The Last Late Night Good Night

Good night, Conan. Thanks for 16 years of immature, childish, and arbitrary humour. We loved it. See you in LA.

Phone Scam: Identity Theft in Manila

First, this is not from some floating email-- this happened to me, twice.  I already reported it to one of the banks mentioned and it seems they're not aware of it happening-- they were very appreciative that I reported it to them.  Read this and be warned.

It seems Filipino scammers are getting into identity theft these days.  It begins with your name and phone number-- how they get it, how they got mine, I don't know.  The caller, usually a female, will say you have been pre-approved for a credit card or a loan, and will even explain what you can get (loan amount, interest rates, terms of payment, etc.).  Then they will ask you for information for security purposes, ostensibly to confirm that you are who you say you are.  Here's my experience:

Incident 1: Caller claimed to be from Metrobank Blumentritt branch, said I was pre-approved for a credit card.  I actually have a pending credit card application with Metrobank, so this wasn't a complete surprise to me.  She asked for my birthday, which I gave thinking my card application has been approved.  Then she asked for my mother's maiden name and billing address, which sounded alarm bells in my head.  I told her they should know that information and they can just send the card to my billing address.  She was irritated and asked for my information again, saying that my card will be cancelled if I don't give it to her. I refused and asked for her contact information instead.  She refused, said my card will be cancelled, and hung up.

Incident 2: Caller claimed to be from Citibank Savings Ortigas branch, said I was pre-approved for a car or home loan.  She went on to say that I can borrow from P300k to P2M, low interest, three to 12 years to pay, etc.  She then asked for my credit card number, monthly income, and taxpayer identification number (TIN).  I refused to give the info and lied about my income just to get more information from her.  I got her name and contact info and reported her to Citibank Savings Ortigas-- the real one-- and they were unaware that such a scam was taking place.  I told them to warn their customers because a Citibank customer who is unaware of the scam might have given up the info.  They were very happy I brought this to their attention.

Piece of advice-- never give information to unsolicited callers, even if they claim to be from your bank.  They should know the information they are asking from you, and if you think it might actually be your bank, call them yourself using a publicly listed number and go from there.  

If you get a similar call, get as much information on the caller and report it to the bank concerned (get their number from their official website).  They will be more than happy to know that their name is being used illicitly and will take actions to protect their customers.

Lastly, be careful.  They know your name and telephone number, so they probably know where you live.  Don't let them know you're onto them.  Just ride out the call and don't give any vital information.

One week hence

Esta es mi promesa solemne.

Woman on Top: Liaena Hernández Martínez

Liaena Hernández Martínez

Member of Parliament
Republic of Cuba

• Born in 1990 in Manuel Tames, Cuba, in the country's Guantamo Province.
• Volunteered for active military service under the Servicio Militar Voluntario Femenino.
• Served for seven months in the Brigada de la Frontera, an all-female brigade guarding the border with America's Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
• Elected to the Cuban Parliament in March 2008 to represent her home town of Manuel Tames, making her the youngest member of parliament.
• Touted as the future of Cuba's communist revolution, representing women and youth empowerment. ¡A las armas, valientes, corred!
• Read more about her here (BBC), here, and here.
  

Manila, T minus 6 hours

Leaving for SFO in a few hours.  Taking NW this time, instead of my preferred airline CX.  I'm not particularly looking forward to NW's bad food and unpleasant stew... flight attendants.  But this year, for MNL-SFO-MNL tickets, NW is $162 cheaper than CX so I figured the savings was greater than the monetised value of better service.  I hope I won't regret this choice the next time I have to ask for water.

This is a time of great flux for me, so this trip is especially significant.  

---

I'll miss you so much, Dear.  Take care and be safe.  사랑해.

Remembering the Battle of Manila

Just watched Remembering the Battle of Manila, a two-hour documentary on the 1945 battle produced by Japanese television network NHK and aired on the History Channel.

The documentary had a very objective tone-- no sentimentality or emotion.  There was a good amount of discussion on objectives and tactics but hardly any mention of politics or motives.  The overarching message, though, was that most of the 100,000 Filipino civilian casualties and the almost total destruction of Manila was a result of American bombardment.  Which is quite accurate-- most of the deaths and destruction in Manila in 1945 were indeed caused by the American forces' indiscriminate use of force.  There are a lot of interviews with people-- Filipino civilians, American and Japanese soldiers-- who witnessed the battle and one can get a good picture of the suffering it caused.  One stark image is the destruction of the Philippine General Hospital by American bombers, who attacked the building and its thousands of patients and refugees "despite red crosses painted on the roof".

However, what troubles me about this documentary is what it does not say.  While it makes an indictment of American conduct during the battle, Japanese actions are mostly portrayed as defensive maneouvres.  While it does mention Japanese "outrages" committed against civilians in the name of "anti-guerilla offensives", it makes no adequate description of the gravity or the cruelty of these atrocities.  At one point it mentions the "Japanese anti-guerilla offensive" and "Filipinos fighting Filipinos" (i.e., revenge attacks against the makapili) as reasons, apart from indiscriminate American bombing, for Filipino civilian deaths, without any mention of scale or context as if the two reasons carried equal weight.  

While I didn't expect this documentary-- or any historical documentary-- to be totally objective, I did expect factual proportion.  In terms of scale, American bombs indeed killed more Filipinos and demolished more buildings, but the Japanese are at least equally to blame for the carnage.  The Americans were indiscriminate and reckless in their use of force, but the Japanese were rabid and sadistic in their retaliation, ordering their troops to fight to the last man and "annihilate all guerillas", guerilla being understood by the interviewed Japanese soldiers to mean any Filipino man, woman, or child.  While there were many graphic pictures of the victims of American bombs (women and children in particular) and even video of Filipinos mobbing a makapili, the only pictures of Japanese atrocities were Filipino men executed with their hands tied behind their backs.

Most troubling about this documentary is that it's primarily meant for a Japanese audience, being translated into English after it was made.  If PBS made this documentary for an American audience it would be a soul-searching second look at America's actions in Manila deserving of a commendation.  But it's not.  The documentary was made by NHK for a Japanese audience, making it an exercise in washing their hands of guilt.  Far from just "remembering the battle of Manila", this looks and feels more like a jab at self-vindication, as if saying, "Hey, the Americans killed more Filipinos than we did; we were just defending ourselves."  To lay the blame for the destruction of Manila and the death of 100,000 civilians at the foot of the Americans with only passing mention of Japanese atrocities is, to say the least, dishonest.

That NHK gave an unbalanced account under the veneer of fact and objectivity makes this documentary unethical.  That Japan, unlike Germany, has not truly reconciled itself with its wartime conduct makes this documentary offensive.  That militarist and revisionist elements are gaining clout in Japan makes this documentary dangerous.

I was wrong

I thought America will fail the world yet again.  I was wrong.

I thought negative campaigns and insinuations will form most opinions.  I was wrong.

I thought refreshing high-road politics will be drowned out by the old, dirty tricks.  I was wrong.

I thought the Republican political machine will delay the results with lawsuits and technicalities.  I was wrong.

I thought fear and ignorance will drown out reason and nuanced thinking in the electoral debate.  I was wrong.

I thought hundreds of years of hate and racism will prevail over hope and change.  I was wrong.

I thought America would not, could not, elect Barack Obama.  I was wrong.

I've never been so glad to be wrong.