Makati City, Philippines

[slang]

Luisa for Pres!(?)

umm......maybe not, ok.

[Tonchi]

Why? Are you and your contacts willing to finance the coup?

[Tonchi]

We can schedule it for next Wednesday if somebody else isn't already having one.

[slang]

If we can make that happen with 5000 PHP, then yer on!

[Luisa]

It's not easy to be living in the Philippines right now. The government has been doing warrantless arrests and everyone is living in fear. Former president Ramos called the events "Marcosian" after the deceased dictator whom he served under as well. He can see the handwriting on the walls. Former president Cory Aquino also said we deserve an explanation and clarification. Is this undeclared Martial Rule?

In the meantime, I am cautioning everyone I know of to not be too vocal about being anti-government and taxes in public right now. It is a dangerous and tension filled time. You never know who might try to turn you in on a trumped up charge. 100 people have been hauled in for questioning since Friday and some have not been released yet. Others have escaped arrest or gone into hiding. A newspaper office was raided midnight of Saturday and all the copies of the issue of the day were confiscated. After that, the police have been keeping a tight watch on their office as well.

I hope this all blows over soon.

[slang]

Big typhoon damage there in Luzon ( may-nee-lah, Makati..etc, etc ).

Has there been a relief effort set up yet ( That I can send money and "stuff" to)?

[Tonchi]

I'll post what I wrote to Slang in a PM before realizing he had also posted on the thread here.


Thanks for your good thoughts, Slang. At this point the destruction of the communications network in Manila is so extreme that they haven't even been able to assess the damages. Only 28 deaths reported so far seems way short, in a good winter storm they usually lose a hundred squatters to garbage slides at the landfills so I expect the toll will rise. All electricity for 40 million people went out and I lost contact with Luisa's house at the height of the storm (we were texting each other while the typhoon was shaking their house so badly that they thought the roof would go any second). At the time her cellphone failed they still had the roof but lots of water leaking in on the top floor and the air outside was swirling with debris from all the shacks which 50% of the population lives in.

Last night Luisa and her aunt went out and bought a phone card so that we could speak for 15 minutes and they could tell me they survived and the house is still standing. Fortunately they built on one of the highest areas and the floods did not reach them. Their street is knee-deep in debris but they have electricity again, one of the few areas of the city that has, but all the phone lines and therefore the internet is down. She may not be back online for a week, but at least they have food and a way to cook it. The sun is shining and it is a beautiful day outside, she says. It was her birthday when the typhoon hit.

As always, the government will be unable to do anything meaningful. The mayor of Manila is mostly upset because all the trees he planted in the parks are now blown away. There is no word yet how to send aid to the people who didn't fare so well. Even the papers online, like the link I sent you for the Philippines Star, had very little information when I checked last night. I suppose there is a Philippines Red Cross, but right now all offices and schools are closed or have no phones or electricity. If I hear anything else, I will let you know.


Luisa did tell me last night that there is a brisk business in the streets where squatters are gathering up the roofs or furniture of their former neighbors in order to reconstruct their own hovels.

I'd like to again remind anybody that sending "stuff" of any kind to the Phils is futile, they will either steal it or "tax" it to the point that your recipient would be better off with the cash. But you can't send cash through the mail either under their latest "laws". What I do is send a Western Union remittance in $US which can be deposited directly into accounts at several banks, making it impossible for the agency who retrieves your WU from charging you "fees" for the privilege. I'll also remind you that most agencies in the Philippines are as corrupt as any other part of the society there and money sent to them will not necessarily go any farther than the pockets of the officials.

[slang]

Originally Posted by Tonchi

Luisa did tell me last night that there is a brisk business in the streets where squatters are gathering up the roofs or furniture of their former neighbors in order to reconstruct their own hovels.

Mostly roof and window damage from what I'm hearing.

Most of the requests for recovery items and supplies that I've recieved have been passed on to Santa Claus.

How does one re-roof a house with a projection TV?

Those that I know personally have not been severly affected.

[Tonchi]

The projection TV request is because squatters who use a newspaper placed on the street for their toilet are more likely to have televisions and other toys which they operate on stolen electricity. More than 50% of the electricity generated by the national utility is channeled off to the hovels of the enterprising or tapped from the line of a neighbor who IS paying. Being out of commission for a month will probably SAVE money for Meralco, since all the thieves will have nothing to take from them and their honest clients.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Meralco is the electric supplier?

[Tonchi]

Yes, the electricity supplier.

They are a most unusual bunch, a perfect example of life in the Philippines at the mercy of a government burocracy. The low percentage of paying customers have to shoulder the expenses of the entire system, the rates go up BECAUSE you paid and most people don't. Meralco is unable to disconnect non-payers or remove the hundreds of thousands of illegal taps on their poles because the police can't be there to protect them from the mobs of squatters, their transformers are constantly exploding (probably also caused by overloaded tappings) and causing fires, they often just make up the amount to bill you and you have to pay it anyway, and if you make a service call to remove the taps which others have put on your line they often "discover" that your entire house has dangerous wiring and will probably burn down any minute if you do not pay them to "correct" it. During certain times of the year, the linemen go around threatening subscribers in order to get cash for themselves; fortunately, Luisa's aunt is even more scary than the attempted extortionists so she has managed to get rid of them so far. Because squatters build huts right in the middle of the street and because any empty space may suddenly sprout a cinderblock and wood building with stolen electricity, the utility can't possibly estimate power requirements and so power failures are commonplace. The so-called government of the Philippines never makes any attempt to control the destruction and squallor which these squatters and criminals cause because every single body in that place can vote (or rather, sell their vote) so all the "laws" are for the benefit of the lowest common denominator and not the people who are trying to lead honest and legal lives.

[slang]

Just for the record, that person that asked for the TV is not a squatter.

He's a clown when I'm trying to be serious, but not an electro-thief or such.

[Tonchi]

Don't worry, we never thought he was But if he DID have one and he had to evacuate the house during the storm, you can be sure some squatter has his tv NOW.

[Luisa]

Well, a week after the storm and still no sign of any fund drives. Still some areas without electricity but there doesn't seem to be a real need for fund raising as those who were severly affected (the squatters) simply rebuilt from the debris on the street. Rampant electrical, telephone, television cable stealing though. Junk shops are being searched for stolen items. Electricity restored in 90% of the city, cellphone are aso 90% functional. This is going to be a long rebuilding road ahead for the city. I'll keep you posted!

[slang]

Just now getting some photos in from the storm damage.

Roof, siding and tree damage more than anything else. And the loss of power for over a week.