Playing It By Ear by Rod Garcia

Lady Behind the Counter

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Tessie Alarcon sat behind the registration counter working on little ticket stubs for a function celebrating Philippine Independence.

Not too many of the guests knew the truth about this inconspicuous, tiny figure.

But Tessie and her friends are responsible for having fed over two thousand 
five hundred malnourished children in the Philippines.

She's at an age for enjoying a cruise in the caribbean. But with other intrepid retirees, Tessie has taken a rinkydink bangka and crossed deep waters to distribute gifts, food, or  medicine to children in some remote Philippine island. She's done this several times.

This sense of mission started over a decade ago. Tessie and her husband Pablito were enjoying a meal in a small restaurant in Laguna. A small grungy boy of  nine (9) in a tattered t-shirt came up to their window and gawked  open-mouthed at the food, obviously very hungry.

The couple waved the boy in and let him eat with them. They also had a clean t-shirt they were planning to give to some relative's son. But they decided to let this boy wear it. And he did, with a palpable pride in his face. Later, in a way to repay their kindness, the boy helped slow down oncoming traffic, waving and signalling like a cop, so the couple could drive their car out of the parking spot. The incident taught them that even children can learn to earn. 

And so aside from all the charity work, Tessie and her posse have also sponsored nineteen (19) livelihood projects in the Philippines;built ninety-one (91) modern classrooms (with six more to come); distributed two hundred thousand (200,000) books to public schools and libraries; gave one hundred fifty (150) students educational scholarships to high schools and universities; and donated twenty (20) sets of computers and other IT equipment.

And they're still at it.

Tessie is the founder of Washington D.C.-based Feed The Hungry, Inc., which has now blossomed into chapters in Hawaii, Nevada, and Manila itself.

Her sense of mission is infectious. Many doers and shakers have joined the action as board members or operatives. Among them financial whiz Martin Gaw; FilAm activitist dynamo Gloria Caoile, and cerebral Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto Del Rosario and his grand-hearted wife Gretchen, to name a few. (Even inconsequential folks like me found a place: Tessie asked help with the legal stuff; and adopted my composition "Ako" as Feed The Hungry's theme song.")

   

This little lady behind the counter received the Pilipino Presidential Award from President Noynoy Aquino last year(Lingkod Sa Kapwa), adding to other recognitions in previous years.

Where does one find proof that the Filipino is worth dying for? Neither in the halls of political power in Malacanang nor in the money of Makati.

But in humble servant hearts of everyday people like that lady behind the counter ----- who  would have a sign above her that states: Now Serving --- The Poor.

Rod Garcia

  

AKO

by Rod Garcia

Hindi mo ba alam

Na nandoon AKO noon

Nang ika'y nagiisa't nagtatanong?

Hindi ka nagtaka

Kung kanino ang awit?

Nakatakap ka sa lupa,

Ang tingin mo'y sa langit.

Kaya't nang ika'y naglalakad

Sa lamig, nagiisa,

AKO'Y nagaalalay

Sa iyo.

Masakit sa kalooban;

Matamlay sa pagtingin;

Pagasa mo na lamang ay AKO.

Pagmasdan mo ang paligid mo;

Mapapansin mo rin.

May na ngangailangan sa iyo.

Siya'y iyong kusang bigyan ng tanging pagtingin

And tinutulungan mo'y

AKO.

Debt Deal Done Despite Differences & Difficult Decision

Despite the differences, and with much difficulty deciding, a deal on the debt is finally done.

The parties to this deal were the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Boehner, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Senate, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and President Obama.

The deal includes a $2.1 trillion increase in the debt ceiling and 10-year discretionary spending caps generating nearly $1 trillion in deficit reduction. A super Congressional committee will come up with a package of $1.5 trillion more in cuts and/or revenue enhancements that’s guaranteed an up or down vote by December. If Congress can’t agree to a package, automatic cuts will commence in 2013, split 50/50 between domestic and defense spending (exempting entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare).

Good deal? Do the Republicans like it? What about the Democrats? What do the people think of the process, of Congress, of President Obama and the other players?

Let us look at the numbers. They should tell the story.

In the House of Representatives, 174 Republicans and 95 Democrats for a total of 269 voted for the deal, while 66 Republicans and 95 Democrats for a total of 161 voted against the deal. It takes 216 voters to pass it.

While Speaker Boehner claims victory and ownership of the deal, he needed at least 42 votes from the Democrats. The Democrats delivered for him while the Conservative Republicans (66 of them) failed him.

In the Senate, 51 Democrats, 22 Republicans, and 1 Independent for a total of 74 voted for the deal, while 6 Democrats, 19 Republicans, and 1 Independent for a total of 26 voted against it. It takes 51 votes to pass it.

While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is being given credit for the success of the negotiations and the deal by certain political analysts, the numbers tell a different story. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who won in Nevada because of the overwhelming support of the Filipinos, actually delivered the winning majority with 51 votes from the Democrats, plus an extra vote from an Independent who usually join their caucus.

None of the Republican votes were needed to pass the deal, which was supposed to have been successfully negotiated by Republican leader McConnell.

Prior to the actual consummation of the deal, what did the people think of Congress? Again, the numbers tell the story.

According to the poll survey conducted by the Washington Post/Pew Research Center, 77% think that members of Congress in dealing with this issue behaved like spoiled children while only 17% considered them as responsible adults.

As of July 31, 2011, only 2% consider them in a positive light, while 72% view them negatively, and 15% have no opinion.

Asked to describe the negotiations with one word, the top ten words were:

Ridiculous                                    66

Disgust/disgusting/disgusted                  42

Stupid/stupidity                              36

Frustrating/frustrated                        26

Poor/poorly                                   25

Terrible                                      25

Disappointing/disappointment/disappointed     24

Childish                                      23

Joke                                          22

Mess/messy                                    22

How about the players in the negotiations? What ratings were they getting?

More        Less						Net
favorable   favorable						Rating
a. President Barack Obama          18          37						-19
b  Speaker John Boehner            11          34						-23
c. Democrats in Congress           13          30						-17
d. Republicans in Congress         11          42						-31
e. Members of      Congress affiliated
with the Tea Party movement    11          37						-26

Now that a deal was done and a law was passed, I suspect that the numbers will tell a different story. To be fair, the following were accomplished for economic good and budget discipline:

1. Debt ceiling was raised, so all obligations, appropriations, and expenditures will be paid;
2. Removes the cloud of uncertainty until 2013. Good for the economy;
3. Guaranteed deficit reduction of about $1 trillion;
4. Bipartisan process to cut $1.5 trillion;
5. If bipartisan process fails, automatic cuts 50/50 coming from domestic and defense respectively; and
6. Process of coming together and shared sacrifice.

Who can claim credit for these modest, though insufficient accomplishments? As I said earlier, the numbers should tell the story.

While the Conservative Right forced the debate and, correspondingly, the direction toward deficit reduction, they were perceived as holding the economy hostage. The fact that they did not vote for the deal disqualifies them from claiming credit.

The numbers say that the Democrats more than the Republicans supported the concluded deal. They can therefore co-claim credit, along with some Republicans in the House, for whatever positive effect the deal would bring.

President Obama just debunked the Republicans’ allegations that he could not be entrusted to reduce the deficit and is otherwise fiscally irresponsible. While he is accused of being too liberal, his participation in negotiating this deal proved otherwise.

Personally, I would have preferred that he use the 14^th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which states, “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law… shall not be questioned,” Under this, he is empowered to raise the debt limit and pay the public debt.

He would have shown strong and daring leadership in a crisis, coupling his rhetoric with action.

My barber, on the other hand, hopes that cuts in defense spending will not result in fewer haircuts from his soldier clients.