my impulse to react

wrote this piece to a columnist in reaction to what he wrote that day:
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yeah it's good for you to say this part of your column:

"It's bad enough for this country to be buying and selling "chop-chop" Suzuki mini-pickups and putting our own brand names like "Multi-Cabs" or "Chariots" or that Korean businessmen are "dumping" old and decrepit or about-to-be-junked Korean cars, because they are still of some value to our motorists. But I would like to believe that we should control ourselves and not play to the whims of these unscrupulous Korean traders who offer cheap luxury SUVs because it didn't cost them anything in the first place, because they stole those vehicles!"

coz you can afford high end vehicles sold straight from a local dealership. how about us who could only fork out 80k-100k of our hard earned savings? can you sell us something that's legit at affordable price? how about us who can only wish we could at least drive around the city like you and don't have to commute riding smoke-belching, delapidated jeepneys. can you provide us a ride at least half of the comfort you rich folks enjoy with your latest suv's, cars and mc's? if you can, i'd gladly avail.

with regards to those smuggled vehicles, i'm wondering why they even reach those surplus shop/dealership when they are supposed to be intercepted right there at customs. and they are there prominently displayed at showrooms and no ones making arrest or siezure and you're blaming consumers who merely purchase these vehicles to these shops? they ought to be closed if they were selling something "hot" but they are not and they have permits from local/national govt. and the vehicles got registered to LTO? so, whose to blame if there's any and whom are you barking to?

it's easy for you to say about the Commandments of God coz you're right up there. you don't need anything since you own a lot of properties, etc. how about us, "isang kahig, isang tuka?" would you share your wealth to us?

i don't think so.

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he fired back:
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Whosoever you are.

Why are you hiding your name? I have my name and my photo in my column...

it is very easy for you to hide in the internet and tell me
to share.... for all I know you are one of the smugglers who destroy this country!

Please don't be a coward and tell me who you are...

no fictitious names please!

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wrote him back today:
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i am not hiding and neither am i a smuggler. i'm a mere employee of a private company that do legitimate business. i am one of your fans out there who likes your no non-sense, straightforward writing. however, there are things you write i simply can't agree with. other than that, i couldn't agree more. in fact i enjoyed reading your mc trip in luzon for i am an mc enthusiast just like you. mine is a bare underbone and i can only dream of a big bike like yours.

i couldn't care less about those high end smuggled kia or any other suv's for that matter. even if they are 50% cheaper, i still could not afford it. the only thing i own is a multicab. but i can't help but notice you whopping those traders selling multicabs. what's your beef with them? i mean, correct me if i'm wrong, these "dumped" vehicles were bought by lot from japan, right? they ain't that old and with a few touch of pinoy ingenuity, still usable/recycable.

honestly, mr. -----, with the current oil crisis and our country's poor economic status, people would rather buy anything cheap. pirated cd, dvd, surplus clothing, spurious product, smuggled honda civic, crv, pajero, isuzu bighorn, trooper, toyota surf, starlet, sorento, miata, bmw etc. the list is endless. but is there anything you can do to alleviate the hardships of people like me? i mean, you guys can go on criticizing the government, smugglers, the traders, consumers, etc. but you can only do so much. what we have here is a desease and i don't see any solution.

i don't have plans of destroying this country mr. -----. this country is being destroyed by the many people we elected, the corrupt government officials and the people who have no other vested interest but to enrich themselves.

i am not hiding. i just don't like the thought of getting too much attention or publicity for expressing my views of your column. hope you understand, sir.

i remain,

arnoldbf