jun Cordero - Associate Editor
Writers - Crisanta Sampang ; Columnists - Geoff Meggs, Ben Berto, Editha Corrales, Mon
Datol, Fr. Jerry Orbos SVD, DeeDee Sytangco, Alan Samuel, Erie Maestro, Sandee M.
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Breaking
Point
When the bottom falls out
By Rosette Correa
The last nail on the cof-
fin. The last straw that broke
the camel’s back. The end of
the road. Painting yourself in
a corner. Point of no return.
Digging your own grave. Bit-
ing off more than PM Justin
Trudeau can chew.
There are no idioms
enough to express how the
Canadian taxpayer feels about
being held hostage from the
“purchase” of the Kinder Mor-
gan pipeline. It had disaster
written all over it from the get
go. No amount of cursing can
express the disgust and revul-
sion Canadians feel about
the Trudeau federal govern-
ment that has made itself a
sad hostage to a Texas-based
pipeline company known for
its frugality, and Canada has
given it $4.5 billion as a life
vest. And it’s not even a Ca-
nadian company worthy of
saving, but a multi-million
American capitalist. Instead of
throwing in the towel and let-
ting Kinder Morgan pack it in,
the Trudeau government en-
courages it to fight, and fight
the Canadians it did. Worse,
Kinder Morgan has the Cana-
dian government on its side,
instead of it taking our side.
They’re making
a killing out of us and out of
our taxes.
What most people don’t
know is that the reason why
the Trudeau government had
to bite the bullet is because
Kinder Morgan doesn’t want
to spend the money it needs
to invest in a high-risk $7.4
billion pipeline, and has been
looking for a way out in the
last few months that it has
been “negotiating” with Can-
ada. It has blamed project de-
lays on the B.C. government
as well as First Nations and
citizen and activist groups’ re-
sistance to the pipeline.
Kinder Morgan grabbed
Trudeau by the collar and
delivered a Texas-sized ran-
som note that demanded to
bail them out or they walk.
Trudeau, a smiling hostage,
declared the construction of
the megaproject a matter of
“national interest” — without
an independent cost-benefit
analysis from any notable or-
ganization, or consultation
from any other agency.
With their tail between
their legs, Trudeau and his
cohorts run and then whip up
a brilliant plan, and gives 36
Bulong
Pulungan
By Deedee Siytangco
Reprinted from Manila Bulletin
ANGEL THOUGHTS
“Belated
loving
thoughts and appreciation to
all mothers, ‘inays,’ mamas,
moms, ‘indas,’ out there
today. Enjoy the month-long
fuss and pampering from
your love fruits. You deserve
it! And prayers for our moms
in heaven!”
Parents of John Francis
Sarmenta, Rey and Baby,
have high hopes for their
hemophiliac son. Francis is
now 27 years old and on his
masteral course (psychology)
in Ateneo. Although he
appears to be at the peak of
good health, they still worry
about his health every day. So
does Francis.
You see, he is afflicted
with a rare blood disorder that
million Canadians the tab for
their mess. Of course, Alber-
ta Premiere and Kinder Mor-
gan cheerleader Rachel Not-
ley approves, and waves her
pompoms in the air for the
seemingly idiot-proof plan.
She defends the move as one
that would help the economy
and provide jobs - and that’s
only 15,000 jobs in the next
two years. Now that Canadi-
ans have to pay for it, I won-
der if she’s still thinking that
it’s worth the stares as she
walks on the streets. While BC
is still digging its heels in the
sand, Notley is popping the
cork. British Columbians are
thinking, if Alberta wants it so
bad, let them pay for it. Better
yet, let Notley pay for it.
$4.5 billion would pay
for a lot of things more im-
portant. Universal childcare,
extended healthcare, national
housing program, affordable
housing, just to name a few,
was on the planning block.
Now, I guess we trash those
because we just bought a
pipeline. Bill Morneau claims
Canadians can benefit from
this because it would be re-
sold to some groups, includ-
ing the indigenous people and
the Canadian Pension Plan
- two groups that would gain
nothing from investing in this
nightmare. The indigenous
people are already protest-
ing the whole thing, and the
elderly don’t need oil - they
need money to enjoy their re-
tirement. Morneau’s inability
to lie through his nose is piti-
ful, and his attempt to defend
the decision of his govern-
ment is truly lamentable, and
his lackluster press confer-
ence just shows how he has
realized he just shot himself in
the foot for taking on the task
of lying to the whole country.
No one could be kind-
er to Kinder Morgan but the
Trudeau Liberal government,
because the latter has forgot-
ten that it should be serving
its people, not the big com-
panies like KM. It can’t save
its own hide from the unwise
decision it has made, and
the result of its decision will
be felt in the generations to
come, be it the environmen-
tal or financial consequenc-
es. Trudeau and the Liberal
government has definitely
cut its own throat and is try-
ing to save a dead duck, but
once Kinder Morgan is built, it
would cook Canada’s goose.
Dusit’s new center of excellence
causes internal
bleeding at the
joints and muscles, produces
bruises at the slightest bump
or irritation because of clotting
disorder. And uncontrolled
internal bleeding can be fatal
if left untreated. As Francis
himself describes his life-long
condition, “It’s like living inside
a glass body.”Any moment,
he can bleed from a number
of reasons.
He uses a cane these
days because of a bleeding
incident on his knees, but
otherwise he is very upbeat in
finishing his masteral course
and maybe teach in his
university. He is still single, by
choice he says.
He is only one among
1,500 identified hemophiliacs
in the country as most victims
of this genetic illness die
without knowing they had
the extremely rare disease.
Haplos, which the Sarmentas
helped co-found years ago as
a support group for families
with hemophiliac victims and
members of their families is
still trying to get a data base
on other patients and vital
government support.
It’s an expensive disease
as the medicine administered
during the bleeding period,
from surgeries, bumps, tooth
extraction, or circumcision
is fully imported, says
Rachel David of Novondroisl
Philippines. The males get
the disease, but the females
are the carriers of the
chromosomes, we were told.
“The life-long severe
complication of hemophilia is
very preventable with proper
medical attention,” pointed
out by a mother of a severely
hemophiliac
boy,
Maria
Lourdes Formalejo, president
of Haplos. Dr. Flerida G.
Hernandez,
treasurer
of
Haplos informed us in Bulong
Pulungan sa Sofitel that their
group and the Philippine
Society of Hematology and
Blood
Transfusion
have
already submitted a proposal
for a Hemophilia Treatment
Package to PhilHealth. Until
now, no action. Incidentally,
Dr. Hernandez has two
brothers suffering from the
disease.
To help their cause,
Haplos launched its intensified
Hemophilia Awareness and
Advocacy program last April
17, National Hemophilia Day
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
in the country.
* * *
Good
news.
Dusit
Hospitality
Management
College (DHMC), an innovative
new hotel school that blends
learning
and
on-the-job
training, has partnered with
two of the world’s most trusted
names in hospitality education
to ensure its students are fully
qualified to pursue careers
around the globe. This
school will open on August
for local and international
students who want first-class,
global standard education,
Evelyn Singson, president
and vice chair of Dusit Thani
Philippines, Inc and president
of the new educational facility
told us about the school that
is already in the finishing
stages in The
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