Centrist Democracy Political Institute - Items filtered by date: June 2025
Wednesday, 22 January 2020 12:49
Pedophiles in sutana
“JESUS said: ‘Suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of heaven.’” (Mathew 19:14) This beautiful biblical passage was meant to allow the lambs into the fold of the shepherd, the Christian Church. But many Catholic priests took this passage too literally, enticing the innocents into their toxic predatory embrace. Thus, the presence of a morally deviant underclass and an evil adjunct to the Holy Mother Church. Diabolically, the Bible’s guidance became the conceptual defense of many pedophile priests who may have assuaged their conscience, as a pretext for this aberration.
It pains me to write about this subject matter, having been born in the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), though not a fanatically practicing one, and an ex-seminarian and tutored for years by the Jesuits. The magnitude of the problem is simply too egregious that it requires public exposure for it to wither and eventually be purged against the light of truth. To many Filipinos, 70 to 80 percent reared in the Catholic faith, discussions on this subject is still taboo, which exacerbates the dastardly deeds. But the greater tragedy is that the RCC hierarchy itself has one eye closed — “pa-dedma” in the vernacular — on this despicable abnormality. It is through this culture of silence and denial where evil proliferates.
The Australian Church
To put this in perspective, this is not a local problem. The pedophile priests have been a running scandal in the Church for generations. It has come into public consciousness lately with the incarceration of the third most powerful cardinal in Christendom, Australian George Cardinal Pell. Prior to his conviction, he served as head of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy and was a respected member of the Council for Cardinal Advisers. His crimes of child sexual assault on two 13-year-old boys was taken to court in early 1990 while he was still Archbishop of Melbourne. It was only in March last year that Pell was sentenced to prison. He denied his crimes and maintained his innocence, but his appeal was denied by proper Australian courts. The Holy See’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is currently conducting its own investigation of the charges against the Cardinal, which could lead to his being defrocked as a priest. But these sexual predatory acts by Catholic priests are just the tip of the iceberg.
Horror stories abound in all the major archdioceses of the Australian RCC. Hundreds of priests were brought to court and many convicted of sexual assault against underage boys and girls even in orphanages run by the Church. As an example, in the Archdiocese of Sydney a pedophile priest, Fr. Roger Flaherty had been molesting three altar boys since the 1970s and 1980s. He pleaded guilty in 2016 and was sentenced to prison. It turned out that two princes of the Church, James Cardinal Freeman, while Sydney Archbishop and Auxiliary Bishop Edward Kelly were shielding Flaherty from prosecution when these sex acts were committed. It is reported too that the Australian hierarchy secretly paid $276 million to thousands of children sexually abused by pedophile priests.
The American Church
Which brings us to the despicable practice that reached its apex in the Archdiocese of Boston in the United States, which brought the downfall of the powerful and feared Bernard Cardinal Law. He had knowledge of the extent of pedophile priests in his domain sexually abusing thousands of children over several decades. The pedophile priests were simply transferred to other parishes where they were left free to reprise their deeds.
Had it not been for the exposé of the Boston Globe, the city’s leading newspaper, which was the subject of the movie “Spotlight,” an Oscar-winning film in 2015, the extent of the scandal within the RCC would have been buried in the archives and forever lost to memory. The cardinal was the central dramatis personae in this criminal abuse and cover-up that encompassed the Boston archdiocese. It is estimated that the archdiocese and the Catholic Church in America spent $4 billion in settlements and payouts for sex abuse cases. Skeptics now look with jaundiced eye upon their Sunday Mass contributions to the collection plates of local parishes.
It is perhaps a measure of the Vatican’s conceit that the Cardinal, upon his resignation from his position in Boston, was instead appointed by Pope John Paul 2nd to a sinecure in Rome in 2004 as archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, where he remained influential in the Vatican. He died in 2017 and never paid with corporal punishment for his acts.
The Philippine Church
It is now established that the RCC in many countries has reluctantly kept pace with the demands of modern concepts of justice and the rule of law. It is not so in the Philippines. Arrests much less prosecution of pedophile priests are rarely initiated. According to Bishop Buenaventura Famadico of San Pablo, interviewed by the Catholic newspaper La Croix, no priest in the Philippines had ever been convicted of child sexual abuse. (Though there may have been one or two in recent years.) In contrast, the Australian and American Catholic Churches have convicted hundreds of pedophile priests within the past two decades.
This disparity could be attributed to the special role of the RCC in the country. Going back to the Spanish colonial period, the RCC has always held a pre-eminent position. It is the richest conglomerate in the country, constitutionally exempted from paying most taxes. It is a divine oligarchy unto itself, despotic in its internal governance and has always comfortably worked hand in glove with its counterpart among the “chosen few” in the civilian world — the oligarchy and the elite.
This unholy alliance between these conservative groups has a huge impact in the political environment. And thus, the RCC hierarchy’s political clout and its influence and implicit intimidating control over the faithful allow it certain liberties unique to the Philippine Church. It is perceived to operate beyond the ambit of the law. It is no surprise, then, that it has the effrontery to protect its own, preventing conviction and incarceration of pedophile priests.
These crimes are kept in the shadows; the miscreants are simply reassigned to other parishes where the cycle of sexual predatory acts continue. Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the archbishop of Manila until his recent appointment to high office in the Vatican, declared to Catholic site UCAN that “…it is often better for such cases to be handled quietly, inside the Church.” Until about 2013, the Church’s own guidelines insisted that bishops need not report sexually abusive priests to police and civil authorities, saying they had “a relationship of trust analogous to that between father and son.” No, Your Excellency, this aggravates this travesty. It is high time you reverse your position.
President Rodrigo Duterte, himself a victim of a pedophile priest as a student, has derided the Catholic bishops, calling them “sons of b*****s.” His attacks have been gaining traction, eroding the patina of piety and invincibility of the Church hierarchy. If there is anything good to come out of this barrage, Duterte is succeeding in making the Church less intimidating to the hordes of its faithful. On this, many support this populist president.
It pains me to write about this subject matter, having been born in the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), though not a fanatically practicing one, and an ex-seminarian and tutored for years by the Jesuits. The magnitude of the problem is simply too egregious that it requires public exposure for it to wither and eventually be purged against the light of truth. To many Filipinos, 70 to 80 percent reared in the Catholic faith, discussions on this subject is still taboo, which exacerbates the dastardly deeds. But the greater tragedy is that the RCC hierarchy itself has one eye closed — “pa-dedma” in the vernacular — on this despicable abnormality. It is through this culture of silence and denial where evil proliferates.
The Australian Church
To put this in perspective, this is not a local problem. The pedophile priests have been a running scandal in the Church for generations. It has come into public consciousness lately with the incarceration of the third most powerful cardinal in Christendom, Australian George Cardinal Pell. Prior to his conviction, he served as head of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy and was a respected member of the Council for Cardinal Advisers. His crimes of child sexual assault on two 13-year-old boys was taken to court in early 1990 while he was still Archbishop of Melbourne. It was only in March last year that Pell was sentenced to prison. He denied his crimes and maintained his innocence, but his appeal was denied by proper Australian courts. The Holy See’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is currently conducting its own investigation of the charges against the Cardinal, which could lead to his being defrocked as a priest. But these sexual predatory acts by Catholic priests are just the tip of the iceberg.
Horror stories abound in all the major archdioceses of the Australian RCC. Hundreds of priests were brought to court and many convicted of sexual assault against underage boys and girls even in orphanages run by the Church. As an example, in the Archdiocese of Sydney a pedophile priest, Fr. Roger Flaherty had been molesting three altar boys since the 1970s and 1980s. He pleaded guilty in 2016 and was sentenced to prison. It turned out that two princes of the Church, James Cardinal Freeman, while Sydney Archbishop and Auxiliary Bishop Edward Kelly were shielding Flaherty from prosecution when these sex acts were committed. It is reported too that the Australian hierarchy secretly paid $276 million to thousands of children sexually abused by pedophile priests.
The American Church
Which brings us to the despicable practice that reached its apex in the Archdiocese of Boston in the United States, which brought the downfall of the powerful and feared Bernard Cardinal Law. He had knowledge of the extent of pedophile priests in his domain sexually abusing thousands of children over several decades. The pedophile priests were simply transferred to other parishes where they were left free to reprise their deeds.
Had it not been for the exposé of the Boston Globe, the city’s leading newspaper, which was the subject of the movie “Spotlight,” an Oscar-winning film in 2015, the extent of the scandal within the RCC would have been buried in the archives and forever lost to memory. The cardinal was the central dramatis personae in this criminal abuse and cover-up that encompassed the Boston archdiocese. It is estimated that the archdiocese and the Catholic Church in America spent $4 billion in settlements and payouts for sex abuse cases. Skeptics now look with jaundiced eye upon their Sunday Mass contributions to the collection plates of local parishes.
It is perhaps a measure of the Vatican’s conceit that the Cardinal, upon his resignation from his position in Boston, was instead appointed by Pope John Paul 2nd to a sinecure in Rome in 2004 as archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, where he remained influential in the Vatican. He died in 2017 and never paid with corporal punishment for his acts.
The Philippine Church
It is now established that the RCC in many countries has reluctantly kept pace with the demands of modern concepts of justice and the rule of law. It is not so in the Philippines. Arrests much less prosecution of pedophile priests are rarely initiated. According to Bishop Buenaventura Famadico of San Pablo, interviewed by the Catholic newspaper La Croix, no priest in the Philippines had ever been convicted of child sexual abuse. (Though there may have been one or two in recent years.) In contrast, the Australian and American Catholic Churches have convicted hundreds of pedophile priests within the past two decades.
This disparity could be attributed to the special role of the RCC in the country. Going back to the Spanish colonial period, the RCC has always held a pre-eminent position. It is the richest conglomerate in the country, constitutionally exempted from paying most taxes. It is a divine oligarchy unto itself, despotic in its internal governance and has always comfortably worked hand in glove with its counterpart among the “chosen few” in the civilian world — the oligarchy and the elite.
This unholy alliance between these conservative groups has a huge impact in the political environment. And thus, the RCC hierarchy’s political clout and its influence and implicit intimidating control over the faithful allow it certain liberties unique to the Philippine Church. It is perceived to operate beyond the ambit of the law. It is no surprise, then, that it has the effrontery to protect its own, preventing conviction and incarceration of pedophile priests.
These crimes are kept in the shadows; the miscreants are simply reassigned to other parishes where the cycle of sexual predatory acts continue. Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the archbishop of Manila until his recent appointment to high office in the Vatican, declared to Catholic site UCAN that “…it is often better for such cases to be handled quietly, inside the Church.” Until about 2013, the Church’s own guidelines insisted that bishops need not report sexually abusive priests to police and civil authorities, saying they had “a relationship of trust analogous to that between father and son.” No, Your Excellency, this aggravates this travesty. It is high time you reverse your position.
President Rodrigo Duterte, himself a victim of a pedophile priest as a student, has derided the Catholic bishops, calling them “sons of b*****s.” His attacks have been gaining traction, eroding the patina of piety and invincibility of the Church hierarchy. If there is anything good to come out of this barrage, Duterte is succeeding in making the Church less intimidating to the hordes of its faithful. On this, many support this populist president.
Published in
LML Polettiques
Friday, 17 January 2020 11:36
Building a just and lasting peace
PEACE-MAKER
By FORMER PHILIPPINE SPEAKER JOSE DE VENECIA
(Remarks at the UPF Asia Pacific Summit 2019, November 18-20, 2019; Phnom Penh, Cambodia “Peace, Reconciliation, Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Values”)
Our UPF conference here in this great capital by the banks of Mekong River is a fitting tribute to the Cambodian people whose indomitable spirit surmounted decades of armed, violent conflict, and the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime which murdered more than two million Cambodians.
Despite the past tragedies and the current challenges being faced by the Cambodian people –- which in a sense are also besetting some other countries in our region –- Cambodia, under the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen, has been enjoying sustained economic growth and infrastructure development.
May we also pay homage to late great King Norodom Sihanouk, whose leadership and sacrifices gained independence for Cambodia and created the beginnings of the country’s modernization; and whose son, our colleague in the earlier Asian conferences, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, was Hun Sen’s co-prime minister, and later, president of the National Assembly.
Community is the wave of the future
Over this last decade, the Asia-Pacific groupings clustered around ASEAN have contributed to reducing tensions in our home regions. But, looking forward to the next 15 to 20 years, the Asia-Pacific still seems the hemisphere with the greatest risk of major armed conflict.
The only real solution –- the only lasting solution –- to these tensions is to embed all our countries in a network of economic, political, and moral relationships –- in an Asia-Pacific community of consent and through a sustained dialogue among the great religions and great civilizations of Asia and the world. This is perhaps the formula for building regional and global peace that will endure.
Community, then, seems the wave of the future –- not only for ASEAN but for the whole of East Asia and the Asia-Pacific.
And it will be our generation’s burden –- and glory –- to lay the foundations on which these communal and moral structures are to be erected, so that those who come after us can then turn without distraction to the work of delivering our people from their bondage to poverty, ignorance, ill-health; to the ever-increasing threats of conflict, war, terrorism and extremism; and the new frightening challenges of climate change and environmental degradation.
A new economic ideology for developing countries
We live in a world where every aspect of ordinary life is being contested: our security by extremist terrorism; our accustomed politics by a great wave of populist rebellion; and conventional economics by the unintended consequences of globalization.
Thus, our globalizing world needs to develop a system of ideas and ideals that will make globalization work for all our peoples.
Particularly the nations and states just joining the global economy need practical lessons in “late industrialization” which is achieved by learning from earlier modernizers.
In my view, the East Asian idea of the market and the state not as competing but as complementary operating systems can become the basis of a new economic model — particularly for the poor countries entering the global economy for the first time. And I believe such a model should combine the best elements of both capitalism and socialism.
It has been my belief that the individual initiative that capitalism stimulates — combined with socialism’s compassion for those whom development leaves behind — should become the basic element of a new economic model for our globalizing world.
Obviously, building this new economic model won’t be easy. All we now know — from recent experience — is that the market by itself is not enough.
Capitalism’s natural drive is to maximize returns on capital. It has no internal governor to check its social behavior. Left to itself, the market remains indifferent to the ethical dimensions of what its workings do to vulnerable people.
Obviously, government must reassert its powers to regulate markets and protect the rights of people from runaway capitalism. Of course, government cannot solve all our problems. But government should do the things people cannot do for ourselves.
Before the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC in 2009, at the United Nations University in Barcelona in 2011, and at the earlier conferences of ICAPP, UPF, and other international organizations, I proposed a review of the global political and economic system in the aftermath of the Wall Street meltdown at the time. I suggested then that there might be merit in bringing together the best elements of capitalism and socialism.
Best elements of capitalism and socialism
Today I propose once again that the concept could integrate the finer features of Germany’s “social market” economy and should operate under the aegis of a liberal constitutional democracy committed to free elections, free markets, and a free press.
In Beijing, the great Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping advocated — and started off — something similar: a Chinese “system neither Marxian socialism nor (Adam) Smithian capitalism but something in between and better — which can be called Confucian synergism.”
I do not know in detail what specific ideas and ideals will shape this new economic ideology. I only know we need to find today a way out of our seemingly endless cycles of boom-and-bust.
I also know we should respond to the needs, wants, and hopes of ordinary people the world over — whether those in the emerging countries or in the failed states or those peoples in advanced countries suffering from grave financial crisis — who desire no more than secure employments, adequate incomes, and decent livelihoods.
Institutionalizing/reviving the inter-faith Dialogue
We in the UPF and ICAPP campaigned in the UN General Assembly, in the UN Security Council, in the halls of the UN for an interfaith, intercultural, and inter-civilizational dialogue with our proposal to create an Interfaith Council in the UN at a time when it was still taboo to introduce religious issues into the UN system.
We pointed out that if creating a new council is overly difficult — as some legalists have warned — then, perhaps, we could write an interfaith mandate in the mission order of the Trusteeship Council of the UN which has anyway run out of trust territories to supervise.
We proposed as an interim concession that at least a focal point in the Office of the UN Secretary General be created and indeed it was approved by the UN.
From these “interfaith dialogues,” we should expect no miracles — except those epiphanies that result from open hearts, the willingness to see the other side’s viewpoint, and a multitude of patience.
Sunni-Shi’ite dialogue
On the raging Sunni-Shiite issues, wecannot discount the magnitude of the barriers that intense doctrinal separation has raised between these two great schools of Islam.
In my much earlier letters to Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah and Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, I said it would be of great relief to our region and the world, if the two leaders of Islam, representing the Sunnis and Shiites, respectively, of the Muslim world, could perhaps meet in Mecca and bring about the beginnings of reconciliation and the end of violence in the lands of Islam.
It is most difficult but more than ever this urgent, absolutely necessary meeting between the two leaders of Islam must be set and undertaken and we pray that to some extent if it ever happens, it will succeed for the peace of the region and the world.
No to Cold War in the Asia Pacific
As the balance of global power shifts from West to East, we’ll also strive to help prevent the outbreak of a new Cold War in the Asia Pacific — by encouraging the peaceful rise of every emerging great power in the nations of the G-20 and in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa); and supporting popular movements that advocate peaceful co-existence among the East Asian states.
Between Moscow and Washington — and between Washington and Beijing — mutual accommodation must be found, that gives the parties strategic reassurance and respect for their “core interests.”
Ironically, the hard peace between the earlier Cold War principals — the United States and the Soviet Union — enabled the smaller countries to enjoy well over a generation of political stability and economic growth.
For us in Asia, at least for a long while, the age of ideological conflict is and should be over. We declare we want no new Cold War in the Asia Pacific. It has been said that the Pacific Ocean is large enough for the great powers. And we see no reason the relationships between the great powers should be adversarial. We see no differences between them that sustained diplomacy and understanding and realpolitik cannot resolve.
One human family under God
With the multiple violent conflicts and outbursts of extremism in some of the areas of the Middle East and Africa, South Asia, Eurasia, and the terrible tolls on human life, more than ever, I say, we in the UPF, ICAPP, governments, parliaments, political parties, civil society organizations, and indeed all sectors must get our act together and work to promote peace and reconciliation, cooperation and dialogue, urge tolerance among our nations and peoples, understand the diversity of our cultures and religious beliefs, for indeed, in the last analysis, we all belong to “one great human family under God.”
With deep thanks to one and all and a good day.
By FORMER PHILIPPINE SPEAKER JOSE DE VENECIA
(Remarks at the UPF Asia Pacific Summit 2019, November 18-20, 2019; Phnom Penh, Cambodia “Peace, Reconciliation, Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Values”)
Our UPF conference here in this great capital by the banks of Mekong River is a fitting tribute to the Cambodian people whose indomitable spirit surmounted decades of armed, violent conflict, and the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime which murdered more than two million Cambodians.
Despite the past tragedies and the current challenges being faced by the Cambodian people –- which in a sense are also besetting some other countries in our region –- Cambodia, under the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen, has been enjoying sustained economic growth and infrastructure development.
May we also pay homage to late great King Norodom Sihanouk, whose leadership and sacrifices gained independence for Cambodia and created the beginnings of the country’s modernization; and whose son, our colleague in the earlier Asian conferences, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, was Hun Sen’s co-prime minister, and later, president of the National Assembly.
Community is the wave of the future
Over this last decade, the Asia-Pacific groupings clustered around ASEAN have contributed to reducing tensions in our home regions. But, looking forward to the next 15 to 20 years, the Asia-Pacific still seems the hemisphere with the greatest risk of major armed conflict.
The only real solution –- the only lasting solution –- to these tensions is to embed all our countries in a network of economic, political, and moral relationships –- in an Asia-Pacific community of consent and through a sustained dialogue among the great religions and great civilizations of Asia and the world. This is perhaps the formula for building regional and global peace that will endure.
Community, then, seems the wave of the future –- not only for ASEAN but for the whole of East Asia and the Asia-Pacific.
And it will be our generation’s burden –- and glory –- to lay the foundations on which these communal and moral structures are to be erected, so that those who come after us can then turn without distraction to the work of delivering our people from their bondage to poverty, ignorance, ill-health; to the ever-increasing threats of conflict, war, terrorism and extremism; and the new frightening challenges of climate change and environmental degradation.
A new economic ideology for developing countries
We live in a world where every aspect of ordinary life is being contested: our security by extremist terrorism; our accustomed politics by a great wave of populist rebellion; and conventional economics by the unintended consequences of globalization.
Thus, our globalizing world needs to develop a system of ideas and ideals that will make globalization work for all our peoples.
Particularly the nations and states just joining the global economy need practical lessons in “late industrialization” which is achieved by learning from earlier modernizers.
In my view, the East Asian idea of the market and the state not as competing but as complementary operating systems can become the basis of a new economic model — particularly for the poor countries entering the global economy for the first time. And I believe such a model should combine the best elements of both capitalism and socialism.
It has been my belief that the individual initiative that capitalism stimulates — combined with socialism’s compassion for those whom development leaves behind — should become the basic element of a new economic model for our globalizing world.
Obviously, building this new economic model won’t be easy. All we now know — from recent experience — is that the market by itself is not enough.
Capitalism’s natural drive is to maximize returns on capital. It has no internal governor to check its social behavior. Left to itself, the market remains indifferent to the ethical dimensions of what its workings do to vulnerable people.
Obviously, government must reassert its powers to regulate markets and protect the rights of people from runaway capitalism. Of course, government cannot solve all our problems. But government should do the things people cannot do for ourselves.
Before the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC in 2009, at the United Nations University in Barcelona in 2011, and at the earlier conferences of ICAPP, UPF, and other international organizations, I proposed a review of the global political and economic system in the aftermath of the Wall Street meltdown at the time. I suggested then that there might be merit in bringing together the best elements of capitalism and socialism.
Best elements of capitalism and socialism
Today I propose once again that the concept could integrate the finer features of Germany’s “social market” economy and should operate under the aegis of a liberal constitutional democracy committed to free elections, free markets, and a free press.
In Beijing, the great Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping advocated — and started off — something similar: a Chinese “system neither Marxian socialism nor (Adam) Smithian capitalism but something in between and better — which can be called Confucian synergism.”
I do not know in detail what specific ideas and ideals will shape this new economic ideology. I only know we need to find today a way out of our seemingly endless cycles of boom-and-bust.
I also know we should respond to the needs, wants, and hopes of ordinary people the world over — whether those in the emerging countries or in the failed states or those peoples in advanced countries suffering from grave financial crisis — who desire no more than secure employments, adequate incomes, and decent livelihoods.
Institutionalizing/reviving the inter-faith Dialogue
We in the UPF and ICAPP campaigned in the UN General Assembly, in the UN Security Council, in the halls of the UN for an interfaith, intercultural, and inter-civilizational dialogue with our proposal to create an Interfaith Council in the UN at a time when it was still taboo to introduce religious issues into the UN system.
We pointed out that if creating a new council is overly difficult — as some legalists have warned — then, perhaps, we could write an interfaith mandate in the mission order of the Trusteeship Council of the UN which has anyway run out of trust territories to supervise.
We proposed as an interim concession that at least a focal point in the Office of the UN Secretary General be created and indeed it was approved by the UN.
From these “interfaith dialogues,” we should expect no miracles — except those epiphanies that result from open hearts, the willingness to see the other side’s viewpoint, and a multitude of patience.
Sunni-Shi’ite dialogue
On the raging Sunni-Shiite issues, wecannot discount the magnitude of the barriers that intense doctrinal separation has raised between these two great schools of Islam.
In my much earlier letters to Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah and Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, I said it would be of great relief to our region and the world, if the two leaders of Islam, representing the Sunnis and Shiites, respectively, of the Muslim world, could perhaps meet in Mecca and bring about the beginnings of reconciliation and the end of violence in the lands of Islam.
It is most difficult but more than ever this urgent, absolutely necessary meeting between the two leaders of Islam must be set and undertaken and we pray that to some extent if it ever happens, it will succeed for the peace of the region and the world.
No to Cold War in the Asia Pacific
As the balance of global power shifts from West to East, we’ll also strive to help prevent the outbreak of a new Cold War in the Asia Pacific — by encouraging the peaceful rise of every emerging great power in the nations of the G-20 and in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa); and supporting popular movements that advocate peaceful co-existence among the East Asian states.
Between Moscow and Washington — and between Washington and Beijing — mutual accommodation must be found, that gives the parties strategic reassurance and respect for their “core interests.”
Ironically, the hard peace between the earlier Cold War principals — the United States and the Soviet Union — enabled the smaller countries to enjoy well over a generation of political stability and economic growth.
For us in Asia, at least for a long while, the age of ideological conflict is and should be over. We declare we want no new Cold War in the Asia Pacific. It has been said that the Pacific Ocean is large enough for the great powers. And we see no reason the relationships between the great powers should be adversarial. We see no differences between them that sustained diplomacy and understanding and realpolitik cannot resolve.
One human family under God
With the multiple violent conflicts and outbursts of extremism in some of the areas of the Middle East and Africa, South Asia, Eurasia, and the terrible tolls on human life, more than ever, I say, we in the UPF, ICAPP, governments, parliaments, political parties, civil society organizations, and indeed all sectors must get our act together and work to promote peace and reconciliation, cooperation and dialogue, urge tolerance among our nations and peoples, understand the diversity of our cultures and religious beliefs, for indeed, in the last analysis, we all belong to “one great human family under God.”
With deep thanks to one and all and a good day.
Published in
News
Wednesday, 15 January 2020 16:14
Nice start to 2020 — wars and conflicts and threats
I’D like to start my year with a bang! After a wonderful skiing vacation with my grandkids and frolicking in the snow in Lake Tahoe, enjoying the seafood and amenities of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, something’s gotta give. And indeed, Presidents Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte obliged. The year 2020 began with a war on two fronts. The former could expand further the decades-old conflicts between America and Iran although a “hot shooting war” is unlikely; the latter — an expansion of the “cold war” between Duterte and the oligarchy.
US vs Iran
Trump’s order to assassinate the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani could start a war — not a world war, not even in the genre of the Vietnam War but more along the lines of heightened regional conflicts. This will of course involve the spilling of blood — not President Trump’s but those of his soldiers, American boys and girls, and Iranians and those caught in between — Iraqis, Syrians and civilians, and maybe our overseas Filipino workers who will have to suffer through a prolonged “low intensity conflict”, the preferred method of the underdog. This conflict is going to be played out in a non-traditional asymmetrical battlefield, cyberwar or even by proxy; using terrorist groups already lusting principally for American blood — Hezbollah, Islamic State or IS, Taliban, Boko Haram, the remnants of al-Qaida, and even our homegrown Abu Sayyaf. And the frontline could be everywhere. And we are all possible collaterals.
Thanks to Trump who has gone berserk. This unfolding scenario is like watching in slow motion a runaway train hurtling toward an impending disaster, having lost its brakes — only one doesn’t know the extent of the damage yet.
Retaliation from Iran came five days later with missiles raining on Iraqi air bases housing United States military forces. A few more rockets struck a US base at Camp Taji in Syria on the Jordanian border. Reports on casualties were sketchy. My take here is that these retaliatory acts perhaps were instigated more for the benefit of the Iranian domestic audience for an appearance of revenge. Pitted against a behemoth — a mosquito against an elephant — it’s a foregone conclusion that America could wipe Iran off the map, if ever.
But there will be no nuclear bombs. This is no Armageddon in the making but hostilities will spill over the region and beyond, perhaps even over American soil. And of course, a counter retaliation from this madman in Washington targeting Iranian cultural sites that could constitute war crimes under international law, although prevented from doing so by cooler heads at the Pentagon. But for how long will they hold the leash on this president gone rogue.
“They’re allowed to kill our people. They’re allowed to torture and maim our people. They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn’t work that way.” Thus spoke the world’s number one terrorist, propounding in simplistic terms his future terrorist acts.
Soleimani no doubt had it coming. He caused the deaths of American servicemen although he also helped saved American soldiers’ lives by supporting Iraqi and Syrian militia defeat the IS. There is, however, a precedent when Obama ordered the assassination of Osama bin Laden. The Middle East conflicts have become too Byzantine to comprehend. And Trump’s precipitate acts may have been motivated by his unsophisticated worldview seen “…through the prism of whether an action advances his own narrow interests, his own distorted desires, his own twisted impulses….” (Peter Wehner, contributing editor, The Atlantic, Sept. 9, 2019).
But what the hell? Trump too is under siege and fighting for his political life. He is an impeached president; and he is playing to the American audience too, whose votes he will need for his reelection. No American in his right mind will contradict a president leading a country on the verge of war, real or concocted. This arouses in them a sense of patriotism, even a false one; but this is embedded in their DNA. They will rally to the flag no matter who is at fault. Since 1776, President Jimmy Carter said, “…the US… has only enjoyed 16 years of peace in its 242-year history, making the country ‘the most warlike nation in the history of the world.’” Perhaps America is just reverting to its nature, enjoying the bloodlust that has been part of its national character. And American business loves a war. It really is good for the bottom line.
Duterte vs water oligarchs
Meantime, on the local front and the ongoing fight between the Deegong and the Philippine oligarchy, the President has just given an ultimatum for “Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. to accept a new draft of water contracts or the government will terminate their concession deals and take over their water distribution services.” (Catherine S. Valente, The Manila Times, Jan. 8, 2020) He denies this is an ultimatum, but with a Damocles sword hanging over their heads —“non-bailable” offenses of syndicated estafa or plunder, saying he would love to see billionaires in jail, naming Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala for Manila Water and Manuel V. Pangilinan for Maynilad.
Duterte has directed the Justice department and the Office of the Solicitor General to prepare a draft of a new contract without the “onerous provisions.” Further, “[the] Chief Executive is giving the water concessionaires the option of accepting the new contracts without any guarantee of [them] not being criminally prosecuted together with those who conspired to craft the very onerous contracts, which are void ab initio for violating the Constitution and the laws of the land.” (Catherine S. Valente, Manila Times, Jan. 8, 2020)
Left unsaid are that these one-sided contracts were crafted principally during President Fidel V. Ramos’ (FVR) watch and must have been immersed in corruption. All these “onerous provisions” surfacing only now, tacitly acknowledged by the concessionaires with their profound silence and unilaterally giving up the Singapore arbitration awards already in their favor — implicate the FVR and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) administrations. The Manila Water contract expiring in 2022 but extended to 2037 by President GMA during her last year as president in 2009, was likewise questionable. Duterte has just implicitly lumped FVR and GMA as allies of the Philippine oligarchy; and for good measure, he included his immediate predecessor, President Benigno Aquino 3rd.
Duterte vs ABS-CBN
The Deegong has the sympathy of multitudes in this fight. The Lopez family has been notorious in using their political clout over the decades to advance and protect their family and business interests. For a time, the dictator Marcos got them out, but Aquino-Cojuangco, their allies, reinstated their pre-martial law status and their holdings. The ABS-CBN was their crown jewel — one that can make or break any politician. And many elective officials, congressmen and senators are in their pockets with some willingly kissing the family’s ass. But the Deegong has them by the balls. And God forbid, if they employ the same harebrained adventurism during martial law that got Geny Lopez in prison.
Trump’s war may not help his cause — impeachment! But Deegong’s may succeed. With 87 percent of Filipinos backing him, he will!
US vs Iran
Trump’s order to assassinate the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani could start a war — not a world war, not even in the genre of the Vietnam War but more along the lines of heightened regional conflicts. This will of course involve the spilling of blood — not President Trump’s but those of his soldiers, American boys and girls, and Iranians and those caught in between — Iraqis, Syrians and civilians, and maybe our overseas Filipino workers who will have to suffer through a prolonged “low intensity conflict”, the preferred method of the underdog. This conflict is going to be played out in a non-traditional asymmetrical battlefield, cyberwar or even by proxy; using terrorist groups already lusting principally for American blood — Hezbollah, Islamic State or IS, Taliban, Boko Haram, the remnants of al-Qaida, and even our homegrown Abu Sayyaf. And the frontline could be everywhere. And we are all possible collaterals.
Thanks to Trump who has gone berserk. This unfolding scenario is like watching in slow motion a runaway train hurtling toward an impending disaster, having lost its brakes — only one doesn’t know the extent of the damage yet.
Retaliation from Iran came five days later with missiles raining on Iraqi air bases housing United States military forces. A few more rockets struck a US base at Camp Taji in Syria on the Jordanian border. Reports on casualties were sketchy. My take here is that these retaliatory acts perhaps were instigated more for the benefit of the Iranian domestic audience for an appearance of revenge. Pitted against a behemoth — a mosquito against an elephant — it’s a foregone conclusion that America could wipe Iran off the map, if ever.
But there will be no nuclear bombs. This is no Armageddon in the making but hostilities will spill over the region and beyond, perhaps even over American soil. And of course, a counter retaliation from this madman in Washington targeting Iranian cultural sites that could constitute war crimes under international law, although prevented from doing so by cooler heads at the Pentagon. But for how long will they hold the leash on this president gone rogue.
“They’re allowed to kill our people. They’re allowed to torture and maim our people. They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn’t work that way.” Thus spoke the world’s number one terrorist, propounding in simplistic terms his future terrorist acts.
Soleimani no doubt had it coming. He caused the deaths of American servicemen although he also helped saved American soldiers’ lives by supporting Iraqi and Syrian militia defeat the IS. There is, however, a precedent when Obama ordered the assassination of Osama bin Laden. The Middle East conflicts have become too Byzantine to comprehend. And Trump’s precipitate acts may have been motivated by his unsophisticated worldview seen “…through the prism of whether an action advances his own narrow interests, his own distorted desires, his own twisted impulses….” (Peter Wehner, contributing editor, The Atlantic, Sept. 9, 2019).
But what the hell? Trump too is under siege and fighting for his political life. He is an impeached president; and he is playing to the American audience too, whose votes he will need for his reelection. No American in his right mind will contradict a president leading a country on the verge of war, real or concocted. This arouses in them a sense of patriotism, even a false one; but this is embedded in their DNA. They will rally to the flag no matter who is at fault. Since 1776, President Jimmy Carter said, “…the US… has only enjoyed 16 years of peace in its 242-year history, making the country ‘the most warlike nation in the history of the world.’” Perhaps America is just reverting to its nature, enjoying the bloodlust that has been part of its national character. And American business loves a war. It really is good for the bottom line.
Duterte vs water oligarchs
Meantime, on the local front and the ongoing fight between the Deegong and the Philippine oligarchy, the President has just given an ultimatum for “Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. to accept a new draft of water contracts or the government will terminate their concession deals and take over their water distribution services.” (Catherine S. Valente, The Manila Times, Jan. 8, 2020) He denies this is an ultimatum, but with a Damocles sword hanging over their heads —“non-bailable” offenses of syndicated estafa or plunder, saying he would love to see billionaires in jail, naming Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala for Manila Water and Manuel V. Pangilinan for Maynilad.
Duterte has directed the Justice department and the Office of the Solicitor General to prepare a draft of a new contract without the “onerous provisions.” Further, “[the] Chief Executive is giving the water concessionaires the option of accepting the new contracts without any guarantee of [them] not being criminally prosecuted together with those who conspired to craft the very onerous contracts, which are void ab initio for violating the Constitution and the laws of the land.” (Catherine S. Valente, Manila Times, Jan. 8, 2020)
Left unsaid are that these one-sided contracts were crafted principally during President Fidel V. Ramos’ (FVR) watch and must have been immersed in corruption. All these “onerous provisions” surfacing only now, tacitly acknowledged by the concessionaires with their profound silence and unilaterally giving up the Singapore arbitration awards already in their favor — implicate the FVR and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) administrations. The Manila Water contract expiring in 2022 but extended to 2037 by President GMA during her last year as president in 2009, was likewise questionable. Duterte has just implicitly lumped FVR and GMA as allies of the Philippine oligarchy; and for good measure, he included his immediate predecessor, President Benigno Aquino 3rd.
Duterte vs ABS-CBN
The Deegong has the sympathy of multitudes in this fight. The Lopez family has been notorious in using their political clout over the decades to advance and protect their family and business interests. For a time, the dictator Marcos got them out, but Aquino-Cojuangco, their allies, reinstated their pre-martial law status and their holdings. The ABS-CBN was their crown jewel — one that can make or break any politician. And many elective officials, congressmen and senators are in their pockets with some willingly kissing the family’s ass. But the Deegong has them by the balls. And God forbid, if they employ the same harebrained adventurism during martial law that got Geny Lopez in prison.
Trump’s war may not help his cause — impeachment! But Deegong’s may succeed. With 87 percent of Filipinos backing him, he will!
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 08 January 2020 12:39
Sharia law, Christmas, atbp.
THIS holiday season, Christendom celebrates Christmas, as the birth of baby Jesus, the savior, Son of God and Redeemer. Central to the festivities is the traditional Christmas narrative of Mary and Joseph arriving in the town of Bethlehem to register as belonging to the house of David, seeking decent shelter but couldn’t find one except for a stable where the messiah was born humbly in a manger amid farm animals. Then the angels in heaven proclaimed the good news to the shepherds and thus to the world. For 2,000 years this virgin birth was joyfully celebrated although the actual birthday of Jesus is unknown. It was by Church fiat in the fourth century that December 25 was designated as Jesus’ birth.
Multifaceted Christmases
But the “other Christmas” celebrated in a more boisterous and colorful manner is the Western civilization’s version with Santa Claus, the central figure, a jolly old fellow bringing gifts to the homes of well-behaved children. He goes by the name of Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas or even Kris Kringle. This is the more exciting adaptation, spurring commercialization and debauching the original narrative.
The Jews don’t celebrate Christmas, but some festivities occur for a different reason. It is Hanukkah, the eight-day festival of the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. This is also known as the Festival of Lights. These days of merriment are in no way a commemoration of the virgin birth, but cultural assimilation and traditional practices over the centuries coincidentally meld around the same time in December.
But in the Philippines, the yuletide season is observed for three months, beginning October when the air is filled with music, “Dreaming of a White Christmas,” and malls putting last year’s light bulbs on Christmas trees complete with faux snow while Santa Claus sits on his sleigh pulled by the prancing Donner, Blitzen and Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer. If there is anything that America has bequeathed and so influenced Filipino culture, aside from a legacy of a depraved concept of democracy and our system of government, it is the way Christmas is celebrated. And there is no way that the Christmas atmosphere is dampened in the country or in most of Christendom.
But in Brunei, the despot Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has “stolen Christmas,” not unlike the Grinch. He has reinforced the ban on Christmas with a punishment of a $20,000-fine and up to five years imprisonment or both. This was part of a decree promulgated in 2014 protecting the Muslim population of Brunei from going astray. “Local Islamic religious leaders have promoted the ban, warning that adopting the trappings of Christmas is tantamount to imitation of another faith, prohibited in some interpretations of Islam” (Alexander Sehmer, Independent.co.uk).
As a concession to the minority Christians and other religious groups, they are allowed to celebrate Christmas, but must do so in private and have to first alert the authorities and may not do this publicly or else.
Thus, Islam, the third great religion that sprouted from the Levant has allowed the banning of Christmas in Brunei, through a mere proclamation of a decree, on a country of half a million, two-thirds of whom are Muslims.
Sharia law
Which brings us to this disturbing arbitrary interpretation of Sharia law. As I have written in a past column “…I have been under the impression that Brunei, ranked by Forbes as the fifth richest out of 182 countries in the world, would be one of those liberal and progressive developed Muslim countries practicing a benevolent and tolerant kind of Islam” (“Sharia law, LGBTQ and BARMM,” The Manila Times, April 10, 2019). But by a stroke of the pen, incorporating the same into the Sharia law (in Brunei), and not satisfied with amputations and dismemberments for transgressions against the tenets of the Quran, it has not only reversed centuries-old tradition or at least tolerate the celebration of Christmas, but even criminalized the same. On top of this, Brunei becomes the first country in Southeast Asia to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death. And all these emanating from a “religion of peace.” To quote its potentate, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah: “The decision to implement the [penal code] is not for fun but is to obey Allah’s command as written in the Quran.”
I am reprinting relevant portions of my column of “Sharia law, LGBTQ and BARMM” in the light of these developments in the capricious reinterpretation of what are haram by the authority of a despot’s whims:
“This is also the same enigma facing the Philippines today, as the country embarks on an experiment in an innovative type of governance. The unitary presidential system practiced in the country as a whole and that of the ‘parliamentary’ system or a version thereof practiced in parts of Mindanao through the Bangsamoro Transition Authority that governs the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“In the Philippines’ 1987 Constitution, Church and State are separate, following traditional Western influence and values. In Islamic tradition, religion and governance are intertwined; which could be a major irritant in the BARMM though technically, it operates under the sufferance of central government.
“True, the Sharia law in BARMM will cover and apply only to Muslims and only on matters affecting personal status and family. Although still based on the Quran and the Hadith and other scriptural sources, and interpreted by independent Islamic jurists, it is a modernized (not Westernized) set of legal jurisprudence compatible with Philippine laws with harsh and medieval punishments done away with. Still the ultimate arbiter is the country’s Supreme Court. But cynics abound gleaning from what is happening in Brunei, Aceh and Malaysia, where interpretations are reversed, and protocols are altered….”
The fear that what happened in Brunei and other Muslim provinces in Southeast Asia could happen in Southern Philippines in the process of its politicocultural experimentation in creating the [BARMM], is real. Although there are mitigating factors that may preclude going the way of Brunei. “The BARMM is the country’s petri dish for federalism and harmonizing seemingly conflicting values of differing religious beliefs. But favoring both sides is the underlying deep-rooted bond as Filipinos. And this could be an effective prophylactic against initiatives by the likes of Brunei, Aceh and Terengganu against an Islamic revival agitating for full implementation of Sharia law, including the reinstatement of hudhud, the dreaded and medieval system of corporal punishments.”
For centuries, despite Christian and Muslim conflicts, we managed to iron out our differences and the tolerance for each other’s beliefs has held the nation together and not driven the country into perdition. It may also be a sign of a workable and bright future that even during this holiday season, citizens and friends of both religions, Christian and Islam, have warmly greeted each other a “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” Whether by convention, tradition or force of habit, it really doesn’t matter. What gives meaning to the salutation is perhaps the intention to bestow goodwill to one another.
So, a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Safe and Prosperous 2020 to all!
Multifaceted Christmases
But the “other Christmas” celebrated in a more boisterous and colorful manner is the Western civilization’s version with Santa Claus, the central figure, a jolly old fellow bringing gifts to the homes of well-behaved children. He goes by the name of Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas or even Kris Kringle. This is the more exciting adaptation, spurring commercialization and debauching the original narrative.
The Jews don’t celebrate Christmas, but some festivities occur for a different reason. It is Hanukkah, the eight-day festival of the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. This is also known as the Festival of Lights. These days of merriment are in no way a commemoration of the virgin birth, but cultural assimilation and traditional practices over the centuries coincidentally meld around the same time in December.
But in the Philippines, the yuletide season is observed for three months, beginning October when the air is filled with music, “Dreaming of a White Christmas,” and malls putting last year’s light bulbs on Christmas trees complete with faux snow while Santa Claus sits on his sleigh pulled by the prancing Donner, Blitzen and Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer. If there is anything that America has bequeathed and so influenced Filipino culture, aside from a legacy of a depraved concept of democracy and our system of government, it is the way Christmas is celebrated. And there is no way that the Christmas atmosphere is dampened in the country or in most of Christendom.
But in Brunei, the despot Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has “stolen Christmas,” not unlike the Grinch. He has reinforced the ban on Christmas with a punishment of a $20,000-fine and up to five years imprisonment or both. This was part of a decree promulgated in 2014 protecting the Muslim population of Brunei from going astray. “Local Islamic religious leaders have promoted the ban, warning that adopting the trappings of Christmas is tantamount to imitation of another faith, prohibited in some interpretations of Islam” (Alexander Sehmer, Independent.co.uk).
As a concession to the minority Christians and other religious groups, they are allowed to celebrate Christmas, but must do so in private and have to first alert the authorities and may not do this publicly or else.
Thus, Islam, the third great religion that sprouted from the Levant has allowed the banning of Christmas in Brunei, through a mere proclamation of a decree, on a country of half a million, two-thirds of whom are Muslims.
Sharia law
Which brings us to this disturbing arbitrary interpretation of Sharia law. As I have written in a past column “…I have been under the impression that Brunei, ranked by Forbes as the fifth richest out of 182 countries in the world, would be one of those liberal and progressive developed Muslim countries practicing a benevolent and tolerant kind of Islam” (“Sharia law, LGBTQ and BARMM,” The Manila Times, April 10, 2019). But by a stroke of the pen, incorporating the same into the Sharia law (in Brunei), and not satisfied with amputations and dismemberments for transgressions against the tenets of the Quran, it has not only reversed centuries-old tradition or at least tolerate the celebration of Christmas, but even criminalized the same. On top of this, Brunei becomes the first country in Southeast Asia to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death. And all these emanating from a “religion of peace.” To quote its potentate, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah: “The decision to implement the [penal code] is not for fun but is to obey Allah’s command as written in the Quran.”
I am reprinting relevant portions of my column of “Sharia law, LGBTQ and BARMM” in the light of these developments in the capricious reinterpretation of what are haram by the authority of a despot’s whims:
“This is also the same enigma facing the Philippines today, as the country embarks on an experiment in an innovative type of governance. The unitary presidential system practiced in the country as a whole and that of the ‘parliamentary’ system or a version thereof practiced in parts of Mindanao through the Bangsamoro Transition Authority that governs the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“In the Philippines’ 1987 Constitution, Church and State are separate, following traditional Western influence and values. In Islamic tradition, religion and governance are intertwined; which could be a major irritant in the BARMM though technically, it operates under the sufferance of central government.
“True, the Sharia law in BARMM will cover and apply only to Muslims and only on matters affecting personal status and family. Although still based on the Quran and the Hadith and other scriptural sources, and interpreted by independent Islamic jurists, it is a modernized (not Westernized) set of legal jurisprudence compatible with Philippine laws with harsh and medieval punishments done away with. Still the ultimate arbiter is the country’s Supreme Court. But cynics abound gleaning from what is happening in Brunei, Aceh and Malaysia, where interpretations are reversed, and protocols are altered….”
The fear that what happened in Brunei and other Muslim provinces in Southeast Asia could happen in Southern Philippines in the process of its politicocultural experimentation in creating the [BARMM], is real. Although there are mitigating factors that may preclude going the way of Brunei. “The BARMM is the country’s petri dish for federalism and harmonizing seemingly conflicting values of differing religious beliefs. But favoring both sides is the underlying deep-rooted bond as Filipinos. And this could be an effective prophylactic against initiatives by the likes of Brunei, Aceh and Terengganu against an Islamic revival agitating for full implementation of Sharia law, including the reinstatement of hudhud, the dreaded and medieval system of corporal punishments.”
For centuries, despite Christian and Muslim conflicts, we managed to iron out our differences and the tolerance for each other’s beliefs has held the nation together and not driven the country into perdition. It may also be a sign of a workable and bright future that even during this holiday season, citizens and friends of both religions, Christian and Islam, have warmly greeted each other a “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” Whether by convention, tradition or force of habit, it really doesn’t matter. What gives meaning to the salutation is perhaps the intention to bestow goodwill to one another.
So, a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Safe and Prosperous 2020 to all!
Published in
LML Polettiques
Monday, 06 January 2020 13:32
House pursues shift to federal government
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives is pursuing the shift to a federal form of government that was proposed by the consultative committee headed by retired chief justice Reynato Puno and earlier approved by President Duterte and the previous Congress.
The committee on constitutional amendments, chaired by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, has included in its report on proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution the shift to a federal form of government, which was already approved by the House plenary during the 17th Congress in 2018.
This is contrary to an earlier report that the panel would no longer pursue the proposed shift to a federal form of government because it is supposedly a “hotly contested and divisive issue.”
Rodriguez revealed that the committee report adopted with modification the proposal in the draft constitution of the Puno commission.
The House panel’s move to continue efforts to shift to a federal system was made despite the earlier pronouncement of Duterte that he is no longer pursuing his proposal to change the form of government that could further divide the country.
“We have considered the Puno draft in the committee deliberations and we will also consider it in the plenary debates in relation to the four sets of proposed amendments,” Rodriguez told The STAR.
He said their report is proposing the creation of federated regions and election of senators per region.
“The election of senators by region is a feature of federalism: the rule of subsidiarity. We adopted the proposal of the Puno draft to have federated regions. While it proposed 16 regions, our committee decided to have only nine regions,” he bared.
The House had approved on third and final reading in December 2018 the resolution that seeks to shift the Philippines to a federal system of government after a 224-22-3 vote that met the required three-fourths vote.
The House under then speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo swiftly approved the draft constitution of the Puno commission, with only a few changes.
The draft constitution, which was reportedly approved by the President in July 2018, sought to create 18 federated regions, including federated regions of the Bangsamoro and Cordillera.
But the Resolution of Both Houses (RHB) No. 15 removed the specific number of federal states and proposed that a federal state may instead be created upon a petition addressed to Congress by contiguous, compact and adjacent provinces, highly urbanized and component cities, and cities and municipalities in metropolitan areas through a “resolution of their respective bodies.”
The latest House proposals by the Rodriguez committee instead proposed only nine regions and the election of senators by region.
The report also adopted the proposal for election of the president and vice president as one ticket to ensure a united leadership in the executive branch.
The panel likewise kept the proposals to change the term of office of House members, local officials and senators to five years with two reelections.
Just like RBH 15, the latest committee report proposed the removal of restrictions on foreign ownership of land and businesses, including mass media, public utilities and schools.
But the panel dropped other proposed amendments in RHB 15, particularly the proposals to remove the anti-political dynasty provision in the 1987 Constitution and to cut the terms of the president and vice president to four years with eligibility for reelection for another term.
The committee report, which was approved by the panel in executive session last Dec. 11, is set for deliberations in the House plenary sitting as a constituent assembly (con-ass) next month.
“Our committee will push for discussions in the plenary sitting as a constituent assembly by first week of February on our four sets of proposed amendments. Every representative will be given the chance to interpellate on our committee report,” Rodriguez said.
“Our committee is open to receive individual amendments to the proposed four amendments. Our proposals are not final and will always be subject to the 3/4 votes of all members of the House,” he added.
Rodriguez explained that the House may initiate the amendments in the Charter as a con-ass without the need for a joint session with the Senate.
He said that under the current Constitution, the House would transmit the approved proposals to the Senate for their own deliberations.
After the two chambers have approved the proposals, the Commission on Elections would then be asked to schedule a plebiscite for the ratification of the recommended changes by the people.
Rodriguez reiterated his appeal to senators to consider supporting the measure, which he said was endorsed by the President.
The committee on constitutional amendments, chaired by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, has included in its report on proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution the shift to a federal form of government, which was already approved by the House plenary during the 17th Congress in 2018.
This is contrary to an earlier report that the panel would no longer pursue the proposed shift to a federal form of government because it is supposedly a “hotly contested and divisive issue.”
Rodriguez revealed that the committee report adopted with modification the proposal in the draft constitution of the Puno commission.
The House panel’s move to continue efforts to shift to a federal system was made despite the earlier pronouncement of Duterte that he is no longer pursuing his proposal to change the form of government that could further divide the country.
“We have considered the Puno draft in the committee deliberations and we will also consider it in the plenary debates in relation to the four sets of proposed amendments,” Rodriguez told The STAR.
He said their report is proposing the creation of federated regions and election of senators per region.
“The election of senators by region is a feature of federalism: the rule of subsidiarity. We adopted the proposal of the Puno draft to have federated regions. While it proposed 16 regions, our committee decided to have only nine regions,” he bared.
The House had approved on third and final reading in December 2018 the resolution that seeks to shift the Philippines to a federal system of government after a 224-22-3 vote that met the required three-fourths vote.
The House under then speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo swiftly approved the draft constitution of the Puno commission, with only a few changes.
The draft constitution, which was reportedly approved by the President in July 2018, sought to create 18 federated regions, including federated regions of the Bangsamoro and Cordillera.
But the Resolution of Both Houses (RHB) No. 15 removed the specific number of federal states and proposed that a federal state may instead be created upon a petition addressed to Congress by contiguous, compact and adjacent provinces, highly urbanized and component cities, and cities and municipalities in metropolitan areas through a “resolution of their respective bodies.”
The latest House proposals by the Rodriguez committee instead proposed only nine regions and the election of senators by region.
The report also adopted the proposal for election of the president and vice president as one ticket to ensure a united leadership in the executive branch.
The panel likewise kept the proposals to change the term of office of House members, local officials and senators to five years with two reelections.
Just like RBH 15, the latest committee report proposed the removal of restrictions on foreign ownership of land and businesses, including mass media, public utilities and schools.
But the panel dropped other proposed amendments in RHB 15, particularly the proposals to remove the anti-political dynasty provision in the 1987 Constitution and to cut the terms of the president and vice president to four years with eligibility for reelection for another term.
The committee report, which was approved by the panel in executive session last Dec. 11, is set for deliberations in the House plenary sitting as a constituent assembly (con-ass) next month.
“Our committee will push for discussions in the plenary sitting as a constituent assembly by first week of February on our four sets of proposed amendments. Every representative will be given the chance to interpellate on our committee report,” Rodriguez said.
“Our committee is open to receive individual amendments to the proposed four amendments. Our proposals are not final and will always be subject to the 3/4 votes of all members of the House,” he added.
Rodriguez explained that the House may initiate the amendments in the Charter as a con-ass without the need for a joint session with the Senate.
He said that under the current Constitution, the House would transmit the approved proposals to the Senate for their own deliberations.
After the two chambers have approved the proposals, the Commission on Elections would then be asked to schedule a plebiscite for the ratification of the recommended changes by the people.
Rodriguez reiterated his appeal to senators to consider supporting the measure, which he said was endorsed by the President.
Published in
News
Friday, 03 January 2020 20:29
RevGov the final solution — ho hum!
HERE we go again. In this final half of DU30’s presidency, no topic is more compelling nor ubiquitous than that of a revolutionary government (RevGov). For why this is so, we need to revisit his accession to power in 2016. This maverick of a local politician from nowhere fired the imagination of fringe voters with his simple palatable agenda coated in colorful language never before heard in any political engagement, nor in polite society, much less in one crowded with monochromatic presidential aspirants.
It was therefore logical that cynical voters, already inured to candidates’ achromatic program of governance and corrupt officials’ broken promises gathered to him in droves.
These heightened expectations, some of which were surprisingly eventually fulfilled, were what sustained the high statistical 87 percent support by the masses for the Deegong; and fueling the fiction that the President, to accomplish what he promised his constituents, needs more time than that allotted to him constitutionally. Thus, the pretext of an idea of allowing him a continuation of his regime through perhaps an extra-constitutional pathway.
By now the masses are more than conversant with the riveting arguments in favor of a declaration of a RevGov: illusionary quick fixes to centuries-old problems of poverty and injustice; impunity and disdain for the rule of law; deficits of our democracy or what is left of it after it goes through the wringer of traditional politics. The Filipino has a culturally apt phrase for espousing desperation — “kapit sa patalim.”
THE e oligarchy’s folly
But lately, the seemingly innocuous arbitration award to the oligarchic-owned water monopolies accentuated the contracts’ onerous provisions projecting this class into the forefront of public consciousness and derision, with a little help from the President’s paroxysms, offering DU30 the opportunity to fuel up the brewing contrived fight between him and the oligarchy. The people’s incompetence to appreciate the complex role of the oligarchy in the politico-economic life of the country was further exacerbated by the President demonizing his adversaries.
To recall, just days into his administration, DU30 boldly declared: “The plan is to destroy the oligarchs embedded in the government.” The lines were drawn earlier in his regime. But RevGov is now again being forced into the forefront as a fight between the Deegong and the oligarchy — for all the wrong reasons!
DDS/Fist bumpers’ take
As the cacophony belongs primarily to those of DU30’s base, I will lend a substantial part of my column to a more circumspect colleague of the Deegong who was with him from the very start, John Raña. The guidelines for a successful declaration of a RevGov, though solely his own opinion, may reflect the position of the clear-headed members of the Duterte Diehard Supporters (DDS)/fist bumpers. Raña wrote:
“Public support imperative. A PR campaign must be in place… and the messaging must be clear about the objectives…the rules, the path to normalcy, etc. Expect vigorous and vicious objections and attacks from the opposition, certain religious groups, the left, libertarians, constitutionalists and some foreign governments…
“Rev-Gov short and necessary for real reforms. It must be long enough to institute reforms but short enough to preclude abuses from rearing its ugly head.
“Clear path to normalcy. The path to normalcy must include Charter change with federalism as its main feature. Consider a very strong anti-political dynasty provision that exempts no one including the incumbents’ families.
“Cleanse the bureaucracy. Change the systems that allowed and perpetrated corruption. Revamp the bureaucracy starting with the mass courtesy resignation of all presidential appointees. The President may form a presidential talent search committee to find the best and the brightest Filipinos.
“New constitution. Conduct a plebiscite on the new federal constitution. (Federalism proponents let’s get back to work!)”
Counter-arguments
The proponent is no doubt a patriot although conflicted as to the precise role of DU30 as a “strongman” in a weak state. That a quick fix can be delivered singularly by a charismatic leader is a fallacy. We have oftentimes erroneously equated a vulgar display of braggadocio that instills fear as a demonstration of political will. What DU30 needs is to develop a coterie of independent-minded professionals in a war footing who can “speak truth to power.” In this he has failed.
Once RevGov is unleashed, you can’t control the time within which to institute “good reforms” or prevent abuses of power. RevGov, by definition is the application of untrammeled power. It is a wild ride on a tiger’s back! But when and how to dismount is the conundrum.
Cleansing the bureaucracy is not a simple matter of just decapitating people. It is the substitution of the correct public values buttressed by the right workable system. And the path to normalcy is not assured if one must rely on Congress, albeit bloated with DU30’s allies to enact a new constitution, much less appending an ‘anti-dynasty’ provision. Unless RevGov does away with Congress altogether.
I am reprinting abridged versions of my past columns on RevGov. Duterte has always looked up to Marcos as an exemplar of a dictator; that which he will become in a revolutionary government. But Marcos had so many things going for him.
“Marcos…had the time to accomplish [what he wanted] …with the genius of foresight, he put in place the infrastructure for his eventual authoritarian rule. He dismantled decades-old political parties and established his ruling Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL). He clamped down on the press and the media. He emasculated the old oligarchy but replaced it with his own cronies. More importantly, he seeded the military with his handpicked men that allowed him to unleash his dogs of war from the barracks when he declared martial law.” (“To RevGov or not to RevGov,” The Manila Times, Nov 2, 2017.)
Just three years into his regime, DU30 does not have Marcos’ advantage of time or brilliance to pull this through. Thus, the RevGov option is dangerously double edged.
“This is the downside of the proposition. But to some, this may be preferable than the slow strangulation that the elite and the oligarchy has been applying to the body politic that has caused grave disparity between the ‘have and the have-nots’ and in the process has institutionalized poverty
“The upside to RevGov, if successful could unshackle the Filipino from the decades of stark poverty, deprivation and injustice. But the threat alone will put sense into the oligarchy as they can’t afford to lose all. The imminent danger could precipitate real concessions and negotiations as the oligarchy could be destroyed, and a new governance paradigm may emerge. The Deegong knows how to play the zero-sum game. And this is the ultimate!
“But would RevGov be sustained by the likes of the Deegong? Does he have the temperament and the moral spine to carry it through?… DU30 is 75 and tired. He is old, maybe narcissistic, a trait that will help him contemplate on his legacy. Nothing defeats a man’s biases better than a glimpse of the specter of his mortality.” (“RevGov — the endgame,” The Manila Times, Sept 26, 2018.)
But if he does declare RevGov, blood will flow!
It was therefore logical that cynical voters, already inured to candidates’ achromatic program of governance and corrupt officials’ broken promises gathered to him in droves.
These heightened expectations, some of which were surprisingly eventually fulfilled, were what sustained the high statistical 87 percent support by the masses for the Deegong; and fueling the fiction that the President, to accomplish what he promised his constituents, needs more time than that allotted to him constitutionally. Thus, the pretext of an idea of allowing him a continuation of his regime through perhaps an extra-constitutional pathway.
By now the masses are more than conversant with the riveting arguments in favor of a declaration of a RevGov: illusionary quick fixes to centuries-old problems of poverty and injustice; impunity and disdain for the rule of law; deficits of our democracy or what is left of it after it goes through the wringer of traditional politics. The Filipino has a culturally apt phrase for espousing desperation — “kapit sa patalim.”
THE e oligarchy’s folly
But lately, the seemingly innocuous arbitration award to the oligarchic-owned water monopolies accentuated the contracts’ onerous provisions projecting this class into the forefront of public consciousness and derision, with a little help from the President’s paroxysms, offering DU30 the opportunity to fuel up the brewing contrived fight between him and the oligarchy. The people’s incompetence to appreciate the complex role of the oligarchy in the politico-economic life of the country was further exacerbated by the President demonizing his adversaries.
To recall, just days into his administration, DU30 boldly declared: “The plan is to destroy the oligarchs embedded in the government.” The lines were drawn earlier in his regime. But RevGov is now again being forced into the forefront as a fight between the Deegong and the oligarchy — for all the wrong reasons!
DDS/Fist bumpers’ take
As the cacophony belongs primarily to those of DU30’s base, I will lend a substantial part of my column to a more circumspect colleague of the Deegong who was with him from the very start, John Raña. The guidelines for a successful declaration of a RevGov, though solely his own opinion, may reflect the position of the clear-headed members of the Duterte Diehard Supporters (DDS)/fist bumpers. Raña wrote:
“Public support imperative. A PR campaign must be in place… and the messaging must be clear about the objectives…the rules, the path to normalcy, etc. Expect vigorous and vicious objections and attacks from the opposition, certain religious groups, the left, libertarians, constitutionalists and some foreign governments…
“Rev-Gov short and necessary for real reforms. It must be long enough to institute reforms but short enough to preclude abuses from rearing its ugly head.
“Clear path to normalcy. The path to normalcy must include Charter change with federalism as its main feature. Consider a very strong anti-political dynasty provision that exempts no one including the incumbents’ families.
“Cleanse the bureaucracy. Change the systems that allowed and perpetrated corruption. Revamp the bureaucracy starting with the mass courtesy resignation of all presidential appointees. The President may form a presidential talent search committee to find the best and the brightest Filipinos.
“New constitution. Conduct a plebiscite on the new federal constitution. (Federalism proponents let’s get back to work!)”
Counter-arguments
The proponent is no doubt a patriot although conflicted as to the precise role of DU30 as a “strongman” in a weak state. That a quick fix can be delivered singularly by a charismatic leader is a fallacy. We have oftentimes erroneously equated a vulgar display of braggadocio that instills fear as a demonstration of political will. What DU30 needs is to develop a coterie of independent-minded professionals in a war footing who can “speak truth to power.” In this he has failed.
Once RevGov is unleashed, you can’t control the time within which to institute “good reforms” or prevent abuses of power. RevGov, by definition is the application of untrammeled power. It is a wild ride on a tiger’s back! But when and how to dismount is the conundrum.
Cleansing the bureaucracy is not a simple matter of just decapitating people. It is the substitution of the correct public values buttressed by the right workable system. And the path to normalcy is not assured if one must rely on Congress, albeit bloated with DU30’s allies to enact a new constitution, much less appending an ‘anti-dynasty’ provision. Unless RevGov does away with Congress altogether.
I am reprinting abridged versions of my past columns on RevGov. Duterte has always looked up to Marcos as an exemplar of a dictator; that which he will become in a revolutionary government. But Marcos had so many things going for him.
“Marcos…had the time to accomplish [what he wanted] …with the genius of foresight, he put in place the infrastructure for his eventual authoritarian rule. He dismantled decades-old political parties and established his ruling Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL). He clamped down on the press and the media. He emasculated the old oligarchy but replaced it with his own cronies. More importantly, he seeded the military with his handpicked men that allowed him to unleash his dogs of war from the barracks when he declared martial law.” (“To RevGov or not to RevGov,” The Manila Times, Nov 2, 2017.)
Just three years into his regime, DU30 does not have Marcos’ advantage of time or brilliance to pull this through. Thus, the RevGov option is dangerously double edged.
“This is the downside of the proposition. But to some, this may be preferable than the slow strangulation that the elite and the oligarchy has been applying to the body politic that has caused grave disparity between the ‘have and the have-nots’ and in the process has institutionalized poverty
“The upside to RevGov, if successful could unshackle the Filipino from the decades of stark poverty, deprivation and injustice. But the threat alone will put sense into the oligarchy as they can’t afford to lose all. The imminent danger could precipitate real concessions and negotiations as the oligarchy could be destroyed, and a new governance paradigm may emerge. The Deegong knows how to play the zero-sum game. And this is the ultimate!
“But would RevGov be sustained by the likes of the Deegong? Does he have the temperament and the moral spine to carry it through?… DU30 is 75 and tired. He is old, maybe narcissistic, a trait that will help him contemplate on his legacy. Nothing defeats a man’s biases better than a glimpse of the specter of his mortality.” (“RevGov — the endgame,” The Manila Times, Sept 26, 2018.)
But if he does declare RevGov, blood will flow!
Published in
LML Polettiques
Thursday, 26 December 2019 13:25
Part 2: DU30 vs the Oligarchy
My column last Wednesday, December 18, suggested negotiations with the water concessionaires from President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s (PRRD) position of strength, after these people blinked. But the oligarchy-owned water monopolies are simply the tip of the iceberg. They are into big-ticket projects in the country and their tentacles are entwined into many of the “public-private partnership.” These long-term risk-prone investments, that government must not and can’t take on its own, need to be protected by all stakeholders, government, investors and the people. The President’s initial foray against the Oligarchy — that Ongpin episode — was a welcome development but an aberration and appeared tentative. It came off as a mere “palabas” — a theatre, as there was no clear follow through.
This time, it’s different. The Deegong clearly has the upper hand and this may usher in a new paradigm requiring fresh protocols.
The multi-faced oligarchy
The Oligarchy, a small group of families that hold economic power, perforce wield political influence, has been a feature of this country for more than a hundred years. Some wear different faces at different times with different regimes. But above all, they are the inevitable results of a free market economy imposed by our American colonials, which in some ways, we adopted but with a twist. We married it to our traditional political practices. But the President needs to understand the nature and character of the oligarchy. Not all are his enemies; nor are all enemies of the people. What he should be after are the leeches that suck the lifeblood and marrow out of our people, yet they prosper in all administrations because their allies are ensconced in all levels of government and the bureaucracy. We have senators and congressmen who need the oligarchy and the elites to win elections and win power. Many are DU30 allies, too. The people appointed in the regulatory agencies overseeing their monopolies are simply their “living quid pro quo,” and they will be there long after the Deegong is gone. Because of this unholy alliance their network permeates vital institutions of this country — the courts, the military, police, both houses of congress; the very bedrock of our cherished values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law which they have perverted to their ends.
This symbiotic relationship between the oligarchy and the political elite has to be dismantled; provided the Deegong understands that the rule of law be applied equally well — without he himself or his administration becoming the transgressors. Now a cursory lesson on what he is faced with.
The noveau riche
These people are more often than not bred in the petri dish of incoming regimes like his own using their nascent clout to expand their political connections. They are a ubiquitous lot, prone to conspicuous consumption showing off their wealth whose sources could very well be illegitimate. Their fealty is pledged to the regime that allows them upward mobility on the social ladder. These are the emerging cronies; toddler steps to the elite class, new to the game of wealth accumulation, nevertheless ravenousness in their acquisitions. Most originally come from modest economic and social ranks. If they can parlay their embryonic network and sustain their influence towards the next regimes in the next generations; they may undergo gentrification and perhaps a patina and nomenclature of “old money.”
Old money oligarchs
The leading ones are of Spanish pedigrees “…the Zobel de Ayala Family is one of the prominent names in Philippine business. Forbes Magazine listed them as the Philippines’ wealthiest at an aggregate wealth of almost $6.5 billion; but in reality, their wealth can be aggregated to almost $100 billion. All the local business taipans are but their princelings, like the Sys, Gokongweis, Tans, Ongpins, Cos and other Chinese sounding names.” (Zobel de Ayala Empire — The Rothchild Empire of the Phliippines, Makers of Philippine Presidents, Delmar Topinio Taclibon, MBA, PhD, DA)
Since perhaps the Spanish and American eras, these people truly begun to believe that they do important services to the nation. And indeed, they do; and in some perverted ways, they are patriots. Their motivations may be seemingly altruistic but heavily weighted towards their survival, expanding their wealth, preserving their political prerogatives but more importantly a sterling legacy they must leave behind. These people are the risk-takers, with long term views, pioneers in industries that need big capital and managerial talents — where government are incompetent to tread into. Having invested their family’s fortunes in the country, they will not jeopardize these and therefore must work in partnership with any transitory government. The big proviso is that they have to adhere to the rule of law. And this, the Deegong must internalize in his negotiations.
Over the decades they begin to undertake the responsibility for steering the course of events the country must pursue by stage-managing the political environment. And they indeed set the trajectory of the political arc without the transparency, accountability and consent of we, the governed. And there’s the rub!
They exist upon the sufferance of our perverted political-economic system. And this faulty structure allowed the elite and the oligarchy to survive, flourish and manipulate the transitory elected officials, who govern us. And like magnets, they attract the dregs of society — from the rent-seeking “movers & shakers” up to the highest circles of the mighty and powerful.
DU30’s predicament
Paradoxically, the oligarchy is also the very people who are in a position to bring about the necessary changes. No President has ever confronted them directly except perhaps Marcos who in the end elected to create his own but was consumed by the very class he set forth to destroy. But PRRD in so crude a manner has telegraphed his intent in no uncertain terms. These oligarchs must have understood that this President is too much of a “mad man” to burn them along with him. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine the President understands exceedingly well. And with his vaunted political will, the legitimate use of state violence at his fingertips, boasting his record of “kills” and the adulation of his base; the oligarchs need no further arguments that to preserve their class and their prerogatives they need simply to moderate their greed and align their interest with that of the populist president. Long shot, but the seeds of change could be planted now with the Deegong in the lead.
Unsolicited advice
Negotiation is my default advice. But this is by no means the end of the narrative. But this is a good start. The President’s needs to follow through producing the proverbial “win-win” to erode this wicked partnership with the political elite. PRRD has enough allies in congress to provide the legal underpinnings.
But beware, the sycophants and the quislings in the corridors of power.
They will be whispering in PRRD’s ears to back off. The President needs to install a team prepared to be on a war footing and strategizing the next moves.
As inferred in my last column, the Deegong’s “Best alternative to a negotiated agreement” (Batna) is one that is clearly supported by his base and I suspect, a healthy number of Filipinos. Revolutionary Government!
This time, it’s different. The Deegong clearly has the upper hand and this may usher in a new paradigm requiring fresh protocols.
The multi-faced oligarchy
The Oligarchy, a small group of families that hold economic power, perforce wield political influence, has been a feature of this country for more than a hundred years. Some wear different faces at different times with different regimes. But above all, they are the inevitable results of a free market economy imposed by our American colonials, which in some ways, we adopted but with a twist. We married it to our traditional political practices. But the President needs to understand the nature and character of the oligarchy. Not all are his enemies; nor are all enemies of the people. What he should be after are the leeches that suck the lifeblood and marrow out of our people, yet they prosper in all administrations because their allies are ensconced in all levels of government and the bureaucracy. We have senators and congressmen who need the oligarchy and the elites to win elections and win power. Many are DU30 allies, too. The people appointed in the regulatory agencies overseeing their monopolies are simply their “living quid pro quo,” and they will be there long after the Deegong is gone. Because of this unholy alliance their network permeates vital institutions of this country — the courts, the military, police, both houses of congress; the very bedrock of our cherished values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law which they have perverted to their ends.
This symbiotic relationship between the oligarchy and the political elite has to be dismantled; provided the Deegong understands that the rule of law be applied equally well — without he himself or his administration becoming the transgressors. Now a cursory lesson on what he is faced with.
The noveau riche
These people are more often than not bred in the petri dish of incoming regimes like his own using their nascent clout to expand their political connections. They are a ubiquitous lot, prone to conspicuous consumption showing off their wealth whose sources could very well be illegitimate. Their fealty is pledged to the regime that allows them upward mobility on the social ladder. These are the emerging cronies; toddler steps to the elite class, new to the game of wealth accumulation, nevertheless ravenousness in their acquisitions. Most originally come from modest economic and social ranks. If they can parlay their embryonic network and sustain their influence towards the next regimes in the next generations; they may undergo gentrification and perhaps a patina and nomenclature of “old money.”
Old money oligarchs
The leading ones are of Spanish pedigrees “…the Zobel de Ayala Family is one of the prominent names in Philippine business. Forbes Magazine listed them as the Philippines’ wealthiest at an aggregate wealth of almost $6.5 billion; but in reality, their wealth can be aggregated to almost $100 billion. All the local business taipans are but their princelings, like the Sys, Gokongweis, Tans, Ongpins, Cos and other Chinese sounding names.” (Zobel de Ayala Empire — The Rothchild Empire of the Phliippines, Makers of Philippine Presidents, Delmar Topinio Taclibon, MBA, PhD, DA)
Since perhaps the Spanish and American eras, these people truly begun to believe that they do important services to the nation. And indeed, they do; and in some perverted ways, they are patriots. Their motivations may be seemingly altruistic but heavily weighted towards their survival, expanding their wealth, preserving their political prerogatives but more importantly a sterling legacy they must leave behind. These people are the risk-takers, with long term views, pioneers in industries that need big capital and managerial talents — where government are incompetent to tread into. Having invested their family’s fortunes in the country, they will not jeopardize these and therefore must work in partnership with any transitory government. The big proviso is that they have to adhere to the rule of law. And this, the Deegong must internalize in his negotiations.
Over the decades they begin to undertake the responsibility for steering the course of events the country must pursue by stage-managing the political environment. And they indeed set the trajectory of the political arc without the transparency, accountability and consent of we, the governed. And there’s the rub!
They exist upon the sufferance of our perverted political-economic system. And this faulty structure allowed the elite and the oligarchy to survive, flourish and manipulate the transitory elected officials, who govern us. And like magnets, they attract the dregs of society — from the rent-seeking “movers & shakers” up to the highest circles of the mighty and powerful.
DU30’s predicament
Paradoxically, the oligarchy is also the very people who are in a position to bring about the necessary changes. No President has ever confronted them directly except perhaps Marcos who in the end elected to create his own but was consumed by the very class he set forth to destroy. But PRRD in so crude a manner has telegraphed his intent in no uncertain terms. These oligarchs must have understood that this President is too much of a “mad man” to burn them along with him. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine the President understands exceedingly well. And with his vaunted political will, the legitimate use of state violence at his fingertips, boasting his record of “kills” and the adulation of his base; the oligarchs need no further arguments that to preserve their class and their prerogatives they need simply to moderate their greed and align their interest with that of the populist president. Long shot, but the seeds of change could be planted now with the Deegong in the lead.
Unsolicited advice
Negotiation is my default advice. But this is by no means the end of the narrative. But this is a good start. The President’s needs to follow through producing the proverbial “win-win” to erode this wicked partnership with the political elite. PRRD has enough allies in congress to provide the legal underpinnings.
But beware, the sycophants and the quislings in the corridors of power.
They will be whispering in PRRD’s ears to back off. The President needs to install a team prepared to be on a war footing and strategizing the next moves.
As inferred in my last column, the Deegong’s “Best alternative to a negotiated agreement” (Batna) is one that is clearly supported by his base and I suspect, a healthy number of Filipinos. Revolutionary Government!
Published in
LML Polettiques
Thursday, 26 December 2019 13:25
Part 2: DU30 vs the Oligarchy
My column last Wednesday, December 18, suggested negotiations with the water concessionaires from President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s (PRRD) position of strength, after these people blinked. But the oligarchy-owned water monopolies are simply the tip of the iceberg. They are into big-ticket projects in the country and their tentacles are entwined into many of the “public-private partnership.” These long-term risk-prone investments, that government must not and can’t take on its own, need to be protected by all stakeholders, government, investors and the people. The President’s initial foray against the Oligarchy — that Ongpin episode — was a welcome development but an aberration and appeared tentative. It came off as a mere “palabas” — a theatre, as there was no clear follow through.
This time, it’s different. The Deegong clearly has the upper hand and this may usher in a new paradigm requiring fresh protocols.
The multi-faced oligarchy
The Oligarchy, a small group of families that hold economic power, perforce wield political influence, has been a feature of this country for more than a hundred years. Some wear different faces at different times with different regimes. But above all, they are the inevitable results of a free market economy imposed by our American colonials, which in some ways, we adopted but with a twist. We married it to our traditional political practices. But the President needs to understand the nature and character of the oligarchy. Not all are his enemies; nor are all enemies of the people. What he should be after are the leeches that suck the lifeblood and marrow out of our people, yet they prosper in all administrations because their allies are ensconced in all levels of government and the bureaucracy. We have senators and congressmen who need the oligarchy and the elites to win elections and win power. Many are DU30 allies, too. The people appointed in the regulatory agencies overseeing their monopolies are simply their “living quid pro quo,” and they will be there long after the Deegong is gone. Because of this unholy alliance their network permeates vital institutions of this country — the courts, the military, police, both houses of congress; the very bedrock of our cherished values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law which they have perverted to their ends.
This symbiotic relationship between the oligarchy and the political elite has to be dismantled; provided the Deegong understands that the rule of law be applied equally well — without he himself or his administration becoming the transgressors. Now a cursory lesson on what he is faced with.
The noveau riche
These people are more often than not bred in the petri dish of incoming regimes like his own using their nascent clout to expand their political connections. They are a ubiquitous lot, prone to conspicuous consumption showing off their wealth whose sources could very well be illegitimate. Their fealty is pledged to the regime that allows them upward mobility on the social ladder. These are the emerging cronies; toddler steps to the elite class, new to the game of wealth accumulation, nevertheless ravenousness in their acquisitions. Most originally come from modest economic and social ranks. If they can parlay their embryonic network and sustain their influence towards the next regimes in the next generations; they may undergo gentrification and perhaps a patina and nomenclature of “old money.”
Old money oligarchs
The leading ones are of Spanish pedigrees “…the Zobel de Ayala Family is one of the prominent names in Philippine business. Forbes Magazine listed them as the Philippines’ wealthiest at an aggregate wealth of almost $6.5 billion; but in reality, their wealth can be aggregated to almost $100 billion. All the local business taipans are but their princelings, like the Sys, Gokongweis, Tans, Ongpins, Cos and other Chinese sounding names.” (Zobel de Ayala Empire — The Rothchild Empire of the Phliippines, Makers of Philippine Presidents, Delmar Topinio Taclibon, MBA, PhD, DA)
Since perhaps the Spanish and American eras, these people truly begun to believe that they do important services to the nation. And indeed, they do; and in some perverted ways, they are patriots. Their motivations may be seemingly altruistic but heavily weighted towards their survival, expanding their wealth, preserving their political prerogatives but more importantly a sterling legacy they must leave behind. These people are the risk-takers, with long term views, pioneers in industries that need big capital and managerial talents — where government are incompetent to tread into. Having invested their family’s fortunes in the country, they will not jeopardize these and therefore must work in partnership with any transitory government. The big proviso is that they have to adhere to the rule of law. And this, the Deegong must internalize in his negotiations.
Over the decades they begin to undertake the responsibility for steering the course of events the country must pursue by stage-managing the political environment. And they indeed set the trajectory of the political arc without the transparency, accountability and consent of we, the governed. And there’s the rub!
They exist upon the sufferance of our perverted political-economic system. And this faulty structure allowed the elite and the oligarchy to survive, flourish and manipulate the transitory elected officials, who govern us. And like magnets, they attract the dregs of society — from the rent-seeking “movers & shakers” up to the highest circles of the mighty and powerful.
DU30’s predicament
Paradoxically, the oligarchy is also the very people who are in a position to bring about the necessary changes. No President has ever confronted them directly except perhaps Marcos who in the end elected to create his own but was consumed by the very class he set forth to destroy. But PRRD in so crude a manner has telegraphed his intent in no uncertain terms. These oligarchs must have understood that this President is too much of a “mad man” to burn them along with him. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine the President understands exceedingly well. And with his vaunted political will, the legitimate use of state violence at his fingertips, boasting his record of “kills” and the adulation of his base; the oligarchs need no further arguments that to preserve their class and their prerogatives they need simply to moderate their greed and align their interest with that of the populist president. Long shot, but the seeds of change could be planted now with the Deegong in the lead.
Unsolicited advice
Negotiation is my default advice. But this is by no means the end of the narrative. But this is a good start. The President’s needs to follow through producing the proverbial “win-win” to erode this wicked partnership with the political elite. PRRD has enough allies in congress to provide the legal underpinnings.
But beware, the sycophants and the quislings in the corridors of power.
They will be whispering in PRRD’s ears to back off. The President needs to install a team prepared to be on a war footing and strategizing the next moves.
As inferred in my last column, the Deegong’s “Best alternative to a negotiated agreement” (Batna) is one that is clearly supported by his base and I suspect, a healthy number of Filipinos. Revolutionary Government!
This time, it’s different. The Deegong clearly has the upper hand and this may usher in a new paradigm requiring fresh protocols.
The multi-faced oligarchy
The Oligarchy, a small group of families that hold economic power, perforce wield political influence, has been a feature of this country for more than a hundred years. Some wear different faces at different times with different regimes. But above all, they are the inevitable results of a free market economy imposed by our American colonials, which in some ways, we adopted but with a twist. We married it to our traditional political practices. But the President needs to understand the nature and character of the oligarchy. Not all are his enemies; nor are all enemies of the people. What he should be after are the leeches that suck the lifeblood and marrow out of our people, yet they prosper in all administrations because their allies are ensconced in all levels of government and the bureaucracy. We have senators and congressmen who need the oligarchy and the elites to win elections and win power. Many are DU30 allies, too. The people appointed in the regulatory agencies overseeing their monopolies are simply their “living quid pro quo,” and they will be there long after the Deegong is gone. Because of this unholy alliance their network permeates vital institutions of this country — the courts, the military, police, both houses of congress; the very bedrock of our cherished values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law which they have perverted to their ends.
This symbiotic relationship between the oligarchy and the political elite has to be dismantled; provided the Deegong understands that the rule of law be applied equally well — without he himself or his administration becoming the transgressors. Now a cursory lesson on what he is faced with.
The noveau riche
These people are more often than not bred in the petri dish of incoming regimes like his own using their nascent clout to expand their political connections. They are a ubiquitous lot, prone to conspicuous consumption showing off their wealth whose sources could very well be illegitimate. Their fealty is pledged to the regime that allows them upward mobility on the social ladder. These are the emerging cronies; toddler steps to the elite class, new to the game of wealth accumulation, nevertheless ravenousness in their acquisitions. Most originally come from modest economic and social ranks. If they can parlay their embryonic network and sustain their influence towards the next regimes in the next generations; they may undergo gentrification and perhaps a patina and nomenclature of “old money.”
Old money oligarchs
The leading ones are of Spanish pedigrees “…the Zobel de Ayala Family is one of the prominent names in Philippine business. Forbes Magazine listed them as the Philippines’ wealthiest at an aggregate wealth of almost $6.5 billion; but in reality, their wealth can be aggregated to almost $100 billion. All the local business taipans are but their princelings, like the Sys, Gokongweis, Tans, Ongpins, Cos and other Chinese sounding names.” (Zobel de Ayala Empire — The Rothchild Empire of the Phliippines, Makers of Philippine Presidents, Delmar Topinio Taclibon, MBA, PhD, DA)
Since perhaps the Spanish and American eras, these people truly begun to believe that they do important services to the nation. And indeed, they do; and in some perverted ways, they are patriots. Their motivations may be seemingly altruistic but heavily weighted towards their survival, expanding their wealth, preserving their political prerogatives but more importantly a sterling legacy they must leave behind. These people are the risk-takers, with long term views, pioneers in industries that need big capital and managerial talents — where government are incompetent to tread into. Having invested their family’s fortunes in the country, they will not jeopardize these and therefore must work in partnership with any transitory government. The big proviso is that they have to adhere to the rule of law. And this, the Deegong must internalize in his negotiations.
Over the decades they begin to undertake the responsibility for steering the course of events the country must pursue by stage-managing the political environment. And they indeed set the trajectory of the political arc without the transparency, accountability and consent of we, the governed. And there’s the rub!
They exist upon the sufferance of our perverted political-economic system. And this faulty structure allowed the elite and the oligarchy to survive, flourish and manipulate the transitory elected officials, who govern us. And like magnets, they attract the dregs of society — from the rent-seeking “movers & shakers” up to the highest circles of the mighty and powerful.
DU30’s predicament
Paradoxically, the oligarchy is also the very people who are in a position to bring about the necessary changes. No President has ever confronted them directly except perhaps Marcos who in the end elected to create his own but was consumed by the very class he set forth to destroy. But PRRD in so crude a manner has telegraphed his intent in no uncertain terms. These oligarchs must have understood that this President is too much of a “mad man” to burn them along with him. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine the President understands exceedingly well. And with his vaunted political will, the legitimate use of state violence at his fingertips, boasting his record of “kills” and the adulation of his base; the oligarchs need no further arguments that to preserve their class and their prerogatives they need simply to moderate their greed and align their interest with that of the populist president. Long shot, but the seeds of change could be planted now with the Deegong in the lead.
Unsolicited advice
Negotiation is my default advice. But this is by no means the end of the narrative. But this is a good start. The President’s needs to follow through producing the proverbial “win-win” to erode this wicked partnership with the political elite. PRRD has enough allies in congress to provide the legal underpinnings.
But beware, the sycophants and the quislings in the corridors of power.
They will be whispering in PRRD’s ears to back off. The President needs to install a team prepared to be on a war footing and strategizing the next moves.
As inferred in my last column, the Deegong’s “Best alternative to a negotiated agreement” (Batna) is one that is clearly supported by his base and I suspect, a healthy number of Filipinos. Revolutionary Government!
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 18 December 2019 11:46
‘Pakita ko sa Pilipino paano magsampal ng mga bilyonario!’
NO, Mr. President, you can’t do that! We are a country of non-violent people and the rule of law, however misunderstood, still prevails. Your base may be swayed by populist harangue, still their default action is toward moderation and compassion — altogether noble Filipino traits. Many will tolerate your diatribe, as we ourselves are frustrated with this state of affairs. But your bullying won’t alleviate our frustrations. We too are exasperated like you when we don’t have water when we want it, at the time we need it. And there is something that smells when the suits filed for arbitration in Singapore were done in secret. And the stench even more pervasive when the Philippines lost the case awarding P3.4 billion and P7.3 billion payment to the two water concessionaires (“Aquino, Hilbay agreed to keep water arbitration suits secret,” Roberto Tiglao, The Manila Times, Dec. 9, 2019). The Filipino has been screwed by the past government, perhaps by sabotaging its defense, a “lutong Macao.” Perhaps we were meant to lose the case for monetary considerations. Perhaps!
They blinked!
They surrendered, just like that. But knowing these concessionaires, with this strategic retreat, they will lick their wounds then marshal their forces. That P10.7 billion is nothing to them — a drop in the bucket. They must really be making tons of money on us.
To recall, during your campaign, you labeled these people “‘a cancer on society’ and ‘illustrious idiots’ who flew around in private planes while the Filipino people suffered…the plan is to destroy the oligarchs embedded in the government. I’ll give you an example publicly: Ongpin, Roberto.” (Aurora Almendal, “Crony capital: How Duterte embraced the oligarchs,” Nikkei, Dec. 4, 2019.)
And you did. Your true believers were ecstatic. Even we ourselves, the Centrist Democrats did. But now he’s back and richer than ever. “Far from taking down the oligarchy, Duterte’s attack on Ongpin merely transferred some of his wealth to a more powerful family with whom Duterte has maintained a strong alliance… Gregorio Araneta 3rd, the son-in-law of Ferdinand Marcos” (Aurora Almendal).
This fight was elevated to something personal between you and the oligarchy. But is this really a dispute between you and the oligarchy, or are you just being goaded by populist demands of unthinking free-riders who simply want “freebies”? Alex Magno put it succinctly “… If the populists had their way, they would want water tariffs priced as close to zero as possible (Philippine Star, Dec. 7, 2019).
FVR and privatization
Meantime, you need to understand that these water contracts were perfected long before your watch and President Benigno “PNoy” Aquino 3rd’s administration; at a time when a universal call for privatization of parastatals (electric power, water and other utilities) were called for by multilaterals and international banks as preconditions for concessional loans. This was at a time too when President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) successfully broke the back of the PLDT Inc.-Cojuangco monopoly ushering in the liberalization of communications, improving services, allowing cellphones and the internet to bloom.
Water privatization was being considered during the closing years of the Corazon “Cory“ Aquino administration, but the serious work started only when the financial crisis of July 1997 hit during President FVR’s time. The contract provisions were thoroughly examined by the organs of government, from the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), to the Investment Coordination Committee, National Economic Development Authority, Office of the Government Corporate Counsel and Department of Justice before the contracts were awarded to Manila Water of the Ayala and Maynilad of the Lopez families.
Romeo L. Bernardo, who was then-undersecretary of finance under FVR has this to say in his column “Introspective” (Business World, Oct. 13, 2019): “Water security is ensured only when long-term investment and financing for the sector are sustainably and efficiently done to meet the needs of a growing population, the economy and the environment.” And indeed, the two water concessionaires invested a total of “…P105 billion [and more] to upgrade and expand water and sewage network [and] achieved without adding to government’s fiscal burden or public debt exposure.”
Populist demands and govt interventions
But this water security was threatened in the subsequent administrations succumbing to populist demands, with the MWSS itself, “the partner” of the concessionaires, intervening to prevent gradual increases in tariffs and even push for arbitrary reduction in water rates. The medium-to-long-term investments by the concessionaires were compromised. This brought about the inability of the Lopez-owned Maynilad to sustain its operations and sell out to Manny Pangilinan’s group, “a lackey of Antoni Salim, an Indonesian.” (Rigoberto Tiglao, “The Arrogance of an Indonesian Magnate’s Lackey,” TMT, June 26, 2016.)
The international business community “… views the MWSS’ unilateral and arbitrary act of changing the terms or interpretation of the concession agreement, in total disregard of the contractual rights and intent of the parties, with grave concern.” This prompted the water concessionaires to file suits for arbitration in Singapore as they can’t receive fair hearing from our rent-seeking bureaucrats. And we lost!
In retrospect, water distribution, similar to electric power generation and distribution, is still a business where owners must make a profit, though highly regulated. Therefore, only the big guns in the country with enough capital for long-term investment can afford to get into the act. In the first place, tariff was controlled, perforce affecting their bottom lines, but limited to annual maximums; in this case not going beyond the “appropriate discount rate” (ADR). This is where the conflict starts, when government disregards procedures and the concessionaires start cutting corners and camouflaging costs — as in charging corporate income tax (allegedly anomalous) but has been tolerated for years. They have to pay their bank loans on their huge investments. Or close shop and return the concessions to government. And if they do, we are back to government subsidizing water and none coming out from the tap — like the dark days of old — prior to privatization.
Threats and intimidation
“I am prepared to go down as president and self-destruct. ‘Yang mga Ayala na ‘yan, bibirahin ko talaga ‘yan ng economic sabotage.” Your threats already worked. Additional ones are mere theater. Besides, you have the legitimate use of state violence. And these old families understand brute force.
So, my short-term unsolicited advice for the remaining years of your regime. Negotiate! Use the full majesty of your office to review the contracts to make the same fair for our people. You are only good up to 2022, when another election is to be held; and the elections in this country are the basic lifeblood of the oligarchy, not for its democratic intent, but for the opportunity for co-opting candidates in need of funds for expensive electoral campaigns
The alternative to a failure in negotiation is deadly for all. You can rescind the contracts, and they return the concessions. And you could offer Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. to another set of oligarchs — those salivating in the sidelines purporting intimacy with your regime. And there goes the Philippine policy of “leveling the playing field for investors.” And we can kiss long-term foreign direct investments goodbye.
Or you can declare revgov — and let the s**t hit the fan!
They blinked!
They surrendered, just like that. But knowing these concessionaires, with this strategic retreat, they will lick their wounds then marshal their forces. That P10.7 billion is nothing to them — a drop in the bucket. They must really be making tons of money on us.
To recall, during your campaign, you labeled these people “‘a cancer on society’ and ‘illustrious idiots’ who flew around in private planes while the Filipino people suffered…the plan is to destroy the oligarchs embedded in the government. I’ll give you an example publicly: Ongpin, Roberto.” (Aurora Almendal, “Crony capital: How Duterte embraced the oligarchs,” Nikkei, Dec. 4, 2019.)
And you did. Your true believers were ecstatic. Even we ourselves, the Centrist Democrats did. But now he’s back and richer than ever. “Far from taking down the oligarchy, Duterte’s attack on Ongpin merely transferred some of his wealth to a more powerful family with whom Duterte has maintained a strong alliance… Gregorio Araneta 3rd, the son-in-law of Ferdinand Marcos” (Aurora Almendal).
This fight was elevated to something personal between you and the oligarchy. But is this really a dispute between you and the oligarchy, or are you just being goaded by populist demands of unthinking free-riders who simply want “freebies”? Alex Magno put it succinctly “… If the populists had their way, they would want water tariffs priced as close to zero as possible (Philippine Star, Dec. 7, 2019).
FVR and privatization
Meantime, you need to understand that these water contracts were perfected long before your watch and President Benigno “PNoy” Aquino 3rd’s administration; at a time when a universal call for privatization of parastatals (electric power, water and other utilities) were called for by multilaterals and international banks as preconditions for concessional loans. This was at a time too when President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) successfully broke the back of the PLDT Inc.-Cojuangco monopoly ushering in the liberalization of communications, improving services, allowing cellphones and the internet to bloom.
Water privatization was being considered during the closing years of the Corazon “Cory“ Aquino administration, but the serious work started only when the financial crisis of July 1997 hit during President FVR’s time. The contract provisions were thoroughly examined by the organs of government, from the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), to the Investment Coordination Committee, National Economic Development Authority, Office of the Government Corporate Counsel and Department of Justice before the contracts were awarded to Manila Water of the Ayala and Maynilad of the Lopez families.
Romeo L. Bernardo, who was then-undersecretary of finance under FVR has this to say in his column “Introspective” (Business World, Oct. 13, 2019): “Water security is ensured only when long-term investment and financing for the sector are sustainably and efficiently done to meet the needs of a growing population, the economy and the environment.” And indeed, the two water concessionaires invested a total of “…P105 billion [and more] to upgrade and expand water and sewage network [and] achieved without adding to government’s fiscal burden or public debt exposure.”
Populist demands and govt interventions
But this water security was threatened in the subsequent administrations succumbing to populist demands, with the MWSS itself, “the partner” of the concessionaires, intervening to prevent gradual increases in tariffs and even push for arbitrary reduction in water rates. The medium-to-long-term investments by the concessionaires were compromised. This brought about the inability of the Lopez-owned Maynilad to sustain its operations and sell out to Manny Pangilinan’s group, “a lackey of Antoni Salim, an Indonesian.” (Rigoberto Tiglao, “The Arrogance of an Indonesian Magnate’s Lackey,” TMT, June 26, 2016.)
The international business community “… views the MWSS’ unilateral and arbitrary act of changing the terms or interpretation of the concession agreement, in total disregard of the contractual rights and intent of the parties, with grave concern.” This prompted the water concessionaires to file suits for arbitration in Singapore as they can’t receive fair hearing from our rent-seeking bureaucrats. And we lost!
In retrospect, water distribution, similar to electric power generation and distribution, is still a business where owners must make a profit, though highly regulated. Therefore, only the big guns in the country with enough capital for long-term investment can afford to get into the act. In the first place, tariff was controlled, perforce affecting their bottom lines, but limited to annual maximums; in this case not going beyond the “appropriate discount rate” (ADR). This is where the conflict starts, when government disregards procedures and the concessionaires start cutting corners and camouflaging costs — as in charging corporate income tax (allegedly anomalous) but has been tolerated for years. They have to pay their bank loans on their huge investments. Or close shop and return the concessions to government. And if they do, we are back to government subsidizing water and none coming out from the tap — like the dark days of old — prior to privatization.
Threats and intimidation
“I am prepared to go down as president and self-destruct. ‘Yang mga Ayala na ‘yan, bibirahin ko talaga ‘yan ng economic sabotage.” Your threats already worked. Additional ones are mere theater. Besides, you have the legitimate use of state violence. And these old families understand brute force.
So, my short-term unsolicited advice for the remaining years of your regime. Negotiate! Use the full majesty of your office to review the contracts to make the same fair for our people. You are only good up to 2022, when another election is to be held; and the elections in this country are the basic lifeblood of the oligarchy, not for its democratic intent, but for the opportunity for co-opting candidates in need of funds for expensive electoral campaigns
The alternative to a failure in negotiation is deadly for all. You can rescind the contracts, and they return the concessions. And you could offer Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. to another set of oligarchs — those salivating in the sidelines purporting intimacy with your regime. And there goes the Philippine policy of “leveling the playing field for investors.” And we can kiss long-term foreign direct investments goodbye.
Or you can declare revgov — and let the s**t hit the fan!
Published in
LML Polettiques
Wednesday, 11 December 2019 08:45
Sara, for heaven’s sake, it’s just a song!
AND your father, the Deegong, in a rare unguarded moment was caught in the euphoria thumping to the beat of “Manila, Manila” — the band Hotdogs’ iconic song. I wrote a similar comment on my Facebook page as all major newspapers reported this: “Davao City Mayor ‘Inday’ Sara Duterte-Carpio has questioned the song choice used when the Philippine delegation paraded during the opening ceremony of the Southeast Asian Games on Saturday” (The Manila Times, Dec. 2, 2019).
Her arguments were neither here nor there, proselytizing for the need for inclusivity “…when we encourage our countrymen to cheer…” And she went on with rambling non sequiturs, “…’Di po ba Philippine flag ang dala, why would you play the song ‘Manila’? Did Lapu-Lapu die for Manila?”
Imperial Manila
People, particularly the federalists in our midst, would have understood and sympathized with her position objecting to the song in praise of Manila — Imperial Manila — if the song was meant to reflect a federalist view that political authority is being centralized in the capital city to the exclusion of the rest of the country.
However, I think the song was not a political statement. If the good mayor had couched her arguments in something ennobling — for instance, elevating the political discourse into the need for the dissolution of our current unitary system of government and move towards a Federated mode — we would have understood her and even make her a champion for our cause. But she is not even a federalist. She is merely an influential daughter of a federalist, the President, who found it impossible to push for the federalist agenda — letting it wither in the vine.
We federalists have always voiced our objections against the centripetal migration of powers, and how along with it come pelf and entitlements easily abused by the center. We’d much rather hope that centrifugal forces propel the dispersal of powers, economic and political, towards the periphery. And this is the core concept of our advocacy these past several decades — the establishment of a parliamentary-federal system and the abolition of presidential-unitary government, which has been the source of endemic problems of poverty, social injustice and the perversion of the rule of law. (For more intensive arguments on fed-parl, please access www.cdpi.asia for my past articles.)
But going back to that grand Southeast Asian (SEA) Games opening and the positive emotions it evoked from our people, perhaps the words of a Filipina now living in Edmonton Alberta, Blossom Gonzales, who succinctly posted in her Facebook page says it all for all of us, after she saw on TV the SEA Games opening: “The song ‘Manila’ that was played created memories for the older generation of Filipino migrants to fend off homesickness and loneliness, which helps many OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) get by until now.”
Sport as international attractions
At this juncture, I may be able to salvage the arguments of the good mayor and articulate what in part I discern to be what she meant. To be fair, she has some arguments hidden somewhere if she were only more articulate. And this would involve the treatment of international projections of Philippine imagery, similar to the SEA Games opening program or other sports events that would spotlight the diverse cultural nuances of our people. Sports events have a way of attracting international media. This is true for FIBA (Basketball Federation), FIFA (Football) and the mother of all sports gatherings — the Olympics. The recent 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, for example, held for a month in France, showcased nine cities, where the 52 games were played. These French cities had the chance to present their best to an international audience attracting tourists. But what makes this interesting is that the local stadiums were renovated with subsidies from the central government freeing local funds for other purposes.
The 2008 China Summer Olympics was held in Beijing, but secondary venues were located in regional hubs and several cities scattered across Eastern China hundreds of kilometers apart. Even the equestrian events were held in faraway Hong Kong and Qingdao was chosen for sailing events. The opening ceremony was extolled by the international press as the most spectacular show of any Olympics by far.
On a smaller scale, the 2019 SEA Games, which by itself is already world-class and impressive by any standard, could have been made more memorable for international audiences and more importantly the Filipinos themselves. Not to detract from the efforts put in by the Deegong’s people, some details could be considered at least for future similar endeavors.
Inclusive dispersal of sporting events
Instead of just Metro Manila and its environs, and Clark and Subic, we could have planned on farming out sports venues to other cities — Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and even Davao. And probably, our good Mayor Sara can highlight the “Budots Dance,” an upbeat danceable song, which she claimed was invented in Davao. Why not? And we may even ask Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. to be the lead dancer.
But, more importantly, these venues will be awarded the appropriate infrastructures, which can later be turned over to local governments to likewise enhance their sports programs. One idea worth emulating is that some of the athletes’ villages in past Olympic sites have been turned over to the local governments and converted into apartment or offices for rent. Some have been turned into hotels and shopping malls. Imagine each city bestowed with such largesse can flip this over toward some creative economic activities.
If this is what Mayor Sara had in mind, notwithstanding her objections to a popular medley, she could have probably gotten the enthusiastic nod of her constituencies. But first, she needs to make up her mind on the more basic questions of where she situates herself with her father’s stated advocacies. Is she really for the empowerment of the local governments with all temporary appurtenances of devolutions and delegation of authority and responsibility; which can be legally withdrawn as the exigencies of politics will dictate? Or will she push for the constitutional imprimatur, which will alter permanently the relations between the center and the periphery — the creation of autonomous states towards a federal republic. These are central questions, which need to be resolved in the eyes of the public as the daughter’s actuations and body language points to an ambition beyond the confines of local governance — despite her father’s admonitions against such presidential cravings, if any. Or is this another of the Deegong’s so-called Machiavellian gambit to deny, deny and deny — until ambition and reality can no longer be denied.
Just celebrate for what it’s worth
But meantime, back to the “feel-good” mood after that grand opening and the following days’ harvest of golds. Once in a while we Filipinos all, Diehard Duterte Supporters, Yellows, fence sitters and centrist democrats, need to bask in the glory of our ingenuity, joie de vivre and celebrate our unity — fragile though it seems. Cast aside this week the crab mentality that lurks within us and join our athletes and those of our neighboring countries “win as one.” Let’s postpone our quarrels for the week after. ka!
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This is really interesting, You're a very skilled blogger. I've…
Written by Merrill
on Thursday, 24 March 2016 12:35
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