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On the news very recently

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo plans to go back to teaching. The blurb quoted Mrs Arroyo's son Mikey.

I never had Mrs Arroyo teach me economics (only the indomitable Winnie Monsod). But in the words of Sister Lucy (the nun I helped in teaching science to indigenous Australian kids when I was doing my PhD in Oz) I would say "She would make a good teacher!'

Being a prof myself I immediately realised that Mrs Arroyo ran the country as if she were managing a rowdy freshie class. The freshie prof should be able to 1) Throw a bit of temper trantrums some of the time, 2) be imperious , 3) shut up psuedointellectuals and "philosophers" and 4) know what he/she's talking about and come to class prepared.

Mrs Arroyo for all her faults was extremely good at this. She would make a good PhD supervisor!

As for Mikey, the only way he could shed his "mama's boy" image is to do an act of rebellion that all normal teenagers do.

Statements like this

"I’m already near 40-years old and on my second term, and I have two kids. I suppose my mother would give me my independence”

don't help! I have a tip for Mikey. You have to match your mother's intellectual acuity!

Yesterday Rotary International had a letter to the editor asking readers not to link Joc Joc Bolante's name with the club.

The letter says

"While we acknowledge that Bolante distinguished himself as a Rotary officer, it is unfair to consistently link his name to Rotary in an attempt to demean the international organization. If the media were truly aware of what Rotary is all about, they would surely realize that linking Rotary to Bolante is hardly fair to all concerned."

and continues

"As Bolante has not yet had his day in court and undergone due process, the imputations of guilt and scurrilous behavior on his person are most unfounded and uncalled for and do not serve the interest of justice and fair play."

We have to disagree. I don't think reporters are demeaning Rotary at all. What they are saying is fact. Rotary International has stated it. Bolante distinguished himself in the club.

Also the imputations of guilt and scurrilous behaviour on Bolante's person isn't unfounded at all. If it were, why did US immigration detain him for two years?

While we leave it to the courts to make a public judgement on Bolante's innocent or guilt, that never stops people from making their own private judgement on his character. Rotary is a private organisation. Nothing stops it from making its own judgement of Bolante.

This is what Rotary fails to grasp. Washing its hands of Bolante hardly makes the club more respectable. Unless it expels Joc Joc from the roster, it has just to live with the fact that people will link Rotary with Bolante.

C'mon Rotary! Even employers have notices saying so and so employee is no longer connected with them. They need not even say what the reason was but it is sure that the employee no longer holds up to the company's standard.

Isn't the Four Way Test Rotary's golden standard? Does Bolante still live up to that?

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