We dispense with the usual review of the past year to comment on a recent article by the Philippines’ National Artist for Lit­erature F. Sionil Jose. The venerable author in an article en­titled ‘Revolution, Evolution? No, it will be an Implosion’ which appeared in the Phil­ippine Star and reprinted in Planet Philip­pines, Jose laments the decay in our insti­tutions as well as what he calls the “moral malaise which hobbles us, is abetted by apathy, cynicism.”

Beyond ‘condoling’ with the victims of the re­cent floods in the Philippines, the Canadian gov­ernment is silent on its plans to extend aid to the stricken country. A brief, three-paragraph statement by Minister for International Cooperation Bev Oda was all that the government could muster For his part, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird issued the following statement on December 17 – two more paragraphs than Oda’s.
“On behalf of all Canadians, I extend my deep­est sympathies to the friends and families who have lost loved ones or are otherwise affected by tropical storm Washi.

As we prepare to celebrate an­other Christmas, we nurture the hope that something good will come to the Philippines in the coming years. Events in the country recently and in the past few months leave one to wonder what is going on. Are all these mere ‘palabas’ or a ‘zarzuela’ is going on? First, there was the abortive at­tempt of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her hus­band to leave the country and her eventual arrest and imprisonment in a government hospital while awaiting trial for alleged election fraud.

The votes have been counted and win­ners have been declared in B.C.’s 2011 municipal elections. We congratulate Richmond school trustee Rod Belleza for winning a well-deserved second term, finishing fifth in a field of seven. Belleza made history as the first Filipino-Canadian to be elected to a political office in B. C. in 2008. We also congratulate Edwin Empina­do for his historic win in the City of Kiti­mat. Empinado is the first Filipino to win a council seat in the province, finishing second in a field of six.