WikiLeaks on Laos

By admin | October 25, 2011

The Laos files from WikiLeaks underscored the country’s underdevelopment, endemic corruption in the bureaucracy and the fragile state of its environment. But we already know that. What makes the cables interesting is the kind of frankness that we don’t often get to see or hear from diplomats’ public statements.

For example, here’s how the US Embassy in Vientiane described the poor and unequal economic conditions in the country:

‘Although GoL (Government of Laos) ministers and officials with salaries of less than S75 per month sport villas and cars worthy of Monte Carlo, GDP per capita is still officially less than $400…Unemployment is epidemic, underemployment is endemic, crime is rising, and the investment climate is among the least hospitable in the world.

‘There is almost no rule of law or basic human freedom in Laos, and education is in the hands of a corrupt and ideologically hidebound ministry that uses ADB money to build a grandiose but unnecessary new ministry building while rural children sit on logs and try to remember what a teacher looked like.’

One report even declared a ‘direct consequence of decades of abuse of power is that there is no public trust’ and that ‘government officials are presumed to be corrupt unless proven otherwise.’

These corrupt officials apparently approved the implementation of several development projects that are hurting the poor:

‘Intent on giving an open door to some foreign investors, the government has few compunctions about trampling on its own citizens, ignoring their traditional lands and livelihoods and utter dependence on their environment for their survival. In the near-absence of meaningful rule of law, those affected are at the mercy of sometimes venal, usually uncaring, bureaucrats administering the land use system. As Laos’ reputation grows as an “easy” place for investors in sectors like hydropower, plantation forests and mining, more and more of Laos’ poorest citizens are likely to find themselves dispossessed of their traditional lands.’

It’s important to highlight that China, which shares land borders with Laos, is the biggest investor in northern Laos. It has cornered the big item land development projects which, according to WikiLeaks, have seriously damaged the environment. But would environmental preservation really still be a major concern if the investors were Americans and not Chinese?

Meanwhile, even the conduct of elections in Laos was indirectly criticized in the WikiLeaks cables

‘By-and-large, Lao citizens took the election seriously, as a matter of national pride. Voters were expected to show their regard for the electoral process. Women who showed up to polling stations wearing slacks or “improper” dress were sent home. In spite of the guarantee of a “secret” ballot, election officials were on hand to inspect each ballot to make sure the voters took their responsibility seriously and voted correctly.’

But there were also cable reports that recognized some achievements by the Laos government especially on its success in reducing opium cultivation in the country. From the late 1980’s until 2005, Laos was the third largest producer of opium poppy in the world. But the aggressive anti-opium drive of the local government, which received significant assistance from the US government, has effectively weakened the poppy cultivation industry in the country.

As far as Laos is concerned, WikiLeaks has no startling revelations to offer other than to confirm what we already know about this small, landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It must be emphasized, too, that the cables merely reflect what Washington considers important in deciding the future of its relationship with Laos. They don’t necessarily represent what Laotians really feel and think about their present and future.

Written for The Diplomat

Cambodia’s Overcrowded Prisons

According to human rights group Licadho, prison occupancy in Cambodia is alarmingly close to 180 percent, making the country’s prison system among the 25 most overcrowded in the world. The group warned that if reforms aren’t immediately implemented to curb the prison population boom, Cambodia’s prison system could end up being the most overcrowded in the world as soon as 2019.

Licadho said that as of April this year, Cambodia’s total prison population stood at 15,001, which was a 12.6 percent increase compared with last year. The records of Cambodia’s General Department of Prisons showed that they processed 6,836 new admissions last year, which represented almost half the prison population.

Seven years ago, Licadho notified authorities that the 18 prisons monitored by the group were already filled to capacity and called for drastic judicial reforms to reduce the number of inmates in dilapidated prison cells. But it seems their petition went unheeded because the number of prisoners has continued to rise, despite the absence of programmes to expand and improve the country’s prison facilities.

Based on Licadho’s documentation, there are three factors that contributed to the prison overcrowding in Cambodia: The practice of detaining those who can’t pay criminal fines, a pilot programme in which pre-trial inmates were transferred to a community drug detention centre, and the use of prison sentences that aren’t commensurate with the crimes committed.

Human rights advocates have raised concerns that people convicted of minor crimes are handed excessively long prison sentences. For example, a juvenile in Sihanoukville was sentenced to six months imprisonment for breaking a window. In Svay Rieng, an 18-year-old man was arrested last year for stealing a chicken and was sentenced to a year in prison. In Kampong Cham, a man was arrested and charged with stealing a bottle of cooking oil and was later convicted and sentenced to seven months in jail for theft.

As a preliminary reform measure, Licadho proposed that a nationwide survey of the country’s prisons be conducted by the government and preferably assisted by an international partner in order to determine the system’s true capacity. Next, the government should ‘compile a reliable and accurate profile of the prison population to help inform criminal justice policy decisions.’ The evaluation of the prison population should include details such as sentence length and the age of offenders.

Licadho also reminded the government that the practice of detaining individuals who can’t afford to pay fines costs the state more money because of the expense of incarceration. Instead of automatic imprisonment for every offense committed, they suggested the use of non-custodial sentences as a possible response to petty crimes.

Licadho believes that alternative sentencing measures could the reduce prison population by half. They added that ‘judicious use of prosecutions’ can be easily accomplished if government is ready to provide adequate resources to the courts, police and other institutions of the judiciary. This is necessary so that ‘clear processes and procedures for monitoring adherence to non-custodial sentences’ can be established.

The government should seriously consider the recommendations submitted by Licadho, especially the development of a probation department and the use of alternative sentencing, if it wants to improve the country’s prison system. Otherwise, it will end up having to keep converting abandoned buildings into makeshift prison cells as it has had to in Pailin City.

Written for The Diplomat

Posted in east asia | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Punch Hard Like Pacquiao

By admin | October 24, 2011

Excerpts of my keynote speech delivered during the second general assembly of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns in New Jersey, United States.

When I (first) arrived here (in 2008), people were talking only about two things: Obama and the recession. Obama promised change and the voters believed him. His victory was seen as something that would usher in a new political era. But the political euphoria immediately died down when the inconvenient truths of the economy were finally revealed. It soon became apparent that the minimum wage earners will be the most vulnerable sector if the recession worsens. Indeed, workers lost their homes while banks received bail-out funds, thousands were laid-off from work while bank executives were given fat bonuses. The American Dream became a nightmare for those who are barely surviving from paycheck to paycheck.

This was America in 2008. Three years later, it seems the situation has changed for the worse. Obama is still Obama, promising here and there about hope and change. Wall Street is still Wall Street, accumulating more fictitious wealth for the corporate shareholders at the expense of the working classes which produce the real wealth of society. Bank executives are allowed to ruin the economy through their black magic (popularly known as speculative investments) and their irresponsible behavior is ignored by the government. They hoard the money during good times but they require everybody in society to make a lot of sacrifice to help solve the financial mess they created.

During the Cold War, it was believed that if the US sneezes, the world gets a cold. It’s still true today: the virus of the US financial crisis has spread to many parts of the world.

But if there is something to cheer today, it’s the rising and visible resistance of the masses in the virtual and offline worlds. The people’s struggles are intensifying. The birds are even angry, the plants are fighting the zombies, and the fighting collectives are multiplying.

What is the role of Filipino migrants in this global counterstrike against the exploitative financial and economic system whose controlling apparatus is located here in the US?

You perform a very special and significant task. Special because you echo the devastating impact of neoliberal globalization in the Third World. Your militant presence, your voices, your status updates, your organizing in the grassroots can unmask the evil economic order. Significant because as you struggle for better protection for migrants you are also strengthening the people’s capacity to defeat the empire. You are slaying the dragon inside its lair.

It’s inevitable that your actions are both local and global; and you must realize that their impact is also felt locally and globally. I admire the inventiveness of the migrant’s movement because you are able to articulate your demands in a foreign land without losing your symbolic and organic ties with the homeland. I salute NAFCON for affirming the link between the immigrant rights movement in the US and the struggle of the Filipino people in the Philippines for genuine democracy, freedom, peace and justice. This admirable political standpoint must inspire Filipinos in the US to act decisively against economic inequality, corporate greed, racism, and political repression; and this should bring them closer to the revolution which is raging in the Philippines as they become part of the global people’s movement for genuine change.

Or in other words, Filipinos must realize that shouting and marching for immigrant rights in the US will also contribute to the victory of the people’s movement in the Philippines. As you militantly assert your political demands here, the unjust domination of a corrupt and highly abusive political-economic system in the Philippines is weakened too. You can’t present a genuine alternative to the public without disturbing the hegemony of the empire here in the belly of the beast and in the peripheries of the kingdom. If you punch, a tyrant somewhere in the Philippines will receive the blow. So punch hard like Pacquiao.

But NAFCON and its member organizations are relevant not only because of your interventions in behalf of all Filipino migrants but also because you are determined to address the roots of the problems confronting the community. You are correct to highlight the feudal backwardness of the Philippines and the despotic rule of oligarchs in the archipelago as the culprit for the forced migration of Filipinos to distant shores. It’s essential to pinpoint the criminal responsibility of politicians, past and present, in maintaining a system that draws its sustenance from the sweat, blood, and labor of migrant Filipinos.

What kind of government allows its own people to be exported to other countries and expects the continued inflow of remittances to keep the economy afloat? What do we call a policy that shamelessly sells the labor power and dignity of Filipinos to the altar of the global market? How can we accept the argument that the damaging impact of migration like separated families, the exodus of skilled professionals, the exploitation of cheap Filipino labor, the silent agony of discriminated Filipinos who experience various humiliating forms of racism – can we endure and ignore this suffering just because the OFW remittances constitute the black gold of the Philippine economy?

Only a leadership with a shortage of imagination could proclaim that no alternative is available to this social set-up; that we have to continue exporting our own people; and that we still need to experience more pain and anguish for a longer time. If this is the way our government thinks, then we have no choice but to do the only honorable and right thing and that is to export all our politicians to other countries. Or to Mars if no one will accept them.

I have some bad news to share and also some good news as pasalubong from Pinas.

The bad news is that the present supremo of the Philippine Islands is no torch bearer of genuine change so the situation in the country is bound to worsen. Why do we say that? Because 1) President Noynoy Aquino, the son of two democracy icons, the country’s most illustrious bachelor, the brother of Kris, the former owner of a second-hand Porsche, the hacendero president is surrounded by advisers who faithfully cling to the neoliberal dogma; 2) After more than a year in office, his single concrete achievement as president is the elimination of wang wang in the streets but the more insidious forms of wang wang mentality like the refusal of landlords to distribute their lands to small farmers are tolerated; 3) There is no review of anti-people policies implemented by previous governments like the reduction of state subsidies to social services, unabated profiteering of oil companies, and active promotion of labor export.

The Daang Matuwid is now operational but it’s only for Porsche cars, the president’s friends and kamag-anak. And if you are lucky, you can pass but you must pay high toll fees, VAT included.

What should migrants do? As the boss of Pnoy, demand reforms, assert your migrants’ agenda. Remind him that decent jobs will not be created if he continues to subscribe to a discredited economic thinking. Make him understand too that progress shouldn’t be equated with abstract numbers like GDP, foreign investments, and rising profits of big corporations. We are more concerned about the quality of living in society like the social opportunities for the poor, relevant education, accessible health care, peace in the community, delivery of social justice, solidarity, bayanihan in society. These are the things that truly matter.

Most of all, migrants should show to Pnoy and to other ruling oligarchs that you are prepared to exert the full potential of your power, and I do not only mean your purchasing power, but the power to change the world, the power to refashion a new social order.

2011 is an important year for the people’s movement. This year is the 10th anniversary of the Edsa Dos Uprising, the 20th year of the historic Senate vote that rejected the US Bases Treaty, the 25th year of the EDSA People Power, the 40th year of the Diliman Commune. The year started with the Arab Spring uprisings; then the Occupy Wall Street protest inspired several ‘Occupy’ actions. In the Philippines, farmers and workers conducted an ‘Occupy Mendiola’ protest a few days ago. They said they are the 75 percent of the population who are urging the other 24 percent to join the struggle in resisting the oppressive rule of the 1 percent.

But after we ‘Occupy’, we must organize. Otherwise, the repressive state will attempt to seize control of the spaces we liberated. The protesters in Wall Street and other ‘Occupy’ sites need to regroup, expand, and organize the people, the masses who are preoccupied with something else.

I said earlier that I have some good news as pasalubong. I’m happy to announce that the people’s movement in the Philippines is getting stronger and bolder. The parliament of the streets has been successful in presenting the people’s agenda; and it has been consistent in unmasking the bankrupt and reactionary programs of the Aquino government. Meanwhile, the mass movement in the countryside for genuine agrarian reform and the protection of our finite natural resources continues to frighten the enemies of the people. Day by day, inch by inch, zone by zone, victory is getting nearer.

This is my pasalubong. What about your pabaon to me? Well, I can report back to our kasamas in the Philippines that the Filipino community in the US, led by NAFCON and other allied organizations, is ready to enter into a new era of resurgent struggles. The community is prepared to boost the full potential of the mass movement in advancing the rights of migrants, the workers, the poor, in solidarity with all those who are struggling for a better world, a new future.

Once again, I salute the NAFCON for leading the noble fight of Filipinos in the US. Laban mga kasama! Tuluy-tuloy sa pakikibaka! Mabuhay ang migranteng Pilipino!

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Political Dynasty or Destiny?

By admin | October 17, 2011

A new feature in the website of the Philippine House of Representatives is the Online Roster of Philippine Legislators from 1907 to present. During its launching, Rep Jun Abaya of Cavite (Liberal Party) said that it could be used to study the history of political dynasties in the country. Indeed, the database shows that local politics in the past century were dominated by only few families. While it’s not unusual for a veteran candidate to emerge undefeated in the polls, it’s quite disturbing that the winner is always from the same family. Maybe it’s the application of Einstein’s Theory of Relativ(e)ity?

It can be argued that dynastic political families also exist in other democratic societies; but the Philippines has a negative experience with the political dominance of warlord families which prompted the delegates of the 1987 Constitutional Commission to insert an anti-political dynasty provision in the new Constitution. The pertinent provision refers to Article 2 – Declaration of Principles and State Policies, Section 26: The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.

Congress has not yet passed a law which would define political dynasties. Of course there are good political dynasties; but a dynasty is a dynasty is a dynasty (it’s also a TV show, a friend from East Timor reminded me through twitter).

So how do we use the new special section of the Congress website? Simply drag down the select option and type the name of legislator or choose a district, province or region. To search a dynasty, type the province name then sort the list by last name (but listing can be incomplete since some dynasty members adopt new family names through marriages). I played this game during one of those boring hours in the departure gate while waiting for my delayed flight.

Let’s start with the Abads of Batanes. Due to the long list of Abads in public service, my screencap was unable to include Jorge Abad who served in the legislature in the years 1950-57, 1962-64, and 1970-72.

Probably the most popular and powerful political dynasty in the past half century is the Aquino Family of Tarlac. Again, missing from my screencap are Sergio Aquino (1943-44) and Herminio Aquino (1987-98).

Roque Ablan of Ilocos Norte dominated the polls for forty-years

But the Marcoses are the undisputed lords of the north. The first prominent politician in the family was Mariano Marcos (1925-30)

Two screenshots are required to identify all Roxases who represented Capiz in Congress

Here is the second screenshot

The Dimaporos of Lanao del Norte. Another member of the clan is Rep Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo.

The Ortegas of La Union are one of the oldest political families in the country. Two screenshots are also needed to identify all family members who entered Congress

Here is the second screenshot

Several families have dominated Cebu politics. We have the Duranos

The Gullas family

And the Osmenas

In Camiguin, the Romualdo family is still in power

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Teacher as Visionary

By admin | October 7, 2011

Speech delivered in Miriam College during the International Conference on Learning and Teaching. The other panelists were Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani and Ateneo President Jose Ramon Villarin

I salute all our teachers this morning (special mention to my elementary math teacher and philosophy teacher in college who are both here). Thank you for the gift of knowledge. Congratulations to the organizers of the conference, our participants, our speakers, all of us who are gathered today as we affirm our commitment to share the power of learning and dignity of teaching in the world.

I’m often introduced as a blogger, activist, and legislator. But before that, I was an educator. To teach was my original dream in college. Mr Fermin, the Principal of Miriam High School and one of the core initiators of the conference can attest to that since he was my blockmate and seatmate in college. Through this conference, my desire to be a teacher was rekindled. So thank you Miriam College.

Today, the world mourns the death of Steve Jobs. We pay tribute to a man who gave us Apple, Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Most of all, we are thankful for all the revolutionary ideas and dreams that he had shared with us. Jobs was a school drop out. So is Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Bill Gates of Microsoft, and Joseph Estrada of San Juan. Except for the last person I mentioned, these individuals are hailed by almost everybody in the world for inventing things and ideas that change the way we live and work.

So should we all drop out from schools? Of course not. But the story of Jobs and other superstar drop outs should force us to re-examine the schooling process. Schools will never lose their relevance but the learning process can either improve or deteriorate depending on our efforts to make it work. Then and now, we try to answer these questions: Do students always learn better through formal schooling? How do we harness and integrate formal and informal learning? How do we make education responsive to the needs of individuals, families, and our communities?

Teachers play a big role in motivating students to experiment with ideas and to believe in their abilities. They make it easy for us to accept, understand, and even change the present conditions of the world. But if students stumble along the way, teachers are often the first to be blamed by arrogant bureaucrats, clueless commentators, and shallow scholars. If students get low grades in national examinations, teachers are criticized for failing to educate the youth.

When Soviet Russia launched the Sputnik satellite into space in the 1950s, policymakers blamed the U.S. education system for causing the United States to lose to Russia in the bid to conquer space. No less a statesman than former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote then: “Educators, parents and students must be continuously stirred up by the defects in our educational system. They must be induced to abandon the educational path that, rather blindly, they have been following as a result of John Dewey’s teachings.”

Dewey was the foremost American educator and philosopher during the first half of the 20th century. He criticized the methods of teaching in schools and successfully required the inclusion of play, vocational studies, work and leisure in the curriculum. His works became a bible for educators disillusioned with the ravages of industrial ideology over education. Experiments in pedagogies concerned with encouraging the experience of the learner as a first step in learning became widespread.

Of course Eisenhower was wrong to blame Dewey. But the president and military strategists found a convenient scapegoat for America’s failure to send the fist satellite into orbit. The U.S. government used Sputnik to justify widespread reforms in the education sector. Sputnik suddenly created a high demand for scientists, engineers and technology experts. The United States started producing thousands of PhD academicians in weeks.

The obsession to beat the Russians forced U.S. schools to abandon the educational reforms proposed by Dewey and other radical philosophers. A decade later, students from major U.S. universities criticized the undemocratic character of American schools. On the other hand, many insist that the focus given by the government and academe on science, technology and math after the launching of Sputnik has allowed the public to own and enjoy their laptops, cell phones and the Internet today.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama said that he hopes for another ‘Sputnik moment’ that would spur American education. He clearly saw the direct link of education in revitalizing industries that will not only create jobs and livelihood but also contribute to the economy’s competitiveness.

But the view that education should faithfully sustain the imperatives of the corporate economy is not universally embraced. Radical educators of the 1960s like Jonathan Kozol, Paul Goodman, and Ivan Ilich criticized the dehumanizing set-up in our schools. Instead of enriching humanity, schools are systematically redirecting the creativity and passion of the youth to strictly conformist and conventional directions.

Paulo Freire, author of the book ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’, emphasized the value of dialogue, reflection, and action in schools to help the oppressed articulate their oppression, break the culture of passivity, and begin to understand social reality and how to change their present condition. In order not to be tools of oppression in a very exploitative society, teachers should consciously adopt a democratic teaching method that respects the ‘cultural capital’ of the learner.

Resistance Theorists like Henry Giroux, Peter Mclaren, and Michael Apple warned against the creeping invasion of conservative and corporate ethos in the formal schooling system. Under the guise of promoting efficiency, schools are transformed into mass-production assembly units producing graduates who possess skills and the right attitude required by the corporate and global economy.

There was a time when schools trained students to become responsible citizens. Today, schools mold students to be competitive in the job market. But education should be more than just job preparation. The liberating power of education shouldn’t be misused to convert students into mere consumers who are interested on how to increase their purchasing power instead of their real power to change the world.

In the 1990s, school reforms were justified to promote globalization. While I support the globalization of research, the healthy exchange of academic discourse, the improvement of communications and distance learning, I’m against the globalization of education-for-profit which translated into reduced state subsidies for schools, anomalous partnerships with big business, and attack on the democratic rights of teachers and students.

As schools scrambled and competed for dwindling public funds, they instituted reforms that conform to the narrow standards of business efficiency like non-unionized teaching workforce, market-driven academic programs, and depoliticized student body. In short, what deteriorated in the past decade was not merely the quality of education but also the fighting capacity, the democratic potential, of our schools.

And maybe we didn’t notice the transformation because we got distracted with the ubiquitous emergence of Information Technology. We immediately recognized its varied pedagogic applications. Somehow, we expected it to be a solution to some of our problems like rural-urban education gap, shortage of resource materials, and inequality in schools.

Indeed, it initially made teaching a little bit easier. Communication is now faster, news and information are instantly available, and teachers can share experiences through virtual means. Classroom teaching can be more fun if IT is effectively utilized. So many web and mobile applications, including interactive teaching modules, can still be developed to address the needs of the academe. IT is still in its infancy and schools should continue to embrace the wonderful opportunities offered by this technology.

But IT also created new problems for teachers. For example, the digital gap has contributed to inequality in society. But the biggest challenge is how to properly motivate the new generation of students, the digital natives, whose worldview, attitude, and behavior were already shaped by the rise of IT in society.

Thanks to the internet, many students today are obsessive fact-checkers who expect instant results for the little effort they exerted. They equate googling with research while Wikipedia is seen as a reliable online library. There are students who do not even rephrase what they copied from websites. Thanks to texting, online chat and microblogging, many students are incapable of expressing beyond 140 characters. Reading is reduced to monitoring the status updates of their Facebook friends. Multitasking means opening several tabs on the internet browser. Good citizenship is accomplished by signing online petitions or supporting advocacy pages.

IT didn’t render teachers obsolete. On the contrary, we need more teachers who will guide students on how to maximize the learning potential of IT. It isn’t the capacity to absorb information that counts but the skill to filter the relevant data from trash or spam. Students must learn how to effectively organize, interpret, and use the data he receives from the web. IT is useless if students don’t have the basic communication skills. IT is just empty entertainment if not linked to other meaningful and offline activities of students. Teachers will continue to be relevant despite the laughable prediction that robots will replace teachers in the classroom. Didn’t they predict the same thing when TV was invented?

The internet can make a person a walking encyclopedia but not necessarily an enlightened or educated individual. One can be obese with excessive data intake but it doesn’t instantly make him a better person. The role of schools and teachers is still to educate a new breed of ‘total’ persons, critical thinking persons, who can contribute to the advance of civilization.

But enhancing the skills of students is only one of the duties of our educators. Part of their mission should be to cultivate individuals with a strong sense of social responsibility. Students must see themselves not as individuals competing against each other but as members of the same community. The spirit of solidarity must be promoted in schools so that students will be inspired to stand up for the rights of the weak and minority. It’s a necessary antidote to the dominant thinking which reinforces individualism and unhealthy competition.

Teachers are political creatures and schools are political institutions. Teachers must realize that they can’t completely hide their own biases inside the classrooms. Instead of denying it, they must admit in the open their political standpoint. They must be encouraged to participate in the social struggles of the day. Why? Because political solutions are needed to fix education problems because the organization and distribution of knowledge in a society has always been a political question. And teachers are most credible in articulating the essential issues that confront the schooling system.

At the minimum, schools must be cultural sites where there is “contestation and struggle for meaning,” where student resistance is positively analyzed, where conflict is theorized as a step in completing the project of democracy. But it shouldn’t stop there. Schools are not autonomous sites that operate in an uncorrupted social universe. They mirror the imperfections of the community. They reproduce the values, habits, and know-how that are required for the survival of our social institutions. Therefore, we cannot sincerely advocate a better education system without yearning and fighting for a better social set-up. If we really desire good schools, we should build a more progressive society. Therefore, the democratization movement inside schools should not be divorced from the struggles of various social forces. If we refuse to recognize the political character of education issues or the relationship of the struggle for meaningful schooling with the broader socio-political process, all conflicts inside schools would remain parochial concerns with no power to alter the educational landscape. De-politicized school conflicts pit teachers, students, and administrators against one another while the real enemies of the people are unscathed. Political school struggles should involve everybody in the campus against the unequal social order and those who defend and control it.

Teachers as ‘organic intellectuals’ who recognize the humanistic value of the teaching process, the political impact of their work inside schools, and the imperative to speak, organize and act for genuine social change.

Che Guevarra said that “a true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.” Teachers teach because they believe that it’s a noble thing to do. They teach because they are dedicated to the idea of sharing the power of life and love. They teach because they continue to believe in humanity and progress. Teachers are therefore among the genuine revolutionaries of society.

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Philippine Realities in Google Maps

By admin | October 6, 2011

Batasang Pambansa, the so-called House of the People, where the President of the Republic delivers his annual state of the nation address, is symbolically close to Payatas dumpsite. Batasan is also surrounded by urban poor communities and exclusive subdivisions. Chaotic zoning? It’s urban planning, Philippine-style.

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

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The Right to Strike!

By admin | September 28, 2011

Privilege speech delivered last September 26, 2011. Thanks to @kabataanpl and @adarna for helping me in drafting this speech.

Mr Speaker I rise to defend the right of our youth to participate in political activities. Last Saturday, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte urged the students to focus on their studies instead of participating in rallies. The remark was issued a day after the successful staging of a nationwide strike of students, teachers, school officials and members of concerned sectors who forged a strong unity to defend of our State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). The strike was organized for three reasons: 1) To protest the budget cuts and insufficient funding for our state schools; 2) To demand the realignment of the budget bill so that more funds can be used for the expansion and improvement of public higher education; 3) To urge the Aquino government to review its higher education policy.

Instead of belittling last Friday’s protest action, Malacanang should properly address the demands presented by the students. Instead of discouraging the youth to actively engage our political leaders, Malacanang should welcome the participation of young people in politics.

Ms Valte and other Malacanang propagandists should not underestimate the students who joined the strike. They might be surprised to discover that the strikers are among the most committed scholars of our schools. The students must be commended for finding time and sacrificing so that they can link arms with other iskolars ng bayan in collectively asserting their legitimate demands to the government. They skipped classes not because they are abandoning schooling but because they wanted better education. They marched on the streets not because they are school delinquents but because they wanted to remind the government that its policies on education and funding priorities are forcing many young people to drop out from schools. It is precisely out of supreme dedication to learning that motivated the students to organize the strike.

Malacanang should know better that students are capable of performing well in schools while taking an active role in campus and even national politics. To speak and act decisively on various social and political issues are among the important duties of our young citizens. These are part of the youth’s learning development; these are essential components of citizen education in a democratic society.

Valte and the other propagandists seem to forget that from time to time, Malacanang itself is organizing public assemblies and even rallies where student participation is often made a school requirement. The President himself has been very consistent in his appeal for active youth participation in the public affairs. In a recent speech, the president even reminisced about his involvement in the student movement during the Martial Law years.

It is wrong for student activists to organize rallies but it becomes acceptable if approved by Malacanang? Public assemblies and rallies are not beneficial to society but they become an integral component of citizenship if endorsed by Malacanang? Our elders did the right thing when they marched on the streets in their youth, but students today are irresponsible if they skip classes to attend protest actions?

Encouraging the youth to study better isn’t wrong. What is unacceptable is the refusal to recognize that the youth become better educated if they are also immersed in the social and political affairs of the country. We need more student strikers, not less.

Malacanang shouldn’t limit the capacity of young people to perform great political actions. It shouldn’t reduce youth political engagement into wearing of yellow ribbons and posting comments on the President’s social network pages. Young people today, like the earlier generations, are willing and capable of creating history.

Last week’s strike was something we should have anticipated. We cannot reduce the funds for social services without provoking the anger of our citizens. We cannot impose budget cuts and allocate insufficient funds for social services without generating public unrest.

Mr Speaker, distinguished colleagues, we live in dire times. Domestically and globally, budget cuts, price hikes, continuous rights violations and social strife continue to inspire countless young people to rely on the collective wisdom and power of the oppressed to build a better and more humane, progressive society.

Youths all over the world are up in arms. Youth and student riots in London, Chile, Spain, Madagascar, Columbia, Germany, Malaysia and elsewhere in the world are testament to how volatile the present global economic crisis is. Youths 17-25 years old are jobless, students are protesting against budget cuts and tuition and price increases. The whole world is in debt.

The Philippines is not an exception. Our conditions are not different, if worse, from other countries. And as in other countries, the youth and student movement is undeniably a moving force in the fight for substantial social reforms.

Indeed, the string of massive student protests that erupted during the past few months were only a logical response to the aggravating crisis brought about by the disarray in the current global economic order. Economies that once seemed unscathed are now experiencing economic recessions. In order to curb their impending decline, countries intensify their privatization, deregulation and liberalization schemes—the three essential components of the current dominant economic framework notoriously known as neoliberalism.

Malamang ay nagtataka rin kayo: Di hamak na mas mahirap na bansa ang Pilipinas kaysa mga bansang nabanggit ko, pero bakit hindi pa nagra-riot ang mga kabataan dito?

Mr Speaker, distinguished colleagues, we have our youth and student movement to thank for. Kailangang maunawaan ng marami na mapagpasya pa rin ang organisasyon ng mga kabataang aktibista sa paghikayat na magkaroon ng pagkakaisa sa ating bansa. Kung ano ang mayroon tayo at wala ang iba – ito ang buong kilusang kabataan at estudyante na naninindigang hindi riots at hindi anarkiya ang sasagot sa krisis. Sa kabila ng lahat, namamayani ang disiplina at matibay na organisadong pagkilos ng ating mga kabataang aktibista. Sa ganitong diwa, dapat pa nga natin pasalamatan ang mga organisasyong tulad ng League of Filipino Students (LFS) at iba pang mga makabayang organisasyon ng kabataan na nakikibaka para sa mas magandang bukas para sa ating bayan. Kung kaya’t ang pahayag kamakailan ng Pangulo kung saan hinambing niya ang Executive Committee ng LFS sa diktaturya ay hindi makatwiran at lalong hindi katanggap-tanggap.

The social policies of the Aquino administration, clear as clear can be, nourish the ground for critical dissent. What the Palace is telling our youth now is to be silent while their right to education and social services is continuously violated. Reports early today contain a statement from DBM Secretary Butch Abad saying that our youth should make do with insufficient funds for our public higher education. It is this kind of utter insensitivity of the Aquino administration that forces our youth and people to heighten the struggle for their basic rights.

More strikes, not less, will definitely rock the nation as the youth and people fight for their future.

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‘Filipinos belong to geography’

By admin | September 25, 2011

Camiguin is no ordinary island. It’s a small island province dotted with several volcanoes. Its five towns are sitting on top of ten volcanoes. One of the volcanoes is Mount Hibok-Hibok whose catastrophic eruption in the 1950s forced the government to establish the Phivolcs. But life in mystical Camiguin is as ordinary as the other volcano-less islands of the country. Perhaps the people there have learned to accept the permanent presence of the volcanoes which allowed them to confront the other vicissitudes of life. Or maybe it’s the threat of the next big explosion (the next big one) that spurs people into action. This alertness to disasters – the constant anticipation of tragedies – is the stuff of life.

This makes Filipinos a special breed of human beings since they are living in the most disaster-prone part of the world. Situated inside the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines manages to withstand a record number of strong typhoons, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions every year. (We eat disasters for breakfast). Indeed, the land is blessed with abundant natural resources but everyday is a struggle to survive the violent elements of nature. Filipinos are trapped.

Many foreigners find the Philippines majestic and enchanting but it’s actually a difficult place to live. President Gloria Arroyo described it as a “densely populated, rocky archipelago with relatively few sources of fresh water.” Gregorio Brillantes thinks it’s made up of “strange, incompatible islands amid ambiguous seas.” Only the blind and clueless like Standard and Poor’s would hail it as an ‘island of calm’.

Here lies the uniqueness of this place and the people who inhabit it. In these ‘sand-and-coconut-tree’ islands of volcanoes, giant crocodiles, and exotic coral reefs, the people are too busy to be bored with life. Hence the feasting, the merrymaking, the fighting, the taming of the terrain.

To borrow some words from Alexander Herzen, Filipinos belong to geography rather than to history. And as E.H. Carr reminded us, beware of people without history because they are potentially revolutionary.

Manila’s vulnerability

Manila is an easy target. Colonial powers were able to subjugate it by attacking from the seas. Limahong, the English, the Americans, the Japanese – all of them invaded Manila through the western corridor. Even today, foreign powers and aggressors are able to terrorize us by sending their nuclear warships and oversized quasi-military fishing boats near our shores.

Corregidor served as Manila’s first line of defense against invading forces but other than this ‘rock’ fortress, our colonial masters have failed to establish a solid naval defense system to protect the capital. Maybe because the colonizers, after imposing military hegemony in the city, were too busy fighting the barbarians, pagans, and other disobedient indios in the mountains that beefing up the coastal defenses became a secondary priority for them.

Bonifacio was certainly not the country’s first guerilla but he provided the blueprint on how to invade the city from the suburbs and mountains. From the vantage point of his rebel base in Montalban, he directed his troops to attack Manila from several key locations: From the east, the San Mateo and Marikina forces will attempt to shut down El Deposito in San Juan which at that time controlled Manila’s water supply. From the north, Caloocan and Tondo forces will attack Binondo churches, hospitals, and the telegraph and railway lines. From the south east, Taguig, and Pateros forces will cross the Pasig River, establish a base in the hills of Hagdang Bato (Mandaluyong) and Guadalupe (Makati), and proceed to attack Pandacan and Sta. Ana. From the central suburb, Sampaloc forces will attack Sta Mesa and Quiapo. From the south, Cavite forces led by Aguinaldo will attack Ermita, Luneta, and finally Intramuros.

Based on this plan (details provided in Zeus Salazar’s book, August 29-30, 1896: Bonifacio’s Battle for Manila), we now know that Bonifacio was also an outstanding military tactician. He understood the strategic value of maximizing the mountainous terrain around Manila to attack the capital. In the second phase of the revolution, Bonifacio’s idea of establishing a mountain rebel lair was successfully realized in Biak na Bato.

Combine the attack route used by the colonizers and Katipuneros and what emerges is an enduring formula to effectively dominate the capital, at least from a military perspective.

Will the ‘Nice People Around’ who are exercising Red Power in the boondocks grab this attack recipe as a gift from History? Or maybe, after four decades of waging a people’s war, they might just surprise us one day with a demonstration of their updated and hopefully, upgraded version of how ‘political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.’

Island Dynamics

The central part of the archipelago of what has come to be known as the Philippine state is composed of small and medium-sized islands. These islands are Palawan, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Samar, Leyte, Bohol, Mindoro, Romblon, and Masbate. Island mentality is most evident in these places. It’s political, economic, and social manifestations deserve to be probed further.

The current system of classifying the islands into various provinces under different political regions blurs the existence of what we call island mentality. Decades of gerrymandering and Imperial Manila’s desperate but egotistical aim of pacifying the islands have almost severed the organic ties of these islands.

Palawan was made part of Luzon when just two generations ago it was still part of Minsupala (Mindanao, Sulu, Palawan). In fact, the Moro people consider it as part of their ancestral domain. Panay was subdivided into six provinces. The case of Masbate is interesting: It’s officially part of the Bicol region but geographically, it’s within the Visayas range. In fact, there are towns in the province whose dominant languages are not Bicolano nor Masbateno but Cebuano, Hiligaynon, and even Waray.

Estancia in Panay is nearer to Roxas City than Iloilo City but it’s part of Iloilo Province. Roxas is known by everybody as the country’s seafood capital but nearby Estancia in a neighboring province prides itself as the ‘Alaska of the Philippines’ because it supplies the fish needs of many provinces. It gets more complicated. There are many Estancia college students who come from Masbate. Asked about the direction of Masbate, residents will just answer ‘over there’ or ‘one lantsa ride away.’

More examples: Despite being part of Western Visayas, Boracay buys its seafood supply from Romblon, a province of Luzon. Dumaguete is a university town in Negros Oriental but many of its students come from north and west Mindanao, particularly in Dipolog and Dapitan.

Negros Occidental is Western Visayas while Negros Oriental is Central Visayas. But there are towns in Negros Occidental which are literally and figuratively closer to the Central Visayas region. During a solidarity event with Escalante City farmers in north Negros which I recently attended, most of the student participants didn’t come from Bacolod but from Cebu and Bohol. I learned that the northern and eastern sides of Negros Occidental are actually closer to north Cebu than to Western Visayas. There are ferry rides that transport residents of north Negros to north Cebu and vice versa.

Island mentality is neither good nor bad. Arroyo successfully cultivated and benefited from this political dynamic when she received the support of Cebu’s ruling political families and parties in 2004. Isn’t it tragic that one person (Big Boss Danding) seems to control the present and future of Negros Island?

Then and now, the wealth and resources of the islands are monopolized by a few families. The money is siphoned off to Manila where absentee landlords hideously spend their idle time on non-essential goods and services. We are unforgiving to poor migrants who are swarming like rats in Manila yet we seem to forget that the city’s wealth is based on the ruthless accumulation of capital by despotic families in the rural islands.

The dominant attitude in Imperial Manila is to maintain and widen the division of the islands. This is a legacy of the colonial era. What is needed is a revolutionary force capable of uniting the islands to challenge the tyranny of the reigning political blocs.

Perhaps this is the reason why at one point in the 1980s, the Visayas Commission of the Communist Party generated so much fear and respect in the region. Maybe for many people, it allowed them to imagine a different future.

Archipelagic warfare

Even his critics admit that Jose Maria Sison’s Specific Characteristics of Our People’s War is an outstanding contribution to Marxist literature. The document affirmed Sison’s reputation as an original Marxist thinker but more than that, it comprehensively discussed the appropriateness of using the innovative path taken by the victorious Chinese Communist Party under the leadership of Mao Zedong. At the same time, it underscored the particularity of the Philippine People’s War by identifying the challenges and advantages of launching a nationwide guerrilla war in an archipelagic country like the Philippines.

This is a must-read for all students of politics. It can explain why the rag tag Red Army of peasant rebels has managed to survive in the past four decades. It’s also a brilliant exposition of the link between geography, military warfare, and revolutionary politics.

Sison noted that in launching the People’s War, the more important considerations are population, forest area and the country’s mountainous terrain. But is guerrilla warfare applicable in an archipelago?

“In the long run, the fact that our country is archipelagic will turn out to be a great advantage for us and a great disadvantage for the enemy. The enemy shall be forced to divide his attention and forces not only to the countryside but also to so many islands. Our great advantage will show when we shall have succeeded in developing guerrilla warfare on a nationwide scale.”

“If on one hand the archipelagic character of the country has a narrowing effect on our fighting fronts, its mountainous character has both a broadening and deepening effect.”

The narrowing and broadening effect of the terrain led Sison to describe the war in the Philippines as “intensive, ruthless and exceedingly fluid.” He required all fighting fronts to practice self –reliance by reminding them that the rebels have no “powerful rear” to retreat unlike the rebels in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos which shared land borders with Red China.

In the 1970s, Sison anticipated the building of a central revolutionary base in north Luzon

“Amidst the twenty guerrilla bases and zones already in existence and on the basis of the experience gained in creating them, the central leadership can proceed to establish the central revolutionary base somewhere in the well-inhabited mountainous area of Northern Luzon. The guerrilla bases and zones of Northeast Luzon, Northwest Luzon and Central Luzon can stand as the future terminals of regular mobile forces that are to arise at the central revolutionary base.”

Since the Communist Party will never publish the current status and other details of the People’s War, we can only speculate that this central revolutionary base has yet to be established.

Meanwhile, Sison echoed the attack formula of Bonifacio

“On the eve of the nationwide seizure of power, Manila-Rizal shall be caught in a pincer between regular mobile forces from the north and from the two regions of Southern Luzon.”

Sison also mentioned the need to develop sea warfare.

“Because our country is archipelagic, it is a matter of necessity for us to develop guerrilla bases and zones along the seacoast.”

“Within the Visayas, boating is as common as trucking in the Luzon or Mindanao mainlands. If we take lessons from Southwestern Mindanao, especially from Sulu archipelago, we can further develop sea warfare, a form of guerrilla warfare making use of small bancas (boats) and big as well as small islands. This would constitute a good support for our guerrilla warfare on land.”

Rejecting Sison’s strategy, the controversial Popoy Lagman mocked the emphasis given by Sison to geography in advancing the revolution: “So this is what is specific to the Philippines: its terrain!”

But the intellectual Lagman should know better that Sison had more than adequately written about the ‘paritcularities’ and ‘specifics’ of the Philippine revolution. His ideological differences with Sison must have blinded him from recognizing the other salient points raised by the author. But I’ll put forward an even more daring idea: Even if Sison’s only output is this document which I have summarized in this article, his stature as a Marxist intellectual is assured.

Because after the political line is established, and if the fighting forces are already positioned, the next important consideration is the discussion of the terrain. It’s the terrain, stupid.

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Myanmar’s ‘prisoners of conscience’

By admin | September 22, 2011

The plight of Burma’s political prisoners was among the principal issues raised by Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, after his five-day mission to the country last month.

Quintana, who has visited Burma four times since 2008, noted the positive steps taken by the government ‘that have the potential to bring about an improvement in the human rights situation of Myanmar (Burma).’ He also welcomed ‘what seems to be an opening of space for different actors and parties to engage in the political process.’

But while recognizing the efforts of the government to implement reforms, he also underscored the ‘serious and ongoing human rights concerns that need to be addressed.’ He also specifically cited the continuing detention of a large number of ‘prisoners of conscience.’

The military junta-dominated government continues to deny the existence of political prisoners in the country, but activists believe there are more than 2,000 people in the country who are in prison today because of their political activities. Burma is notorious for handing out insanely long sentences to captured dissidents. For example, Gen. Hso Ten of the Shan State Peace Council is serving a 106-year sentence for high treason. Hla Hla Win, a video journalist for the Democratic Voice of Burma, was detained for using an unregistered motorbike, but her jail sentence has been extended to 20 years.

Burma has more than 43 prisons and around 100 labor camps, but the majority of political prisoners are held in Yangon’s Insein prison. Even democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi spent time in this top security prison.

In his statement delivered at Yangon International Airport, Quintana shared the testimonies of ‘prisoners of conscience’ in Insein Prison. ‘I heard disturbing testimonies of prolonged sleep and food deprivation during interrogation, beatings, and the burning of bodily parts, including genital organs. I heard accounts of prisoners being confined in cells normally used for prison dogs as means of punishment. I also heard accounts of inadequate access to medical care, where prisoners had to pay for medication at their own cost.’

Quintana also mentioned the continuing allegations of ‘torture and ill-treatment during interrogation, the use of prisoners as porters for the military, and the transfers of prisoners to prisons in remote areas where they are unable to receive family visits or packages of essential medicine and supplemental food.’

Insein Prison has a total prison population of 10,000, but it has only three doctors. The prison overcrowding is blamed for the spread of illnesses in the detention facility.

Quintana’s report validates the claim of human rights groups that Burma prisoners suffer regular physical and psychological abuse from officials. It also affirms the notorious image of Insein prison as the ‘darkest hole in Burma,’ where 300 political prisoners are currently detained.

After witnessing the conditions of the ‘prisoners of conscience’, Quintana immediately called for their release on humanitarian grounds. He also reminded the government that their release would be a ‘central and necessary step towards national reconciliation and would bring more benefit to Myanmar’s efforts towards democracy.’

If the Junta generals are serious in their commitment to promote democratic reforms, and if they want the approval of the international human rights community, they would do well to follow what Quintana has outlined in his latest report on the state of human rights in Burma. At the minimum, releasing the ‘prisoners of conscience’ will boost the democratic reform movement in the country.

Written for The Diplomat

Singapore’s Happy Maids?

A survey released this month by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower suggested that most foreign domestic workers are happy and satisfied to work in the prosperous city state. The survey was undertaken by a private firm hired by the Ministry to conduct face-to-face interviews with 900 randomly selected foreign maids. The study also involved 450 employers.

Singapore has more than 200,000 foreign maids who came mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia. According to the survey, 9 in 10 foreign maids said they were satisfied with working in Singapore, while 7 in 10 have expressed an interest in continuing to work in the city after their contracts expire. Almost 9 in 10 would like to continue working for their current employer. Meanwhile, 3 in 4 employers said they were satisfied with their current maids, and 6 in 10 intend to continue employing their current maids after their existing contracts expire.

The survey also revealed that the maids have sufficient food (99 percent) and adequate rest (97 percent) while slightly more than half of them (53 percent) said they were given at least one rest day per month. While it’s comforting to learn that the basic needs of most foreign maids are being addressed, it’s a little alarming that 47 percent of them weren’t being given a day off by their employers. Why has the Ministry failed to point to this finding as a serious issue of concern?

As expected, 25 percent of the foreign maids cited homesickness as their main problem, while 16 percent of them said that they had initial difficulties communicating with Singaporeans, and 11 percent said they were unable to cope with their work. Curiously, 22 percent claimed they experienced no problems at all when they came to work in Singapore. It’s hard to believe that such a large number of maids didn’t encounter a single problem in their work. Meanwhile, the survey didn’t mention potential physical or other types of abuse.

Maybe one reason for the rosy assessment was a communication problem during the interviews, which prevented the maids from expressing their real feelings and thoughts. Were they interviewed in front of their employers? Were they informed that their answers would be kept confidential? Were they allowed to speak in their native language?

Even Singaporean writer Au Waipang questioned some of the ‘unreliable’ and ‘dishonest’ conclusions in the surveys. He found it incredible that more than half of the interviewed maids gave a perfect rating when asked about their work situation and welfare. He noted, for instance, that Singapore maids earn less compared with maids working in other rich countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Singapore government should obviously be commended for trying to probe the conditions of foreign maids working in the country – it’s a move that should be replicated by other rich nations, which are too focused in studying the situation of foreign employees and managers while ignoring the plight of foreign maids.

The survey confirms the perception that the welfare of most Singapore maids is protected by both the employers and the state. But the survey methodology also has flaws, which appear to have generated some unbelievable and maybe inaccurate results. The survey should inspire the government to continue formulating policies and programmes to help promote the work conditions of maids in Singapore since the ‘happy’ maids in the real world could simply be hiding their real dissatisfaction and loneliness.

Written for The Diplomat

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Unhealthy Health Budget

By admin | September 13, 2011

Speech delivered on September 12, 2011 during the plenary budget deliberations. Thanks to @kabataanpl and Diane for drafting the interpellation notes.

1. The president, through the budget message, reported that in order to improve maternal health, and the well-being of infants, the government has allocated P5.1 billion for the implementation of the Health Facilities Enhancement Program. But what he failed to mention was that the funding was actually reduced from the current P7.1 billion to the proposed P5.1 billion. I hope that the reduction will not seriously affect the delivery of maternal and infant healthcare in the country.

2. In the 2010 budget, under Healthcare Assistance, the government allocated P36 million for ‘Subsidy to Indigent Patients for Confinement in Specialty Hospitals and for the use of specialized equipment.’ In 2011, the budget was reduced to P16 million; but at least there was a subsidy intended for indigents because the item was completely removed in the 2012 budget bill. I’m worried that this fund scrapping will deprive the indigent patients of health services that are unavailable in government hospitals. Is this the government’s latest poverty reduction measure? Eliminate the poor by denying them access to appropriate healthcare and service?

3. It’s unfortunate that the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses item of several hospitals was not increased. In fact, 5 of the 12 Metro Manila-based special hospitals, and 18 of the 54 local hospitals nationwide didn’t receive an increase in their MOOE allotment. Because of this limited MOOE budget, hospitals have implemented an increase in the rates of health services they are offering to our people. Also, mandatory discounts like senior citizens’ and government employees’ discounts remain unfunded thereby competing for limited MOOE allotment.

While we welcome the P94 million token increase in the MOOE of our specialty hospitals or Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation hospitals (Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, and Philippine Heart Center), it’s important to highlight that the hospitals have not regained the P970.6 million cut in their MOOE since 2010.

4. We learned too from the president’s budget message that the government has allotted P224 million to fund programs against HIV and other infectious diseases. I have two suggestions to the Department of Health with regard to this allocation: 1) Specify the amount to be used to address the particular diseases. How much from the P224 million will be used to combat HIV? How much for dengue? And how much for food and water borne diseases? 2) The DOH should also allot more funds to address HIV/AIDS. This is now a youth problem and I hope the government will realize the urgency of strengthening our health system to curb the rise of this dreaded disease.

5. At the proper time, this representation will be proposing amendments to the budget bill so that social service institutions like the DOH will receive more funds from the government. The UN prescription is that at the minimum, 5 percent of the country’s GDP is allotted to health service.

It’s quite disturbing that our health agency doesn’t receive the high fund support that it deserves to get from the government.

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Year of ASEAN Opposition?

By admin | September 12, 2011

Since last year, opposition parties across Southeast Asia have achieved varying degrees of electoral and political success.

The opposition Liberal Party dominated the 2010 Philippine elections and defeated the ruling party, which had been in power since 2001. The opposition victory reflected the unpopularity of former President Gloria Arroyo, who was accused of electoral fraud, human rights violations, corruption and plundering state coffers.

Recently, the opposition Pheu Thai Party defeated the ruling Democrat Party in Thailand, which led to the election of Yingluck Shinawatra – the country’s first female prime minister. Yingluck is the younger sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was forced into exile after he was overthrown in a military coup in 2006. During the campaign, the opposition highlighted the culpability of the Democrat Party in the violent crackdown of anti-government protests last year, the worsening insurgency in the southern part of the country, the hostile relationship with Cambodia over a border dispute and the rising economic difficulties experienced by ordinary Thais.

Meanwhile, the People’s Action Party (PAP) is still Singapore’s dominant political coalition after it won the most seats in the general election last May. Also, the candidate the party endorsed won last week’s presidential election. But the opposition scored some significant victories this year after it managed to win a few but strategic parliamentary seats. The PAP, which has dominated Singaporean politics since the late 1950s, also suffered its worst electoral performance this year, which according to analysts has permanently altered Singapore’s political landscape.

As in Singapore, the ruling coalition in Malaysia still has more than enough numbers in parliament, but the opposition is gaining ground. The disenchantment of the public with the country’s political leadership is also rising as seen in the massive participation of ordinary Malaysians in the Bersih democracy march in July. Organized in support of electoral reforms, the Bersih has since then evolved into an opposition political movement following the overreaction of the government, which violently dispersed the peaceful march. Bersih is expected to bring more votes to the opposition.

Moving on to Burma, many analysts were surprised to learn that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has agreed to meet President Thein Sein of the military-controlled government. They are now asking if the global democracy icon has decided to work with the people who imprisoned her for more than two decades. But it could simply be an opposition tactic for outmanoeuvring the generals. Just a few weeks ago, Suu Kyi was allowed to travel to the north of the country for the first time since she regained her freedom, and she was warmly greeted by the people in the streets. The opposition hasn’t yet ditched the prospect of revolution, but it seems to be quietly maximizing the limited democratic space afforded to it by the Junta.

The new Southeast Asian leaders aren’t simply getting younger – most of them have also come from opposition ranks. The success of various opposition parties and movements in articulating the sentiments of the people, and harnessing them into a potent political force, has produced a new generation of leaders who are aware of the need for immediate political and economic reforms. Of course, opposition victories aren’t a guarantee that conditions will now improve, but at least it proved that the emergence of a genuine opposition can foster democracy. This trend should be welcomed and promoted across the region.

Written for The Diplomat

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