Bully

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03 JULY 2012 

WRITTEN BY REY O. ARCILLA

‘China’s immense wealth and consequent great power and influence have made her the bully that she now appears to be.’

UNDOUBTEDLY, it is her immense wealth and consequent great power and influence on world affairs that have made China the bully that she is turning out to be, an accusation that she used to level in the past against Western imperialists. Her recent successful ventures into outer space and the deepest part of the sea must have also added to her already brimming national pride and confidence.

Nonetheless, I think China overstepped the line when she warned us about the establishment of a public kindergarten school in Kalayaan town on Pagasa Island in the West Philippine Sea. Kalayaan is a municipality of Palawan province. Our people have been living there since the early ‘70s with nary a whimper from anyone, including China.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said we should “refrain from taking any measure that will complicate and exacerbate the current situation and affect peace and stability in the South China Sea.”

Putting up a kindergarten school will do that??

Come on, get real, please! Stop making such statements that “complicate and exacerbate the current situation and affect peace and stability in the West Philippine Sea”!

And may I ask – how about the reported deployment of Chinese combat patrol ships to the Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea? That will not “complicate, exacerbate and affect peace and stability”? Please…!

***

A close friend advised me to be “elegant” in criticizing Foreign Secretary Albert “Amboy” del Rosario for his latest blooper, nay, blunder is the more appropriate word this time. Sorry, my friend. Try as I might, I am that not much of a wordsmith to do as you suggest.

Last Monday, June 25, Del Rosario said that China has pulled out all its vessels from Scarborough Shoal.

“Based on coordination with the Philippines and China, as of two days ago, we have received information that all boats have left the lagoon in Bajo de Masinloc,” he said.

Less than 24 hours later, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama, belied Del Rosario’s statement that all Chinese boats had left the Shoal. They never did, according to the two.

When asked about Del Rosario’s statement, Gazmin replied: “We don’t want to react to that but what we are giving you is the factual operational report.” Ay, ano ba ‘yan?!

According to Del Rosario his information was “based on coordination with the Philippines and China”. Well, the Philippines belied his claim and China never even commented on it. So, where was he coming from? Is he on to something of which President Noynoy Aquino and Gazmin know nothing about? Or is it the other way around?

And Del Rosario didn’t even bother to issue a clarification, much less apologize, for his blunder. He hied off to Japan Tuesday with nary a word and came back only last Friday. Ironically, he went to the land of cherry blossoms that is known for its officials, both in government and the private sector, to quit or commit hara-kiri for such mistakes. No, Madonna, I am not suggesting anything. In this country, there are no such species, particularly those who are in power and are wallowing in wealth, ill-gotten or otherwise. Whose fault? Ours, Madonna. Many of our people even idolize and put them on a pedestal. Am I right or am I right?

***

Noynoy said that if the Chinese do not pull out their vessels in Scarborough Shoal, he will send back our ships to the area. When is he going to do that? The Chinese never pulled out and the weather has cleared. So what’s keeping him from doing so? The Philippine Navy said it is ready to go back anytime Noynoy gives the order.

As his defense secretary publicly acknowledged, the absence of our vessels at the Shoal weakened the country’s claim of sovereignty in the area.

Surely, Noynoy must know that too.

***

A lawyer-friend says a client of his was asking him what the present government policy was with respect to the deployment of OFWs to Iraq. I suggested he call the DFA. He said he did and was told that since Alert Level 3 was still in place in Iraq, the ban on deployment of workers to that country remains.

“But how come workers are reportedly being deployed to the so-called Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Isn’t the KRG part of Iraq?” he asked.

“Strictly speaking, I suppose it is. It is just an autonomous region of the country. Then again, they may have lifted Alert Level 3 for the KRG. Why don’t you check?” I said.

He said he did and was told that while Del Rosario exempted KRG from Alert Level 3, he does not want it to be exempted from the deployment ban which is meant for all of Iraq; that deployment cannot commence for KRG because Iraq is negatively certified under RA10022 as being non-compliant with our labor standards since it has no labor laws; and that deployment bans cannot be applied to only parts of a country.

I then asked my lawyer-friend if he had checked with DOLE and POEA. He said he had and was told that both agencies are aware of the matter; that a team from POEA in fact went to KRG; that a KRG team came to Manila; and that two high-ranking DFA officials who are aware of the situation allegedly received the KRG team.

If what my friend was saying is true and I have no doubt that it is, was Del Rosario aware of these goings-on? If not, he may wish to summon the DFA officials concerned.

In this connection, I am curious why Del Rosario or his favorite future ex-undersecretary for administration, Rafael Seguis, has not recommended the appointment of an ambassador to Iraq. Is it because of the security situation in that country? Can the situation in Iraq be possibly more dangerous than the one in Syria where we have just appointed an ambassador? Hmm….

***

Del Rosario should initiate an investigation of the reported anomaly in the production of passports. It appears that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and its contractor Oberthur Technologies Philippines have been supplying defective and substandard passports to the DFA and, in the process, shortchanging the public and raking in a huge profit.

While at it, Del Rosario should also initiate an investigation of the alleged anomaly in the lease-purchase of the building that now houses the DFA’s consular office on Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay. The agreement was supposed to have been entered into by his predecessor with the Development Bank of the Philippines. I have raised this matter in previous columns but no action has been taken so far by Del Rosario.

I am beginning to think that Del Rosario is not a believer of Noynoy’s “daang matuwid.” He has also decided not to help the DFA personnel to recover their contributions to the DFA Personnel Association which its past president has not turned over to the new one. Del Rosario allegedly claims that it is a private matter between the personnel and the former president of the Association.

My foot! The subject of the complaint is a DFA staff member. As DFA head, it is his duty to “persuade” this staffer who, incidentally, is under suspension for another offense, to do the right thing or else… He has that power but he wouldn’t use it for reasons known only to him.

***

Reminders (for Noynoy’s action):

1) Filing of charges against officials of the National Food Administration (NFA) during Arroyo’s illegitimate regime. Noynoy himself said on several occasions that there is documentary evidence to prove the venalities in the past in that agency; 2) investigation of reported anomalies in the GSIS during the watch of Winston Garcia; 3) facilitating the investigation of rampant corruption in the military and police establishments; and 4) expeditious action by the AFP on the case of Jonas Burgos.

Some readers have labeled Noynoy’s inaction on the foregoing items as “noynoying” (sitting on them). I think the more appropriate term is “dini-dedma lang” (ignoring, unconcerned, indifferent).

He should be told by his advisers that his inaction and seeming indifference on these matters will catch up with him sooner or later.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW), for instance, has accused Noynoy of failing on his promise to prosecute those responsible for human rights abuses during his and Gloria Arroyo’s watch. (Based in New York, HRW is a nonprofit, nongovernmental human rights organization made up of more than 280 staff members around the globe.)

“The Aquino government has not successfully prosecuted a single case of extrajudicial killing or enforced disappearance, including those committed during his presidency,” HRW said.

The first of these cases that comes to mind is Jonas Burgos’, item No. 4 above.

When will these unfortunate victims and their families see the light of day in their seemingly futile quest for justice? Mr. President. It has already been two years since you made your promise.

***

Today is the 59th day of the sixth year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.

***

From an internet friend:

- When a woman says “What?”, it’s not because she didn’t hear you. She’s giving you a chance to change what you said.

- The speed with which a woman says “nothing” when asked “what’s wrong?” is inversely proportional to the severity of the shitstorm that’s coming.

- When you really want to slap someone, do it and say “Mosquito!”.

***

Email: roacrosshairs@yahoo.com

Two years, no change

By Emil Jurado | Posted on July 04, 2012

I must give credit to Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima for her unabashed sense of self-importance in accepting her nomination as Supreme Court chief justice.

De Lima knows she will not be accepted by insiders of the Supreme Court for defying a temporary restraining order on a watch-list order she had issued to prevent former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from leaving the country.

Still, de Lima claims she is fit to lead the Judiciary, which is supposed to be an independent branch of government.

I am flabbergasted when I think about the fact that she consulted the appointing power, President Noynoy Aquino, before she accepted her nomination.  Why would she do that? Is that her version of independence and probity?

But as I said, there should be no surprises under President Aquino.

***

On July 23, when President Aquino delivers his State of the Nation Address before Congress, he’s expected to list whatever his achievements were after two years in office.  He is also expected to articulate his vision for the next four years of his administration.

I am sure he will cite the 6.4-percent growth of the gross domestic product during the first quarter.  He will also talk about the $2 billion (or more) investments from the United States and the United Kingdom that were pledged to him during his trips to those countries. He will remind us that credit rating agencies have upgraded the Philippines’ status.

He will also trumpet the reduction of poverty with his Conditional Cash Transfer program—a dole scheme for the poor.

Certainly, he will brag about sending former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to jail and ousting former Chief Justice Renato Corona.

On the other hand, he won’t talk about these: the hunger that stalks the land, upsurge in crimes, smuggling at Customs, drug trafficking, human rights violations, the ability of high-profile personalities to evade arrest, and the continuing prevalence of graft and corruption in all levels of government.

He promised us change. Two years after, this change has not come about.  So what is there to talk about?

On foreign policy, President Aquino has managed only to make the country more dependent on the United States. He worsened our relationship with China over the disputed Scarborough Shoal. Now, he wants to seek American aid by having US spy planes patrol islands we claim as ours.

On education, there has been no improvement on the lack of classrooms, facilities and teachers. The only change has been the introduction of K-to-12.

On peace and order, there has been no achievement in talks with communists and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

On graft and corruption, the entrenched syndicates at the Bureau of Customs are still at it.  There is also corruption at the National Food Authority, Philippine National Police, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Transportation and Communication.

It’s worse at the local government level.

Joblessness remains the foremost problem in our country.  The Public-Private Partnership program has yet to yield results. Our airports are a source of embarrassment.

The President may boast that “it’s more fun in the Philippines.”  Still, we have a long way to go. Thailand already has more than 15 million tourists a year; Indonesia and Malaysia each about 10 million; and Vietnam more than 9 million.

Sure, it’s more fun in the Philippines. But, only for wanted criminals who manage to evade arrests because the police or the NBI either do not care or refuse to hunt them down.

It is said that President Aquino will prove his points by a power-point presentation. But we can no longer be fooled.  The issues that have not been addressed by the President are gut issues.

***

I admire Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares for declining her nomination as chief justice knowing that reform still has to be introduced completely at the bureau. Henares knows her priorities.

I cannot say the same thing of De Lima, who has neither probity nor delicadeza.

***

Some opinion writers have been praising Senator Koko Pimentel for his principles and conviction in bolting the United Nationalist Alliance coalition of Vice President Jojo Binay and former President Joseph Estrada because he said he could not be in the same senatorial slate as former Senator Migz Zubiri. Principles and conviction? Come on —coming from politician? That’s a laugh.

In any case, there’s betting going around on who between Koko and Migz would get more votes. All I can say is that the Pimentels have not won in any election in Cagayan de Oro City, their hometown.

Independence of a CJ’s mind

Published on Wednesday, 04 July 2012 00:10

 

Written by AMADO P. MACASAET

‘No president should worry about not having the Supreme Court in his pocket. In truth, the danger is when the President and the Judiciary come to terms. The victim is democracy.’

THE enemies of Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio who is now acting Chief Justice are telling President Aquino that the man is difficult to handle and therefore unlikely willing to be in the pocket of Malacañang.

They cite two cases. First was his opposition to the Charter Change proposed by President Ramos in 1995 when Carpio was chief presidential legal counsel. When Ramos insisted, Carpio resigned. Public disgust over the proposal forced the principal sponsor of PIRMA to drop the idea like a hot potato.

The second was when Carpio, named to the Supreme Court in 2001, led the majority in thrashing the People’s Initiative which sought to change the form of government from Presidential to Parliamentary.

Carpio had a simple argument. While the Constitution allows Peoples’ Initiative, the Charter also mandates the enactment of a law that would define how the initiative is to be implemented.

Up to now, there is no enabling legislation covering the initiative. Carpio and his peers had no choice but to junk the proposal filed by then Speaker Jose de Venecia on behalf of Gloria Arroyo.

If the plan had been approved by the Supreme Court, Gloria Arroyo would up to this day be Prime Minister.

That decision earned the ire of Gloria Arroyo and she made sure that Carpio, one of her first appointees to the Tribunal, would never be Chief Justice.

It need not be said that all majority decisions are collegial. But the opponents of Carpio make it appear that the two decisions against two Presidents were solely his.

I have always thought the best qualification of a Chief Justice is his courage, inspired by his best lights and knowledge of the Constitution and the laws, to say the President is wrong because his case does not sit with law.

That is the only way this so-called democratic country can have an independent judiciary. Independence of the Tribunal puts everybody – particularly the President and other powerful people – on guard.

It should never be forgotten that while the Chief Justice wields awesome powers, he does not necessarily have his peers at his back and call.

The lack of independence of the Supreme Court, then headed by Chief Justice Renato Corona who was a midnight appointee, was the very reason the President sought the impeachment and eventual conviction of Corona.

I have no right to tell the President who should succeed Corona. I just think that he defeats his own purpose of seeking judicial independence if he is against Carpio because of the independence which, in two cases, was decided against the politics of two presidents.

That is the kind of man the President really needs if independence must be pursued with sincerity and vigor. No president should worry about not having the Supreme Court in his pocket.

In truth, the danger is when the President and the Judiciary come to terms. The victim is democracy. The damage is irreparable and may be repaired only by impeaching the Head Magistrate.

If the President, as he did, caused the conviction of Renato Corona whom he believed was unabashedly loyal to Gloria Arroyo and not the Constitution, he should not make the mistake of not learning from the lessons of lack of independence of the chief justice.

That is exactly what will happen if President Aquino yields to powerful political pressures who obviously hate Justice Carpio for repeatedly showing independence of mind.

We have it on good authority that President Aquino has nothing personal against Mr. Carpio. However it is now apparent that it is his personal politics that prevent him from appointing the most senior associate justice.

What has not become personal is his apparent dislike for a Chief Justice who may not do his bidding.

We hear very often that the President prefers Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. The problem is she has a disbarment case which prevents the JBC from including her name in the short list of candidates/

 To avoid suspicions that like his predecessor, President Aquino wants a Supreme Court in his pocket, he might seriously consider the suggestion of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to subject all nominees to the post of Chief Justice to a new bar examination.

That, to Enrile’s mind, would avoid the appointment of another Corona. For my part, I suggest that Enrile himself write the questions and make sure against leakage.

The passer with the highest mark should be automatically considered for Chief Justice.

As it is the post has been cheapened by an incredible number of nominees. There were more than 62 at one point.

It seems that anybody can nominate any lawyer. The first preference of President Aquino was said to be Senator Frank Drilon. But since he voted for the conviction of Corona, the lawmaker from Iloilo declined the nomination because he did not want people suspecting that his vote was for his self interest. Bar topnotcher Gilberto Teodoro also declined.

The rest of the nominees, except Ronaldo B. Zamora, a law valedictorian and also a topnotcher, and maybe at least half a dozen more, are a mixture of the ridiculous and the sublime.

 We can learn some lessons knowing the identities of people who submit names of lawyers to the Judicial and Bar Council. In a manner of speaking submission of the nomination may show a hidden agenda or genuine concern for the independence of the Supreme Court.

We have to say it again. The fear of the President that Carpio may not be as pliant as Corona is a first step towards attaining independence of the judiciary. Which is not saying the other nominees can be swayed by the President. It is just that Carpio already has a record of being independent minded. He knows that it is this mind that keeps him away from the highest post in the Supreme Court. He should be happy doing his job according to the dictates of his conscience.

***

Email: amadomacasaet@yahoo.com

Coal and Mining – The Killing Industries

June 28, 2012

By Fr. Shay Cullen
PREDA Foundation

President Aquino encouraged the investment on alternative energy for Subic, after various business groups and residents expressed their opposition regarding a proposed coal-fired power plant for the freeport.

Death came swiftly suddenly but not it was not unexpected. One day in October 2011the motor bike pulled into the open entrance in front of the church rectory of Italian missionary, environmentalist and human rights defender Father Fausto Tentorio. When he came out of the rectory the killer pulled out his gun and shot the priest dead and drove away. Another shocking murder of a man who gave his life defending the ancestral lands of the indigenous people wanted by the mining company. Crime solved, the trigger was most likely pulled by a unknown mining tycoon.

Hundreds of environmentalists defending the rights of the people to their ancestral homelands forests and agricultural lands that are being stolen by the rich and the powerful, have been killed according to Global Witness, a non-government agency. In the Philippines, as many as fifty Filipino environmental defenders have been killed in recent years allegedly by the money moguls behind the logging, mining and power plant industries.

The UN environmental summit in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil has been declared a failure fizzling out like a damp squib with an insignificant document that failed to reach a clear binding agreement to curb global warming and end fossil fuel for energy production. It has achieved practically nothing to curb CO2 gasses and other harmful human activity that is causing global warming.

It was supposed to get national leaders to agree to a sustainable green energy agenda for the future. The super rich industrialists and multinational oil and fossil fuel corporations have played a sinister role behind the scenes to stymie any progress towards a cleaner safer and happier world. Most come from a financial culture where “Greed is Good” and the only green they want to see is on a thousand dollar bill.

In the Philippines, the voices of the many people demanding an end to the construction of coal powered plants are being ignored and even protesters are receiving threats. In Subic Bay, the entire bay and its towns are threatened by the proposed 600 MW coal plant project of R.P. Energy a consortium with powerful political connections in the cabinet of President Aquino. I pray that his energy policy will favor renewable energy and not coal and fossil fuel. His great legacy of anti-corruption might be sullied by these influential industrialists. He must serve the best interests of the people not the profit-making plans of the plutocracy.

Industrialists and financing corporations lobby heavily to influence governments to continue the fossil fuel fiasco like power plants that poison the people in many countries. In the Philippines, the Secretary of Energy is pushing President Aquino into the furnace of coal fired power plants like fury. The honorable secretary has denied he is influenced in anyway by his past position in the private power generation sector.

I pray for him to continue being good and faithful to the people and resist the pressures and temptations to give into the ploys of former associates, employers in the power generation industry to whom he may have an debt of honor (utang na Loob). His greater debt of honor is to the President and the people who elected him and who want a clean healthy environment.

The Secretary of Energy is reported to want eleven coal fired power plants all over the country. Lower cost renewable sustainable electricity can be generated from volcanic heat through Geothermal plants and get lithium as a side product to make powerful batteries that can run clean electric cars. However mysteriously heavy import taxes are imposed on geothermal equipment. Almost none on mining and coal burning equipment.

The Lopez group of companies First Gen Corporation is offering to construct two 300 megawatt hydro-plants on the Angat and Norzagaray rivers respectively. Other companies offer clean renewable and solar and wind power to make electricity.

The Philippines should end the black and dirty coal policy. The proposed Subic Bay coal plant is mired in allegedly corrupt deals with the former government. They will only pay one million pesos a year in rent. These plants that are belching daily poison gasses and ash into the air we breath are killing people. There is no long term solution to dispose of the millions of tons of deadly semi-toxic ash and the deadly mercury and uranium pollutants will remain forever. The Lord of the Cosmos has given us a beautiful planet, we are morally bound to protect and cherish it and all living creatures. END

http://www.preda.org/en/news/fr-shays-articles/coal-and-mining-the-killing-industries/

The Greeks would understand

June 26, 2012 

ON DISTANT SHORE

By Val G. Abelgas

The decision of the Philippine government to pledge $1 billion to the $456-billion standby fund being put up by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help distressed countries in Europe has raised questions from several sectors.

Foremost of these questions is why lend $1 billion when the Philippines is drowning in debt? Another question that has been raised is why lend that huge amount when it can be used to finance programs that would help alleviate poverty and hunger in the country? Why lend $1 billion out of the Philippines’ foreign reserves and borrow billions of dollars at the same time to finance government infrastructure projects and social amelioration program? And why must the country have such huge foreign reserves and not have enough to fund important government projects?

Where is the logic in all these?

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the Philippines had been a recipient of IMF loans and funding for more than 40 years, and having now become a creditor country, it is time that the country come to the assistance of the IMF and needy nations. In other words, utang na loob, the same justification made by perennial presidential apologist Rep. Ben Evardonne of Eastern Samar.

And not only that, Lacierda adds, the country stands to benefit in the long run because the fund would help stabilize the world economy, echoing a stand by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

“This is a loan to the IMF and we will get our money back with interest. In effect, by extending a loan to the IMF that will earn money for the Philippines, we are also able to help other nations saddled with financial problems,” the BSP said. In other words, a wise investment, not a giveaway.

But let’s take a look at the “utang na loob” aspect first. Several economists have pointed out that there is no “utang na loob” to talk about because in lending to the Philippines, the IMF imposed strict impositions that, instead of helping the economy, have actually blocked its growth for decades.

The Freedom from Debt Coalition, for example, said: “These IMF prescriptions, which became impositions, took our economy down the road of debt-driven development. The objectives and policy conditionalities of IMF loans were directed towards producing more for export markets abroad than satisfying the basic needs of our people and developing both homegrown industrial and agricultural strength and a robust domestic market.”

It added: “The effects on our national economy and the welfare of our people have been devastating. Industry and agriculture have registered very sluggish growth with many industries disappearing.

“From a former rice exporter, the Philippines has become one of the world’s top rice importers. Unemployment and underemployment have risen under a regime of jobless growth. A large underclass of contractual and informal labor has become the majority of the working class and has given rise to huge colonies of poverty and homelessness in the cities.

“Poverty continues to rise in the rural areas where landlessness and lack of jobs persist, and where indigenous peoples reside. Around 22 percent of the country’s labor force – the educated, skilled and enterprising — are now abroad in search of jobs and a better future.”

As to the claim of BSP Governor Armand Tetangco that the Philippines would, in fact, earn interest on the $1-billion loan, former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, a UP Economics professor asked: “Is the Philippine government getting better return on investment for its $1-billion loan to the IMF than what it is paying in interests for its loans from the World Bank, ADB, and other bilateral sources (China, Japan, and others)?”

Indeed, the loan would earn interest, but it would be very minimal because it would take the form of treasury bonds which yield very minimal interest as compared to the interests that need to be paid to the Asian Development Bank and private financial institutions from which the government borrows to fund its various infrastructure projects and social amelioration program.

This point brings us to the question of why the government must keep so huge foreign reserves.

Foreign exchange reserves are kept by nations, especially the big economies, to stabilize its own currency against speculative attacks and stabilize the foreign exchange rate and, therefore, provide a more favorable environment for its economy. However, maintaining a huge forex reserves can also be risky since market fluctuations can result in a big loss for the country.

The Philippines has foreign exchange reserves of almost $77 billion, ranked 32nd in the world. This is considered by many as too huge for a country whose majority of the population is suffering from extreme poverty and hunger and for a country that is still wallowing in foreign debts.

Only last Friday, the BSP said that the outstanding external debt of the Philippines in the first quarter rose to 62.9 billion U.S. dollars, up by 3.3 percent from 60.9 billion U.S. dollars as of the same period last year.

The National Statistics and Census Bureau, on the other hand, estimated that as of the end of last year, every Filipino owed 51,675 pesos (1,200 U.S dollars), to domestic and foreign creditors.

Indeed, with that kind of external debt, why not use the $1 billion to retire some of the country’s expensive public debts, as suggested by some lawmakers and economists? That would result in smaller budget deficits in the future since a bulk of the Philippines’ national budget goes to the servicing of these debts.

Or better, as is the common man’s logic, why not use the $1 billion to build more classrooms, hire more teachers, build more roads, create jobs, promote tourism, modernize the military, and finance other government projects that would redound directly to the benefit of the Filipino people?

I am not an economist, but my common sense tells me that that would have been the better move, instead of making “pasikat” to the world community. I’m sure the Greeks, the Spaniards and the Italians would understand. Mang Juan would. Even the ever-generous Manny Pacquiao would.

(valabelgas@aol.com)

“A new revolution is rocking the Philippines!”

June 26, 2012

PEOPLE HONOR REVOLUTION – FIGHTING FOR VALUE AS A FILIPINO 

By Tony Meloto
GK GLOBAL SUMMIT 2012
Toronto, Canada
June 12, 2012

“A new revolution is rocking the Philippines!”

This was the message I announced to audiences on my current visit to the United States and Canada for a series of activities in Gawad Kalinga to celebrate our Independence Day.

It is the revolution to regain our honor as a nation by demanding a high standard of honesty from our top leaders and citizens unseen in the Philippines before.

While the 1986 People Power was a peaceful struggle to break free from the tyranny of absolute power, the new People Honor Revolution waged by PNoy is about liberation from the grip of endemic corruption and the cycle of sustainable poverty that drove many of the most educated and skilled Filipinos to seek their fortune abroad.

MIS-LABELED PEOPLE

The buzz was about the impeachment wherever I went.

The unprecedented conviction of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the first in our history and unheard of in any democratic country in recent years, is a loud declaration to the world that many Filipinos will no longer accept passively the label that we are the corrupt man of Asia.

By simply making honesty the highest measure of leadership and good citizenship, we can gain global trust, open the floodgates of investments and re-brand the Philippines as the new wonder economy of Asia.

The Filipino brand will mean top quality ethical products, good business climate, unmatched hospitality, happy and hard-working people and strong moral governance.

Businesss responds positively to transparency and accountability.

Only after two years with an honest President, the Philippine stock market is the most stable in the region, our 6.4 GDP in the last quarter was second only to China. We are one notch below investment grade after several credit upgrades. While the dark clouds of recession and depression hover over Europe and America, the light is shining through our emerging landscape.

Definitely, the grass is getting greener and the sky is becoming bluer in the Philippines.

CHANGING MINDSETS

This radical optimism towards the homeland, after years of self-exile and self-bashing, pervaded the air of rejoicing at the successful GK Hope Ball (June 2) and the Independence Day parade (June 3) at the Big Apple where Gawad Kalinga volunteers formed the first human marching flag along Madison Ave. It was the same spirit that energised the GK Global Summit 2012 in Toronto the following week (June 8-9). Pride was no longer in the singular achievement of Manny Pacquiao or Jessica Sanchez or indignation over their loss but in every Filipino hero participating in nation-building.

Gawad Kalinga, by building over 2000 communities through the sweat and tears of over a million volunteers from various sectors, has shown that the Filipino is now in the game to win, not just a perennial. spectator or fan.

The nobility of sacrifice for country in the GK way of “padugo” – bleeding for the cause – is bringing out what is honorable in our people.

GK is a mind-changer:

From a country-basher the Filipino learns to be a nation-builder.

From a love of power and money he learns the greater love for the poor and his country.
Our greatest challenge is for more Filipinos to learn that integrity is more powerful than money.

CAPACITY FOR GREATNESS

“The result of the impeachment conducted through a true democratic process gained for us the admiration of the global community. President Aquino’s visit next week to meet President Obama is causing excitement in DC.” This was the message to us of Philippine Ambassador to the United States Joey Cuisia at our table conversation as he himself could not contain his amazement at the size of the crowd at the GK Hope Ball, many of them doctors and nurses, more eager to help the country now that there is clear proof of decency in governance.

Christopher Thornley, the Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines, was no less enthusiastic in declaring his optimism the following week at the GK Global Summit in Toronto. “I have great affection for the Philippines and a big admiration for GK – they bring out the best in people,” was his sincere comment from a first hand experience as a volunteer with his 11 year old son in the Telus, Sunlife and Manulife GK villages in Metro Manila.

UNDERVALUED COUNTRY

At the round-table meeting he organised with a dozen Canadian corporations and institutions – notably Sunlife, Blackberry(RIM), Bombardier, SNC- Lavalin, York University – the mood was upbeat from the top executives present. Their comments were mostly encouraging:

“The Philippines is the undervalued economy of Asia…”

“The effort of the present Philippine government to curb corruption will attract more Canadian investors…”

“Its more viable to put up a business hub for Asia in Manila where the cost of living is lower, competent executives and skilled workers are available and everyone speaks English…”

“Filipinos are outstanding citizens in Canada – they are our biggest immigrants in the last two years, surpassing the Chinese and the Indians…”

“Now Canada has to compete with other countries to attract the most qualified Filipinos to come…”

Not to fault Canada but the brightest and the best from the Philippines are being harvested by rich countries that did not spend to raise and educate them. It would be wise that they invest not just in business in the Philippines but also in the education of our poor if they see Filipinos as their first choice for future immigrants.

Our country is a gold-mine of human treasures but many are still covered with dirt in the neglected slums and in the abandoned countryside waiting to be discovered and polished for their true value to come out.

A SEASON OF HOPE

This is my first visit to North America in nearly half a century where the mood everywhere I went, both among Filipinos and foreigners alike, is positive and hopeful about our often battered country, not only by natural calamities but by bashing from Filipinos themselves.

It is an astounding paradigm shift to those raised with a colonial mentality like me to hear that our country is becoming an attractive proposition for visitors and investors due to the rise of Asian economies and the slowdown in the West.

FINDING THE LOST FILIPINO

When I first landed in California in 1966 as a 16 year old American Field Service scholar I was totally captivated by the technicolor world of Hollywood and the endless fun of the Beach Boys. I came back a year later to study in Ateneo as an “amboy”, hiding my Ilonggo accent – and my past, as a poor boy from a public high school in Bacolod City – with an exaggerated American twang to show the “coños” in the campus that I spoke better English than them. One year in America helped erase my insecurity from a lack of pedigree in the premier university of the Filipino elite.

I guess I was an addict to anything American or imported then. Made in the Philippines never seemed good enough.

Over the years it has always been for me – and for many Filipinos like me – that everything was right in America and everything was wrong in the Philippines. We exaggerated our faults – our politicians were corrupt(there were bigger crooks in Wall Street), our poor were lazy(adding insult to injury to those who were denied justice and opportunity), our traffic was crazy( LA is worse!)…which blind-sided us to our many good qualities and potential to be a great nation. Sadly, we simply gave up on ourselves early, bashed ourselves unreasonably, accepted poverty as our fate and played bad politics as the only game in town.

Somehow I understood why people left and their scepticism over my lack of pragmatism for staying when I regained my soul as a Filipino and my decision not to give up on our country because of Gawad Kalinga. Ending poverty in the Philippines was a pipe dream for most in the beginning of our nation-building journey.

HAPPY TO BE HOME

These last ten days however the mood was refreshingly different, although it had been slowly changing in the last ten years for a growing number of believers in our radical optimism about the motherland.

I was affirmed by many hopeful statements made and new insights gained on this trip.

“I realised I am a Filipino born and raised in America…” GK USA Chairman Tony Olaes acknowledging his deep connection to his roots “and my business success here means nothing if I cannot help the Philippines in nation-building.”

“The Filipino does well here and gives back to those he left behind…” GK Canada Chairman Pidoy Pacis spoke about the success and generosity of Filipinos in his Saladmaster team who donated a GK village in his hometown in Pototan, Iloilo.

“There is no life for me here now. The United States has been good to me but my children are gone, my home is empty, I have just sold my clinic and plan to live in the Philippines where there’s a bigger purpose waiting for me,” from pediatrician Linda Punzalan of Port Arthur, Texas.

“I want to sell my house in Staten Island so I can do more medical mission in the Philippines and help out in the Enchanted Farm,” from my Ilocano host Dr Tony Buendia, another successful UST doctor still practising in Pennsylvania, as he shared his new career scenario with us over blueberry pie dessert that he baked in his plush home.

“Do you have a place for a young investment banker in your organisation to handle the social venture capital fund for GKCSI (Center for Social Innovation)?” was a straightforward question from a 23 year old recent Harvard graduate now working for Morgan Stanley in Wall street who followed me to Madison Ave after the parade.

Even my best friend from college who has a comfortable life in Canada was proud to tell me over steak and beer dinner at his club house that he and his wife are “happy to be Filipinos again” as dual citizens after 25 years in Ontario working as a vice president of a Canadian bank and raising two grown-up kids who have left their big empty nest in Missasauga to find their place in the world.

HAPPY TO BE HONEST

So much to take in and process and so much to do with so little time for a senior citizen like me.

But right now I just want to enjoy this awesome moment of inspiration.

Many here are excited but do not fully comprehend the mind-blowing outcome of the impeachment that they watched religiously over TFC and the new image that the world is beginning to see – that the Philippines can be the land of the honest – of trustworthy lawyers and judges who cannot be bought, of politicians who will follow their conscience and businessmen who pay the right taxes and have a big heart for just causes.

The possibility of ending corruption is a big attraction for Filipinos abroad to come home and those who are here not to leave.

This will not remain merely wishful thinking if we don’t allow the cynics and the critics to have the last say. It will entail huge perseverance from all of us to purge corruption out of our system, beginning with a simple resolve from us men – who are generally more dishonest than women – not to cheat on our spouse or on our tax declaration. But it is a mind-boggling beginning that calls for great rejoicing and dancing in the streets.

LIVE WITH HONOR

Integrity is a big legacy from PNoy that we cannot afford to squander, no matter who succeeds him in 2016. It should in fact be the biggest consideration in our choice of future leaders.

Filipinos in North America have shown that they can live with honor through honest hard work.

They belong to the top bracket of taxpayers among the ethnic groups in the US and Canada. They declare and pay the right taxes for their hard-earned income.

Together with other Asians, they now belong to the least poor. Filipinos when properly motivated and compensated will work long hours and take on several jobs to achieve quality of life. Poverty is not his destiny if his spirit – and his environment – is right.

Filipinos have the lowest rate of homelessness among ethnic groups in the streets of America. It is not his nature to be a squatter.

Corporations like Tim Horton, Canada’s better version of Starbucks, prefer Filipinos in their staff – 70 % of them – because they can still smile despite the early morning long queues in dead winter.

Filipinos are a happy people despite the big sacrifices and the bad storms in life.

FIGHT FOR HONOR

As I prepare to leave for South Korea today for one last speaking engagement before I see my family again, I can hardly move my 62 year old bones from nearly two weeks of intense activities to spread the good news about our struggle for self-respect. But hope keeps my heart young and purpose gives me the energy to cope.

One thing is clearer to me as I get older: The fight for honor must begin with me.

I cannot expect integrity in others if I do not demand it from myself first.

I cannot live with honor as a Filipino if I compromise my values or allow the corrupt to steal and cheat and choose not to do anything about it.

I cannot live with honor as a Catholic if I treat the poor as a beggar like Lazarus worthy only of scraps from my table or a squatter deserving only of a shanty for a home.

My fight for honor is a fight I cannot afford to lose for the sake of Filipinos coming after me.

I cannot die with honor if I do not fight for honor.

Yes, I love the thought that my grandchildren will be known by the world as Filipinos who come from the land of the honest long after I’m gone.

Return of the admirals

June 25, 2012

PerryScope
By Perry Diaz

“String of Pearls”

Last April, Russia and China had joint naval exercises in the Yellow Sea.  It was too close for comfort to Japan and South Korea.  It didn’t take too long for the U.S., Japan, and South Korea to react.  A few days ago, last June 21-22, the USS George Washington carrier strike group conducted a trilateral event with warships from Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea.   

It seems that the trilateral naval exercise was a reminder to Russia and China that the U.S. and her Asian allies were prepared to meet a new Russo-Sino alliance.  Just two months earlier, Russia and China held weeklong war games in the Yellow Sea involving more than 20 Russian and Chinese warships.  The Russian warships were based in Vladivostok.

“Rising World”

It is interesting to note that last May, Sergei Karaganov, an academic from Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, recommended that Russia move her “economic capital” to Vladivostok — 4,000 miles to the Far East — while keeping the political, defense, and diplomatic establishment in Moscow.  He said that the move would make Russia a part of the “rising world.”  However, in my opinion, the move wouldn’t just give economic advantage to Russia but also provide her with a strategic military presence in the Asia-Pacific region.  Vladivostok’s close proximity to China and North Korea would also give Russia an opportunity to create a new “axis of power” with China and North Korea.   

When Philippine President Benigno Aquino met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House last June 8, they discussed security and economic issues in the region including expanding intelligence-sharing and cooperation on maritime security. During their press conference, Obama said that the security and military cooperation with the Philippines “is a reminder to everybody that the United States considers itself, and is, a Pacific power.” 

It makes one wonder if the recent military activities in the region are leading to a new Cold War?  If so, the Philippines’ strategic location that’s sandwiched between the vast Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea could put her near the epicenter should a new Cold War erupt.  And with all the realignment and rearmament that’s going on among the big powers and their respective allies, the new Cold War could be as deadly as – if not deadlier than — the old Cold War.

Mutual Defense Treaty

The question is: Is the Philippines ready for it?  The answer is a big “NO.”  With two warships – a frigate and a cutter — and no warplanes, the Philippines would be helpless in the event China invades her.  And there is no guarantee that the United States would automatically come to her aid should the Philippines invoke their Mutual Defense Treaty.  However, with the recent standoff between China and the Philippines at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, the Philippines needs to open her doors again to American military forces if she expects the U.S. to come to her defense.   

In my article, “Are we losing the Karburo War?” (June 21, 2012), I wrote: “In spite of the departure of U.S. military forces, the 1952 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) remained in force.  But many wondered, ‘How could the U.S. come to the defense of the Philippines without any permanent military bases to operate from?’

“In1998, then President Fidel V. Ramos successfully negotiated the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the U.S.  The VFA provides for future military cooperation between the two allies including joint military exercises.  But critics said that the VFA would be used to get around the 1987 Constitution’s prohibition of foreign military bases on Philippine soil.”

USS George Washington

New strategy

On June 2, 2012, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spoke before the annual Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore.  He announced that the U.S. is moving 60% of her naval forces to the Asia-Pacific region by 2020 as part of a new strategy to increase U.S. presence in Asia-Pacific.  “We are stressing our effort to try to develop partnerships with countries in this region, to develop their capabilities so that they can better defend and secure themselves,” Panetta said.  Under the new strategy, the U.S. military aims to be smaller, more flexible and agile.  He also said that rotational deployments are preferred to permanent bases.

Last June 11, Admiral Cecil Haney, Commander of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet, announced that the U.S. Navy would be deploying its most advanced warships, submarines, and fighter jets in the Asia-Pacific, apparently to counterbalance China’s modernization of her naval forces at “breakneck speed.”

“String of Pearls”

Indeed, China is in a frenzy to increase her naval capability.  She had acquired and retrofitted a Russian aircraft carrier, which is now undergoing several sea trials.  She is also building two brand-new super aircraft carriers to be deployed to in the “String of Pearls,” which refers to China’s sea lines of communications that runs through the “choke points” — Strait of Mandab, Strait of Malacca, Strait of Hormuz, and Strait of Lombok — all the way to Port Sudan in the Red Sea.

With the accelerated modernization of China’s naval forces, it is expected that China would become a naval power in the Asia-Pacific region by 2020.  But U.S. is also building more warships including the super aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, which is under construction, and a fleet of stealth destroyers.  With 11 aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy, China is not yet in a position to challenge the U.S. militarily but would be within a decade.

Wake-up call

Recently, Chinese Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo, director of Chinese Navy’s Information Expert Committee, said that Chinese troops should go after Philippine ships and fishermen who go near the Scarborough Shoal.  And that’s precisely what happened when it was reported in the news last June 25 that “a Chinese vessel last week rammed a Philippine fishing boat north of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), killing a Filipino fisherman and leaving four others missing.”  Was it accidental?

Zhuo’s provocative remark raises the question:  If Chinese troops were deployed in the Scarborough Shoal and attacked Filipino fishing boats, how would the Philippine government react?  And by what means could the Philippines stand up to China?  Perhaps it’s about time that the Philippines welcomes back the deployment of American forces within the framework of the VFA.  That may be the only option left; otherwise, the Philippine government might as well kiss the Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly islands good-bye.

It’s time indeed for the return of the American admirals to Subic Bay.

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)