THE terror attacks in Mumbai, India that left 195 dead tell me one thing. The war on terror that outgoing US President George Bush has unleashed against Iraq has failed in curbing world terrorism. Instead, it has not only survived, it has gained the capacity to launch further attacks.

It seems President Bush played into the hands of Osama Bin Ladin who wanted America to unleash its military might on even moderate Muslim worldwide. The strategy was to push America into waging a brutal war on the Muslim world pushing moderates into the clutches of the militants. After eight years of Bush, America is not only mired in the post-Saddam Iraq, the Taliban is on the rise again in Afghanistan while Muslim militants elsewhere in Pakistan had gained the capability to attack India’s symbols of progress in Mumbai.

I just hope that President-elect Barack Obama will pursue his call for change once he steps into the White House despite the emotional pressure for pure military retaliation against similar terrorist attacks.

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As for the Philippines, let’s just hope the militants will keep themselves holed up in their lairs in the south. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s men are at present more pre-occupied with keeping her in power beyond 2010 by pushing for charter change and extended term limits. They’re not even concerned with preparations to shield our economy from the worsening crisis abroad.

The anti-chacha senators like Sen. Mar Roxas should be able to keep majority of the senators firmly against this ploy. But I think massive public outcry is necessary to drive the message home to our leaders who only want to keep themselves in power.

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The apprehension of 14 container vans allegedly containing rice and sugar that were smuggled into the country through Cagayan de Oro confirmed what I wrote here several times in the past about the activities of a certain George O. While Cebu customs authorities had succeeded in driving down smuggling through the Cebu ports, the players shifted to ports in Mindanao. They would then bring the shipment to Cebu in the guise of being interisland cargo.

I don’t think honesty nor expectations of a reward motivated those who returned the dollars found last week at the Inayawan dumpsite. They were more afraid of having agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 hound them.

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Job Bonotan Tabada, like the rest of us in the group, avoided the final dish – a soup with a whole black chicken — that was served during our first lunch in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. The food was more than sumptuous. Though famished and impatient for the food to be served when we entered the plush Chinese restaurant, we were already complaining when the so-called favorites of our Chinese hosts were laid on the table.

To recall, we were with a group of media men that included GMA 7’s Bobby Nalzaro and Sun.Star editor in chief Cheking Seares in a study tour of Taiwan’s power industry, courtesy of the Global Business Power Corp. The restaurant was a few minutes drive away from one of the coal-fired plants we visited.

But the black chicken soup is not only delicious, it is also good for health, explained Joan Yu of Cebu’s Ching Palace when I recently narrated to her what happened during the trip. The Ching Palace in Lahug, Cebu City had become a local destination for authentic Chinese dishes. “It is called Diong-koi,” she said, adding that her restaurant also serves the dish here in Cebu though only Chinese customers order it.

Had Job Tabada survived a heart attack after we arrived from Taiwan, I would have asked him to come with me and try again the black chicken soup. But now, what his friends have are only pleasant memories of a temperamental though mild-mannered writer.

Some 22 four-wheeled vehicles and several motorcycles followed Job Tabada’s hearse on the way to the Cebu South Memorial Gardens Saturday morning. My brother Nonoy of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) was there and texted me the details. I just can’t get myself to finally see Job buried. I prefer keeping those memories of happy moments.

(Check out my blog “In Between Columns” at www. inbetweencolumns.wordpress.com)

For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here.

(December 1, 2008 issue)
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