JANUARY 24 - JANUARY 30, 2021


4 OPINION EDITORIAL


The government information machinery is going on full gear to sell the vaccination concept to the more than 109 million Filipinos to lick the coronavirus pandemic.


Choosing to take the chance


No less than PCOO Sec. Martin Andanar came to Negros Oriental Thursday and Friday to lead a high- powered team of communication experts to persuade the


to help them convince the Negrense population that getting inoculated isn’t such a bad idea.


Province’s


said, we need to bring up the confidence level to 70 percent from the present 24 percent to be able to bring about ‘herd immunity’ against COVID.


As Undersecretary Ramon Cualoping


Of course, selling the idea of getting vaccinated seems a difficult task, especially when there is still no vaccine to speak of.


NATIONAL SCIENTIST DR. ANGEL C. ALCALA


All the vaccines that are being talked about these days are still undergoing the third phase of trials. You get vaccinated now, and you are the guinea pig -- one of those who will be studied for possible side effects of the vaccines that were developed and approved at break-neck speed. But that’s the Catch 22 we’re all in this time. We need the vaccine now. COVID 19 is no joke. You can ask those who have recovered from it, and even those who are undergoing treatment for the virus – the physical, emotional, mental, and financial burden it exacts on a person or a family can be draining. We need the vaccine now because we are starting to see more virulent mutations of this virus. We need the vaccine now because


unless we get ‘herd immunity’, we will forever be living scared that the person next to you is CoViD-infected. Let’s read up on the risks we are facing, weigh the consequences, and come up with an educated opinion on the matter.


Hopefully, we will all be on the same page about the government’s impending vaccine rollout.


E


Member, Philippine Press Institute


ALEX REY V. PAL Publisher & Editor-in-Chief (On-leave) IRMA FAITH B. PAL Managing Editor


JOEL V. PAL Online News/North America Editor RICHLI D. AVES Cartoonist


2018 National Awardee: Best in Photojournalism 2017 National Awardee: Best in Photojournalism 2017 Best in Visayas: Best in Photojournalism, Best Editorial Page, Best Edited Community Newspaper 2016 Best in Visayas: Best in Photojournalism, Best in Environment Reporting, Best Editorial Page, Best Edited Community Newspaper 2007 National Awardee: Best Editorial Page


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ENVIRONMENT CONNECTION


suakcrem@yahoo.com


his SUAKCREM (Silliman University) article summarizes what is presently known about microplastic pollution and other pollutants in fishery products and the marine environment in Central Visayas, Philippines, with some recommendations for our people. A study in 2020 by A.C. Alcala and Abner Bucol


T


funded by the National Academy of Science & Technology assessed the occurrence of microplastics in marketed seafood products in the provinces of Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Cebu, and Bohol in Central Visayas. Researchers from the Biology and Chemistry departments of Negros Oriental State University were invited as collaborators. Products examined included three species of dried fish of rabbitfish Siganus fuscescens, sardine Sardinella pacifica, and scad


Decapterus sp., fermented anchovies/sprats (bagoong/ ginamos), and bottled mussel Perna viridis and sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla roe. A total of 778 microplastic


particles were isolated using microscopic examination and hot-needle tests. Microplastics were dominated by fibers and only a few fragments and foams. Quantities of microplastics


from dried fish (2.7-4 particles/ fish) and fermented anchovies (1.3-4 particles/25g sample) did not differ significantly between sampling locations. Among sampl e s


bottled mussel, only those from Negros Oriental had microplastics with a mean density of 0.3 particles/25g sample.


o f


obtained from Siquijor also tested positive for microplastics (density=1 particle/25g sample), despite having low human population density.


ATTY. WHELMA SITON-YAP ECON 101 whelmayap@yahoo.com


lections 2022 is fast approaching, and as early as now, people are observing more signs that political alignments are in the making, and surreptitious moves abound. In the Province, in the City, in the municipalities, and even in the barangays, political movements are making significant impact on daily startling events, changing faces of the Opposition, to the point of even allegedly politically- motivated killings.


These recent developments have made some people recall the famous Machiavellian lines: The end justify the means. A leader must be feared rather than loved -- taken from The Prince, a 16th-century political treatise written by the Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli, an atheist, as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. Machiavelli has been


and suggestions for a powerful government.


The term “Machiavellian” has been developed over the years to describe a person who has no morals, and referring to someone who is untrustworthy, unprincipled, cunning, sly, and deceitful.


classical tradition was wrong in its understanding to humans, and argued that human


personality is divided between a part that is self-interested, and a part that wants to live kindly with others.


Machiavelli thought that


of a society are going to be the worst.


Knowing this will happen, Machiavelli felt that the only feasible way of preventing them from being highly oppressive is to construct a society that decreases exploitation, and increases the general well- being of the people.


Leaders have many choices to make; one of the most important is to decide if he


Machiavelli’s The Prince


prefers to be loved or feared by his followers. According to Machiavelli,


distinguished to have a bad reputation, in his views on politics, since rulers like Hitler and Mussolini have followed his teachings for obtaining power, as referenced from his most famous work The Prince which expressed his ideals


Because the natural human nature of people wants to be divided, and because people are social beings, socialization he claims, can make the part that is self-interested become dominant. This then leads people to want power.


In Machiavelli’s eyes, we cannot have a completely good society based on the fact that because the worst, most self- interested people always rise to the top, therefore, the rulers


“If you have to make a choice, to be feared is much safer than to be loved”, and argued that leaders must do anything necessary to hold on to power. The main reason why it is


better to be feared is because men are evil, rotten, and will only do things that benefit themselves. Men only think of themselves, and it is for this reason, fear can control them, and keep them loyal to a leader. Since loyalty through love


subjected


Transformed Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, only 24 were identified to specific polymer types, dominated by regenerated cellulose (e.g., rayon) followed by alginate, and few particles identified as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyester.


Out of the 66 particles to Fouri er -


These marketed seafood products may have been


contaminated by microplastics through ingestion, during processing, and open display in the market. There is a need to


and siganids in Tañon Strait (Bucol et al. 2020; Paler 2020). Lira et al. (2020) also showed contamination of microplastics in fermented fish pastes (bagoong) in Batangas, Luzon Island. Two undergraduate theses conducted by students (Jazzy Mae Enero and Allen Empeynado) at the Biology department at NORSU revealed the presence of microplastics and organic pollutants in mangrove sediments and in tissues of the commonly harvested bivalve shell Polymesoda expansa (locally known as imbaw) in selected sites in Negros Oriental.


Quantified organic pollut ants included


Microplastics in fishery products in central PH Sea urchin roe samples


quantify mi c roplas ti c s and organic contaminants in other shellfish products (e.g., bottled shrimp pastes) in the Philippine market, and refine the processing of these products to minimize exposure to microplastics. Other studies


were done recently in the Philippines also revealed microplastic ingestion in sardines (Palermo et al. 2020),


that


polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, e.g., benzo[ghi] pyrelene, dibenz(a,h) anthracene, indeno[1,2,3-cd] pyrene, and benzo[a]pyrene), phthalates, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and pes ti c ides (n=18, e.g., Chloroneb, Carbaryl, Ethion) found in the mangrove sediments and edible marsh clam (Polymesoda expansa) tissues from selected (three for mangrove sediments; three for marsh clam) coastal areas of Negros Oriental, central Philippines.


TO PAGE 6


better choice because it involves the “dread of punishment, from which the people[the subjects] can never escape”. In this modern times, where social media dominates the formation of perceptions and opinions on any subject matter, politicians recognize that he/she is a public figure, constantly “in sight”.


must control his image, so as to seemingly possess qualities that he may not necessarily possess. These faults are concealed from the public to avoid any destabilization. Today , it is the communications adviser (the spin doctors) who manage the image of politicians through methods such as analysis of polls or media training, employing radio “blocktimers”, trying to make them appear their best. Because they are constantly under the scrutiny of others, Machiavelli’s politics insist that politicians should dissimile faults and qualities he does not hold, bring under control his opponents and the political life.


For these politicians, dissent must be stopped because it is the root of the revolt. Their one goal? The preservation of power. In sum, the end, again, justifies the means.


can be easily broken because it involves no punishment, loyalty through fear is the


For this reason, he/she leaders


METROPOST


Does this political philosophy sound familiar to you? Let us be aware and be vigilant! Let us wake up from these sad realities.


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