Greeneration

By admin | August 15, 2011

Speech delivered during the First Green Jobs Conference, SMX Convention Center. My topic was “GREENerations: Leading the Path to a Greener Future.”

Unknown to many, it was Joseph Estrada who provided the simplest if not original definition of global warming when he was still president in 1998. Responding to the allegation that he has been appointing close associates in juicy government posts, he said: “Weather Weather lang yan.” And like politics, global warming is ‘Weather Weather lang yan.”

In 1998, climate change was still an esoteric term in the academe and only the geeks and scientists used it in everyday conversations. But in the past decade, it became mainstream because of numerous extreme weather events like Milenyo, Ondoy, Pepeng, Frank, Reming, and El Nino. Ondoy, if we recall, triggered the worst flooding in Mega Manila in four decades while Reming remains to this day the strongest super typhoon that ever hit the country. In popular culture, it was a subject of several Hollywood blockbusters like The Day After Tomorrow, Simpsons, and Ice Age. Al Gore won a Nobel Prize for lecturing about it. So it’s correct to assume that the new generation acknowledges that global warming is real (unlike some U.S. politicians) and young people are more or less aware of the obvious harsh impact of changing climate patterns.

Who are the members of the Greeneration? They are sometimes called the Post Edsa generation, digital natives, networked generation, Strawberry Generation. The muggles who grew up with Harry Potter. Kung may Marcos Babies noon, may Arroyo Babies ngayon. My generation, the Generation X, is most certainly still part of the Greeneration.

As students, we were bombarded with homilies reminding us to save the environment. If Miriam Santiago eats death threats for breakfast when she was still the country’s top Immigration chief, our generation has been fed with, well, aside from nutri ban during the Marcos era, green doctrines that made us aware about the fragile state of our environment and the urgency of action to reverse the deteriorating quality of life and living in this planet.

Our formative years, 1980s and 1990s, were influenced by great political events (like Edsa, coup d’etat, and the introduction of cono English by Kris Aquino) and destructive environment disasters (like Ormoc and lahar). When we were growing up, Pasig was already filthy and Manila Bay was already a dangerous and dirty place for swimming (sabi nga ni Villar, dagat ng basura). The symbol of Manila was Smokey Mountain (the dumpsite ha, hindi yung singing group. Oh yung ngumiti ibig sabihin kasing-edad ko), then it was closed down but the dumping of garbage was merely transferred to Payatas (which is symbolically close to Batasan).

The common indicators of environment degradation are denuded forests and polluted rivers; and their visible impact in the urban is the popularity of bottled drinking water. Until elementary, I was drinking water from the faucet. Today, it’s no longer safe to drink Nawasa juice hence the ubiquitous use of bottled water. And this modern lifestyle is a direct consequence of 1) unclean environment; 2) bad governance. Isn’t it odd that a nation surrounded by waters and blessed with abundant natural resources is suffering from a shortage of clean drinking water sources? Maybe we should copy what resource-poor Singapore is doing like building desalinization plants and recycling wastewater.

The Greeneration is our new breed of eco-warriors who can be easily persuaded to support green initiatives like green living and green jobs. But being kind to Mother Earth doesn’t necessarily translate into successful and sustainable green campaigns. There is a disconnect between what individuals think and feel about the environment and the practical, everyday solutions to help clean the environment. Environment advocacy to many people is just a habit and hobby, and not something that can lead to a successful career.

Why is it that despite the rise of green consciousness in society, there is a dearth of course offerings in the academe that would generate and support green industries? Why is it that despite the emergence of environmentalism as a safe and approved advocacy in campuses, there is a seeming lack of programs that would instill and enhance the green skills of our young?

The blame lies in the backward orientation of many of our schools. We produce college graduates to fill up the manpower shortages of other countries and not the needs of our domestic industries. The priority of profit oriented school, and they compose the majority of schools in the country, is to offer popular courses. The result is the oversubscription of some courses like nursing and under enrolment in the essential courses like agriculture, geology, and marine science.

To promote green jobs, we have to engage our schools, overhaul our curriculum, and subsidize the teaching of green skills. I suspect that colleges continue to operate conservatively because of a failure to imagine the opportunities to be gained if they offer green courses. We should tap the Commission on Higher Education to begin the review of higher education programs and consider the inclusion of green subjects that would lead to the establishment of green industries using green technologies in the future. We should ask TESDA to integrate more green industries in their training programs. We should ask the Department of Education to include green jobs and green entrepreneurship topics in the new curriculum which is being prepared for the K-12 program.

Why is ‘green jobs’ a bright alternative? Because it teaches the youth that saving the environment is more than just planting trees (look, we have green highways but we have brown mountains) and segregating our garbage (look, we carefully and dutifully separate the biodegradable and non-biodegradable trash but they are all dumped anyway in the dumpsite). We can be more than just green consumers who buy green bags (actually, an environmentalist will not entice you to buy green. Instead, he will encourage you to reduce your consumption of non-essential goods).

The ‘green jobs’ alternative is similar to other innovative approaches that aim to address the negative impact of global warming. Let’s learn from our initial experience with Renewable Energy – it’s a term which has gone almost mainstream and it has become a favorite slogan of many people including business leaders and politicians, but it’s mostly a grand dream with lofty objectives. It remains a very appealing idea whose widespread application would have benefited many people. But nobody is investing in Renewable Energy since most companies prefer clean coal and mining and besides, government budget support is negligible.

The success of Green Jobs requires political will, commitment from the private sector, and sustained public support. Political will means funding support, synergy in national and local policies, and serious mobilization of public resources and institutions. Commitment from the private sector involves the rethinking of business practices that harm the environment (you can’t preach Corporate Social Responsibility while your core business method requires the wanton plunder and destruction of precious, finite natural resources) and willingness to invest in green industries. Sustained public support means the active participation of the people – civil society, people’s organizations, media, church, civic groups – in the conversations and campaign to promote green jobs.

Tapping the idealism and passion of the youth is a step in the right direction. Yesterday, Paris Hilton arrived in the country and she immediately became the top trending topic in the local virtual space. I refuse to believe that young people today are only interested in gossip, leisure, and entertainment. Green jobs and saving the environment are way way cooler than Paris Hilton.

Posted in speeches | Tagged | 4 Comments

Saudization and Migrants

By admin | August 13, 2011

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is embarking on a ‘Saudization’ programme, or nationalization of jobs, called Nitaqat. Its goal is to provide more than one million new jobs to Saudi citizens by limiting the number of foreign workers that companies can employ.

Under Nitaqat, a colour zoning scheme is implemented to determine if companies are hiring local workers. A green category is given to a company that has at least 10 percent of its workforce coming from the local population, yellow is handed out if Saudi workers comprise less than 10 percent of the company’s personnel, while firms are given a red if they don’t employ a single Saudi worker.

‘Yellow’ companies are given nine months, and ‘Reds’ six months to comply with the Saudization goals, or else they will be sanctioned by the government. ‘Red’ companies are also no longer allowed to renew their foreign workers’ visas.

‘Green’ companies, on the other hand, are prioritized in the processing of foreign workers’ visas and they are granted the privilege of being able to change the job categories of foreign workers into job categories usually reserved for Saudis.

Nitaqat’s second phase, which starts on September 10, will involve the imposition of quotas for different sectors of the economy. For example, banks must have a Saudization level of 49 percent according to the Labour Ministry. The media sector must have a 19 percent Saudization quota, which is also applicable to other commercial establishments, insurance companies and public schools.

Saudization is intended to curb the country’s rising unemployment, which now stands at about 10 percent. But the figure could be higher for women who are faced with fewer job opportunities. Another aim of Saudization is to guarantee the employment of more than 100,000 Saudi students who have been given scholarship grants by the government to study in other countries and are expected to return soon to the Kingdom.

The Saudi government is entitled to think it’s promoting the welfare of its citizens by minimizing the number of foreign workers. It also can’t be blamed for trying to protect the jobs of Saudis – it’s only doing what any government threatened by growing unemployment and dissatisfaction in society is expected to do.

Unfortunately, Saudization hurts migrant workers, especially the low skilled workers, who have been working in the Kingdom for many years already. They could lose their jobs at any time, and it’s now more difficult than ever to apply for a new job in the Kingdom since Saudis are given preferential treatment. Their only options now are to leave Saudi Arabia, migrate to another rich country, or return to their home countries and hope that the situation there has improved.

Saudization is scaring a lot of people in the Philippines and Indonesia – two countries in Southeast Asia that send thousands of workers to Saudi Arabia every year. There are 1.8 million Filipinos living and working there, about 300,000 of whom are expected to be affected by the Saudization programme, according to a migrant advocacy centre. Indeed, it was reported last week that the number of working visas issued to Filipinos by the Saudi government has already been reduced from 1,800 daily down to only 700.

Most Filipinos and Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia are domestic helpers, but the Saudi government recently imposed a ban against the hiring of domestic helpers from the two countries. The issue is a bit more complicated in the case of Indonesia, since it was Indonesia that first banned the sending of maids to Saudi Arabia after an Indonesian maid who was convicted of killing her employer was beheaded by the Saudi authorities last month. Indonesia said that it won’t deploy new maids to the Kingdom unless a new agreement is signed that would protect the rights of migrant workers.

Saudization should embolden migrant sending countries like the Philippines and Indonesia to prepare for the economic and social re-integration of laid-off workers from Saudi Arabia. It should force them to rethink the policy of sending people abroad instead of focusing on the development of their local economies. Saudization isn’t at fault here; rather it’s the utter failure of countries like the Philippines and Indonesia to provide their citizens with adequate job and livelihood opportunities at home.

Instead of asking why Saudis are now being prioritized by Saudi firms, we should question why Filipinos, Indonesians, and other migrant workers from poor countries are forced to leave their families and communities in search of a better life.

Written for The Diplomat

Female President for Singapore?

The recent victory of Yingluck Shinawatra, who will become Thailand’s first female prime minister, has inspired some Singaporeans to ask whether it’s also time for the prosperous city state to elect its first female president. Singapore is set to choose its new president, a largely ceremonial position, next month.

There were prominent female candidates who performed well during Singapore’s general elections last May, and many voters today seem ready to ignore the gender issue and instead focus more on the leadership qualities and platform of individual candidates.

The success of the opposition in grabbing more seats in parliament this year reflected the aspiration of many citizens for governance reforms. With this in mind, maybe the selection of a female president is just the sign of change that Singapore needs today.

But electing a female president isn’t that easy as choosing a female member of parliament. After reviewing the minimum qualifications that a candidate must pass, it seems there will be some difficulty in finding eligible female nominees.

According to the elections department, a person can run for president if he or she is at least 45 years-old; a resident in Singapore for a total period of not less than 10 years; is not a member of any political party; and has held office for a period of not less than three years in a position of seniority and responsibility in the public or private sector as described below –

1. As Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker, Attorney-General, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Auditor-General, Accountant-General or Permanent Secretary;

2. As chairman or chief executive officer of a statutory board to which Article 22A of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore applies;

3. As chairman of the board of directors or chief executive officer of a company incorporated or registered under the Companies Act (Cap. 50) with a paid-up capital of at least $100 million or its equivalent in foreign currency;

4. Or in any other similar or comparable position of seniority and responsibility in any other organization or department of equivalent size or complexity in the public or private sector which, in the opinion of the Presidential Elections Committee, has given him such experience and ability in administering and managing financial affairs as to enable him to carry out effectively the functions and duties of the office of President.

Women will have less of a chance of becoming president in Singapore today as long these criteria are enforced. It isn’t because there’s a dearth of women, but mainly because of the alarmingly low number of women in managerial positions in Singapore.

According to Grace Ke of the Association of Women for Action and Research, Singapore has had only one female minister in its history, and has never had a female chief justice, speaker, attorney general, Public Service Commission chairman or auditor general.

She added that only 12 of the 64 statutory boards in Singapore are currently headed by women, and cited a 2011 study that reveals that only 6.8 percent of board members for publicly-listed companies in Singapore are women. The study also showed that:

‘A whopping 61.9 per cent of all Singapore Exchange-listed companies in Singapore do not have a female director. Only 31.7 per cent have 1 female director. A measly 4.5 per cent have 2 female directors and less than 1 per cent has more than 3 female directors on their boards. Only 4 companies on the SGX Top 100 list have 3 or more female directors.’

Singapore may be ready to elect a female president, but there are legal obstacles that could make it difficult for women to run for the position. Maybe it’s time to revisit these election laws (which were drafted by men) and more importantly, promote more representation of women at all levels of government.

Written for The Diplomat

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Araw ng Kabataan

By admin | August 13, 2011

Kapag Labor Day, may nakahandang biyaya ang pamahalaan para sa mga maliliit na manggagawa. Pagtatanggol sa kalikasan at kultura naman ang karaniwang tema kapag Indigenous People’s Day. At tuwing Araw ng Kababaihan, may pagdidiin sa kabuluhan ng pagsusulong ng pagkakapantay-pantay sa lipunan upang mabaka ang diskriminasyong nakabatay sa kasarian.

Pero ano dapat ang maging paksa kapag Araw ng Kabataan? Hindi lamang edad ang espesyal sa kabataan; mahalaga din ang pagiging bahagi niya ng iba’t ibang sektor at uri sa lipunan. Walang kabataang ang tanging pagkakakilanlan niya ay ang pagiging kabataan lamang. Halimbawa, maraming batang manggagawa, mayroon tayong mga IP youth, at malaking bilang ng kababaihan ay kabataan. Sa madaling salita, hindi hiwalay ang isyu ng komunidad sa partikular na usaping kasangkot ang kabataan. Ang pasanin ng bayan ay pasanin din ng kabataan.

Kung gayon, ang pagtataguyod sa interes ng kabataan ay pagkilos din upang umangat ang kapakanan ng lahat. Hindi pwedeng magtagumpay ang kabataan nang hindi niya napapawi ang mga mali sa paligid. Paano magdidiwang ang kabataan kung gapos sa kahirapan ang masa? Kaya sa minimum, kaisa ng kabataan ang mamamayang lumalaban para sa kanilang karapatan. Sa maksimum, handa ang kabataang tumindig para sa pagbabago. Pagbabago ng lipunan. Pagbabago ng lumang mundo.

Kaya hindi maiiwasang banggitin ang likas na radikalismong taglay ng kabataan tuwing Araw ng Kabataan. Hindi mapipigilang tukuyin muli ang dakilang misyon ng kabataan na maging aktibong ahente at boses ng rebolusyon. Mapanlaban ang diwa nito: Pag-asa, Pakikibaka, Pagbabago. Bilang pag-asa ng bayan, nakikibaka ang kabataan kasama ang bayan upang likhain ang isang bagong bukas. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit ang Araw ng Kabataan ay sadyang napakapulitikal.

Araw din ito ng pagkilala sa mga nauna sa atin; sa mga kabataan noon na nagturo sa atin kung paano lumaban – Sa henerasyon nina Bonifacio, Rizal, Aguinaldo, at Jacinto; sa mga lumaban noong Philippine-American War; sa mga kabataang martir ng World War II; sa mga humamon sa Batas Militar. Matayog ang kanilang pangarap para sa atin. Mangarap din tayo para sa susunod na henerasyon.

Bawat isa sa atin ay may bitbit na usapin: edukasyon para sa lahat, reproductive health, climate change, decent employment, volunteerism. Mainam kung may kumprehensibo din tayong tanaw sa ating sitwasyon upang kumprehensibo din ang ating pagkilos. Hindi lalaya ang Pilipinas kung lahat tayo ay nakapokus sa ating maliliit at hiwa-hiwalay na laban habang ang kaaway natin ay nagdudulot ng malawakang pinsala sa bayan.

Hindi rin tayo dapat malunod sa pagbaha ng impormasyon, at maanod ng iba’t ibang libangang pinagkakaloob sa atin ng modernong teknolohiya. Wala sa twitter trending topics ang katotohanan ng ating mga suliranin; wala sa social media timeline ang sagot sa kahirapan. Nasa offline na mundo ang kalutasan; sa ating sama-samang pagkilos napapanday ang mabisang sandata para sa pagbabago.

Patunayan natin na kaya nating maging inspirasyon para sa iba pang kabataan ng mundo tulad ng ipinakita ng mga kabataan ng maraming bansa sa Middle East. Gamit ang teknolohiya sa mobilisasyon, sila ay tumungo sa lansangan upang ipaglaban ang kanilang demokrasya.

Hindi nagtapos ang pakikilahok ng kabataan sa kasaysayan noong Edsa 1986. Kung tila mahirap ulitin ang kasaysayan, lumikha tayo ng bagong kasaysayan. Pero huwag sabihing tapos na ang panahong makisangkot. Hindi nalalaos ang pagiging makabayan.

Dapat tutulan natin ang pagmamaliit sa atin. Hindi tayo voting block. Hindi tayo consumer market. Hindi tayo audience profile. Hindi tayo mga kinder na ang kayang gawin lamang ay sumunod sa matatanda’t kumilos batay sa kagustuhan ng matatanda.

Maraming taguri sa bagong henerasyon: Post Edsa generation, digital natives, networked generation, Arroyo Babies, Strawberry Generation. The muggles who grew up with Harry Potter. Mamili na lang kayo. Pero ngayong Araw ng mga Kabataan, pwede bang gamitin natin itong pagkakataon upang pag-isipan, pag-usapan, pagdesisyunan kung ano ang direksiyon na ating tatahakin upang matiyak ang isang mas magandang kinabukasan para sa lahat.

Bilang beterano ng Edsa Dos, ako ay humihingi ng paumanhin at hinayaan naming mamuno si Gloria Arroyo ng halos isang dekada. Huwag ninyong tularan ang aming mga kahinaan.

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First week of 2012 budget deliberations

By admin | August 7, 2011

“The budget is the skeleton of the state stripped of all misleading ideologies.” – Joseph A. Schumpeter

This year’s budget deliberations are significant for the following reasons: 1) The budget submitted to Congress a day after the State of the Nation Address is the first to be completely drafted by the government of President Noynoy Aquino; 2) The president’s budget message contained for the first time the specific goals of the slogan ‘Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap;’ 3) The budget reflects Pnoy’s Philippine Development Plan 2011-16; 4) All the budget documents are already published in the government website; 5) Civil Society Organizations helped in drafting the budget of six major departments and three government corporations; and 6) The budget hearing on August 2 was the earliest in about a decade.

The first week of the budget deliberations was memorable for the following events: 1) It coincided with the resolution of the debt ceiling issue in the United States; 2) The minority has decided to boycott the budget committee hearings because of the non-release of their pork allocations; 3) The budget bill has yet to be sponsored in the plenary; 4) Rep. Antonio Diaz of Zambales who first became a congressman in 1969 passed away. Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri resigned from the Senate; 5) Nora Aunor is back in the Philippines.

Briefing of the Department of Budget and Management and Department of Finance

I asked the DOF two questions: What fees and other charges will be raised by various national government agencies since DOF is targeting more than P6 billion in additional revenues through the adjustment of user fees? What agencies are targeted for privatization which would generate P2 billion pesos in revenues for the government?

Meanwhile, I raised these issues with the DBM: If allocations for Local Government Units will be reduced this year by 2 percentage points, what local services will be affected? What programs will be scrapped?

Then I asked about the CSO participation in the budget formulation. Who are the CSO leaders consulted by the DBM? What criteria were used in selecting these CSOs? How many groups participated in the new process and how is their participation reflected in the budget? What funding programs were slashed or enlarged because they were proposed by the CSOs? Secretary Butch Abad revealed that 78 CSOs were consulted in the drafting of the budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Finally, I inquired about the budget of state universities and colleges. I mentioned the discrepancy in the funding of SUCs specified in the National Expenditure Program (P21.8 billion) and the DBM budget presentation (P25.8 billion). Sec. Abad said the gap is due to the ‘innovation’ in the budget process: the allocations for ‘unfilled positions’ in government agencies are now centralized to the DBM.

Responding to my query about the zero capital outlay of SUCs, Sec. Abad cited the additional P500 million allocation of the Commission on Higher Education which has been earmarked for the operating expenses of SUCs. I manifested that the additional funds are grossly insufficient to fill up the needs of more than 100 SUCs in the country.

During the hearing, I learned that P8 billion has been allocated for the automated elections. MRT-LRT will soon adopt a unified ticketing system but it will cost us P371 million.

Briefing of the Department of Science and Technology

I asked about the PC Tablet program of the DOST which was presented last year as a solution to textbook shortages. It will be developed this year, according to Secretary Mario Montejo. I asked if the DOST plans to address the equipment needs of PAGASA in the next five years. Sec. Montejo is confident of achieving the target.

Apparently, Information and Communication Technology is now under DOST. And DOST has grand plans like ‘Internet for All’ and internet connectivity for unserved and underserved islands. I cited some of their programs like e-government, community e-centers, and mobile IT classrooms. But I quickly pointed out the impossibility of implementing these programs because of the inadequate funds allocated by the Pnoy administration. P1.2 billion has been reserved for ICT but this is misleading because P1.1 billion of this amount is only for one agency whose main mandate is to send telegrams. Meanwhile, the National Computer Center will receive only P100 million and it has no capital outlay. Good luck!

Briefing of CHED and SUCs

CHED presented some interesting numbers: 19 schools have voluntarily phased out their nursing program, 358 higher education programs have been voluntarily phased out while 31 programs were closed down by CHED, and 365 programs with noted deficiencies are closely being monitored.

The Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges presented some glaring numbers as well: Funding of 46 SUCs was slashed. The Personal Services allocation of 58 SUCs was cut by P403 million.

I began my interpellation by clarifying the total number of higher education institutions in the country. CHED said that we have 1,200 private schools and 643 public schools (including the campuses of SUCs and local universities and colleges). Then I asked the utilization of the Higher Education Development Fund (P700 million plus) and linked it to the additional P500 million allocation promised by DBM. CHED said it would still finalize the details on how to distribute the new funds but noted that the beneficiaries must offer programs that conform to the priorities of the government like Business Process Outsourcing, Agri-fishery, tourism, and other priority industries.

I asked about the difference in the higher education policies of Pnoy and his predecessor. I forgot the answer of Secretary Patricia Licuanan but I think it had something to do about transparency and fighting corruption. She kept on repeating the word ‘chaotic’ in describing the country’s system of education. I said that in terms of financing the SUCs, there’s no fundamental difference between the policies of Pnoy and Gloria Arroyo.

Finally, I said that I will consider amending the law to strengthen the autonomy of SUCs and shield them from unnecessary partisan political intervention. CHED said it will soon have a dialogue with LGU leaders about LUCs and I suggested that they should raise the issue of too much LGU intervention in the academic affairs of LUCs.

Budget issues

In the next few weeks, I plan to review these budget issues: zero based budgeting as a reform measure, hidden lump sum fund allocations, questionable unprogrammed funds, details of some of the accounts in the special purpose funds, bloated funding of the Conditional Cash Transfer program, and Public-Private Partnership in the social services sector.

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Southeast Asia: Internet freedoms and unfreedoms

By admin | August 6, 2011

I was inspired to write this piece after speaking in the 6th International Vietnamese Youth Conference held in Manila, Philippines.

I’ve been reading Southeast Asian blogs since 2008. My other sources of alternative information include twitter, facebook, and other social media sites. They provide not only interesting news stories but also incisive commentaries on various topics, especially politics.

Because of the internet, I came to know the complete name of Bangkok (which happens to be the second longest place name in the world). Online conversations have also deepened my awareness of other societies. I realized that virtual networks enhance not only our political capabilities but also our other daily endeavors like business, health, and leisure.

It allows us to access and share useful information, develop relationships with intelligent individuals and advocacy groups, and transform our communities through the networks we are building. Internet freedom, therefore, is essential in affirming our humanity. And it shouldn’t be a demand which is necessarily exclusive to the political domain.

So what did I learn about the state of internet freedom in Southeast Asia after three years of being a Southeast Asian blogger? I propose the following: First, there are many web freedoms that Southeast Asians are enjoying but the imposition of ‘unfreedoms’ negates the internet’s democratic potential. Second, cyber criminals are not those who are struggling for more web freedoms but those who are implementing and spreading web unfreedoms. Third, digital communities become powerful if their virtual actions are complemented by real-life interventions.

Web freedoms? Yes, even in societies ruled by masters and experts of cyber censorship. Internet users in the region are actually free to criticize another country. They are also free to look and act like fools in the web, free to worship entertainment stars, free to praise the royal family, free to cheer and heckle during sports events, and free to promote charity causes.

Facebook can be easily unblocked if there is a proliferation of hate pages that target an enemy country. Entertainment blogging is encouraged to distract the attention of the young. Political statements are published if they favor the government’s position. Online ranting is allowed as long as they are directed against sports teams. Political activities are not banned if the organizers would only ask the people to donate their coins.

Internet unfreedoms are enforced when authorities try to regulate ‘immoral’ web content. They justify these draconian measures by invoking the name of innocent subjects like the children who need to be protected from dangerous influence in the cyberspace. The top prohibited contents are subversive political ideas and pornography.

For example, Thailand has blocked more than 400,000 ‘harmful’ webpages. It continues to jail foreigners and webmasters who ‘insult’ the King. Meanwhile, regulators in Cambodia appealed to ISPs last January to censor anti-Khmer websites which unfortunately included the popular blog platform Blogspot. Blogspot’s only fault was that it seemed to be the preferred online portal of various opposition groups and critical media networks in Cambodia. Elsewhere in the region, bloggers were arrested in (surprise, surprise) Myanmar and Vietnam for their critical reporting of government programs.

Sex is also a taboo subject. An Indonesian Minister has threatened to block Blackberry for its alleged lack of porn filter. Furthermore, police are sometimes inspecting the phones of students in schools for porn content. The Philippines has passed a law that empowers telcos to monitor child pornography content in their networks.

Laws are being revised to arrest the perceived political and sexual perverts. Cybercriminals are the new terrorists. Internet regulation is intensely being proposed to correct the ‘irresponsible’ use of the internet. But the laws are sometimes unjustly being used against the innocent. Case in point is Prita, a young housewife from Indonesia who was charged with defamation after she sent an email complaining against a lousy service in a private hospital.

There are other obstacles in attaining internet freedom and they require immediate government attention and action. The basic issues are weak internet connectivity especially in remote areas, high cost because of dominance of profit oriented private players in the IT industry, and heavy state regulation. Recently, Myanmar banned VoIP services in internet cafés.

But the unfreedoms mentioned above can be effectively challenged through creative circumvention of restrictive laws and regulations. Strong social media campaigns have also helped in undermining the leadership of repressive regimes.

The most recent outstanding example of netizen activism or citizen media participation in the political sphere is the Bersih democracy movement in Malaysia. The event which was initially organized to ask for electoral reforms became a pro-democracy political action in the end because of the massive participation of the civilian population in the streets on one hand, and the exaggerated and violent reaction of the state on the other. Bersih is now the revolution’s name in Malaysia.

And social media was maximized to broaden Bersih’s appeal among the apolitical segments of the local internet community. More importantly, it gave Malaysians the opportunity to imagine the formation of a united and patriotic community of individuals committed to the defense of democracy.

Social media’s prominent role in Bersih proved that it’s more than a useful tool in elections exploited by politicians and professional political groups. It taught us that the intelligent use of social media can help us win more freedoms in the cyberspace and in the real world. To strengthen and spread internet freedoms, we need more Bersih-like movements.

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Utak Wang-Wang, Utak Haciendero

By admin | July 26, 2011

Mentioning the term wang-wang 28 times in the State of the Nation Address is understandable and expected since the banning of that loud and annoying siren in the streets is one of the few visible and concrete achievements of President Noynoy Aquino. But Pnoy surprised many people when he expanded wang-wang’s meaning by using it as the keyword in the fight against corruption. Today, aside from being a forbidden object, it has become a symbol of corruption and abuse of power. In his speech, Pnoy launched a war against utak wang-wang:

“Imbes na maglingkod-bayan, para bang sila ang naging hari ng bayan. Kung makaasta ang kanilang mga padrino’t alipores, akala mo’y kung sinong maharlika kung humawi ng kalsada; walang pakialam sa mga napipilitang tumabi at napag-iiwanan. Ang mga dapat naglilingkod ang siya pang nang-aapi. Ang panlalamang matapos mangakong maglingkod—iyan po ang utak wang-wang.

“Habang nananatili sa puwesto ang mga utak wang-wang na opisyal, naiiwan namang nakalubog sa kumunoy ng kawalang-pagasa ang taumbayan.”

Pnoy’s definition of utak wang-wang sharply reflects the unequal relations of power in Philippine society. We are one with him in the crusade to end the reign of this brutal kind of mindset. But unlike him, we aren’t convinced that utak wang-wang represents all evils in society. There are other demons to slay like, for instance, utak haciendero.

This evil is responsible for the continuing feudal bondage of millions of small farmers in the countryside. It’s similar to utak wang-wang but it could be worse since the despotic landlord doesn’t realize nor comprehend how his refusal to distribute his vast landholdings to poor tenants is already a legal, moral, and political crime. In fact, he doesn’t even accept the charge that he’s exploiting other people since he clings to the arrogant belief that his family is actually doing the farmers a favor by allowing them to work in the family-owned estate.

Those with utak haciendero are insensitive to the poverty experienced by others, including the loyal peasants who work for them. What matters to them is their rising share from the profits of the hacienda and not the grim statistics about the suffering of their tenants.

Pnoy is guilty of utak haciendero when he chose to highlight the positive grades given by credit rating agencies than speak about the deplorable conditions of workers in the country. There was no substantial reference to the plight of workers even in the Sona technical report because Pnoy preferred the abstract and essentially meaningless numbers of credit rating agencies – which by the way should be distrusted because of their obvious culpability in the 2008 global financial crisis. The decision to hide the workers in the Sona should provoke us to resist this criminal non-counting of the workers. Philosopher Alain Badiou warned that

“To count workers for nothing means that we count nothing but capital. What is counted is the level of the stock market, the Euro, financial investment, competition and so on; the figure of the worker, on the other hand, counts for nothing.”

Noy as Nationalist

The most applauded statement of Pnoy referred to his strong assertion of the country’s sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea (I prefer Southeast Asia Sea). He said: “Ang sa Pilipinas ay sa Pilipinas; kapag tumapak ka sa Recto Bank, para ka na ring tumapak sa Recto Avenue.”

Suddenly, Pnoy has become a staunch defender of our territorial integrity. It was made more symbolic when he cited Recto Avenue which was named after Senator Claro M. Recto, a nationalist intellectual and statesman. But to be faithful to Recto’s legacy means that Pnoy should also make a stand against visiting United States troops, warships, and meddling American diplomats and lobbyists.

He should also draft a masterplan on how to develop the Spratlys. Otherwise, it would be absurd for the Philippines to aggressively claim the Spratlys but allow foreigners to explore and exploit the energy and mineral resources there. Pnoy’s emotional but sensible appeal that rice should be planted here and consumed here by Filipinos should be more vigorously applied to other aspects of the economy.

(Maybe he didn’t mean it but Pnoy indirectly reaffirmed his pro-American bias when his Sona presentation included a photo of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.)

Negativism and Utak alimango

Pnoy’s rant against excessive negativism in the country is unreasonable but hardly surprising. After all, ruling parties and politicians are always suspicious against critics and the opposition. They can’t tolerate dissenting opinion. Even the freedom-loving President Cory once accused the media of ‘bad news syndrome’ while President Gloria called her enemies ‘self-indulgent political theatrics that send the wrong message to the world.’ Like Pnoy, Gloria wanted reports that deal only with the government’s positive agenda:

“We must invest, not just investigate. It is time for action, not political wrangling. The people deserve that we focus on a positive agenda, not get wrapped up in a political jockeying.”

But negativism is needed in a democracy since it alerts the people to probe the actions or inactions of leaders. Pnoy should not forget that if not for the negativism of his parents, Marcos would have survived longer in Malacanang. Pnoy was in fact among the negativists in the previous administration. Pnoy’s rejection of Utak Alimango is logical since he’s now in power and he certainly doesn’t want disruptions in the status quo but he shouldn’t quickly dismiss all complaints against his administration. His attitude towards those who disagree with his enchanted view of the world is a perfect display of Utak Kapit Tuko which is anathema in a democracy.

Politics is personal

Pnoy’s decision to be ‘personal’ against corrupt public servants probably stems from his superficial analysis of corruption in the bureaucracy. His war against what he names as the culture of corruption is doomed to fail since it doesn’t address the roots of the problem. Corruption is tied to the rotten political-economic system (read: semi-feudal and semi-colonial) which can’t be easily corrected through behavior modification. To solve corruption requires the radical and even violent dismantling of the oppressive political order dominated by oligarchs, bureaucrat capitalists, and Pnoy’s haciendero friends. It’s quite disturbing that Pnoy’s sense of history is limited to the Arroyo years. He can’t untangle the old and stubborn knots, so to speak, if he focuses too much on Arroyo. Despite her recidivism, Arroyo is merely a symptom of the bankrupt social order.

Pnoy’s advice to the public to perform little acts of kindness everyday is very inspiring but it isn’t a function of politics. It may enhance our spirituality but not necessarily the political empowerment of the grassroots. Politics, after all, is not about charity. It isn’t even about being friendly to our neighbors. Politics, more than anything else, should involve the creative invention of new possibilities and the struggle for new political truths. Politics requires the total destruction of the oppressive old to allow the birthing of a completely new order.

But if the president chooses to act like a preacher rather than practice emancipatory politics, then our task as serious students of politics will necessarily involve two things: First, expose Pnoy as an insincere political reformist who only wants to spread Santa Claus messages in the world; and second, carry out the radical political project until the politically impossible has become a reality.

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State of the Nation Address 1946-1953

By admin | July 24, 2011

President Roxas justified the granting of privileges to American citizens in 1946, the Philippines had a Bureau of Aeronautics in 1947, President Quirino claimed that the school crisis was already solved in 1949, a railway in Mindanao and Cagayan Valley was proposed in 1952, and we were still technically at war with Japan in 1953.

The State of the Nation Address might be packed with lies, inconsistencies, and exaggerations but it remains an essential document to learn how the president views the situation in the country. More than the government’s accomplishment report, we should read what the president refuses to mention in his speech. Sometimes the least cited topics are the most troubling issues in society. It’s interesting how a problem that was supposedly resolved already is mentioned again by the president in his speech. It’s during these moments when the Sona offers a glimpse of the truth.

Reading the Sona of past presidents is heartbreaking since it reminds us of our failure to realize our big dreams as a nation.

Manuel Roxas, June 21, 1946

“Our future is grim, brightened only by the patriotic determination of the Filipino people, to succeed, at whatever cost.”

“We must agree to take steps to amend our Constitution to provide certain rights for American citizens which are now at variance with the Constitution.”

“I have no fear whatsoever that the granting to American citizens of rights equal to those of Filipinos in the development of our natural resources will bring about an imperialistic exploitation of our country.”

“We are a prostrate nation. The apparent well-being of some of our citizens today leads them to puff up with dignity, like the bullfrog of Aesop’s Fable.”

Manuel Roxas, January 27, 1947

“We have reestablished complete peace and order throughout the Philippines, except in a few limited areas in Central Luzon.”

“We are in the process of strengthening our Bureau of Aeronautics to regulate and stimulate the further expansion of the aviation industry.”

“With the aid of the United States, we are preparing to reconstruct our harbors and portworks. With the aid of the United States, we are in the process of reorganizing and reestablishing our weather observation systems…With the aid of the United States, we are beginning large-scale programs of public building construction and repair…”

“We have had during the past 8 months, very few strikes. The biggest strike was that of some government laborers in Manila.”

Manuel Roxas, January 26, 1948

“In the past year we have advanced from a state of emergency into the plenitude of constitutional normalcy.”

“The fact that Baguio is gaining favor as the seat of international conferences is indicative of the worldwide interest in Philippine affairs.”

“The United States Government has already returned to us the airport at Nichols Field. It is our hope to make Manila the hub of air transportation in the Far East.”

Elpidio Quirino, January 24, 1949

“I am glad to report to you that the sporadic depredations of these outlaws in isolated areas of the country are but the last paroxysms of a dying movement.”

“For the first time in the history of civil administration in this country there was no such thing as a school crisis this school year.”

“Although the United States continues to be the only country that maintains an embassy here, 8 other countries now have legations…”

Elpidio Quirino, January 23, 1950

“Circumstances beyond my control make me forego the pleasure of appearing in person to deliver this message following a beautiful tradition established many years ago and adhered to most punctiliously by my predecessors in office.”

“We have these past years since liberation seemingly enjoyed a life of plenty and even a luxury, not so much as a result of our productive energies as because of the temporary flow of money into our economy.”

Elpidio Quirino, January 22, 1951

“We cannot justifiably look always to the United States to meet out budgetary requirements. This government cannot be delivered to the Treasury of the United States.”

“Arms without valor, however powerful, are useless weapons. Valor can be aroused only by a righteous cause…The world is not merely on the verge of fire; it is on fire. And yet people can be immobilized by fiddling and temporizing while the nation’s life and future are at stake.”

Elpidio Quirino, January 28, 1952

“There are now more surrenderees than captives or Huk casualties; many of them are now settled in government farms with their families…”

“This past year we passed the minimum wage law.”

“The victims of the 1951 public disasters will take years to rehabilitate themselves. The coconut industry in the Visayas has been practically totally damaged.”

“Our BCG laboratory is rated the best and the largest in the region. We are producing vaccines for Formosa and Indo-China, besides filling our own requirements.”

“In the ratio of school enrollment to total population, we rank next to the United States, the highest of any country in the world.”

“But the rapid growth of the private school system poses the problem of effective supervision for the maintenance of scholarship standards at high level.”

“Ninety percent of the war-damaged water supply systems have been restored to operation.”

“We should begin to explore the problems, possibilities and potentials of a railway system in Mindanao, and provide for the extension of the existing system to Northern Luzon, especially in the Cagayan Valley.”

Elpidio Quirino, January 26, 1953

“And our watchword has since been land for the landless, home for the homeless.”

“Our program of slum clearance is being implemented with the construction of low-cost houses for squatter and low-income families, one in Pandacan, Manila, and another in Bago-Bantay, Quezon City.”

“The Senate did not act on the Japanese peace treaty during its last session. Technically, therefore, we are still at war with that country.”

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Football Nationalism in Southeast Asia

By admin | July 16, 2011

The landslide victory of the opposition Puea Thai Party in Thailand’s general election may have been last Sunday’s top political story in Southeast Asia. But it certainly wasn’t the most talked about topic in the rest of the region.

For most TV viewers and internet surfers in Laos, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Burma, it wasn’t Thai politics that they were thinking about, but the football games their respective national teams were involved in the same day. Indeed, it was only much later in the day that many found time to learn about the astonishing electoral success of Yingluck Shinawatra, who was chosen as Thailand’s first female Prime Minister (and Southeast Asia’s newest female icon).

Sunday was a great day for Southeast Asian football, with five of the seven teams competing at the weekend progressing to the second round of the Asia division of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. The five will join Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, who had already gone through.

The wins will fan the noticeable revival of football pride in Southeast Asia. People have been returning in large numbers to the region’s stadiums, national team players have become popular personalities, and there’s been a new wave of patriotism tied to the fortunes of the teams.

There was a huge celebration in Malaysia, for example, when its team became the overall champion of the ASEAN Football Federation Cup last December. But the mood was equally festive in Indonesia, where fans still cheered for their national team despite its failure to win the title.

Meanwhile, despite the continuing dominance of basketball in Philippine sports, football has emerged as a popular game among both the rich and poor. The stunning victory of its national team against defending champions Vietnam last year in the ASEAN Football Federation Cup instantly sparked the interest of the people in the magical pleasure of watching and playing football.

The renewed interest in football in the region has prompted governments to give more open support to their national teams and to get behind bigger and better venues. Sensing the political value of publicly backing football, politicians and their parties have been quick to become dedicated fans. Aside from issuing congratulatory statements to their victorious national teams, politicians are also sending players around their respective countries to encourage young people to take up sports.

But it can be a double-edged sword. Fans were sorely disappointed a few months ago when a power struggle within the Indonesian football league threatened to undermine the performance and selection of players for the national team. Football controversies like this make politicians nervous as they are aware that many members of the public expect their government to guarantee the continuous and smooth running of football.

And of course, there are politicians who exploit football nationalism for selfish reasons, including trying to distract the attention of those who might otherwise be incensed by the inability of the government to improve their living conditions.

Still, this kind of nationalism is at least an improvement on the ultra-nationalism of the warmongers who stoke tensions with neighbours for electoral gain. Cambodians and Thais, who have watched their two countries exchange deadly fire over a border dispute in recent years, could perhaps urge their leaders to try a little football nationalism instead.

Written for The Diplomat

Thailand’s ‘Vote No’ Campaign

It isn’t exactly a ‘boycott the election’ drive because voters are still being encouraged to vote on election day in Thailand. But what is unique in this campaign is that the people are being asked to vote ‘no’ on the ballot.

The main group behind the ‘Vote No’ movement is the People’s Alliance for Democracy, or the Yellow Shirts, which organized massive rallies a few years ago against the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. They are former allies of current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is hoping to be re-elected in next week’s general election.

PAD is urging the public to reject the current electoral system, which they think has been corrupted by power hungry politicians represented by Abhisit on the one hand, and the opposition’s Yingluck Shinawatra (Thaksin’s younger sister) on the other. PAD insists that elections are a futile exercise unless thorough political and electoral reforms are first instituted.

Voting is compulsory in Thailand, and penalties are imposed against those who are unable to vote. In short, voters still need to vote in order to cast a negative vote. Perhaps the ‘no’ option in the ballot is provided to inform voters that rejecting political parties and politicians on election day is a valid political choice.

The ‘Vote No’ campaign isn’t a new phenomenon, since a similar tactic was used by Thaksin’s enemies, which included PAD, in 2006. But PAD is being more aggressive this time, and their campaign seems to be more systematic and well-funded. They even placed oversized ‘Vote No’ posters and billboards around the country, which sparked controversy because they dressed up politicians as animals, perhaps to make the point that all candidates are ‘wild animals.’

The ‘Vote No’ movement is seen by some voters as a form of passive resistance, but others also decried it as a waste of time and effort. The crucial question, however, is whether it will work. In the 2007 general election, the ‘no’ vote constituted a surprising 5-10 percent of the vote results in many areas. It remains to be seen whether PAD’s campaign can garner similar numbers in next week’s voting.

Some political analysts have warned that a 20 percent ‘no’ vote could affect political stability in Thailand since it might be interpreted by dissident forces as proof of the people’s demand for substantive, radical, and even extra-legal political changes. But it’s quite inaccurate to equate a significant number of ‘no’ votes with electoral civil disobedience, since it would only mean that people aren’t particularly enthusiastic about the electoral process. Maybe they voted ‘no’ because they were unimpressed with the candidates, not because they supported the arguments propounded by the PAD.

Thai voters seem to have three choices in next week’s election: the administration party, the opposition, or none of the above. The ‘no’ vote appears to be an unusual option, but in Thailand it perhaps most accurately reflects the deep political divisions within the country.

Written for The Diplomat

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On being a blogger-politician

By admin | July 13, 2011

The complete title of this post is On Being A Blogger-Politician Or Musings Of A Blogger Who Became A Politician. This is a continuation of my earlier piece about how I balance my work in Batasan and my online activities.

When Rep. Edcel Lagman confessed in a televised plenary debate that he isn’t a Catholic Congressman but merely a Congressman who happens to be a Catholic, it got me into thinking about my other less known profession which is blogging. Am I a blogger-congressman or merely a congressman who happens to be a blogger?

I’m the only House member who listed blogging as a profession and unlike some colleagues who equate microblogging and facebooking with blogging, I have been a regular traditional blogger (which means I use more than 140 characters when expressing my thoughts) since 2004.

Politician-bloggers are a dying breed because today they prefer to tweet or update their FB statuses and notes. Not that it’s wrong or unusual since a growing number of netizens and even former blog stalwarts have switched to tweeting and facebooking. But isn’t it better to read the political and philosophical musings of politicians rather than their bland everyday tweets? Isn’t it more fascinating and entertaining to read how politicians organize their thoughts through the essays they write than suffer the torture of monitoring their meaningless soundbytes and self-absorbed tweet reflections?

Of course there are politicians who hire professionals to handle their online accounts while others bombard the public with spam messages and boring youtube videos. This makes us wonder whether a politician’s blog posting is actually his own since it could be written by a PR practitioner. Maybe I’m a purist. But luckily there are public personalities, including politician bloggers, who have successfully demonstrated that they are capable of writing interesting stories.

Politician-bloggers like me face certain dilemmas. Should I livetweet during committee and plenary deliberations? But my priority should be my participation in the sessions. Should I blog the happenings and discussions in all-member caucuses? Is it appropriate to surf the web in the plenary gallery when a colleague is delivering a privilege speech? Can I post pictures of House members and visitors inside the South Wing lounge? Which is more important: Respecting the privacy of individuals or promoting transparency in governance? If I blog too much, I could be accused of being a non-performer in the legislature; but I could be reproached by fellow bloggers if I reduced my blogging activities.

There are some politicians who don’t read newspapers or listen to news reports because they are sensitive to criticism. But as a blogger, I read everything in the web. I confess to the crime of ego surfing but it’s mostly to monitor how my statements and actions are echoed in the cyberspace. It’s delightful to read the kind words of grateful constituents; it’s humbling to be reminded of my mistakes and weak arguments by wise readers; but it hurts to know that there are souls in this world who really hate me.

I’m not annoyed by childish and antagonistic remarks against my person; I can disregard the arrogant and malicious commenters; I can even understand the sentiments of individuals who reject my politics. But I’m quite affected by uninformed attacks and accusations. Maybe I’m a masochist. I still follow some nasty forum threads that discuss my work inside and outside congress.

Maybe some people arrive at wrong conclusions because they fail to recognize the dynamics of my work. Some prefer to highlight my activist identity while the lazy ones conveniently lump me with other traditional politicians. They try to boost their argument by reminding the readers that I’m a mere politician while ignoring the essential fact that I’m also a natdem activist. Meanwhile, others expect me to speak only about activist causes and our critical views against the government.

I’m often described as an activist or a young politician but I prefer to be called an activist legislator. An activist legislator who blogs. An activist legislator blogger.

But the grim and determined haters, especially the proud anti-leftists, continue to hang out as internet trolls hoping to provoke some little online wars. There are people who are ready to twist your words, distort your true intentions, and spread disinformation. Fortunately, I have learned to cultivate the right attitude in confronting these challenges thanks in no small part to my activist background and blogging experience. And writer Alain de Botton provided some additional reassuring words: “We are accused of stupidity when we are being cautious. Our shyness is taken for arrogance and our desire to please for sycophancy. We struggle to clear up a misunderstanding but our throat goes dry and the words found are not the ones met.”

Politician bloggers need the wanted and unwanted reactions of other people to gauge the effectivity of their work. But sometimes they should be the first to assess and question their performance. Bloggers often loathe politicians and those who wield power in society. They often rant against the inefficiencies in government and the wicked decisions of policymakers. But do they still despise politicians and do they still rant against authorities when they become politicians? How do politician bloggers use their influence to promote reforms within the bureaucracy?

Maybe there are bloggers who joined mainstream politics because they recognized the limitations of virtual outbursts. They are similar to journalists and TV news readers who entered politics because they got disappointed with how politicians are running the country. But blogger-politicians must learn from the experience of famous journalist-politicians who quickly discarded their idealism and passion to fight for truth after they got seduced by the dark and sinister side of the force.

This is the reason why bloggers must continue to blog even after getting elected to public office. It helps them not to forget some of the noble reasons why they decided to become active in politics and it allows them to keep in touch with netizens who are always ready to share their thoughts on various political and social issues. Blog not for blog’s sake but as a tool for political empowerment. Blog to promote transparency. Blog to reach out to the broader online community.

If Vicky Belo can successfully tap the internet to gather suggestions for the name of her new vagina tightening machine, I see no reason why politicians, especially politician bloggers, should not maximize the potential of the cyberspace to mobilize citizens and netizens in the search and struggle for new political truths. I refuse to believe that only the eternally young celebrities and hot topics like vagina tightening can spark the interest of the digital natives.

Related articles:

Blog habits
Neophyte Reflections

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From Malacanang to Batasan

By admin | July 1, 2011

June 30, 2010 was the day when Noy became President Noy or Pnoy and PGMA became Congresswoman GMA or CGMA. Today, everybody had something to say about Pnoy’s performance as president in the past 12 months but only few people had taken an interest in reviewing Gloria’s legislative work. So how did she perform in Batasan? Let’s start with her congress profile:

Macapagal-Arroyo, Gloria M.
Representative
Pampanga, 2nd District

House of Representatives, Quezon City
Rm. MB-2, Phone: 931-5001 local 7219, 9325258
Chief of Staff: Maria Elena H. Bautista-Horn

Committee Membership:

Appropriations
Economic Affairs
Foreign Affairs
Globalization and WTO
Higher and Technical Education
National Defense and Security
Veterans Affairs and Welfare
Ways and Means
Women and Gender Equality

House Measures Sponsored/Authored

1. HB 172 An Act Establishing the Department of Education and Training
2. HB 173 An Act Providing for the Creation of the Autonomous Region in Southwestern Mindanao and in Central Mindanao
3. HB 174 An Act Banning the Catching, Sale, Purchase, Possession, Transportation and Exportation of all Sharks and Rays in the Country
4. HB 175 An Act Establishing and Maintaining Lactation Stations in Workplaces
5. HB 176 An Act Amending Sections 91 and 97 of the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998. Status: Approved by the House on 2011-05-31, transmitted to and received by the Senate on 2011-06-02
6. HB 382 An Act Penalizing Persons Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol. Status: Approved by the House on 2011-03-15, transmitted to and received by the Senate on 2011-03-21
7. HB 383 An Act Defining Cybercrime, Providing for Prevention, Suppression and Imposition of Penalties
8. HB 384 An Act Creating the Department of Housing, Planning, and Urban Development
9. HB 2222 An Act Setting the Direction of and Parameters for the Development of and Regulation of the Transportation System in the Philippines. Status: Approved by the Committee on 2011-02-09
10. HB 2378 An Act Strengthening Further Organic Act for the ARMM
11. HB 2670 An Act Providing for Unemployment Benefit to be Provided by the SSS
12. HB 2703 An Act Authorizing and Providing for the Procedure for the Transfer of Sentenced Persons to or from Foreign Countries
13. HB 2910 An Act Providing for the Comprehensive Subic and Clark Development Program
14. HB 3001 An Act to Amend the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003. Status: Under study by the Technical Working Group
15. HB 3162 An Act Rationalizing the Grant and Administration of Fiscal and Non-Fiscal Incentives
16. HB 3244 An Act Creating the Fair Trade Commission of the Philippines. Status: Substituted by HB04835
17. HB 3627 An Act Requiring the Planting of Trees for any Construction of Residential, Commercial or Industrial Structures
18. HB 3963 An Act Regulating the Use of Firecrackers
19. HB 4110 An Act Increasing the Penalty of the Crime of Carnapping
20. HR 8 A Resolution Calling for a Constitution Convention to Propose Amendments to or Revision of the 1987 Constitution
21. HR 839 Resolution Directing the Committee on Justice to Conduct an Investigation into the Arrest and Detention of Korean Nationals and Students for Allegedly Illegaly Operating a Language School in Abucay, Albay

The quantifiable indicators show that she filed 19 House bills, 2 resolutions and co-authored 123 measures. She has yet to deliver a privilege speech. She spoke in the plenary once when she criticized the bloated conditional cash transfer subsidy of the DSWD during the budget deliberations. She voted against the impeachment of Ombudsman Gutierrez.

Her attendance in the plenary is not unusual (using House standards) but she always mysteriously disappears after the roll call. They say she prefers to listen to plenary debates in her spacious office. She re-appears during voting time.

She regularly attends committee hearings especially if one of her proposed bills/resolutions is part of the agenda. She has been quite successful in pushing for the passage of her bills and in fact I couldn’t recall a committee meeting where a House member tried to directly oppose her. But her famous tantrum comes out every time a resource speaker bravely contradicts her statements.

She once remarked in a committee hearing about the failure of Congress to pass the budget bill without making amendments in the document. That was a correct assessment. But she failed to mention that the budget was re-enacted several times during her term. She also questioned DSWD’s expanded CCT program but she co-authored a bill (HB 848) that would institutionalize and even broaden the scope of the program.

There are two ways to read her legislative output. It’s either a showcase of her unfinished agenda as a leader or an indirect admission of what she failed to accomplish during her nine-year (mis)rule. A Gloria admirer would describe the bills/resolutions as fine examples of her superior vision as a leader while a grim and determined Gloria hater would add them to her long list of crimes against the people.

At the minimum, her proposed measures, as well as her committee memberships, reflect some of her advocacies. It’s significant to note that the merging of the three education agencies is the subject of her first bill. Is this meant to inform the public that education reform would be her focus as a legislator? Meanwhile, the first and only resolution which she filed that has national significance supports the revival of the charter change campaign.

While Pnoy prefers to overhaul the ARMM electoral system, Congresswoman Gloria wants the creation of a new autonomous unit in Southwestern and Central Mindanao regions. While Pnoy backs the concept of responsible parenthood, Gloria co-authored a bill on the protection of the unborn child which is being endorsed by the pro-life camp. It’s also the first bill which she co-authored.

Gloria’s decision to return to Congress is still seen by many as a tactic to preempt the efforts of political forces which are determined to make her accountable for her alleged anomalous dealings in Malacanang. As long as her political motive remains doubtful, her actual legislative work would be of little concern to many people. It’s impossible to objectively assess her performance in Congress without citing the aggressive efforts of her minions to rehabilitate her shattered political reputation.

It’s not good for democracy, transparency, and accountability but Gloria’s congressional bid successfully proved how discredited presidents can survive after the end of their six-year term. Gloria did the unthinkable in 2010 and the mainstream political community is still reeling from the shock over her refusal to quietly step down from the political battlefield. This makes it difficult for the public and the media as well to come to terms with her new job description.

Is there a sober way of judging her congressional work without being reminded of the fact that she had been given more than enough time, power, and opportunities in the past to lead this nation out of darkness?

She is no ordinary solon and she certainly doesn’t deserve to be judged on ordinary terms.

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