There are no Luzonians or Luzon islanders; only Ilocanos, Kapampangans, Tagalogs, Bicolanos and Indigenous Peoples. (Meanwhile, it’s convenient for Luzon folks and everybody to tag Mindanao as an island and the residents there as Mindanaoans).

There are no Luzon coastal areas, mountain ranges, and watershed zones but there are several beach resorts, provincial pilgrim and trekking sites, and tourist hotspots. The pollution in Manila, the loss of forest cover in Sierra Madre, the destruction of marine habitat in Batangas, the coastal reclamation in Cavite, El Nino in Isabela, red tide in Pangasinan – they are identified as place-specific concerns but they should be regarded as disturbing signs of the deterioration of the quality of life in Luzon.

Luzon’s natural beauty, its precious but finite resources, and even its destructive charms are obscured by the artificial division of the island into several sub-political units. Mayon is part of Albay but its eruption is not the problem of Bicolanos alone. The July 1990 earthquake which hit most parts of Luzon revived the dormant Pinatubo volcano in 1991. The West Valley Fault is not just a threat to Marikina and Quezon City.

How can we push Manilans to act against mining in nearby Bulacan if they fail to see themselves as inhabitants of the same island? How can we clean Manila Bay if our coastal clean-up is limited only in cities and municipalities which have adopted the program? Trees are abundant in NLEX and SLEX but the watersheds are denuded. Our backyard is clean but the surrounding community is filthy. A city, a province, is adjudged clean and green but it means nothing if the island, our Luzon Island, is hurting from our dirty activities.

Understanding Luzon’s geography is essential in formulating policies that would produce a broader impact on the greater population of the island. Sadly, we prefer to plan via micro political units. The potential of localization has been distorted when the traditional bureaucracy dominated it. Grassroots empowerment is impotent if not linked to larger political objectives. There must be a conscious plan to integrate the local with the regional, national, and even global campaigns.

Even the military recognizes the organizational value of establishing its presence in big territories through its several formations in Luzon (North Luzon and South Luzon command, for example). Gloria Arroyo’s super regions identified North Luzon as an agri-business incubator, Mega Manila as the country’s key cyber-corridor, and Bicol as part of the central Philippine tourism hub. But Arroyo’s blueprint, even if it seeks to harness the spatial characteristics of the island, adheres to the neoliberal design of restricting the local economy as mere supplier of raw materials and semi-skilled (but cheap) labor as required and dictated by monopoly capital.

On the other hand, the four-decade old revolutionary movement continues to operate in several fronts in Luzon. It maximizes the terrain of the island to survive the military offensives of its better equipped enemies and to expand its influence in the countryside. But it has yet to prove that it has mastered, at least politically, the changing rural-urban dynamics. In particular, its Red Power which almost dominated old Manila in the past, needs to be recalibrated in the new Mega Manila.

What political education is required to breed a new generation of Luzon islanders who understand the importance of linking the parochial with the bigger territorial issue? We need less island mentality in the Visayas islets but Luzon’s change agents must learn to think and act like an islander. We need to imagine ourselves as tribespeople living and interacting in a big island.

Luzon islanders would oppose the magnetite mining in Ilocos, the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Subic (in a protected area of all places!), the earth-balling (read: cutting) of pine trees in SM Baguio, and the reclamation of Manila Bay (in a bird sanctuary) not simply because they wanted to be eco-warriors (not a bad career choice, though) but as an active affirmation of their commitment to preserve and protect their home. Not all Luzon islanders are dedicated environmentalists but they could easily connect the everyday woes of a distant village to their community issues. Manilans, who would not hesitate to express their disappointment and anger against the continuing pollution in Pasig River, are also expected to support the petition of Nueva Vizcaya to ban all forms of mining in the province because it’s a watershed haven (it supports five mega dams in Luzon).

We need tree-huggers, bird watchers, and nature mystics but no less than the mass mobilization of the greatest number of people is required to save our fragile environment. The popular indignation in the online and also remarkably offline communities against the plan of SM to cut pine trees in the City of Pines is an encouraging sign that we are beginning to understand the interconnectedness of our daily struggles in this part of the archipelago.

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Payatas, which was recently converted into a controlled dumping facility, is adjacent to residential communities. It’s also close to La Mesa reservoir which supplies Metro Manila’s water needs. Our drinking water can be called Payatas Juice.

Ayala Alabang, the home of the filthy rich in Philippine society, is located near the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa. Bilibid houses the country’s most notorious murderers, rapists, and other criminals (both guilty and innocent). Are there criminals in Ayala Alabang like tax evaders, smugglers, drug lords (plus other ‘lords’), and bosses of organized crimes? Maybe it’s an extension of Bilibid?

Quiapo Church, an important and famous Catholic institution, is a few blocks away from Metro Manila’s Golden Mosque and Cultural Center. It’s funny that google identified the place as Quiapo DVD. Protest actions are often conducted in the busy intersection of Legarda-Mendiola. But this is because police forces are preventing the militant groups from staging a rally in front of the Malacanang Palace near Gate 7. But rallies should be allowed in the freedom park in San Miguel near the presidential palace and Malacanang Park beside the president’s bachelor house in Bahay Pangarap.

Ever wonder why PUP sometimes suspends classes even if there is no typhoon or flooding? It’s because of the gas leak from the oil depot in nearby Pandacan. The oil depot is surrounded by residential communities, schools, churches, and commercial centers. It poses a security threat even to Malacanang.

Smokey Mountain, Manila’s poverty symbol during the Marcos years, is now known as ‘Former Smokey Mountain Dumping Site’. It’s part of Tondo, the city’s working-class district. Near Smokey Mountain is the country’s busiest port. Tondo General Hospital is also in the vicinity. Navotas Fishport operated near a dumping site?

Demolish San Roque community because it’s now a commercial zone? But on the left side of Edsa in the same area is a residential subdivision, Philam. Will they demolish it too? There is enough space in the ‘triangle’ area to build a medium-rise housing complex.

Ayala has no problem if residential subdivisions like Dasma, Urdaneta, Forbes exist within Makati’s central business district. Today, Ayala wants to demolish San Roque in Quezon City to expand the Makati world (Trinoma means Triangle North of Makati). It’s easy to propose the eviction of the poor from their homes but the rich, it seems, are safe in their ancestral domain because city planners are afraid to antagonize the propertied classes. Meanwhile, the poor are reprimanded for blocking the progress of the community.

This is Hacienda Luisita, the biggest family-owned farming estate in Southeast Asia. One of the owners is President Noynoy Aquino. His family still refuses to distribute the land to small farmers which was a commitment made several decades ago.

Panglao Island in Bohol is the next Boracay. But aside from being a famous tourist destination, it’s also a marine sanctuary. The government will build an international airport in this small island to attract more visitors. It could destroy the natural beauty of the place. Why not just expand Tagbilaran airport?

Apparently, this was the mining site of the company which was recently attacked by NPA rebels. The satellite image shows what could probably be the extent of environmental destruction in the mountain because of mining activities

Polomolok seems to thrive as a viable farming town because of Dole. But what if Dole decides one day to transfer its operations somewhere else? What will happen to Polomolok’s papaya and pineapple farmers? How will Polomolok survive after decades of supplying the needs of a single company?

There should be more studies on the situation of mono cities and former mono cities in the Philippines. I am particularly interested to learn more about the evolution of mono cities and its impact on the lives of ordinary people. How do they react if their town’s economic profile or potential has been permanently altered?

Military camps

For example, Subic and Clark were American military bases for almost a century before they were converted into special economic zones in the 1990s. What happened to the towns that served the needs of US personnel inside the bases? When the Americans left, the fall of the entertainment and hospitality industries in Angeles, Pampanga and Olongapo, Zambales was expected but the social impact was greater. Until the 1980s, the presence of the bases was considered as permanent by everybody in Angeles, Mabalacat, Dau, Olongapo, and Subic. The bases affected how residents planned their lives and how policymakers drafted development programs. Then, the bases were suddenly removed.

Aside from the world-class airport in Clark and freeport in Subic, the Americans also left behind an undisclosed amount of toxic wastes, Amerisian children, and HIV. How did the people in the towns near Subic and Clark adjust to the new geo-economic realities?

Today, Subic and Clark are still considered super mini cities because of their excellent infrastructure and strategic locations. Meanwhile, Olongapo and Angeles – the towns which benefited and suffered the most during and after the American colonial and neocolonial times – are also performing well but like before, they still play a secondary role compared to the more prominent Subic and Clark centers.

Relocation centers

Relocation sites are also mono towns. Most of the time, these are farming communities outside the Metropolis where land value is lower and more importantly, are found outside the gaze of tourists, credit rating analysts, investors, and national politicians.

Relocating a squatter community is a violent act. First, an entire village of informal settlers is destroyed. Second, they are transferred to a remote community with little livelihood opportunities. And third, the economic potential of the relocation site is downgraded. From a farming estate, the relocation area is instantly converted into a housing center of the former urban poor. Sapang Palay, Bagong Barrio, Pangarap Village, Erap City, Southville are examples of these former farming villages turned relocation sites. Cavite, which used to be an agricultural province with productive fishing and farming villages, is now the most populous province in the country after the Marcos government designated it as the main relocation site outside Manila. The present government’s resettlement areas are now found in Laguna, Bulacan, and Rizal.

How did farmers and their families respond to the abrupt and forced transformation of their agricultural land? Did they react violently when strangers from the city ‘invaded’ their land? When the old and new settlers interact, which culture or value system became dominant?

A relocation site suffers from the stigma of being a colony of city rejects. It’s treated by everybody – from government officials, respectable civic leaders, and corporate sponsors – as a miserable and hopeless community which requires constant charity from the rich and surveillance from state forces.

But as a mono town, a relocation site isn’t permanent since the government or big property speculators can always reclaim it. Residents of an old relocation site in Dasmarinas, Cavite are in danger of being evicted again because SM wants to build a mall in their area. Lupang Pangako settlers near Litex and Payatas will have to be relocated again because their land is the chosen site for the proposed National Government Center. Ownership of Pangarap Village in Caloocan, a housing village of Malacanang employees during the Marcos time, is being contested today by the Araneta clan.

Enclaves

Are mono towns beneficial to the public? Do they uplift the living conditions of the communities they serve? Let’s discuss the social impact of establishing industrial estates and school centers.

Rosario, Cavite has become a mono town ever since an export processing zone started operating there. Its fishing port is still open but the export zone provides the core economic opportunity for the residents. If not hired as workers, Rosario residents cater to the daily needs of the export zone laborers. Inside the export enclave is a well-planned grid of factories and assembly line production units but outside the complex is a vast ghetto-like, working-class community. Rosario has been turned into a giant boarding house for overworked and underpaid workers. The local government of Rosario has no jurisdiction over the export zone and the tax benefits derived from the operations of the export zone are minimal.

The most famous school center in the country is the university belt area in Morayta, Recto, and Mendiola. The old schools are in Taft and Intramuros while the new schools are found in Makati, Alabang and Sta. Rosa in Laguna. Major university towns exist in Baguio, Tuguegarao, Davao, Iloilo, Dumaguete, Bacolod, Cebu, and Cagayan de Oro.

When a university town is established, the most visible and immediate effect is the rise of various school-related businesses like restaurants, dormitories, gaming shops and bookstores that sell school supplies. The U-belt is not just the site of popular UAAP schools; it’s also famous for its fake diplomas, recycled thesis papers, and very ancient textbook materials. The L-belt in Quezon City (Ateneo, Miriam, UP Diliman), where the biggest concentration of scholars with rebellious and reformist causes is located, led to the transformation of the nearby Philcoa and Teachers’ Villages into the country’s NGO center. Today, university towns also attract call center companies which are always on the lookout for skilled, English-proficient, and healthy young workers.

Rezoning

Some mono towns are able to retain its identity even after their economic fundamentals have changed. Marikina is still known as a shoe country despite the death of the local shoe industry. Its shoe museum is a reminder that it was once a famous exporter of durable and world-class quality shoes. Is the tsinelas industry in Liliw, Laguna still thriving?

The San Lazaro and Sta Mesa horse racetracks in Manila have been demolished already but many people still remember them. What happened to the horses, racetrack workers, and the underground gambling business that flourished before the transfer of the horse tournament in Carmona?

Is the oil depot in Pandacan still operating? Are there still salt-making plants in Las Pinas? Paranaque, then and now, is a bird sanctuary but soon the ‘big birds’ will have to move to Clark airport. Is the ban on tuna fishing in General Santos still in effect? Camanava’s manufacturing belt has been defeated by Calabarzon’s industrial estates but at least it’s still functioning, though it already lost its preferential status. The Cojuangcos couldn’t make up their minds on whether to classify Hacienda Luisita as a sugar plantation, industrial estate, agribusiness center, or gateway to SCTEX.

Muntinlupa’s original ‘loob’ is the National Bilibid Prison; then it became a key manufacturing hub in the Metro. Its subsequent attraction is the Ayala-Alabang gated community.

Camarines Sur is now Camsur which wants to shed its image as a dirt poor province. It somehow worked because it became the country’s top tourist destination in 2009 through its watersports facilities and Caramoan.

The country has numerous tourism mono towns – these are exotic places which are dependent on tourism revenues. Example: Boracay, Panglao, Puerto Princesa, Siargao, Pagudpud, Dakak, Mactan, Malapascua, Coron, Samal. Sustaining a tourism mono town is a challenge for local executives who must strive to balance the preservation of the town’s natural beauty and the temptation to earn more dollar receipts. Baguio and Puerto Galera have miserably failed on this tough balancing act. Manila Bay was once famous for its beaches in Pasay and Tanza but who would dare swim on its waters now?

Mono country

Negros has two provinces but it’s just a very big sugar plantation. For more than a century, the sakadas planted sugar but only the hacenderos became rich. If it decides to diversify its agricultural economy, would it mean the liberation of its farmers?

Tondo has been the home of the poor for centuries and it continued to shelter the dispossessed even after the world-famous Smokey Mountain was cosmetically enhanced. Meanwhile, the nouveau poor reside in Payatas.

Mindanao, the country’s Land of Promise and the former ancestral domain of the Moros, is stereotyped as a violent and mystical island. But the government insists it’s only ARMM which should be categorized as a failed sub-state. Nevertheless, everybody suffers from the little and big wars in Mindanao. If peace is finally attained, would the people easily believe it?

How should the Philippines improve its global image? Economists insist it’s no longer an agricultural nation but a service sector economy. Indeed, it ‘services’ the housekeeping needs of rich nations. It’s an outsourcing mecca and at the same time a sub-contracting state. It’s the home of youtube stars (Charice, Arnel, dancing prisoners) and boxing champions. It’s the global source of raw materials from abaca, coconut, to black coral reefs. It’s the only nation without a divorce law. It was once called by an American commentator as a nation of 40 million cowards and one son of a bitch (Marcos). Are we still a nation of cowards who wouldn’t stand-up against a Porsche-riding hacendero president?

There is some hope. We only need to remember our glorious and heroic past. We should accept some tips from the brave Middle East protesters. The communist insurgency in the countryside, probably the world’s longest, should make us realize that the poor folks in the real farmvilles are ready and willing to embrace a new tomorrow.

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According to Franciscan friars, Forbes Park was ignored during the Spanish era since the other Church Orders preferred the strategic locations inside and near old Manila. But the Franciscans made a wise decision to spread the word of God by building a church in the former swamp land which was eventually transformed into a famous ghetto of the very filthy rich. The first residents of the exclusive village were landlords from the provinces who needed a residential home outside downtown Manila.

The construction of Edsa was conceptualized to spur the development of areas outside old Manila. As urbanization intensified, Edsa quickly became a key circumferential road network in the expanding metropolis. The old haciendas were converted into commercial centers with the exception of Camp Aguinaldo which has been donated already to the government.

But the old rich didn’t give up their residential villas despite the rezoning of Edsa’s environs. Retired generals suffering from withdrawal syndrome chose to live in Corinthian Gardens since it’s close to the camps. Mar Roxas and family continued to live in Cubao Araneta Center despite the commercialization of the area. The upper middle classes resided in Philam and Wack-Wack. Makati has already metamorphosed from a farmville (in its very old unfacebook sense) into a corporate hub but Forbes Park 2011 is still the Forbes Park of the 1950s – the protected ancestral domain of the landed rich. Even the privatization of Fort Bonifacio didn’t threaten the residential paradise of the rich. Forbes Park and its satellites in central Makati (Dasma, Urdaneta, Magallanes, San Lorenzo, Legaspi) are seemingly exempted from new zoning laws and future development plans.

How did the modern ilustrados react to the ‘structural’ changes outside their gates? How did they protect themselves from the elements (read: working masses)? They built higher walls, erected stronger steel gates, and surrounded their villages with the most sophisticated security systems. Entrance to their enclaves became as accessible as the US Embassy.

Edsa’s politicization in 1986 increased its commercial value. It is interesting (also unique in the Philippines) that malls are located in corporate complexes along Edsa. Megamall and Shangrila in Ortigas, Glorietta and Rockwell in Makati, Market Market in Taguig, Robinsons in Pioneer and SM City-Trinoma in North Triangle.

Encouraged by the constant influx of OFW money, property developers are now building condos everywhere. There is a construction boom in Edsa. Tycoons are on a buying spree. They are buying everything – old buildings, residential communities, public parks, and politicians. Araneta Center’s chic appeal was revived with the opening of Gateway; call center hubs have opened in Edsa-Mandaluyong, Edsa-Ortigas, Edsa-Centris in Quezon City; Makati’s corporate offices branched out to Rockwell and Global City.

Meanwhile, the Ayalas are encountering opposition to their planned corporate center in North Triangle. The San Roque residents who refused to abandon their homes are branded as pests who are stunting the development of Quezon City. If we forget the evolution of Edsa, we will be easily swayed by arguments favoring the demolition of the San Roque community. In the name of economic progress, San Roque residents must sacrifice their abode.

But the framing of the issue is wrong and anti-poor. It is not right to argue that San Roque is now a commercial zone to justify the demolition of the residential community. If that is the case, the government should also demolish the nearby Philam Village. But Edsa’s history and the current confused zoning of cities along the highway clearly demonstrate that a residential village like San Roque in North Triangle would not make it impossible for city planners to build a corporate complex in the area. San Roque can peacefully co-exist with Trinoma and the planned business center. In fact, there are several residential blocks within the Makati Central Business District.

Besides, if the Ayalas really want to expand the Makati world, why not demolish Forbes Park instead? It’s closer to Ayala, Buendia and Taguig. The infrastructure network there is superior. Relocating the affected residents (many of whom are not honest taxpayers) won’t be a huge problem since it will only involve a few families.

We do not complain if a mansion is situated beside a tall tower but we raise the specter of petty street crimes if an informal settler is living beside a mall. We do not question the housing right of rich citizens but we accuse the masa of being unreasonable when they only demand to be left alone in their homes. We are quite fascinated with the fighting cocks in the compound of the Roxas Family in Cubao but we ridicule the selling of goats in San Roque. We want total war against the drug users and pushers in San Roque but we are silent against the drug financiers in Makati.

This is Edsa. This is the Philippines.

(To be continued)

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The government assures us that peace and order will be restored. In fact it has dispatched the MMDA as its executioner in Edsa. Discipline will be enforced (sa ikauunland ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan). Police patrols will be more visible. State agents will man the buses. Phone SIM cards will be registered.

The networked citizens are cheering. Bravo MMDA for the traffic updates. Bravo MMDA for the CCTV images. Yes to SIM registration; after all we have nothing to hide. We are good citizens of the Republic. Mussolini could be smiling in his grave. After all, Mussolini’s fascist regime was once praised in Italy for making the trains ran on time. Let’s continue the tradition of equating the ruthless but efficient delivery of public services with good politics.

Why did we allow this to happen in Edsa, our Edsa? Just 25 years ago, it was the site of a spectacular uprising of the people against state repression. Its political value was affirmed in 2001 when anti-Erap forces converged there. Its subversiveness was exposed when the pro-Erap plebian crowd used the same space to express their hatred against the elites.

The self-proclaimed guardians of Edsa have since then banned the gathering of suspicious crowds in the highway in order not to repeat what they claim to be the desecration of church properties in Edsa-Ortigas. Desecration my foot! What they really wanted to avoid was the repetition of the political sequence in 1986 and 2001 because the next aspect of that gathering could be a more radical or more genuinely radical event. They fear that if the masses will succeed in Edsa, the hegemony of their rich patrons will weaken. In short, they wanted to preserve Edsa as the site of the last great stand of the intelligentsia and middle forces.

The state is also afraid of Edsa and its radical meaning. And so in the past decade, the MMDA has banned the presence of people in Edsa (Bawal ang tao dito, nakamamatay). Don’t cross the streets, use the footbridge. Don’t walk and march in Edsa – its either jaywalking or illegal assembly. Also, only state and corporate slogans and artworks are permissible in the highway.

Edsa, the site of world-class people power movements, is now off-limits to people. But we don’t complain because this sacrifice is needed to spur progress and better civilization.

The bourgeois state is cunning. It knows that removing the people in Edsa will make state-sanctioned politics the dominant force in the place. There is no People Power (as we know it) without the collective presence of people in Edsa. The ruling party in power feels safe without the threat of People Power haunting the bureaucrats.

And so we must resist. The people must fight back.

The first duty is to remember. The name Edsa orders us not to forget the past. Edsa is historian Epifanio de los Santos, one of the chroniclers of the 1896 Philippine Revolution. Remembering Edsa as a protest landmark is easy since it only refers to the immediate past. Use the memory of radical Edsa to challenge the oppressive present and not to prettify the image of the haciendero president.

The second duty is to question and challenge the dominance of the bourgeoisie in Edsa. They have reterritorialized the space in favor of their class interest. If we allow them complete ownership of Edsa, we will soon lose Commonwealth and C-5. The toiling masses, the real builders of society, are rendered invisible in Edsa. Let the proletariats terrorize the capitalists in Edsa!

How to do it? The third duty involves the restoration of progressive politics in Edsa. There are concrete struggles today: Reject the anti-poor LRT/MRT fare hikes. Defend the San Roque community in North Triangle. Expose and oppose the elements of a police state which are now prevailing in Edsa.

The other alternative (easy but cowardly) is to do nothing. If we choose this option, two kinds of terror will win. The deadly terror inflicted by the anonymous bus bombers and the numbing terror of the state masquerading as public service.

To fight terror, we must bring back politics. Radical politics is needed to defeat terrorism. People Power, not state terror, is the answer to the specter of ‘street crimes’ in Edsa.

Rejecting politics means we are surrendering our right to claim Edsa. If that day comes, Edsa will be in the hands of terrorists, surveillance experts, police/military elements, corporate vultures, and porsche-riding politicians.

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What is today’s equivalent of the belfry? There are three contenders: malls, billboards, and cell phone towers. Malls and billboards may be sprouting everywhere but they are concentrated only in city centers. Meanwhile, cell phone towers dot the cityscape and the countryside. They are ubiquitous, mysterious, and effective infrastructures of power. Like the belfry of our Spanish past, the modern cell phone towers send signals that only reach a certain distance. There is no super tower that can cover the whole archipelago. The poorest and remotest parts of the country continue to have weak cell phone connections. Cell phone signals are linked with modernity and progress which is why the building of cell phone towers receives high protection from the state. (Modern structures are forbidden in Chocolate Hills in Bohol – except cell phone towers, of course).

Then and now the poor are hypnotized by the invisible transmission of magic waves emitted by power structures: the belfry of the past and today’s cell phone towers. The belfry sound represented the presence of the church and the existence of God; the cell phone signals represent development and the existence of modern communications. In the past, rebels were feared and hated because they refused to honor God and His chosen representatives on Earth. Today, rebels are despised for thwarting progress every time they bomb cell phone towers.

Yes, the belfry promoted religion and spirituality but it was used to intensify the colonial subjugation of the pagan islands. Yes, the cell phone towers improved the delivery of communication in the country but they are false indicators of progress. Surrendering to the sound of the church bells affirmed the hegemony of the clergy. Using the cell phone signals made communication easier and information sending faster but profits are being accumulated somewhere and someone is monopolizing these profits; and Big Brother is spying on everyone.

From Ayala to San Roque

Trinoma means Triangle North of Makati. The reference point of the Ayala mall in Quezon City is Makati, the country’s financial center and economic mecca of the domestic ruling elite. Trinoma is located in North Avenue which is part of north triangle of Quezon City but it seems Trinoma owners disregarded the spatial link of the mall to the nearby west, east and south triangles of the city. Instead, the Ayalas preferred to make Trinoma a remote satellite structure of its power base in the Makati control room. Trinoma was built to spur the redevelopment of the north triangle area. Specifically, the plan is to build another business district (create a new Makati) and the north triangle is the chosen territory. The plan has the blessings of the money-hungry local government.

But north triangle is not an empty land. The San Roque community is located in north triangle. San Roque is now branded by the government and property developers as a squatter colony but this is historically inaccurate. Half a century ago, some of the Manila poor were resettled in the area around San Roque, which was at that time an agricultural community that reached up to Bagong Pag-asa, Novaliches and Bulacan. The resettlement center was later known as the residential community of Bago Bantay. Even the Golden Acres, a housing site for senior citizens, was constructed in the area. Schools were later established: Bago Bantay Academy (renamed as Quezon City Academy), San Francisco High School, Quezon City Science, and Philippine Science High School. The public space in north triangle was a housing and schooling center before SM and Trinoma invaded it.

Golden Acres is now SM property. The People’s Park was bought by Ayala which was converted into Trinoma. And now the government wants to demolish the San Roque community.

When Escolta became too small for the business elite, they moved their corporate headquarters to Makati. Then, smaller satellite territories were established in Ortigas, Fort Bonifacio, and Libis. Now they are targeting a new colony in Quezon City, north side of EDSA. The feasibility plan is completed, the financial package has been approved, and government approval has been secured – only one problem remains: the residents of San Roque won’t go away.

When Ayala constructed the Trinoma Mall, everybody commented about the competition it would engender between the SM and Ayala supermalls. Who will emerge the winner in the battle for mall supremacy: the old Spanish clan or the Chinese tycoon? Today, it has become evident that there was really no serious feuding between the two business empires. It was a friendly competition. The real conflict is only starting to unravel: the residents of San Roque on one hand and the capitalists on the other side. The residents belong to the working classes and they are supported by organized collectives. The capitalists are requiring the bureaucrat capitalists to speed up the demolition of the squatter community.

San Roque in North Triangle is the last bastion of proletarian might in the reterritorialized EDSA. It is one of the few remaining public spaces along EDSA which have not yet been invaded by capitalist vultures. It must be defended. Aside from asserting their rights, San Roque residents should derive inspiration from the heroic struggles of the Filipino people in EDSA. The Bantayog ng mga Bayani is located near the San Roque community.

Finally, the hypocrisy of the business community has been exposed. Habitat for Humanity? Gawad Kalinga? Corporate Social Responsibility? Show your love for the homeless poor by defending San Roque.

From Monumento to Mall of Asia

EDSA or Highway 54 is the most important and famous road in the Philippines. It is the site of two People Power actions. It connects the north and south expressways. The three biggest shopping malls in the world are located here. The police and military headquarters are stationed here. Financial centers are established in Makati-EDSA, Ortigas-EDSA and soon North Triangle-EDSA.

EDSA’s evolution was influenced by various contending forces in Manila society: the working poor, capitalist class, and the government. The working poor and capitalists can work together in order to topple an unjust government (People Power). But most of the time, the government is subservient to the demands of the business elite. They join forces so that they can silence and defeat the working class. Their executioner in EDSA is the MMDA.

It is funny, interesting, and symbolic that the EDSA boundary is represented by the Bonifacio monument in the north and Mall of Asia in the south. It signifies the ongoing struggle to define and redefine the meaning of EDSA. Bonifacio represents the plebian forces while Mall of Asia stands for the dictatorship of the capitalist ruling elite. Who is winning the war?

EDSA has a subversive potential and the ruling class is aware of it. The malls are there to hypnotize the poor and rechannel the political rage of the people into consumer frenzy. The MRT transports passengers from one mall to another but it doesn’t have direct station links to People Power monuments.

EDSA, the people’s highway, is quickly evolving into an anti-people thoroughfare. The state, afraid of the People Power past of EDSA, now prevents the people from walking, crossing, and marching in EDSA. The street which witnessed two fantastic uprisings in 1986 and 2001 is now a death zone for innocent jaywalkers (bawal tumawid, nakamamatay), and political protesters.

The struggle of the San Roque residents is a living monument to the people’s right to reclaim the EDSA highway. Do we want this historic space to be forever colonized by oversized malls, billboard deathtraps, and skycrapers? (When he visited Havana during the pre-revolution years, Sartre described skycrapers as “insane protuberances”).

Do people live along EDSA? Yes! If residents of Forbes, Dasmarinas, Corinthians, Philam and Mar Roxas in Cubao can comfortably sleep in their homes near EDSA, why deny this right to San Roque residents. They are Filipinos too. They are humans too. Demolishing San Roque would send a message that the residential space in EDSA is exclusively for the rich and powerful only. Rezoning EDSA is not wrong, but it should not be biased against the poor.

The immediate objective is to destroy the houses in San Roque. The real aim is to quash the fighting capability of the poor. And once the job is finished in EDSA, their next target would be the reclaiming of C5 and Commonwealth.

Defend San Roque! Long Live People Power!

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The Manila-Dagupan railroad no longer exists. It is one of the numerous railways in Luzon which have been abandoned and forgotten. Before World War II, the Manila Railway Company operated 1,140 kilometers of railways in the island. Its most popular routes were Manila-Legazpi and Manila-Tabaco in Albay; and Manila-San Fernando in La Union. After World War II, only 452 kilometers of the railways were left operational.

The Manila Railway Company was renamed Philippine National Railways in 1964. Its two major lines were Main Line North and Main Line South.

The Main Line North offered a 266 kilometer link between Manila and La Union. It had a 55 kilometer branch line from Tarlac City to San Jose City in Nueva Ecija. Its other (forgotten) branch lines were railway links from Paniqui in Tarlac to San Quintin in Pangasinan; San Fernando, Pampanga to Floridablanca also in Pampanga; and Balagtas in Bulacan to Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija.

The more extensive Main Line South operations featured the popular 479 kilometer route of Manila-Legazpi. It had a 5 kilometer branch line from San Pedro in Laguna to Carmona in Cavite. Its other (forgotten) branch lines were railway links from Calamba in Laguna to Batangas City; Los Banos to Santa Cruz in Laguna; and Sta Mesa in Manila to Barangay Hulo in Mandaluyong.

The floods in 1973 forced the closure of the Manila north line. Two years later, floods washed out the bridges east of Camalig in Albay preventing passengers from accessing Legazpi which is still 12 kilometers away. Before the downfall of Marcos in 1986, the Manila south line diverted its operations to Daraga in Albay and rejoined the old line at Barangay Travesia in Guinobatan, and bypassed Camalig to avoid the flashfloods near Mt. Mayon.

No new railways were developed during the Cory Aquino administration. In fact, the northbound services ended in 1988. The south line service was offered only up to Naga in Camarines Sur and Polangui in Albay. The railway branch line of Tarlac City to Dagupan in Pangasinan was also closed during this period.

Today, the 32.2 kilometer railway line from Caloocan to Malolos in Bulacan is being rehabilitated under the Northrail project. The southbound operations today are Manila-Alabang and Manila-Binan. But tracks, bridges, stations of the south line were damaged by typhoons Milenyo and Reming in 2006.

Railway politics

Railways do not just transport people and goods, they also transport political and economic ideas. They serve the political objectives of the party in power. They can also be maximized by various political forces, even by oppositional groups.

The first railways connected the haciendas of the north to imperial Manila, which was and still the country’s principal trading center. The railway infrastructure sustained the needs of the agricultural economy. The railways connected Luzon north (Dagupan and La Union), central Luzon (Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija), Manila, south Luzon, and Bicol region (Tabaco in Albay was an important port facing the Pacific Ocean; Aside from abaca, Visayan goods were also transported through this port). The branch lines of the north and south lines were intended to transport rural goods and crops at a shorter distance, probably to facilitate minor trading between towns.

Then and now, the railways benefited the western corridor of Luzon. No railways were built to cross the eastern frontier of Luzon (Cagayan Valley, east of Sierra Madre).

After the war, the corrupt and puppet governments didn’t develop a masterplan on how to use the railways to promote economic growth. As the country became more dependent on foreign loans and investments, succeeding governments have failed to realize the vital relationship of a robust local agricultural sector to overall national industrialization. Instead of extending the railways, the state preferred to make the country an ideal assembly plant of imported goods, including surplus cars and other automobiles from rich nations. The railways were soon abandoned as economic activities focused on manufacturing and service sectors in mega Manila.

The government is now planning to rebuild the almost forgotten railroads of the north and south through the Northrail and Southrail projects. The aim now is to decongest Metro Manila and to connect former military bases which have been converted into economic zones. The state wants to use the infrastructure left behind by the U.S. military to produce positive economic activities. It is proof that the postwar governments didn’t build cities with adequate infrastructure that would warrant the need to construct and maintain railways in the countryside. Paano pala kung hindi umalis ang mga kano?

Because of the uneven economic development in the country, the rural poor are migrating to the cities and the railways were used by the poor to seek better opportunities in Manila. (Nora Aunor used to sell flowers in a train station in Bicol before winning in a nationwide singing contest.) And since the economy has always been in a bankrupt state, majority of the poor migrants from the provinces were unable to find stable jobs, livelihood and decent housing in the city. Thus, many of the rural poor became the urban poor of Manila, the famed residents of home along da riles. It is no coincidence that shantytowns were established near railways since many of the nouveau poor (after the war) arrived in Manila via the railways.

Today the railway shantytowns in Metro Manila have been forcibly removed already. The old poor are now the new poor in Montalban, Laguna, Cavite and other relocation sites. The Southrail team reported that they still need to relocate 1.06 million households before they can complete the project. The efficient and ruthless state of the 21st century is expected to use modern, business-like methods to prevent the poor from invading the railway space again.

The paranoid and repressive state is also expected to prevent dissident forces from using the railways to challenge the hegemony of the ruling class. Yes, the railways can be used by revolutionary forces. The Manila-Dagupan railroad was finished in 1892, the same year when Bonifacio founded the Katipunan. The anti-Spanish revolutionary government was able to liberate numerous towns along the Manila-Dagupan rail link. Why did Japanese forces destroy the railway backbone of Luzon? Probably because the railways were effectively used by the Huks to defeat the colonizers. How can the rural-based communist forces use the Northrail and Southrail and the other railway projects in aid of revolution?

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Malacanang Palace, supposedly the palace of the people, is now the fortress of a paranoid president. It is already reinforced with defenses that prevent ordinary Filipinos and foreign tourists alike from visiting or even taking a glimpse of the official residence of the most important public official of the land. Gate 7 of the palace is permanently closed, container vans are placed near the Mendiola gate to ward off protesters; and if these structures fail to deter the mob, the palace is still protected by electric fences. Big Brother can instantly detect any suspicious activity in the vicinity because of the CCTV cameras placed around the palace, especially in Recto and Mendiola.

But for the present occupant of Malacanang, these steel barricades and surveillance instruments are not enough to guarantee the safety of the First Family. Another iron gate is being constructed at the foot of Mendiola which would immediately block protesters from advancing beyond the historic Don Chino Roces Bridge. Not only would it deny citizens the opportunity to air their sentiments in front of the palace, which is essential in a democratic society, it is also named most inappropriately as Mendiola Peace Arch.

Building the so-called peace arch is a violent gesture on the part of the government and naïve acquiescence on the part of Mendiola school owners who approved the design of the structure. The new gate reflects the thinking of palace ideologues who interpret peace as the absence of dissent or contrary opinion to government propaganda. The aim of the palace is not to celebrate peace but to enforce it by depriving critics of any space to challenge the official lies peddled by government apologists. Perhaps palace subordinates still cling to the archaic belief that only the president has the right to speak in behalf of the people and they do not want to recognize the legitimate claim of the grassroots to address and represent the public as well.

The peace arch is worse than the barbed wire barricade in Mendiola Bridge because the gate is a permanent structure while the latter can still be removed by determined protesters. It symbolizes a dangerous version of peace because it actually names the place as an abode of stability when in fact it is a contested territory between the dominant and emerging political forces in society. It is obvious that the government is hell bent in reclaiming Mendiola as its exclusive domain.

The gate or peace arch is a repressive structure which was erected by the state to warn opposition groups that the existence of peace in the area is conditional – that is if the protesters will behave and submit to the wisdom of the steel structures in Mendiola. Dare to cross the gate and the protesters will receive a proper water and truncheon treatment courtesy of Malacanang’s resident firemen and anti-dispersal unit of the police.

Mendiola is the holy ground of the parliament of the streets. It is through this junction where student protesters stormed the presidential palace in 1970. Landless farmers were massacred here in 1987. Through the same road, Malacanang was attacked by Edsa Dos and Edsa Tres forces in 2001. In the past 40 years, many Filipinos fighting for an egalitarian ideal lost their lives in the altar of Mendiola. The Mendiola Peace Arch is an insult to the heroism of countless Filipinos who defied the Marcos dictatorship and those who continue to dream of a more just and humane society. The palace is wrong if it thinks the peace arch will make the Filipinos forget the traumatic and violent episodes which took place in Mendiola. You cannot heal the wounds of the past by building vulgar structures.

The construction of the peace arch is one of the last inglorious acts of President Gloria Arroyo. The Malacanang fortress testifies to the political isolation of Arroyo. Maybe her desperation to survive in the wake of numerous political scandals hounding her government had forced her to create a steel blockade around the palace. The economist who had advocated the removal of free trade barriers is the same pitiful politician who constructed steel barriers around the palace to protect her weak presidency.

The new president must not only choose his bachelor pad; he must also dismantle the real and symbolic fences erected by his predecessor. He must decide whether he wants to continue living in an elegant garrison or he can start the journey towards the promised land by first opening the palace grounds to the poor. The new president should be reminded that the ordinary poor cannot access the just path (daang matuwid) towards Malacanang because it is enhanced with several roadblocks.

But the new president is also a traditional politician who probably possesses the same political instincts that made Arroyo infamous. Maybe the new president will keep the gates of the palace and the peace arch closed so that protesters will be discouraged from holding rallies in Mendiola. If the president will do nothing about these structures, he should be prepared for battle. That peace arch, that repulsive thing will embolden the militants to stage bigger and more aggressive political actions in Mendiola. Rallyists will find other creative ways to reach Malacanang Palace. No metal roadblock, even barricades made from wolverine claws, can stop the advance of the people’s movement for genuine change. The overkill security set-up around Malacanang betrays the true sentiment of the party in power – it is afraid of the people. The gates are built to delay the victory of the people. But the poor, the fighting poor, will smash these oppressive structures which perpetuate the old order.

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“Before the construction of the flyovers, one of the more stinging criticisms against the Aquino Administration was that it did not have any accomplishments to show” – Jessica Soho, 1992.

Every administration wants to leave a concrete legacy. A literal concrete legacy. Marcos’ edifice complex is well-known. Aquino’s flyovers were built to show some accomplishments. Ramos initiated the construction of MRT and Skyway. Erap has mansions for her mistresses. Arroyo seems to be the most accomplished with her extensive network of roads, bridges, RoRo, new LRT lines, SCTEX, NLEX, and SLEX. Ten flyover projects will be finished before the end of Arroyo’s term.

Every politician is proposing a road project. DPWH expenses are dominated by national roads and congressional allocations. Since Metro Manila roads are already cemented, local politicians have concocted something else: beautification of street sidewalks. But some politicians and bureaucrats are unable to correct some old habits. They destroy good roads so that they can have a legitimate reason to propose the asphalting of these roads. Clever!

It is puzzling that abortion roads (or rough roads) still dot the Philippine countryside even if most politicians, national and local, boast of sponsoring various road projects. It is surprising that Arroyo has listed infrastructure development as her positive legacy. A closer look at the country’s infrastructure competitiveness numbers point to the underwhelming performance of the Arroyo administration in terms of improving the country’s roads.

The Philippines has 29,650 km of total national road network. But only 23 percent or 6,811 km are in good conditions. The rest are decorated with potholes, depressions, ruts, shoving, cracks, and failed sections. There are 812 temporary national bridges. It’s not the number of road projects that counts, but the quality of these construction activities.

The country’s paved roads ratio is at 73 percent. Compare this number with Myanmar’s 80 percent, Kazakhstan’s 93 percent, and Thailand’s 98 percent. The regions with the lowest paved roads ratio are CAR (40 percent), Mimaropa (48 percent), and CARAGA (53 percent). The Philippines ranked 57th in the 2009 Basic Infrastructure Competitiveness Index in Asia. Only 57 countries were surveyed last year.

Road projects are politicized. Malacanang decides which political dynasty will receive preferential treatment when dividing the spoils. Distribution of road funding is not based on urban-rural planning. For example, Rizal and Bulacan provinces received P215 million and P211 million respectively in 2007 from the funds collected through the Motor Vehicles User’s Charge. Meanwhile, Isabela City was allotted only P990 thousand and Marawi was given P2 million.

There are 334 local bills in the 14th Congress proposing the nationalization of hundreds of local roads. Is this good or bad? National roads are maintained by the national government. If roads are nationalized, it means more funds for the local governments but fewer funds for the social and economic projects of the national government.

Politicians want road projects because they are visible and permanent accomplishments. Roads are built to gather more votes on election day. But politicians must also appreciate the economic benefits of improving the country’s road network. Roads handle 90 percent of the country’s passenger-movement and 50 percent freight movement. Because of poor transport infrastructure quality in the country, road accidents cost US$894 million in 2002. This was equal to more than 1 percent of the GDP.

Good roads improve lives and livelihood. Good roads attract more tourists. The construction of the circumferential road in Bohol enhanced the tourism profile of the province. Studies show that a 1 percent increase in road access can bring a 0.11% increase in income of the poor. A 1 percent improvement in the International Roughness Index for national roads would yield a 4 percent reduction in vehicle operating cost.

The country’s poorest provinces have high unpaved roads ratio. Tawi-Tawi, Masbate, Sulu, Lanao del Sur and Ifugao are provinces with high incidences of poverty and poor provincial roads. The presence of rough roads also signifies the existence of rebel groups.

Flyovers and LRT lines are political investments in the urban. They do not just decongest the metropolis, they are built to impress the opposition-leaning urban voters. The RoRo is another effective political infrastructure. It links the islands. It is an appropriate transport network in an archipelagic country like the Philippines. It allows the weak state to dominate the wild spaces and places in the rural. It tames the rough seas. It gives an illusion that the weak state is able to lead by transporting people and products throughout the islands. But the RoRo is treated by some technocrats as a mere economic project. Its political value is not appreciated. Gibo wants mega bridges, mega tunnels to connect the islands. (Mega sources of corruption too). Maybe it is his answer to the recent cases of maritime disasters.

There are paved roads and rough roads. There are local roads and national roads. There are tourism roads, accident-prone roads, corruption roads, insurgency roads, and RoRo roads. There are colonial roads (Kennon) and freedom roads (Mendiola, Edsa). There are political roads and there are economic roads. Building roads has never been an innocent enterprise.

*Thanks to the Congressional Planning and Budget Department of the House of Representatives for the DPWH data cited in this post.

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The Philippines has more than 85 airports, 9 of which are international airports. That’s about one airport per province. Composed of more than 7,000 islands, the Philippines must have an efficient transportation network to move people and goods within the country. But do we really need to build more airports? Based on the 2009 State of the Nation technical report, the government plans to create 5 more international airports. What is the ideal number of airports for a small country like the Philippines?

Batanes, that beautiful tiny province in the north, has two airports: Itbayat and Basco. The Ilocos Region has two international airports: Laoag and San Fernando (Poro Point). To increase tourist arrivals in the sparkling Hundred Islands, Alaminos in Pangasinan wants to build its own airport even though the city is a mere 4 hour drive from Manila.

Metro Luzon has four international airports: Subic, Clark, Ninoy Aquino (in Pasay), and the soon to be constructed Southern Luzon International Airport. Palawan, the so-called last frontier of the Philippines, has four airports: Balabac, Puerto Princesa, San Vicente, and Busuanga. Negros Island, the land of sugar barons, has three airports: Bacolod-Silay, Kabankalan, and Dumaguete. Panglao Island in Bohol, the next Boracay of Visayas, is not satisfied that there is a nearby Tagbilaran airport. It wants to build its own airport. Siargao Island, the surfing capital of the country, is going to have its own airport even though the island is very accessible from Surigao City. If the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental is completed, what will happen to the Cagayan de Oro airport which is also located in the same province?

Building airports requires huge investments (usually foreign loans). The Filipino people and airline passengers will pay for these mega infrastructure. Airports occupy large tracts of land. Prime agricultural land can be converted into airports. Expanding the airport system can undermine the country’s food security. Feed the hungry by destroying a rice field so that an airport can be built where rice donations from abroad can be transported?

Airports can improve tourism numbers but it can also damage the environment. Airports can destroy the natural habitats of endangered species. Airports generate pollution (noise and air pollution). Flying is more dangerous than driving in terms of impact on environment. Stop being so harsh on tricycle drivers for polluting the air. Wanna stop climate change? Then reduce air travel.

Tourists want to visit the country’s exotic islands because they appreciate and enjoy the natural beauty of the Philippines. If we build a runway and airport facilities in a unique island like Panglao, are we not spoiling the country’s natural treasure? In the long run, building too many adjacent airports can be counter-productive. Commercial overdevelopment can destroy the attractiveness of our wow islands. Remember Boracay. Remember Baguio.

Building airports is not the first requirement to enhance tourism numbers. There must be a sound tourism plan. There must be exciting promotional packages like what the local government did in Camarines Sur (which by the way is the country’s number one tourist destination of the year). Improving the tourism infrastructure is crucial but it is not always necessary to depend on airports to attract tourists. Tourism must also address the needs of the community over that of foreigners. Are we building airports to generate tourism dollars alone?

Indeed, airports stimulate economic activities. They bring in money, goods, investors, and our very own balikbayans. But airports also bring in pedophiles, human smugglers, and military warships. We have to rethink the economic activities that airports are supposed to produce. We have 85 airports (at the moment) yet we remain impoverished. Our economic profile remains the same: agricultural, pre-modern, pre-industrial. If the national leadership continues to worship the neoliberal dogma, then our airports will continue to transport cheap imported goods, prostitutes, and politicians. Don’t confuse airport building with national industrialization. Don’t equate airport expansion with economic growth. The road (or runway) to prosperity starts with the basics: productive agriculture, strong basic industries, skilled workforce. These goals cannot be attained by building airports alone.

The academe must intervene. It should identify the maximum number of airports the country should build, maintain, and develop. The transportation infrastructure plan should be comprehensive. As an archipelago, shouldn’t the Philippines focus on shipbuilding? Build more fast ferries. Build more modern ports. Encourage water transport. Bullet railways are needed in Luzon and Mindanao.

But politicians and technocrats, being what they are, will always prefer mega projects which can yield mega kickbacks too. Airports create a veneer of modernity; airports are perfect infrastructure legacies for politicians in search of legitimacy and credibility.

There are 7,000 islands in the country. Are we aiming to build 7,000 airports too?

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