A Case of Stupidity of the Boholanos

When it comes to the Hayden Kho video scandal, the Boholanos made it known that they were against him and declared him persona non grata. Hayden Kho is not from Bohol and I think has never been to Bohol. The Boholanos learned through the gossip vines that Kho is planning to cool off in Bohol. They made it perfectly big by no less than the Bohol legislators making a resolution about it.

BUT now that Bohol has a CONFIRMED INFLUENZA A (H1N1) victim, they let the pregnant woman go! Bohol's first confirmed flu A(H1N1) case is misplaced, so to say.

According to news reports, she was confined at the Borja Community Hospital (BCH) in Tagbilaran City but was discharged even before test results from the DoH central office were released. And to make matters worst, they blamed RITM for the late release of results.

Due to numerous samples being tested by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City, the results were not released immediately. On her third day of confinement, the woman asked to leave the BCH as she had recovered from the flu. (Inquirer reports)

Plain stupidity. And I am sure they are now passing the buck.


pic from doroteos2.wordpress.com

The future of Bohol's tarsiers, one of Philippines' endangered species

I am always against tarsiers or any animal for that matter, to be caged. Like what I wrote on my sidebar (see right portion), the tarsiers in Bohol, specifically in Loboc areas are stressed to the maximum level due to the influx of tourists day and night. One does not have to be a scientist or an expert to see and conclude that these tarsiers are highly stressed.

One basic example of tolerated neglect that could cause stress among tarsiers is the handler himself. There are signages in those areas in Loboc telling visitors that handling tarsiers or using camera flashes are not allowed. But you can always see these handlers/owners taking the sleepy primates off from their branch of choice and hand them to excited tourists for a shot or two, maybe even more, some using flash. See the pic being used here? I grabbed it from www.primates.com and it unabashingly promotes handling of tarsiers by tourists.

So the move of the Bohol provincial government to pass a resolution banning the issuance of permits from DENR to prospective enterprising Boholanos using tarsiers as unwilling business partners as well as attractions is a welcomed action. I wonder why this takes so long. (See: Bohol officials rescue caged tarsiers, Inquirer.net, 12/06/2008)

But I think passing a resolution is never enough. If laws on protecting endangered species like the tarsier have been consistently disregarded, how much more a resolution? I’m neither a politician nor a lawyer who knows the circuitous process of the law, but the name itself does not prove it has teeth. I believe there is an endangered species act signed long time ago, long before the people of Loboc started caging tarsiers for easy public viewing. But what happened? Why these businesses proliferate in the province?

Another case that should also need our lawmakers’ attention is the python in the town of Alburquerque. The owners may have a different interpretation of the word sanctuary because the Coca-Cola sponsored signage at the entrance to the site suggested it is a python sanctuary. Or are they right when they held captive that python so it will not become a source of food among Boholanos? Does a steel cage justify asylum in this case?

With Bohol now on the tourist map, the lawmakers and the people of Bohol in general should make the things around them as top priority and as important as making money out from them. Misuse and negligence could lead to more disastrous events in the future. The overly used aphorism “for our children’s children” could never happen in the future.

So Many Questions... The Answers Few

Not having a good night sleep, I was startled when I heard an early morning prayer call from a nearby Moslem mosque here in Tagbilaran. I remember that long time ago, Moslems who do their prayer calls were bombarded by nasty comments in the radio because they were disturbing the majority of the Christian populace. And as I contemplate on its significance, the rhythmic singsong was suddenly interrupted by a chorus of Catholic women singing praises to the Virgin Mary in a dawn rosary. In my entire life, I haven’t heard someone blaming the dawn rosaries of disturbing a night’s sleep.

I was rather amused, in fact I was giggling in bed. I never considered the diversity of culture right here in Tagbilaran City and what the city has become nowadays. Before it were just church bells ringing in the early morning, calling the flock to mass. I no longer hear the bells though but instead a recorded chime or something is played every time. I was wondering if the priests invented this to brag about their new-found technology, which is unfashionable rather than hi-tech, by the way. And I wondered too if people noticed or just didn’t care. Blind obedience? I would rather consider the Moslem prayer call as authentic (culture-wise) despite the use of technology (they use microphone and sound system we called trumpa).

This also reminded me of a discussion from my friend who is assigned in Tagbilaran as of the moment. She noticed that every time she introduces a new concept in the office, her minions would readily accept it but later would do everything to make the concept fail and hound her like a pack of dogs waiting for the kill, her words.

I know Boholanos have the tendency to wait and see to the extent of being subservient. This passive attitude enables the local government executives to be corrupt, sometimes blatantly. When a crier exposes these wrongdoings, almost always, it is the crier who becomes the phony and likened to the boy who cried wolf.

And these troubled me. Was this the reason why the Dagohoy rebellion became successful or un-successful? Is the pack mentality a Boholano trait or an acquired characteristic?

Too many questions…

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Photo from http://vincentvanderveken.com/