Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
MY FIRST trip to Bacolod City took place at the height of the "sugar crisis" in the 1980s when plummeting sugar prices plunged Negros Occidental into tremendous hardship, cutting across all social classes, including the pampered "haciendero" [landowner] class, but most especially the families of sugar workers and itinerant plantation workers known as "sagadas."
The economic and social upheaval led to armed unrest and repression, particularly in the poorest areas of the province. As staffers of the "alternative" newsweekly Veritas, we had been sent there to document not just the symptoms of the crisis, but also the first steps being taken by concerned citizens and church and civic groups to mitigate the worst effects of the crisis, as well as to address the yawning gap between the social classes, a problem that was fueling the violence and restlessness.
Another trip to Bacolod last week brought me full circle from that first trip of decades ago. I had gone there as part of the newly revitalized board of trustees of the Remedios AIDS Foundation, to be oriented on "best practices" of NGO and not-for-profit board governance, meeting with board members and officers of the Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation Inc.
The foundation is one of many institutions that were born of the crisis of the 1980s, founded by a group of women who had bonded with each other through decades of friendship or family ties, and decided that they would do their part to mitigate the crisis by providing access to credit to poor families.
Guided by the principles and methodology of the Grameen Bank, which was founded by Mohammed Yunus in Bangladesh, the foundation first set up Project "Dungganon," which in Ilonggo means "honorable." Through this project, the foundation reaches out to the "poorest of the poor," providing micro-credit for livelihood projects to women who would not otherwise qualify for loans from traditional sources.
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AS similar projects the world over have proven, the Grameen approach works by organizing community women into "associations" or "branches" who collectively assume responsibility for all their individual loans. Payments for the loans are thus monitored and assured by social pressure, since no new loans for association members will be made available unless there is full compliance with repayment terms.
Women also comprise the vast majority of borrowers because they have proven to be more reliable borrowers than men, paying back their loans promptly and fully, and channeling their profits into growing their business and improving the health and educational status of their children.
Encouraged by the success of "Dungganon," the foundation later established Project "Kasanag" or "Light," which expanded upon the original micro-credit concept to provide larger loans for small- and medium-scale enterprises.
So far, says Dr. Cecilia del Castillo, NWTF executive director, they have reached 55,000 women, not just in Negros Occidental but also in Samar, Cebu and Palawan, and aim to soon reach 100,000 women.
Last year, the foundation chalked up another achievement, a first for an NGO in Western Visayas, by transforming itself into a Micro-Finance Thrift Bank, housed in a 2-year-old four-story building which also serves as a training center with accommodations for small groups.
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"AS I keep telling the staff and the board," recounts Dr. Del Castillo, "if our intention is just to give away money, then we should just fly over the province and drop money into barrios. But that is not why we exist. We are here to build institutions, and more important to us than the economic assistance we provide, is the impact our programs have on our clients' self-esteem and self-worth."
An early study commissioned to look into the impact of their programs has determined that 20 percent of their clients are able to "climb out of poverty level" after five to seven years. "The big bulk of our clients, though remain just below the poverty level," says Dr. Del Castillo, explaining why they have decided to increase the loan ceiling to give women on the verge of making it out of a "hand-to-mouth" existence the needed boost.
"We have the track record and have proven that our clients are bankable," boasts Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF) chair Wilhelmina Gonzales. And while she admits that the foundation has had to weather rocky times, even a time when they seemed on the verge of bankruptcy, they recall that they managed to pull through with goodwill they had earned from partners who came up with timely loans to see them through.
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STILL, the biggest rewards, as Dr. Del Castillo recalls, are to be found in the changes they have seen in their women clients.
"One remark that really struck me was what one woman told me: after she had successfully put up her own business, 'my husband is now beginning to listen to me.'" Others testify how their added income has allowed them to send their children to school, while another said the biggest impact of her newfound economic security was that "when I am sick, I can rest."
For sure, as even Dr. Del Castillo and Gonzales admit, the foundation has shortcomings, such as the lack of representation on the board of their clients. Other NGOs in the area have also criticized the NWTF for lack of coordination, especially in areas that are already being served by other organizations.
But overall, it would be difficult to discount the impact of the foundation's work on the lives of their women clients and consequently on their communities. Born out of crisis, the foundation is proving its commitment to development in the fullest sense of this loaded word.
Antonio Montalvan II
Inquirer News Service
WHAT can one from Mindanao say about the late Haydee Yorac? In the Mindanao elimination rounds of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation national essay writing contest, the winning college piece came from 20-year-old Graeco Paul Antipasado of Malaybalay City, an AB International Studies major at Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan. Graeco chose to write about a Filipina whom he described, in his effortless but flowing prose, as an "extraordinary woman."
Graeco's piece is as much a social commentary of our times as it is a fitting and timely paean to Haydee Yorac. In "Doing Justice for Haydee," Graeco writes:
"I have always believed that writing a piece about a person whom one deeply admires carries with it the risk as well as the fear that the finished product may not serve the subject any justice. But looking back at the life and times of this extraordinary woman, there probably isn't a single piece of work that would give her any justice. But then again, to let the story of her career and crusades go untold would ironically be an unacceptable injustice.
"The many battles of Haydee Yorac have been exactly just that, an often lonesome war against government inefficiency, dishonesty and corruption, and she has waged it on many fronts. Feisty, formidable, uncompromising, tough are only some of the words attached to her larger than life persona. But if we use the English dictionary, I could only come up with two words that would serve Atty. Yorac right: public servant.
"Service has been something I've never come to associate with government, self-service perhaps. For me, the ultimate instrument for good had transformed into this monster on the verge to eat our country whole. Up until I knew she existed, the fight against the evils of government has always been for me a battle being waged in vain. But Atty. Yorac, whose dogged resolve coupled with nerves of steel, has demonstrated that she's not only fighting in battle, she's actually winning it. In 2004, the Sandiganbayan gave the PCGG an astounding victory by awarding to the government billions of pesos worth of shares in United Coconut Planters Bank and San Miguel Corporation, bought using the coco levy funds. Previous to that, the PCGG had recovered some $684 million worth of Marcos' Swiss bank deposits...
"It's safe to say once more that Filipinos have finally found a very likely defender in Haydee Yorac. On a more personal level, I've once again come across someone [with] whom I could place all my hopes and optimism, the difference this time, is that I know she won't let me down. I don't even think she is capable. In all her years, Haydee Yorac has always demanded honesty from everybody inasmuch as she demanded it on herself. Whether in public service or in private practice, Atty. Yorac always brought with her, as her Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service citation reads, an 'exceptional integrity and rigor and her unwavering pursuit of the rule of law in the Philippines.'
"Haydee's mother had once said that she 'always taught her children to do the right thing.' There is elegance in simplicity, and by those few words, Mrs. Yorac had, wittingly or unwittingly set the path for Atty. Yorac's implacable crusade against deceit in any form. Whether training our future lawyers at the University of the Philippines or reforming our electoral system as head of the Commission of Elections, or recovering ill-gotten wealth as chair of the Presidential Commission on Good Governance, the woman, who once understatedly called herself 'a good enough lawyer,' has unflinchingly and without fail, always done 'the right thing.'
"I'd give a million dollars in exchange for a memory of a time when I was genuinely proud of my leaders. I've come to a point where the repeated disappointments and disillusionment have become such a way of life that I am, simply put, jaded and numb. Yet Haydee Yorac has always sought to remind me that government is inherently noble and that those who run it recklessly should not be left alone to wreak their havoc but fought with unbridled obsession and steadfast commitment. Even from her sickbed, Atty. Yorac's dedication to the cause of justice never wavered; on the contrary, cancer has only doubled her resolve. When this President appointed questionable individuals to the board of the San Miguel Corporation, the perilously ailing Atty. Yorac was the first who rushed to condemn it.
"Her decision to retire from the public sphere has once again put my confidence in government in serious jeopardy. In fact, the entire nation felt as if (it has) lost a best friend in government. And I cannot say with certainty if there will even be another Haydee Yorac. For now, I can only hold out hope and optimism, because that is what Atty. Yorac has reignited in me. I owe it to her and to every single public servant out there, who in spite of the temptations and lures of dishonesty and personal gain, continue in the noble and daunting task of trying to earn the public trust our government desperately seeks and providing for us Filipinos devoted service we legitimately deserve.
"It would be presumptuous of me to assume that this piece has eloquently given Haydee Yorac her due. I am not even close. But here I am choosing to write this piece anyway. I never meant nor have I ever thought of this work as a masterpiece destined and built for longevity. No. Atty. Yorac would not want me to write about her because of the prize and the promise of prestige that comes with it but because, like her, I see that there is something truly monumental and valuable, needlessly to say an exhilarating sensation in not only expressing my convictions but more importantly in living them out."
Despite the very public boardroom squabbles at Equitable PCI Bank, depositors kept most of their money with the bank.
In the week before fireworks erupted at the July 19 annual stockholders meeting, a NEWSBREAK source said depositors withdrew only about P800 million as public tirades intensified between the Go family and the alliance of the pension funds, SSS and GSIS, with other minority stockholders. Up to the day the Go family finally gave up their hold on the bank and sold their stakes to the Sy family, withdrawals attributed to the squabble reached only P1.8 billion.
Given this bank's checkered past, that's cheap. It wasn't long ago when the bank was hit by massive withdrawals that had them scrambling first to other banks for almost P20 billion in short-term loans, then to the Bangko Sentral for emergency loans totaling about P30 billion. Then management went on a full-blast campaign afterwards to woo those depositors back. Mostly Chinese, these depositors were turned off when Clarissa Ocampo, a bank executive, testified in the impeachment trial of then President Joseph Estrada that she was present when he signed a fictitious name to open an account, thus breaking the secrecy code between banks and clients.
What does this tell us about Chinese depositors? Perhaps that they don't care if stockholders of their bank fight their personal battles, as long as they don't mess with the depositors' secret accounts.
Midnight Appointments | view image
By the time you read this, Gen. Efren Abu would have retired as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He leaves behind a military that's factionalized, more politicized, and perhaps more unwilling to undertake bold reforms.
Of course, Abu and his loyalists in the military would be the first to protest this verdict. After all, wasn't he the one who called for the abolition of the comptrollership office in the AFP in the aftermath of the plunder charges against ex-military comptroller Carlos Garcia? Wasn't Abu the one who abolished the corrupt-ridden AFP Logistics Command? And wasn't he the one who pushed for directing more resources to the field, cutting the headquarters budget?
Ah, but he's also the one, we heard, who pushed for the midnight appointment of his favorite officers to juicy posts weeks before his scheduled retirement. For example, he suggested that a favorite colonel, though inept, be given a brigade. Abu also recommended a Philippine Military Academy classmate to be promoted to a two-star position, even if the classmate's performance was less than stellar. Then he also recommended the promotion of a general to division commander, over senior, more qualified generals.
Last we heard, the defense department has put on hold the promotion of these officers.
Death Threat | view image
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police released this sketch of the man who ordered a funeral wreath for NEWSBREAK managing editor Glenda M. Gloria. Based on accounts of witnesses, the man stands 5'6" or 5'7" tall, speaks Ilonggo, is between 35 and 40 years old, and of medium build.
The wreath was bought from a flower shop on Araneta Avenue and was delivered to the family residence of Ms. Gloria in Quezon City. The death threat was received on the night of August 2.
The death threat seems to be one of a number of moves against NEWSBREAK. On August 3, a day after the threat, an agency which solicits ads for NEWSBREAK received two telephone calls from a man warning them not to "help NEWSBREAK" because a lot of people were angry with this magazine.
Days before, on July 28, a newspaper column came up with a blind item discrediting a "hard-hitting magazine," apparently referring to NEWSBREAK. The next day, another newspaper ran a column attacking us for unfounded reasons; this was followed by another column on August 12.
Where could these be coming from?
Speaking of Horses
What's the relevance of horses to the impeachment proceedings against President Arroyo? Ask the Bicolano congressmen.
Arguing in favor of the majority view that the justice committee must first resolve which complaint should be taken up before deciding on form and substance, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte compared the issue to a horse race. Before the race could start, Villafuerte argued, one must first determine which horse is qualified to join.
Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero refuted Villafuerte's arguments. It wasn't right, he said, to compare the impeachment proceedings to a horse race. It can't be called a race, he pointed out, if there's only one horse competing.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, who propounded the so-called "prejudicial questions" which led to discussions over which complaint the committee should tackle, added the final touch. He said it was "not in accordance with the rules" to go straight to the determination of form and substance. Misquoting an idiom, he said it was like "putting the horse before the cart."
Threat of a Signature | view image
Will former Samar congressman Eduardo Nachura be the next education secretary?
Nachura and his partymates in the Liberal Party thought he had the position in the bag. After all, his strongest backer is Mayor Lito Atienza, one of the staunchest supporters of the President.
But we heard that Nachura's political rival in Samar, Rep. Catalino Figueroa, protested the impending designation. Figueroa told one of the President's advisers that, yes, the President can go ahead and appoint Nachura to the education department but—and here's the big but—she shouldn't be surprised if Figueroa signs the impeachment complaint against her.
And that's just one signature.
Abalos for Senator? | view image
The buzz is that Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos has plans to run for the Senate in 2007 and may retire earlier than the end of his term. We're not sure whether this is his way of making a graceful exit from the much-tainted Comelec or if he's really keen on going back to politics.
If Abalos runs for the Senate, it looks like a conflict of interest case here. Being a Comelec insider gives him an undue advantage. And the fact that he presided over one of the dirtiest elections in recent history makes him suspect.
Well, let's see if there will still be a Senate in 2007. If the Charter change advocates have their way, we may have a unicameral parliament by next year. But then, Abalos can run as representative of Mandaluyong, the city he served as mayor for nine years.
Mike's Bloopers | view image
Environment Secretary Michael Defensor's attempts at destroying the credibility of the "Hello, Garci" tapes as evidence against President Arroyo have themselves been riddled with bloopers.
First, the secretary kept referring to an audio expert called "Dick Barry." Much later, during the press conference, he corrected himself and identified the audio expert as Barry Dickey.
Then, he claimed that the words "'yung dagdag, 'yung dagdag (the addition, the addition)" that were mentioned by President Arroyo during her conversation with Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano were merely inserted to replace the words "Galban" and "Binalbag." Jonathan Tiongco, one of the "experts" Defensor presented, claimed that "Galban" and "Binalbag," when speeded up, would sound like "dagdag."
Defensor would not elaborate on why "Galban" and "Binalbag" figured in the middle of a conversation on Namfrel copies and municipal certificates of canvass. He feebly explained that Binalbag is a town in Lanao del Sur. Again the secretary is mistaken. The only town in Lanao del Sur whose name sounds nearest to Binalbag is Balabagan. There is a Binalbagan town, though, in Negros Occidental. (In its blog, the PCIJ says there is a barangay called Binalbag in Agdangan, Quezon Province though, while Galvan is a barangay in Guimba, Nueva Ecija.)
At any rate, audio engineer Jim Sarthou, the least talkative of the "experts" presented by Defensor at Friday's press conference, said on television on Saturday that, "'Yung dagdag, baligtarin mo, bagalan mo...ang dinig ko dagdag pa rin (however you put it, it's still dagdag)" Sarthou claimed that he had been tricked into attending Defensor's press conference.
Jose Ma. Montelibano
INQ7.net
WHEN we say, "Build a nation," many grand thoughts enter our minds. From those grand thoughts, many grand plans have been formulated and some have even reached implementation stage. However, in all the years that we have been politically free from the Spaniards, Americans and the Japanese, we have witnessed only the steady decline of the Philippines as a young struggling nation.
Many refer to the time when the Philippines was second only to Japan in terms of development in Asia and use that as our starting reference for many things. It is true that such a configuration actually existed, but it is not accurate to use it as a starting reference to a free Philippines. The heights, if they so deserve to be called that, that the Philippines attained in the 1950s and 1960s were less our independent efforts and more the aftertaste of American rule. In 1946, Filipinos had a faint memory of the last decades of Spanish colonization and a working habit of following the American way of governance. What Filipinos could do for themselves by themselves was only to begin, and the true reference point was where American performance and dominant influence had left off.
It is sad to note that the first attempts by Filipinos as a free nation have not borne fruit that is sweet to the taste. Today, after six decades of Filipino attempts to hold a fledgling nation together, we have succeeded in lowering the quality of life, or the level of contentment, from the stage where American dominance brought us. From second only to Japan to a fast becoming basket case of the world should be proof enough that we cannot continue under the same attitudes and leaderships.
Imperial Manila is not a location, it is an attitude. It is the attitude of royalty that is better known as feudalism. It is the attitude of elitism by birth and connection as opposed to elitism by attainment. If our leaders were to govern from Davao, it would simply become Imperial Davao. Imperialism is not a place, it is an attitude.
Democracy is not a place either. It is a perspective of life that was born from opposition to tyrannical rule. Thus, from the rule of a tyrant, democracy seeks the rule of the people. Democracy, though, is such a refined state of life. The rule of the people is more concept than real in emerging nations, and the Republicans and Democrats of America show us that people can be sharply divided. Perhaps, more than democracy, America and like nations show us more about the rule of law rather than democracy.
Governance by the people is still a fantasy in the Philippine setting. The people are poor, 60 percent of them rate themselves as impoverished, and a whopping 90 percent belong to the lowest economic classes, D and E. When the impoverished or society's poorer classes govern, that is not democracy -- that is a miracle.
What democracy is may mean lifting class E out of poverty, which means eliminating class E and bringing it to class D. We cannot have a class E and yet rise from the ground up. And without a firm ground, there will be no strong nation, no strong structure. This is the story of the Philippines -- a foolish attempt to rise from the ground by having the one percent A and B elite pull up the 90 percent D and E.
The attitude of feudalism or political elitism is what determines political, economic and social governance. Federalism will simply serve to distribute Imperial Manila to all the province capitals. Where a smaller area is definitely endowed with much larger resources, imperialism will flow there as well. At the rate that divisiveness and elitism define and dominate our society, federalism will spin out of control and literally dismember the nation. The ensuing chaos will provoke tribal rule or warlord-ism and eventual civil war.
The funny thing is that civil war will end with a winner, and that winner will begin to build a nation under his rule. Again, the path to merging the population of more than 7,000 islands will begin, the process of nation building reintroduced by the dominant force that will seek to rule all. If the people had tired of the fighting and the killing, then the new ruler will have his way and a new nation will be born to seek maturity in time.
The way of the world is not towards fragmentation. Europe says it all so succinctly when fiercely independent nations now try to find union in what they have in common over instead of allowing their uniqueness to keep them apart. It now goes towards a federation, not of states like America, but a federation of nations. The USSR disintegrated through initiatives towards autonomy and independence. Today, Russia moves towards reintegration. It may or may not succeed, but it simply shows that the move to integrate is fast becoming more powerful than the move to fragmentize.
The way of nation building is akin to the way of democracy. It is characterized more by the desire to contribute rather than to extract, to give rather than to demand. The visionaries who sought to build their nations, and succeeded, asked their people to sacrifice and offer hard work and unity as the founding pillars of their society. The proponents of autonomy in whatever form in the Philippines may be deluded to thinking that physical partitioning is the end-all and be-all of autonomy. They will fall flat on their faces and drag us into killing each other unless the motivation is elevated to sharing rather than getting.
The national state of poverty, corruption and violence is what will be devolved into autonomous regions. Whatever is the character of the nation will remain its character when a nation is divided into smaller parts -- from the desired grouping by large region to the eventual insistence of doing it by province or town. When the primary motivation of autonomy is to get more, those who have more will insist on not sharing and be on their own.
It is becoming a smaller world. Technology has made cross-country exchanges very easy and humanity has been testing the waters for moving beyond the planet Earth. It is convergence that is the wave of consciousness, not separation. And it is developing from the ground up rather than the top pulling the bottom up that builds with firmness and sustainability. Filipinos might do well to carry these thoughts as their leaders try to lead them somewhere else.
Conrado de Quiros dequiros@info.com.ph
Inquirer News Service
(Rene Jarque wrote this letter last year. I have changed nothing in it except the paragraphing and a word here and there. It's not for West Pointers alone to heed.)
DEAR fellow West Pointers,
The Armed Forces of the Philippines once again is at a crossroad following the cases of [Major] General (Carlos) Garcia and Colonel (George) Rabusa. How this will play out will determine the seriousness, direction and tempo of eradicating corruption in the military and promoting professionalism in the ranks. We have known the rottenness of the system all along and how the culture in the AFP was not and is not conducive to professional growth and honest conduct. It was never reflective of the Academy's motto, "Duty, Honor, Country."
Some of us gave it a chance, found it unwieldy and incorrigible and left. Some stuck with the system and played it out only to be sucked into the vortex of corruption and unprofessional conduct. At one time when I was at the Department of National Defense, I told General (Narciso) Abaya, "Sir, I am sure that I can fulfill the Duty and Country part of the motto but certainly the Honor part is very difficult to do." I was trying my best to be as professional and as patriotic as I could be, but I could never be honest given the extent of the graft and corruption in the AFP. And that was, I believe, unacceptable to my sense of honor and integrity. Hence, I left.
I have been called many names, reviled and hated by many officers for my intransigent stand against corruption in the Armed Forces ever since I was a lieutenant. I was branded a rebel and an unprofessional officer. I was called a liar in public by a former Chief of Staff. Some of you may have also hated my guts for being so stubborn and for being part of the opposition. I was not and am not being stubborn for the sake of stubbornness. I am stubborn because I believe in the righteousness of the cause. It was and it is the right advocacy, and an honest one. The lives of thousands of soldiers and their families depend on this cause. The future of our country depends on whether this advocacy will win in the end. While many of us turned our eyes away and covered our ears, I believed that someone had to play the "bad guy" to make sure that the message was not lost.
I have a favorite story which we printed in the Army Journal when I was its editor:
A wise old philosopher went to the village to preach the good news. He proclaimed his news loudly but no one would listen. Time passed and he continued to preach even louder but still no one listened. One day, a child asked, "Mister, why are you preaching even louder, don't you see it's pointless? No one is listening." The philosopher replied, "My child, at first I thought I could change them and so preached loudly. But now I am preaching even more loudly so they don't change me."
Yes, we have all been part of the system and by our action or inaction, we have all been party to unprofessional conduct and corruption in the AFP. One way or another, we have taken advantage of the system. You all know your indiscretions as I know mine. There was no choice then, there was no other way if one wanted to survive and pursue a "progressive military career." But if a progressive military career means a regressive character and dishonor, well, many of us found that unacceptable and the only option was to leave the service.
I love being a soldier, being with the men and fighting for our country. But it cannot be at the sacrifice of honor. What is the meaning of fighting for your country when the chain of command consists of thieves and looters, insensitive to the welfare of the soldiers and their poor families? What is the meaning of dying for your country when you know that the government and the politicians are apathetic toward the people and the so-called rebels or terrorists we are killing and even torturing are just protecting their lives and their dignity, when they are just trying to survive? What good is fighting for the country when the rebels are right that this country is governed by a callous elite, an abusive military and a corrupt government?
To me, there never was, there never is, and there never will be honor in killing desperate men--men who have found no other way out of their poverty and suffering but to join the rebels because the leaders they have chosen to lead them and the soldiers who are supposed to fight for them, are not doing their duty. For after all, aren't the soldiers the protectors and defenders of the people?
I appeal to your sense of Duty, Honor, Country in saying that we must do something as a West Point Society, as an association of honorable men. The least we can do is make a public denouncement of the corruption in the Armed Forces and appeal for the reform that has long been needed in the AFP. We should tell General Narciso Abaya, West Point '71, that the right thing to do is the honorable thing. Covering up, spinning stories and whitewashing are not honorable. This entails a great risk especially in our friendships and camaraderie, but we must be comrades blinded by Duty, Honor, Country. Somehow, we have to take a stand and make a choice or live a lie within ourselves as long as we live.
Duty, Honor, Country, my fellow West Pointers.
(Signed) Rene Jarque, Class of 1986.
Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service
HOMETOWN boys who make good pay back their places of origin in various ways: donating money for scholarships or municipal showcases, bringing in investments that provide jobs for town mates, or enshrining the family name in a church pew or school building.
For businessman Jolly Ting, who made his bundle in what might be euphemistically called the entertainment business, giving back to his hometown of Calapan in the province of Oriental Mindoro, south of Manila, took the form of clean and potable water.
"Before we came in," recalls Calapan Waterworks Corp. general manager Alex Manto, "the water here was just undrinkable. You couldn't drink it, bathe with it or even wash clothes with it." He remembers wondering why an associate who accompanied him on his first visit to Calapan had brought with him an inordinate number of water bottles, until he tried to brush his teeth with the water gushing from the faucet. "I nearly threw up," says Manto. "It tasted salty and reeked of mud."
After years of neglect by the old water utility and the digging of private deep wells, salt water had begun to infiltrate Calapan's groundwater supply, resulting in brackish water flowing from faucets. So high was the salt content that the townsfolk could not even get soap to lather for their baths or laundry. Residents who could afford it bought their water from private water haulers who tapped groundwater aquifers. But whether bought or tapped from the faucets, the quality and safety of the water supply remained doubtful, placing residents' health at risk since even the provincial hospital relied on trucked-in water for its supply.
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INDEED, it's an irony and an injustice that a basic service, such as clean water, should remain inaccessible and expensive for the poor. Studies have shown that the poorest Filipinos pay more for basic services like water than those who are relatively better off. This is because many impoverished communities don't have piped-in water, with families relying on private water haulers who charge more per liter of water without any guarantees on water safety.
Seeking a solution to the dire problem of Calapan's water supply, then Mindoro Gov. Rodolfo Valencia talked with Ting, chair of Jolliville Holdings Inc., to buy the waterworks franchise and rehabilitate the moribund water utility.
Fully aware of the need for a safe water system for his hometown, Ting acquired Calapan Waterworks from the previous owners in 1997. But if he thought his investment in improving the water system would earn him the gratitude of his town mates, Ting had another think coming. As Manto recalls: "We met with opposition from different parties, from city council members to NGOs." Among the more vociferous opposers were the water haulers who had been making quite a profit over the years, while some environmentalists raised alarms about the possible depletion of the groundwater supply with the drilling for new wells. In fact, the utility had to go to court twice to put an end to the continuous harassment of their workers and projects. Most protest actions subsided though after Calapan Waterworks secured a congressional franchise.
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LAST year, with Oriental Mindoro Gov. Arnan Panaligan, who was Calapan mayor at the time Ting bought the waterworks, as guest of honor, Calapan Waterworks inaugurated its second well in Baranagay Tawiran, which with a previous well now supplies the needs of some 2,000 households in 23 barangays. Manto says they were also forced to dig for an entirely new network of pipes since the old ones were too unreliable to ensure the safety of the water supply.
Over the past six years, Calapan Waterworks has invested about P50 million in capital expenditure and infrastructure, mainly because, says Manto, "Mr. Ting insisted he wanted only the best quality." In fact, says the Waterworks GM, "we use Manila Water as our benchmark," ensuring that they use the same technology and materials as the Metro Manila concessionaire. Even more important, Calapan folk are now assured of a supply of safe and clean water, passing all the tests of the Department of Health and the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD). "This means that we are of the same quality as bottled water!" declares Manto proudly.
Also significant is the fact that even as their water quality has improved tremendously, Calapeños are paying less for their water. Where before water peddlers sold water at P5 per gallon, or an equivalent of P2,000 per cubic meter, the new rate for piped-in water is just P13 per cubic meter!
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ON A VISIT to Calapan over the weekend, we passed by the new wells that now transmit the city's water supply. We found spanking new concrete sheds surrounded by landscaped gardens, with Manto explaining, "We wanted everything to look clean and spotless because we're dealing with water, which is a health product. We need our customers to feel confident about the safety of the water we pipe into our homes."
Indeed, the new wells are a stark contrast to the ones operated by the previous franchise holder, judging from photos hung on Calapan Waterworks offices. The old wells were housed in rusty ramshackle huts, amid muddy surroundings that indeed would not bode well about the quality of the water those wells produced.
Hometown boys who make good may choose to embark on ego- and image-boosting projects that may only make them popular but do little to serve their town mates. Calapan is lucky that one such "son" has chosen instead to channel his goodwill into an investment that took years before it began turning a (modest) profit, but which has produced immeasurable "returns" in terms of improved health and quality of life.
Ambeth Ocampo aocampo@ateneo.edu
Inquirer News Service
TEACHING my favorite nephew to count is a delightful experience. His numerical world is limited by his little fingers. Sometimes as an excuse to tickle him, we extend the counting from 10 to 20 by going from his fingers to his toes. To go beyond one's hands and feet, one needs to use the brain or, at least, pen and paper. With a calculator, one can even go further and faster than we ever can on pen and paper. All this reminds me of the raging issue in grade school: Were we to continue doing Math with our heads, or would we be allowed the use of calculators?
One school of thought rightfully asserted that the calculators would dull the mind. Just go to any department store and watch sales personnel use a calculator for things as simple as 2 + 2. On the other hand, other teachers were of the opinion that a calculator would enable students to do very big and complicated computations. If one did not know the general principles of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, a calculator would remain useless. The impasse was broken when it was ruled that we could take Math tests with calculators provided every student in the class had a calculator.
The same can be said of computers, except that my computer use is limited to word processing. A desktop computer or a laptop is merely a typewriter to me, and I am humbled when people a fourth my age show me other things the machine can do. When I was in college, one of my professors refused to accept my term paper because it was printed with a dot matrix printer; she insisted that the paper be typewritten. Things have come a long way since then, and watching both sides of the political spectrum commenting on the "Hello Garci" tapes, armed with the expert opinion of audio experts, made me realize that in some ways technology has made the task of the historian more complicated.
One example is the use of OPAC -- Online Public Access Catalogs -- in most libraries today. When I give out an assignment, students will rush to the OPAC to do some research, and when the result is negative, they give up. Most students have to be told that there is such a thing called the Card Catalog, or certain published finding guides, on the shelves that will direct you to the book or manuscript being sought. Worse, some students only do research on the Internet. They make a Google search and if the result is negative, they have to be forced to physically seek out the source in a library or archive. When I give students a "bring me" quiz, I would let them look for something that is not yet on OPAC. Worse, if I know where on the shelf the book is, I would hide it just to see how far they would go in their research. What happens to research when there is no electricity?
Just recently I was reading a book that cited a source that I had used in an archive in Spain. The author was an armchair researcher who wrote the archive, requesting a copy, and was told what he was looking for did not exist. When I visited this same archive a decade after I had first done research there, the staff were bragging about their state of the art, modern search engines and their OPAC. I requested a document and got a negative reply.
I repeated the process and got the same answer. So I consulted an archivist who shrugged his shoulders and said: "Well. If it's not in the OPAC then it doesn't exist." I insisted that the document did exist because I saw it a decade earlier. The archivist just stared at me blankly. Fortunately, I had my notebook and showed him the call numbers. To humor me, he went in the stacks and came back red-faced and apologetic. The document did exist in the file, or "legajo," that I specified. Why did this escape the OPAC? This is very distressing to a historian because, if I didn't see the document earlier and relied solely on OPAC, I would never have seen this important 19th-century document.
More distressing is the news that some libraries and archives have restricted files that can only be accessed by the director or those with the appropriate clearance. What happens to researchers? What about materials that are on diskettes, on programs that are now extinct as dinosaurs? For example, if we didn't print all the files that were on earlier editions of Word or on the now-Jurassic Wordstar, wouldn't all those have been lost to us? What about materials that are on vinyl records or even on those early tape recorders or dictaphones? If you go to the Library of Congress and ask to listen to the famous Watergate tapes that got US President Nixon impeached, you will be told that these have to be run on the antiquated machines that were used to record them, and at the moment there are less than six of these machines in the universe, which are working.
History used to be simpler. You have a photograph that was good as a historical document; but with the advance of Photoshop you can manipulate, enhance or even invent photographs. A tape with a recognizable voice used to be enough to go on, but now we can edit and splice that.
The Internet is filled with a lot of unreliable information. So the historian still has to be armed with a critical and inquisitive mind. This pre-requisite has not changed no matter how advanced and complicated technology has made of the discipline.
Bambi Harper
Inquirer News Service
THE EARLY Spanish colonizers and missionaries referred to the entire island of Luzon as Manila, according to Father Colin, who attributed that early baptism to the Chinese. The name referred in the language of the natives to the hammers or mortars that they used to de-husk the rice, the staple food in the entire archipelago. This instrument was carved from a great wooden trunk. In Isla de Manila, they dug into the very center of the wood creating a trough, well carved even on the outside almost like a chalice in shape. The trunk could measure up to five palms in height. The hammer was like a cylindrical walking cane also of wood but solid and heavy, a "vara" (1 vara = 0.84 meter) and a half in length.
With this, they de-husked the rice, grinding with the wooden hammer in that cavity in such a way that the grain came out cleared of its husk. It was then cleaned in closed sieves called "bilao" on which the rice was tossed and separated from the chaff.
In Isla de los Pintados, they opened two or more holes lengthwise on the trunk rather than vertically so that two or more persons could grind the rice together. Since it was the custom of the Luzones to keep these mortars under their houses or in front on the street may have been the reason strangers called the islands Luzon.
In the elbow of this island facing the southeast, a tumultuous river (would you believe the Pasig?) rushed to the sea and the earth opened into a beautiful bay (Manila's untreated waste wasn't disgorged into it nor did ships dump chemicals and plastic garbage overboard) measuring 30 leagues in its contours. The river descends from a lagoon that is quite large and is six leagues distant from the river bar. On the eastern part of this, the natives had their principal settlement, with up to 4,000 houses along both banks of the river and on the shores of the sea in its bend and where the land ended. At the back of the settlements were many swamps.
In general, it was said that even if the boundaries of its walls and the number of resident Spaniards were not so big, Manila could be considered one of the most important cities of the Indies as a colony and daughter of Mother Spain because of the numerous population composed of various nationalities "extra muros" (outside the walls). It had a silk market (alcaiceria) in San Fernando, Binondo, of 6,000 to 8,000 Chinese merchants with different officials and its own mayor. There was another municipality in Tondo with 14 or 15 settlements of Tagalogs as well as other nationalities with their own governor and justice ministers and captains of infantry who lived in the suburbs outside Manila.
Interlaced with these native villages and along the riverbanks up to the mouth of the lagoon were many pasturelands, vegetable gardens, farms and ranches of Spaniards with more than 2,000 Chinese laborers. A great number of boats traversed the river continually, and the neighborhoods, convents, fields and gardens made it such a pleasure to behold that those who had seen it said it had no equal in the Indies.
Visible from Manila at a distance of three leagues by sea and five or six by land on the southern part was the secluded port of Cavite, a land's end that jutted out to the sea. The natives called it Cauit, which means a hook or anchor, while the Spaniards called it Cavite. It was quite sheltered from the strong southeastern gales that formed the most dangerous storms of the bay. The port was shallow and the galleons could not enter well into it and needed many strong cables. Because of this, they risked being wrecked in port like the two galleons that were ready to leave for Mexico in 1589, which were lost on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.
The population of Cavite consisted mainly of soldiers since the presidio with its bulwarks and redoubts was there as well as the arsenal, shipyard and the wharf that served the galleons. The important residents were ship pilots, foremen, crew heads and other galleon officials. There was a parish church and four convents; after Manila, Cavite had the largest Spanish contingent.
Ships could cast anchor anywhere on the bay that was clean, abundant with good fish and lined with thick tree groves.
Fronting Manila, some eight leagues distant toward the middle of the bay was Mariveles, considered a small but elevated isle that served as a lookout. There was a sentinel there who, upon sighting foreign ships, would go out to meet them and send alarm flares to Manila.
Leaving the bay and navigating to the left 14 leagues from Cavite was the cove of Balayan, once known as de Bombon because of the lagoon of the same name at its back. Leaving Balayan and turning toward the east where you entered the cove of Batangas was Punta de Azufre, so called because of the sulfur in its surroundings. In front of the isle of Azufre was another islet called Caza because of the abundance of game; it was uninhabited. Between this isle and the land's end was another port called Malacaban whose name used to conjure sad memories for the Spaniards because in those parts Governor Perez Dasmariñas and his officials were killed by the Chinese crew members on the expedition to recover the fort at Ternate.
(Data from P. Francisco Colin, "Labor Evangelica," 1660, edited by P. Pablo Pastells, 1904)
Amando Doronila
Inquirer News Service
DESPITE their ideological predilections, academics at the University of the Philippines, during moments of grave political crises, have seldom failed to assert their intellectual responsibility to intervene in setting the national agenda and rescuing it from the muddle of corrosive political conflict.
One such recent intervention was the launching on Aug. 8 at the UP Third World Study Center of a "Blueprint for a viable Philippines." The blueprint was drafted by a group of academics led by former UP president Francisco Nemenzo after 20 roundtable discussions with nonpartisan civil society groups.
The blueprint seeks to serve as "a comprehensive and coherent strategy to address the crisis, arrest public cynicism, and reverse the rapid decline of the State as an instrument for achieving the collective goals of the national community."
It follows the intervention several months earlier of the 11 UP School of Economics academics who issued a paper warning that the country was headed toward financial collapse unless the administration undertook tough reforms to attack the fiscal deficit crisis. The paper scored the Arroyo administration for not exercising enough political will to implement reforms to avert the deficit.
What is remarkable about the "blueprint" of the Nemenzo group is that it represents a fresh attempt to refocus national discourse from the sterile and sordid debate over the tapes that have provoked demands for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and over proposals calling for constitutional revision as way to end the current political crisis.
Above partisan fray
It stayed above the partisan fray over the tapes which have dominated the political debate during the past few weeks following their disclosure last month. It avoided reference to the scandals rocking the Arroyo administration.
By doing so, the blueprint refocused national attention to the more fundamental issues that it considered were at the root of the decline of the Philippine State and the current crisis.
The fact that the blueprint was drafted by a group associated with the nationalist-left tendency at the UP -- among them Nemenzo, Randy David and Renato Constantino Jr., none of whom is a great fan of Ms Arroyo -- puts it above suspicion the initiative was intended to divert attention from the scandals buffeting the Arroyo administration and threatening its survival.
Nemenzo et. al did the unexpected and unpredictable. Given their ideological perspective and their history of political activism, they would have been expected to get into the center of the "great debate" on constitutional revision and to put their intellectual weight behind any of the sides in the conflict that has deeply divided the nation.
Their academic detachment from the issues fueling the scandals allows them to redirect the agenda toward a vista that offers some hope to the nation, away from the demoralizing state of politics and the debate that is feeding on a frenzy of misinformation and unverified accusations.
The blueprint only makes indirect reference to the scandals. "Unbridled corruption and cynicism are rampant both in the public and private sectors," the document says.
Diminishing credibility
"The credibility of our electoral process is fast diminishing because of massive vote buying and electoral fraud," it says. "Our confidence is declining in the ability of the present political leadership to lead the country out of the rut."
From this perspective, the blueprint comes as a much-needed relief from the poisonous atmosphere generated by the intensely partisan debate over the tapes and other perceived faults and shortcomings of the Arroyo administration.
It offers fresh perspectives through which solutions for the crisis may come. It seems to send the message that while it is true that the nation has now sunk into a deep crisis, and that the survival of the Arroyo regime remains in doubts, there is life after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the tapes, no matter what is the outcome of the impeachment proceedings against the President.
The blueprint describes the current situation, offering an alternative analysis of national problems, and outlines a set to approaches to these problems.
"The best way to present the blueprint's distinctive features is to contrasts analysis and recommendations with those offered the present government and/or conventional frameworks," says the paper.
Highlights
The paper highlights the elements of a "nation in crisis," tracing them to more structural causes. These include:
The economy "is not growing fast enough to meet the needs of a rapid multiplying population," an issue that is being avoided by the Arroyo administration in the face of the Catholic Church's opposition to population control programs.
The economy is "extremely vulnerable to external conditions because of its excessive dependence on earnings from overseas workers and on foreign loans and investments."
Political stability "remains elusive because of mass poverty and the exclusion of a large number of our people from meaningful participation in the nation's life."
"The future of our young people is bleak because of the deterioration in the quality of public and private education."
The government is increasingly unable to make ends meet, as indicated by chronic budget deficits. It is also increasingly unable to service the public debt without having to take out new loans.
Public infrastructure is deteriorating. The national environment is being degraded.
Contrasting view
Coming after the President's State of the Nation Address on July 25, the blueprint offers a contrasting view of the state of the nation. It reduces the SONA to a hackneyed reprint of old programs, except for the call to fast-track constitutional revision. It contradicts the President's vision of a "strong Republic."
The blueprint says that the establishment of a "strong Developmental State" is needed for its realization and implementation.
Contrasting it with the Arroyo mantra of a "strong Republic," the blueprint says that a Strong Developmental State "is strong not in the sense of being authoritarian or arbitrary, but in the sense of being willful in the enforcement of its laws and resolution in the pursuit of its programs."
The principal objective of such a state "is to toughen our institutions and restore public confidence in them, free them from captivity by vested interests, and enshrine the rule of law in our society. Such a state, says the blueprint, aims to establish the conditions for sustained and equitable economic growth, so that private enterprise may flourish hand in hand with, rather at the expense of, realization of the vital social objectives."
The blueprint "prioritizes the fulfillment of the people's minimum basic needs, the termination of patronage as a mode of governance, the curbing of corruption at all levels."
The constitutional revision call stands high on the list of the blueprint's critique of the "conventional approaches." It says constitutional revision is being undertaken in a time of cynicism.
The alternative approaches of the blueprint will be examined in forthcoming essays.
Inquirer News Service
IT'S common for leaders to blame their failures on the people. Thus Hitler, just before he fired the pistol that blew out his evil brains, whined that the German people were not worthy of his leadership. Pol Pot tried to kill as many Cambodians as possible in order to change them. Shortly after her election last year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued an executive order for a program to change the character "flaws" of the Filipino people.
Yet, in the entire history of mankind, there is no instance in which an entire people had to change their collective character so that their fate would change. England became great because of leaders like Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill. America achieved independence through the statesmanship of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Malaysia and Singapore have become economically successful because of Mahathir Mohamad and Lee Kuan Yew; and China is now a superpower because of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiao Peng. The 1.2 billion Chinese people did not have to change their character to achieve economic progress.
Japan, which is not a Christian nation, has a kinder and gentler social system that takes much better care of retirees and elders than ours. It has much greater harmony and peace than our country.
Jose Enrique Yulo, in his letter, titled "Character flaws, change from within," (Inquirer, 7/25/05) expressed a very poor opinion of the Filipino character. This is typical of our colonial elite. Yet, Jose Rizal, in his essay, "The [alleged] Indolence of the Filipino People," pointed out that Filipinos are industrious and honest. He noted that our ancestors, in trading with the Chinese, invariably paid for the wares by leaving their payment on the shores for the Chinese traders to pick up. A recent test (conducted by GMA Network television), wherein "lost" wallets containing P200 were dropped in various parts of Metro Manila, showed that 85 percent of the wallets were returned intact. Another survey showed that most jeepney passengers, coming from ordinary families, paid the correct fare even though they had the opportunity to just get off without paying.
Filipino workers and employees abroad are appreciated for their industry and honesty, and that is the reason our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are in demand among employers abroad. If Ms Arroyo said that by going abroad, some eight million Filipinos were "voting with their feet," it is not because they have failed our country; it is because our leaders have failed them.
Leaders make promises; they are elected to office; they get to use billions of pesos in taxes from the people; they get the power to direct an immense bureaucracy. If they fail, why blame the people? A great leader, John F. Kennedy said, "To whom much is given, much is required." We give much to our leaders, in terms of honor, money and obedience. What do we get in return? Shall we also get insult in addition to injury?
MANUEL F. ALMARIO (via e-mail)
COMMISSION on Elections official Ray Sumalipao has confirmed that the conversation between him and ex-Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano on the wiretapped tapes is true.
Sumalipao was the Lanao del Sur provincial election supervisor in May 2004 and is now the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao assistant regional director.
In an interview with Marawi City reporters, Sumalipao said he spoke with Garcillano on May 30, 2004 about the ongoing canvassing in Lumba-Bayabao in Lanao del Sur.
Before Sumalipao, former presidential staff officer Michaelangelo Zuce had confirmed the authenticity of the recorded conversation between him and his uncle, Garcillano.
Alioden Dalaig, Comelec law department director, had also told Newsbreak that he was the one on the tape discussing with Garcillano about President Arroyo's Statement of Election Contributions and Expenditures.
This was the conversation between Sumalipao and Garcillano:
Conversation between Gary (V. Garcillano) and Ray (believed to be Ray Sumalipao) on 30 13:30 hotel May '04
Ray: Hello?
Garcillano: Hello, Ray.
Ray: Sir.
Garcillano: O kumusta na kayo dyan?
Ray: Ah, ok lang, dito sa NBC ng ano, ng lugar ng (garbled)
Garcillano: Lumba-Bayabao?
Ray: Oo, sir.
Garcillano: Anong kwan dyan sa Lumba-Bayabao?
Ray: Nagka-canvassing. In-order to continue the canvassing pero wala namang proclamation. Yun ang order sa en banc, sir, di ba?
Garcillano: Meron ba?
Ray: Meron na, sir.
Garcillano: Ha?
Ray: Meron, sir. To continue with the canvassing but suspend the proclamation.
Sumalipao said the conversation "had nothing to do with defrauding somebody during the elections."
Read Sun Star's article on Sumalipao's interview here . See also PCIJ's post, "The Lanao del Sur vote."
INQ7.net
I WAS planning to write a very long feedback just to voice out my frustrations and disappointment with what is going on in our country but I decided not to waste your time on that. I'll just make it straight and short:
Dear Ms Arroyo, when you say that you are fighting for the average Filipino, have you ever considered what are the repercussions for the average Filipino of your being hardheaded and greedy for power? Since your apology was aired on the TV, have the prices of basic necessities (food, clothing, etc.), which the average Filipino needs, ever gone down?
The exchange rate of peso against the dollar has not improved. Actually, as an overseas Filipino worker, I should be happy with what you are doing because the money I send to my family will have more value in pesos. But what value? That hard-earned money is not enough to buy the basic things my family needs.
I just wish that you would stop being a pathetic loser trying to stay in your office when most of the Filipinos do not want you there. Please step down! That is at least one step that will surely help the economy of our country.
How do you expect our country to improve when you cannot function properly, as your time is not enough to stabilize the situation? The longer you fight for your office the longer will it take for Philippines to get back on its feet. How do you expect foreign investors to come in and provide employment to our people when they are not sure what kind of government we will have in the next five years?
If you are really fighting for the average Filipino, be man enough to accept your defeat and leave your office!
JOJO ALVIEDO, Lorong 40 Geylang, Singapore (via e-mail)
Indymedia server:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (124.1 KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (72.1 KB)
Server Mirror 1:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)
Server Mirror 2:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)
Server Mirror 3:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)
To save, right-click on the file and click save as.
Many thanks to QC Indymedia and Yuga of PinoyBlog and Ploghost for hosting the files.
Links to the entire tape are at the PCIJ blog.
How do I put it in my phone?
1. Download your choice by clicking any or all of the files.
2. Transfer the downloaded file/s from the computer to your phone using either an infrared connection or a USB-to-phone cable.
3. For those whose phones have GPRS/WAP access, point your phone's browser to www.txtpower.org and download it directly to your phone.
4. Once transferred to your phone, the sound file may be used as ringtone for calls or text messages.
Other options
1. Ask for file-transfer from friends who may already have the ringtone. Both your phones should have either infrared or bluetooth connections.
2. Join any of the future anti-GMA rallies and look for the TXTPower banner. Next big date is June 24.
3. Watch out for the TXTPower "Hello Garci" Ringtone Download Team when they go around offices, stores and tiangges, communities and schools!
Server Mirror 1:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)
Server Mirror 2:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)
Server Mirror 3:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)
To save, right-click on the file and click save as.
Many thanks to Yuga of PinoyBlog and Ploghost for hosting the files.
Links to the entire tape are at the PCIJ blog.
