Myanmar’s Census Controversy

By admin | March 22, 2014

Written for The Diplomat

Myanmar is scheduled to hold a census next month but local and international monitoring groups are worried that it could inflame ethnic and religious tensions in the country.

The census, supported by several UN agencies, is deemed important because it has been more than 30 years since a nationwide census was conducted. Through the census, Myanmar’s demographic profile can be objectively determined, which would prove useful for policymakers and potential investors in planning for Myanmar’s development needs.

But the census question on ethnic or tribal identification threatens to ignite more conflicts in the country. The census form requires citizens to choose from the 135 ethnic groups identified by the government. This listing, according to some scholars, is a colonial legacy that should have been revamped a long time ago. Several ethnic groups have complained about being lumped with other minorities while others claimed they were dropped from the listing.

For example, the Palaung (Ta’aung) tribe questioned their inclusion as a member of the Shan race.

“We, Ta’aung, settled down in this land before the Shan…We are not the same with other races. We live in mountainous area and have a different culture and language,” according to an official statement issued by the Palaung community.

In Myanmar, most people identify as Burmans. An estimated 40 percent of the population is considered an ethnic minority, with the Shan composing the biggest minority group. The other major groups include the Karen, Karreni, Kachin, Chin, Mon and Arakan.

To avoid misunderstanding, the government is urged to reclassify the listing based on a “democratic consultation” with ethnic communities. And while the government is doing this, some groups wanted the census delayed for another month. The postponement is also necessary to pursue the peace process in some remote areas where a ceasefire has not yet been finalized between government troops and armed rebels.

The concern of ethnic groups is understandable because they might lose political representation if the census adopts the government listing of the country’s ethnic groups. Ethnic minister positions in local parliaments are automatically given to ethnic groups with more than 0.01 percent of the population in the area. The government is accused of deliberately bloating the number of ethnic subgroups to deny representation to some tribes.

But in the case of the Rohingyas, the government continues to treat them as illegal immigrants with no citizenship rights. Kyaw Min of the Democracy and Human Rights Party is appealing for the recognition of Rohinyas, who are mostly Muslims:

“Every human race has its own identity. We have our identity already…This is not just now –we have had it for a long time. But we have found that there is discrimination in the country, which ignores our demand that our identity be recognized.”

One concern about the inclusion of religion in the census is the destabilization it might generate. In particular, the census might confirm that Myanmar has a growing number of Muslims, which could provoke Buddhist extremist groups to incite more hatred and violence against the Muslim population.

Kyaw Thu, head of the civil society consortium Paung Ku, thinks questions on ethnicity and religion should be dropped because the objective of the census is focused on development and economic projects. This reasoning was echoed by Tun Myint Kyaw, local coordinator in Mon State for the European Union-funded Rule of Law Project, who also reminded the government about its earlier commitment to remove the ethnicity and religion category from the national identity card.

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group is proposing to limit census questions on age, sex and marital status. The group also warned how communal violence could derail the country’s transition towards a peaceful democracy:

“Myanmar is one of the most diverse countries in the region, and ethnicity is a complex, contested and politically sensitive issue, in a context where ethnic communities have long believed that the government manipulates ethnic categories for political purposes…A poorly timed census that enters into controversial areas of ethnicity and religion in an ill-conceived way will further complicate the situation.”

So much hope has been placed on the 2015 elections, which many believe will determine the success of Myanmar’s political transition. But the legitimacy of the election is endangered if next month’s census substantially alters voting constituencies and ethnic representations in favor of some vested political interest.

There is still time for Myanmar to seriously rethink the content and procedure of the coming census.

East Timor Eyes Tighter Media Control

Written for The Diplomat

To allegedly protect the rights of media practitioners, the government of East Timor is proposing a media law that is now being deliberated in the parliament. But journalists and human rights groups have thumbed down the bill, which they believe would institutionalize excessive regulation of the media sector.

The draft legislation was approved by the Council of Ministers last August but its content was not made public for six months.

The Council of Ministers claimed that the intent of the bill is to guarantee freedom of the press but at the same time it also seeks to make the press more responsible: “Its purpose is primarily to regulate the activity of professionals adequately prepared and ethically responsible, so that they can inform the public objectively and impartially and encourage active and enlightened citizenship by the population, thus contributing to a democratic society.”

But several local media groups have pointed out that the proposed law contains several provisions that directly undermine free speech. For instance, they highlighted Article 7 of the measure which mandates the registration of journalists to be supervised by a Press Council.

For La’o Hamutuk, a local NGO, the creation of a press council is unnecessary: “As freedom of expression is already guaranteed by the Constitution, no Press Council is needed to regulate it. A Council of commercial media organizations and paid journalists can self-regulate their business, including with their Code of Ethics, but their processes cannot be imposed on everyone and should not involve the state, either through financial support or legal enforcement. Furthermore, no journalist should be required to join an organization in order to practice his or her Constitutional rights.”

The group also questioned the provision which would narrow the definition of journalists to those working for corporate media. It insisted that the media landscape has already changed, which means citizen journalists must be recognized too by the government. It rejected the view that journalists who deserve protection are only those “controlled by for-profit media.” It also urged the government to broaden the provision which assured the right to free expression of citizens by replacing the word “citizens” with “everyone.”

La’o Hamutuk is joined by the Journalists Association of Timor-Leste in criticizing the bill for being unconstitutional; in particular the bill allegedly violates Articles 40 and 41 of the Constitution which address the people’s rights and freedom to seek, collect, choose, analyze and disseminate information.

“What we see in these laws is gives an impression that they intend to regulate the press rather than protect the rights of East Timorese journalists,” the Journalists Association of Timor-Leste said.

This position was echoed by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) which already called for a review and even overhaul of the proposed legislation: “Any legislation that would limit the capacity of local and international journalists reporting on East Timor, also limits the public’s right to know and is of great concern to the IFJ. We urge the government to ensure those reservations and perspectives are taken seriously and incorporated into the draft media law.”

Responding to these criticisms, parliament leaders vowed to accept and incorporate the views expressed by various local media and human rights groups. Many hope that the final document will truly reflect the original aim of the measure which is about respecting and advancing the people’s right to free speech.

Otherwise, it would be supremely ironic and tragic for East Timor to lose its independent media, after spending the past 500 years fighting repression, censorship and colonial rule.

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The rise and rise of Manila’s informal settlers

By admin | March 20, 2014

Written for Bulatlat

The government is always claiming that the number of poor is decreasing but it cannot deny the phenomenal growth of informal settlers across the country, especially in Metro Manila, in the past decade. According to a study cited by the government-funded Philippine Institute for Development Studies, about 5 percent of Metro Manila residents were living in informal settlements in 2003. The figure went up to more than 10 percent in 2009. Two years later, the Department of Interior and Local Government submitted a report to Malacanang placing the number of informal settlers at 2.7 million or about 25 percent of Metro Manila’s population.

What did these figures prove? First, they highlighted the utter failure of the government’s Balik Probinsiya, social housing, and relocation programs. Second, poverty cannot be adequately measured by family income and household consumption. And third, wealth disparity has worsened between the rural and urban regions, and among the social classes.

It is convenient to blame runaway population growth for the rapid rise in the number of the poor; and in fact, this argument is consistently used to justify population control measures. But this reasoning puts the blame entirely on the poor without addressing the historic inequities and structural defects in society. It must be emphasized that babymaking is not a supreme evil that must be exorcised.

Perhaps a better way to explain the poverty situation in Metro Manila as a starting point is to link it with other social catastrophes such as super typhoon Yolanda and the devastation these caused in the provinces. Weather disturbances and environment disasters are undeniably great factors that contribute to the cycle of inter-generational poverty in the country.

Days after Yolanda wrought havoc in the Visayas, thousands of desperate and traumatized residents fled the region and escaped to Manila. The exodus is poignant since it reflected the historic migration of our people from the countryside to Imperial Manila. We were instantly reminded that rural villagers who chose to settle in Manila (and they compose majority of informal settlers) were probably no different from Yolanda victims who were forced to leave their homes because of unexpected dire circumstances.

Yolanda displaced thousands of Warays and many of them sought refuge in Manila. It is safe to assume that deadly typhoons in recent years such as Pablo, Sendong, Pepeng, Reming, and Frank also forced many farmers and fisherfolk in the typhoon-ravaged provinces to find shelter in Manila.

But extreme weather events are just one of the reasons why informal settlers have grown considerably in the past decade. It cannot explain why the ‘transient poor’ within Metro Manila have become ‘chronic poor’ in a just a few years.

Manila is not an urban paradise or even a livable habitat by international standards; but economic opportunities are unfairly concentrated here. Right or wrong, it is perceived as a better place to live than in the provinces plagued by hunger, malnutrition, militarization, and feudal exploitation. Case in point is boxing champion Manny Paquiao who left Sarangani as a young stowaway in search of a better life in Manila despite the pristine waters, fertile fields, and mineral-rich mountains of his hometown.

The rise of informal settlers in the past decade actually coincided with the mainstreaming of neoliberal policies in various aspects of governance and in the handling of the local economy. The number of homeless and jobless poor swelled in the era of contractualization and unlamented decline of the manufacturing sector. There is a direct link between factory shutdowns and increased pauperization in the former semi-industrial enclaves and working-class districts in various parts of Metro Manila.

Then, the cost of living dramatically surged after the government turned over the operations of public utilities to big business. Higher prices, regressive taxes, and depressed wages became the new norm in a supposedly democratizing and modernizing middle-income society.

Privatization became a methodical blueprint to weaken unions while facilitating the systematic cash transfer from ordinary consumers to the very few mega corporations which control the economy. Development is insanely equated with the billions hoarded by the elite at the expense of the toiling poor.

Meanwhile, land conversions and dubious land reform deals forced many farmers and their families to eke out a living in the city. After years or even decades of subsistence living, many small farmers finally lost their livelihood when cheap and smuggled agricultural products flooded the local market while they receive negligible assistance from the government.

But Metro Manila’s embarrassing poverty is partly hidden by the frenzied construction of residential condominiums, call center hubs, and malls. They are false icons of progress but quite effective in masking the burgeoning poverty in the metropolis.

Unfortunately, informal settlers are not seen as victims of the mad rush to achieve high GDP but recidivist violators of property rights. They are castigated for blocking the growth process by refusing to leave their homes, which have been suddenly rezoned as prime commercial centers.

Today, the poor are given two options: return to the province or relocate to a remote housing area. They are told to self-demolish (actually, there’s no such thing as self-demolition. It is demolition). But they always have the choice to refuse the lesser evil. Indeed, their labor is belittled and their intellectual capacity is ignored in mainstream society; but they can use their collective strength to strike fear in the hearts and minds of their oppressors. They can fight the inhumanity of poverty caused by decades of exploitation and uneven distribution of wealth in society. They can organize their ranks and resist development aggression projects. They can challenge the violent machinations of the state. They can smash the structures of elitist power. In other words, they have every right to avail of the ultimate alternative: Revolution!

Evicting Metro Manila’s informal settlers is defended by bureaucrats and technocrats as a necessity so that we can proceed with our nation-building and wealth creation activities. But informal settlers are not the problem. They are actually part of the solution to the long-pestering crisis afflicting our sad republic.

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Why Rice Is Heating Up Politics in Thailand and the Philippines

By admin | March 5, 2014

Written for The Diplomat

Rice is a staple food in Southeast Asia, which explains why many politicians panic when rice farmers are agitated or when consumers complain about high prices. Today, rice farmers in Thailand are protesting after the national government repeatedly failed to pay them under the rice pledging program. In the Philippines, the issue of unabated rice smuggling has alarmed many sectors, prompting government agencies to conduct a thorough investigation about the matter.

Introduced in 2011 after the election victory of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the rice subsidy program involved the government buying the rice output of local farmers at a high price before reselling it to the global market. The program was meant to improve the savings of farmers, although critics derided it as a wasteful populist policy.

The government reduced the subsidy price six months ago to offset the huge losses incurred by the program, but farmers were still assured that they would get paid for their products. But the money didn’t arrive and in fact the delayed payments have already reached 130 billion baht ($4 billion) affecting more than a million farmers.

Burdened with rising debt, desperate and angry rice farmers marched to Bangkok last week demanding payment from the government. They blocked several roads near Bangkok and camped in front of the Ministry of Commerce.

A majority of the farmer-protesters are not affiliated with anti-government groups behind the Bangkok Shutdown campaign, but their arrival in the city has intensified the country’s political crisis.

The opposition has expressed support to the protesting farmers and has initiated a donation campaign to help sustain the protest in the city. The opposition is also blaming corruption under the Yingluck government for the present suffering of rice farmers.

For its part, the government said it was unable to pay farmers because of the ongoing protests.. It urged protesters not to block or occupy government banks.

The government also assured farmers that it would find a way to deliver the payments. It also rejected criticism that the rice subsidy program has become a disastrous populist policy, stating that “[the] ultimate goal of the rice pledging scheme is not the government’s popularity, but simply the upgrade of income security for the better lives of farmers, and for the better future of our posterity since rice farming means growing the better future on our own land without any impact to the country’s monetary and fiscal disciplines.”

Yingluck cannot afford to ignore the farmers since many of them came from villages that supported her party in the recent election. But she should also heed the advice of many economists who earlier warned her administration that the rice subsidy program needs to be revised.

Moving on to the Philippines, rice smuggling has resurfaced as a top political issue after it was reported that 50,000 metric tons of rice was smuggled into the country weekly in 2013. The Philippines was the world’s top rice importer in 2011.

In response, Congress has conducted a probe to pinpoint the suspected rice smugglers in the country. They also urged the government to fast track the resolution of the 157 rice smuggling cases.

“Smuggling is hurting our economy and it is hurting severely the livelihood of our poor rural farmers, who spend their entire days toiling under the sun to ensure that we would have food on our table, only to be thwarted by those who engage in rice smuggling,” said Senate President Franklin Drilon.

Recently, the Department of Justice claimed that it has already arrested the “king of rice smugglers.” But some are doubtful if the government caught the real mastermind behind the smuggling ring. Local traders are also demanding the arrest of other rice smuggling syndicates who are in cahoots with local politicians and customs officials.

What is further needed is the stamping out of corruption in the government’s rice importation program. Perhaps President Benigno Aquino III, who promised rice self-sufficiency before the end of his term in 2016, should look closely into the issue.

Thailand’s protesting rice farmers and the Philippines’ rice smuggling scandal demonstrate why rice is more than just a staple food in Southeast Asia. It is an important political commodity that can affect election results and even ignite a social uprising.

Protests, Strikes Continue in Cambodia

Written for The Diplomat

Garment workers, teachers, and garbage collectors in Cambodia have launched a series of protest actions since December to demand substantial wage hikes and an improvement of their working conditions. The strikes exposed Cambodia’s mounting labor woes and worsening political crisis.

Garment workers conducted a nationwide strike last December to push for a monthly minimum wage of $160, the amount needed to survive in Cambodia based on an estimate provided by the government. Garment workers receive a monthly basic pay of $80. The garment sector is a $5 billion dollar export industry in Cambodia which employs more than 600,000 workers.

The Ministry of Labor said the full wage demand can be granted only in 2018 and a $15 wage hike is more feasible today. Strikes erupted over the measly increase; and the striking workers were later joined by the opposition party which has rejected last year’s election results and has been mobilizing thousands for several months already to call for the ouster of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

In response, the government agreed to a $100 minimum wage ($95 basic pay and $5 food allowance) to be implemented next month. But this was rejected by union leaders who vowed to hold more strikes and factory shutdowns.

On January 3, the government ordered a crackdown on the strike. Police violently dispersed and arrested the striking workers. The protest camp of the opposition was also forcibly removed and public gatherings were banned in Phnom Penh, the country’s capital. As of February 14 the ban is still in effect after police invoked the policy when it denied a permit to the global One Billion Rising campaign.

The protest crackdown resulted in the deaths of four people and the arrests of 23 workers and activists; 38 were hospitalized during the dispersal, with 25 suffering from bullet wounds.

The strike by garment workers probably inspired teachers to demand a monthly pay of $250 after many teachers complained that they only receive $75 each month. According to the Cambodian Independent Teachers Union, there are 87,000 teachers in the country. Scores of teachers refused to work for a day or two in several provinces, although these protests were small and uncoordinated. Still, the demand highlighted the low salaries of educators which shocked and enraged many people.

Meanwhile, trash piled up for three days in Phnom Penh early this month when more than 400 garbage collectors went on strike to demand $150 in monthly pay, a health bonus, and an overtime pay during weekends. The strike involved workers of Cintri, a subsidiary of the Canadian Firm Cintec, which signed a 50-year exclusive contract in 2002 to collect Phnom Penh’s trash.

After several rounds of negotiations and days of mounting trash in the city, both parties came to an agreement. Street cleaners will now get $90 per month and truck drivers will receive $130. In addition, a health care center will be funded by the company. The uniform fee charged against employees will be scrapped.

The labor strikes in the past two months revealed the degradingly low wages given to Cambodia’s workers. They also gave us a glimpse of the inhumane working and housing conditions of workers, which partly explains why they are easily persuaded by the agitation propaganda of various political forces. But with or without the backing of the opposition, workers have legitimate grievances that the government must quickly address. It’s unfortunate that instead of understanding the situation of workers, the government responded with violent impunity.

Hopefully, the end of the strikes won’t stop policymakers and employers from looking for positive ways to improve the welfare of workers. The strikes may have yielded a slight increase in the basic pay for garment and garbage workers, but that pay is still woefully inadequate to meet the daily cost of living in the country.

Continued increases in the cost of living, as recently lamented by some garment workers, Cambodia may soon face more protests and provocative actions from the labor sector.

Posted in east asia, economy, nation | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

How the Left didn’t lose

By admin | March 3, 2014

Written for Rappler

Not again. Not another formulaic diatribe ridiculing and prophesying the decline, obsolescence, and inevitable doom of the Philippine Left. The Left was supposed to have disintegrated many, many years ago after the fall of Berlin, the internal split in the 1990s, and the rise of neoliberal globalization as the supreme doctrine of our time. But against the wishes of Establishment apologists, the Left not only survived but is resurgent.

It is easy to dismiss the anti-Left rant of Yoly Villanueva-Ong as a condescending and simplistic appraisal of the political legacy of the Left. But, to be fair, she did attempt to historicize the issue and she appreciated the radical meaning of a John Lennon song; thus this rejoinder.

Insulting the Left is a common tactic used by many cheerleaders of the Yellow regime. They mock the Left’s political platform not by disputing its merits but by questioning the sincerity of dead and living leftists; and belittling the right of a supposedly dying movement to make demands of Malacaňang.

Curiously, the Left’s critics are quite obsessed in spreading the propaganda that it is a political force suffering from irrelevance. But is the Left truly a redundant historical necessity? Perhaps we can cite several mainstream political science indicators to answer this question: The Left has representatives in Congress, its electoral base is growing, it has a nationwide organized constituency, it has sympathizers, supporters, and varying political influence in all sectors and in almost all islands of the country, its views and courses of action to controversial issues are sought by mainstream media and its support sought by traditional politicians.

As I write this, news commentators are discussing online libel, the president’s pork, and soaring electricity prices. The Left is actively and directly involved in opposing all these issues whether as petitioners in the Supreme Court, oppositionists in Congress, and consumers condemning the inaction and/or wrong actions of the government. For the well-entrenched, these are nothing but noisy and nuisance interventions. But for ordinary citizens, these are appropriate interventions to protect free speech, curb corruption, and lower the cost of living.

Which is irrelevant? The Left and its stubborn insistence that democratic rights must not be surrendered to the vested interests of the elite and the caprices of politicians? Or those who want the people to abandon dissent and just keep on trusting the “goodness” and “incorruptibility” of the Yellow leadership?

Ong hits the Left for receiving PDAF but failed to mention that the progressive bloc in Congress has never been accused of committing pork-related anomalies. Three-term leftist legislators ended their stint in Congress without being involved in corruption deals; in fact, they were among the very few who remained non-millionaire members of the House of Representatives. (Recall the iconic labor leader, Representative Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran.)

Strangely, Ong wants the Left to be responsible for the 1970s activists who ended up as deodorizers of Gloria Arroyo’s messy regime. This argument actually vindicates the Left. Those who stayed with the mass movement continued to be principled leaders of our country while some of those who broke ties with the Left degenerated into corrupt bureaucrats and some of the worst of traditional politicians. If we use Ong’s reasoning, then perhaps we should also castigate UP, Harvard, and the Catholic Church for educating some of our corrupt leaders many decades ago.

Ong accuses the Left of being unprincipled during election campaigns and hints that the movement abandons its principles in exchange for campaign funds. It must be clarified that the Left does not venture into electoral politics to gain money but to advance its radical reform agenda and win representation on behalf of its marginalized grassroots constituency. There’s no compromising of principles every time we advocate a particular issue during elections. I take pride in the fact that our parties are able to achieve small and big electoral victories at the local and national levels even with very few resources.

Ong echoes the absurd charge that the Left is silent over the China bullying issue. A simple Internet search would reveal that a) Leftist organizations have issued statements and organized protest rallies to condemn the bullying behavior of China; b) Leftist legislators have consistently tackled the issue in Congress; and more importantly c) the Philippine Left has publicly attacked the Chinese Communist Party for being a revisionist party. Filipino communists may be admirers and students of Mao but they do not see themselves as comrades of the current Chinese leadership.

Ong waxes nostalgic about being a product of UP, a university where various ‘isms’ are openly talked about such as Marxism and communism. But this is true because of the bourgeois liberal tradition of UP. Leftist students and teachers in the late fifties and sixties allied with the bourgeois liberals on campus, fighting attempts of the dominant church to infringe on the separation of church and state and flout the academic freedom of the state university.

The truth is, to this day, UP is still a bastion of liberalism, not radicalism. Nevertheless, the latter continues to constitute a vibrant counterculture. For every activist that UP produces, there are many others in the campus who are apolitical or have little interest in the idea of radicalism. And for every revolutionary cadre there are very many more reactionary politicians who hail from UP. (Need we mention the likes of Ferdinand Edralin Marcos?)

Yet those activists and revolutionaries who come from UP have made their difference to the betterment of Philippine society, most especially the exploited and oppressed. And even the more conservative products of UP take pride in UP’s liberal tradition that sees the Left occupy an important place and role in the academe.

Nonetheless, no thanks to sustained anti-communist propaganda emanating from the state and the ruling elite, communism is a dreaded, misunderstood and much maligned word in UP and in the rest of Philippine society. But it is not the “ism” which should be faulted for the many wrongs in our country. In her article, Ong already mentioned imperialism which is one of the supreme evils of our time. The other two are feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. Unfortunately, many UP graduates contribute to the strengthening of these terrible “isms” in our country either by turning out to be unprincipled leaders in the government or by becoming spin masters who help vision-less politicians win elections by distorting the truth.

As mentioned earlier, Ong raises several issues which have already been leveled against the Left in the past, most notably by Palace propagandists. But her advice to ‘exterminate the dwindling force permanently’ was something new. And quite surprising, especially coming from someone who claims to be convent-educated and a product of UP. Even some of our military leaders would suggest peace and development reforms, however insincere, when they publicly talk about the armed rebellion.

Actually this kind of mentality is the reason why many activists have been harassed, abducted, and killed with impunity even post-martial law and during the supposedly democratic regimes that followed. If the Left is really a spent force, why the need for such a militarist solution? Why not simply let it fade away into oblivion? Ay Pilipinas, ay Pilipinas, kay bagsik!

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Waray as battlecry

By admin | February 23, 2014

Written for Bulatlat

Waray, which refers to both the lingua franca and the people of Samar and Leyte, literally means nothing. It is interesting and also quite strange that this term is also used to signify nothingness. But can there be something out of nothing? Can nothing produce something?

Today, the word Waray is both real and symbolic in the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). It reflects the ground zero in Tacloban, the wiped out coconut fields in Samar, and the criminal negligence of the BS Aquino government. And precisely because of this natural and man-made disaster, Warays are being pitied. Right or wrong, they are seen as weary survivors in need of rescuing and continuing relief.

But charity is not enough. It is actually always never enough. Because for people who lost everything and for those who have nothing to lose anymore, their emancipation begins when they dare to end their miseries by changing their circumstances.

Perhaps it is time to rethink the concept of Waray. Why not let it stand for the historical injustices committed against our people? Remember how Balangiga was reduced into a ‘howling wilderness’ by the Americans. Remember too the murderous legacy of political dynasties. Imelda may be a Waray but her becoming a First Lady (or the other half of the conjugal dictatorship) didn’t uplift the lives of the Warays, even if she built the country’s longest bridge that connected Samar and Leyte.

No doubt Yolanda was extremely strong but it is wrong to blame it for the surge in poverty in Eastern Visayas. Landlessness, hunger, inequality, and environment degradation are deadly disasters that have plagued the region for many decades already. What Yolanda did was to exacerbate the suffering of the Warays in a land of more than nothing but less than something.

Therefore, as a way of suggestion, let Waray embody the rage of a people oppressed by geography, poverty and political cruelty. Make it the rallying call of Yolanda survivors and the poor of Eastern Visayas as they renew their lives. Prove that there can be something out of nothing. That the nothing can certainly produce something.

History has taught us that it is through struggle, and only through struggle, that the people condemned to nothingness can most effectively alter their social conditions. That is why the ‘People Surge’ movement which was initially attended by more than 15,000 Warays was truly awe inspiring. Finally, a Yolanda-related story that is not entirely about gloom and despair but hope and resistance. Indeed, there is so much pain and greed today but why dwell on these evils when we can showcase the fighting spirit of the Warays?

The idea of the People Surge is simple but powerful: The people’s will is supreme in a democracy. That the poor themselves can best articulate their specific political demands; and when the multitudes speak, we must be ready to listen to them and if necessary, join their struggle. In other words, Yolanda victims need our compassion; but more importantly, our solidarity.

First, there was the example set by the admirable typhoon Pablo victims who militantly asserted their right to access relief goods illegally hoarded in a government warehouse. And today, we have Yolanda survivors who ‘surged’ and marched in the streets of Leyte as they called for a faster and fair rehabilitation of their damaged communities. We may be witnessing the emergence of something new in the disaster-prone Philippine political landscape: ‘Disaster protests’ aimed against government incompetence; and ‘climate change protests’ highlighting climate injustice and environment plunder. The uprising of islanders capable of overthrowing callous regimes and igniting social revolutions. The poor, the people unleashing a ‘storm surge’ of protests.

The People Surge has a real potential of developing into something bigger and more radical phenomenon. Its name and methods remind us of the First Quarter Storm of 1970, the year when Manila was rocked by storms and protests. It could spread and become the Philippine contribution to the global ‘occupy’ movement. The peoples of other countries conduct food riots, urban strikes, and barricades but Filipinos prefer to ‘surge’ like storms as they attack the citadels of power.

Yolanda is a buzzword of the semi-apocalyptic event that overwhelmed the Visayas islands. In the current reconstruction phase, Yolanda signifies the imperative and the yearning to overcome the tragedy. But Yolanda is specific to the storm deluge while the greater challenge is to confront the historic inequities in the region. This makes Waray a more appropriate and potent political term.

Waray – the language, the people, and now the struggle for a new future. Waray, the new subversive, as an alternative to the dehumanizing bureaucratic and corporate-led remapping of Eastern Visayas.

Who are we? Waray!

What do we want? Waray!

Posted in nation | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Labanan ang Mataas na Singil sa Kuryente

By admin | February 19, 2014

Panday Pira, Tondo, Maynila

Mawawalan na ng bisa ang 60-day TRO na ipinataw ng Korte Suprema sa dagdag singil ng Meralco. Bago dumating ang araw na ito, nangagailangan ng malakas at maingay na protesta upang itulak ang korte na maglabas ng desisyong tuluyang ibabasura ang sobra-sobrang paniningil ng Meralco at power companies.

Tayong mamamayan ang magdurusa kapag pinayagan ang Meralco na maningil nang sobra-sobra. Halos hindi na nga magkasya ang ating buwanang kita para sa pang araw-araw na pangangailangan ng ating pamilya ay papatungan pa ito ng di-makatwiran at ma-anomalyang taas ng singil sa kuryente.

At bukod sa mas mababang kita ng mga tao, may negatibong epekto rin ang mahal na presyo ng kuryente sa negosyo at mga serbisyong pambayan. Kung hindi magbawas ng manggagawa ay maaaring ipasa lang ng mga negosyante ang dagdag singil ng Meralco sa ating mga consumer. Samantala, maaaring bawasan ang operasyon ng mga institusyong pampubliko upang makatipid sa kuryente.

Bawas kita, bagsak kabuhayan, at mas matinding kahirapan. Ito ang idudulot ng mataas na singil sa kuryente. Walang makikinabang dito maliban sa iilang pamilyang nagmamay-ari ng Meralco at power companies, kasabwat ng mga kurakot sa pamahalaan. Paghahatian nila ang bilyun-bilyong piso kapalit ng dinukhang buhay ng ordinaryong mamamayan.

Imbes na dagdag sahod ay dagdag-gastos ang binibigay sa mamamayan ng administrasyon ni BS Aquino. Walang ginawa si BS Aquino upang pigilin ang sobrang paniningil ng Meralco. Sa katunayan, sinabi niyang walang magagawa ang pamahalaan upang kontrolin ang presyo ng kuryente. Ang totoo ay pinagtatanggol lamang niya ang dambuhalang tubo ng mga crony at negosyanteng nag-ambag sa kanyang kandidatura.

Dapat panagutin si BS Aquino sa price surge na humagupit sa buhay ng mga Pilipino. Bukod sa inutil at pabaya sa panahon ng kalamidad, ay walang malasakit sa mahihirap na pumapasan ng nagmamahalang presyo ng mga bilihin at serbisyo.

Kaya sa Pebrero 17, inaanyayahan ang lahat na lumahok sa protestang ‘Kalampagin ang Malakanyang’ upang singilin si BS Aquino at upang itulak ang Korte Suprema na paboran ang petisyon ng mamamayan laban sa dagdag singil ng Meralco.

Tayo ay lumabas ng ating mga tahanan, sumama sa mga aksyong lansangan, at mag-ingay hanggang umabot ito sa Malakanyang.

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Thailand Election by the Numbers

By admin | February 18, 2014

Written for The Diplomat

Thailand conducted a “peaceful” election yesterday amid worsening political tension in the country. Let us first review some essential numbers:

Thailand has 48 million eligible voters out of a population of 65 million. According to the Election Commission, voting took place in 89 percent of 93,952 polling stations nationwide. But the election body cancelled the voting in nine of 14 provinces in the south part of the country where the opposition support base is located. Voting in 42 out of 333 districts was also suspended.

Because of the opposition-led boycott campaign, there are 28 constituencies with no candidates. The opposition has boycotted the elections as it demands the establishment of an unelected People’s Council to resolve the country’s political crisis.

In Bangkok, 488 polling units in five districts were closed because of anti-government protests. More than 2,000 irate and frustrated voters who were unable to vote went to the police to file complaints. The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority announced that voter turnout in the city is only 26.18 percent.

Disenfranchised voters across the country are estimated at 12 million.

Only 27 percent, or 38,350 out of 143,807 registered overseas Thais were able to cast their votes.

No election results were announced and official proclamation is expected after February 23 when by-elections are finished.

Yesterday’s election numbers can be used by both the ruling party and the opposition to bolster their respective political agenda. The ruling party can assert that the majority of Thai voters have opted to end the crisis by voting. But the opposition can argue too that the ruling party cannot govern properly and legitimately since many constituencies and districts didn’t conduct elections.

What is clear is that a political stalemate still exists despite the elections. After successfully blocking and disrupting hundreds of voting centers, anti-government protesters are now gearing for more street actions. They seemed really determined to force the ouster of the caretaker government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra; and to dismantle the political machinery of Thaksin, Yingluck’s elder brother and Thailand’s deposed leader.

But Yingluck can lean on her broader constituency for support. She can mobilize concerned citizens and the disenfranchised voters to protect the electoral system. She can ask the global community to immediately recognize the victory of her party and her right to remain in power.

It is expected that legal issues will be raised in the next few days in relation to the recent elections. Pro-election forces will probably demand the holding of special elections in areas where voting was cancelled. The protesters, on the other hand, could become more aggressive as they seek to force the resignation of Yingluck.

The real “Bangkok Shutdown” might get a boost this month. But since Bangkok is still under a state of emergency, we could expect more clashes between the police and protesters. In other words, the post-election scenario is bleak as far as bringing political stability back to Thailand goes.

Singapore Website Goes Offline Due to Licensing Woes

Written for The Diplomat

Singapore adopts a so-called light touch approach to regulating online activity, which means only “minimum standards are set for the responsible use of the Internet.” But for media freedom advocates, this framework is no different from the policies of other countries that practice outright Internet censorship. The case of socio-political website Breakfast Network, which has recently gone offline, illustrates how media control is exercised in Singapore.

The Breakfast Network, founded by former journalist Bertha Henson, has decided to cease its website operations after it rejected the “onerous” registration requirements of the government. It still has an online presence through its Facebook and Twitter accounts, but it was directed by the Media Development Authority (MDA) to stop publishing after it failed to register and acquire a license.

Under the Broadcasting (Class License) Act, a corporate entity providing political commentary must register with the MDA to ensure that it does not receive foreign funding. Aside from revealing its funding source, a political website must submit the personal details of its editors and staff.

The Breakfast Network, which was ordered to submit its registration documents on December 10, complained that the government’s technical requirements and registration forms contained too many vague provisions. It sought clarification from the MDA and applied for a one month extension of the registration deadline. The MDA agreed to extend the registration procedure for only a week and insisted that the registration forms are “straightforward.”

In the end, the Breakfast Network decided not to register.

“In our opinion, the proceedings have been farcical. It seems that MDA had expected Breakfast Network Pte Ltd to register and was caught off-balance when the company decided not to. Hence, the curiously vague nature of its replies,” the group said in a statement.

For its part, the MDA said the “registration requirement is simply to ensure that Breakfast Network will not receive foreign funding.”

“MDA would like to reiterate that the content is not the issue. Rather, it is the mode of operation, i.e. via a corporate entity which means there is greater possibility for foreign influence,” the MDA added.

The agency also reminded the website editorial board not to publish stories via Facebook and Twitter.

“Should Breakfast Network Pte Ltd remain active as a company, it must not operate any iteration of www.breakfastnetwork.sg on other Internet platforms as doing so would contravene MDA’s registration requirements. These other Internet platforms include Breakfast Network’s Facebook page and Twitter Feed.”

Netizens and human rights groups quickly denounced the “overly-intrusive requirements” imposed by the government and warned against excessive media regulation. Cherian George described the closure of the Breakfast Network as “death by red tape.” Braema Mathi of the human rights group Maruah is worried that the “registration requirement has chilled and reduced the space for free expression in Singapore.” Ng E-Jay accused the government of being “a highly sophisticated oppressor” by “forcing the removal via legislation” of a website that is known for advocating “constructive and critical dialogue” in the country.

Blogger Andy Xian Wong questioned the provision prohibiting foreigners from funding political websites: “Perhaps it is not so much a fear of foreign voices exactly, as it is a fear of critical voices, which coming from overseas are much harder for the government to manage and contain.”

Responding to criticisms, the MDA clarified that there is no new Internet regulation since it merely implemented an old policy that seeks to prevent foreign interests from manipulating the local media. It also defended the registration procedure as a necessary mechanism to protect the public welfare.

“Registration does not mean the promotion of political or religious causes is not allowed. It merely serves to emphasize the need for the content providers to be responsible in what they say. This is important, given the multi-racial, multi-religious nature of our society.”

On the other hand, the closure of the Breakfast Network website will certainly embolden press freedom advocacy groups to continue their campaign to press for an easing of media restrictions, which should include revising the government’s “light touch” Internet regulation framework.

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Has Manila Forgotten Japan’s War Atrocities?

By admin | February 8, 2014

Written for The Diplomat

Several Asian nations reacted harshly when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the controversial Yasukuni war shrine last month. But in Manila, which was the second most devastated Allied city during World War II, Abe’s visit almost went unnoticed.

Yasukuni is Japan’s monument to honor citizens who died during the Second World War. But it is also notorious for memorializing war criminals, which explains why Japan’s neighbors are furious every time a Japanese politician visits the shrine. Abe never visited Yasukuni during his first term, in order not to antagonize other Asian countries – but he made a surprise visit to the shrine last month, a move which was quickly denounced by China and South Korea.

China and South Korea suffered tremendously during the Japanese occupation. They have argued that any visit by a high-ranking public servant to the shrine is an insult to all those who perished under the brutal legacy of Japanese militarism.

In fairness to China and South Korea, they were not alone in voicing opposition to Abe’s visit to Yasukuni. Singapore’s foreign ministry said that it “regrets” the visit made by Abe and added that the action is “unhelpful to building trust and confidence in the region.” Even the United States, Japan’s strongest treaty ally, expressed disappointment over the incident.

In the past, protests were even organized in Taiwan to condemn the continued honoring of Japanese war criminals at Yasukuni.

But not a word or even a whimper of protest was heard from Manila. In fact, Filipino officials have never reacted to Yasukuni visits by Japanese ministers. Yasukuni is recognized as a war shrine but it has never been seen by Filipinos as a symbol of Japanese brutality during World War II. It seems Filipinos are no longer outraged by the idea that Japan is keen on honoring its war dead, including war criminals.

This is quite odd considering that Manila was almost completely devastated by retreating Japanese forces during the last days of the war. The ruins of old Manila were often compared to the trail of destruction in Warsaw, Poland. Elsewhere in the country, Japan’s war atrocities are amply documented. There is no shortage of narratives that highlight Japan’s war crimes in the Philippines which included murder, looting, and sex slavery.

So why are Filipinos silent over Abe’s Yasukuni visit?

Perhaps the answer is that Japan is considered by many as a strategic friend in warding off China’s expansionism in the region. Like Japan, the Philippines has been waging a war of words with China over several maritime disputes. Between a rising China and a “declining” Japan, the former is viewed by Filipinos as a bigger and more sinister security threat.

Since 1945, Japan has been a consistent trading partner of the Philippines. Japan went on to become the second biggest economy in the world while the Philippines deteriorated as a regional laggard. Despite its economic difficulties, Japan continued to be a top aid donor to the Philippines. It has extensive infrastructure investments and loan projects across the country.

The Japanese are no longer seen by today’s generation as war aggressors but investors, tourists, and allies. Japan’s war crimes are still mentioned in school textbooks but they have already ceased to be a divisive political issue that could substantially affect the relationship between the two countries.

Recently, Japan deployed some of its troops to the Philippines to join in the relief and rehabilitation efforts after super typhoon Haiyan wrought havoc in the Visayas islands. It was a symbolic political act because it meant the return of Japanese soldiers to Philippine soil after 68 years. Japan arrived not as an invading force but as a neighbor extending aid and solidarity to typhoon victims.

Nevertheless, is Japan’s rehabilitated image a legitimate excuse to ignore the significance of Yasukuni? Can’t the Philippines remind its friend and ally not to risk further regional animosity by asking Japanese leaders to stop visiting Yasukuni? There are effective ways to spread the message of peace and provoking more hatred by reopening old wounds is not one of them.

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Gross National Survival: A Proposal

By admin | February 6, 2014

Written for Bulatlat

Despite its high Gross Domestic Product in recent years, the Philippines has remained a backward nation. Poverty numbers didn’t change although wealth disparity has worsened especially between the rural and the urban. It’s clear that the GDP is an inaccurate and inadequate measure of the real state of the economy. Its use value has no meaning whatsoever for the great majority who are wallowing in a life of dire uncertainty and penury.

But if the GDP is to be discarded, what reliable indicator of development should replace it?

Perhaps Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness can provide a refreshing alternative. If we interpret the concept literally, Filipinos would consistently count as among the happiest people on Earth. Happy but still poor despite being extremely talented singers and dancers. Even if it has broader appeal over the GDP, the GNH cannot completely measure the country’s political economy.

What about international business surveys on competitiveness? Cities and countries are praised if they are business-friendly. It means there is less or zero corruption, cost of doing business is cheap, infrastructure is well-developed, and the government is efficient and responsive.

It’s tempting to embrace these global standards that highlight the relevance of good governance and sustainable development. But ultimately, the endgoal of this paradigm is still to ensure the profitability of big business. Reforms are undertaken to generate super profits for monopoly corporations without disrupting the core of the system.

Besides, a business-friendly economy doesn’t necessarily bring more progress to the people. In the case of the Philippines, the mad rush to attract investors has led to the creation of modern sweatshops, massive plunder and degradation of the environment, and more intense militarization and violence in all areas of production.

There are varying indicators of progress but most of them are either deceptive or shallow such as the inane assertion that heavy traffic is a positive sign of increased economic activity. Or that a municipality can qualify to be a city if it has a supermall. Also, the middle classes are said to be getting richer because of condominium constructions and proliferation of call centers in the metropolis.

After the housing and tech bubbles, stock market crashes, and the rapid decline of powerhouse economies in the world, why is there a continuing fanatical and almost blind worship of neoliberal economics? Why cling to these development dogmas that brought unspeakable suffering to the people of the world?

Hopefully, the horrible impact of typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas will make us realize that the current socio-economic system is extremely bankrupt. Yolanda actually exposed many ugly things about the current state of affairs such as the pitiful and sham development in the countryside, uneven resource distribution, non-existent climate-proofing, and the notoriously incompetent and corrupt bureaucracy.

Yolanda made us remember once more that we are islanders living in disaster-prone islands. The Philippines may be blessed with majestic beaches and sparkling waters but it’s also an archipelago dotted with volcanoes and active earthquake fault lines. Because of climate change, strong typhoons have also become more frequent.

The initial angry but reasonable demand of everybody is for the government to enhance the country’s disaster preparedness. Fine, but this is not enough.

Geography should not be the sole consideration in beefing up the country’s climate readiness. Equally important is the correct understanding of the country’s political economy. Our islands are not just ravaged by rains and volcanic eruptions. More insidious is the impact of colonial and neo-colonial rule. Decades of oligarchic control of the local economy has destroyed not just the environment but it has also made the people more impoverished and less empowered.

Depoliticized climate change adaptation threatens to further marginalize the poor. For example, the laudable program to clean the coastline could easily degenerate into blaming the poor for causing water pollution if we fail to see them as victims of previous development aggression projects.

Therefore, the more crucial issue in the case of Samar and Leyte is not who will lead the rehabilitation efforts but what kind of rehabilitation will the government undertake in these typhoon-devastated provinces.

Worse than partisan politics is the possible hijacking of the community reconstruction effort in favor of laissez faire capitalism. Beware of corporate vultures and politician looters who were given the power to draft and enforce a development program that would promote the greedy interest of Big Business at the expense of the poor. Next to trafficking, we must be vigilant against land speculation and landgrabbing. It would be tragic if cash-strapped typhoon survivors would lose their lands to property developers through dubious deals or if the government would prevent them from returning to their homes which have been suddenly rezoned as disaster-prone.

In other words, disaster preparation should not be reduced into a mapping and re-mapping procedure. Study the terrain but it is crucial to persevere in improving and even restructuring the local political economy.

Concretely, we should junk the economic models imposed by big financial institutions. Is it viable to replicate the economic strategies of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan when our historical and geographical circumstances are vastly different? Didn’t we strictly adhere to the rehabilitation blueprint provided by the Americans after the Second World War?

The story of Manila in the past century should alert us to the dangers of uncritically accepting the economic prescriptions given by rich countries. Like Tacloban today, Manila was completely ruined during World War II. After the war, Americans provided numerous financial assistance including loans to reconstruct Manila. Unfortunately, these were conditional subsidies which prevented the country from pursuing an independent path of economic development. We all knew what happened after that to Manila and the rest of the Philippines in the past half century.

Today, there exists an opportunity to review our social and economic policies as we rebuild our typhoon-damaged provinces. Are we going to build a new Tacloban that looks up to Manila as the model for urbanization? Manila may be the country’s premier urban hub but it is at the same time the best showcase of maldevelopment and chaotic urban planning.

After Yolanda, is it wise to pursue the same development programs that created polluted cities, overcommercialized island resorts, urban poor colonies, unproductive farmlands, and abandoned mining sites?

In terms of GDP, a city may be richer because it has Greenbelt malls. On the other hand, a coastal town that built greenbelt mangrove farms might have less revenues but no doubt it is a cleaner and safer habitat.

For an archipelagic country that is highly vulnerable to the harsh impact of climate change, and a country in the Pacific Ring of Fire made weaker by centuries of elite and dynastic rule, the dogged determination to achieve higher GDP year after year despite the absence of change in the quality of life is already irrational. It’s time to think of a better approach on how to save and improve the lives of Filipino islanders.

Instead of higher GDP, why not strive for a higher Gross National Survival or GNS? Nickel mining and reclamation will bring more tax dollars but will they strengthen our habitats? Will they allow us to survive the next big disaster? Higher GDP but lower GNS will hasten the arrival of the apocalypse in this part of the world.

The GNS could quantify the resiliency of local communities. It seeks to measure the capability of a given place to withstand extreme situations by incorporating weather and climate patterns, economic production, human development or wellness categories, political institutions, and environment and social dynamics.

It rejects the proposition that the development imperative trumps all aspects of community and nation-building. The thrust of development must be synergized with other communal goals. Policies are aimed at improving the GNS of communities instead of focusing exclusively on tax revenues. We are interested to learn more from the experience of our indigenous people who adapted to changing climates and economic conditions without destroying their unique ecosystems.

Ondoy, Pablo, and Yolanda were deadly typhoons that wrought damage in our country in the past five years. The worst is not yet over until we have reversed the warming of the planet. The only way we can minimize casualties in our beautiful islands of distress is to rethink the way we organize our communities. It may appear to be an issue involving the environment and economy but essentially it is a political question.

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Malaysia’s Kangkung Meme

By admin | February 5, 2014

Written for The Diplomat

Kangkung, or water spinach, has been trending in Malaysia since last week after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak cited it as an example of a commodity that has become less expensive over the course of his administration.

Najib was responding to protests against rising prices caused by the government’s decision to cut subsidies. During the New Year celebration, thousands joined a street parade in Kuala Lumpur to denounce the increase in prices of basic goods and services such as petrol, sugar, and toll fees.

Najib complained that the government is often blamed for rising prices – but ignored when prices go down.

“When the prices come down, why are there no praises for the government? When it goes up, the government gets the blame. This is unfair because [such issues are determined by] the weather condition,” Najib said in Bahasa.

Then, he highlighted kangkung’s cheap price in the market: “I read in the newspaper that some prices have come down. Kangkung prices once went up and now it is down.”

This remark ignited an uproarious public reaction. It unleashed a kangkung meme which quickly went viral on social media. Najib’s enemies used it to criticize the government’s economic policies, in particular the slashing of subsidies for sensitive consumer goods. They painted Najib as a clueless leader and insensitive to the worsening situation of the poor.

In a subsequent speech, Najib was unapologetic for his kangkung remark. He clarified that he merely used the green vegetable as an example to explain the economic principle of supply and demand. He also added that kangkung and sotong (squid) are his favorite foods.

But Najib was reminded by critics that people are not complaining against price increases in all products but only those which are subject to government regulation or price controls such as petrol, sugar and toll rates. They added that no one is blaming Najib for the fluctuating price of kangkung, the humble vegetable of the masses.

It is also misleading to use kangkung as a price index of consumer products since households spend a paltry 2 percent of their monthly budget on buying vegetables.

Indeed, Najib could have used better examples to assure the public that food prices have remained stable. But the humorous reaction to his kangkung gaffe could be a reflection too of the rising public dissatisfaction with Najib and the ruling party, which has been in power since the late 1950s.

Perhaps ordinary Malaysians, burdened with economic difficulties such as high prices and depressed wages, were simply expressing their frustration through humor. Instead of being sympathetic, Najib appeared to be mocking the plight of his constituents when he delivered his now infamous kangkung remark.

Thanks to the kangkung-loving Najib, the opposition now has a symbol to rally more Malaysians against the government. If the Bersih (clean) election reform movement has the color yellow for its symbol, perhaps the Reduce Cost of Living Movement (Gerakan Turun Kos Sara Hidup) or Turun could further popularize the green leafy vegetable as a new protest icon. Kangkung is rich with meaning: it’s cool because it’s green; and it can represent all Malaysians because it grows nearly everywhere in the country.

Why the Media are Angry in Malaysia

Written for The Diplomat

Malaysian journalists have recently joined ranks and formed an informal coalition called Gerakan Media Marah (Geramm), or Angry Media Movement, after the government suspended a weekly magazine for allegedly violating its publication permit.

Geramm spearheaded political action in Kuala Lumpur last January 4, which was dubbed the “red pencil” protest because journalists who joined the activity carried red pencils, breaking them in half to symbolize the continuing and worsening censorship in Malaysia.

The protest was triggered by the indefinite suspension of The Heat magazine last December, despite the lack of a clear explanation as to why the Ministry of Home Affairs came up with the decision. The order reportedly took effect even if the magazine publisher has yet to reply to the show-cause letter issued by the ministry.

Many believe that the magazine was suspended because it made the mistake of publishing a story last November about the spending habits of Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor.

Some of Najib’s expenses, such as utility bills in his official residence, have been questioned in parliament. Meanwhile, the First Lady recently figured in a controversy after she used a government aircraft to attend a conference in another country.

It appears that The Heat editors have already met officials of the Home Affairs and they have expressed willingness to cooperate with the ministry to resolve the issue. But for Geramm, the suspension of the magazine was a serious threat to media freedom which should be vigorously denounced.

Instead of simply focusing on the suspension issue, the red pencil protest also covered other media-related issues such as censorship, harassment of journalists and ethics.

“The red pencil represents journalists who were injured and a culture of control by the powers that be. Listen to the breaking sound. That is the suffering of journalists and the media when it is broken,” explained Fathi Aris Omar, spokesman of Geramm and editor of online media site Malaysiakini.

Geramm forwarded eight demands to the government, which naturally included the withdrawal of the suspension of The Heat weekly and that it should be allowed to operate as normal. Then it asked for a thorough investigation of the violence inflicted by the police against media practitioners during the Bersih (clean) rally in 2012. Bersih was a broad election reform movement that was able to gather hundreds of thousands in the streets prior to the 13th General Elections.

One of those who supported the Geramm-led protest was Bersih founder Ambiga Sreenavasan.

Geramm is also calling for the abolition of the publication permit that is made mandatory under the 1984 Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA). This is the law cited by the government when it suspended The Heat. This specific demand was supported by Christopher Leong, president of the Malaysian Bar, who described the PPPA law as “an archaic piece of legislation that no longer holds any relevance in a modern democracy.”

“The Act has been used and abused to influence, bully, intimidate, threaten and punish the press. Such legislative and governmental control of the press, including licensing regimes, should end,” Leong added.

In addition, Geramm is asking the government and political parties to allow all media practitioners to cover government events and to be given access to public buildings for news gathering purposes. Geramm also wants the government to “apologize to media practitioners for any breach of media freedom and rights.”

But Geramm’s last two demands are directed to media groups which included the reminder to “practice good journalistic ethics and give balanced and fair reporting to all,” as well as to “uphold the spirit of press freedom and human rights.”

Geramm hinted that the red pencil protest might not be the first and last time that journalists will unite and take to the streets to push for greater media freedom in the country. This should serve as a warning to the government because it means that the lifting of the questionable suspension of The Heat weekly might not be enough to dampen the political heat caused by the rising anger of Malaysian journalists. In other words, the only way forward for Malaysia is to free The Heat and more importantly, free the media.

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