Inquirer\u2019s front-page photo on Thursday showed hostages\u2014three foreigners and a Filipino woman\u2014seated on the ground as masked men pointed the muzzles of their high-caliber rifles at them.<\/p>\n\n
One of the masked men held a machete in one hand while the other rested on the head of one of the hostages.<\/p>\n\n
What was the message implied in the photo?<\/p>\n\n
That the Philippine military and police are a bunch of nincompoops who couldn\u2019t catch the kidnappers after they made a daring raid on a resort on an island a few minutes by boat from Davao City.<\/p>\n\n
The boat that carried the kidnappers and hostages from Samal Island in Davao del Norte province took a long time to arrive at their destination yet they were not caught or overtaken by government troops pursuing them.<\/p>\n\n
Helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and gunboats were used in the pursuit operation, but the kidnappers laughed all the way to their hideout with their hostages.<\/p>\n\n
They must have doubled up with laughter while the helicopters and planes were circling overhead and the gunboats were scouring the seas a few meters away from the getaway boat.<\/p>\n\n
* * *<\/p>\n\n
He was not campaigning for a seat in the Senate nor was he rooting for anybody on the administration ticket, but Cristino \u201cBong\u201d Naguiat has been going to out-of-the-way places in the country to build classrooms.<\/p>\n\n
Naguiat is chair and CEO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), one of the government\u2019s revenue-earning agencies.<\/p>\n\n
His pet project is building classrooms or rebuilding schools destroyed by Supertyphoon \u201cYolanda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
He has gone to barrios at the foot of the Sierra Madre mountain range in Luzon and a mountain barangay in Davao Oriental province in Mindanao to supervise the construction of school buildings or turn these over to barangay or town officials.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI feel very good inside when I see the happy faces of children and their parents over the completion of a school in a remote place,\u201d Naguiat told me.<\/p>\n\n
His statement was in answer to my question on why he had to go to far-flung barangays when his subordinates could do it for him.<\/p>\n\n
Pagcor\u2019s top honcho has been making sorties to faraway places almost every week for the past three months to satisfy a newfound urge to help the downtrodden.<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s not just seeing the completion of a classroom that gives joy to Naguiat but also helping the less fortunate he meets along the way.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThere was this child who dragged himself to school in a barangay in the Visayas. So I ordered my men to buy a wheelchair for him. He was overjoyed and I also felt joy,\u201d said Naguiat.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cAng sarap tumulong (Helping others gives you a wonderful feeling),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n
This reminds me of a verse I read somewhere about happiness which I am paraphrasing:<\/p>\n\n
Happiness is measured not by the life you live, but in caring for others;<\/p>\n\n
Neither is it measured by the possessions you have acquired, but the joy and love you have shared;<\/p>\n\n
Nor by the lofty titles you have been conferred with, but by the happy people whose lives you have touched.<\/p>\n\n
Naguiat has found happiness by living a life of giving and sharing.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Inquirer\u2019s front-page photo on Thursday showed hostages\u2014three foreigners and a Filipino woman\u2014seated on the ground as masked men pointed the muzzles of their high-caliber rifles at them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":930,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,37,1266],"tags":[37201,154,5021,88849,77895],"byline":[127],"source":[206078],"column":[128],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n