WE could only sympathize with Katrina. Although some people may think badly of her by putting herself in this situation, at this point, we can only sympathize and pray that this be a lesson to all the other women and that Katrina will overcome this nightmare with God's help and people around her who love her. Medyo off lang na si Senator Revilla ang avid supporter niya. He may mean well, kaya lang because of his reputation as a ladies man, parang he is not the right person for the job. Baka instead na makatulong sya, makasama pa. No offense meant on this comment.
Amy, via e-mail
WE at Samahang Sining at Kultura ng Pilipinas (SSKPil) are one with the observation and stand of NHI Chair Ambeth Ocampo regarding Martin Nievera’s rendition of our National Anthem before the Pacquiao vs. Hatton bout. Similarly, we disagree and were disappointed with many Filipino fans that were seen waving the Filipino flags either upside-down, with some words written on it, among many others, in violation of the respect due our flag. Pacquiao is a great boxer but cannot be greater than our forefathers and heroes who have laid down their lives for love of country that our flag represents!
Antonio Op. Santos, via comments
By Niña Terol*
It’s a Saturday morning, and politics should be the last thing on my mind, especially as I see sunlight filtering in through my sliding door, beckoning me to come out and take a walk already. But I will postpone my grocery trip for at least another hour because the first thing on my mind when I woke up this morning was Barack Obama’s relatively successful first 100 days, and an article that my favorite editor, Fareed Zakaria, wrote about it on Newsweek (May 4, 2009 issue).
“No other American president in modern memory has faced a learning curve as steep as the one Barack Obama has encountered,” Zakaria begins. “When he began his quest for Democratic nomination three years ago, the Dow Jones industrial average was 14.000, and the world was in the midst of a great economic boom. By the time he took office, America’s financial industry was in chaos, credit markets were frozen, housing values were plummeting and the economy was in its worst contraction since the Great Depression. Add to that Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, and you get an extraordinary set of challenges.”
“And yet, by most measures, President Obama’s first 100 days have been successful…So far, any president would be envious of Obama’s accomplishments.”
Zakaria rightly points out that all these policy changes and acts of reaching out are merely overtures, whose effects and endings have yet to be determined. Still, America, who has lost and suffered much since September 11, 2001, is feeling hopeful again. In spite of the continuing spate of bankruptcies and job cuts, Americans are talking about “green shoots”—bright spots that denote recovery in the US economy. Thanks to President Obama, Cuban Americans can now visit the land of their roots. There is optimism in the air, because of a calm and collected leader who knows how to steer a panicked crew through tumultuous waters.
We can’t say the same for the Philippines. In contrast to the United States, we have not encountered major upheavals similar to 9/11 and the 2008 financial crash since the 1997 Asian financial crisis—two presidents ago. We are not engaged in any external war that threatens the lives of millions of our citizens—and the insurgency in the South has been going on for decades. (It’s hardly a crisis; sadly, it’s already practically a state of being for that region.) Our biggest problems now are the same problems we’ve been facing since 30 years ago.
Sen. Kiko Pangilinan pointed out in a news release just yesterday that the Philippine economy hasn’t moved in decades, and he’s right. Except for a couple of sunshine industries, the poor 30 years ago are still poor now—if not poorer.
We are the laughingstock of Asia, people. Wake up.
So unlike the 50 or so congressmen who have Pacquiao on their minds this weekend, I am wondering about the state of things and whether or not they will ever change. I am wondering about whether or not our presidentiables really have a clear program of action to steer our country out of the mess we’re in. I am bombarded with political ads every time I tune in to the local channels, and I wonder if their soundbites and their advertising messages will really be backed up by clear policy measures.
More specifically, here are some questions I’d like to ask the presidentiables:
1. How will you create more quality jobs in the Philippines? (And this means not hiring thousands of street sweepers that wear shirts with your name, and say that you’ve just created thousands of jobs.) What industries will you support? How will you ensure global competitiveness among our students and workers? What is your take on serial contractualization?
2. How will you protect overseas Filipinos and the families from the rising social costs of migration? Will you introduce more safety nets for the families left behind? Will you eventually curb overseas deployment in favor of job creation and investment in the Philippines?
3. How will you make the economy less reliant on overseas remittances?
4. HOW WILL YOU ELIMINATE CORRUPTION?
5. Will you elevate graft and corruption to heinous crimes? (After all, when you rob your citizens of millions or billions of pesos that should be going to basic services and it results in more people starving, I think that’s heinous enough.)
6. How will you ensure that big-time, high-profile tax evaders (some of whom might be your funders) are caught and punished?
7. Will you be willing to declare the full extent of your campaign fund sources and expenditures?
8. How will you stop smuggling, drug trafficking, people trafficking and prostitution?
9. What is your take on nuclear energy, and what are we to do about the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant?
10. What is your take on the reproductive health bill?
11. What is your plan to move the Philippines towards eco- and energy-sustainability by 2020?
12. How will you balance food security and self-sufficiency while promoting the production of biofuels?
13. How will you lower our power rates to be at par with those of our Asian neighbours?
14. What is your stand on legalizing marijuana, to be in the same classification as tobacco and alcohol?
15. What is your stand on divorce? (And I don’t mean, “Let’s follow Church doctrine.” Even Italy has divorce laws.)
16. What is your stand on the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program with Extension and Reforms?
17. What will be your plan to boost tourism to overtake Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia?
18. Will you go after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her husband, their cronies, and all those who ought to be punished post-2010 (e.g., Virgilio Garcillano, Benjamin Abalos, Romulo Neri, etc.)?
19. Who will your cabinet members be?
20. What role will you give your Vice President?
21. How will you trim down the government bureaucracy to make it more streamlined and efficient?
22. How will you ensure sufficient healthcare services especially for indigents?
23. What is your plan for upgrading our state colleges and universities? How will you ensure global competitiveness among our students?
24. How would you amend the Constitution, if you were to do so? (This is not a “yes” or “no” answer.)
25. What is your stand on the VFA? On the Spratlys? What will be the bases of your foreign policy?
26. How will you end extra-judicial killings and ensure the end of human rights violations in government?
And here are some questions for specific presidentiables:
For Chiz Escudero: Aside from producing great soundbites, what have you really DONE throughout your entire political career? Why should we trust you?
For Loren Legarda: You wept when the second envelope was not opened in 2001, and then you joined the opposition’s camp in 2004? Why should we trust you?
For Jejomar Binay (“Dito sa Makati…”): How do you plan to produce “the Makati effect” in provinces and regions that have a very low revenue base? How will you encourage investment and tourism and enable tax collection in fifth- and sixth-class provinces? How will you ensure equitable distribution of resources across the country? And you are going around the country with a former president who was a womanizer, a gambler, and a plunderer. Why should we trust you?
For Mar Roxas (“Padyak”): If you weren’t seeking higher office in 2010, would you be proposing to Korina Sanchez at all?
Pardon the Saturday-morning operation of this brain, but I think these questions will be more than enough to keep some people busy for the next couple of months.
What are YOUR questions?
Niña Terol, 29, is a key mover of the groups Movement for Good Governance and YouthVotePhilippines. She is a political communicator by day but believes that being Filipino is a full-time undertaking that knows no time or geographical limits. To follow her or subscribe to her blogs, click follow her here: http://outoftheuniverse.wordpress.com/subscribe-find-nina-online/
From Pattaya, GMA intoned a most disturbing Easter message: "Risk all for Truth!" What callousness. What audacious hypocrisy. Easter is supposed to be about redemption and hope. But with such an official statement, the hopelessness of many only waxes further. At the very least, beyond merely pontificating about truth, she should move the pertinent agencies to do better police, legal and forensic work on all the kidnappings and killings that remain unsolved in our country. Tragically, with killings on the rise, government seems overly anxious to let murderers and rapists get lighter sentences or commutations of their prison terms. Is this Government being more Christian than the Christ? It’s very tempting to simply say that, in this country, the science of forensics is purposely left underdeveloped so that the killers (many of them probably in government) maintain their impunity. And if found guilty anyway, you can get out earlier by some pious power. No wonder many are drowning in hopelessness.
Consider these: Ninoy Aquino. Lean Alejandro. Dacer. Corbito. What do these names have in common? Mystery. For who really killed them and why? Even in the case of Ninoy, the question remains for the mastermind has yet to be identified. And yes, we also want to raise the ghosts of the Dacer-Corbito case. But where is the solid forensic evidence behind these two killings? To compound matters, how can we fully trust government on this when those involved might have been government agents themselves… or are now “enemies” of the government for they purportedly support certain political interests anti-thetical to the current regime? Why are the Dacer-Corbito twin murders being revived this time around? Eleksiyon na naman? We hope government can put as much effort on other killings and disappearances especially the political ones where the military and police are being implicated. This country needs two S's--science and sincerity. More science in its system of governance. More sincerity from its political leaders. May we remind GMA, you have been called many times to risk all for truth. What have you and your minions in Congress done? So as you say that we must risk all for truth, we cannot help but ask, whose Truth? For whom? Puro patayan dito, habang nasa Patayya ka.
Louie Checa Montemar, Singalong, Manila, via e-mail
WITH a good five weeks before his mega fight with Hatton, Pacquiao has already caused a self-inflicted black eye because of his attempt to renege on his contract with Solar entertainment. And the root cause of it all is, you guessed it - MONEY.
For many years now, the Pambansang Kamao has been a source of great pride for Filipinos around the world for the courage and superb talent he has displayed in boxing. His success as a four-time world champion is a testament to the saying that yes, THE FILIPINO CAN.
And yet, his penchant to flip-flop on his decisions concerning financial deals now seems to smear his lofty reputation and image. Wasn't it not long ago when Pacquiao attempted to turn his back on Top Rank to accommodate a seemingly more lucrative offer from Golden Boy?
And now this brouhaha on the Solar-GMA-ABSCBN airing rights. Are there more financial flip-flops to come? Manny cannot say that he was coaxed into reading a prepared statement when he decided to turn his back on Solar.
Was he under duress or grave threat to do so? It's bad to threaten a "national hero." Manny is his own man on this. His subsequent apology to Solar and GMA did not show his courage at all. It did not exonerate him from the mess. In his apology, he merely shifted the blame to ABS-CBN whom he said made a prepared statement for him and broke the deal on a so-called video "embargo." Duh. Paging ABS-CBN--would you do that to a national hero? No doubt, Manny is now extremely wealthy beyond his and our wildest imaginations. His contract with Solar was probably loose change for him. Yet, the latest stunt he committed just shows a major crack in character--that of PALABRA DE HONOR. Ah yes, money can indeed change people.
Name: Angelo de Guzman, Eastwood, Quezon City, via e-mail
I SHUDDER at the revelations of the affidavit of Cesar Mancao implicating former Pres. Joseph Estrada, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, himself and the two other high-ranking PAOCTF officials, Michael Ray Aquino and Glenn Dumlao in the Dacer- Corbito double murder case.
Much of what he revealed is no longer surprising as they have already been accepted as truth since the discovery of the pair’s charred bodies.
Erap and Lacson are the only ones who had the motive, the means and, how shall I put it, “guts” to pull it off.
Still, reading all about how these men planned and executed the operation is chilling. The entire thing seemed so casual to them, like an everyday “operation.” You conclude that these are the types of people you wouldn’t want to get into the simplest argument or traffic altercation with.
I remember that some men were once roughed up and arrested by Michael Ray Aquino and they later tearfully complained that they were tortured. These people kill. They murder. Equally distressing are the seeming total lack of remorse and the temerity of these personalities to claim they are innocent.
Lacson even has the gall to say that he can look anyone in the eye and tell them that he had nothing to do with the murders. It would seem remotely possible if not for the ghost of Kuratong Baleleng.
Meanwhile, Erap denied he’s the “Bigote”--being referred to in the affidavit, who reacted indifferently when told that Dacer had already been “neutralized.” He even has plans to run for office again. Who made these monsters? How did they become inhuman as to abduct, torture and murder so easily? And totally profess innocence so convincingly you would think they may have a split personality. What killed their conscience, their humanity? I tremble at the thought of it all, that we have monsters in our midst who occupy the highest positions in government. My beloved country, I weep for you.
Anne Mendoza, Quezon City, via e-mail
IF there was one thing right about what 'Nicole' said when she recanted her rape story, it was this--there is no justice in the Philippines. If there was, then she should be charged for perjury for lying in court. How could we expect the people to trust our judicial system when people under oath lie at will? No wonder the Philippines is going nowhere. Will anyone at the Justice Department start filing and talking about perjury charges?
James Petallar, New York, via e-mail
WHEN I read the headline, the first thing that came to my mind is the question, " When did we have honesty in our government?". Perhaps you know something that I don't know. Please tell me since when did we have honesty in our government. Ever since the administration of President Quezon, we never had one.
C. Tagle, Summerview Circle, Riverview Florida, via e-mail
OUR political scene is filled with scams and scandals involving public funds. We have the ZTE mess, and the fertilizers scam that made headlines everyday. We have a toothless Commission on Audit (CoA) who oversees government funds as prescribed by the Department of Budget and Management. But we forgot to give police powers to the CoA. I believe that a more powerful COA will be a greater solution to this accountability problem that pesters our country. In terms of legislation, the Statement of Assets and Liabilities should cover the immediate family of the politicians. Also, subject politicians to automatic audit and waive their right to secrecy of deposits as part of the transparency law. As we are about to approach the elections, party disclosure on the sources of election funding should also be made public.
Abraham Sampalocia, Valley Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands, via e-mail
By Cristyl Mae Senajon
Contributor
Last Thursday I watched a film documenting the long-standing battle of the Sumilao and Negros farmers to win the legal rights over their farmlands. It recounted the farmers’ protest against government’s inaction towards implementing the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law; how this severe inaction drove the peasant groups into staging a radical move to espouse their right to their land-living. The Sumilao farmers walked the long-stretch of land from Bukidnon to Manila for a period of over 60 days in order to bring their seemingly hopeless case to the highest authorities trusting that their request for land ownership be granted to them.
The Negros farmers echoed the same battle cry as they went on a 30-day hunger strike hoping that the government would heed their request for land ownership. In the end, after a decade of struggle for land the Sumilao and Negros farmers finally received their Certificate of Land Ownership Awards. Now, they could claim ownership to the land that they themselves had tilled for so many years.
It is baffling to see why these farmers and probably many more others had to go through agony and hardships just to claim a piece of their constitutional rights. It is even more depressing that there had to be an occurrence of killing incidents before the government took serious actions while big landowners got away easily from law and got unpunished for felony only because they had the money, connection, and influence and only because they had seats in the congress and posts in the government bureaucracy.
On another side, it never seemed easy for ordinary Filipinos like the Sumilao and Negros land tillers to have their civil rights to be even recognized because of their economic standing.
When did the right of one person and of a few weigh more than the rights of the greater majority? Much less, when did wealth become the dispensation to stamp on the rights of those who had less in life? Social justice as defined is not merely the administration of law. It is generally thought of as a world which affords individuals and groups fair treatment and impartial share of society. It is absolutely unfair for a very few to enjoy a monopoly in land resources and also control the distribution of technological inputs, rural banking, farm machinery, transportation, processing, and marketing of farm produce while the rest live miserably in scarcity. These resources must be impartially enjoyed by the land owner and the land tiller.
Social injustice is very much the prevalent condition of our present society. People’s rights get trampled in favor of the rights of the few. The issue on agrarian reform is still very much a concrete and clear example of this lingering social ill. Unless there is a redistribution of economic and political power, democratization, social justice and peace will not be created.
In the assessment of agrarian reform, the government must impose a stronger political will while involving all its line agencies, local units and the police force in ensuring the execution of the agrarian reform program and the security of its beneficiaries. It should be at the forefront of upholding the CARL despite its ambiguities and limitations. After all, there can never be a truly working of law in the absence of fair treatment.
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