Anti-drug courier campaign goes to Antique

n Pilar S. Mabaquiao

SAN JOSE, Antique – The fourth leg of the campaign on Anti- Drug Couriers in Region 6 goes to the province of Antique reaching out to various sectors exposing the modus operandi of drug syndicates.

The advocacy group of Task Force Drug Couriers in Region 6 spearheaded the briefing on drug couriers at Pinnacle Suites and Functions, San Jose, Antique on Friday

More than 90 participants from multi-sectoral groups such the Philippine National Police, municipal mayors, heads of government agencies, non-government organizations, information officers and members of the media attended the briefing.

Regional Director Paul Ledesma, of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6 underscored the importance of family and community awareness to the issues of drug mules so that they can deter the recruitment at the local level.

"Concerted efforts are needed not only by the law enforcers but also by the families, communities and various agencies and private sectors to prevent recruitment of drug couriers," Ledesma said.

PDEA cited some modus operandi of drug syndicates such as offering some huge amount in exchange of carrying some luggage or packages not knowing that drugs are placed inside, meeting through the internet, some marry the locals that later turn couriers or cohorts.

More often Filipinos are recruited as tourists to different Asian countries which don’t require visa with airfare and hotel accommodations and given huge amount of money after a successful delivery, explained Ledesma.

Syndicates are more aggressive now couriers being forced to ingest the drugs, or to hide the drugs in his/her private parts.

The source further cited reasons why Filipinos are lured to become drug mules. On top of the list is poverty, unemployment, poor educational background, attracted to the idea of travelling abroad and easy money where mules are given $2000 for every successful delivery.

Statistics revealed that more women are recruited as drug mules with 431 and only 258 men.

On the other hand, Atty. Ma. Janet C. Mesa, regional director of Philippine Information Agency 6 (PIA) echoed the statement of the Department of Foreign Affairs that the government has done everything to protect the right of Filipino nationals arrested abroad however, those countries where these Filipinos were arrested have their own laws to follow, and we can’t intervene while the judicial process is going on.

Ms. Rhea Glynda D. Calantas, officer-in-charge of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Cris Erpe of the Department of Foreign Affairs also joined the advocacy group to call for concerted efforts to put a stop in human and drug trafficking.

Task Force Drug Couriers is headed by PDEA and DFA. Its member agencies are Dept of Labor and Employment and Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration, Customs, National Bureau of Investigation , PIA. Manila International Airport Authority, Commission on Higher Education, OP-ES, PNP-ASG, Phil Tourism Authority and others. – JCM/PSM/PIA6 Antique

IOs to drive on info superhighway

SAN JOSE, Antique — With the emergence of the new media, information officers (IOs) are now challenged to drive on the information superhighway.
IOs should be steadfast in disseminating development information using various media, said James Cabag, operations officer of the Philippine Information Agency 6 (PIA-6).
Cabag spoke during the oath-taking ceremony of the Antique Association of Information Officers (AAIO) on March 24 in Culasi town.
To reach more people, IOs can make use of electronic media, social networking and online journalism to get the message across, he said.
We need not compete but forge a partnership with the various forms of mass media so we can send our message to the target audience, he added.
On the same note, PIA-Antique Manager Margie Gadian said people have the right to know and be informed so they can make quality decisions, stand on their feet and not be totally dependent on the government.
“The responsibility of making just a dent in the lives of our countrymen through the work that we do is a great challenge, but given the dedication and commitment we all give to our work, I see no reason why we will fail,” Gadian said.
She likewise thanked the town mayors and heads of offices for the untiring support they give to their IOs.
The AAIO, through their President John John Sumanting, has vowed to do their part in building a well-informed community. (PSM/PIA/PN)

HOT FM Bugasong Past and Present DJ's

Pia: 'TV shows should be mindful of children's rights'

Senator Pia S. Cayetano today weighed in on the controversy created by the March 12 episode of 'Willing Willie' on TV5 during which a six-year-old boy, known only as 'Jan-Jan,' was made to gyrate like a macho dancer during one of the show's segments.

"It is very disturbing that this incident took place," said Cayetano, who chairs the Senate Committee on Youth, Women and Family Relations. "The producers of shows should be mindful that the rights of the child are respected all the time, on and off the air."

"In this case, the issuance of a public apology by TV5, the producers of 'Willing Willie' and Mr. Revillame himself indicates their recognition of the wrongful act that had been committed."

"I hope this unfortunate incident serves as a lesson to all on the importance of respecting the rights of the child and prevents similar occurrences in the future.

Philippines: China executes 3 Filipino drug mules

By HRVOJE HRANJSKI, Associated Press – Wed Mar 30, 1:38 am ET

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government said China on Wednesday executed three Filipinos convicted of drug smuggling despite last-minute appeals for clemency and political concessions by the Southeast Asian country's leaders.
Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, 32, and Ramon Credo, 42, met their families for the last time early Wednesday before they were put to death by lethal injection in Xiamen city in southeastern China, said Philippine Consul Noel Novicio. Elizabeth Batain, 38, was allowed to meet with her relatives hours ahead of her execution in southeastern Shenzhen city, Novicio said.
The three were not aware they would be executed Wednesday, although their sentences were promulgated early in the day, Novicio said. It was the first time that Philippine citizens were executed in China.
China normally does not announce executions. Amnesty International says China is the world's biggest executioner, with thousands of convicts killed every year. The Philippines has abolished the death penalty.
"They already gave us (her) things. It's too much, they gave us only one hour (with her). They have no mercy," Ordinario-Villanueva's sister, Maylene Ordinario, said in a text message from Xiamen to her family in the Philippines.
She said that her sister was blessed by a priest and "she said she wants to be forgiven for all her sins, but she insisted that she was a victim."
"She asked us to take care of her children, to take care of each other and to help one another. I have not accepted what will happen. We are forcing ourselves to accept it, but I can't," she told Manila radio station DZBB.
Neighbors, relatives and activists held overnight vigils at the homes of the condemned, offering prayers to the distraught family members. The dominant Roman Catholic Church, which opposes the death penalty, held special Mass in Manila.
The three were arrested separately in 2008 carrying packages containing at least 8 pounds (4 kilograms) of heroin. They were convicted and sentenced in 2009.
In its appeal for clemency — which included three letters by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III to his Chinese counterpart and a February visit to Beijing by the vice president, which prompted China to postpone the executions by a month — the government said it was able to prove that a drug syndicate took advantage of the Filipinos. It said that Philippine authorities had succeeded in identifying and arresting some members of the syndicate.
Jayson Ordinario, Ordinario-Villanueva's younger brother, said last week that his sister was hired as a cellphone dealer in Xiamen and was tricked into carrying a bag that had a secret compartment loaded with heroin, allegedly by her job recruiter.
China defended the executions.
"Drug trafficking is universally recognized as a severe crime," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters at a regular news conference Tuesday in Beijing. "In China, our judicial authorities handled the case independently and we grant equal treatment to foreign drug traffickers. The involved individuals rights and treatment are ensured and safeguarded according to the law. China has fulfilled its international obligations in the process."
She added, "We'd like to stress this is an isolated individual case. We would not like to see any impact on bilateral relations."
Smuggling more than 50 grams of heroin or other drugs is punishable by death in China.
In another move seeking to spare the Filipinos, Aquino decided not to send a representative to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December in Oslo, Norway, honoring a jailed Chinese dissident. Manila also deported to Beijing last month 14 Taiwanese facing fraud charges in China despite protests from Taipei.
China and the Philippines also are facing off in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, one of the world's busiest sea lanes, where a Philippine oil exploration ship last month reported being harassed by two Chinese patrol boats. They left after the Philippine military deployed two aircraft.
The Chinese ambassador in Manila said earlier that the executions had nothing to do with the territorial spat.
The plight of Filipinos overseas is an emotional issue in the Philippines and one of the pillars of the country's foreign policy. About 10 percent of the Philippines' 94 million people toil abroad to escape widespread poverty and unemployment at home.

Statement of Senator Pia S. Cayetano Chairperson, Senate Committee on Youth, Women and Family Relations

“As a nation, we grieve for the loss of our kababayans who were executed in China today. But along with our sympathies to their families and loved ones, we must also look into the circumstances that have brought abut the situation. 

“In China alone, about 70 of our kababayans are facing execution for drug trafficking while about a hundred more are on death row in other countries.”

Japan radiation reaches PH but…

MANILA – Radiation from Japan’s damaged nuclear plant has reached the Philippines, the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) said. But the radiation traces were so miniscule these could not possibly endanger Filipinos or other living things, stressed PNRI spokesperson Tina Cerbolis yesterday. “We would like to ask the public not to panic,” she said. PNRI monitored the radiation traces in its Quezon City main office. These were at 93-115 nanoSieverts per hour (nSv/h) level, which is “normal,” Cerbolis stressed. Radioactive materials from Japan reached the country due to a “change in wind direction,” she explained. “Extremely high levels of radiation (10 million times normal) appeared to be a reporting error and had been retracted by Tokyo Electric Power Company, operator of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. Nevertheless, high levels of radiation remain inside the power plant and pose danger only to the emergency workers there,” PNRI said in its advisory released yesterday. China and South Korea, which were nearer to Japan, also reported yesterday that small traces of radioactive iodine-131 were detected in their territories but that these were not harmful to humans. The nearest major Philippine coastline to the stricken plant is about 2,500 kilometers to its southwest, with the Philippine capital Manila around 500 kilometers further. For the latest information, the PNRI advised the public to access the websites of the following: * International Atomic Energy Agency * Nuclear and Industrial Safety Administration of Japan; and * World Health Organization. “For further advisories, please call the PNRI trunk lines 929-6010 to 19, or visit the websites of the Department of Science and Technology, the PNRI or the Science and Technology Information Institute,” said Cerbolis. In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan insisted yesterday that the country was on “maximum alert” to bring its nuclear crisis under control, but the spread of radiation raised concerns about the ability of experts to stabilize the crippled reactor complex. The magnitude-9.0 offshore earthquake on March 11 triggered a tsunami that slammed minutes later into Japan’s northeast, wiping out towns and knocking out power and backup systems at the coastal Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Police said more than 11,000 bodies have been recovered, but the final death toll is expected to exceed 18,000. Hundreds of thousands remain homeless, their homes and livelihoods destroyed. Damage could amount to $310 billion — the most expensive natural disaster on record, the government said. Against the backdrop of the humanitarian disaster, the drama at the power plant has unfolded, with workers fighting fires, explosions, radiation scares and miscalculations in the frantic bid to prevent a complete meltdown. The plant has been leaking radiation that has made its way into vegetables, raw milk and tap water as far away as Tokyo. Residents within 20 kilometers of the plant were ordered to leave and some nations banned the imports of food products from the Fukushima region. Highly toxic plutonium was the latest contaminant found seeping into the soil outside the plant. (With reports from the Philippine News Agency, abs-cbnnews.com, AP and AFP/PN)

What is the RH bill?

Dahli Aspillera

‘Interview at CBCP prayer rally, Luneta, Friday: “Masama daw ang RH. The priest says it is a law to allow the killing of babies.”’

THE Reproductive Health bill legislators were attentive to content and clarity. Still, newspaper columnist Bobit Avila allows his biases and blind allegiance to the CBCP to distort his understanding.

Avila: "(T)he Catholic group [in Cebu promoting the RH bill] is part of that grand deception, that taking contraceptive pills, condoms or IUDs which are all abortifacients is part of a woman’s human rights. No one has any right to kill the innocent and the unborn…."

My reply: With contraceptives, condoms or IUDs, there is no fertilized egg, no zygote, no fetus yet; only billions of ejaculated sperms. Is Avila referring to killing innocent and unborn sperms?

Were Avila to do his homework, he might check with respected medical institutions. Objective scientists can tell him what are abortifacients and what are contraceptives. Condoms and IUDs prevent the female egg and the male sperm from meeting and fertilizing. Kept apart, no fertilization happened; billions of live sperms just went down the bathroom drain to die. Avila lumps abortifacients, RH bill, abortion, contraceptives, to keep romano Filipinos confused and ill-informed.

Is Avila telling us that condom and IUD are mortal sin because billions of innocent and unborn live sperms are spewed out and die without getting fertilized? What about Avila’s billions of innocent live sperms flushed down his toilet to die?

The CBCP Rhythm Calendar which does not work, never worked, should be called Abortion Calendar. Nightly scenario: The horny or drunk or drugged man is standing by the bed, all high, and his woman is waving The Rhythm Calendar at him. She is pregnant the next day, of course, and soon off to an illegal back-street abortionist who stops her pregnancy with chopstick and wire hanger.

Avila: "(A)n unheard of group that calls themselves ‘Catholics for RH’…at the Cebu Port Area. Let me say to those so-called Catholics that they are better off joining other Christian faiths if they do not obey the tenets and doctrines laid down by the Catholic Church. Now where did these people come from? Hence I would like to make an appeal to the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to make an official statement denouncing this group for their effort in trying to deceive our Catholic brethren into believing that they are sanctioned by the Catholic Church."

My reply: Those promoting the RH bill in Cebu are liberal catholics, but not romano, and not controlled by the CBCP. The romanos do not have an exclusivity to the word catholic. In the dictionary, the #1 meaning of the word catholic is liberal, universal. Since Avila asked, those Filipinos promoting the RH bill were former romanos. They got so disgusted with the asinine dictates of the Vatican that they are now of other Christian catholic universal churches.

Avila should always say "romano" when referring to his church. Those promoting the RH bill do not need or want the sanction of the romano church. These are moral, decent God-fearing catholic Filipinos from non-romano Christian churches.

Avila: "Perhaps we should ask… is God pleased with us? Let me say clearly that if we continue to displease God by going against his will, we too could suffer a cataclysmic natural disaster. By going against God’s will, I’m referring to that still controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill."

My reply: In his "we too," is Avila saying that that tragedy that destroyed north Japan and 13,000 Japanese was because Japan displeased the Avila god? This Avila god is now saying, ok, pass the RH, and I send the tsunami, earthquake to nuke the Philippines?

Then, columnist Jose C. Sison adds: "Being the last country standing against this [RH bill] threat, there is an urgent need to stop [RH]…." Sison is saying Congress is wasting its time deliberating on a "threat"? PH is not the last country. Second to the last. Malta has a CBCM worse than the CBCP.

Random radio interviews at the CBCP prayer rally at the Luneta Friday: "What do you know about the RH bill?"

*My school told everyone go Rizal Park so my classmates and I are here having a picnic.

*The RH bill will prohibit condom use because condom is mortal sin.

*The RH bill will force women to have abortions.

*I will commit sin if I do not demonstrate against the RH bill.

*If I do not come here, they say I cannot receive communion anymore.

*Ewan kung ano itong RH bill. Napasakay lang kami sa bus ng iglesia para magpasyal sa Luneta.

*Ang RH bill daw sabi ng Couples for Christ pag nag-anak ka ng higit sa dalawa, kukunin ng Welfare ang baby mo.

RH Bill will pass congress- Lagman

LEGAZPI CITY – Representative Edcel C. Lagman of the 1st district of Albay, one of the principal authors of the controversial Responsible Parenthood-Reproductive Health (RH) Bill otherwise known as HB No. 4244, said today that he was confident that the RH Bill will be approved by congress.
He said he based his optimism on the following reasons, first, there are already more than 100 congressmen who support the passage of the Bill; second, the house leadership under speaker Sonny Belmonte is sympathetic to the measure if we based it on his record during his three term as mayor of Quezon city when he caused the passage of a local ordinance similar to the RH Bill; and third the stand of President Benigno S. Aquino III that he was pushing for responsible parenthood and for an informed choice.
The 1st district solon said that several surveys conducted by reputable polling firms, like the Social Weather Station and Polls Asia, have shown that more than 70 percent of Filipinos are in favor of the passage of the Bill even if majority of Filipinos are devout Catholics.
Lagman said that he will treat the passage of the RH Bill to be his diploma when he graduates from the fifteenth congress.
He also stressed that the RH Bill does not contain any provision legalizing abortion, on the contrary it is pro-life and will reduced by 85 percent the induced abortion reported cases which average about 800,000 cases per year because of lack of access to family planning services offered under the Bill.
Furthermore, the passage of the bill will be able to approximate the targets under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) regarding health, maternal and child care, education, poverty, population management, and environment care.
Lagman also said that the proponents of the RH BILL are ready to be interpellated during the plenary session but so far the oppositors are trying to delay the proceedings by questioning the quorum.
Lagman and and partylist Rep. Angelo Palmones of AGHAM were here as guest speakers during the Policy Forum on Responsible Parenthood- Reproductive Health Bill held here today. (Ed de Leon)

AVS Batch 86 gears for Silver Anniversary Celebration

Food and Beverage Service (FBS) in Bugasong, Antique

Killing softly the RH Bill protests

ACCENTS
By JULIA CARREON-LAGOC

THE protesters against the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill come in droves — placards, loud speeches and all — all over the land.

The anti-RH clearly outnumbered the pro-RH — to be expected in a predominantly Catholic country. For who can stand the tsunami might of the CBCP? You know what the acronym means. Nonetheless, this question: How many of the rallyists were really against the bill?
The March 25 rally in Luneta was called the “grandmother” of all rallies. Did the Church employ the deplorable “hakot system” of the pre-Martial Law days? Did the moral ascendancy of the priests and nuns impact on their students to create the “grandmother” of all rallies? Just thinking out loud.
Reprinting hereunder my column that was adjudged Runner-up for Best in Opinion Writing – Print Category in the 2007 Population Development Media Awards — one more shot in the advocacy to curb the runaway population and to softly kill the RH Bill protests.
***
A BRIGHTER DAY FOR LITTLE JANE
Ashland, Oregon, USA, July 8 — The Pinoy retirees (that’s Rudy and me) were restfully seated on the concrete bench around a tree that gave ample shade. One of those moments when all you do is take in the passing show of humanity after limbs begin to tire out and shoulders start to hang down. Especially after we’ve checked out Ashland’s malls before the evening show of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, one of the plays scheduled for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
A motley crowd of passers-by provided an interesting diversion. A “Hi!” to acknowledge another human being’s existence, a nod to one looking like a fellow tourist, a smile thrown here and there to show humanity’s brotherhood (and sisterhood) — a sight relaxing enough until we heard a young mother telling off a bawling child: “We are not going to buy anything.”
She looked twenty, take or add a year or two, verily on the third stage in the Seven Ages of Man that Shakespeare expounds in As You Like It. That age when the love-struck seeks fulfillment as must have been the case in this girl. She was pushing a stroller — in it a baby, her second child I suppose — while the other child kept on tugging to her skirt. She wheeled the stroller inside Small Change that carried an additional name below it: Children’s Store. It was right in front where the hubby and I were resting. Customers came in, usually with lots of kid stuff on their way out. Would the young mother buy something for the kid? I wondered, thinking of her off-hand admonition: “We are not going to buy anything.” Rudy and I stood up to leave, annoyed by the frustration and deprivation of children.
Not yet twenty or even twenty-three and already burdened with two kids. Sigh! How many of her kind exist in the Philippines? in other underdeveloped countries? or right here in highly-developed U.S. of A.? How unfortunate to hear of a child-mother rocking a baby in India or in the remote and not-so-remote areas of Bayan Ko. Just passed puberty and already a mother.
Indeed unfortunate, deplorable, appalling. Let me be redundant in forcing the issue against teen marriage and irresponsible parenthood.
The 60 Minutes newscast last night bemoaned the fact that 78 million Americans do not have health insurance. I can just picture how much more pitiful is the situation in my home country. The teemingmasses depend on puericulture centers existing on scant supply of medicines and inadequate facilities. One more compelling reason for the Population Commission (POPCOM) to rein in the exploding population.
Among its many objectives geared to keeping our population growth down, POPCOM must espouse late marriage and late child-bearing age. DELAY MARRIAGE UNTIL AGE 30. The catchphrase, if observed, will considerably reduce the child-bearing period. At least for the many who uphold the sanctity of marriage.
DON’T BE A BABY FACTORY would serve just right for those having them cheaper by the dozen. My friend, Dr. Doris Bagarinao, says, we need to provide lots of opportunities for women (work, study, travel, career). “We need to stop feeding young women fancy beauty fare, romance, and Prince Charming fantasy, and feed them instead lots of information about reproduction, careers, women's rights… Women should learn to insist on control over their bodies, their lives, and their futures.” I say Amen to all that.
Come to think of it, the TV is deluged with Clinique, Victoria’s Secret, Estee Lauder cosmetics and a cornucopia of other beauty aids for both men and women, but I still have to see a favorite brand of contraceptive being promoted. Or condom, the kind most convenient, most durable, most pleasurable, whatever. Or other commercials pushing for artificial birth control. Because, more than ever, with the exploding population, birth control is the need of the hour.
I’m still wondering whether the little girl who went inside the children’s store with her mother got something to make her day brighter. “We are not going to buy anything.” A statement of utter denial that still rings in my ears. How it must have broken the heart of little Jane (the name I gave because the craving, teary-eyed little one is every-child deprived of the good stuff in a child’s life.)

Little Jane deserves a brighter day just as every little Juana, Maria, or Ana deserves a brighter day—born into a world prepared to feed, clothe, and shelter them, and sustain them with the joys of childhood. (Email: lagoc@hargray.com)/PN

36 BRIDGES COULD COLLAPSE DPWH warns overloaded trucks

BY JEZZA NEPOMOCENO
ILOILO City – Thirty-six bridges in Western Visayas are structurally weak and could collapse if overloaded trucks and buses continue to cross them, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Region 6 warned.
These bridges need immediate replacement but the regional office of DPWH has no budget for this yet, said Engr. Danilo Peroy, chief of the Planning and Design Division.
To avert the collapse of these bridges, the law prohibiting the overloading of cargo trucks and buses passing national highways and bridges – Republic Act 8794 – must be strictly enforced, said Assistant Regional Director Gloria Dindin yesterday.
The law allows trailers and trucks to have a maximum axle load limit of 13.5 kilograms only to use national roads and bridges.
According to Peroy, the 36 unsafe bridges are located in the provinces of Aklan and Capiz (three each), Antique (eight), Iloilo and Negros Occidental (10 each) and in the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo (one each).
“These bridges need immediate replacement but the DPWH regional office has no money to build new ones,” Peroy said.
The most that the regional office has done so far was to post warning signs on these bridges.
The warnings included the allowable load limit that vehicles should have to cross these bridges, Peroy said.
The DPWH central office has already been informed about these bridges. The regional office is hoping for the release of funds to start fixing them right away, he added.
For her part, Dindin said the government spends billions of pesos to repair roads and bridges in the region because they deteriorate early due to overloaded trucks and buses crossing them.
“If we will not stop these overloaded trucks from crossing our national roads and bridges, more infrastructures will be ruined,” Dindin warned the public over radio-television program Reklamo Publiko.
Peroy said the 36 bridges were discovered to be structurally weak during a re-assessment/re-inspection conducted by the department’s Task Force on Buildings and Bridges last year yet.
The re-inspections were done in line with DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson’s directive to regional offices to determine the structural integrity of bridges as part of disaster mitigation efforts.
Aside from the 36 bridges, 32 more were found to be needing of retrofitting – in Antique, Capiz and Guimaras with two bridges each, Iloilo (nine bridges), Negros Occidental (10 bridges) and Bacolod City (seven bridges).
Nineteen other bridges (four each in Aklan and Bacolod City, one each in Capiz and Iloilo, and nine in Negros Occidental) need maintenance and repair.
Also present in yesterday’s Reklamo Publiko program were DPWH-6 spokesperson and officer-in-charge of the Iloilo City District Engineer Office, Engr. Jose Al Fruto; Chief of Staff, Engr. Marilou Zamora; Maintenance Division chief, Engr. Norma Delnguines; and Construction Division chief, Engr. Marilyn Celiz./PN

Students from Adventist School in Laguna visit Bugasong

10 things to learn from JAPAN

1. THE CALM Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.

4. THE GRACE People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.

10. THE CONSCIENCE When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly

By: Shanto Niloy

National Youth Cross and youth pilgrims arrived in Bugasong

Gov’t sets campaign on int’l drug syndicates