Write It, Walk It

GLIMPSES
Jose Ma. Montelibano

There are some who have stood against powerful men and women for a number of years, oftentimes paying dearly for doing so. Those who speak against wrongdoing cannot but speak against wrongdoers every so often, and that is dangerous and expensive.

Reeling against what powerful wrongdoers dish back, I found myself wallowing in self-pity at times. I know I could have recapitulated several times if only clear and generous offers to do so were presented by life. But, as my fate would have it during my life as an advocate for change and an opinion writer, there were no serious temptations to corruption when I was in my weakest moments. When corruption did knock loudly on my doors, I simply and fortunately happened to be my most steadfast state.

Understanding life to be like a collection of moments good and bad, strong and weak, ugly and beautiful, I cannot but help being understanding (and often, kind) even to wrongdoers. They are also men and women with people who love them, and are hurt when others speak ill of them. I often wish I could resist urges to expose the evil that they do and inflict on others, as I know I have committed similar wrongs and have caused pain to some along the way.

The happy compromise has been, then, for me, to focus on wrongdoing itself rather than wrongdoers. And the higher option has been to focus on good and allow it to conquer evil in its own pre-destined way.

There will be instances when I do not favor the happy compromise for a more stinging rebuke, which I mostly reserve for hypocrites in robes. To me, the wolves in sheep's clothing have a special accountability which I would always like to remind them in this lifetime before the Lord does in the next. Religious leaders deserved special mention from a Christ who was especially offended by their hypocrisy, and I remind myself that they crucified Him for that. I, too, should expect crucifixion, not only from dirty politicians but from dirty religious as well. My deepest wish is not to be rescued from them, but that I will not turn out to be like them.

My stand against wrongdoing, especially the kind that preys on the weak, the sick and the innocent, is not one born of great courage but of great anger, just as my stand on hypocrisy by erring shepherds is not one born of great purity but of great revulsion. There are many behavioral scientists who would say that I could be projecting my great fears, the fear to be corrupt and the fear to be hypocritical. They could be right, and I just have to be vigilant against what I write and speak against so relentlessly.

The higher option of doing good and allowing it to defeat evil, though, is truly much more inspiring and restful to the soul. From my own exhaustion at the endless flailing against the windmill of corruption, I was blessed to find solace and renewed strength in the higher option of simply doing more and more good. Of course, when one is on the path of doing good and promoting the same path to others, there is less time, effort and opportunity to confront the thieves and liars in the bureaucracy of the State and the badly compromised among the hierarchy of the Church.

Comments from readers about how they are inspired, about how their hopes are rekindled, and about how their own resolve to reach out and ease the pain and suffering of the poor, to free them from the bondage of greed and poverty, add greatly to my commitment and capacity to pursue a personal mission of showing alternative and better ways to live out the divine purposes of our lives. If my pride or ego is stoked to momentary pleasure from the praise and gratitude of readers, I must admit that I do allow myself to enjoy the affirmation before moving on to the next opportunity to live out my mission.

In the midst of daily prayer and reflection, I realize clearly my ordinariness, that there are many who are greater, more brave and talented, more committed and pure. I realize, too, that there are the more fearful and cowardly, the more greedy and addicted to power, those more prone to form over substance, pomp over principle. As ordinary people with the capacity for good and evil, we have others who are greater, and lesser, than us. Comparison, then, is a deadly trap.

Steering away from life's landmines would require a determined focus on the value or principle at issue more than the personalities involved. Those who have to enter the arena of criticism, rebuke or censure must also cut across the walls of anger and despair that are erected or strengthened along the way. If we have to expose the corrupt and the hypocrites, we must also show with even more focus the honest and the true. We have to be living witnesses of the higher values, sterling examples of higher ethics, and place on the pedestal of public awareness others who display the same higher values and higher ethics.

As our people slide deeper into pain, from physical poverty and the absence of righteous leadership, there is greater need and urgency to raise principled Davids as available replacements for failed King Sauls who use power and position to cover the wrong they do. New ways must rise above the patterns of history, patterns of exploitation, patterns of corruption, and patterns of hypocrisy. Faith and patriotism might as well not be taught anymore in classrooms if our more publicly known leaders cannot be the models of virtue.

It is my firm belief that much right and much wrong had been taught by leaders of society. They have done so by their behavior more than by their pronouncements. Words are particularly tricky, more easily crafted than character and behavior.

Opinion makers, then, are especially placed for great honor, or great shame, because they can churn our more words than examples to readers who may never get to know them personally. Writers always write but few get written about. Because their own personal lives are often not exposed to public scrutiny, journalists may hide behind their readers' inability to know and judge their persons and integrity.

I strongly espouse righteous leadership. I must work hard, therefore, on my own righteousness. I strongly espouse helping the poor. I must work hard, therefore, on helping them as a personal commitment and daily advocacy. What I write about and promote must find me as its foremost activist. What I write about and condemn must find me its worst enemy. And on these criteria I submit myself before the judgment of my God and country.

--
"In bayanihan, we will be our brother's keeper and forever shut the door to hunger among ourselves."

US Interests in Mindanao

By Antonio C. Abaya

Written on Aug. 18, 2008

The Americans have two interests in the Mindanao-Sulu-Basilan theater of operations that are tied up with the controversy over the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) initialed with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) last July 27.

That MOA would have been signed last August 5 if the Supreme Court had not stopped it with a temporary restraining order (TRO), upon the petition of local government officials that they had not been consulted adequately and had not been told that part of their territory was being handed over to the MILF.

One. The Americans are worried by the expressed intention of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an Islamic extremist organization, to create a pan-Islamic state that would encompass the entire territories of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, plus the southern (predominantly Muslim) provinces of Thailand, and some of the (heavily Muslim) provinces of Mindanao-Sulu-Basilan in the southern Philippines.

Such an Islamic state, if successfully formed, would create a choke point through which pass most of the oil imports of China , Hong Kong , Taiwan , South Korea and Japan , which collectively buy about 55 percent of US exports. On their prosperity depends the prosperity of the Americans. If these countries' economies were to wither as a result of an oil embargo imposed by the JI, the US economy would also wither.

It is not just the free passage of oil that concerns the Americans. The area encompassed by the JI's pan-Islamic state contains some of the richest petroleum and mineral deposits in the world, plus irreplaceable pools of indigenous technical and managerial manpower, as well as an established industrial infrastructure. Mindanao-Sulu are thought to hold vast deposits of oil and gas.

To keep this area away from the grasp of the JI, the Americans have established forward bases and listening posts in or off Sulu and Basilan, to monitor the activities of JI in Indonesia and Malaysia (where an American military presence would be resented by thelocals), and from which they could launch pre-emptive strikes against JI in the future, if need be. (See my article Why the Americans are in Basilan and Sulu of June 6, 2002)

Two. The Americans see China as their next strategic enemy, after Islamic extremists, and are concerned about Chinese activities in the Spratly Islands , below which are believed vast deposits of petroleum and mineral ores.

Their forward bases and listening posts in Sulu and Basilan, though meant primarily to monitor JI activities in Indonesia and Malaysia , also serve their other purpose of monitoring Chinese activities in the Spratlys through intelligence-gathering ships and aircraft, as well as drones or pilot-less Predators.

These double-barreled operations in Mindanao-Sulu-Basilan in turn are dictated by a policy declaration by the neo-conservatives as early as September 2000 – one year before 9/11 and four months before George W. Bush assumed the presidency in January 2001.This declaration, titled Rebuilding America's Defenses, was signed by the neo-cons gathered together as the Project for the New American Century or PNAC.

The neo-cons were/are headed by Dick Cheney (who became vice-president), Donald Rumsfeld (who became defense secretary, since resigned), Paul Wolfowitz (who became Rumsfeld's deputy, since resigned), Richard Perle (who became chairman of the Defense Board, since forced to resign), Jeb Bush (brother of George W.), Scooter Libby (c-o-s of Cheney, now serving a jail sentence for perjury) and various other certified hawks, every one of whom, BTW, - starting with George W - sought and received deferment, via various means, from military service in Vietnam….the chicken hawks.

(The 2003 invasion of Iraq is said to have been planned by Wolfowitz – famously known since as Wolfowitz of Arabia – as early as 1997.)

In this policy declaration, the neo-cons called for, among other things, a permanent US military presence in the Middle East (hence the wars in Iraq , Afghanistan , and, possibly soon, Iran ), regime change in Beijing (hence the constant putdowns against the Chinese), and increased US forces in Southeast Asia (hence the US presence in Mindanao-Sulu).

The chicken hawks also sought to "discourage advanced industrial nations from challenging our leadership or even aspiring to a larger regional or global role," hence their efforts to defang Russia, by offering NATO membership to Georgia and Ukraine, and putting up "missile defense shields" in Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, thus understandably infuriating the Russians.

In the Philippine context, the neo-cons may have debated among themselves how their dual-purpose presence in Mindanao-Sulu can be maintained, given the unreliability of President Arroyo.

In July 2004, President Arroyo withdrew the 51-man Philippine contingent from the Coalition of the Willing in Iraq to save the life of the kidnapped Angelo de la Cruz. In October the same year, she signed an agreement with Beijing for the joint exploration for oil in the Spratlys, which caused the Heritage Foundation, one of the three think tanks that draft policies for the Republican Party, to call her "the weakest leader in Asia ."

It was at this point, I believe, that the neo-cons, led by VP Dick Cheney, schemed to remove President Arroyo from power, using the Hello Garci tapes in July 2005 (which were probably electronic intercepts of the US National Security Agency) to embarrass and weaken her. I have several articles on this plot in 2005-2006, all archived in www.tapatt.org.

But President Arroyo proved too tough a nut to crack. She not only survived but even bounced back to approve 29 contracts with the Chinese in 2006-2007 for various projects, including one (the exceptionally corrupt ZTE broadband contract) that would have given the Chinese a ringside view of American moves and decisions in and about the Philippines. She was either tempting the fates or was blissfully ignorant of the geopolitical implications of her decisions. Last week, she was witness to two new contracts with the Chinese, this time for the mining of nickel in Zambales.

The controversial MOA-AD between the GRP and the MILF may be a sign that the Americans have decided that the MILF is a more reliable partner in the war on terror than the vastly unpopular and Chinese-dominated Arroyo. They may have deliberately suckered the GRP panel into the MOA-AD, knowing that the seriously flawed document would make Mrs. Arroyo more unpopular than she already is. And may lead to her downfall, which they had schemed to bring about in 2005.

Whether or not the MOA-AD leads to Bangsamoro independence is of no existential concern to the Americans, who have now established their bona fides with the MILF and can look forward to pursuing their twin goals in the region without too much hassle from the resident Muslims .

The "nationalist" politicians in Manila , who threw them out of their bases in 1991, can all go to hell in China . Certainly no asylum for them in San Francisco .

That is how the Chinese fortune cookie crumbles. *****

Reactions to tonyabaya@gmail.com. Other articles in acabaya.blogspot.com. Tony on YouTube in www.tapatt.org. .

EXPAT DOCTOR RETURNS TO SAVE HYDROCEPHALUS VICTIMS

By Ike Señeres

They call him the "ShuntMan", referring to "shunting", the medical method of artificially creating a passage between two natural body channels such as blood vessels, to divert or permit flow from one pathway through another, often by way of a bypass. "Shunting" is the surgical procedure used to save the life of hydrocephalus victims, many of whom are young children.

Dr. Manuel Arce Cacdac, a member of the Society of Philippine Surgeons in America (SPSA) has been a co-team leader with Dr. Pacifico Dorado in medical missions going back and forth to and from the United States for many years now. Although he has performed shunting procedures on hydrocephalic children in the provinces during these missions, it is the first time that more than twenty patients need shunts in Metro Manila at one instance. Dr. Dorado is a general surgeon practicing in Ironton, Ohio.

Sometimes with a medical team, and sometimes by himself, Dr. Cacdac returns to the Philippines perform free hydrocephalus operations in poor communities here. In a recent "one man" surgical mission to Metro Manila from February 4 to February 10, he and other neurosurgeons and residents performed surgical operations on 18 children, and left behind "shunts" for 4 babies who could not be operated yet during his visit, due to medical problems at that time.

Cacdac, a neurosurgeon from Terre Haute, Indiana, is just one of the many members of SPSA who come home regularly to bring their expertise back to the Philippines, as a way of helping their home country. Numbering about 300 members, SPSA is composed mostly of Filipino surgeons and doctors from other medical practices in the United States, all very accomplished in their respective fields.

As an added benefit to the country, local Filipino doctors and residents in training who assist in the medical missions are able to learn the latest procedures from the visiting doctors, thus turning these missions into an informal technology transfer program. During his last visit, he operated with residents of the East Avenue Medical Center who were very appreciative of his expertise. By the time that he left after his February visit, he had already trained several local neurosurgeons and residents, enabling them to put in the "shunts" that he had left behind.

Using their connections in the foreign hospitals and clinics where they are working, SPSA members are able to solicit equipment and supplies for them to use during their medical missions. In an interview with Cacdac, he told me that each "shunt" costs about 600 to 1,000 dollars depending on the brand, such that the children who benefit from the procedure would not be able to afford the supplies if they were to but it on their own, adding that it would have been "impossible" for him to do the operations without the support of the donors.

Working practically alone when he visits and with only the help of a few friends, Cacdac somehow manages to get the support of local hospitals for him to use their operating rooms. Either that or he is able to find sponsors who are the ones who pay for the use of the operating rooms. In his last visit, the operating rooms and hospital beds were sponsored by the Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko Foundation through the efforts of Ms. Connie Angeles and Fr. Jun Padua who made all the arrangements with the local hospitals and gathered all the patients. The SM Foundation through Ms. Debbie Sy and Mr. Harley Sy paid for all the operating room and hospital charges. The shunts were donated to Cacdac by Integra Life Sciences, Inc.

In a report that he sent to SPSA members, Cacdac was happy to note that he received tremendous support from the medical staff of the hospitals where he performed his operations, adding a yet happier note that many hospitals have now offered their facilities to be used by the association in their future visits. In particular, he cited the medical and nursing staff of the East Avenue Medical Center, the Children's Medical Center and the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital for the support that they extended to him.

To most laymen, hydrocephalus is known to be a medical condition that causes the swelling of the heads of victims who are mostly children. In a sentimental note, Cacdac makes special mention that the majority of patients who are operated on during their medical missions are below two years old. He explained that not unless these patients are "shunted", the accumulation of fluids would cause their heads to swell. In layman terms, he explained that by way of "shunting", drainage is created so that the fluids would be diverted to their stomachs, thus preventing the swelling of their heads.

Also known in layman terms as a condition that builds up "water in the brain", hydrocephalus is due to a problem with the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the liquid that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord. According to the MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, "CSF moves through pathways of the brain called ventricles. It also flows around the outside of the brain and through the spinal canal. Higher-than-normal amounts of CSF can occur in the brain if the flow or absorption of CSF is blocked, or if too much CSF is produced. The build up of fluid puts pressure on the brain, pushing the brain up against the skull and damaging or destroying brain tissues".

Another member of SPSA, Dr. Reynato Faylona travels to the Philippines each winter to treat patients in poor communities here. A general surgeon who cares for patients in Dells, Wisconsin, Dr. Faylona comes home to treat cancer patients. He recalls that in one of his visits here, he was surprised to remove a tumor that was the size of a basketball. Born is Manila, he would make it a point to go to the provinces during his visits.

This month, Dr. Daniel C. Fabito, a surgeon from St. Louis, Missouri will also be here until February 7, to conduct a medical-surgical mission in Dagupan, Pangasinan. Dr. Fabito is also a member of SPSA.

Last December, the SPSA also sent a medical mission to Legaspi, Albay in the area that was devastated by typhoon "Reming". In that mission, they performed 176 major surgeries, 170 minor surgeries and 37 eye cases. In a previous mission to Calbayog, Samar a year earlier, the SPSA also performed 548 medical and surgical procedures in the area that was devastated by typhoon "Durian" and typhoon "Utor".

Amid all the inspiring news that comes out of the SPSA medical missions however, Cacdac laments the fact that they are still experiencing some minor difficulties in passing their equipment and supplies through the Bureau of Customs, pointing that in several prior trips, they had to pay for expensive customs duties out of their own pockets. He is hoping that in future trips, partners and donors would help the SPSA in logistically shipping the medical equipment and supplies to the mission sites here, inspired by the contagious charitable spirit of the SPSA doctors.

The author is host of "KOL KA LANG", a daily radio program in Radio Veritas about justice and livelihood. Email iseneres@yahoo.com, text 09293605140, visit http://senseneres.blogspot.com/ or log in to www.veritas846.ph.

How following only the letter of the law promotes lawlessness

AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo
Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Premature election campaigning being conducted under the guise of product endorsements or advocacies can be expected to escalate the closer we get to 2010.

Even Bayani Fernando's posters, which have no business being posted outside of the Metro Manila area, have been spotted in many provinces. I wonder if BF realizes that his pa-pogi posters are negated by those primetime news videos showing his MMDA demolishing the livelihood equipment and stocks of vendors.

Despite the flagrant violation of the spirit of the law about premature election campaigning, the Comelec absolved the alleged violators based on the letter of the law.

Based on the letter of the law, no violation could be proved. But then, it is that culture of heeding only the letter of the law where we can find the roots of our state of lawlessness.

My late father, who was a lawyer, told me many years ago that law abiding folks follow the spirit of the law and that folks who are forever scrutinizing the letter of the law are likely to be those seeking loopholes in order to skirt the law.

In our country, when those who commit highly profitable crimes like plunder scout for the best lawyer — they're actually searching for the lawyer who will find the letter of the law that will get them off the hook. The limitations of language and whatever parameters have been set by the law provide the fertile ground for a wily legal beagle to exploit.

Because the law on premature election campaigning requires the identification (promotion) of a candidate for a stated public office, the source of those ads escaped prosecution and penalty. In other words, all Loren Legarda (et al) has to do is not to say "Vote Loren Legarda for President" and she can't be accused of violating the law on premature election campaigning.

No matter how scandalous the obvious violation of the law — there is nothing that can be done because those who framed the law did not understand the full potential of advertising. The legislators did not realize that some of the most effective ads to ever emerge from Madison Avenue did not even suggest the actual consumption of the product.

The classic TV ads of Marlboro in the 1960s did not even say SMOKE MARLBORO CIGARETTES. That 1960s classic Volkswagen Beetle TV ad showing a VW Beetle floating on the swimming pool did not even say DRIVE A VOLKSWAGEN. It did not even suggest that you buy one. All it said was: "Even if the Volkswagen can definitely float, it cannot float indefinitely." It was a classic case of admitting a shortcoming (cannot float indefinitely) in order to drive home a point of superiority (the VW beetle can float).

Loren Legarda (sorry Loren to use you as an example) can run a TV ad that projects her as a President, depicting the progress she is promising to deliver, even suggesting that God is endorsing her — but for so long as she does not say "Vote Loren Legarda for President" in the TV ad, then she is not violating the law (per the letter of the law).

But is that the right thing to do? Yes, it may be legal owing to the letter of the law — but is it ethical and moral?

A lot of the premature election campaigning that now proliferates all over expensive media are ads (TV and radio commercials, print ads, billboards, posters, etc) that are paid for by us, the taxpayers. William Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar — "That is the unkindest cut of all." It is bad enough if your wife sleeps with your best friend. The hurt cuts deepest if they charge you for the cost of the motel.

There is a need for new legislation to cover the loopholes that allow these scandalous violations of the premature election campaigning law. The proposed new law should also cover the misuse of government agency ads to promote the political agenda of agency officials.

The new law should disallow the appearance of public officials in all government advertising materials — broadcast and print ads, posters and billboards. This will effectively curtail the misuse of public funds. The use of government agency ads should be strictly confined to informing the people on how to avail of the agency service(s) or how a new agency system/procedure works.

Using taxpayer money to promote the political agenda of a government official is a misuse of public funds which deserves no less than disqualification from running for public office and an indictment (with a corresponding penalty).

In the case using product ads as image builders and enhancers, the new law should set such endorsements as grounds for disqualification to run in the next election. In other words, those who will run in the next elections should not be allowed non-work-issue related advertising exposures that can give them undue advantage.

Those planning to run should confine their pre-election period media campaigns to opinion-editorial and news sections. They should earn the news coverage or commentary.

Considering the penchant of Filipinos to follow only the letter of the law — no less than this type of new legislation will solve this problem of premature election campaigning.

* * *

Chair Wrecker e-mail and website: macesposo@yahoo.com and www.chairwrecker.com

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Saving Mindanao…and the nation

(Herman Tiu Laurel / Infowars / Tribune column for 8-18-2008 MON)

It is now popular knowledge that the US has struck a deal with Gloria to sell out Philippine sovereignty in exchange for its silence over her bid for term extension. At stake here are: 1) control of at least $570 billion in gas and oil reserves, and 2) the Filipino people's right to choose its leaders and periodically vote on issues of national concern. Specifically, the oil and gas wealth alone means P273,888 for each Filipino man, woman and child -- the value of which will increase in the future. Such a scheme will likewise perpetuate the kleptocracy and plutocracy of Gloria Arroyo's ilk and US-backed oligarchs for years and years to come.

For over a decade now, the US has pursued a program of setting up physical and social infrastructure in key cities and provinces in Mindanao -- a process which has accelerated the past five years. Filipinos often wondered and joked about these huge US projects in places like General Santos. Highways were built so wide and thick that engineers say they can accommodate the landing of the largest air transport vehicles.

It's been a puzzle, really, why such an area known more for its tuna and sardines would need a highway that could land a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. Clearly, the US has been making very strategic, long term investments in Mindanao for purposes that have never been fully revealed.

In the cloak-and-dagger of international geopolitics, few things are really what they seem. The motives for "magnanimity" of US physical and social investments in Mindanao, as well as, those of other parties, however, have begun to be revealed -- thanks to the national blowback on the Arroyo-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD).

It began with Hashim Salamat's 2003 letter to the war-monger Bush which marked the change in the MILF's standing from a mere rebel group to a front for US imperial and economic hegemony.

The US dangled the "terrorist" tag on the MILF until that pleading letter gave the two common cause in the "ancestral domain" supposition, which in effect cedes a third of Mindanao of over twenty-million people to the MILF, which does not even have any basis for claiming to represent over two million Muslims in the country's third major island.

While some official Muslim population estimates reach four million, doubts are raised by the likes of former QC Mayor Jun Simon, whose experienced reckoning halves the bloated Comelec voters' list, which gives a more accurate real figure. But then, a nation-state is still not a cake to be cut up for each party to own; for if it were so, there would be no nation and republic to speak of.

Also, given that modern society favors meritocracy in social standing and stewardship in land use, the concept of inherited "ancestral domain" is most repugnant because it is, in essence, archaic and feudal. The historical fact is that Philippine "ancestral domain" was long demolished by the arrival of the conquistadores and the prayles.

Incidentally, the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) is at the forefront of pushing the "peace process" on the basis of the MILF's "ancestral domain" and is headed by former Ambassador to the Philippines, Richard Solomon, who also heads the Political Science Department of the RAND Corporation -- an institution branded as "America's University of Imperialism" by Chalmer Johnsons, University of California professor and CIA analyst.

Thus, the MILF forces have become mere mercenaries of the most oppressive force in the world.

Aside from exposing its own paucity and losing whatever respect is left of it, the MILF, along with its tactical allies like the NDF and some groups of the "rejectionist" mold have been caught in their own web of contradictions.

Many have wondered why Satur Ocampo graced the Arroyo-MILF signing ceremony in Kuala Lumpur and his subsequent tepid responses as the nation raged in anger.

Last Saturday, too, a picture of a certain Sister Arnold with placards signed KPML and SNLK came out in a newspaper front page reporting their support for the MoA-AD. When I called Prof. Dodong Nemenzo to clarify, he attributed this to the groups' "tactical alliances" with the MILF.

From its end, the NDF has always pursued a "destroy the national government and AFP at all cost" policy as it allies with the MILF and gets trapped by the US' global divide and rule ploy. As a result, the NDF and some "rejectionists" have been caught in the dilemma of supporting the dismemberment of Mindanao and the nation, and unwittingly supporting the real US interest of sustaining military bases and exploiting the rich resources in Mindanao.

Mindanao can only be saved if the AFP leadership, the Muslims and Christians of Mindanao, and the entire Filipino people unite to drive off the almost fully entrenched talons of the foreign predator in Mindanao.

My position is to win over the AFP and government rank-and-file to act as one against US hegemony and corrupt domestic instruments such as Gloria Arroyo, and liberate the wealth of this country from foreign hands, earmarking them for nation building and people's prosperity.

Arguably, this is the only window in our history where this is possible as the US is at its weakest.

The appeasement of the likes of Jose Montelibano's "peace at all cost" column is deceptive because the MILF peace pact will just be the root of a wider perpetual war, in the same way that the good works of Billy Esposo in exposing US imperialism are being negated by his continuing bigotry against the national leader who had already solved the MILF problem in his re-claiming of Camp Abubakar in 2000.

Let us draw inspiration from the recent South American victories over US imperialism, like the electoral win in Paraguay of the anti-US former bishop Fernando Lugo, that country's newly-inaugurated El Presidente. Let us all realize that unity -- among our people and the AFP -- is what it takes to save Mindanao and the rest of our nation!

(Tune in to: Talk News TV on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 3, Tuesday at 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with guest, ex-commodore Rex Robles on "Imperatives to Save Mindanao," with replays on Saturday, 8:30 p.m., and Tuesday, 2:15 and 10:45 a.m.; Kape't Kamulatan, Kabansa on 1098AM, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.; and Suló ng Pilipino every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the same station. Also, check out: http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)

Blueprint for Balkanization

PerryScope

by Perry Diaz

The attempt of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to secretly grant "statehood" to a large area of Philippine territory has sparked an uproar and also brought to the forefront of international debate the issue of federalization of the Philippines. After failing to carve out a Bangsamoro "ancestral domain" for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Gloria has put into motion another Charter change (Cha-cha) -- to change the present unitary presidential system of government to a federal system.

Last August 4, 2008, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order stopping the signing of the "Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain" between the Philippine government and the MILF which was to occur the following day in Malaysia.

The Supreme Court had been kind -- and accommodating -- to Gloria on matters involving executive privilege; however, it has been vigilant when it comes to tinkering with the constitution. It appears that the Supreme Court is the only institution left which would protect the sanctity of the country's constitution. With the House of Representatives seemingly in Gloria's pocket, the Senate has been wishy-washy on how to deal with Cha-cha. They didn't seem to know what they were bargaining for when 12 senators signed Joint Resolution No.10 authored by Senator Aquilino Pimentel which calls for the creation of 11 federal states including a homeland or "ancestral domain" for Bangsamoro. However, once Cha-cha is on, Gloria could introduce any amendment including a provision that would allow her to remain in power beyond 2010 either as a Prime Minister for an indefinite period or President without term limits. Didn't she at one time promise that if the people would stay with her she'll transform the country into an "Enchanted Kingdom" within 20 years?

What then would Resolution No.10 accomplish? First of all, it will convene the Congress into a Constituent Assembly for the purpose of revising the constitution to establish a federal system of government which shall consist of 11 states and a Federal Administrative Region. It calls for the election of six senators from each state and increase the number of seats in the House of Representatives to a maximum of 350. The new states shall be Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Minparom (Mindoro, Palawan, and Romblon), Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao, and Bangsamoro. Metro Manila shall serve as the Federal Administrative Region. So far, so good.

But here is the stinger in Resolution No.10: "No state may dissolve itself, secede or separate from the Federal Republic of the Philippines unless it first secures the approval of two-thirds of its qualified voters in a plebiscite called for that purpose. Thereafter, the Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of all its members, voting separately, act on the proposed dissolution, secession or separation of the State concerned." The question is: Why did Sen. Pimentel include a provision that would allow a State to dissolve, secede or separate from the Federal Republic? All constitutions of the Philippines, past and present, have not allowed secession. Why now?

It is important to note that the MILF's absolute goal has always been independence, not statehood. In my opinion, statehood to them would just be another step closer to independence. One may argue that while it would be possible to get two-thirds of a State's voters to secede, it would be improbable for the Congress to muster two-thirds to allow secession. And when that happens, would a seceding State take it sitting down? Or would it go to war to free itself from the federal government? Wasn't that what happened in 1861 when seven states seceded from the United States? When the U.S. federal government rejected the secession, the secessionists formed their own country and went to war against the U.S. More than 620,000 Americans died in the War Between the States or better known as the American Civil War.

Indeed, the spectre of a Kosovo-like war in Mindanao is making a lot of people jittery. Recently, North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, and Sarangani provinces became war zones when government military forces and MILF guerillas had running battles which caused massive evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians. Christians are arming themselves to the teeth.

Once the country is federalized, conflicts could erupt in Luzon and the Visayas. Northern Luzon, the largest of the 11 states, could become a hotbed of secessionist activities. The indigenous tribes in the four mountain provinces, which cut across Northern Luzon from north to south, have been yearning for autonomy for many years. Long neglected by the Philippine government, they're likely to demand for their own state or secede.

In the Western Visayas, the predominant Ilonggos have also been yearning for a separate Ilonggo Republic. In the Eastern Visayas, the predominant Cebuanos have always maintained that they were the largest ethnolinguistic group in the entire archipelago. They have been claiming that they were neglected and exploited by the "ruling Tagalistas" in "Imperial Manila."

At the end of the day, the nagging question is: Is federalism good for the Philippines? One of my readers, Ike Santos, said it succinctly: "Federalism is a natural political creation, not a work of a committee. We can not artificially create a new form of government overnight. Creating federalist regions, as suggested will only create more private armies, political animosities, corruption and power grabbing. It's just another layer of bureaucracy. The current constitution has enough elbow room to allow laws to be made to provide political and geographic 'autonomies' while we continue to preserve the national government's role in equitable revenue and shared governance. We've created the autonomous barangays, Metro Manila, etc. Congress can enact laws on revenue sharing, forego pork barrels, implement current laws, etc. With the present state of political and economic affairs in the Philippines, we do not need another rock to hit our head with and ask why we're in pain."

In my opinion, Resolution No.10 is a blueprint for the Balkanization of the Philippines. What was once the "Pearl of the Orient" could become a chopped-up archipelago in a sea teeming with infernal warfare. Are the Filipino people ready for this? Or would they try to work within the framework of "One Nation, One People"?

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)