No To Legazpi As Casino City!!!

This has been the one of the hottest news in Legazpi City. A Casino will soon open in Embarcadero, described as "one of the most anticipated developments in the city of Legazpi" and "is a major waterfront development located at the harbor area of Legazpi City adjacent to the alluring Kapuntukan Hill (also called Sleeping Lion Hill)".

I just posted this in my Facebook account: "No to Legazpi as Casino City!", and a couple of reactions have been cast already. Well, such reaction is anticipated as is a rain with a heavy and dark mass of clouds. Well, this is a legitimate question indeed, "What's wrong with a Casino in a premiere city such as Legazpi?" Another friend even made a comment that sounds like, "are these people protesting against a casino in Embarcadero taking morality as their grounds are actually living a moral life?" Two legitimate questions actually.

With the first question, there are too many to mention short-time and long-time effects of Casinos. Quoting CBCP former president and Archbishop Oscar Cruz of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan in Pangasinan, when he slammed the proposal to allow casinos to operate in the country when they were first proposed last year with P2.85 billion (approx US$60.5 million) budget for 2009, “These official gambling houses do not only cater to those who crave for the money of everybody else, but in effect provide for the making of gambling addicts, for their commission of different crimes to sustain their vice of gambling—to the extent of doing away with own families." This was further supported by Pamalakaya, a legitimate fisherfolk alliance in the country. They knew the one of the effects of casinos in the lives of the small fishermen when 16 years ago, the government forcibly evicted about 5,000 fishing families in Pasay Reclamation Area along Manila Bay to pave way for more reclamation of more coastal waters to host the ambitious multi-billion dollar casino and entertainment complex along the bay.

Not only those, the real point of casinos in the lives of people is that they usually produce an array of crimes like prostitution, breaking up of families, theft, embezzlement of funds, issuance of bad checks and aggravated burglary, including increasing cases of child abuse and family abandonment. All of those so to sustain their vice of gambling. All of those mentioned are just a few reasons why we are questioning and protesting against the putting up of casinos in Legazpi City. All of those are the reasons why we question it based on the grounds of morality.


In addition, people who are proposing the said casinos' are boasting of thousands or even millions of pesos of revenues that these casinos will bring to the city. Well those revenues will just be spent to the cost to society of the problem gambler.

To illustrate the exact impacts of casinos on public, Pamalakaya cited the report made by U.S. Senator Paul Simon to the U.S. Senate Committee investigating the effects of casinos on the American public. Quoting Simon's report in the U.S. Senate in the early 1990s, the group said, “Costs to society of the problem gambler vary from the most conservative estimate of US$13,200 to US$30,000 per year."

According to a study cited in the senator report, "Overall, the state gains US$326 million in net revenue from the presence of the casinos. However, this figure is reduced substantially -- to US$166.25 million -- when even the lowest estimated social costs of compulsive gambling are included in the calculations. With mid-range estimated social costs, the overall impact becomes negligible, while with higher social-cost estimates, the impact becomes clearly negative."

The fisherfolk group further stressed the presence of casinos would attract more people to gamble as in the case of Illinois: “The Simon report points out that nationally, less than 1 percent or 0.77 percent of the population are compulsive gamblers, but when enterprises are located near a population, that number increases two to seven times."

The second question of are we living moral lives to speak against something immoral? Well, she might first ask the people in the Diocese of Legazpi if they do, because they are in the front lines with us against the putting up of casinos in the city. Besides, that is out of the question. As I've answered her, immorality is man's second nature. But as men, we do struggle to the point of overcoming such weakness. Besides, if we will allow ourselves to be conquered by our own weakness, then we will stay in one corner, with our tails between our legs. Anyways, that is basically out of the question. She's a political science student, so I know she will understand the hollowness in her reasoning.

Going back, we had the same questions before the Embarcadero was opened. That time, they did not even tilted a head to listen. Now, many local fisherfolks were dislocated as they were forcibly evicted as well so the construction of Embarcadero will push through. Remaining local fishermen are also ailing because of the alarming scarcity of fishes which was unlikely before the Embarcadero was constructed. Soon, we will be summarizing here the many lives and families broken and disentangled and many more social problems that will pester the city like flies and cockroaches.
People might see us as hindrance to development. People might see this as just for the sake of protesting, the leftist way. Again, the question here is morality, not economy. Lest we will answer to the children of the deranged and broke gamblers who will be attracted by these casinos. If we can stop such hideous effects now, what's to be afraid of voicing out againsts the cause?

YES TO PROGRESS, NO TO GAMBLING!
NO TO LEGAZPI AS CASINO CITY!

Brace for jeers at wake, solon tells Arroyo - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Brace for jeers at wake, solon tells Arroyo - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

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The Color Yellow As The Symbol For Peace and Freedom: The Death of President Corazon "Tita Cory" Aquino

3:18 a.m. Saturday (3:18 p.m. Friday ET), August 1, 2009, former President Corazon "Tita Cory" C. Aquino died of cardio-respiratory arrest at the Makati Medical Center. She has been battling with colon cancer as well since March 2008. Today has been another more than sad times from us Filipinos. An icon of democracy not just of our country, but of the whole world has passed away.

According to color experts the color yellow symbolizes optimism, enlightenment, and happiness. Shades of golden yellow carry the promise of a positive future.

If you are a Filipino, whenever you see the color yellow, you will only think of one thing and of one person, the people’s revolution of 1986 and former President Corazon C. Aquino, the champion of the said revolution. I can just speculate that she chose that color for the aforementioned reasons, specifically the “promise of a positive future.” During those times when she died from her private life of being the plain housewife of then assassinated opposition leader Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, the Philippines have been in such dire situation and turmoil under the military regime of President Ferdinand Marcos.

The color that she chose when she took responsibility over what was left and expected of her fallen husband by an ailing nation, is a beacon of hope in itself and a silent promise for a positive future. She led demonstrations and marched during her campaigns wearing that symbolic color, literally all the time. During the historic People Power Revolution I, the dominant color that you will see is the color yellow, the color that toppled a dictatorship. She has led the Philippine nation in one of the world's most peaceful people power movement, the EDSA Revolution I or People Power I, which toppled the Marcos dictatorship in 1986. We Filipinos will never forget the horrors of the said dark regime sent by hell itself. I have not lived yet in those times, but knowing what happened then made me shudder and be outraged.

A lot of Filipino lives have been lost, some were never found, whole tribes and groups massacred. Even the then Opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Tita Cory's husband, was gunned down the moment he stepped down the plane he boarded from the U.S., supposedly to save the ailing Filipino nation. That was the time that Tita Cory's unprecedented political rise started. She took over the responsibility of becoming the nation's leader and mother against the dictatorship of Marcos. Seeing just the videos and pictures of the EDSA I will make the hairs behind my neck stand up.

[We should never forget as well the real heroes, working underground, the UGs as they are called, who were fighting with their heads on the scaffold for National Democracy. We have thousands of desaparicidos in our line. A lot of unsung real martyrs of democracy]

With this, Tita Cory gave another meaning to the color yellow. For us Filipinos, and for the whole world, it didn’t just become a promise of a positive future but it has become the fulfillment of that positive future, the symbol of freedom, of genuine democracy. Sadly, our icon of democracy passed away. The whole nation, opposition or not, Catholic or not, along with the whole world, mourns for such a huge loss. If one will think over it, we might ask ourselves, did that beacon of light for a better future dimmed away with her death? But alas, not, for that beacon has stayed with us all Filipinos. As long as we have the color yellow, hope remains.

However nowadays, it seems like many of us have misinterpreted the said color. What I mean is their understanding of freedom and the way of fighting for it has adopted that color; in layman’s term, “dilawan.”

In one of the mass demonstrations of student youths here in Naga City, a student leader from a college publication in the same city said (quoted not in verbatim): “We are one with the Filipino youth’s advocacy. Even if we can’t find time to go and attend mass demonstrations and rallies, our hearts are with you and we are fighting.”

I whispered to a colleague, “In simple terms, don’t hope that they will ever join any rally or street demonstrations.”

We can’t help it but just smile to ourselves. But thanks anyway because at least they attended that demonstration. Well, that was supported and attended by the President of one of the city’s premiere University so that the said demonstration was wiped away of the taint of usual rallies organized by “leftists” as they say. But being one in heart is empty.

Like what a Bible passage says, “Faith without deeds are useless.” So is true with words. So those words are thus empty as well. Nothing can be accomplished if words will not be put into action. Even in the case of Dr. Jose Rizal, our National Hero, his words might have been empty if people who believed in those words did not enact and live by them. His words of patriotism were lived by the likes of Andres Bonifacio, Gregorio Del Pillar, and the thousands of unsung heroes Ramon Abella and Mariano Arana to name a few, who were martyred for their belief of a free and better nation.

This new generation of ours should learn from our history. It's time to end apathy which has become a cancer of our society. Let us live the color Yellow as it should be lived, not as a sugar coat of people who only wants spotlights over their worldly selves.