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MADISON, Wisconsin –

Well, what do you know, corruption pays. If the Philippines is not one of the most corrupt countries in Asia, then accused health care scammer Dr. Diogenes Dionisio might have been convicted by now.

The Filipino doctor was part of a scam involving U.S. military retirees residing in the Philippines. He conspired with these retirees to file medical service claims that were deceitfully increased. Thus, in the process, Dionisio and his cohorts defraud U.S. taxpayers of around $2 million of their hard-earned money.

U.S. federal agents apprehended Dionisio last March when he arrived on Guam for a family vacation. He was prosecuted on U.S. soil but may soon be released without a single penalty as U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled that Dionisio was denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial. He was living in the same address in the Philippines for 4 years yet investigators failed to request for his arrest and extradition contending that “the Philippine government was corrupt and would fail to execute the request or botch it“.

If you still don’t get the whole picture, you need not look further. The fertilizer fund scam and euro-general scandal are classic examples of the many corrupt practices in government that were never resolved but merely forgotten over time. Filipinos, in general, are foolish for dwelling only on the latest issues. Lest we forget, the list is quite long: hello Garci election cheating, NBN-ZTE deal, enveloped bribe money to congressmen and governors, Jose Pidal accounts, Northrail project, to name a few, yes those were just a few.

The Arroyo administration is on the twilight of its existence. Be warned however that GMA and her allies will never cease from devising means to stay in power. Let’s continue to be vigilant and make sure that she is soon removed from office either by impeachment or 2010 elections.

I received this piece of news from Couchsurfing:

My friend, Sheng Tienzo, is in the Intensive Care Unit of Makati Medical Center. She has been continuously bleeding after giving birth to her fourth child. It was her third revival last Saturday. Her condition is critical and we urgently need at least 40 donors of blood per day till the end of this week in order to save her life. She needs plenty of O+ blood, but we can donate any blood type so we could get O+ from the Blood Bank. We are trying to find all the help we can get. Kindly text me if you’re willing to help save a life. My number is 09186091214.

Chai Montero

For full details of this post, kindly visit Benj’s blog in this link. Let us help save a life.

UPDATES:

Dear friends,

Our dearest sorority sister and friend, Sheryll Agustin-Tienzo, was continuously bleeding after giving birth to her fourth baby, Isaac, last Saturday. Our hopes were high that she could survive the bleeding and the infection since she was responsive as of Monday night.

Blood donations poured from everyone who has read this post, Benj’s post, Facebook and Multiply posts and text messages that Makati Medical Center had to cease accommodations for Sheng’s donors because the hospital ran out of storage. Her condition was improving despite still being in a critical condition.

But today, at 6:45am, Sheng has passed on. She is now with her Creator, and we only know that she is now in peace.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who responded to this post or texted me. Thanks a lot to Benj for reposting. It is humbling and overwhelming, yet amazing, to know that there are a million kind-hearted souls out there who are willing to share their blood for another.

God bless you all, from me, my sorority sisters, and Sheng’s family.
Chai

I was on leave yesterday and had already planned to drop by MMC after accompanying my wife on her check-up with the dermatologist and opthalmologist. But as early as Monday evening, Chai gave me a call and informed me that Sheng’s condition is improving and there was such an influx of blood donors that she’ll just keep me posted in case there would still be a need for blood donors later.

Unfortunately, we received yesterday the saddening text message from Chai that Sheng had already passed away. Let us all pray for Sheng and her family. Thank you and God bless.