Ambeth Ocampo aocampo@ateneo.edu
Inquirer News Service
WHEN you talk about hot springs in the Philippines, the conversation usually starts with the town of Los Baños (which literally means "The Baths" in English) in Laguna province and, of course, those in Tiwi town in the province of Albay. As a child, our family would visit the thermal baths in Los Baños regularly, staying in a place called Agua Santa [Holy Water] for a weekend. While most children enjoyed pools and water sports, I preferred cold pools rather than these hot dips that left me quite spent. Then there was that disagreeable volcanic scent in the water. I remember my first visit to the Bicol region, where we dared not try Tiwi where eggs were placed in a handkerchief and dipped in holes in the ground with hot water. After a few minutes, one asked for the rock salt and feasted on hard-boiled eggs. When I caught myself enjoying the Laguna hot springs a year ago, it dawned on me that I was approaching senior citizen age.
After resigning from the intrigue-ridden Emilio Aguinaldo Cabinet, the "Sublime Paralytic" Apolinario Mabini decided to retire in a place with hot springs. He did not go to Tiwi or Los Baños but settled briefly in a place called Balungaw, in the northern province of Pangasinan. Here he soaked and reflected on the fate of the country he loved. He looked back on his brief stay in government, once upon a time the closest and most trusted adviser of the president, then a sick disappointed man licking his wounds in a thermal bath. I visited Balungaw recently in the company of National Artist F. Sionil Jose, who brought me all the way to Ilocos and Pangasinan to show me the setting for his Rosales novels. It was a nostalgic trip back to the land of Frankie Jose's childhood; and it was a research trip for me because I had hoped to find the place where Mabini wrote those articles criticizing the government he had left. Those articles were so sharp that Congress considered limiting press freedom in the name of national unity and security. Funny how some things never seem to change even after a century.
I did not find Mabini's bath in Balungaw but I found the equivalent under the home of Paciano Rizal in Los Baños. After the execution of his brother Jose, Paciano joined the revolution and rose to the rank of general. In retirement, he settled in Los Baños and built a "chalet" designed by Andres Luna de San Pedro, son of Juan Luna. This simple one-bedroom home by the lake, with a view of Talim Island, is built atop a hot spring. Paciano had a makeshift pond built under the house where he took daily therapeutic baths. Today, the property is a historical landmark and shrine -- Paciano and his spinster sisters Josefa and Trinidad are now buried in the garden-visited during solemn commemorations. That's why I didn't find the guts to shed my formal barong and try out Paciano Rizal's hot spring. That's another item in a long list of things I plan to do before I die.
Kept indoors due to the heavy rains last week, I was thinking of the hot springs in Los Baños when I chanced upon a section on the therapeutic properties of certain springs in the Philippines while browsing the thick Volume 3 of the Report of the Philippine Commission to the President [of the United States], published in Washington in 1901. It may be a century old, but some parts of this report are still useful especially the detailed description of the land and people of the Philippines. I did not realize that hot springs differed because of the water: acidulated, carbonic, ferruginous and bicarbonated waters in Lanot springs, Daet Camarines; alkaline-bicarbonated waters in San Raimundo spring, Calauan, Batangas; sulfurous-sulphohydric waters in Mainit spring, Morong; bicarbonated-calcic waters in Candaguit spring, Cebu; sulphated sodic waters in Cabad spring, Lepanto and Quensitog spring, Tiagan;
Chloro-sodic waters in Salvadora spring, Benguet; chlorated sodic-calcic waters in Cotabato spring, Mindanao; chlorated, sodic, bicarbonated and calcic waters in Binobresan spring, Batangas; and finally sulphated, calcic, chlorated and sodic waters in Cauan spring, Tarlac. Many of the springs are in places I have never heard of and are just as obscure to me as the mineral properties of the water.
Filipinos are lazy about distinctions and speak in generic terms: all toothpaste -- no matter the brand -- is "Colgate"; all refrigerators are "Frigidaire"; all detergent bars are "Perla"; and soda crackers of any kind are "Skyflakes." Any bottled water is referred to as "mineral" without distinguishing between plain bottled tap water, distilled water, spring water, mineral water and purified water.
Surely, there is some difference here, but nobody seems to mind, Thus, the 1893 analysis of certain springs around the archipelago made me realize why people with certain ailments went to particular springs because each had a corresponding use: for drinking, bathing, inhaling, or all of the above. Each spring could be used year-round or only on certain months. Each spring provided cure or relief from a variety of diseases: from respiratory and intestinal ailments, skin problems, to menstrual disturbances, tuberculosis, syphilis, paralysis, rheumatism, anorexia, gout and even hysteria. I guess I don't have to find a historical reason to enjoy our hot springs. Any hot spring will do.
H.T. Goranson
Inquirer News Service
THE EARTH produces a reliable stream of disasters. Some, like AIDS, are chronic; others, like earthquakes or Hurricane Katrina, are sudden displays of natural force. In every case, it is expected that a well-financed relief effort will descend from a wealthier region. But importing assistance may not only be less effective; it might actually cause more damage in the long run.
When a tsunami hits, the first impulse is to bring in First World experts. Rescue is the initial priority, followed by ensuring food, shelter and medical aid. It is just a matter of getting things done, and it must be done the most effective way, so the operations occur according to the institutional philosophies of donor countries.
But siphoning the habits of one culture into another during a rebuilding process can trigger societal changes that are almost as damaging as the disaster itself, as happened in small fishing villages in the Philippines in the late 1970s.
In 1978, Typhoon Rita wiped out the fleet of handmade wooden fishing boats in a group of sea-dependent Philippine communities. Relief was fast and effective, consisting first of subsistence aid, followed by "restoration" of the fishing fleet. The old boats, which rotted every few years, were replaced by modern fiberglass versions with small gasoline engines. At the time, this was touted as a textbook case of doing things right.
The fishing economy rebounded and flourished -- but only for about 10 years. After that, the entire society collapsed. Over thousands of years, the culture had come to depend on the central role of boat builders. They were the anchor of society, acting in effect as priests, teachers and judges. Subsistence flowed according to their goodwill and was supported by conventions of sharing and trust.
After the relief effort, this complex human balance was replaced by a cash economy, and the power brokers became those who could dole out the rare, precious petrol. An entire culture was effectively destroyed by efficient relief.
This scenario has been repeated over and over in diverse contexts. The first impulse is to solve problems in the most established manner. But, lacking sensitivity to local dynamics, the outcome is severely compromised.
The solution seems simple: create and subsidize small science centers in regions at risk of disaster. The primary objective of these centers would be "normal" science, with missions and profiles that feed from their local context. At-risk regions would develop culturally appropriate ways to deal with the catastrophes most likely to affect them. In addition, local talent would be nurtured in its home context.
This philosophy would benefit places like New Orleans as much as Phuket in Thailand. Indeed, while it might seem as though there would be no problem of cultural transposition in the case of Hurricane Katrina, an examination of the tragedy reveals otherwise.
It has been overwhelmingly observed that the worst-hit people in New Orleans were poor African-Americans living in the city's low-lying districts. To be sure, many of these inner-city residents simply lacked the resources to evacuate easily. But it is beginning to emerge that many also preferred to stay in a social environment that they trusted rather than fleeing to safer, but foreign, surroundings.
Critics also cite the diversion of infrastructure funds and Louisiana National Guard troops to Iraq as contributing causes to the emergency. These factors clearly played a role, but, overall, if a body of scientifically inclined people from the inner city had been involved in flood control and evacuation planning, the consequences of Hurricane Katrina would certainly have been managed more effectively. By contrast, the inappropriateness of transplanting troops from Iraq into an emergency rescue operation is obvious.
The fight against AIDS -- a battle that depends heavily on social modification -- highlights in perhaps the clearest way the problems that always occur when local culture is ignored. Societal mechanisms simply cannot be adjusted without a crisp, practiced understanding of a culture. And this cannot be merely intuitive. It must be scientific, that is, based on the best methods and models.
For this reason, there should be two points of contact during a catastrophe. Groups of critical thinkers -- the "experts" -- should be on hand to advise on how to avoid second-order disasters. Even though many of them might not have studied the local culture, they can nonetheless provide guidance that has been informed by the world's most expensive infrastructure. At the same time, relief efforts should be managed by a local science center that is known and trusted by those in danger.
The implications of this approach extend far beyond disaster relief. A robust scientific establishment is the root of any economy, and there will be no real development in the Third World without it. An investment in local science is therefore a direct infusion into a community's growth potential, one that eventually will reward investors with new breakthroughs. After all, nothing is better for innovation than a scientist working outside conventional institutions, solving a problem that will save his or her family.
Project Syndicate
H. T. Goranson is the lead scientist of Sirius-Beta Corp. and was a senior scientist with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Juan Mercado
Inquirer News Service
PANFILO Lacson as male "Mata Hari," book shortages in provincial libraries, Cebu as example of how not to succeed and Korean-style bike lanes cram our mail boxes these days.
From San Mateo in California, Antonio Navales asks: "Why are we surprised at the reaction to the Federal Bureau of Investigation charges that three Philippine officials received classified reports filched by an employee, who passed them on to Senator Lacson's protégé, Michael Ray Aquino, who is a fugitive from murder charges?
"Even before the federal court unsealed the indictment, five officials-two more than the FBI pinpointed-had denied having done anything wrong. Aside from Lacson, former President Joseph Estrada, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Rep. Roilo Golez and ex-Sen. Francisco Tatad "stood up to be recognized."
That's par for the course in our country where the 10 Commandments have been watered down into "10 Recommendations." And far too many of our elite instead live by the 11th to 13th commandments.
The 11th Commandment decrees: "Thou shalt deny everything." And the 12th adds: "Thou shalt not resign." And the 13th sums up the other two: "Thou shalt not get caught." The next few days will see who got nailed.
From Calasiao, Pangasinan, teacher Agnes Bacugan writes: "Re the column 'The Heroes We Never Were' -- I desire to be a hero as well, that's to save one or two souls from ignorance.
"At the Comprehensive National High School, I teach English. As library resource center custodian, I promote reading among my students. But a significant number of high school students can't even read! This is a disheartening reality.
"Enticing them to visit the library is difficult. I don't blame them. Like other schools, our library has a very slim collection of paperbacks and reference books.
"Could your Inquirer readers send one book each to Calasiao with a personal dedication? Perhaps, it's not too much to ask for. It's almost Christmas anyway."
This "promdi" dreams of promoting a reading culture. That may not be grand, as ambitions go in this country. But it is significant.
From Hong Kong, author Isabel Escoda (who also writes for Inquirer) reacts: "I forwarded Pangasinan's Agnes Bacugan's appeal to Dan and Nancy Harrington in California.
"They've been sending container loads of books for over 20 years now, even to Jolo. They often travel around the islands. Dan was once a Subic naval pilot. A former schoolteacher, Nancy gathers books mainly on math, history, science, English and literature when California schools change them every few years. That saves still-good books from being dumped into local landfills.
"Manila's given them some awards for their work. But much of it is unacknowledged and unappreciated. Their pilot schools in Paco and Dumaguete are most impressive."
Jobert Alcoseba from General Santos comments: "Your column rightly points out that Cebu City offers examples of how not to succeed.
"Mayor Tomas Osmeña's 'Crown Jewel' -- the 295-hectare South Reclamation Project -- is trapped in a costly desalination box to provide water. But if the column factored in the consequences of costly water in SRP, on bloated P6.3-billion loan, the quagmire would have been seen more clearly."
"SRP's problem is not the delay in the release of land titles, due to Talisay City claims for a 54-hectare slice. It will be water. If taps are dry, or water is too costly, investors [are going to] bolt," Investments Promotion Center's Joel Mari Yu cautions.
Cebu is water-short. To provide water for SRP, Osmeña must turn to desalination, an energy-intensive process. Even when oil was cheaper, desalinated water cost 10 times more than water piped from conventional springs.
But today, oil costs $70 a barrel. There are no prospects for early relief. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries warns that bottlenecks in refining capacity will keep those prices high, even if they pump more.
Those hard facts scuttle Osmeña's claim that cash would roll in, once the titles are delivered. They won't. Not until the mayor solves the water problem.
Annual yen loan payments now total P600 million. That's 25 centavos out of every peso in city hall's budget. Among all local governments, Cebu City is strapped with the biggest liability, the Commission on Audit notes. Osmeña strapped Cebuanos with a per capita repayment tax burden twice that of nation's-no mean feat.
That will stretch out repayment headaches. That's why Osmeña talks of "a bargain sale" to ease the financial squeeze. But the bill will be picked up ultimately by the taxpayer.
"No city relishes being straight-jacketed into high-cost, energy-intensive water systems," Sun Star Daily wrote three years back. "And that's where Cebu is headed for."
A telecom engineer in Seoul writes: "From the Inquirer, I read about bike lanes that'll be put up in Metro Manila. We should learn how the Korean government spent tax money wisely in building their bike lanes.
"On the banks of Hangan River -- which cuts through Seoul -- both sides have broad bike lanes. I bike through these lanes Sundays. Hundreds use them for roller blade skating, jogging and strolling, etc.
"There are public toilets: clean, supplied with soap, water, paper towels. Exercise areas and sport facilities abound. Before the MMDA [Metropolitan Manila Development Authority] starts building those bike lanes, they better visit the one here in Seoul."
Neal Cruz opinion@inquirer.com.ph
Inquirer News Service
HOW can the sending of FBI files to the Philippines by Leandro Aragoncillo and Michael Ray Aquino be "espionage" when the information they contain is about the Philippines? And I don't understand why the two bothered to send them at all when all that information was already public knowledge here. Just go to any coffee shop frequented by journalists and camp followers from both sides of the political fence and you will hear talk of an "impending coup," of "disgruntled military officers" and of "troop movements." In fact, if you listen closely enough, you will hear certain characters say with certainty, as though they are in the know, that the coup would take place in a few days or weeks. These are what the American "spies" heard and reported to Washington -- and what Aragoncillo and Aquino allegedly stole and sent back here.
But they are not facts but dreams and wishful thinking of our homegrown steak commandos who do nothing the whole day but stay in coffee shops and spread rumors. Most of them have no jobs so they have all the time to concoct scenarios and spread them around like manure.
There are certain characters who, when you ask them the hour of the day, will answer like zombies, "Malapit na, malapit na," [meaning the coup is near] as if they are the ones giving the orders to the coup plotters. Any journalist can give you their names if you ask, but I won't name them here for the sake of charity. But while we laugh at them, the gullible Americans, alas, took them seriously. And due to the characteristic Filipino colonial mentality that anything American must be correct, the equally gullible Aragoncillo and Aquino fell for the trap, too. Now you have an idea why the US intelligence reports on Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction" were all false, most likely gathered by American "intelligence" agents from the camel camps of the Middle East.
* * *
Is lying a contagious disease? Judging from the way Malacañang zombies have been lying right and left, it would appear so. National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales has been caught lying like crazy on the venal Venable LLP contract. Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye has been caught lying not once, not twice, but many times, the latest also about the Venable deal. Ditto for the other denizens of the snake pit called Malacañang. They're all afflicted with the disease. Guess who contaminated them.
When the Venable secret deal (so secret that not even Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita knew about it) was discovered with Gonzales' signature on it, he prattled like a gangster in Alcatraz. When told that the P4.2-million monthly retainer fee for Venable was too much for a bankrupt Philippine government, Gonzales replied that the money would come from "private donors." When asked who these donors were, he replied that only President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo knew. When told that letting private donors and foreigners have a hand in amending our Constitution borders on treason, which is punishable by death, Gonzales announced that the Venable contract had been rescinded and that the three-month advance fee of P12.6 million would be refunded. When asked where the refund was, Gonzales replied that no money had been paid to Venable yet, and so there was nothing to refund.
If Gonzales had been strapped to a lie detector, it would have lighted up like a Christmas tree and all the buzzers and bells would have sounded off.
When the opposition demanded that President Arroyo fire him, Gonzales threatened that if he is fired, he would expose venalities about the opposition, adding, "What I know about them, wow!"
Gonzales put his foot in his mouth again there. It is his duty as a public official to expose any venality he knows about, and not use that knowledge to prevent himself from being fired. Now he is liable for a charge of obstruction of justice.
More likely, the threat was not intended for the opposition but for Ms Arroyo, a warning that if she fires him he would expose the wrongdoings he knows about her. In the first place, Gonzales would not have done what he did if he did not get his orders from the President herself.
As for the President, she knows that the Venable contract was full of venality and that the two of them are liable criminally, and so she ordered its rescission immediately.
But the cancellation of the contract and even the refund of the advance fee do not extinguish the crime. The crime has been committed and the criminals must face the music.
What this latest scandal shows is that it seems to be the policy of the Arroyo administration to go ahead with secret deals even if they are illegal and immoral. Whatever happened to transparency and public accountability? Rep. Ronaldo Zamora says there are nine other similar secret contracts.
If only for this, we should all resist with all our might all attempts to change our Constitution. For the Arroyo administration has shown that it would do anything, even invite foreign meddling in our sovereignty, just to change the Constitution. They must all have a very strong and sinister reason for wanting to.
Now that the treasonous Venable contract has been unmasked, the administration, especially the House of Representatives, should stop all moves to change our Charter. Almost 80 percent of Filipinos, the constituents of the congressmen, have said in opinion polls that they want neither Charter change nor a shift to a parliamentary-federal system of government.
Congressmen, obey your masters!
ON behalf of the global civil society, Prof. Leonor Briones, Philippines convenor of the Social Watch network of NGOs, addressed the United Nations World Summit and asked world leaders to fulfill old and new promises.
"This General Assembly is not the time for more promises," Briones told the gathering. "The poor of the world cannot wait for 2015. Fulfill your promises!"
2015 is the year that UN member-states will report on the progress they have made on the Millennium Development Goals. The MDGs, laid down by the UN in 2000, are time-bound targets to meet the most urgent needs of the poorest populations, including halving the incidence of extreme poverty, reducing infant deaths, and achieving universal primary education.
The 2005 Human Development Report has said it is unlikely that the MDGs will be met, as hunger and inequality continue to be widespread and progress has been too slow.
Briones, a professor of public administration and former national treasurer, urged the international community to immediately take specific steps to aid the poorest nations in their efforts to overcome poverty. One of the most urgent of these, Briones said, is to grant debt relief to poor nations, not only those officially defined as highly indebted poor countries but even those described as "middle-income" but suffer from debt burden as well.
The debt crisis, she stressed, continues to hobble many countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa, depriving their people of necessary resources that could have been channeled instead for human development.
"It has been two decades since the last global debt crisis," Briones said. "The babies who have survived are now 20 years old. They still carry the scars of malnutrition, inadequate education and poor health."
Briones also called on the UN "to remind recalcitrant member countries" of their commitment to increase their levels of Official Development Assistance.
The 2005 World Summit ended on Friday, with, yes, promises.
Read the full text of Briones's statement.
Rigoberto D. Tiglao
Inquirer News Service
THERE has been a display of naivetè (some call it hypocrisy)-contrived or not-by the so-called Black and White Movement, over the political war that has raged in the past three months. The people behind the movement portray their stance merely as a search for truth.
But the election-fraud charges, which led to the drive for President Macapagal-Arroyo to resign and-after that failed-for her impeachment, didn't evolve just out of the blue. The core of the campaign to unseat the President (the so-called "Garci" tapes) didn't surface on its own. The jueteng witnesses (all admitted bagmen[woman] of gambling lords) didn't get conscience-stricken just suddenly in June, the reason they turned whistle-blowers. This mix of "exposès" and people is a major element of a political strategy.
The metaphor of a political storm is a bit misleading. The turmoil in the past months represents the big offensive initiated by three major political forces determined to unseat President Macapagal-Arroyo at all costs. The turmoil is not just the result of a confluence of factors and events. These camps have been ranged against her since Day One of her first term, continuously plotting to overwhelm the administration's democratic ramparts.
1. The Erap (deposed President Joseph Estrada) and FPJ (Fernando Poe Jr.) forces. They cannot accept the fact that a once popular president is in detention while the court deliberates on the corruption allegations against him. Indeed, for the first time in our nation's history, a former president has been put in jail. This unprecedented development-a quantum leap toward the strengthening of our institutions-has not been without cost. It is a major factor that explains the continuous political turbulence since 2001.
FPJ in the 2004 elections was their big hope to free Erap. They failed, and so they proceeded to implement their Plan B: discredit the elections and, they hope, in the resulting public outrage, pressure the President to resign. Who was the main disseminator of the alleged "Garci" tapes? Alan Paguia, Erap's lawyer.
2. The Communist Party and its front organizations. The Leninist-Maoist dogma calls for a two-pronged political strategy to capture power. First (the Leninist contribution) is to undertake moves to worsen the political situation, and especially "to split the ruling class." The strategy, which Lenin proved effective in Russia in 1917, is to create political chaos, allowing a well-organized party to easily capture power, with the middle forces acquiescing in fear or in the spirit of political opportunism.
Second (the Maoist contribution) is the so-called "mass line": Assume leadership of all anti-establishment causes in order to expand your organization and forge alliances with other political forces.
What has particularly incensed the Communist Party has been its belief that the President worked for its classification by the US government as a terrorist organization. This has reportedly wreaked havoc on the party's international network for fund-raising and transfers.
Jose Ma. Sison's strategy of a rural-based rebel army, combined with "parliamentary struggle," certainly has borne fruit. For the first time in any modern nation's history, Marxist-Leninist cadres are able to hurl vitriol against a democratically elected President, demanding her ouster in the halls of Congress.
3. Sen. Panfilo Lacson's forces. Having left Estrada's shadow and having grown out of his former role as Erap's chief enforcer, Lacson has emerged as a political leader in his own right, drawing Erap's ronins into his camp. At least, unlike the civil socialites hypocritically claiming they are only after the truth, Lacson never kept secret his desire or goal to have Ms Arroyo overthrown. As regular as the seasons, Lacson has continuously launched intense political blitzkriegs to crush the President's credibility with the end-view of unseating her.
The disclosure that Lacson had asked an Australian outfit to authenticate a three-hour tape before its existence was alleged by an ex-NBI officer bolsters suspicions that the "Garci" tapes were his project.
Other smaller forces have wanted to unseat Ms Arroyo since 2001; they are lesser predators like hyenas trailing the main pack: the remnants of the Marcos dynasty intent on preserving the wealth it amassed over 20 years; elderly, long-retired generals hallucinating over the Latin American, vintage-1960s juntas; and breakaway groups from the Sison-controlled Communist Party.
Look closely at the main features of the current political battle. What made the current campaign politically possible? The "Garci" tapes could have been acquired-and digitally manipulated-only by someone with an extensive intelligence background. What constitutes the main force of the impeachment camp in Congress? The leftist party-list representatives (10 of them) and prominent figures of the Erap camp, such as his former executive secretary Rep. Ronaldo Zamora. What is the main force in the street rallies, which are held with all agit-prop gimmicks? The Communist Party cadres and activists.
Miscalculating that the political war waged by these veteran forces was moving toward victory, a sector of civil society joined the fray. On July 8, hypocritically claiming it merely wanted to spare the President from further pain, its members carried out a blitz of press conferences to pressure her to resign. They thought the move would give them the leadership of the anti-GMA forces.
In this conflict, political clerics, civil socialites and greenhorn congressmen have pretended, or naively thought themselves, to be noncombatants out only in a spiritual search for truth.
He who rides the tiger cannot dismount, lest he be devoured, an old Chinese proverb says.
The three forces-Erap's, the Communist Party's and Lacson's-are the three tigers in the Philippine political jungle, out to devour the President. On Friday evening at La Salle Greenhills, it became obvious that former President Aquino, Dinky Soliman et al., some clerics and civil socialites have, wittingly or unwittingly, mounted these tigers.
Their group's name, Black and White Movement, fits them to a tee. They have chosen to be politically color-blind, and thus unable to discern the predators in the political jungle.
They will find it difficult to dismount. We hope that on the backs of these tigers, they will not be witnesses to the devouring of our democracy.
Secretary Rigoberto D. Tiglao is the head of the Presidential Management Staff.
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It was three days after the national elections and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) was already canvassing some of the provincial and city certificates of canvass for the senatorial and party-list race.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., in a press conference the following day, denounced the meeting. He said it was held "under the circumstances when Pagcor stands accused of funding the President's election bid."
On the run-up to the May 10 polls, Pagcor sources told NEWSBREAK that the gaming agency had been channeling its intelligence funds to finance the campaign bid of President Arroyo. The sources also said Pagcor had been spending hundreds of millions of its public relations and advertising funds to promote Arroyo's candidacy. The intelligence and the public relations and advertising funds combined easily amount to P500 million.
While admitting that he was at the restaurant that night, Garcillano however denied he met with Genuino. He said he did not even know Genuino personally.
But new evidence, courtesy of the wiretapped Garcillano conversations, now reveal otherwise. Moreover, they shared more than a nodding acquaintance, with one casually addressing the other as "padre" or "pare" and their conversations being more than a social chat. The conversations establish Garcillano as an operator and Genuino as a source of pay-offs.
Genuino, through Pagcor spokesperson Dodie King, denied knowing Garcillano personally. He said Genuino never had any business with the Comelec or any of its officials.
Not Mike, not Barbers
Aside from a woman who sounded like President Arroyo, other politicians and election officers based in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao made several calls to Garcillano. But Garcillano had one regular caller: an unidentified male who kept asking him for election updates and, in two instances, possible pay-offs to election manipulators.
In previously published transcripts, the man was identified as losing senatorial candidate Robert Barbers, who barely missed the 12th senatorial slot. In some instances, the man was identified as First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo.
For instance, in a conversation on May 24, 2004, the male voice that asked Garcillano if it would be possible "to increase the vote to 200 [to] 300 [thousand]" was identified in earlier transcripts released by the opposition as belonging to Barbers. In a May 27 conversation, the man talking to Garcillano and complaining that he was dealing with a wishy-washy poll operator was identified as Mr. Arroyo.
But Pagcor managers told NEWSBREAK that the man was actually Genuino. They reviewed the tapes from the ABS-CBN Web site and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism blog site.
The review was prompted by two portions in the transcript, both dated June 8, 2004, where a man who sounded like Genuino and an unidentified male talked of meeting at a Japanese restaurant. The Pagcor managers' suspicions were further roused after recalling the Yura-kuen meeting last year.
While there were calls made by Barbers and Mr. Arroyo in the tape, the Pagcor sources, being familiar with their chairman's voice, easily identified those of Genuino's.
Moreover, unlike Genuino, Mr. Arroyo and Barbers identified themselves to Garcillano when making calls, while the Pagcor chair casually addressed the former poll official as "padre" or "pare."
15 Recorded Conversations
Based on a Pagcor manager's review, Genuino made at least 15 calls to Garcillano from May 24 to June 14, 2004. Most of the calls apparently revolved around Genuino's frantic effort to put Bigkis Pinoy Movement, a party-list hopeful founded by Genuino and Mr. Arroyo's close allies, in the winning circle.
Incorporators of Bigkis Pinoy, which started as a foundation, hold different posts in cash-rich government agencies. The contents of the Genuino-Garcillano conversations were corroborated by events that transpired last year.
In their first recorded conversation on May 24, 2004, Genuino identified himself as "chairman," in apparent reference to his position as Pagcor chair. Garcillano readily acknowledged his caller.
In that call, an anxious Genuino told Garcillano that certificates of canvass from four provinces had yet to arrive. Garcillano replied: "Bakit ilan na ang panalo nila? (Why, what have they won?)"
The man said: "675,000 na eh, 175,000 ang boto natin. Kung madagdagan lang sana ng mga 200 to 300. (650,000 already. We have 175,000 votes. If we could just add around 200 to 300.)"
A check with Comelec showed that on May 23, Bigkis Pinoy had tallied 175,971 votes, or only 1.5 percent of the votes cast for the party-list race. This means its vote percentage was still way below the required 2 percent of the votes cast for it to earn a seat in the House of Representatives. A group can garner a maximum of three seats.
As of May 23, Bigkis Pinoy was 21st in the party-list ranking.
In a succeeding conversation, a man who sounded like Genuino sought Garcillano's advice regarding a group of alleged Comelec people who offered their services to rig votes. Genuino said the group was asking for P5 million.
Apparently unsure which group had approached Genuino, Garcillano told him not to strike a deal so readily. "Makiki-ano ka muna, pagkatapos titingnan ko kung sino. Kunwari lang maki-ano ka. Ipasok mo ang tao mo (Just play along while I check them out. Bring your people in)," Garcillano advised.
Genuino said he was willing to increase the pay if needed.
On May 27, Genuino called Garcillano, complaining, "'Yung kausap namin eh atras-abante, umatras na naman. (These people we spoke with keep changing their minds, they've just pulled out again). "
Garcillano told Genuino not to pursue the deal any longer. "Baka kaya na rin kasi (We may not need them after all)," adding that he would try his best.
On June 2, 2004, Genuino called Garcillano, asking if the latter was able to remedy the situation. Garcillano said they were able to proclaim only 15 winners and that he would try to have one included in the winning list.
Garcillano also complained that he was having a hard time "because Madame was calling incessantly" regarding the missing Camarines Norte ballot box.
A check with the Comelec clerk of court showed that on June 2, the en banc commission proclaimed 15 party-list groups that met the 2-percent minimum required votes. Bigkis Pinoy had so far only received 186,264 votes or 1.4 percent of the total votes cast.
Desperate Bid
Based on the wiretapped conversation, Genuino is one who does not give up easily. On June 3, 2004, he placed three calls to Garcillano that were only minutes apart. In these calls, he took pains to find a solution to his problems.
In his June 3 calls, Genuino informed Garcillano that no one was watching the counting in Basilan anymore, and asked if it would be possible therefore to "put 70,000 [votes] there." In another call, he told Garcillano that Isabela province might also provide additional votes.
Genuino repeatedly stressed that only 70,000 votes were needed "and if there are other considerations, just tell me for any additional..." Garcillano replied in the affirmative.
Apparently, the 70,000 votes Genuino was referring to were the additional votes that Bigkis Pinoy needed to satisfy the 2 percent requirement.
A few hours later that same day, Genuino again called Garcillano. This time, the conversation dealt with the cost of fixing the operators. Based on the context of their conversation, Garcillano had assured the operators P1 million for the job but told Genuino they might ask for more.
The following day, on June 4, 2004, Genuino and Garcillano had agreed to peg the bribe between P1.5 million to P2 million. Garcillano instructed Genuino to deliver the money to his secretary, Ellen Peralta.
On June 8, at 11:05 a.m., Genuino called Garcillano to inform him that the he was already waiting at a Japanese restaurant. "Pero 11:30 pa magbubukas 'tong Japanese restaurant (But it'll open only at 11:30)," Genuino said.
An hour later, Garcillano called Genuino to inform him that he was stuck in traffic on Buendia.
The Japanese restaurant was believed to be Yura-kuen in Manila Diamond Hotel, which Garcillano has admitted he frequented. The restaurant is also within walking distance of the main Pagcor office along Roxas Boulevard.
The last recorded conversation between Genuino and Garcillano was on June 14, at 7:45 p.m., when Genuino finally mentioned Bigkis.
Garcillano said he was trying his best to enable Bigkis to get the 2-percent requirement, but told Genuino that the group ALIF might get it first. On June 29, Ang Laban ng Indiginong Filipino or ALIF was proclaimed by Comelec as the last party-list group to have satisfied the 2-percent requirement.
Favored party-list groups got more than a little help from the Comelec fraud squad.
by LUZ RIMBAN
 STRUGGLING FOR RECOGNITION. Party-list groups like Bayan Muna, whose members are shown here, in an anti-U.S. rally, are taking a crack at electoral politics. [photos courtesy of Malaya] | |
Based on the Garci tapes, however, it now seems that some party-list groups that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo supported may have been counting on help from no less than a Comelec commissioner himself. In several instances, Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano was heard discussing the chances of at least five party-list groups getting seats in Congress: VFP (Veterans' Freedom Party), ALIF (Ang Laban ng Indiginong Filipino), ANAD (Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy), SMILE (Samahan ng mga Mangangalakal sa Ikauunlad ng Lokal na Ekonomiya) and TUCP' (Trade Union Congress Party).
"These were all publicly endorsed by GMA," says Ronald Llamas, national president of Akbayan, another party-list group. "They are all identified with GMA. There are no anti-GMA among the party-list groups mentioned in the tapes."
Two of these groups have already been proclaimed winners and are currently holding seats in the House of Representatives; Ernesto Guidaya represents the VFP, while Acmad Tomawis represents ALIF. The Cornelec is also expected to proclaim ANAD as another winner, meaning its first nominee, ex-communist-turned-vigilante Jun Alcover, will soon have a seat in Congress.
The VFP was proclaimed ahead of ALIF, having been among the 15 party-list organizations declared as winners by the Comelec on June 2, 2004. Sitting as the national board of canvassers for the party-list elections, ihe Comelec proclaimed 15 organizations as winners, resulting in 23 party-list representatives. But this was only a partial proclamation. At that time, the Comelec said it was suspending the canvass as it was still awaiting a final Certificate of Canvass from the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
FAVORED GROUPS FIRST?
The next day, June 3, Garcillano is recorded as having called up someone named Lyn and telling her, "Ipaalala mo kay Romy meron silang reward niyan pero 'wag maingay...Meron pa kasing isa pa sana kung pupuwede pero hindi ko alam meron silang ikakuwan, 'yung SMILE din ke kuwan pa naman 'yan, sa kaibigan diyan sa tabi. Pero 'yung isa sigurado na 'yun...Pagkatapos ng kuwan, tatanungin ko pa 'yung isa. (Remind Romy they have a reward but that they should keep silent...There's still another one that could be included] but I don't know if they have...and then there's SMILE, which is our friend's. But one's already for sure...Later, I'm going to ask about the other one.)" SMILE, which represents small and medium-scale businesses, including vendors and service providers, had former bastketball star Ramon Fernandez as a nominee.
Five days later, a certain Ruben called up Garcillano, asking, "Papaano 'yimg ano natin, sa party list (so how's our, you know, in the party list)?" The commissioner replied he could not do anything yet because " wala pang usapan ang mga tao tungkol diyan (there hasn't been talk about that yet)." But Ruben pressed on, asking specifically about TUCP and ANAD. TUCP is the party-list arm of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, which has had its former secretary-general, Ernesto 'Boy' Herrera, become senator in the past.
Garcillano told Ruben that doing anything would be difficult because the proclamation of party-list winner was over and expressed concern about being too aggressive in pushing forward "favored" groups — '" yung mga malapit" — since they could be noticed. Ruben then reminded him that the organizations he mentioned were "malapit 'yan ha kesa sa SMILE (they are more favored than SMILE)."
A few minutes after this conversation, Garcillano accepted another call that turned out to be about the VFP. The caller, an unidentified man, wanted to know if there was a chance the group could have another representative aside from Guidaya. Garcillano again said the proclamation was over, bul like Ruben die caller was insistent. Garcillano finally said that the number of votes garnered by the group had already been recorded and official; the implication was the figures could no longer be played around with.
Exactly a week later, on June 14, Garcillano accepted a call from another unidentified man who asked when something would be clone about "the party list." The commissioner replied that he was still working on it, but that " ang mauna siguro iyong ALIF. Pero gusto ko masabay-sabay (ALIF could be first. But I would want them proclaimed all at the same time)."
QUESTIONABLE QUALIFICATIONS
As it turned out. the Comelec did proclaim ALIF as a winner. But other party-list groups have since questioned that act. They note that ALIF was proclaimed alone, separate from the first batch, and ahead of another expected batch that to this day is waiting to be proclaimed. Why, the groups ask, did ALIF get special treatment? How did it get in, while other party-list organizations are still wailing for either their first or second nominees to be proclaimed?
As far as other party-list organizations are concerned, VFP, ALIF, and ANAD are among those vested interests seeking entry to Congress through a backdoor that has made a mockery of the party-list system. Long before the Garcillano conversations were made public, the party-list group Partido Manggagawa (PM) had already sought the disqualification of eight party-list organizations, including VFP, ALIF and ANAD, on the grounds that these did not meet the criteria for accreditation.
Had the Comelec been stricter in screening party-list candidates, these groups would not have had a chance in running in the elections. VFP is a reincarnation of the Veterans' Federation of the Philippines, a group previously disqualified from the party-list contest because it was an entity supported by the government. It changed its name to Veterans' Freedom Party less than a year before the elections. Its representative Guidaya was in fact a retired military man who used to head the Philippine Veterans' Affairs Office (PVAO), an agency under the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
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How such groups were able 10 sneak in anyway has long been a frustrating mystery for other party-list organizations. Another puzzle is the suspiciously high number of votes certain first-time party-list groups obtained in Mindanao, particularly in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao or ARMM. Since the Garci tapes surfaced, however, speculations have grown that negotiations were being made at the Comelec level, not only for questionable groups to be included in the race, but also for these to obtain votes afterward.
IMPROBABLE FIGURES
Just months after the May 10.2004 elections, party-list groups were already questioning the results in some provinces in ARMM, which also happens to be an area where Garcillano is supposed to be the most well-versed among the Comelec commissioners. At least two patty-list groups — PM and the Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) — have since filed complaints with the Comelec on what they say are dubious election results. The most basic issue is the turnout of votes.
Various party-list groups have noted the mathematical improbability of such figures, especially since the survey group Social Weather Stations predicted before the elections that the voter turnout for party-list elections would not he more than 40 percent. In Quezon City, headquarters of some of the biggest party-list groups and focus of intense election propaganda, the turnout of party-list votes was only 35 percent. Party-list groups wondered how the results could more than double in far away ARMM.
Interestingly, it was in Lanao del Sur where ALIF got the bulk of its votes. Comelec records show that ALIF got 116,489 votes in that province, representing more than one-third of total votes from there. This presents another statistical conundrum: there were 66 party-list organizations that competed, and there were at least three others based in Mindanao or having a Muslim constituency. How could an unknown, first-time organization like ALIF corner the lion's share in such a crowded field?
There were other suspicious results as well. In Basilan. the party-list topnotcher was the unknown Visayas Farmers Party or Agrifil, which got more than 90,000. The party-list group Anak Mindanao (AMIN) called the Comelec's attention to that "irregularity." Last September, the Comelec's first division responded; it said it was indeed statistically impossible for Agrifil to win because its papers showed that its base were the Western Visayan provinces of Aldan, Capiz, Guimaras, and Iloilo where it got only 11,464 votes. The Comelec said Agrifil "had no clear constituency" in Basilan and called for the investigation of the provincial election supervisor.
Shortly after the Garci tapes scandal broke out, Comelec chief Benjamin Abalos himself said that his office would prosecute the Basilan election officials responsible for the Agrifil votes. The decision, though, has yet to be implemented.
The Comelec has also failed in other things, particularly in being more transparent about the party-list count, which to this day remains unfinished. At the very least, party-list organizations are demanding accountability from the Commission. "They (the Comelec) are very evasive when we ask them about the last remaining COC (Certificate of Canvass) that still needs to be canvassed. They never came out with official statement of any sort regarding the conclusion of the party-list canvass," says Blanca Kim Bernardo-Lokin, second nominee of the party-list group CIBAC, which along with party-list groups PM, Butil, and Gabri-ela are awaiting proclamation of their second nominees.
Of course, the Comelec can always say it is besieged with a mountain of complaints from party-list groups — some with legitimate grievances and others without. Most of them are asking for a recount, presenting COCs showing they won enough voles for a seat in Congress.
Groups like Akbayan are wondering how the Comelec will deal with the situation. A recount has probably been granted since the Comelec is poised to proclaim new winners. But Akbayan's Llamas asks: "If they restore the votes of a group which says it was robbed of votes, then that means they have to take away votes from those who stole. We don't know how the Comelec is doing it, And we don't know either how the other party-list groups managed to scrounge for votes. Where are all these votes coming from?"
INQ7.net
OKAY, since Congress and our own dear President insist on opening the can of worms known as the Parliamentary-Federalism versus Presidential-Centralized Government debate, I have been forced to read as much as I can about both sides, if only to feed my hunger for information, and to make sure, as a socially aware Filipino citizen, I can make an informed decision on the matter. After a rather lengthy debate with friends about it last night, here are the reasons why I'm against a change in our current system:
Parliamentary vs. Presidential -- I am against the parliamentary system because of its basic premise, which, when taken to its core essence and stripped of all rhetoric and nonsense says this: that the masses are stupid. Which we definitely are not. Sure, we've had lousy presidents, but, really, do we have much choice? I am against any system that seeks to take from the masses the power of directly choosing their own leader. We are not sheep. And we don't need a damn shepherd.
Federalism vs. Centralized Government -- This one's more complicated. My argument is threefold. The first one is socio-philosophical. The second one is socioeconomic. The last one is of feasibility and logistics. So I use bullet points:
• Federalism assumes two conditions: the "existence of a body of countries so closely connected by locality, by history, by race, or the like, as to be capable to bearing, in the eyes of their inhabitants, an impress of common nationality"; and "the desire for national unity and the determination to maintain the independence of each man's separate State."
We have the first condition (excluding locality). As my friend pointed out, we are differentiated ethno-linguistically (Tagalog, Cebuano, Moro, etc.)
However, we'll have a bit of a problem on the second point, or rather, the first part of the second point concerning "the desire for national unity." This is a terribly complicated debate but, in my perspective, I'm afraid of the consequences of strengthening ethno-linguistic pride at the cost of a national identity. As it is, we already have Muslim Mindanao entertaining the idea of becoming its own country. Our national identity, as it is, is really, really shaky at this point (I don't even really know what it means). So, I'm afraid of the political consequences of deliberately and literally tearing this country apart.
• Second, if the other regions have already branded Manila as "imperial," a federal system would only make matters worse. It is easier for a rich man to become richer. I'd say it would be the same for states. Given its huge advantage against the other regions in terms of the number of industries, businesses and other moneymaking ventures in this current system, a federal one would only give it license to keep more of the money it makes (in terms of taxes) for itself. It would only further solidify its current-role of dictating to the smaller regions what to do and how to run the country.
• Third, let us assume that my first two arguments are incorrect. How are we going to split up this country? Geographically? It won't work. Because it would be an artificial construct and would run counter to what is said to be the first condition for a federalist system (refer to above). Some groups, though they share a common history and belief system do not share a common locality. Ethno-linguistically? It still won't work, because to take this route you'd have to spend a huge, mind-boggling sum of money to displace a lot of people so that they may live with "their own kind."
Anyway, whatever decision a random committee would make concerning state separation will be an artificial construct (as opposed to one naturally created by history) and they're bound to make a mistake. As I see it, it is simply just not feasible.
One last thing -- at the very most, parliamentary-federalism would be a risky endeavor with no real and absolute benefits. If we do make a change towards it, it would be like a blackjack player saying, "Hit me" when he already has a 17 on his hand. Which is a gamble that may work really, really wonderfully or fail really, really miserably. I, for one, am not willing to take that chance.
VON RYAN CUERPO, 28 Makiling St., MMV, Burgos, Montalban, Rizal
Michael Tan opinion@inquirer.com.ph
Inquirer News Service
"HIBAKUSHA" is the Japanese term used to refer to survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 60 years ago.
Curious about the term, I did some research and was amazed at how much has been produced about the hibakusha. One particularly fascinating article looked at how the themes of atomic bombs and the threat of nuclear war have become a distinct genre in Japanese cinema (including the "Godzilla" films!) as well as manga comics.
The more I read about the hibakusha, the more I felt that in many ways, regardless of age or nationality, we are all hibakusha, torn between wanting to remember and yet fearing the pain that comes with those memories.
Heroes, villains.
Last week, I wrote about a symposium organized by the Phi Kappa Phi at the University of the Philippines (UP) on "Truth-telling and national healing," with Dr. Ma. Lourdes Carandang as the guest speaker. Everyone agreed it was important to remember the past, but there were different views on how we should go about it.
An example comes with the Japanese occupation, which receives so little attention in our history classes and textbooks. My "memories" of the war come mainly from my mother, about the day the war broke out and people shouting, "Gyera na! Gyera na!" [The war has started!] It was about living in constant fear of the Japanese soldiers encamped right across their home. It was about Japanese soldiers coming one day and arresting her father. He was jailed at Fort Santiago and sentenced to death for being one of the leaders in the Chinese business community that boycotted Japanese goods. It was about the Americans returning and working for them as a secretary, which included censoring soldiers' letters for any mention of where they were, and for curse words.
Growing up on my mother's recollections spelled out American heroes and Japanese villains. College history lessons topped off this fare with tales of guerrilla heroes and traitorous collaborators.
Dr. Emerenciana Arcellana, professor emeritus in political science, was at the UP symposium and while she agreed that we need to remember the past, she also warned against simplistic conclusions, especially around the issue of collaborators. She reminded the audience that Filipinos were never conscripted into the Japanese Imperial Army, unlike the Koreans, for example, and that this happened in part because Filipino officials were able to negotiate with the Japanese occupation forces.
As she spoke, I thought, too, of the resistance against the Japanese, valiant to be sure, but then there was also Ferdinand Marcos and his claims to being one of the most fearless of these fighters.
'Nikkei-jin'
A more concrete example of the need to rethink the past comes with the way we look at the Japanese who came to the Philippines before the war. UP Iloilo professor Ma. Luisa Mabunay (Meloy to me from way back) dropped by my office the other day for a bit of "memory-searching," her current research interest being the Nikkei-jin, descendants of those Japanese.
When the war broke out, the Japanese in the Philippines were rounded up and placed in internment camps, like their counterparts in the United States. They were freed when the Japanese Imperial Army invaded the Philippines, and many of their men were hastily drafted into military service. Since many Filipinos at that time remember seeing their former civilian neighbors suddenly wearing military uniforms, it's not surprising they concluded all these Japanese were sent in before the war as spies.
We will never know if they were spies, but Meloy says the Japanese who came here were often impoverished, taking up jobs as gardeners, construction laborers and farmers. The largest sector among the Japanese in Iloilo province consisted of fishers from Okinawa.
After the war broke out, Filipinos understandably became quite hostile to them and toward the end of the war, these Japanese civilians suffered terribly. Meloy interviewed some of the survivors, who told her about how they fled Iloilo City, attempting to get to Leon for refuge.
Most never made it. In the hills of Cabatuan and Maasin, they found themselves trapped between American and Filipino troops. Many were ready for "jiketsu," or "self-determination," a euphemism for an honorable suicide. But the guerrilla troops got to the Japanese first, executing women and children. Survivors remember some of the children crying out after the massacre; they had survived because their mothers had shielded them with their bodies.
Vaporized
The Aug. 1 issue of Time magazine quotes one atomic bomb survivor's description of the blast as "blue-yellow and very beautiful." As she ran through the streets, she saw "people moaning from pain, with eyes popped out and intestines coming out of their stomachs."
The magazine also quotes Col. Paul Tibbets, the commanding officer for the Hiroshima mission, as he visited Nagasaki after the blast: "I saw a lot of hatred in their eyes, but I could also see that they were glad the war was over... I went up to the top of a hill where a hospital was. I saw a poor guy begging by the side of it; it looked as if he was still bleeding, and his clothes were all ripped up. I felt so sorry for him. Inside the hospital I saw a shadow on the wall-a person had obviously been walking by that wall when the bomb went off."
The atomic bomb literally vaporized people.
Those who saw World War II are now over 60. Their memories need to be retrieved and conserved for future generations. It's clear, too, the memory-keeping must come from all "sides." I've written about a photo exhibit at the Remedios church in the Malate district showing Manila at the end of the war. At the Museo Iloilo, ongoing till Sept. 30, Meloy has a photographic exhibit showing the lives of the Nikkei-jin on Panay Island. Those pictures of Nikkei-jin families and schoolchildren should become part of our memories as well.
The shadows of the dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki should remind us, too, that we still live in another kind of terrible shadow today, that of thousands of nuclear warheads. In 1945, there were only six nuclear stockpiles, all belonging to the United States. By 1986, at the height of the Cold War, there were 65,000 known stockpiles. The tension has eased but in 2002, there were still about 20,000 stockpiles, the United States and Russia accounting for 90 percent of them.
The nuclear race continues, affecting us often in unexpected ways. This latest crisis of spiraling oil prices was set off when Iran retaliated against world pressure to stop its nuclear program.
The American pilots who dropped the bombs are hibakusha, too, their voices blending with those of the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and of the Nikkei-jin to remind us that with or without atomic bombs, war turns us all into fragile beings, ready at any time to be obliterated.
Neal H. Cruz
Inquirer News Service
A SIGN of the fear and desperation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is that she is trying to make deals right and left with people who can help her survive politically. She is offering a deal to former President Joseph Estrada, the man she kicked out of office and from whom she stole half of his presidential term. She is also dangling an offer to the Marcoses to bury the former president Ferdinand Marcos in, of all places, the Libingan ng mga Bayani [Cemetery of Heroes]. Former President Fidel Ramos is already in her corner in exchange for her support for a shift to a parliamentary system of government to make it possible for him to return to power as prime minister. Marcos, Ramos, Estrada and Macapagal-Arroyo -- four presidents banding together for their own selfish interests and like China, we will have our own Gang of Four.
We Filipinos have a term for it: "kapit sa patalim" [literally, gripping the blade]. The desperate will do anything, even hang on to a sharp blade, to survive. Like Faustus, he or she will make a pact with the devil to get what he or she wants.
Ms Arroyo seems to be making deals with anybody willing to be bought, paying congressmen to vote against impeachment, bribing witnesses to lie, hiding witnesses who could reveal things that would damn her, and committing other illegal acts such as disbursing funds for purposes for which they were not appropriated by Congress. Has she already made bribery, cheating and lying official policies of government? I hope not, but it is beginning to look more and more like that.
Makati Rep. Teddyboy Locsin revealed that shortly before the elections, she released funds intended for the purchase of fertilizers to congressmen, including those from Metro Manila and other urban areas where there are no farms to fertilize. Those fertilizer funds, however, were really intended to fertilize not farms but pockets.
The new fund releases from the Road Users' Tax, on the other hand, are intended not for the construction or repair of roads but to run over the impeachment complaint by the administration's congressional railroad. Proof is that after anti-impeachment congressmen got their shares, Ms Arroyo suddenly stopped further releases so that pro-impeachment lawmakers won't get any.
The bankrupt government is being bankrupted even more by huge payoffs to buy Ms Arroyo's survival. Taxes from the expanded value-added tax, not yet being collected now, are already being spent. As the "Hyatt 10" group of resigned Cabinet members said, money, patronage, appointments, contracts, etc. are not spared just to insure her survival. No position on Earth is worth all that much dirt.
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An indication of what will happen to us once we have a parliamentary form of government is the abuse that the House of Representatives is already committing. Knowing that the Senate is against changing the Constitution through a constituent assembly, the House went ahead and passed a resolution by itself, minus the Senate, to form a constituent assembly to change the Constitution. This despite the fact that opinion polls show that eight out of every 10 Filipinos don't want to amend the Constitution or have a parliamentary government.
We are a representative democracy and congressmen are elected to represent their districts in the House. They are supposed to follow the wishes of their constituents who are their employers. But look at what they're doing. They are disobeying their constituents and pushing Charter change just because of the ambition of their leader who wants to become prime minister by hook or by crook because he knows he cannot be elected president.
The members of the new Parliament will be the same congressmen or their relatives. So you can see what they will do in a unitary legislature where there is no Senate to check their abuses, where they, the members of parliament and not the people, will elect the head of government, the prime minister, and where even the members of the Cabinet will come from among the MPs. Thus, there will be no balance of powers among the executive, legislative and judicial branches as we have now. The people will be at the mercy of the party in power. If our honorable representatives can commit these abuses in a system where there is a balance of power, imagine what they can do when there is none.
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In the first place, there is no such thing as a "constituent assembly" in the Constitution. There was one in the 1935 Constitution but none in the present one. How can the House convene a constituent assembly when it is not authorized by the Charter?
It shows that the members of the House -- not the Speaker, not the members, not even the President who also endorsed a con-ass—read the Constitution. All except Rep. Hermilando Mandanas who also told the Kapihan sa Manila forum last Monday what the other members have also not read: that any individual legislator can propose amendments to the Constitution and that he, in fact, has already filed one.
He said, however, that Charter change should be put in the back burner, as the time is not right for it. This is the worst time for Charter change, Mandanas said, because we are financially and politically unstable. The politicians are only looking out for themselves, not the people, and therefore would change the Constitution for their own benefit.
In spite of the clear opposition of the nation against Charter change, it is still possible that the present gang in the House may be able to change it. In that case, the only way to stop them, short of a revolution, is to vote against the new Charter in the plebiscite. Vote No.
Juan Mercado
Inquirer News Service
TIME magazine titled a recent cover story "Hail, Mary." It devoted eight pages to Jesus of Nazareth's mother.
"A Mary for All" was how the Economist bannered an earlier report. And Life magazine led off with "The Mystery of Mary." And shortly thereafter, Time did a two-page spread titled, "Mary, So Contrary."
What's going on here? After centuries of "sullen neglect … Christians of all denominations are finding their own reasons to venerate Mary," Time reports. Families, pastors and theologians, within US Protestant churches, are rediscovering the Virgin Mother.
Harvard University minister Peter Gomes notes this trend in a joke about a Protestant pastor at heaven's gates. "Ah, Professor. I know you've met my Father," Jesus says in making the introductions. "But I believe you don't know my mother."
The new appreciation of Mary stems from the very arena in which Protestants historically pride themselves most: a careful and full reading of Scriptures.
Mary stood by the Cross. And she figures in "a skein of appearances longer and more strategically placed than any other character in Scriptures," Beverly Gaventa, Princeton University professor of New Testament literature, points out.
"She is present in all key situations -- at Jesus' birth, at his death and in the Upper Room," Gaventa writes in "Personalities of the New Testament," Whether in Egypt, Nazareth or Cana, "there isn't a figure comparable to her."
The new thinkers are exploring the implications of Mary's excruciating presence at the crucifixion. She "kept Christian witness intact almost single-handedly through its darkest moment."
There are critics, Time notes. Southern Baptist Convention leaders complain their colleagues are "guilty of over-reaching."
That would baffle Muslims. Mary is Islam's most honored woman, the Economist notes. She's "the only one to have an entire chapter named after her in the Koran."
"Christians and Muslims alike see in Mary an affirmation that there is no limit to proximity of God that any human can attain," the report asserts. "Surely, that is reason enough for people of any faith to feel reverence for history's foremost Jewish mother."
The Economist cites the "wisdom" texts in Jewish and Christian scriptures and the Eastern Church's lesser-known Gospel by James. It reviews studies by Methodist Hebrew scholar Margaret Barker to Jaime Moran, religion and psychology writer.
Muslim and Eastern Christians "cherish the story of Mary's childhood in a place of supreme holiness. Both name Mary's guardian as the priest Zechariah or Zakariya."
"Catholics would tell you, rather firmly, that Mary is not a goddess," the Economist notes. "She is not worshipped but rather venerated: a human being with a unique role in praying for and protecting the human race."
That hews closely to Muslim belief.
The wisdom texts speak of a "woman clothed with the sun." And down the centuries, "heart-stopping turns of phrase" have been applied to Mary, the Economist notes. "Our tainted nature's solitary boast" was the way one poet put it.
"Shortly after Vatican II, a period of Marian silence descended," recalls Fr. Catalino Arevalo, S.J., of the Ateneo de Manila University. "We, in the Philippines, did not go through that phase."
"Churches in former communist Eastern Europe have not experienced the 'eclipse of Mary' either," notes this Filipino theologian. "What strikes a mainland China visitor, who gets in contact with Catholics there, is that veneration of Mary has never been stronger."
That "Marian silence" and "dechristianization" of Europe led the German theologian Karl Rahner to write: "Many Catholics today are going through a winter of belief."
Once known as "Christendom," Europe built the continent's loveliest cathedrals from Chartres to Notre Dame. Now, Europe suffers from a "vacuum of faith," the Los Angeles Times notes. The Gallup Millennium Survey reveals barely 20 percent of West Europeans attend church services once a week.
"When the new springtime of faith comes … the cult of Mary, the Mother of God, will return," Rahner added. "In fact, it will be its surest sign. Its form may perhaps be different, but if Christian tradition is valid, it will return."
That was in 1968. Today, Rahner's comments resound in essays by, among others, Lutheran Carl Braten: "I can't predict exactly how the (Mary rediscovery) will happen. Some of it will be good, and some may be bad. But I think it's going to happen."
Some 37 years after Rahner wrote of this "second spring," Arevalo notes, "this appears a remarkably prophetic text."
This comeback of Our Lady is seen on the dateline of stories from new Marian shrines -- Medjugorje in Yugoslavia, Akita in Japan, Kibeho in Rwanda and Cuenca in Ecuador. "News accounts fueled renewed interest in the Marian movement."
Then, there was Pope John Paul II. "No pontiff in the entire history of Catholicism has had so strong and articulate a devotion to Mary." He willed that her logo be carved on his plain cedar coffin.
If Rahner was right, then perhaps the current cover stories may be more significant than they appear, Arevalo says. Are they buds of the "the new springtime of faith," which Rahner foresaw, about to begin?
Neal Cruz opinion@inquirer.com.ph
Inquirer News Service
REP. Joey Salceda is right; Finance Secretary Margarito Teves is wrong. If President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo implements the expanded value-added tax (VAT) -- assuming the Supreme Court lifts the restraining order on it-it will be like she is giving up the presidency to which she is now clinging desperately. The expanded VAT will raise the prices of everything to levels beyond the reach of the poor. Then watch the angry masses get together to kick Ms Arroyo out of Malacañang. We are seeing the start of this gathering storm in the many -- though still relatively small -- protest rallies in urban areas. We are seeing and hearing this in the angry faces and voices of the poor. But who wouldn't be angry if his or her family is hungry? In fact, even middle-class families will find themselves unable to make both ends meet, and they, who have kept away from the rallies so far, will eventually join in the storming of the presidential palace.
You don't raise taxes in the midst of poverty, when the price of oil is skyrocketing. A leader would be pretty stupid to do that. A leader who does that deserves to be kicked out on her butt. The price of fuel has a chain effect on the prices of everything else that is transported and requires the use of electricity.
A sensible leader will, in fact, ease taxes during such times to provide the people relief. Leave the people with more spending money and they will boost the economy as they buy more of the goods produced by factories that will, in turn, produce more and pay more taxes. Take more money out of them in the form of taxes and the economy contracts; factories will close shop and lay off workers, and people will suffer and get very angry.
That is why we now see the paradox of the opposition. It opposed the expanded VAT in Congress and filed the petition for restraining order with the Supreme Court; it is now making a surprising turnabout and protesting the law's proposed suspension. Higher taxes will do what the opposition has been unable to do so far-kick the present occupant out of Malaca¤ang.
It is understandable why Teves is bullheaded about implementing the expanded VAT now. His primary job as finance secretary is to raise funds for the government. There is nowhere else to get those funds easily but from the people even if their pockets are nearly empty. Suspend the expanded VAT and Teves will fall flat on his face. The government will not only go bankrupt, it will fall deeper into the debt hole. In fact, Teves' stubborn stance is enough to make you believe that he is actually a secret agent of the opposition.
Other government officials and congressmen and senators who, you think, want President Arroyo to stay on longer, are actually looking out only for themselves, not the people. They are afraid that if the government does not collect the expanded VAT, it will have no money to pay their salaries, allowances and pork barrel. To hell with the people if it means doing away with their pork barrel. It seems it is only Salceda who has some sense left in him.
How will the government get funds to support itself? Do the same thing that prudent families do when their income drops. Cut on spending and do away with the non-essentials. Plant "camote" [sweet potato]. Try to earn extra income somehow without violating the law.
If the government abolishes the wasteful and corrupt pork barrel system, it will save tens of billions of pesos. If it cuts all government allowances by just 20 percent across the board, it will save billions of pesos more. If it collects the fines from drivers and pedestrians who violate traffic rules, it will be able to collect additional billions of pesos. What's more, it will restore sanity in the streets and save billions of pesos in oil bills being burned by all those vehicles creeping along in the traffic and polluting the air. If it plugs all the holes in the tax collection system and jail the tax collectors pocketing collections, it will earn more and save more. There will be no need for the expanded VAT.
The expanded VAT is the lazy man's solution to the problem of lack of funds. Instead of collecting the tax himself, the government forces others to collect it-like it does in collecting the withholding tax and the excise taxes on liquor and tobacco.
It has been the mistake of many governments, past and present, to see the people as a gold mine with an inexhaustible lode of tax money. But many governments have fallen as people revolt because of oppressive taxes. Hungry people become more desperate and reckless. We are nearing that point of despair. But as history has shown, rulers usually don't see it coming until it is too late.
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It is very easy for Ms Arroyo to say that to save on fuel, we should walk more and bike more. Easier said than done. Where would you bike? Where would you walk? There are no bike lanes anywhere except around the Quezon Memorial Park in Quezon City. The sidewalks are full of parked vehicles and sidewalk vendors. Pedestrians have to walk right on the streets where they suffer the risk of being sideswiped by speeding vehicles. In some areas, like Tandang Sora Avenue, Quezon City, paved sidewalks have been totally eliminated. Thousands of students going to and from the Culiat and New Era schools have to walk right on the roadway, on the outer sides of the vehicles illegally parked along the avenue.
In areas where there are sidewalks, the pavements are uneven, with many cracks and obstacles -- even if there is a law that says sidewalks should be friendly to the old, infirm and disabled. Try walking some distance on one of Metro Manila's sidewalks and you will see how hard it is to do this -- that is, if you survive the experience. Walking on the streets of the Philippines is much more dangerous than walking in the war zones of Iraq.
Isagani Cruz
Inquirer News Service
RAUL Roco and I were not particularly close, but we were more than mere acquaintances. I admired him as a lawyer and public servant, and I hope the feeling was mutual. At any rate, when I learned of his passing last week, I felt I had lost a valued friend.
There are two memories I have that speak well of him and our relationship as lawyers.
When we were still practicing, we found ourselves opposing counsel along with other lawyers in an important case involving the ownership of a bank. I cannot remember the details of the case because my records were burned with my other papers when fire struck our law office in Makati. But I do recall that several now prominent lawyers participated in the case, among them Frank Chavez and Eduardo Ceniza of the SyCip Law Office, Victor Alimurung and Hector Martinez of Siguion Reyna, Montecillo and Ongsiako, Raul Roco and Francis Jardeleza of the Angara Law Office, and I from the Laurel Law Office.
In the exchange of pleadings, I found myself pitted against Raul, who was quite combative. We had a spirited and running debate that sometimes deteriorated into angry exchanges, mostly provoked by my tempestuous adversary. In fact, there was one occasion when I reminded him, using a familiar quotation, that dirt thrown was ground lost. But despite our irreconcilable differences, we remained cordial and civil to each other.
This was not true of Raul's regard for the other lawyers on our side. In fact, there was one time when two lawyers from the opposite parties almost came to blows. This mutual animosity was heightened later when we appeared for oral argument of the case before the Supreme Court. We all came prepared in lawyers' robes but they might as well have been boxers' trunks for we were ready and rarin' to fight. There was tension between the two groups as we waited outside the courtroom for the justices to arrive.
On one side were gathered all the lawyers for the petitioners, including me. On the other side were the lawyers for the respondent led by Raul Roco. Both sides ignored each other except when they exchanged dismissive looks. Raul acted as if none of us existed, even as the lawyers on our side intentionally disregarded him.
Then, to everybody's surprise, including mine, Raul moved to our side and engaged me in casual conversation. He still ignored my companions, but he talked to me as if we were long lost brothers. Of course I was delighted. Among his many opponents, I was the one he chose to extend his camaraderie to as befitted worthy brethren of the bar. I think we gave an example to the other compañeros who might have wondered what made their enemy suddenly amicable.
The oral argument did not last long because the justices were in a hurry to take their lunch and soon adjourned the session. The case was later settled by a compromise agreement. But I will remember it with a sense of satisfaction because of Raul's affable conduct.
My other pleasant memory of Raul Roco happened when I had just been appointed to the Supreme Court in 1986 shortly after Edsa I. Many of my former students, who were then already practicing lawyers, were glad that I would be sitting on the highest tribunal and would render a fair judgment on their cases. But one lawyer had another reason for his elation. Not knowing me personally, he thought I would be easy to approach like some of the justices of the former Supreme Court under Marcos. In fact, he openly bragged that he would offer me a financial inducement I could not refuse to decide a case in his favor that was before me as ponente.
That lawyer never proved his impertinence and I was to learn why later. Raul Roco had heard of his boast and immediately summoned him to his office. There the indignant Raul lectured the suddenly abashed lawyer and warned him against his plan to try to bribe me. As reported to me by his office mates, their boss minced no words in upbraiding the culprit and caustically reminded him of his professional oath he was going to besmirch with his corruption. Most of all, he stressed on the now totally subdued offender my reputation as an honest judge and made it quite clear that he would have him disbarred if he persisted in his insolent plan. I could imagine the sufficiently chastened offender retreating in shame from the office, like a dog with his tail between his legs.
I never got to thank Raul for his kindness but I am sure he is hearing me now.
Raul Roco was a worthy man. He was a brilliant lawyer, a conscientious legislator and educator, and a valiant defender of the Constitution. He was the special protector of the common tao and of women in general. Despite the many honors he received in recognition of his high achievements, he remained a simple person faithful to his friends, devoted to his family, and obedient to his God.
I voted for him last year although I knew he was not going to win. I did not know, as I mourn for him now, that I was rendering a farewell salute to an esteemed and cherished friend.
Inquirer News Service
IN ONE of his recent columns, Neal Cruz stated: "The fact alone that a candidate (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) entertained officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) at her home before an election is already a violation of our laws and rules of ethical conduct. No amount of media blitz or evasive answers can change those facts. She willfully violated our laws and that makes her unfit to be the leader of our nation."
Such comments have become laughable. The President remains in power despite the "Hello Garci" scandal. What makes Cruz think that this "minor" violation of the law has any bearing at all? Compared to the "Hello Garci" scandal, the dinner with Comelec officials is nothing but another trivial incident. Even if Ms Arroyo admits that she invited the whole Comelec and gave its staff "envelopes," those acts can be excused as just another social gathering and as another lapse in judgment.
Her willful violations of the law have become a common, everyday thing. She is still in power and will stay in power for as long as she likes, because in her eyes the Filipino people don't care anymore. I am sure she has even become bolder now, as can be discerned in her speeches. She and her family will keep on looting the country because the Filipinos have become uncaring victims ready to let an erring President get whatever she wants.
MARK LEE (via e-mail)
Edilberto de Jesus
Inquirer News Service
"THE TRUTH that I discovered from my beginnings as a neophyte politician in 1992, rising to become a veteran politician through the years, is this: over the years, our political system has degenerated to such an extent that it is very difficult to live within the system with hands totally untainted. That is the truth."
This declaration, made during her address to the nation in the wake of the controversy over the "Hello Garci" tapes, was arguably the truest statement in the speech. And the saddest, because most people have apparently accepted as truth that the contest for political office requires getting one's hands dirty. Hence, their reluctance to cast the first stone at the President, especially when many of the rabble-rousers calling for the stoning offered even more worthy targets.
But the statement also undermines the claim that talking to a Comelec official was simply a "lapse in judgment." A veteran politician would accept such acts as part of the price exacted by our political process. The lapse was in overlooking the precautions to avoid getting caught. Unfortunately, the biblical injunction against casting the first stone, which she alluded to in her speech, is not an edifying line of defense for an incumbent President.
However, whatever the reservations about the President, there is clearly a strong public consensus against any recourse to unconstitutional measures. Those who have called for her resignation appeal to her better nature to spare the country the pain of a protracted period of political uncertainty and the consequent risk of stunting its growth.
She has declined, as is her right, to take this course. The issue is clear: Can she continue to discharge effectively her responsibility to run the government and to drive needed reform measures? To the extent that she can do this to the satisfaction of the public, she maintains a measure of control over her political destiny.
The appeal, released by officials of the Department of Education to the media on July 15, to keep the department insulated from the current political controversies provides the President with a platform for implementing urgently needed reforms in the education sector, which she has said would be a priority during her second term.
The DepEd witnessed last September a seamless transition between one administration and the next, ensuring that the momentum for reform continued without disruption. If the President is interested in maintaining this momentum, she might surprise the public by appointing Undersecretary Juan Miguel Luz as the next education secretary. Luz has served the DepEd for almost three years and has been a key figure in developing the DepEd Roadmap, originating some of its most innovative components, such as the hugely successful Brigada Escuela Program.
Second, the President can present as a priority measure a bill liberating the teachers from the mandatory obligation to staff the electoral process. This inequitable and onerous burden exposes the teachers to political harassment and the DepEd to political pressures on the appointment, deployment and promotion of staff. It has also been on the list of urgent priority reforms in education for well over a decade. Surely, if the President can mobilize her allies in the legislature to defeat any impeachment move, she should be able to persuade them to pass a measure that its own Educational Commission had recommended in 1992.
Third, the President can respond to the call from various sectors to reform the electoral system, beginning with the overhaul of the Commission on Elections. She created the problems with her appointments, and she must take the responsibility of addressing those problems. Christian Monsod and Haydee Yorac proved that it was possible to clean up the Comelec and keep it clean. Is it within the President's power to convince her appointees to step down so that the process of renewal can be accelerated? Or probably not. They may find no reason to resign, since she herself would not.
Reforming the Comelec, including the automation of the electoral process, is clearly the most challenging task. But it should not be as difficult as persuading the Senate to cooperate in its own extermination by supporting the move to a parliamentary system. More important, it goes deeper toward the roots of the "degeneration" of the political system that she bemoaned in her statement. Our problem is less the form of government than the electoral system and the practices that it has spawned and that we have tolerated.
The world recognizes our claim to be a democracy, because we enjoy the right to vote for our leaders in regularly scheduled elections. But guns, goons and, increasingly, gold (which can buy guns and goons, as well as government officials, both civil and military) have figured regularly in all of our elections. A few years back, some newly elected legislators confessed to shock and embarrassment when they found out that the post-election conversation in the congressional lounge focused on the relative retail price for votes in their respective constituencies.
No one can hope to win an election now without building up a war chest to fund a campaign. It can take only one election to turn the youngest and most idealistic politician into an instant trapo, beholden to those who made his victory possible. Once elected, the trapos can use the perks of office and the position of rule-maker to free themselves from their earlier patrons and to lay the foundation for building political dynasties.
Most of the contending parties in the current political controversy ought to agree on reforming the Comelec and the completion of the automation project as priority steps. Even the snap elections demanded by some groups make sense only on the assumption of a Comelec that can be trusted to supervise an efficient electoral process.
Whether we have a presidential or a parliamentary system, as long as the electoral process and the determinants of electoral success remain the same, we will be entrusting power to the tainted hands of the same breed of trapos. The parliamentary system may be even worse, since, normally, only those who have gone through the electoral muck and won can qualify for executive positions.
The appointment of a credible leader for the DepEd, the release of the teachers from their bondage as election servants, the automation of the electoral process and the overhaul of the Comelec are necessary-although not sufficient-steps to reform the political system. Their attainment would send a clear signal of the President's commitment to a genuine reform agenda and her capacity to keep the country moving forward.
Edilberto C. de Jesus is a former education secretary.
