Last October 3, the Philippine Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) posted an advisory on their website on what products have been found positive or negative for melamine.

In the first batch of adisories to be released by the BFAD, two (2) products have so far been found POSITIVE for melamine, which means they are UNSAFE for consumption and should be AVOIDED. These are:

1. Greenfood Yili Fresh Milk (in Chinese character)
2. Mengniu Drink (in Chinese caharacter)

On the other hand, twenty-eight (28) products have been found NEGATIVE for melamine, which means they are SAFE for consumption. These are:

1. Anchor Lite Milk
2. Anlene High Calcium Low Fat Milk U.H.T. (recombined)
3. Bear Brand Instant
4. Chichok Milk Chocolate
5. Farmland Skim Milk
6. Jinwei Drink
7. Jolly Cow Pure Fresh Milk
8. Kiddie Soya Milk Egg Delight
9. Lactogen 1 DHA Infant Formula
10. M&M’s Milk Chocolate Candies
11. M&M’s Peanut Chocolate Candies
12. Milk Boy
13. Nestogen 2 DHA Follow-up Formula
14. Nestogen 3 DHA Follow-up Formula
15. Nido 3+ Prebio with DHA
16. Nido Full Cream Milk Powder
17. Nido Junior
18. No-Sugar Chocolate of Isomaltooligosaccharide (Cocoa Butter Substitute)
19. Nutri-Express Milk Drink
20. PURA UHT Fresh Milk
21. Snickers Fresh Roasted in Caramel & Soft Nougat in Thick Milk Chocolate
22. Vitasoy Soya Bean Milk
23. Wahaha Orange
24. Wahaha Yellow
25. Want-Want Milk Drink (Red Can)
26. Windmill Skim Milk Powder
27. Yinlu Milk Peanut
28. Yogee Yoghurt Flavor Milk Drink

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As a parent, the ongoing milk scare brought about by Chinese-made milk that are tainted with melamine, a toxic substance, caused us so much concern.

Our fears have somewhat been allayed by Nestle Philippines’ recent announcement assuring the safety of their milk products.

According to Nestle’s website, the other products that they produce or carry aside from NIDO are the following: BEAR BRAND, NESLAC, NESTOGEN, NESVITA, and NESTLÉ.  They also import NAN 1 from the Netherlands, NAN 2 and 3, from Switzerland, and NAN HW 1 and 2 from Germany.

Well, at least that’s one less milk-related item to worry about, now the problem is what of other milk-based products circulating our Philippine markets (pastries, milk snacks, candies, etc)? What do we do now?

I’m sorry, but you can’t blame me if I stay clear of Chinese-made or Chinese-sounding products for the meantime. Melamine-tainted milk, formalin-laced white rabbit candies, toxic lead-laced toy paints and defective christmas lights are more than we can handle for now, thank you.

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Related blog entry:
Warning: Do you know what milk products have melamine?

In the news:
1. Philippine Daily Inquirer: Ban on China milk eyed
2. ABS-CBN News: Nestle assures safety of milk products
3. GMA News: Arroyo orders temporary ban on China-made milk products

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So what if he has a lot of skeletons in his closet? If we go by this argument, then why did we, as a nation, insist on hearing out and believing other star witnesses in the past, like the Chavit Singsons, the Jessica Alfaros, etc., who also had their share of hidden skeletons or were accomplices to a particular crime? Why should credibility be an issue now with Mr. Lozada?

If I recall, Erap’s downfall and GMA’s ascendancy into the presidency was because such a star witness with a questionable past was initially vilified, then listened to, and eventually glorified by most Filipinos.

Let’s burn our brain cells to figure out how to sift through the truth and not how to bring a good (or bad) man down.

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Cheers!

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‘Tis true, the government has lost the support of a great number of Filipinos, mostly induced by the recent spate of scandals, questions on legitimacy and alleged constitutional and human rights violations. True still is the fact that the opposition is slowly gaining ground in its attempts to wrest control of the government leadership. But whatever momentum the opposition has gained went for naught simply because they can’t put their act together. Haven’t they ever heard of the ‘team building’ concept?

Oh well, are there other lessons to be learned? Hell, yes!

And some of these are:

1. Never make bookings in any of Makati’s premier hotels. Settling for three-star hotels or motels will do.

2. Make sure you have enough fuel in your tanks. Curfew-induced traffic can quickly deplete your car’s fuel and trigger your temper. We have an opposition’s senseless action begetting a government’s equally senseless reaction

3. Make sure to empty your bladder before driving. Again, curfew-induced traffic can be hell for anyone with a full bladder. It’s sort of a ‘piss poor’ drive after a ‘piss poor’ coup.

4. We now have new ways to use plastic cable ties aside from managing computer cables – Yes, steel handcuffs are obsolete – talk about Filipino ingenuity. Those bondage and S&M couples definitely learned a thing or two and added a new toy to their arsenal.

5. When applying for a building insurance, remember to add in a clause stipulating coverage from tanks or assault vehicles barging into your facility. This is what I call a true ‘Urban Assault’. Shock and awe baby! NOT!

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What’s interesting to note is that Neri also testified that when the bribe incident happened, and on the advice of his lawyers, he mentioned Abalos’ offer to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in a phone conversation. Whereby the president told him not to accept the bribe.

A bribe is a bribe no matter how small or big it is, right? The question is, was there anything done about this? Okay, so Neri is asked to turn down the bribe offer, and then what? He still approves the proposal? You can only imagine the increasing number of questions being formed at the minds of anyone intent on seeking the truth.

And so, until all the questions bugging concerned Filipinos are answered, the shroud of secrecy will continue to put the government in a bad light.

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Related Blog Entries:
The Abalos Scandal: ZTE and the National Broadband Network (NBN)
ZTE NBN Conspiracy Theories

Sources:
Inquirer.net – Neri admits Abalos ‘offer’ on NBN deal
Inquirer.net – Neri says Abalos offered him P200M

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And so, due to lack of transparency, these are “5 Hypothetical, Tongue-in-cheek Reasons Why the ZTE NBN Deal Should Be Junked.”

5. On the wake of Mattel’s recall of about 19 million alleged China-made toys worldwide, detractors fear that copper-based network wirings that will be installed by Chinese firm, ZTE, might end up being replaced with lead. “Well, uhm, you know, uhm, Superman can’t see through lead! How’s that for security? ;-p”

4. The $329 million deal comes with a stipulation that the Philippines relinquish its claim of the “Spratly Group of Islands” in favor of China. It’s a “phone for fish” trade.

3. The almost $200 million worth of alleged bribes comes with a stipulation that all allegedly recalled and rejected China-made toys in the US be diverted to the Philippine market, which also includes lifting the “White Rabbit Candy” ban. Tit-for-Tat.

2. Implementing the National Broadband Network claims to reduce the government’s phone call expenditure to a minimum, since inter-department calls will be via Voice-over-IP (VoIP) – unlimited and free. Aside from the savings in phone calls, the government would also save on costs for hiring and training espionage personnel and paying certain unscrupulous telco employees for its alleged phone tapping activities (well, at least tapping is limited to government agencies). A bit of code here and a few system commands there, and viola!, all calls are recorded and logged into a central database. “Hello Gar.. er.. Pap.. er.. bye!”

And, the top hypothetical reason for junking the deal is:

1. “Broadband? Whaddya mean broadband? Here? In the Philippines? Duh! I’ve had enough of hearing broadband. NBN = No Broadband Now. Better rename the project: National Dial-up Network (NDN) dude. It’ll have the same speed and cost us less.

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Related Blog Entries:
The Abalos Scandal: ZTE and the National Broadband Network (NBN)
NBN Scandal: “Sec, may 200 ka dito.”

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The $329-million NBN Project aims to interconnect all Philippine national and local government agencies, including the “barangay” offices of all local government units (LGUs). This is expected to enhance the delivery of services to the people by reducing the time used for waiting for decisions and replies to queries.

News reports have it that ZTE Corp. allegedly won the NBN Project bid because of huge bribes or pay-outs given to certain government officials in addition to some “maneuvering” done by Chairman Abalos on behalf of ZTE. They won even though the proposal was said to be grossly over-priced when compared to other NBN Project bid offers submitted by other entities such as Amsterdam Holdings, Inc. ($240 million) and Arescom ($130 million).

ZTE Corporation is China’s largest listed telecommunications manufacturer and wireless solutions provider. Founded in 1985, ZTE Corporation has been listed as an A-Share company on Shenzhen Stock Exchange since 1997 (click here).

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Related Blog Entries:
NBN Scandal: “Sec, may 200 ka dito.”
ZTE NBN Conspiracy Theories

Sources:
Inquirer.net – Teves: Abalos set meeting with ZTE
The Manila Times – Teves: Abalos at ZTE meeting

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