Don’t hit the donkey (Latest Sabong News)

I feel that some people out there need to read this article. Whatever the reason, I hope it helps. At some point in our lives some of us, if not many of us, have encountered situations big and small where things simply don’t go our way. This may have been due to circumstances that were not favorable, obstacles coming out of the woodwork to block our every move or most often we see or come up against an uncooperative person or someone who just gets in the way and won’t budge. In the case of a guy named Balaam, the uncooperative party was his donkey. Yes, a beast of burden which was supposed to take him to an appointment where he was hired to lay a curse on a bunch of people that the leader of the land, the King, disliked with extreme prejudice. Contrary to expectation the donkey suddenly stopped in its tracks and tried to turn back. But Balaam led the donkey forward and the struggle ended up with the donkey crushing Balaam’s leg against a wall. In anger, Balaam whipped the donkey several times until the donkey talked and asked why Balaam was hitting him when all he was trying to do was avoid an angel with a drawn sword intent on killing Balaam for disobeying God’s instructions. That’s when the angel showed himself and confirmed all that the donkey had said. The funny part is that Balaam was not shocked by his talking donkey but scared to death by the angel! This being the start of a New Year, chances are people will be making plans, devising strategies or making decisions that they readily assume will work out just fine and go their way, until things suddenly come to a screeching halt. Last year, I saw that sort of thing happen several times and in one particular situation, the parties involved clearly did everything humanly possible to reach an agreement to close a deal. They negotiated, offered compromises, renegotiated, got their hackles up and became belligerent when things did not reach the desired conclusion. In other situations, people offer bribes to man and God. They send up a storm of prayers, some even go on fasts, invoke the promises of God and enlist a small army of friends and family to “knock knock knock on Heaven’s door.” Aside from possibly annoying God Almighty, all these accomplished nothing. As God said in the Book of Job, “Am I man that I should change my mind?” It is often at that point when we realize that “man proposes – God disposes” or “many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the will of the Lord that prevails.” When things don’t work, people tend to blame people. But that’s because in our limited minds, we fail to realize that God protects people he loves: you and your enemy both.God sees far into the future. We only see what’s in front of us. So next time, remember Balaam and don’t hit the donkey or blame the other party if things don’t happen. Lift it up to God. * * * The present administration would have us believe that they are importing sugar and onions in order to address the current and future shortage. I fully supported that announcement believing that once that happens, the problem is solved. Apparently, this whole business of importation turns out to be inaccurate if not borderline fictitious. Most Filipinos are under the impression that the Philippine government will directly be importing the sugar or onions or other such products that are in short supply. The truth is the Philippine government only issues the necessary importation permits, phytosanitary certificates, etc. The importation will still be done by the private sector, either an NGO, a sectoral organization such as sugar farmers cooperative, an agricultural cooperative or a corporation engaged in this line of business. So, chances are, the very same people who are responsible for the oversupply of meat and poultry or those suspected of hoarding and manipulating the prices of agricultural products will also be the first to jump in line to once again profit from our collective misery. As private sector importers, their primary agenda would be to get the supply and to earn profits from the importation. I honestly don’t know if it’s possible, but it has been suggested that the Kadiwa or the purchasing arm of the Department of Trade and Industry be enlisted and authorized to undertake the purchase and importation of sugar, onions, garlic, etc., preferably on a government-to-government arrangement in order to by-pass the highly bureaucratic and legalistic process of acquisition. By undertaking the purchase in that manner, the government will also prevent over-pricing, hoarding and in the end will actually deal with the problem without relying on independent operators. * * * Today will be the first day of the World Gamefowl Expo at the World Trade Center near Roxas Boulevard and for those of you who are not convinced that “sabong” is not a legitimate industry in the Philippines, I challenge you to go and see the event that will go on for three days. The WGE will feature all the different farms and gamefowl breeders, personalities and tons of products and thousands of chicks, hens and roosters that will fetch thousands upon thousands of pesos. I predict that after three days of selling, the event will easily raise millions of pesos and once again revive the sport and the industry that nearly died due to the lockdowns as well as attempts to monopolize sabong and turn it to into nothing more than pure gambling. Even the government, particularly the BIR and the Bureau of Animal Industry, will be earning revenues from the event while the airlines will surely be loaded with gamefowl flying in and out of the event! See y’all!!!