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By Seth Mydans/Int’l Herald Tribune
MANILA — When former President Corazon C. Aquino died this month, Filipinos filled the streets in mourning and in celebration of the golden moment in 1986 when she led them in a peaceful uprising that some called a revolution.
The nation’s dictator, Ferdinand E. Marcos, had fled as masses of people faced down his tanks, and democracy was restored after 20 years of repressive rule. Mrs. Aquino, the opposition leader who became president, ushered in wide-ranging political reforms.
But the weeks since Mrs. Aquino’s death at the age of 76 have been a period of self-examination and self-doubt among many Filipinos, as they consider how little has really changed since then.
“The legacy is the mess we are in,” said F. Sionil Jose, 84, the nation’s most prominent novelist, pointing to continuing poverty, inequality and political disarray as evidence that the nation failed to capitalize on its moment of possibility.
“We have a word for it — sayang — ‘what a waste,’” he said.
In schools, coffeehouses, rice fields, churches and offices around Manila and in the countryside, there seemed to be a shared sense that the people of the Philippines had failed themselves.
“We thought all we needed to do was remove the dictator and do nothing about it,” said Teresita I. Barcelo, president of the Philippine Nurses Association. “We thought the problem was just the dictator. I say the problem is us. We did not change.”
Sister Dory Reyes, 61, a former Roman Catholic nun and teacher in the farming town of Santa Maria, said: “The poverty is still there. The corruption is still there. Unemployment is still there. I don’t see improvement.”
The Philippines, with a population of 92 million, is one of the most vibrant nations in Asia, with a flamboyantly free press and a creative, assertive body of independent organizations and interest groups.
But it has not managed to tame its Communist and Muslim insurgencies or its restive military, which seems constantly to be plotting coups. The military has regularly been accused of human rights abuses and disappearances.
And the political arena sometimes seems more like a form of mass entertainment than a place of governance.
Since Mrs. Aquino left office in 1992, there have been three presidential elections, two attempts at impeachment, two apparent attempts to stay in power through constitutional change, one popular uprising that ousted an elected president and another that failed.
“We keep coming up with new ways to describe the country,” said Sheila Coronel, director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University in New York, who for years was a leading journalist in the Philippines.
“Democracy in decay, a nonfunctioning democracy, a challenged democracy,” Ms. Coronel said, listing some of the epithets. “There was a time when the phrase ‘illiberal democracy’ was fashionable.”
Almost nothing in the Philippines escapes politics, and Mrs. Aquino’s funeral procession on Aug. 5 has been widely seen as a protest against the unpopular incumbent president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose term is scheduled to end next May.
“When Cory’s term ended, she did not seek to extend her stay,” said Consolacion Paje, 53, a housewife, as she stood in the rain with tens of thousands of people to view the funeral cortege, referring to Mrs. Aquino by her common nickname. “That’s what makes her different from Gloria. Cory was honest. She had integrity.”
Mrs. Arroyo is barred from running for a second six-year term as president. But the nation is transfixed by the possibility that she could amend the Constitution and stay in power as prime minister in a parliamentary system, a concern she sought to tamp down last month during her state of the nation address.
Despite constant attacks on her, Mrs. Arroyo is a ferocious politician, and she has already used her majority backing in Congress to turn aside attempts at impeachment.
With so much energy expended on political theater, not much progress has been made in improving the lives of ordinary Filipinos in a nation where 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
“Things get harder and harder every year,” said Ernesto Policarpio, 74, a farmer in Santa Maria, 20 miles northeast of Manila, who sells snacks and supplies from a stall by his rice field for extra income.
He paused to sell a single cigarette to a young man who lighted it with a lighter hanging from a string.
“But here in the province you don’t feel the hard times as much as in the city,” he said. “Here if you have nothing to eat you can always go to the neighbor and ask for food.”
Mr. Policarpio said he had worked abroad for a while, as many Filipinos have, earning $2,000 a month as a security guard in Los Angeles until the economy stumbled and he headed home.
Eight million Filipinos work overseas, or 25 percent of the country’s work force, its leading export. They send home about $17 billion a year, accounting for 13 percent of gross domestic product in 2007, according to the World Bank.
Before the financial crisis, the Philippine economy was growing by an average of more than 5 percent a year, World Bank figures show. But even that was not fast enough to outpace some of the world’s worst corruption or a birthrate that will bring the population to an estimated 101 million by 2015.
Many families here depend on remittances from abroad, and an overseas job can be one of the highest ambitions for the upwardly mobile.
“I’m optimistic,” said Danica Canonigo, 16, a high school student in Santa Maria. “I’m looking forward to another future in another country.”
This umbilical connection to the outside world may come in part from the history of the Philippines, which was an American colony for half a century, until 1946, after spending 400 years as a colony of Spain.
“We are not yet a nation,” said Mr. Jose, the novelist. “This is the whole problem. We have all the trappings of a modern state, but we are not yet a nation.”
The Philippines remains a collection of fiefdoms and oligarchies and political dynasties that include the children of Mr. Marcos and of Mrs. Aquino. She was herself elected as the widow of a prominent politician, Benigno S. Aquino Jr.
“I’m for Noynoy,” said Win Rico, 25, who serves coffee at a Starbucks outlet in Santa Maria, referring to Senator Benigno S. Aquino III. Mr. Aquino’s name has become a hot item in next year’s presidential election maneuvers since his mother’s funeral.
“I think Noynoy is a person who will put our country first,” Mr. Rico said, “the same as his father and his mother.”
In the Philippines, witnesses to journalist murders face extreme pressures and risk
New York, August 19, 2009—Journalist murders continue to go unpunished in the Philippines in large part because of witness intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalists says in a new report. The government’s witness protection program, while valuable, is underfunded and beset by numerous shortcomings, CPJ’s Shawn W. Crispin writes.
CPJ’s report, “Under Oath, Under Threat,” spotlights the 2008 murder of radio broadcaster Denis Cuesta, who was shot while walking with colleague Robert Flores along a main road in General Santos City on the island of Mindanao . Flores came forward to identify a senior police official as one of the assassins—despite threats against him and his family. He and his family now live in a safe house with little money or freedom as the delay-plagued case slowly proceeds to trial. “I have sacrificed my family, my job, everything for justice,” the 49-year-old Flores told CPJ. “When the case is over, we will have to start a new life somewhere else.”
The Philippines is sixth on CPJ’s 2009 Impunity Index, which ranks countries worldwide in which journalists are regularly slain and their murders go unsolved. According to CPJ research, at least 24 journalist murders have gone unsolved in the Philippines over the last decade. CPJ has also documented numerous instances in which witnesses have been threatened, assaulted, or bribed. In one of the most shocking cases—the 2002 murder of radio journalist Edgar Damalerio—two witnesses were killed before they could testify, and a third survived an assassination attempt.
Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative, traveled to General Santos City and Manila in July to research this report.
Click URL for full story: http://cpj.org/ reports/2009/ 08/philippines- impunity- under-oath- under-threat. php
Got a new blog guys, http://westvisayasbiz.wordpress.com, which will focus on economic issues in the region. It’s time we discuss thoroughly the economic climate of Iloilo and the rest of Western Visayas.
Some of the items were published in The Daily Guardian and Businessworld.
Enjoy! Ciao!
FAA
By Francis Allan L. Angelo and Jeehan V. Fernandez
THE grenade explosion which killed a police bomb expert in a mall Tuesday brought to fore the need to acquire bomb disposal and safety equipment for the Iloilo City Explosive and Ordnance Division (EOD).
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said he will find ways to purchase bomb disposal equipment used by highly-urbanized cities.
The equipment is an armored vessel where bombs could be detonated without endangering lives and properties.
Treñas said he will also try to equip the EOD with safety gears such as armored suits and instruments.
“The work of our bomb disposal unit is very dangerous and they are exposed to such hazard with minimum or no protection at all. We will try to help them in any way we can,” Treñas said when he visited the EOD-Special Weapons and Tactics team office where the explosion happened.
SPO3 Rafael Manguit of the EOD was killed in the blast while three SWAT members were injured in the incident.
C/Insp Salvador Dagoon, SWAT commander, said they will propose to the City Government the needed bomb disposal equipment.
When asked if their office poses danger to the public since it is located in a mall, Dagoon said they do not stock recovered bombs inside the EOD-SWAT office.
“We detonate the recovered bombs as soon as possible to prevent any accident. We are just holding office here because this is basically a community police center or Compac. we don’t keep dangerous items here,” Dagoon said.
CASH AID
The Iloilo City Government will extend P50,000 cash aid to the family of SPO3 Rafael Managuit who died in a grenade explosion at the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) office at Robinsons mall here yesterday morning.
Mayor Treñas said City Administrator Melchor Tan is processing the financial assistance to be taken from the mayor’s discretionary fund.
Treñas added that P40,000 will be given to Diaz Abundio who underwent surgery at St. Paul’s Hospital due to his critical condition and P10,000 each to Robert Sardua and Roque Gemino who sustained injuries.
City Hall will also ask the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) for support to the injured cops, said Treñas.
Managuit, a bomb expert of the Explosive and Ordnance Division of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO), succumbed to blast wounds after presenting the recovered grenade to a news crew of a local television network.
The TV crew had just boarded their service vehicle after an interview with Managuit when the grenade exploded.
Sec. Gonzalez: Don’t look at me
FORMER Mayor Alex Centena is mayor again of Calinog, Iloilo.
A close aid of Salvador Divinagracia told The Daily Guardian that the ousted mayor has stepped down and gave way to Centena who filed an election protest against him for the vice mayoralty in the May 2007 elections and was declared by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as the winner last Jan. 26.
Divinagracia decided late yesterday afternoon when Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. stepped in and brokered a dialogue between his camp and Centena’s camp and along with the town’s barangay captains.
Divinagracia’s decision to step down ended tensions that began last Mar. 6 when his supporters trooped to the town hall to block the delivery of Comelec’s cease-and-desist order and writ of execution, both of which ordered him to vacate the office of the vice mayor.
Last Mar. 9, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) recognized Centena as the lawful town mayor. However, Divinagracia and his supporters continued to stay at the town hall and refuse to yield.
Divinagracia has repeatedly said the writ of execution was “defective”, stressing he was no longer serving as vice mayor following the death of then mayor Teodoro Lao last year. He and his legal counsels maintained that the writ specifically stated he stopped from performing his functions as the vice mayor.
Meanwhile, Divinagracia vowed to continue his legal battle. He hopes the Supreme Court favors him.
GONZALEZ DENIES ROLE
DON’T blame me.
Department of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. objected to insinuations that he is the reason for the political upheaval in Calinog, Iloilo.
Gonzalez said he laments the penchant of some people to tag him in controversies in Iloilo, particularly political feuds.
Gonzalez in particular took exception to the statements of ousted Calinog mayor Salvador Divinagracia who said that prominent people are behind his rival, newly-installed mayor Alex Centena.
Divinagracia also hit Gonzalez for commenting on the political feud in Calinog since he is from Iloilo City.
It was Gonzalez who confirmed last week that the Commission on Elections has ordered the installation of Centena as Calinog mayor.
Centena’s visits to Gonzalez during the pendency of the former’s election protest also stoked insinuations that the DoJ chief was involved in the Calinog issue.
Centena lost to Divinagracia in the 2007 vice mayoralty race but the former filed an election protest with the Regional Trial Court which upheld the latter’s victory.
Centena elevated his case to the Comelec which reversed the RTC. But while the protest was being heard, Calinog mayor Teodoro Lao died of sickness, catapulting Divinagracia to the mayor’s office.
The Comelec en banc declared Centena the winner of the 2007 elections and ordered Divinagracia to vacate the mayor’s office.
The Department of Interior and Local Government consequently recognized Centena because of the Comelec order.
Gonzalez said Divinagracia might be sour graping because he lost his case.
Iloilo City at night. (Photo by Tara Yap)
By Francis Allan L. Angelo
ILOILO City and the rest of Panay Island are facing another debacle in the worsening power problems of the region.
Energy industry sources said SPC Power Corp., which bought the 146.5-megawatt Panay Diesel Power Plant (PDPP) operated by the National Power Corp. (Napocor) at Brgy. Tinocuan, Dingle, Iloilo, is hesitant to operate the plant because of the price of electricity.
The problem surfaced during the meeting Saturday of power industry stakeholders in Panay initiated by Dr. Raul Banias, presidential assistant for Western Visayas.
Banias said SPC will negotiate with electric cooperatives in Panay regarding the new price of electricity once the firm takes over PDPP operations March 25 from Napocor.
“As a merchant power producer, SPC will not be able to sell power at subsidized rates which Napocor offered to cooperatives. SPC will have to negotiate with the cooperatives regarding the price after the turnover of PDPP. The cooperatives will agree with Salcon’s price, well and good. If they cannot agree on the terms, SPC will not operate the plant and we will have bigger problems,” Banias said.
NPC sells electricity to cooperatives at around P2.80 per kilowatt-hour, which is cheap for power produced by a diesel-fired plant because of government subsidy.
Prevailing industry rates peg electricity from diesel-fired power plants at P8 to P9 per kWh depending on the fluctuations of oil prices in the world market and the peso-dollar exchange rate.
Engr. Edgar Mana-ay, who worked in the energy sector for more than 20 years, doubts if SPC will operate if the firm follows NPC’s subsidized rates.
“If the price is doubled or tripled up to P9 per kWh, maybe they (SPC) will continue the operation of the dingle diesel plant,” Mana-ay said.
If SPC does not run PDPP, Banias said Panay Island will lose some 50-60 megawatts of power, compounding the power woes of the island which is already reeling from 9-hour rotating brownouts.
The dilemma will trickle down to Iloilo City which draws 15MW from Napocor through its interconnection with Panay Electric Co. (Peco), the sole power distributor in the metropolis.
Mayor Jerry Treñas said Peco is only getting 8MW out of the 15MW it contracted from Napocor.
Iloilo City’s main source of power is Panay Power Corp. (PPC) whose mother company, Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC), plans to construct a 164-MW coal-fired power plant.
“As we all know, demand for power in Iloilo City increases during summer season. It’s a critical period for the city. If there are problems with GBPC’s plants, where shall we get power when PDPP is not running?” Banias said
Banias said they came up immediate solutions to SPC’s problems but he doubts if these are feasible.
“One, we can opt to delay the turnover of PDPP to SPC but this is not possible. Another option is to transfer Power Barge 104 from Davao City but residents and politicians there will certainly object,” he added.
Another solution is the deployment of 15 units of generator sets in Iloilo City which Napocor promised to Mayor Treñas.
Treñas will ask President Gloria Arroyo to expedite the transfer of the gen-sets, which have a total capacity of 15MW, and avert a power shortage in the metropolis.
The President will arrive in Iloilo City today to inaugurate the expansion of a call center.
Atty. Dennis Ventilacion, president of Iloilo Electric Cooperative-2, said their power purchase contracts with Napocor are good until December 2010.
Ventilacion said they expect SPC to assume Napocor’s contracts with the cooperatives “but the price would reflect the true cost of power.”
“We expect electricity rates to increase once SPC takes over PDPP operations. Another problem is when SPC withdraws some of the plant’s capacity from the market because SPC might not rehabilitate some of the engines for economic reasons,” Ventilacion said.
SPC Power Corp. (SPC), formerly Salcon Power Corp., won the bidding for the 146.5-megawatt (MW) Panay and 22-MW Bohol diesel power plants November 12, 2008.
The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said SPC outbid two other firms after submitting the highest offer of $5.86 million for the two plants.
PSALM oversees the sale of government’s power assets which is mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).
The other bidders for PDPP and Bohol plant were Therma Power-Visayas, a Philippine corporation owned by Aboitiz Power Corp., and Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. of Philippine Investment Management Inc. (Phinma).
Organized in 1994, SPC also won the contract for Napocor’s 203.8-MW Naga power plant complex in Cebu under a rehabilitation, operation, maintenance and management (ROMM) agreement.
STILL THE CHAMP The colorful and energetic Tribu Paghida-et of LaPaz National High School is still the best in this year’s Dinagyang Festival. The tribe is supported by The Daily Guardian. (Photo by Tara Yap)
By Francis Allan L. Angelo
TRIBU Paghida-et of LaPaz National High School (LPNHS) retained the championship in the 2009 Dinagyang dance competition held January 25 during the awarding and closing rites capped by fireworks display and circus performances.
Paghida-et romped with the special awards for best in head dress and costume and the minor awards for best in costume during performance, music, performance, choreography.
Ramil Huyatid of Paghida-et won the best choreographer award.
Paghida-et is managed by Azucena Falales, LPNHS principal. The champion tribe will represent the Dinagyang festival to the Aliwan festival in Metro Manila later this year.
Returning Tribu Bola-Bola of Iloilo National High School settled for the first runner-up honors aside from winning the best in street dancing award.
The 2nd runner-up is Tribu Ilonganon of Jalandoni Memorial High School in Lapuz, Iloilo City while 3rd runner-up went to Tribu Silak of Iloilo City National High School
The 4th runner-up honors went to first timer Tribu Himal-us of Guimaras.
Tribu Kasag of Banate, Iloilo won the championship in the Kasadyahan festival. It also garnered the special awards for best in production design, choreography and performance.
Tribu Sa-ad of Leganes, Iloilo got first runner-up honors aside from winning the best in street dancing special awards.
Second runner-up is Tribu Madya-as of Mandurriao National High School. Tribu Bayluhay of San Joquin won third runner-up honors and the best theme concept award.
The fourth runner-up honors went to Tribu Tultugan of Maasin, Iloilo.
DSS Fireworks from the Dumaguete City retained the crown in the “Luces in the Sky” Dinagyang pyrolympics held Janaury 23-24.
Iloilo City’s Scorpion Fireworks won first runner-up honors while the entry of Laguna province won second runner-up honors.
In the drum, bugle and lyre contest, Alibango Elementary School of Alimodian, Iloilo won first place, Arevalo Elementary School landed on second place while Baluarte Elementary School won third place
In the sponsors Mardi Gras held in the afternoon of January 24, Colegio de San Jose cornered the best in costume, street dancing and discipline plums.
M. Lhuliller pawnshop won the best float award.
By Francis Allan L. Angelo
A MEMBER of the PNP Regional Mobile Group (RMG-6) based in Victorias City, Negros Occidental was killed while four others were wounded in an ambush by alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) Wednesday afternoon.
The ambush happened at Brgy. Estado, Victorias City which is considered a rebel-infested area.
The fatality was identified as PO1 Jean Tacadao who died of multiple gunshot wounds in her body.
Wounded were police officers Anilu Patricio, Melanie Tupas, Marife Cantomayor and Jocelyn Quebar.
The RMG-6 team headed by Supt. Remus Canieso were on-board a Toyota Hi-Lux patrol when the rebels waylaid them.
Canieso and his team were on their way to Sagay City to deploy more personnel in the area when the ambush happened.
Canieso said the rebels used M-14 Garand and M-16 Armalite rifles.
The Negros Provincial Police Office and the Philippine Army in Negros Occidental continue to chase the NPA rebels as of this writing.
Iloilo City leaders tell Antique Gov. Perez
By Francis Allan L. Angelo
OTHER local government officials must respect the Iloilo City government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for allowing the construction of the proposed coal-fired power plant in LaPaz district.
This was the reaction of city officials to a report that five Western Visayas governors signed a position paper urging the DENR to withdraw the environmental compliance certificate issued to project proponent Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC).
Iloilo City officials were one in saying that their counterparts in other provinces should observe inter-local government unit courtesy in this issue.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said he did not even comment on the geothermal power plant expansion project in Negros Occidental, which is also being opposed by environmentalists, even if it will mean additional sources of cheap and reliable energy for the region.
“Negros is lucky because they have geothermal. We don’t have anything here. What if we tell Negrenses to stop the expansion because it will destroy the forest? What if we tell Governor Perez to stop coal mining in Semirara, how would she feel? It doesn’t make sense” he added.
Treñas said the city needs the project to bring in more investors and employment to Ilonggos.
“We need it badly. We have seen the renewed interest and confidence of investors in the business processes outsourcing upon learning that the power plant will be constructed,” Treñas said.
The mayor said other LGUs should respect Iloilo City “because this is our need and we know what we want.”
“They should not undermine us because we studied everything carefully. We are growing very fast and we need power. Our growth rate is even higher than the national average,” Treñas said.
Treñas said he was also surprised because Governor Nava signed the position paper “when we are partners in the Metro Iloilo Guimaras Development Council that will benefit from the project.”
Liga ng mga Barangay president Irene Ong said the five governors should “walk their talk” and refrain from commenting on the policies and programs of other LGUs.
Ong said that if coal is dangerous, “then Antique Governor Perez should (first) stop coal mining in Semirara Island.”
“That would be hypocritical of them if they oppose the plant but the mining continues. What do they know about the needs of the city?” Ong said.
The Liga is one of the staunch supporters of the project along with business groups and other sectors in the city.
Iloilo City Rep. Raul Gonzalez Jr. said the project will not only benefit the city and province of Iloilo but the entire island of Panay.
Gonzalez said other provinces should support the coal-fired power plant project “if they want the region to develop.”
“This (project) is something the city needs for development. The project will result in lower power rates aside from stable and reliable source of electricity. This particular project is good for one generation,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez also emphasized that other LGUs “have nothing to do with issues in the city” and they should not underestimate the intelligence of Iloilo City officials.
“We don’t question the initiatives of other LUGs in their own jurisdictions. This is basic courtesy to another LGU. If other provinces are concerned with the environment, maalam man ang atun city officials and they know how to address these concerns,” he added.
Iloilo City Vice Mayor Jed Patrick said the governors should refrain from interfering from the affairs of the city and dictating its direction.
“Anu labut nila? How would they feel if Iloilo City tells them to stop doing their own policies and plans? They should respect the independence of each local government unit,” Mabilog said.
Mabilog said they have carefully studied the project and heard both sides of the issue.
“They should not underestimate us because we are all elected officials. We have our own understanding and right now all we know is that we need power to spur our economy,” he added.
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