Five stars out of five ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ or five jumping emojis out of five 🙂   🙂   🙂   🙂   🙂 for Tina Monson-Palma —  Finally, a journalist in the APEC international media center did her job instead of acting like a member of the PR team of APEC — Tina Monson-Palma of ABS-CBN asked Canadian PM Trudeau what Canada would do about the 50 container vans of plastic, paper, kitchen, toilet, and hospital garbage that they (thru private firms) shipped to the Philippines a couple of years ago, still rotting at the Manila port.

     Trudeau answered with non-committal generalities by saying they would review Canadian laws on the matter etc…. Tina Monson-Palma followed up by asking what particularly would the Canadian government do, and Trudeau repeated his generalities.

     Tina succeeded in bringing to the world stage an urgent, important concern that affects the environment, health, and lives of people in developing countries, and which Canada has failed to address,  by doing her job, that is  — trying to get answers on substantive issues rather than swooning and sighing and storifying mindless fluff (#APEChottie)  on the global stage — 

trust the ABS-CBN female news anchors not to be mesmerized by world leaders with dreamy Matthey McConaughey eyes and dark Tom Cruise locks and to carry out the duty that viewers and readers look on to them to perform. Good job. 

     (the other half of the so-called #APEChottie, Mexican president Nieto, hurriedly headed home and boarded the plane before he could be asked tough questions about the murdered students and community organizers back home.)