Skip to main content

Praise the jueteng lord!

NAGPUPUYOS sa galak at laklak-alak si Utong Ong-- tanyag na panginoong may jueteng—nang harapin kami sa isang panayam na panay uyam.

I’m in business since government is so bankrupt in imagination on generating revenues efficiently and sustaining methods of soaking up excess liquidity in the economy,” bungad niya matapos sumimsim ng sampraskong absinthe which makes the heart grow flounder.

Hindi raw bisyo o sugal ang kanyang operasyon kundi mahusay na paraan sa paglikom ng buwis “at grassroots level, at which even local government units are so ineffectual.”

Kahit daw ipagduldulan sa mata ng gobyerno ang mga mainam na halimbawa’t paraan, talamak na talaga ang pagiging myopicpic ng mga nasa gobyerno: “They can’t discern and adopt the best practices of private sector.”

Sa bayaran daw ng buwis, taxpayer pa ang magsasadya sa mga tanggapan ng rentas internas… parang bundok pa ang lumalapit kay Mahomet, dapat ‘yung may paa ang lumapit sa wala namang paa…pero meron naman talagang paanan ang bundok. At mas maganda raw siguro ang resulta kung susugurin ng Sierra Madre o Cordillera’t Caraballo ang BIR at Customs, saka guguho’t tatabunan sila.

Sa jueteng daw, talagang masugid at masigasig sa pakikiugnay sa taumbayan ang mga kubrador ng taya.

In government revenue collections, the taxpayer is keeping his fingers crossed that government administrators will turn up sound governance, efficient delivery of basic services, and public works that look after common weal,” paliwanag ni Utong Ong, “that’s out-and-out gambling with all odds stacked against the taxpayer who gambles away hard-earned money—government doesn’t and won’t deliver.”

Naudlot ang paglantak namin sa pata tim, kumakatas na itim sa pagitan ng pata.

Sa gobyerno daw, binobola ang mga tao. Sa jueteng, binobola ang mga numero.

And with such a difference in scale and scope of operations, government wins, people lose. In my operations, pare-pareho kaming may panalo… ihahatid pa nga ng kubrador ang napanalunan sa tumaya,” aniya.

Alak pa!

There’s no use comparing how my operations tick and in unlike manner, government stinks. Nadadamay pa nga ang mga nasa gobyerno sa mga biyaya mula jueteng, hindi naman kami nadadamay sa anumang maililimos nilang biyaya… it’s a pathetic one-way street,” himutok ni Utong Ong.

Alak pa, in vino veritas…there’s liquor quorum, liquorum in session here!

Makakasira daw sa malapit na ugnayan ng karaniwang taumbayang tumataya at mga naglipanang kabig, kampon at ampon ng jueteng kapag itinuloy ang panukala na maging legal ang jueteng.

Mawawalan daw kasi ng delihensiya ang mga nasa gobyerno—‘yung mga nasa pamamahala, militar at pulisya…

In occidente, lex. In oriente, lux. Nakalublob ang utak kanluranin sa batas. Nakasalang ang mga nasa silangan sa liwanag,” giit niya.

Dagdag pa: “Let there be laws, and there’s government. Let there be light, and there’s delight!”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Every single cell of my body's happy

I got this one from Carmelite Sisters from whose school three of my kids were graduated from. They have this snatch of a song that packs a fusion metal and liebeslaud beat and whose lyrics go like this: "Every single cell of my body is happy. Every single cell of my body is well. I thank you, Lord. I feel so good. Every single cell of my body is well." Biology-sharp nerds would readily agree with me in this digression... Over their lifetimes, cells are assaulted by a host of biological insults and injuries. The cells go through such ordeals as infection, trauma, extremes of temperature, exposure to toxins in the environment, and damage from metabolic processes-- this last item is often self-inflicted and includes a merry motley medley of smoking a deck a day of Philip Morris menthols, drinking currant-flavored vodka or suds, overindulgence in red meat or the choicest fat-marbled cuts of poultry and such carcass. When the damage gets to a certain point, cells self-de

ALAMAT NG TAHONG

SAKBIBI ng agam-agam sa kalagayan ng butihing kabiyak-- at kabiyakan, opo-- na nakaratay sa karamdaman, ang pumalaot na mangingisda ay napagawi sa paanan ng dambuhalang Waczim-- isang bathala na nagkakaloob sa sinuman anumang ibulwak ng bibig mula sa bukal ng dibdib. Pangangailangan sa salapi na pambili ng gamot ng kapilas-pusong maysakit ang nakasaklot sa puso ng matandang mangingisda. 'Di kaginsa-ginsa'y bumundol ang kanyang bangka sa paanan ng Waczim. Kagy at umigkas ang katagang kimkim noon sa kanyang dibdib: "Salapi!" Bumuhos ng salapi-- mga butil at gilit ng ginto-- mula papawirin. At halos umapaw sa ginto ang bangka ng nagulantang na mangingisda, walang pagsidlan ang galak, at walang humpay ang pasasalamat sa mga bathala. Nanumbalik ang kalusugan ng kabiyak ng mangingisda. At lumago ang kabuhayan, naging mariwasa ang magkapilas-puso na dating maralita. Nilasing ng kanyang mga dating kalapit-bahay ang mangingisda-- na hindi ikina

Wealth garden

‘TWAS CRUEL as smashing a budding green thumb: some years back, an abuela warned me about letting any clump of katigbi (Job’s tears or Coix lachrymal jobi for you botanists) from growing in our homeyard. That grass with rapier-like leaves that smelled of freshly pounded pinipig supposedly invited bad luck and sorrows—why, that biblical character Job wailed and howled a lot, didn’t he? (But was later rewarded with oodles of goodies, wasn’t he?) Then, I came across some arcane text that practically goaded folks to grow katigbi in their gardens—why, there’s a starchy kernel wrapped shut in the seed’s shiny coat. A handful or more of kernels could be cooked as porridge. Too, one could whisper a wish upon seven seed pods, throw ‘em pods in running water—a river or stream—and the wish would be granted! I was warned, too, about planting kapok or talisay trees right in the homeyard—these trees form a cross-like branching pattern. Pasang-krus daw ang bahay na kalapit sa puno ng kapok, tal