Blood in Her Hands

Yesterday morning I took part in a media forum on how journalists can better report on Mindanao. The forum, or media dialogue, zeroed in on the aborted Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (AD) which triggered the ongoing shooting war, albeit limited at present to certain areas of Mindanao, between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government.

The dialogue also examined the media’s reporting on the conflict and how this exacerbated the distrust and misunderstanding between the different peoples of Mindanao regarding the MOA-AD. Among the speakers of the dialogue was Professor Rudy Rodil, the vice chairman of the dissolved government peace panel.

In the forum, Professor Rodil said the job of disseminating information on the MOA-AD was not theirs alone and in fact they conducted continuous consultations at the local level in the course of the peace talks with the MILF. Talks with the MILF, in fact, started in 1997, one year after the government concluded a peace deal with the Moro National Liberation Front(MNLF) so local consultations have been going on and off for the past eleven years.

On this the Professor is right. Any settlement with the MILF is political in nature and while the panel may have been tasked to negotiate on the government’s behalf, in the end any agreement would have to bear the imprimatur of the President. It must therefore follow that, in explaining the MOA-AD to the various shareholders, media included, the Executive should have taken the lead.

It can be argued, and in fact the point has already been made countless times by various personalities, that the President lacks the political capital to push for the acceptance of such a momentous document, especially since a final peace agreement would necessitate changing certain provisions of the Constitution. There is simply so much distrust on the part of the political opposition, civil society groups and even among members of the media for the President.

Nevertheless a concerted effort should have been made as the issue of a just peace with the Bangsamoro people is more important than the intramurals of the political elite. The problem was, there never was any coherent message coming from the President regarding the context of the MOA-AD and how this may pave the way for an end to the conflict with the MILF. Instead, what emanated from the Executive was a garbled message, a fact that was immediately exploited by politicians with their own selfish vested interests.

What is even worse is, with the dissolution of the government peace panel, there is an impression that the President is leaving the panel members to take all the heat, or out in the cold as the case may be, as if she was clueless to what the panel was doing all these years.

Then, too, the Executive allowed itself to be boxed into a corner by the national media when it could have seized the initiative and explained the nuances of the document to the same. It has always been an admitted shortcoming on the part of the national media to indulge in stereotyping Mindanao stories. That is a sad fact—the national media tends to, at best, sensationalize the periodic violence, or threats of violence, in Mindanao.

I also remember reading about how the peace process is being supposedly used to propel the ChaCha Train days before the President even announced the breakthrough in the peace negotiations with the MILF during her State of the Nation Address last July. Why the President never bothered to explain herself in clear, unequivocal language is beyond me. Instead what we got was often conflicting explanations from various high officials of government.

In the end the inevitable happened—media hyped the many incendiary statements from politicians, there was confusion with regard to just what the MOA-AD is all about, and rogue commanders of the MILF attacked civilian communities. And even now, we are still picking up the pieces; we are still bearing the consequences of a peace deal gone sour.

Now Pacquiao Must Fight Marquez

Juan Manuel Marquez’s annihilation of Joel Casamayor Saturday sends a strongly worded challenge to Manny Pacquiao, a challenge Pacquiao must accept if the Pacman intends to truly carve out a place for himself among the greatest fighters in the history of boxing.

In bulking up to lightweight, Pacquiao chose to fight David Diaz, considered as the weakest of the lightweight champions. Marquez, on the other hand, fought Casamayor, considered the linear champion of the division.

And as everybody knows, too, Marquez bulked up to lightweight to chase after Pacquiao who abandoned the 130-pound division after squeezing past Marquez last March.

Pacquiao-Marquez II, billed “Unfinished Business,” was a fight that could have gone either way with neither fighter dominating the other. And, if anything, boxing is a sport that is in essence about beating the other guy into submission.
It is a sport about pitting one man’s skill, one man’s courage and heart, against the other. But sadly, boxing is also undeniably a business.

Pacquiao has a date with the Golden Boy in December. But the fight with Oscar de la Hoya is more about the money, the mega money, than anything else. It is an anomaly. Entertaining for sure but the disparity in size and weight between Pacquiao, who started his professional boxing career two pounds below the junior flyweight limit of 108 pounds, and de la Hoya is such that the fight can only be called a circus of some sort.

Whether Pacquiao can fight effectively at 147 pounds, after putting on an additional 12 pounds above his fighting weight, is doubtful. The same can be said for de la Hoya who will have to fight at 147 pounds after competing as a junior middleweight and above since 2001.

Neither Pacquiao nor de la Hoya will therefore be at his fighting best for the December 6 fight which is now being dubbed as the “Dream Match.”

In contrast, a third fight with Marquez is the only logical fight left for Pacquiao after de la Hoya. Pacquiao has said that his fight with the Golden Boy is the first of his last three fights as he intends to retire from boxing in time for the 2010 elections.

Aside from the de la Hoya fight, Pacquiao is also eying another mega-buck fight with Ricky Hatton in an attempt, perhaps, to shore up his campaign kitty. Whether there is any wisdom in squandering his hard earned money to win a political seat is not for us to say. What Pacquiao does with his money is his own business. But there is little doubt that money is becoming a big factor in Pacquiao’s choice of who to fight.

Then, too, Marquez is not getting any younger. Marquez is only six months younger than de la Hoya who, at 35, is now considered way past his prime. If Pacquiao dilly-dallies further in fighting Marquez, he may lose his chance in validating his crown as the best pound for pound fighter.

After winning his fight with Casamayor, Marquez once again issued the oft-repeated challenge for a third do-or-die battle. Marquez has certainly gone to a lot of trouble to bait Pacquiao to a third outing, even going as far as to come to the Philippines just to press for a third fight.

But will Marquez’s decisive win over the previously undefeated Casamayor finally make the fighter in Pacquiao listen? Or will Pacquiao become another de la Hoya who is first and foremost a businessman?

Martial Law Baby

Like many others born between the years 1972 to 1986, I am what they call a Martial Law Baby. I do not really know what that means except, perhaps, that my generation is nearing middle age.

It is just a tag, a means of identifying the generation I belong to. It does not hold any meaning other than to differentiate my generation from, say, Generation X.

When Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in September 21, 1972, he ushered in one of the darkest chapters of Philippine history. Curiously, courtesy perhaps of my relatively sheltered provincial middle class upbringing, I have no traumatic recollection of the Martial Law years. But I do remember feeling Marcos’ omnipresence in my childhood.

I remember studying the origins of the Filipino in history books and such and seeing a likeness of Marcos as Makisig, the mythical first Filipino, and Imelda Marcos as Maganda, the first Filipina. I remember the earliest books on reading and writing always featured Pepe and Pilar and of course Bantay, the loyal mongrel. It was always Pepe this, Pilar that and “run, Bantay, run.”

I remember having to line up for nutribun. In the school that I went to it was not given for free. I remember having to buy my ration of the so called nutrient-filled, rock-hard bun for twenty five centavos. It was brownish and sweet and sometimes you’d find little insects mixed with the flour but once you dunked it in Lem-o-Lime it was not so bad.

I remember we were all agog with Voltes Five, Daimos, Mazinger-Z. Like kids of today, we were crazy over video games. There were no Play Station nor X Box back in the day so you’d have to go to Ororama in Cogon where the video machines were and line up for tokens. That or if you were a little older you’d go straight to the section where they sell Lord Wally, swipe a little into your palm, style your hair and then wait for the girls from Lourdes.

Marcos eventually outlawed video games as it was becoming too popular among school children. We felt this a terrible injustice then. We could never understand how playing speed racer could corrupt our minds.

I was in grade five when Ninoy was shot in the Manila International Airport. The assassination apparently triggered mass protests in Manila. There were only two channels on TV then, Channel 9 and Channel 12. The late Harry Gasser was the guy who read the news for Channel 9 but I do not remember watching all the bad news from Manila. The news was of course sanitized by the censors but as far as we were concerned the murder of Ninoy never upstaged our interest in the space adventures of Buck Rogers or of the Starship Enterprise.

Maybe our generation got tagged with the wrong label. We were born during Martial Law but the tag always sounded a little wrong, as wrong as a jar of sandwich spread labeled as peanut butter. None of us ever marched in the First Quarter Storm, nor in the many other marches and public demonstrations against Marcos. None of us ever died fighting the dictatorship, none of us even knew something was terribly wrong with the country. At best we were post Martial Law, the generation that marched post-Marcos, if at all.

But there is no getting away. People, when seeing our birthdates, will always conclude,”Ah so you’re a Martial Law baby.” And that’s just it—we were still babies during Martial Law, dead to the affairs of the world, carefree and preoccupied only with the silly games of children.

And always, at least on my part, there is that nagging feeling that our generation missed it’s turn manning the front. Our grandfathers fought the great war, our fathers and brothers fought Marcos. As for us, there is that silly little voice at the back of our heads that says we really have fought no one.

We are Martial Law babies. Perhaps now is our time to finally start fighting for causes greater than ourselves.

Heroes

I recently stumbled upon an article in Newsweek about United States Republican candidate for President John McCain. Among the many revelations about the man is McCain’s curious choice of his personal hero, Robert Jordan, a fictional character and the protagonist of Ernest Hemingway’s famous novel For Whom The Bell Tolls.

I do not particularly care for McCain. Nor for Obama for that matter. Like the rest of the world, I view the upcoming US elections from a spectator’s point of view although, like the rest of the world, I am keenly aware that the results of the coming US elections affects all of us, regardless of where we live.

I say McCain’s personal hero is curious because the fictional Robert Jordan is, above all, an idealist. Hemingway’s protagonist is a fictional American volunteer in the International Brigades which fought the fascist forces under Generalisimo Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Robert Jordan is a believer in great causes, so much so that he is willing to die for them. And Robert Jordan in fact does die at the end of the novel.

Personal heroes speak greatly of the mettle of the men that hold them. Heroes, unlike the passing interest on the idols of our youth, help define the lives we try to live. If for example we hold the Christians’ Jesus or the Muslims’ Muhammad as heroes, then it must follow that we would try to live our lives as closely to those that we hold in high regard. Thus it is always interesting to know just who our leaders look up to.

But I can not remember the subject of personal heroes of our candidates ever generating the same amount of interest during our own elections. We do not seem to particularly care who they look up to just as long as they project an agreeable image. Here it is not so much the man, or the woman as the case may be, but the image. It is not so much the stuff they are made of but how they are perceived in public.

Take the example of Joseph Erap Estrada. He became President chiefly because of his having played hero roles in movies. Erap passed himself off as the real deal, the uncompromising good guy, the man who always fought on the side of ordinary folks. Never mind if it was all make believe.

This is rather unfortunate because, if anything, we are again being set up. Our own national elections are still a good year and eight months away but already politicians coveting the juiciest posts are mounting their respective campaigns, albeit unofficially.

“Mr. Palengke”, “Sipag at Tiyaga”, “Mr. Clean,” etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Radio, TV, and print ads are all buzzing with catch phrases, words designed purposefully to paint a certain image; in advertising lingo—packaging.

And candidates are spending good money, too, buying airtime, paying for outsized posters publicizing their advocacies, purchasing ad space detailing their opinion on pressing issues.

Of course it is still too early in the game to say this is as good as it gets. We can always demand more; we can always say we deserve better than this.

Or is it now too late to trade form for substance? Especially since, from the looks of things, the pickings for quality candidates are getting slimmer and slimmer?
For all our sakes, I certainly hope not.

Funny Songs

I was driving my daughter to school the other day when my daughter said something that made me pause. A song I particularly liked was playing on the stereo and she asked, ever so sweetly,”Do you like listening to funny songs Papa?”

I have never really found the songs I listen to amusing. I am a child of the 80s and 90s. But as far as I can tell, none of the songs of that “era” were funny.

I mean, does anybody find Sting “funny”? Or Peter Gabriel? Does anybody crack up when listening to the Eraserheads, the penultimate Pinoy band of my generation?

I have never thought myself old, even when I started sleeping with a pillow tucked under my thighs. I have chronic back pain, you see. Not too long ago I discovered I slept better this way. But old? No way.

Instead of seeing it as an unmistakable sign that the old engine is breaking down, I thought of it more as the natural effects of perhaps a nasty spill, even when I hadn’t ridden my bike for weeks.

I’ve given up jogging. My knees can’t take the constant pounding. And I have a collapsed arch from my days playing soccer so I have pretty much given up on running as exercise. Besides, why jog when one can cycle?

As I write these my ankles are throbbing. Like Hell. Several months ago my knees acted up. It got so bad that I had to use a golf club to get around. I can’t walk decent but not once did I thought of using a cane. Canes are for patsies. Golf clubs, well, that’s another story. And good thinking , don’t you agree?

The doctor said I must have gout. I can’t have gout. Only old people have them. Not me. There is wisdom to second opinions afterall.

But I bought the painkillers and the Colchicine tablets just the same. No need limping around when access to years and years of medical research is on hand, you understand.

They say the only way to age gracefully is to embrace it and to sort of roll with the punches. But how can one, to use a cliché, age like wine when one can’t even walk decent? I’m not even sure I can use the golf club trick again as my daughter seems to have gotten wiser.

Eureka!!

The secret to aging gracefully? Colchicine. And that’s with the second opinion.

Politics As Usual

Now that Malacanang has said that it is setting aside the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front(MILF), the sound of war drums in Manila seems to have suddenly fallen silent. Now that there is no more serious talk of amending the Constitution from the Palace, Manila politicians seem to have calmed down, like shrieking boys appeased with candy.

Gone are the hysterics. Gone are the high-pitched cries of treason and dismemberment of the Republic. Gone, too, is the urgency.

President Arroyo has agreed to give the Senate a direct hand in drafting a new peace accord with the MILF. So now we are back to zero. Now we can all say goodbye to the prospect of peace with the MILF, at least till the elections in 2010 are over. It is now politics as usual in Manila, war as usual in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, civilian militias are rising up in Mindanao, thanks to Secretary Puno. The Ilaga, a ghoulish outfit with a litany of atrocities to its name, has slithered its way from the dark past and into the light of the present.

Internal refugees are flocking to evacuation centers; casualties, combatants as well as civilians, are rising. We are, after all, now shooting instead of talking. But beyond the usual, feeble rhetoric calling for restraint, the silence from Manila is deafening.

The headlines have moved on; the war is now yesterday’s story. Mindanao is now yesterday’s story. Now, our politicians can again focus their energies to the coming political intramurals. Never mind the dead and the dying.

What else is new?

The Lord Of The Ring

I can not begrudge Manny Pacquiao for wanting to fight Oscar de la Hoya, the Golden Boy of boxing. But for the life of me, I can not understand why a great fighter like de la Hoya would choose to take the easy way out and fight Manny for his swan song.

For Manny, well as they say the man’s got to eat. But for a future Hall of Famer who has given fight fans some of the more memorable fights in the history of boxing, de la Hoya is chickening out by fighting a much much smaller fighter, even if that fighter happens to be the best pound for pound boxer today.

Consider the tale of the tape: Oscar stands 5’10.5’’, Manny, when he’s got his socks on, 5’6.5”. Oscar weighs 150 pounds (as of May 2008 when he fought Steve Forbes) but fights at 154 pounds. Manny, on the other hand, has just had one fight at 135 pounds. And at 73 cm, Oscar enjoys a reach advantage of a kilometric 6 centimeters.

To emerge a winner, Manny Pacquiao needs only to do one thing---show up. He does not need to beat up Oscar, a long shot in any case. He does not need to win. Nor even score a draw, another long shot. If, by the last round, Manny happens to be still standing and trading punches, then he would have won. Again. Even without the rematch.

By contrast, Oscar, just by picking Manny, has already lost. Forget all the talk about Oscar wanting to fight only the best pound for pound fighter. Forget even all his talk about avenging the Mexicans. In fact by picking Manny, Oscar has already done the Mexicans a great disservice. Whichever way you look at it, the match up looks every bit the spectacle of the big bully picking on the smallest kid in the school yard. Even if the smallest kid happens to pack some serious punching power.

In any case there are no Mexicans, Filipinos, or Canadians in boxing. There are only individual fighters, devoid of nationality, devoid of race.

If the fight were in the context of the movie Lord of the Rings, would Aragorn pick on, forgive the comparison, Frodo? I don’t think so. In fact, in the movie as well as the book, Aragorn makes it a habit to stride to the battlefield and look for the biggest, baddest troll. Orcs he leaves to men of lesser stature, to dwarves and elves. And, of course, to Frodo and the Hobbits.

If Oscar were Aragorn, to take the argument further, he would have chosen to fight Margarito, the biggest, baddest troll of his weight class. That would have been boxing. In its purest, most perfect form. But as we have now seen, Oscar is not Aragorn even if he has reigned as the Golden Boy for the longest time.

As for Frodo? The book and the movie tell us he vanquished the Lord of the Ring himself. But then again, that’s just fantasy.

Test Case or Official Policy?

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Sanctioned Madness?

Madness. If there is anything that comes to mind after reading official pronouncements regarding government’s handling of the brewing crisis in Mindanao, it is that---madness.
Instead of bringing calm and sobriety to the people of Mindanao in these times of grave peril, government officials are seeing it fit to add more fuel to the conflagration. Instead of inspiring confidence in the capability of authorities to protect civilians, officials in Manila are encouraging people to turn Dirty Harry.
In a press conference yesterday at Camp Crame, Quezon City, Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said government is thinking of tapping civilian volunteer organizations (CVOs) to create police auxiliary groups. Puno told reporters that the idea of creating police auxiliary groups will be presented to local government leaders in the two provinces (North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte) in meetings to be held next week.
Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon, in the same press conference, said the auxiliaries will be given the basic task of securing communities and villages in Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato, the same areas raided by the MILF in the past weeks. Razon said local police “will control” the auxiliaries which will be “screened and trained” by the same and which will be given shotguns for “village defense.”
What on earth could be in the minds of these people? Yes local officials will be asked next week if they agree to turning CVOs into police auxiliaries. Do you think they’ll turn the offer down? Of course not. Manny Pinol in fact welcomes the idea.
But is there even an iota of wisdom in raising militias, even if their avowed purpose is to guard their communities against the marauding MILF? Considering that the Army is already going after the groups of Umbra Kato and Commander Bravo thereby freeing the police to guard the communities, why is the government resorting to arming CVOs which are under the control of local politicians?
What makes this emerging policy incomprehensible is the fact that Malacanang, just last Thursday or a day before Friday’s press conference, warned a Mindanao-based armed group calling itself the new Ilaga (Rats) against fighting the MILF.
The Ilaga came to national prominence in the 1970s and 1980s when the government unleashed the military-backed vigilantes to help combat the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) of Nur Misuari. Among the many atrocities attributed to the group was a March 1970 incident in which Feliciano Luces, a.k.a Commander Toothpick, led Tiruray tribesmen in attacking an isolated Moro village in Upi, Cotabato leaving 6 people dead. The group was said to have cut the ears, and nipples and plucked the eyeballs of their victims. Muslims responded in the vigilante tit for tat by forming their own groups, the Barracudas of Lanao and the Blackshirts of North Cotabato, plunging Mindanao then into a virtual civil war.
The Ilaga later turned into a rabid anti-communist vigilante group whose long list of atrocities culminated in the killing of Italian priest Fr. Tullio Favali in North Cotabato.
The folly of this latest government caper even drew concern from the London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International.
“MILF units that targeted villages have engaged in serious violations of international law and should be held to account,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director.
“But experience from around the world shows that the deployment of civilian militias can set off a chain of reprisals and only increases the danger facing civilians,” Zarifi said. Amnesty International further warned that arming and deputizing civilians could inflame an already tense situation in Mindanao.
Consider this further. Most of the so called CVOs in the areas so far affected by the ongoing conflict are either Christians or controlled by local political warlords, Christians and Muslims. These CVOs are already armed with high caliber weapons.
It is also no secret that these groups are used by local warlords to advance their political interests. What the Puno “idea” proposes to do is to turn these groups into active combatants against the MILF, albeit only within their communities, as well as allow them to recruit new members. And with local realities already characterized by decades-old animosity, cultural biases, and/or conflicting political interests, who can say if these groups can even keep from fighting among themselves in the future?
Is this therefore the beginning of another era of terror in Mindanao? Is Secretary Puno and, by extension, President Arroyo so ignorant of the violent history of Mindanao to even propose arming civilians at this time?
Or are we, the people of Mindanao, just pawns in a sinister, obscene game?

Shoulder to Shoulder

The problem with the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) is that we have allowed politicians and pundits in Manila to transform it to an election issue.

It may have been impossible to skirt the issue of Charter change considering that the MOA-AD necessitates Constitutional amendments. But the manner by which the issue got quickly hijacked by politicians with clear ambitions in 2010 made sober discussion on the MOA-AD impossible.

True, things would not have turned for the worse if only President Arroyo had come out and said, clearly, just what she wants and how she intends to get them. True, it would have helped had the President, in pushing for Charter change, did not equate federalism with a parallel shift to a parliamentary form of government. It would have helped, too, if the President and all her lackeys in the Lower House had not been too eager in pushing for Charter change via Con-Ass.

But as things now stand, the issue of forging a peace agreement with the MILF has become a mere side issue, with Charter change now taking center stage. We all know the issue of Charter change to be highly contentious, with politicians and sectors clearly divided between those favoring Cha-cha now and those who think Charter change should come after GMA. Like oil and water, we know, too, that neither side is willing to give ground. Especially since 2010 is less than two years away.

Meanwhile, conflict with the Moro rebels has again flared up and civilian casualties are mounting.

It is easy for politicians from far away Manila to seize the issue of the MOA-AD and use it for all the political mileage it can serve them. But when push comes to shove, when political posturing turns ugly and ignites a shooting war as it now has, the worst that can happen to them is a temporary political setback, nothing that a good PR can not remedy.

Not so for the people of Mindanao. Here we do not have the privilege of using incendiary language and to hell with the consequences. Here we mind our language. Or we throw caution to the wind and use nasty language as the likes of Manny Pinol has done. But even Manny Pinol lives among us, in Mindanao, not in some comfortable house in a posh village in Manila.

We do not mind the likes of Senators Mar Roxas, Chiz Escudero, and other Manila-based politicians using the issue of peace in Mindanao to gain political points. We do not mind anybody from far away Manila to talk about solving the Mindanao problem using language that ignite the tempers of Muslims, Lumads, and Christians alike.

We do not mind them at all, even if they muddle issues and feed decades-old animosity between the peoples of Mindanao. So long as when the shit hits the fan, as it now has, they come here with their families, in the war-torn areas of Mindanao, and stand with us shoulder to shoulder, and face the consequences of all their off-the-cuff talking.

Losing Sight Of Peace For Mindanao

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo finally went out and said it. Federalism, the President said Monday, is “the way to move forward.”

But instead clearing up issues, the admission that her administration is once again seeking charter change to accommodate a peace pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has only resurrected old and nagging fears that she wants to stay beyond 2010. And the President has only herself to blame if people are suspicious.

A constitutional amendment is needed before any peace deal with the MILF can be consummated, that much is obvious. By all intents and purposes, the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) is federal in nature, thus the need for, to use Secretary Jesus Dureza’s term, a “surgical amendment.”

But there lies the problem. Instead of coming out and saying unequivocally just what it wants, the President is giving the impression that everything is still up in the air. Instead of laying all her cards on the table, the President is giving the impression that she is keeping an ace up her sullied sleeve.

Secretary Dureza was quoted in The Daily Tribune as saying that “the best way in resolving the conflict in Mindanao is to go through a Constituent Assembly.” He went on to clarify the statement saying this “is not yet the official position of government.”

But of all people, Secretary Dureza must know that everything he says reflects, if not official policy, at least what is in the mind of the President. He is afterall, the alter ego of the President. The concept of convening Congress into a Constituent Assembly to amend the Constitution ran into stiff opposition two years ago because, among other things, politicians can not be trusted to forego vested interests. Just imagine, if you were a congressman into your last term and, by a sudden stroke of luck, you were allowed to change the Constitution, wouldn’t you lift term limits so you can again run for office? Turning Congress into a Constituent Assembly was discredited then as it is now. So why is Secretary Dureza again sounding out the concept?

To make matters worse, Secretary Dureza seems to be enlisting support for Charter change by implying that government has the backing of noted constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ. Secretary Dureza said government negotiators had sought the advice of Fr. Bernas on how to implement the initialed memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) with the MILF.

True, Fr. Bernas had said publicly that there is nothing to worry about with regard to the MOA-AD. But what the good Secretary failed to mention is that Fr. Bernas has been consistent in saying that the way to Charter change is through a Constitutional Convention in which delegates are elected.

Critics of the MOA-AD between the government and the MILF therefore can not be faulted for suspecting that something sinister must be in the works especially since government seems determined to ink a deal with the MILF, even with the use of discredited methods, before 2010.

But we must also put these criticisms into perspective. The MOA-AD is by itself a breakthrough document in that it recognizes the aspirations of the Bangsamoro and at the same time attempts to rectify past wrongs done to the Bangsamoro people.

Listening, however, to politicians such as Senators Mar Roxas, Chiz Escudero, and the rest of the United Opposition, you get the drift that the be all, end all of the document is Charter change and not the crafting of a lasting peace in Mindanao. Which is painting a skewed picture. Let us remember that these politicians all have designs for higher office in 2010 and it seems they are rabidly opposing charter change now because, let’s face it, charter change will put all their political plans into disarray.

So now, what? Fighting has again flared between the government and the MILF; local politicians are again fanning the flames of conflict; thousands and thousands of internal refugees are again streaming into areas as yet unaffected by war.

Meanwhile, our politicians can not rise above their selfish interests and look beyond their parochial concerns. Shame, shame.

Pitfalls of Communication

A couple of years back I read an interesting article in the Men’s Journal about the pitfalls of communication. I can not recall the author of the article but I remember the author illustrated his point by relating a particular incident in the many adventures of the Lone Ranger and his trusted sidekick, Tonto. My apologies to the original storyteller but begging his permission, I shall now attempt to recreate his Lone Ranger story.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto, in one of their many forays to what was then the hostile plains of the Wild Wild West, were said to have been captured one day by hostile Indians. Surrounded and with nowhere to go, Tonto, in an attempt to wriggle out of a tight situation, immediatedly pointed to the Lone Ranger and said, “Kemosabi, Kemosabi.”

Upon hearing this, the Indians burst out laughing. The Lone Ranger could not understand why the Indians were laughing, apparently at his expense, and why Tonto was too.

Perplexed, the Lone Ranger asked the nearest Indian who happen to know a little English why they were falling all over themselves laughing. And the Indian said,”Kemosabi mean dim-witted, jackass fool.”

And so the Lone Ranger, sans Tonto, was bound and brought to the village chief to await his fate. With the day almost done and after spending hours and hours under the pitiless sun, the Chief finally appeared and told the Lone Ranger,” We will grant you three wishes. On the third day, we burn you at the stake.”

But the Lone Ranger, being, well, the Lone Ranger, showed nary a twitch in his countenance for he knew that Indians respected courage at the face of grave danger. And all who witnessed the Lone Ranger’s reaction were duly impressed.

“What is your first wish,” asked the Chief.

The Lone Ranger asked that his hands be unbound and he whistled. His loyal steed, Silver, came galloping from nowhere and, stopping only to listen to the whispered instructions of his master, immediately took off before the Indians could react.

About on hour later, Silver appeared bearing a beautiful, desirable maiden on his back and the Indians, seeing this, were even more impressed.

“The Lone Ranger very brave,” the Chief said, “He thinks nothing of certain death.”

And so they gave the Lone Ranger use of the grandest wigwam for the night, second only to the chief’s of course, and left him to his own devices.

Next morning, the Chief came and asked the Lone Ranger his second wish. Again, the Lone Ranger whistled. Silver once again appeared just as before, and again took off after hearing his master’s orders. After several hours, the horse appeared with, just as before, an even more desirable woman on his back and the Indians were even more impressed.

“Lone Ranger really brave,” the Chief said,”but tomorrow evening, after your last wish, we still burn you at the stake.

Again the Lone Ranger was left to do his thing, in the second-only-to-the-Chief’s grand wigwam.

At first light the next morning, the Chief again came to grant the Lone Ranger his last wish and again the Lone Ranger did as he has done for the past two days. He whistled and he gripped Silver’s long mane as the horse stood before him and said, ever so carefully lest the Indians hear, “I said POSSE.”

Charting A Just Peace

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His Own Soldier

Bribery, because of its very nature, is always difficult to prove or disprove. Hence the raging word war between Court of Appeals Justice Jose Sabio, Jr. and businessman Francis Roa de Borja, both of whom have deep roots in this city, will only get worse as both sides hurl innuendos in an attempt to chip at the other’s credibility.
To be fair, Justice Sabio stands to lose more in this proxy war. I say proxy war because ultimately, both are waging but a small battle, a skirmish even, in the bigger war between the government, through the GSIS, and the Lopezes for control of MERALCO.
Justice Sabio’s coming out with guns blazing is understandable. He can not, after all, afford to have somebody question his integrity, and by extension, the Court’s.
Because, make no mistake, what is at stake here is the Court’s integrity and independence even more than Justice Sabio’s.
By coming out with the alleged bribe offer Justice Sabio is in effect saying that in this country even court decisions can be bought for the right price. Justice Sabio is in effect saying that not even the Judiciary, which among the three co-equal branches of government have so far remained above the rough and tumble, transactional politics of both the legislative and executive departments, is immune to corruption.
Various sectors have been quick to call on the Supreme Court to investigate the bribe try and the Supreme Court has in fact scheduled to tackle the matter on Tuesday en banc.
But the damage has been done. While previously the Judiciary, courtesy of the perceived independence of current Chief Justice Reynato Puno, has been relatively unassailable, Justice Sabio’s coming out in the open has cast doubts on the integrity of the remaining institution that the people trust.
Let us only hope that in going to battle, Justice Sabio is soldiering only for himself.

Has The Middle Class Gone Richer?

The President, in her State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday, said she is neither scrapping, suspending, nor lessening the 12% VAT on oil and electricity.

In so many words, Mrs. Arroyo repeated her often made argument that tinkering with the VAT now would only benefit the rich and hurt the poor.

“If the VAT on power and oil would be scrapped, it would benefit the rich who consume 84% of oil and 90% of electricity while hurting the poor who will lose P80 billion for programs,” Mrs. Arroyo said.

This is a clever argument and I must say the President really has some very good speech writers in her employ. It is like saying that, faced with the dilemma of having to choose which to save, the poor or the rich, she is opting to side with the poor.

But, forgive my stupidity, but whatever happened to people like me who in all honesty belong to neither? Whatever happened to people like me who belong to the thinning ranks of the middle class?

While it is understandable to buck demands from various sectors to rethink and retool the VAT imposed on fuel considering the P18 billion windfall government expects to collect from VAT on oil this year, this is nevertheless an obvious attempt to put a populist spin on an unpopular issue.
We really have to hand it to Mrs. Arroyo. She makes getting screwed from behind sound as if it is thoroughly enjoyable.

The 2006 Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES) contains a breakdown of the total oil consumption by income bracket. The poor’s share is 5.4 percent. The rich and upper middle class consume 40.3. The lower middle class has the biggest share of oil consumed, accounting for 54.3 percent.

Listening to Mrs. Arroyo last Monday, however, you get to wonder: has the lower middle class’ fortunes, from 2006 to 2008, suddenly improved to the extent that they now can be classified as “rich”?

She said further that, faced with the twin global crises on food and fuel, she has had to make unpopular but right choices.

“Thank God for the guts not to flinch in the face of tough choices. Thank Congress for the intelligence and thank the taxpayers for footing the bill...Take the VAT away and you and I abdicate our responsibility as leaders and pull the rug from under our present and future progress,” she said.

But the truth is the President, far from making “tough” choices, has been taking the easy way out. Instead of going after tax cheats, ridding the BIR and Customs of corruption, and generally improving tax collection, she has instead relied on the VAT to plug shortfalls on collection.

In fact, some critics of government, aside from those favoring the scrapping or the temporary suspension of the VAT, have been calling on the reduction of the VAT rate for all products from 12 percent to 10 percent.

The Philippine Finance Institute of the Philippines (PFIP), headed by former Finance Secretary Bobby de Ocampo, believes that the loss of revenue from reducing the VAT rate for all goods can be compensated by tax reforms that are in fact long overdue—tax administration, the indexation of the excise tax on sin products, and the rationalization of fiscal incentives. The PFIP further argues that “the increase in the VAT rate from 10 to 12 percent (in 2006) was an exigency measure when the threat of an unmanageable budgetary deficit threatened fiscal stability.”

In other words, the increase from 10% to 12% should have only been temporary in the first place and that government should have improved its tax administration in the meantime.

“We are afraid that continuous reliance on exigency measures would ease the pressure on collecting agencies to perform their responsibilities with utmost integrity and competence…. Exigency measures would continuously mask the fiscal problems that we have in tax evasion, avoidance, corruption, and proliferation of incentives,” the PFIP statement said.

But Mrs. Arroyo obviously had other things to consider last Monday and we are stuck with a 12% VAT on oil. I only wish she had us in mind.

But then again, that’s just me.

White Water Rafting in Cagayan de Oro

It is 5:30 on a Monday morning and Rupert Domingo is awakened by the insistent pinging of his cell phone. He had deliberately set the alarm 30 minutes early the night before. He wanted to start early, re-check the equipment, and make sure everything is in order.
He reaches for the phone, turns the alarm off, and swings his feet from bed and stands somewhat shakily. He really should knock off a can or two from his customary 8 cans. But yesterday was a particularly good run and a guy is, afterall, entitled to some good time with his friends.
He walks to the kitchen and fixes himself a strong cup of coffee. Twelve years, he thinks, and he still gets butterflies in his stomach at the thought of yet another day shooting the rapids.
Soon the rest of the guys from the Cagayan de Oro Whitewater Rafting Adventure Company will begin to arrive at his home which also serves as an office of sorts for the group.
Seven AM. The three other active members of the company—Tata Bioco, Chisum Factura, and Babars Barreto—have arrived together with the two hired jeepneys bearing all the necessary equipment. All are clad in shorts and rubber sandals, the preferred “office” attire, and a short meeting is called to order by Domingo.
Domingo, the godfather of Cagayan de Oro whitewater rafting and the unspoken leader of the group, begins by asking if any of the two jeepney drivers smoke.
“You cannot smoke the whole time you are with us,” he tells them.
Domingo explains that smokers often pollute the environment without even their knowing it. Most of the guys that make up the CDO White Water Rafting Co., Domingo says, are former smokers but they all quit the habit after realizing the foolishness of proclaiming themselves avid environmentalists one minute and lighting up the next.
Seven thirty. With the briefing done, the group packs into the two jeepneys carrying six rafts. They are joined by two more river guides, friends from the Northern Mindanao Mountaineering Society (NORMMS), and the group proceeds to DV Soria to meet and pick up the day’s clients.

The CDO White Water Rafting Adventure Co. was established a decade ago by a group of intrepid outdoorsmen, bonded by years of alcohol-induced camaraderie on mountain top campsites, whose desire to share the love for the outdoors became the cornerstone of a thriving business.
All of the incorporators of the company were members of the Northern Mindanao Mountaineering Society (NORMMS) and in between climbs, society members would often try other activities related to mountaineering.
“We began thinking about white water rafting in 1993 after seeing the sport in the Discovery Channel,” says Tata Bioco.
Bioco recalls their first run 12 years ago, from Taguanao to Carmen Bridge (a distance of 8 kilometers), and laughs hysterically with the rest of the group.
“We had no helmets, no life vests,” Bioco says.
“What we had was a Sevylor still-water raft, wooden paddles salvaged from bangkas, and lots of bravado borne out of inexperience,” Bioco says.
“We had so much fun that right after that first run, all of us were hooked on rafting,”Bioco says.
A year later, the group experienced its first flip. By then, they had tried runs from farther up river, where the rapids ranged from challenging to downright crazy, considering that they had no safety equipment whatsoever.
“That first flip, on June 14, 1994, made us realize the value of having safety gear,” Bioco says.
And so the group scrounged around for life vests (most with names of shipping companies prominently printed in front) and helmets (of the sort worn by BMX riders). They also made the inevitable decision to buy a raft specifically designed for white water rafting. They bought their first raft, second-hand, for $900 in the US.
The following year, out of the prodding of friends, eight NORMMS members decided to pool their money and invest in a company patterned after the outfitter companies in the US—companies that provide outdoor guides and equipment for clients, for a fee of course. And so began the Cagayan de Oro White Water Rafting Adventure Company.
Ten years later, from the unbelievably cheap initial fee of P100, the group now charges P1200 per person. With 12 white water rafts, each with a carrying capacity of 9 paying clients, the group averages 3-4 runs per week, year-round. The group also no longer uses what they call “tora-tora” safety gear (gear “requisitioned” from various sources) and has invested in a complete line of safety equipment designed for the perils of white water rafting.
Out of the largesse of white water rafting, the group was able to form Sinkhole Ventures last year, a subsidiary that runs the Macahambus Adventure Park. The park is located at the 150-feet deep Macahambus Gorge, the site of a famous battle between Filipino revolutionaries and American soldiers at the turn of the 20th century.
But financial success has dulled none of the group’s core concerns; the group’s passion for the outdoors has lost none of its luster.
“The river is the lifeblood of our business,” Rupert Domingo says.
To minimize the environmental impact of river runs, the group, with the help of local officials and volunteers, regularly conducts river clean-ups twice a month. They also encourage communities along the river to avoid dumping their wastes in the river. Partly to prod local initiative and partly to help uplift the livelihood of locals, the group distributed livestock to various families, most of whom are also porters for their clients, in exchange for their commitment to keep the river clean.
“It is a pity that not too many people realize the ecological importance of this river,” Chisum Factura says.
“Cagayan River serves as a refuge for several plant and animal species,” Factura says.
“Kaingin farming, logging, quarrying, and the irresponsible dumping of untreated sewage all do damage that may prove disastrous in the long term,” Factura says.

“Eeeasy, eeasy, easy,” Domingo tells the paddlers in his raft as they approach the last of the 14 rapids. As with each of his 600 runs, his eyes squint in the sunlight, picking out the surest way through the frothing, churning white water. He could feel his muscles, hot with adrenaline, go taut in anticipation of the sudden, frantic, almost hysterical paddling ahead.
“Hard left! Hard left! Hard left!” He calls from astern, quickly adjusting the tempo and direction of his paddling to correct the raft’s course. The raft’s bow rises convulsively as it crests the foaming water and is jarred by another and still another and another till it settles in the water, clear at last of the swirling backwash that would have held it.
All cheer as they hold their paddles high in a gesture of jubilation and, to some large extent, relief. And then the silly, sheepish grins at the sight of each other’s foolish bravado.
It is now 2:30 PM. The last four hours has been one of easy, quiet paddling one moment, so quiet one could almost hear the swish of fish underneath, and thundering, roaring paddle strokes battling the white water the next. Domingo smiles as he watches from his perch the satisfied grins of his clients and he thinks, with luck and good health, he could probably do this till he’s too old to lift an aluminum paddle. He nods to Factura in the next raft, smiles at the river and thinks”, God it’s good to be alive

first published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
27 March 2005
p.A19

A Damaged Culture Redux

I recently came upon the article A Damaged Culture by the American journalist James Fallows. I remember reading the article, which Mr. Fallows wrote for the Atlantic Monthly in 1987, back in high school. It was required reading but I doubt if I read it as I can not recall what it was about prior to reading it again 20-odd years later.

I remember the article generated a lot of controversy since nationalistic sentiments were especially high one year after EDSA. I do not recall reading it (much less understanding what it was about if I had) but I distinctly recall feeling aggrieved, even at 15, as if the author was dishing out a personal insult to me in particular. No doubt many others shared the sentiment; a 15-year old, after all, merely apes the reactions of his elders.

But reading the article now I find sadly that Mr. Fallows was in large part accurate on his reading of Philippine affairs. Substitute Mrs. Arroyo’s name for Mrs. Aquino’s and it sounds like Mr. Fallows was writing about present realities.

I was particularly struck by Mr. Fallows’ observation that “this is a country where the national ambition is to change your nationality.” I know this to be true—I myself have contemplated leaving many many times. In fact I must confess that I have not completely banished the thought from my mind especially since it has become increasingly difficult to make ends meet in these times of skyrocketing fuel and food prices. Like so many Filipinos, I have relatives and friends who now live in other countries, not necessarily the U.S. of A. And sometimes it just gets too tempting—perhaps life is really better elsewhere?

But there lies the problem, as Mr. Fallows wrote and to which I completely agree. Mr. Fallows, in writing about the Philippine elite, wrote that “there is not necessarily a commitment by the upper class to making the Philippines successful as a nation…if things get dicey, they are off with their money.”

Today it seems this observation applies to everybody with the means and opportunity to get out. And while the middle and lower middle classes have no money to take out of the country, they nevertheless take with them a very valuable resource---their expertise and their energy.

Granted, middle and lower class Filipinos who find work overseas regularly send a majority of their earnings home thereby helping to keep those that remain afloat (remittances from overseas Filipino workers reached a record $ 14.45 billion last year). But is this necessarily a good thing or does this only lead many to apathy with regards to how this country is run? Why reform the Comelec or why speak out against corruption? We can always go elsewhere, why fix the problems at home?

Mr. Fallows wrote, too, that compared with other cultures, we seem unable to think of ourselves beyond the tribe, beyond the family. He wrote that unlike, say, the Japanese or the Koreans, or even the Thais, we Filipinos seem to lack a sense of national identity. Mr. Fallows likened the extent of our loyalties to the Mafia families portrayed in the Godfather—“total devotion to those within the circle, total war to those outside.” Which is why we keep on having leaders who think only of their own aggrandizement instead of working for the benefit of the whole, according to Mr. Fallows.

Now why am I going through all these trouble for an article written 21 years ago, you might say? Precisely because things haven’t changed. A survey by the SWS early this year found that most Filipinos are pessimistic with regards to the quality of their lives improving in the near term. In another SWS survey last month, it was found that 60% of those surveyed were dissatisfied with the performance of Mrs. Arroyo. And still another SWS survey revealed that an estimated 2.9 million families have gone hungry in the last three months alone. Yet with all these unfortunate circumstances, no widespread protests have occurred beyond those mounted by traditional critics of government.

In ending his article, Mr. Fallows wrote “what will happen when…the culture doesn’t change and everything gets worse?”

It has gotten much worse and apparently most of us are just thinking of leaving.
-oOo-
For XUHS Alumni: Mr. Charles Culanag, "Charcul" to his students and friends, is ill with cancer. Any support, and prayers, will be much appreciated. For details on how to send your help, please contact Dr. Bernard Cepeda(rebnarmd@yahoo.com).

Living In Cagayan de Oro And Loving It

It took a while before I began loving living in this city. I mean, except for several years living some place else, I have lived most of my life here but I’ve never really given much thought to just what I love about living here.
Unlike Manila or Davao City, Cagayan de Oro has no rock solid claim to fame. A city is too often defined by, say, the number of museums it houses or perhaps by the quality of its restaurants. Cagayan, while not lacking, has very few of those. In fact, if you are one of those who, as the song goes, like the night life, I do not think this is the place for you.
Of late Cagayan de Oro has been called “the adventure capital of Mindanao” for its white water rafting tours and outdoor adventure parks. The sight of tourist-laden jeepneys with white water rafts lashed on their roofs has become an all too familiar sight. But besides its promise of weekend fun, there isn’t much going on.
But I think this is precisely why I love living here. Life is simpler here as they say. There is less clutter---there’s home, there’s work, and there’s what you plan for the weekend.
Here you do not have to gulp your coffee in the morning, risking scalding your tongue in a desperate effort to get to the office on time. You can sit back and brew your coffee; sip and savor the aroma and wait for the caffeine to kick in and prime your nerves. Here there is time enough for that second cup of coffee, if you need it. Provided, of course, you wake up way before needing to rush which is not too early here.
I love, too, the fact that everywhere seem to be nearer here. Nearer especially during summer when all the people who swell the population of the city during school time have gone home. Yes traffic occasionally goes bad here. But doesn’t it go bad on occasion almost everywhere else save perhaps in the boondocks?
Cagayan de Oro ,too, has the perfect or near perfect terrain for bicyclists—a little bit of rolling terrain here and there but generally as flat as flat iron. I live in a subdivision in Gusa in what used to be the outskirts of Cagayan. Yet if I have to cycle to, say, buy some bread in DV Soria in the heart of the city, the trip would take only about 20 minutes tops.
I love that mountains ring the city. I have been an avid mountain biker for the past ten years and I have found that the perfect MTB trail is just a mere ten minutes away. Where else can you ride your bike three times a week and ride a different trail each time?
But perhaps I love living here because this is my home: home in the sense that almost everything of note that has happened to me happened to me here. Grew up here, got married here, had my two children here. Will probably die here.
I guess I got lucky. Cagayan de Oro, after all, has the perfect mix of opportunities for making a living and living a life.

The Champion And His Heart

Everybody said the fight was a mismatch and it truly was. Even right from the very beginning, Manny Pacquiao was landing his punches at will and it was clear that there was no way David Diaz could keep up with the Filipino just as Freddie Roach said. And just as Roach said, you knew in the middle of the fight that it would take a miracle for Pacquiao to get beat; you knew it was just a matter of time before Pacquiao lands that one punch that would enshrine him among boxing’s greatest .
It was a mismatch, a fight so lopsided in the Pacman’s favor that it almost looked like he was the champion defending his title and Daiz was the challenger. But there is no doubt. It was a fight.
It was a fight because David Diaz, despite being the lesser fighter, kept on fighting. His nose got broken in the second round; his brow got cut up so badly in the fourth that it eventually colored his shorts pink.
He was said to be spitting and sneezing blood in his corner between rounds. He was so savagely beaten that, when the fight was over, he said he thought Freddie Roach was right there in the ring with Pacquiao ganging up on him.
But he never stopped. He never clinched the way beaten fighters do, hanging to their opponents to keep from doing any more fighting. He did not resort to dirty tricks. Other fighters, when faced with such daunting odds, would dance away and stay way out of range. But Diaz stayed right there in front of Pacquiao, taking the punishment in a vain attempt to sneak in one of his own punches.
It truly was a brave effort, a display of true grit and big heart. Of course in the end grit and heart is never enough to defeat a fighter such as Pacquiao, pound for pound one the best in the world of boxing today, if not the best.
As for Pacquiao, Recah Trinidad was right in saying that the fight was Pacquiao’s greatest moment. Upon seeing Diaz down on the blood-stained canvass, knocked-out and, to borrow Trinidad’s words, convulsing on the floor, his first instinct was not to savor his complete victory. He went to the neutral corner with concern clearly discernable from his face. And when the referee signaled the end of the fight, he went to the fallen Diaz and tugged at Diaz’s hand.
It was a rare display of humanity, of compassion, in a sport known for its viciousness.
There is an unforgettable picture of Muhammad Ali in his prime, standing over the fallen Sonny Liston. The picture depicts Ali, then at the height of his tremendous powers as a boxer, shoulders square, feet firmly planted over conquered ground, glaring over a fallen foe.
By contrast, if there is going to be a picture for the ages depicting Pacquiao in his prime, I am willing to bet that that frame showing Pacquiao bending over Diaz, tugging at Diaz’s hand, would be the one.

SONA

A year before Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the presidency from deposed President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, a hill of garbage fell over a slum community in Lupang Pangako, Payatas, Quezon City killing 218 people and leaving 300 families homeless.
Lupang Pangako (Promised Land) is a misnomer for the community---it is a slum inside one of Metro Manila’s largest dumpsites and most make their living scavenging for recyclable garbage.
For her very first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 2001, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo picked the tragedy of the year before to underscore how vastly different her presidency is going to be from her disgraced predecessor.
From a pillaged economy, GMA promised to bring the country relative prosperity. From a country ravaged by a gluttonous executive, GMA promised to raise the moral standards of government and steer bias toward the disadvantaged. From a mere “promised land”, GMA vowed to bring the country into “NIC-hood,” a sort of promised land to promise fulfilled.
A little less than two years from now GMA’s term as president will be over. By all intents and purposes the period for making transformative change is practically over. Already, the next batch of presidential hopefuls are mounting their respective campaigns for the presidency. What then has GMA got to show for it?
Seven long years from 2001, we are again back to square one. Seven years after GMA took office, we are again looking over our shoulders, waiting for the proverbial mountain of garbage to fall over our heads.
The prices of fuel, rice, and other basic commodities have gone amok resulting to 2.9 million Filipino families going hungry in the last three months, according to the latest SWS survey. To address this worsening crisis, government, according to Press Secretary Jesus Dureza, will continue implementing its targeted programs involving, so far, some P8 billion in subsidies.
But all these interventions are raising questions precisely because the government of GMA is in itself plagued by an insurmountable crisis—the of lack of credibility. Who can say that the so-called pro-poor programs do not fall prey to corruption?
In the end, GMA’s legacy can be summed up in a few words—an absolute lack of integrity. Four years after the 2004 presidential polls, GMA’s credibility remains in question. Almost every big, multi-billion peso project under her administration have been tainted with allegations of corruption---IMPSA, Diosdado Macapagal Highway, ZTE-NBN, Northrail, etc. ,etc.
Worse, GMA seems determined to use everything in her power to shield every questionable transaction from public scrutiny. No wonder a survey last December by Pulse Asia showed 42% of the people polled considered GMA “the most corrupt president in Philippine history.”
Come Monday, July 28, GMA will again deliver her SONA. Come Monday GMA will again tell us that things are really not that bad.
But will anybody be listening?

A Higher Standard

The good attorney Joe Pallugna wrote in a column titled “In Defense Of Bacal” that the incident involving the city councilor was “an ordinary accident that occurs everyday” and that the reason why Bacal is getting so much bad press is that he is a public official.
The good attorney further decried all the “speculation and innuendo” that was and is being heaped on Councilor Bacal adding that “some news reporters” may “have personal reasons to twist” facts to “serve some hidden agenda.”
Forgive me for saying this but I think the good attorney misses the point. By a mile.
True, accidents of this nature happen frequently here as well as in other parts of the country; many other 15-year olds have died after being run over by wayward Revos.
But does the frequency of these accidents make it any less painful for the victims’ families? The good attorney may be well versed on the nitty gritty of the law. A word of advice though: TACT. Use your dictionary, look the word up.
Second. It is precisely because Councilor Bacal is an elected official that the incident generated so much bad press. By his own account, Councilor Bacal immediately left the scene of the accident, without bothering to bring the boy to the hospital nor even checking if the boy was still alive because he said he feared that the boy’s relatives may do him harm. After that, he hemmed and hawed, saying he did not know he hit anybody, saying this, saying that, all the while seeking the help of the powers that be.
This behavior is perfectly understandable for ordinary people as the good attorney says. But Councilor Bacal is no ordinary person. He is an elected official, a person with the political mandate of an entire community. He actively sought the people’s trust and gained his office with the tacit understanding that he would put the people’s interests above his own. At all times.
Political office is not something a person discards after office hours. It is not something that people do for a living like, say, brokering stocks or raising chickens. A person, once elected into office, serves in the capacity as a public servant 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We entrust our lives, our destiny even, to people such as Councilor Bacal. We entrust the crafting of laws that we would have to live by-- laws that dictate how much we have to set aside for taxes, where we can build our houses, what we can and can not do-- to people such as Councilor Bacal.
It is therefore natural to expect better behavior from people such as Councilor Bacal. It is therefore natural, and right, that such people as Councilor Bacal are made to answer to a higher standard.

Biting The Bullet

Why is DTI Regional Director Ma. Eliza Pabillore complaining about the results of the Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project (PCCRP), the flagship research undertaking of the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center’s City Competitiveness Program?
The AIM policy center came out last July 4, 2008 with the results of its 2007 study which ranked Cagayan de Oro 11th in terms of business competitiveness compared to 25 other medium-sized cities.
Cagayan de Oro shared the spot with Leyte’s Tacloban City.
Ms Pabillore said she “treat(s) the survey with a grain of salt” adding “the ranking does not reflect the realities on the ground.”
Ms Pabillore said, quoting from news reports, she could not understand why the city fared poorly when figures available with DTI and the local government showed that the city is enjoying a booming economy, has a good business environment, and local officials are responsive to business needs.
“Basically, we failed on perception-based surveys but fared well on indicators that are supported with hard data,” Ms Pabillore added.
As a citizen of this city I share Ms Pabillore’s dismay with the way the study turned out for us. We like to think of ourselves as a lucky to be living here, long considered as one of the top cities of Mindanao.
But I think we ought to take study as it is--- plain. No seasonings, no salt.
On its own, the data from the DTI Regional Office may show us doing well in the same areas covered by the PCCRP. The local economy is so robust that Ayala Land is at present investing in Cagayan de Oro, according to Ms Pabillore.
But this misses the point. The study, as I understand it, was made precisely to measure how well we are doing in relation to other cities. The study ranks the overall competitiveness of Philippine urban centers based on the following drivers of competitiveness: costs of doing business, dynamism of the local economy, human resources and training, infrastructure, responsiveness of the local government to business sector’s needs, and quality of life.
The study, to quote from the Policy Center’s primer, merely “constructs a benchmarking method that will aid individual cities in measuring their level of competitiveness in relation to other cities.”
So what is there to fret about? After all, we do need to know who we are competing against and how we are standing up to the competition. We can not afford to be complacent, secure in our mistaken belief that we are a cut above the rest.
And it is not as if we are finding ourselves suddenly at the bottom of the dung heap. In 2003, Cagayan de Oro was ranked 3rd among 13 medium-sized cities surveyed for business competitiveness. In 2005 we found ourselves in the 8th position among 15 medium-sized cities.
So besides stating the obvious, what the heck?
Instead of sulking in the corner, we should grab this golden opportunity to finally get our act together. Instead of saying “well if they had only done this, if only they had done that” we should be thinking of ways to finally arrest our slide to the abyss; we should be thinking of ways to beat the competition.
To illustrate just how badly we are misunderstanding this, let us take the example of Iloilo City. Iloilo City was among the top awardees of 2005 but was kept out of the top seven performers last year.
Iloilo City was ranked 8th (eight by golly and they feel bad about it).
But instead of trying to question the results, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas is immediately calling for a round table discussion to analyze and learn from the PCCRP survey in preparation for next year.
This on top of the city’s efforts to rebuild after the devastation caused by Typhoon Frank.
So now what do we do?
Now we ought to bite the bullet, do as they are doing in typhoon-ravaged Iloilo City, and begin thinking like winners.

Pretending To Speak English

I do not know what it is they find in Cagayan de Oro so appealing or if they are just passing through, en route to somewhere scenic and exotic, wherever that may be. By “they” I am referring to Caucasian tourists who, to their credit, remain unfazed to the simple fact that Cagayan de Oro is in Mindanao(which is too often viewed abroad as a war zone which is of course farthest from the truth).
Ordinarily I would pay little attention to them, finding most of them polite and generally unassuming. Many would come to the shop, nod to the waitress good morning, order coffee and breakfast, and then generally keep to themselves. Some would offer compliments and a warm thank you just before leaving. And some would be back at about the same time the next morning and order the exact same thing they ate the day before.
But every so often, someone comes and rankles your nerves. It is understandable, there are bound to be some rotten characters among the many that come. Too often, you forget about the little unpleasantness and be thankful just the same for the business.
But sometimes the plain arrogance and crappy attitude get to you. Sometimes you meet someone who offends to high heavens with his bad manners; someone that makes you wish you took that lesson instead of thinking yourself too old for boxing.
Just about the other day, for instance, a middle-aged white male, obviously American, came to the shop at around 8 am asking, in a drawl, “what you got for ehy-tshee.” He was referring to the banner hung outside, advertising our breakfast meal (a choice of tapa, longanisa, corned beef, tocino, and bangus served with brewed coffee, garlic rice, and two fried eggs—this is a plug if you haven’t noticed—we are at the corner of velez and chavez sts. in DV Soria). But the hapless waitress, rattled perhaps by having to deal with a foreigner, could not make out what he was saying. And so she kept on repeating over and over something about the coffee being included in the meal. In obvious frustration for having to explain himself so early in the morning, the American suddenly said, ”Nevermind, I’m going someplace else where the waitress does not PRETEND to speak English.”
This rather arrogant behavior is sadly too common among English-speaking foreigners visiting the country. Perhaps because non-English speaking foreigners are forced, like ourselves, to adopt an alien tongue to communicate, they are more likely to make greater efforts to reach out and be understood. Which is as it should be.
Native English-speakers, on the other hand, generally are not burdened by that kind of mind-set. They think that since the Philippines prides itself, rather wrongly at that, with having been once part of the United States of Bush Jr., then they are entitled to expect to be spoken to in perfect, grammatically correct English.
This is bullshit, of course. We are, afterall, in our own country and whether we speak crooked English; whether we speak using our own dialect or whether we choose not to speak at all is our business. It is they who are here and hence… well, you get the picture.
Even the much trumpeted virtue---Filipino hospitality has to have its limits.