Farewell, Jai-Alai Becket Art-Deco Building  As of press time, Mayor Atienza has all but totally demolished the relic, with a smirk on his face at that.  He claims that he was destroying the gambling it represented.  Duh, maybe he should look around his city.  There seems to be some gambling going on there too.  We really didn't expect too much support from this gov't. with regards the old building.  It seems a certain official has about as much taste in art as Marcos had in women. July 23, 2000 RUTHLESS MANILA MAYOR DEMOLISHES THE 1940 CLASSIC JAI-ALAI BUILDING, KILLING THE HEART AND SOUL OF HIS CITY ALONG WITH IT.  They tried the word "historical value". He doesn't get it.  "Common sense" is something obviously beyond his grasp.  Poor Manila.  It's bad enough they are tearing down all semblance of morality in present Filipino society. At the worst, Erap will be gone in four more years. The Jai Alai building, once destroyed, can never be restored.  Tanong na lang natin "MAGKANO BA TALAGA PARA HUWAG MO NA LANG GIBAIN ITO?"  Visit www.bwf.org and see how you can help. July 22, 2000 PLDT.COM announces essay writing contest.  The topic, "Where will this country be a year from now, and what I should/can do to help my less fortunate countryman."  Readers are asked to send in their 500 word essays.  Entries to be reviewed by PLDT.COM esteemed board of judges whose names we cannot reveal because they need their phone lines to be working. Winning entries will posted on this website and donated prizes will be awarded too. Invite your classmates, kids, officemates, neighbors, congressmen to join. Send your articles to: webmaster@pldt.com with subject line "Write On, baby, Coz We got the Shaft".  Cronies need not apply because they suck. ALLEGED MILITARY PLANS TO BLOW UP PAYATAS DUMPSITE NIXED?  Amazing things happen in a confused banana republic. One cannot fault the Pinoy for being real creative.  This report earlier from the newest member of the PLDT.COM small but efficient community of moles (they are called Alikaboks):  The story goes that NGO's and the military have been spearheading the rescue efforts of the Payatas death site. It was opined that the QC government has done next to nil to assist the Payatas disaster, for reasons unknown.  Rumor has it that a certain family was earning some Php50Million in revenue from garbage trucks delivering waste to the site.  Payatas is the scene of over two hundred "deaths by garbage" brought about by years of government neglect and greedy politicians.  Here is the story, believe it or not.  Turns out that earlier yesterday morning, the military allegedly  had plans to lay out C4 explosives all around the dump site to put closure to the Payatas issue for once and for all.  Till someone mentioned that along with tons of all that Payatas site garbage was methane gas, a by- product of rotting garbage.  That would have been some great blast. Our insider predicts that it may have even splattered the Batasan Pambansa, who hold office near the site. But hey! Maybe that WAS the point of the exercise. We don't know.  Great idea though. IMELDA NOT TO BLAME.   Imelda Marcos yesterday denied that the Payatas victims were hired by her family to search for some jewelry she may have lost while moving to her new residence in Manila.  Imelda said that contrary to news reports, all twenty nine pieces of Louis Vitton luggage that contained her jewelry collection were intact, and had no tiny holes in them for diamonds to fall out of.  "It's always my fault," she cried,  referring to a news leak that claimed she had dropped some diamonds and pearls in her garbage, thus necessitating the hiring of over a thousand scavengers to recover the missing jewels.  The reporter also noted that her background music was the Hawaiian smash hit "Tiny Baubles". MANTRADE DANGLES LAWSUIT OVER  CONSUMER'S HEAD FOR EMAIL COMPLAINT. In what can be seen as it's first bungled attempt at ecommerce, MANTRADE, (the car dealership, not the gay site).  A miffed customer of Mantrade who felt he was getting a bad deal on his car repair (a couple of months, at least, to repair) sent an email to his friends to share his sad experience.  Soon enough, a letter threatening legal action against the consumer was made by MANTRADE (the car dealership, not the gay site).  The consumer was asked to publicly apologize to MANTRADE, which he did.  He wrote a letter with the words I'M SORRY and released this to the people who originally got wind of his plight via email, and cc'd the car dealership.  The MANTRADE car now sits in his garage, where it will stay for only God knows how long.  He refuses to use it. We can understand why.