Heat

The weather is crazy in the Philippines. Most of the time it’s piercing hot, then it rains. I was down for two days. The heat outside and my airconditioned room got me. My lungs weakened so I caught a virus.

Last week my laptop also got infected by a virus. I was being friendly to an intern that I offered my printer so she can print her output. The problem is her Mac won’t connect to my printer so I told her to transfer the file to my removable disk. The files in my disk got deleted and my computer detected a virus, but can’t cure it!

Our government detected the presence of more Chinese vessels surrounding the disputed Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag or Scarborough Shoal (it’s so disputed that there’s no one name for it). China claims the shoal as theirs, along with the whole South China Sea. The Philippine government claims that the area is now called West Philippine Sea and calls on China to bring the dispute to an international court.

China claims the great sea to its south as theirs. The fact that it’s called South China Sea is already a giveaway: it’s Chinese! It doesn’t matter if the edges of the vast sea are actually within the other smaller countries’ exclusive economic zones. What matters is that they have built sophisticated research facilities and a large navy positioned there to support their claim.

The Philippines now banks on US support in the midst of Chinese aggression. However, US also said that it will not take part in any territorial dispute in the South China Sea. So, what does it really mean for the Philippine government? Was it a “yes, I will help you against China” or “no, fend for yourself”? It remains a guessing game, till now.

Labor activists once again got a deafening no for their demand for a hundred and twenty five peso across the board wage increase last May 1. Well, it shouldn’t surprise them because they have been receiving that response for the last three years. What makes them think they’ll get it this year? Especially now that the government needs to woo much needed investments to lift the worsening economy.

My protege did something today that made me really proud. She took a promotional exam and answered the questions truthfully. When asked about the economy, she answered that it did not really take off during this administration.  I warned her that because she has been too honest, she may not only flunk the exam but also earn the ire of those who will read her answers. But I congratulated her for doing what I could not do. Unlike me, she’s prepared to take the heat.