Monday, February 19, 2007 Capillas: Truth be told, dogs are loyal By Stephen Capillas The Lowdown
TURNED out it wasn't a crank call after all.
That call I'm referring to is about the film showing of the Oscar-nominated documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" which is scheduled to be shown in SM cinemas around the country sometime this week.
In Cagayan de Oro, a week-long screening of the movie as narrated by former Vice President Al Gore will be attended by high school students of four schools in the city--Xavier University, Liceo de Cagayan University, Corpus Christi School and the Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School.
The call received by this writer last Thursday was made by Patrick Bryan Absin, vice-president and general manager of the Mindanao Community Development Innovations Inc., which is sponsoring the showing along with Xavier University High School Batch `89, E. Pelaez Ranch, Inc., Mapawa Nature Park Corporation and Duka Bay Resort, Inc.
To Absin and the people behind this film showing, many thanks, merci, muchas gracias, grazie, danke, moshi, moshi for your support.
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This is supposed to be the Year of the Fire Pig, but for the organizers of Cagayan de Oro's Kennel Club, it may just as well be the year they kissed 2006, the Year of the Dog, goodbye, as well as bid farewell to a brave canine that managed to save two women from a killer cobra at their home in Lapasan, this city.
The dog, a pit bull terrier by the name of "Chief", managed to save the two women and their families at their home but at the cost of its own life, since the snake's venom got to its system and it was too late to rush the beloved dog for treatment.
For its bravery, the dog was given a hero's sendoff by the kennel club and cited as an example of canine loyalty to its masters.
While the expression "doggie-doggie" connotes something obscenely sexual, the only thing obscene about this whole episode was Chief's untimely demise.
Fortunately for him, he doesn't have to deal with snakes of a different variety, which wear suits and do the rounds of political campaigns nowadays to win your votes only to snap and bite you in the back.
"Chief's" heroic act to the end reminds us of the adage that for some people animals are above deceit and manipulation.
Sure they do use stealth, subterfuge and even a measure of deception to trap their prey, but they do so because it's the law of survival in this world that they fiercely adhere to if only to ensure that they live for the next day.
People---at least some people I know--on the other hand, deceive and betray at will not just for survival but for the sheer thrill and enjoyment of it.
That's what differentiates Chief and the rest of the politicos that display seemingly canine loyalty to the powers that be. So long as their masters is in power, they follow them to the end but once their employers fall from grace, they jostle and elbow each other out in biting off the carcasses.
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