lifted from Freedom Watch (www.cmfr-phil.blogspot.com)
06 November 2006
In a statement, the Paris-based press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders voiced its outrage over the "indifference of both local and national authorities" to the case of radio broadcaster Joey Estriber who was kidnapped eight months ago.
Still no word of missing radio presenter and environmentalist eight months after his abduction -- RSF
Reporters Without Borders voiced outrage today at the indifference of both local and national authorities to the fate of radio presenter and anti-logging campaigner Joey Estriber, who has been missing ever since he was kidnapped outside an Internet café in Baler, in Aurora province (northeast of Manila), on the evening of 3 March 2006.
"It is eight months to the day since Estriber was abducted and nothing has been done by the authorities to find and identify his kidnappers," the press freedom organisation said. "It seems that complicity between the local police and logging companies has prevented any progress in the investigation. The authorities in Manila must restart enquiries as a matter of urgency."
A freelance journalist who presented the programme Pag-usapan Natin (Let's talk about that) on local radio station DZJO, Estriber was kidnapped by four gunmen. According to a representative of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), the kidnapping took place a few yards from a police station, but the police never questioned the witnesses.
Estriber has five dependants -- his wife and four children -- who have had no source of income since his disappearance.
A well-known critic of deforestation in Aurora province, he often used his radio programme to condemn the intensive logging being carried out by companies with the support of people within the local government, and he had participated in a campaign calling for the withdrawal of the nine licences issued to logging companies in the province.
Estriber also worked for a local development NGO, Bataris, which a military officer speaking on a radio station in February described as the kind of organisation that should be combated.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Saturday, October 07, 2006
A Wanton Disregard for Press Freedom
spread, sign and pass to other journalists
(email you name and media network to nujphil@gmail.com)
lifted from Bulatlat.com
There are presently 43 journalists in the Philippines facing libel charges filed by First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo. The sheer number betrays a wanton disregard for freedom of the press and the propensity to use power and influence to silence critics. This statement is to protest the use of the libel law to stop critical reports and commentaries and to fight for the right of every Filipino to seek and receive information and ideas on matters of public interest, which are at the very core of the concept of a democratic society.
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The law on libel exists to protect private citizens from unwarranted damage to reputation, but in the Philippines libel has been predominantly used by public officials as a tool to cow an independent press.
The most glaring example is the multiple libel cases filed by First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo against 43 reporters, columnists, editors, publishers, and even a subscription manager, of various publications.We will not dispute the merits of the cases nor Mr. Arroyo's right to defend his honor and dignity, as he and his lawyers insist.
(email you name and media network to nujphil@gmail.com)
lifted from Bulatlat.com
There are presently 43 journalists in the Philippines facing libel charges filed by First Gentleman Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo. The sheer number betrays a wanton disregard for freedom of the press and the propensity to use power and influence to silence critics. This statement is to protest the use of the libel law to stop critical reports and commentaries and to fight for the right of every Filipino to seek and receive information and ideas on matters of public interest, which are at the very core of the concept of a democratic society.
-----------------
The law on libel exists to protect private citizens from unwarranted damage to reputation, but in the Philippines libel has been predominantly used by public officials as a tool to cow an independent press.
The most glaring example is the multiple libel cases filed by First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo against 43 reporters, columnists, editors, publishers, and even a subscription manager, of various publications.We will not dispute the merits of the cases nor Mr. Arroyo's right to defend his honor and dignity, as he and his lawyers insist.
What we decry is his propensity to sue journalists so as to muzzle those he does not agree with and sending out a clear signal to others that they risk the same ordeal should they dare cross him.
Mr. Arroyo is, after all, no ordinary mortal. As Presidential husband, he clearly enjoys immense power and influence, not just by his status but also because he does head the Office of the First Gentleman. And many, if not most, of his deeds and pronouncements dwell in the realm of public interest. He is, therefore, both a public figure and public official.
That he is aware of this status and has no qualms of wielding it against his perceived enemies is evident in the fact that, when he filed his latest suit against the Tulfo brothers, he gave his address as Malacañang Palace, as if to stress who he is.
The record number of cases Mr. Arroyo has filed highlight how the powerful in this benighted land regularly abuse libel laws to curtail the democratic right of the press to delve into the truth behind matters of public interest and the people's right to know. It is also the best argument for decriminalizing an outdated law that has been used not so much to protect the innocent as to shield the guilty.
We demand that Congress immediately work to repeal the law on libel, to strike it off the book of criminal statutes, as part of its sworn duty to strengthen our badly eroded and still beleaguered democracy.
We demand that Jose Miguel Arroyo cease and desist from this clear abuse of his power and influence and squarely face the issues raised against him where they are properly addressed, in the arena of free and democratic discourse.
We pledge that neither this nor any other attempts by those in power to trample on the freedom of the press and the people's right to know shall go unchallenged.
We commit ourselves to the continued struggle to realize the true blooming of democracy in our land, when freedom of expression shall be enshrined not just in our aspirations but in practice.
Signed by:
Philippine Media Organizations
National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)
Bandillo ng Palawan
Sorsogon Organization of News writers, Announcers and Reporters (SONAR)
Manila Chinese Press Club (MCPC)
Negros Weekly
Negros Daily Bulletin
Cobra-Ans
Alyansa ng mga Filipinong Mamamahayag (AFIMA)
Association of Responsible Media (ARM)
Northern Media and Information Network (NMIN)
International Organizations
International Federation of Journalists
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Indian Media Centre (India)
Reporters Without Borders
Committee to Protect Journalists
Southeast Asian Press Alliance
Hong Kong Journalists Association
National Union of Journalists (India)
Federation of Media Employee's Trade Unions
Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)
Hong Kong Journalists Association
Northern Media and Information Network (NMIN)
Individuals
Jose Torres Jr. (Chairperson, NUJP)
Rowena Paraan (Secretary-General, NUJP)
Nonoy Espina (Director, NUJP)
Inday Espina-Varona (Director, NUJP)
Sonny E. Fernandez (National Vice Chairperson, NUJP/ABC 5)
Elmer James Bandol (NUJP-Albay)
Leti Boniol (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Ruben Alabastro (Inquirer)
Julie Aurelio (Inquirer)
Elvira Mata (Inquirer)
Adelle Geraldo (Inquirer)
Lorna Kalaw-Tirol (Inquirer)
Juan Sarmiento Jr. (Inquirer)
Chito de la Vega (Inquirer)
Stephanie Asuncion (Inquirer)
Jun Bandayrel (Inquirer)
Tina Arceo-Dumlao (Inquirer)
Margie Espino (Inquirer)
Corrie Salientes-Narisma (Inquirer)
Monica Feria (Inquirer)
Vangie Baga-Reyes (Inquirer)
Mylene Francisco (Inquirer)
Miguel Suarez (Inquirer)
Ted Melendres (Inquirer)
Jun Cinco (Inquirer)
A. Noel Velasco (Inquirer)
Abelardo Ulanday (Inquirer)
Rosario Garcellano (Inquirer)
Artemio Engracia Jr. (Inquirer)
Jose Ma. Nolasco (Inquirer)
John B. Bayarong (NUJP-Olongapo/Subic)
Romy Elusfa (Business Mirror)
Joyce Pañares (Manila Standard Today)
Marlon Ramos (Inquirer Southern Luzon Bureau-Laguna)
Carla P. Gomez (Visayan Daily Star, Bacolod City)
Arman Toga, editor (Negros Daily Bulletin)
Ire Jo V.C. Laurente (DWOM-FM, Mindoro)
Julie S. Alipala, ( Inquirer Mindanao Bureau-Zamboanga City)
David Santos ( ABS-CBN Zamboanga City )
Vicente Jaime Villafranca (Philippine Graphic)
Ramon Acasio (Philippine Graphic)
Lynette Ordoñez-Luna (Independent)
Rollie Espina, Philippine Star and Negros Press Club
Ma. Ester Espina, Media Advocates for Reproductive Health and Empowerment
Delfin Perez (Manila Bulletin)
Gerry Albert Corpuz (contributor, Bulatlat.com)
Jofelle Tesorio (Bandillo ng Palawan)
Ansbert B. Joaquin (NUJP Olongapo-Subic)
Tony Bergonia (Inquirer)
Raul Marcelo (Inquirer)
Eric Olona (Inquirer)
Linda Bolido (Inquirer)
Chelo B. Formoso (Inquirer)
Fernando del Mundo (Inquirer)
Cenon Bibe Jr. (Inquirer)
Sandra Sendoyro (Inquirer)
Romina Austria (Inquirer)
Princess Daily Omilga (Inquirer)
Ernie Sarmiento (Inquirer)
Keith Bacongco (Business Mirror)
Jun Verzola (Northern Dispatch Weekly)
Delfin T. Mallari Jr. (Inquirer Southern Luzon-Quezon)
Dodong Solis (Radio Mindanao Networks-Davao)
Alexander Martin Remollino (Bulatlat Online Magazine, NUJP)
Dennis Maliwanag (inq7.net)
Ces Rodriguez (One Philippines)
Raffy Jimenez (GMANews.TV)
Ilang-Ilang Quijano (Pinoy Weekly)
Noel Sales Barcelona (Pinoy Weekly, NUJP)
Soliman A. Santos (Pinoy Weekly, NUJP/Elliptical Press Corps director)
Kenneth Roland A. Guda (Pinoy Weekly, NUJP)
D'Jay Lazaro (Pinoy Weekly managing editor, NUJP/NCPM Executive Director)
Rogelio L. Ordoñez (Pinoy Weekly EIC, NUJP/NPC)
Bayani Abadilla (Pinoy Weekly, News Editor, NUJP/NPC)
Roel Pareno (Philippine Star)
Frencie Carreon (Zamboanga Today)
Carol "Rollie" Montilla (Eastern Times, Malaya, KMC Magazine)
Carmelito Q. Francisco (BusinessWorld-Mindanao/Mindanao Times)
Veronica Uy (INQ7.net)
Thea Alberto (INQ7.net)
Noel Godinez (Nothern Dispatch Weekly)
Rudy D. Liporada (Editor, Kapitbahay, San Diego, California)
Lito Banayo (Columnist, Malaya and Abante)
Aquiles Z. Zonio (Inquirer Mindanao Bureau/NUJP-General Santos City)
Edith Regalado
Iris Cecilia Gonzales (BusinessWorld)
Ma. Ceres P. Doyo (Inquirer)
Bobby Tuazon ( Bulatlat.com)
Grace Albasin (Inquirer Mindanao Bureau/NUJP)
Danilo A. Arao ( Bulatlat.com)
Merpu P. Roa (Filipino Express/MindaNews)
Ermin Garcia Jr. (Sunday Punch)
Susan Palmes (NUJP-Cagayan de Oro)
Rommel G. Rebolido (NUJP-General Santos)
Artemio A. Dumlao (Philippine Star/NUJP)
Raymond Panaligan (freelance photographer)
Ellen Tordesillas ( Malaya)
Hadrian Hernandez (Gulf News, UAE)
Carlos Isagani T. Zarate (Columnist,Kris-Crossing Mindanao, Inquirer)
Edwin C. Mercurio (Philippine Press Club-Ontario, Canada)
Ninotchka Rosca (Novelist/journalist)
Michael Sarcauga (NUJP-Pagadian)
Ma. Diosa Labiste (NUJP-Iloilo/community journalist)
Nestor Burgos Jr. (Inquirer-Iloilo/NUJP)
Michael L. Ubac (Inquirer)
Ronnel Domingo (Inquirer)
Tarra Quismundo (Inquirer)
Philip Cesar Tubeza (Inquirer)
Marinel R. Cruz (Inquirer)
Kathryn L. Reyes (Inquirer)
Pamela Samia (Inquirer)
Robert Jaworski Abaño (Inquirer Northern Luzon Bureau)
Vincent Cabreza (Inquirer Northern Luzon Bureau)
Desiree Caluza (Inquirer Northern Luzon Bureau)
Jonathan Cellona (photojournalist, BusinessWorld)
Voltaire F. Domingo
Paul M. Gutierrez (Journal Group)
Gerry Kaimo
Gene de Loyola
Joel Salud (freelance writer)
Edralyn Benedicto (Inquirer Visayas Bureau)
Cheryll Fiel ( Davao Today/NUJP)
Grace Uddin ( Davao Today/NUJP)
Pam Pastor (Inquirer)
Psyche Mendoza
Gil Nartea (Philippine Center for Photojournalism)
Butch Hilario (freelance journalist)
Armando Malay Jr.
Ares P. Gutierrez (Al Nisr Media-Dubai/Gulf News)
Carlos H. Conde
Alexander T. Magno (GMA-News.TV )
Ricky Carandang (ANC)
Allan M. Mediante (Mindanao Trustee, Philippine Press Institute/Mindanao Gold Star Daily)
Jun Galias (NUJP-Sorsogon)
Manny Lucila (SONAR)
Bobby Q. Labalan (Inquirer Southern Luzon Bureau/NUJP)
Jose F. Lacaba
Jun Godoy (NUJP-Ozamiz City)
rey SC Makilan (Bulatlat.com/Silangan Shimbun)
Tony Abejo (Malindang Tribune/ NUJP-Misamis Occidental)
Florfina Marcelino (The Philippine Times, Winnepeg, Canada)
Erwin Oliva (INQ7.net/ cyberbaguioboy.com.ph)
Armin Adina (Inquirer Libre)
Ritchie Sabado (Inquirer Libre)
Bayani San Diego (Inquirer)
Cora Lucas (Inquirer)
Heraldo "Boy" Cabrido (Inquirer)
Raffy Lerma (Inquirer)
Grace Pagulayan (Inquirer)
Dennis Eroa (Inquirer Libre)
Rommel Lalata (Inquirer Libre)
John Nery (Inquirer)
Ariel Dim. Borlongan (Balita)
Rorie Fajardo (GMANews.TV)
Darwin Wee (BusinessWorld)
Leila Vicente (ABS-CBN Zamboanga)
Raul Valino (Philippine Graphic at Business Mirror)
Sonia M. Capio (Womantouch Media)
Allen V. Estabillo (MindaNews)
Al Alegre (Foundation for Media Alternatives)
Vi Massart, Chief European Correspondent, The Philippine Star)
Jon Joaquin (Mindanao Daily Mirror)
Martin Marfil (GMANews.TV)
Val Veneracion (GMANews.TV)
Clarissa Militante (GMANews.TV)
Jes Aznar (GMANews.TV)
Vic Montero (Editorial Chief, ABC 5)
Jackie Sierda (Executive Producer, The Big News, ABC 5)
Jove Francisco (Reporter, ABC 5)
Sherrie Ann Torres (Reporter, ABC 5)
Naomi Dayrit (Reporter, ABC 5)
Ge-Ann Pineda (Reporter, ABC 5)
Jason Torres (Reporter, ABC 5)
Michael Carreon (News writer, ABC 5)
Eric Montas (Senior Desk Offficer, News, ABC 5)
Mel Cabigting (Desk Officer, ABC 5)
Rowena Garcia (Desk Officer, ABC 5)
Paul Mendinuteo (Desk Officer, ABC 5)
Mary Grace Navarro (News Desk, ABC 5)
Greggy Eugenio (Video Researcher, News, ABC 5)
Gigi Gabriel (News Traffic, ABC 5)
Rhoneil Amores (Chief Cameraman, ABC 5)
Joseph Martiin (Graphics Artist, ABC 5)
Reggie Agullo (Chargen Operator, ABC 5)
Arnold Marquez (Supervisor, VTR Editing)
Arnold Macarasig (Playback Operator, News, ABC 5)
Norman Balcos (Video Researcher, News, ABC-5)
Ambet Quitil (VTR Editor, News, ABC 5)
Heinrich Agcaoili (VTR Editor, News, ABC 5)
Yancy Consul (VTR Editor, ABC 5)
Jim Libiran (Head, Public Affairs Department, ABC5)
Ed Lingao (Head, News Department, ABC 5)
Deo Bugaoisan (GMA7)
Lourdes Fernandez (Editor, Business Mirror)
Lyn Resurreccion (Business Mirror)
Dave Llorito (Business Mirror)
Fe Zamora (Inquirer)
Butch Galicia (Manila Media Monitor-Toronto/Philippine Press Club-Ontario)
Tenny Soriano (Balita-Toronto/Philippine Press Club-Ontario)
Mogi Mogado (Balita-Toronto/Philippine Press Club-Ontario)
Hermie Garcia (Philippine Reporter-Toronto/Philippine Press Club-Ontario)
Mila Astorga-Garcia (Philippine Reporter-Toronto/Philippine Press Club-Ontario)
Edwin Mercurio (Philippine Reporter-Toronto/Philippine Press Club-Ontario)
Ramon Datol (Philippine Courier-Toronto/Philippine Press Club-Ontario)
Paul Dela Cruz (Philippine Times Canada-Toronto/Philippine Press Club-Ontario)
Jess Cabrias (Atin Ito-Toronto/Philippine Press Club-Ontario)
Arnel Avila (NUJP-Quezon)
Ely Suyom (Manila Times)
Abner Bolos (Gitnang Luzon News Service)
Fred Villareal (Gitnang Luzon News Service)
Jay Torres (Pokus-Gitnang Luson)
Tonette Orejas (Inquirer Northern Luzon Bureau-Pampanga)
Romer S. Sarmiento (Businessworld Mindanao Bureau)
Carolyn O. Arguillas (Mindanews)
H. Marcos C. Mordeno (Mindanews)
Carmela Fonbuena (Newsbreak)
Glenda M. Gloria (Newsbreak)
Jose Pavia (Mabuhay/Executive Director, Philippine Press Institute)
Ruperto Toga (Publisher, Negros Daily Bulletin)
Elsie Jolingan (Negros Press Club)
Aufred Sa-onoy (Editor, Negros Newsweekly)
Modesto Sa-onoy (Negros Press Club)
Henry Cestina (Negros Press Club)
Jeffrey Gelangre (Negros Press Club)
Edmund Aspero (Congress of Active Media Practitioners)
Ferdinand Yngson (Congress of Active Media Practitioners)
Vicente S. Labro (Editor, Leyte-Samar Daily Express, Tacloban City)
Allan Nawal (Inquirer)
Rollie Carolina L. Montilla (Eastern Times, Malaya, KMC magazine/NUJP-Leyte)
Red Batario (Executive Director, Center for Community Journalism and Development)
Harley Palangchao (Manila Times Northern Luzon Bureau)
Jim Cristobal (Voice of Talamban, Cebu)
Arlyn dela Cruz (Net25)
Amalia Cabusao (Mindanao Times)
Melvin Gascon (Inquirer Cagayan Valley)
Lyn Ramo (Northern Dispatch Weekly)
Hazel Villa (Inquirer Iloilo)
Jay Hilotin (Al Nisr Media/Filipino Press Club-UAE)
Peterson Bergado (NUJP Cagayan de Oro)
Charlie Senase (Inquirer Cotabato City)
Malu Manar (Program Director, DXND Kidapawan)
Noel Punzalan (PNA Cotabato)
Andy Cruz (Periodico Banat GenSan)
Dodge Dillague (Creative Director, News, ABC 5)
Ross Andres (News Programs Director, ABC 5)
Jefferson Tan (Associate Producer, Frontlines, ABC 5)
Arlene Lim farol (Reporter, ABC 5)
Teresa Andrada (Reporter, ABC 5)
Faye Tobias (Reporter, ABC 5)
Divine Bucud (Field Producer, ABC 5)
Vincent Cristobal (Field Producer, ABC 5)
Bart De la Rosa (Technical Director, ABC 5)
Rolly Casipit (VTR Editor, ABC 5)
Gilbert Edradan (Sound Engineer, News, ABC 5)
Noel Malaluan (Sound Engineer, News, ABC 5)
Adonis Silverio (Cameraman, ABC 5)
Rose Silva (Supervisor, Finance Department, ABC 5)
Ariel P. Alimboyao (Lightman, News, ABC 5)
Carlos Jizmundo (President, ABC 5 Employees Union)
George Aquino (VTR Editor, ABC 5)
Peng Lomaad (Property Custodian, ABC 5)
Rose Chua (News Administrative Staff, ABC 5)
John Javellana (Cameraman, ABC 5)
Edward Navarette (Manager, News Operations, ABC 5)
Ali Sotto (News Anchor, Sentro, ABC 5)
Yvette Lee (Philippine Graphic)
Edgar Cadagat (NUJP Negros Oriental)
Julius Mariveles (news director, Aksyon Radyo-Bacolod)
JJ Deocampo (station manager, Aksyon Radyo-Bacolod)
Ely de los Santos (Congress of Active Media Practitioners)
Fred Sapa (Congress of Active Media Practitioners)
Fred Salanga (Congress of Active Media Practitioners)
Raymond Robert Burgos (Columnist, Abante and Abante Tonite)
Williamor A. Magbanua (Anchor/Program Coordinator/News writer, DXND)
Christopher R. Lim (Manila Times School of journalism)
Perry M. Calara (Kaiba News and Features/KNF/Pinoy Gazette)
Edwin G. Espejo (Sunstar General Santos)
Herbie Gomez (Gold Star Daily, Cagayan de Oro)
Adrian Cristobal (Philippine Graphic and Manila Bulletin)
Nick Legaspi (Managing Editor, Philippine Graphic)
Susan Bernas (Philippine Graphic)
Louie Jon Sanchez (Philippine Graphic)
Malou Francisco (Philippine Graphic)
Joel Egco (Manila Standard/Association of Responsible Media)
Anthonnette G. Adanza (Davao Del Sur Diurnal Newspaper)
Arnel Arsolon (DXBB GenSan)
Manny Autida (DXBB GenSan)
Edwin Espejo (Managing Editor, SunStar GenSan)
Bong Gonzales (RMN General Santos)
Cris Guarin (DXBB, General Santos)
John Paul Jubelag (Phil. Star, General Santos)
Jeffrey Jubelag (Mindanao Bulletin, General Santos)
Joseph Jubelag (Malaya, General Santos)
Al Josol (RMN General Santos)
Mel Koronel (RMN General Santos)
Isagani Palma (Manila Times, General Santos)
Arnie Delfin (Radyo Bombo Koronadal)
Jocelyn Uy (Inquirer)
Minerva Generalao (Inquirer)
Mel Lawrence de Guzman (Inquirer)
Maricar D. Tolosa (Inquirer)
Kate Pedroso (Inquirer)
Cyril L. Bonabente (Inquirer)
Sylvia Calderon (Freelance Journalist, Cotabato City)
Brenda S. Dacpano (nordis.net, Baguio)
Kimberlie Quitasol (nordis.net, Baguio)
Pink-Jean Fangon Melegrito (Northern Dispatch Weekly, Baguio)
Nestor Guillermo (Northern Dispatch Weekly, Baguio)
Arthur Allad-iw (Northern Dispatch Weekly, Baguio)
Kathleen Okubo (NUJP-Baguio-Benguet)
Benny Antiporda (National Press Club/Alyansa ng Filipinong Mamamahayag)
Sharon Felipe (Sunday Inquirer Magazine)
Lynett A. Villariba (inquirer)
Hernan S. de la Cruz (Inquirer Mindanao)
Roy Luarca (Inquirer)
Alya D. Honasan (Sunday Inquirer Magazine)
Pennie de la Cruz (Sunday Inquirer Magazine)
Marites Danguilan Vitug (Newsbreak)
Cheri Mercado (News Anchor, The Big News, ABC 5)
John Susi (Anchor, Sentro, ABC 5)
Jade Lopez (Head, Research Group, ABC 5)
Erel Cabatbat (Reporter, ABC 5)
Jesus Ramos (Field Producer, ABC 5)
Ed De Guzman (Cameraman, ABC 5)
Noli Gaya (Cameraman, ABC 5)
Ding Ubaldo (Assistant Cameraman, ABC 5)
Arnel Dizon (Assistant Cameraman, ABC 5)
Antonio T. Gabriel (Assistant Cameraman, ABC 5)
Nonoy Solero (VTR Editor, ABC 5)
Roland Bensan (VTR Editor, ABC 5)
Mando Covate (Systems Engineer, ABC 5)
Crispin Yumang (Audioman, ABC 5)
John Alquel Santos (Chargen Operator, ABC 5)
Pinky Dichoso (Supervisor, News Administration, ABC 5)
Cristina Estacio (Supervisor, Merchandising Dep't., ABC 5)
Raymund Generoso (Supervisor, Post-Production, Guiness Show, ABC 5)
Gail Ilagan (Columnist, MindaNews)
Patrick Cabrillos (dyKA, Catholic Media Network)
John Pagunsan ( HOT FM. 106-9 - HAMTIC,Antique)
Hector S. Udani, jr. (News Express-Antique Bureau)
Romeo Antonio ( HOT. FM. 106-9 - Hamtic,Antique)
Paul Petinglay ( Bombo Radyo Correspondent-Antique)
Jhie Zerrudo ( Jounrnal Visayas)
Peter Zaldivar ( HOT FM 106.9 Hamtic, Antique)
Julito P. Bale?a , Jr. Express --Antique Bureau)
Gina Apostol
Imelda Visaya-Abano (Womens Feature Services, Philippine Gazette, SEJ)
Manuel T. Cayon (BusinessMirror)
Cesar S. Ramirez(Phil.STAR)
Villamor Visaya Jr. (Inquirer Northern Luzon)
Frank Cimatu (Inquirer Northern Luzon)
Maurice Malanes (Inquirer Northern Luzon )
Peter La. Julian (Inquirer Northern Luzon)
Jo Clemente (Inquirer Central Luzon)
Russell Arador (Inquirer Central Luzon)
Jun Malig (Inquirer Centrral Luzon)
Franco Emman von Cena (Inquirer)
Jani Arnaiz (President, Associated Media of Southern Leyte, Maasin City)
Ramon Tulfo (Inquirer/Bandera)
Erwin Tulfo (People’s Journal/DZAR)
Manny Marinay (Bulletin Today)
Ma. Antonieta Lopez (Philippine Star)
Gilbert Bayoran (Daily Star, Bacolod)
Carla Canet (Negros Daily Bulletin)
Annie Calderon (Media Advocates for Reproductive Health)
Rolly Fernandez (Bureau Chief, Inquirer Northern Luzon)
Amadis Ma. Guerrero
Luis V. Teodoro (Professor of Journalism, UP/columnist, Business Mirror)
Oscar Evangelista (Palawan Community Media Council)
Ben Serrano (Philippine Star/Caraga Times)
Walter I. Balane (MindaNews)
Perfecto Caparas
Mela Castillo (Antonio Zumel Center for Press Freedom)
Edgar Crisostomo Cadano (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
Justin V. Nicolas (Adviser, PUP Sociological Review)
Jeremiah M. Opiniano (OFW Journalism Consortium, Inc.)
May Rodriguez (NUJP)
Joel Saracho (ABS-CBN-News.com)
Angelo Gutierez (ABS-CBN-News.com)
Trina Lagura (ABS-CBN-News.com)
Aleta Nieva (ABS-CBN-News.com)
From Abroad:
Christopher Warren (Chairperson, International Federation of Journalists)
Aidan White (General Secretary, IFJ)
Jacqueline Park (IFJ)
Emma Walters (IFJ)
Pi James (IFJ)
Laxmi Murthy (IFJ)
Mike Dobbie (IFJ)
Roby Alampay (Executive Director, Southeast Asian Press Alliance)
Ashok Malik (Chandigarh Journalists Association, India)
Sonia Randhawa (Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia)
H.Naranjargal (Globe International)
D.Munkhburen (Globe International)
G.Narangarav (Globe International)
T. Davaahuu (Globe International)
D.Enkhtuul (Globe International)
J.Enkhjargal(Globe International)
Ch.Munkhzul (NTV)
B.Galaarid (indivudual)
Byanbajal (Confederation of Mongolian Journalists)
Sarangerel (CMJ)
Gerard Noonan (The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia)
Jim NOlan (Barrister, Australia )
Alan Kennedy (President, Media Alliance, Australia )
Ruth Polland (President, Media Alliance NSW Branch , Australia)
Wesley Chua (Ming Pao Daily, Toronto, Canada )
Yuko Takei (freelance journalist, Tokyo)
Jojo Pasion Malig (Committee of Concerned Journalists, Washington D.C./Newslink Services Philippines)
Yoshi Okuda (freelance journalist/former president of Japan broadcasting labor Union)
Ati Nurbaiti (The Jakarta Post / Alliance of Independent Journalists)
Darma Lubis (Freelance journalist, Medan City, North Sumatra)
Brent Edwards (Chairman, The Print and Media Council of the NZ Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union)
Dr. N.K.Trikha (President, National Union of Journalists or NUJI)
P. Chaudhuri (Secretary General, NUJI)
Heru Hendratmoko (President, Alliance of Independent Journalists, Indonesia)
Abdul Manan (General Secretary, the Alliance of Independent Journalists, Indonesia)
Khairuzzaman Kamal (Editor, Human Rights News of Bangladesh)
Dharmasiri Lankapeli (Federation Of Media Employee's Trade Unions)
Daniel Coronell (Semana Magazine, Columbia)
Serenade Lai Wan Woo (President, Hong Kong Journalists Association)
Tien Hsi Ju (President, Association of Taiwan Journalists)
Liu Kuei Lan (Secretary General, Association of Taiwan Journalists)
Carol Chou (Journalist, Liberty Times, Taiwan)
Esong Chiu (Editor, Weekly Department, Taiwan)
Ho Jung Shin (Senior journalist, China Times,Taiwan)
(as of October 2, 2006)
Monday, September 18, 2006
Red Tag
Arroyo and Her Goebellian Propaganda*
18 September 2006
metrica, manila
18 September 2006
metrica, manila
In a desperate attempt to cling to power, Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is now on her way to becoming the Adolf Hitler of this generation. With the number of people denouncing her presidency growing exponentially, her administration has resorted to aggressive red baiting, mercilessly ganging up on personalities and organizations as enemies of the state.
This move is Arroyo government’s response to wind up the brewing political crisis. It has applied the Goebellian propaganda to break the backbone of anti-Arroyo groups. Losing its control over its constituents, it has now become trigger-happy, exhibiting its expertise in employing goons, guns and grenades to silence and cow those who are going against its underlying interests.
The overt singling out of people and organizations as enemies of the state has justified the already intensifying human rights violations in the country. It has given more pretexts to the extensive spate of killings, abductions and political repression which never have been as rampant as these times, even during the Martial Law period. In just five years in power, this government has accumulated a whopping record of more than 300 cases of killings, with abduction and political repression mounting up to hundreds of thousands, enough to put former dictator Pres. Ferdinand Marcos to shame. These atrocious activities have been committed in the broad of the day and the dead of the night, in the market or in school or on the street, in the most gruesome and ghastly manner. Under the Arroyo administration, the Philippines has become nothing but a mere slaughter house.
This red baiting tactic however, falls short to placate and feed the hungry mouths of the Filipino people. Rather than being cowed by the sight and sound of the hails of bullets, they are prepared to face the consequences. Already numbed by the way this government has treated them, they are ready to stake their lives and fight for what have been left for them.
Otherwise, the Philippines will forever be a mass grave.
*a reference to Joseph Goebells, propaganda minister of German dictator Adolf Hitler
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Autonomy Under Siege
The Philippine Collegian and RA 9184
The Philippine Collegian bears witness to a lasting tradition of independence as a student institution. It is a publication funded solely by the students, and for years has served as a salient representation of academic freedom and democratic rights. Throughout history, UP students have vigilantly fought for the publication's autonomy from all forms of administration intervention.
Once again, the Collegian's autonomy is under siege.
Using Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act, the UP administration since June 2006 has blocked the release of the Collegian's printing funds. According to the administration's interpretation of RA 9184, all fees collected by the university are government funds—including the Collegian's funds. Under this false assumption, the UP administration insists that the bidding and selection of the publication’s printing press be facilitated not by the Collegian editorial board, but by the administration itself.
However, the Collegian firmly asserts that it is exempt from RA 9184. It is not a government unit, as it is funded only by the students. Moreover, the Campus Journalism Act of 1991 stipulates that the editorial board should facilitate the selection of the publication’s printing press. The administration’s sole task is to collect the publication fee during registration, and thereafter give full discretion of handling of Collegian fund to the duly selected editorial board. The administration may not intervene in any of the publication’s operations.
In response to the Collegian’s arguments against RA 9184, the UP administration continues to deny the institution of its right to bidding autonomy. In our dialogues, the administration even questions the publication’s “independence” as basis for its exemption from the particular law.
We, from the Collegian, cannot accept this kind of reasoning. To allow the Collegian to subject itself to RA 9184 is tantamount to surrendering its autonomy as a student institution. Even now that the publication’s inclusion in the law is still in question, the UP administration is withholding the publication’s printing fund to coerce the Collegian to submission. Such is why the previous Collegian issues were delayed, while pending issues have not been printed. RA 9184 thus compromises the publication’s fiscal autonomy.
Moreover, allowing the Collegian to subject itself to RA 9184 would set a precedent for the UP administration to thereafter inflict the same law and intervene in the operations of publications and other student institutions in all UP units. In fact, the UP Diliman University Student Council’s publication Oblation is also being subjected to this law.
We from the Collegian view the administration’s insistence to subject the publication to RA 9184 as an assault against the publication’s autonomy. We call on the administration to recognize fully the independence of the Collegian as a student publication. We demand that the administration uphold the Collegian’s fiscal autonomy, specifically its right to facilitate the bidding process.
The Collegian is accountable only to the students, who are its sole publishers. Thus, we call on all students to protect the autonomy of the publication. This issue is a clear manifestation of administration intervention, and a direct attack on campus press freedom.
Uphold the Collegian’s autonomy!
Defend campus press freedom!
Protect the independence of all student institutions and organizations!
The Philippine Collegian bears witness to a lasting tradition of independence as a student institution. It is a publication funded solely by the students, and for years has served as a salient representation of academic freedom and democratic rights. Throughout history, UP students have vigilantly fought for the publication's autonomy from all forms of administration intervention.
Once again, the Collegian's autonomy is under siege.
Using Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act, the UP administration since June 2006 has blocked the release of the Collegian's printing funds. According to the administration's interpretation of RA 9184, all fees collected by the university are government funds—including the Collegian's funds. Under this false assumption, the UP administration insists that the bidding and selection of the publication’s printing press be facilitated not by the Collegian editorial board, but by the administration itself.
However, the Collegian firmly asserts that it is exempt from RA 9184. It is not a government unit, as it is funded only by the students. Moreover, the Campus Journalism Act of 1991 stipulates that the editorial board should facilitate the selection of the publication’s printing press. The administration’s sole task is to collect the publication fee during registration, and thereafter give full discretion of handling of Collegian fund to the duly selected editorial board. The administration may not intervene in any of the publication’s operations.
In response to the Collegian’s arguments against RA 9184, the UP administration continues to deny the institution of its right to bidding autonomy. In our dialogues, the administration even questions the publication’s “independence” as basis for its exemption from the particular law.
We, from the Collegian, cannot accept this kind of reasoning. To allow the Collegian to subject itself to RA 9184 is tantamount to surrendering its autonomy as a student institution. Even now that the publication’s inclusion in the law is still in question, the UP administration is withholding the publication’s printing fund to coerce the Collegian to submission. Such is why the previous Collegian issues were delayed, while pending issues have not been printed. RA 9184 thus compromises the publication’s fiscal autonomy.
Moreover, allowing the Collegian to subject itself to RA 9184 would set a precedent for the UP administration to thereafter inflict the same law and intervene in the operations of publications and other student institutions in all UP units. In fact, the UP Diliman University Student Council’s publication Oblation is also being subjected to this law.
We from the Collegian view the administration’s insistence to subject the publication to RA 9184 as an assault against the publication’s autonomy. We call on the administration to recognize fully the independence of the Collegian as a student publication. We demand that the administration uphold the Collegian’s fiscal autonomy, specifically its right to facilitate the bidding process.
The Collegian is accountable only to the students, who are its sole publishers. Thus, we call on all students to protect the autonomy of the publication. This issue is a clear manifestation of administration intervention, and a direct attack on campus press freedom.
Uphold the Collegian’s autonomy!
Defend campus press freedom!
Protect the independence of all student institutions and organizations!
Paalam Rando
07 september 2006
makati city
Aside from my ability to watch TV, read Milan Kundera's or Gabriel Garcia Marquez's, eat handful of peanuts or any chichiria, do homework and pull strands of hair in one breath, one of the few things that I can take pride of is my sharp memory. For so long a time, it has been my anchor to survive the turbulent waves of life. Time and again, it has proven to be my effective tool in asserting that I am a force to reckon with, as I could make my friends and former classmates pee in their pants by unearthing and reliving their Sub Rosa they are struggling to put six feet under their memories.
The only difficult thing about it is that it can never be overwhelmed. No matter how you try to bury your nightmares into oblivion, they would continuously hunt you. That has been my situation upon learning that Rando, a former classmate, fell prey to the misfortune.
It was exactly Rando's 26th birthday when it happened. Just went outside to buy some food to treat his friends, he was victimized by recless driving. He died struggling to hold on to his breath on the pavement of Nueva Ecija where he was working as an engineer. It was a life too short for a man whose dream was so immense.
Rando never complained. For the six years that we were together, I couldn't think of any instance where he had a fall out with one of my bully classmates. Whenever he was put into a bad light, he would just smile and shrug his shoulders. Patience it was that he used in dealing with the intricacies of life.
It was in the bus station that I last spoke to Rando. I was going back to Manila and he was reporting to his work in Nueva Ecija. I spent the whole time griping about the delay of the bus, while Rando was seriously planning to host a class reunion to trace the whereabouts of our classmates.
When at last the bus arrived, we went in separate ways with different thoughts hovering on our heads - I, still singing the blues of not arriving to Manila at my desired time, and Rando, excitedly outlining the framework for the reunion.
Rando will be absent in the reunion that he initiated. Yet, he will be with his memories indelibly etched on our minds.
Indeed, memories are all we have.
makati city
Aside from my ability to watch TV, read Milan Kundera's or Gabriel Garcia Marquez's, eat handful of peanuts or any chichiria, do homework and pull strands of hair in one breath, one of the few things that I can take pride of is my sharp memory. For so long a time, it has been my anchor to survive the turbulent waves of life. Time and again, it has proven to be my effective tool in asserting that I am a force to reckon with, as I could make my friends and former classmates pee in their pants by unearthing and reliving their Sub Rosa they are struggling to put six feet under their memories.
The only difficult thing about it is that it can never be overwhelmed. No matter how you try to bury your nightmares into oblivion, they would continuously hunt you. That has been my situation upon learning that Rando, a former classmate, fell prey to the misfortune.
It was exactly Rando's 26th birthday when it happened. Just went outside to buy some food to treat his friends, he was victimized by recless driving. He died struggling to hold on to his breath on the pavement of Nueva Ecija where he was working as an engineer. It was a life too short for a man whose dream was so immense.
Rando never complained. For the six years that we were together, I couldn't think of any instance where he had a fall out with one of my bully classmates. Whenever he was put into a bad light, he would just smile and shrug his shoulders. Patience it was that he used in dealing with the intricacies of life.
It was in the bus station that I last spoke to Rando. I was going back to Manila and he was reporting to his work in Nueva Ecija. I spent the whole time griping about the delay of the bus, while Rando was seriously planning to host a class reunion to trace the whereabouts of our classmates.
When at last the bus arrived, we went in separate ways with different thoughts hovering on our heads - I, still singing the blues of not arriving to Manila at my desired time, and Rando, excitedly outlining the framework for the reunion.
Rando will be absent in the reunion that he initiated. Yet, he will be with his memories indelibly etched on our minds.
Indeed, memories are all we have.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Going Mobile: Text Messages Guide Filipino Protesters
By Mary Jordan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, August 25, 2006; A01
MANILA -- Raymond Palatino's cellphone pinged loudly, and a text message lit up the display: "Other students are already marching. Where are you?"
Palatino and hundreds of others -- nearly all carrying cellphones -- were on their way to Manila's gated presidential palace for a protest rally. Palatino and what people here call a "text brigade" were still a couple of miles away, about to board buses in the steamy midday heat.
"No, not ready," he typed, holding his phone in both hands, his thumbs flying across the buttons. "We're 30 minutes away."
In a string of unsolved murders in recent months, trade union leaders, government critics, students, journalists and others have been killed. Students had begun clamoring for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to do something.
Once they might have called a demonstration by printing fliers. Now, they do it by mass texting. Palatino had spent days getting the word out, banging out text after text on the keypad of his little Nokia phone.
"WEAR RED. BRING BANNERS." The messages -- faster and cheaper than phone calls -- went to thousands of young people, telling them to gather near Morayta Street.
"I didn't talk to anyone," said Palatino, 26, a university graduate who has a contagious smile and aspires to be a teacher. "All the organizing is done through texting. It's affordable and instant."
Cellphones and text messaging are changing the way political mobilizations are conducted around the world. From Manila to Riyadh and Kathmandu protests once publicized on coffeehouse bulletin boards are now organized entirely through text-messaging networks that can reach vast numbers of people in a matter of minutes.
The technology is also changing the organization and dynamics of protests, allowing leaders to control, virtually minute-by-minute, the movements of demonstrators, like military generals in the field. Using texts that communicate orders instantly, organizers can call for advances or retreats of waves of protesters.
This tool has changed the balance of political power in places where governments have a history of outmuscling dissent. In April, Nepal's King Gyanendra ordered authorities to cut cellphone service after protesters against his absolute rule used text messages to help assemble street protests by tens of thousands of democracy advocates.
The Philippines, widely called the text-messaging center of the world, has led the way. When President Joseph Estrada was forced from office in 2001, he bitterly complained that the popular uprising against him was a "coup de text."
This country of 85 million people has only 2 million Internet users and 3 million people with land-line telephones. But there are more than 30 million cellphone subscribers here, according to government statistics, more than double the figure in 2002.
Initially, mobile phone companies offered free texting. Today, a text message still costs just 2 cents, a fraction of a call. A typical Filipino mobile phone user sends about eight texts a day, spending far more time texting than talking.
Every major Philippine political party and nonprofit group has a database of its supporters' cellphone numbers. Many use computers to automatically generate mass text mailings to those phones with news about issues or rallies or upcoming votes.
"When Estrada was ousted, we realized the power of texting," said Palatino, the slight, well-spoken president of a national youth party. "Since then we have never stopped using it to advance our causes."
At 1:30 p.m. on a recent day, Palatino and three students lingered near the doughnut case in the 7-Eleven on a congested corner of Morayta Street. They stood in the air-conditioned cool, cellphones in hand, waiting for a text.
Outside in the sweltering sunshine, amid street kiosks selling goods from iced coconut drinks to 1973 National Geographic magazines, other young people stood around, trying to blend in and avoid the notice of a few police officers who walked up and down, watching. Some of the students carried rolled-up banners that said "Stop the Killings." Each clutched a cellphone.
They knew police had been ordered to disperse unauthorized crowds near the presidential palace and would not hesitate to use wooden batons and water cannons to do it. So organizers wanted to make sure that everyone converged at the same time to make the rally harder to break up.
Soon Palatino's phone was alive with a flurry of texts from coordinators and marchers anxious to start.
One asked: "Are the media here?"
About a dozen TV cameramen and newspaper photographers gathered outside. They, too, had been summoned by text.
At 1:45, Palatino's phone pinged again, this time with the message: "ASSEMBLE RIGHT NOW!"
A smile crossed his face. With a few more taps of his thumbs, he forwarded the command down the text brigade ranks. He sent it to those on his phone list, and each who received it did the same. In seconds, about 1,000 students were in the street, stopping traffic and sending cars and bicycle taxis scattering.
Two students quickly hooked up a public address system to the battery of a vehicle. One by one, leaders climbed on top of it to fire up the crowd. Palatino demanded that President Arroyo do more to end the killings and allocate more money for universities.
"Books, not bullets!" he shouted.
The all-at-once strategy worked: The police were caught off guard. Only a few officers were on the scene, and they quickly pulled out their own cellphones to make urgent voice calls. Within minutes, scores more officers arrived.
They lined up to block the demonstrators. Many wore helmets and carried riot shields. A red firetruck arrived at the intersection. It stopped, its water cannon pointed at the crowd.
Palatino looked at the growing confrontation, worry creeping across his face for the first time. "It will be a success if we can stay long enough to get our message out," he said.
As the speeches continued, a police commander negotiated with a female protest leader.
At 2:38, she stepped away and composed a text, which she sent to Palatino and eight other organizers. In a mixture of Tagalog and English, the country's two official languages -- a popular combination known as Taglish -- she called for a meeting to plan their next move.
They huddled in the middle of the street like a football team. It started to rain.
The protest was a success, the leaders agreed. It had lasted an hour already and surely would make the evening news. They worried about the police, but decided to take their chances and keep going. They agreed to press on toward Mendiola Street, historically a popular protest site within sight of the presidential compound.
They knew they couldn't break through the police lines. So they decided to take a different route, Bustillos Street, which the police might not expect.
Then came the next mass text command. "BUSTILLOS!"
At first, the police looked pleased: The students were retreating. Then, they realized the protesters were only changing course. Officers hustled into new positions and cut off the crowd closer to the palace.
At 3:30, violence broke out. The students retreated, police running after them, hitting them across the back, head and arms with batons. Thwack! Thwack!
Caught up in the melee, ducking from the swinging batons, Palatino heard his phone ping loudly.
"GET OUT OF THERE. You are in a dangerous place," warned the text, from a friend who could see that Palatino was about to be pinned between the crowd and a wall.
An officer grabbed Palatino.
"ID! ID! Now!" the red-faced officer demanded.
A small group of officers closed in around Palatino, whose eyes were suddenly wide with terror.
Students who saw it quickly typed a text alert to others, using Palatino's nickname: "Mong is being arrested."
But as suddenly as they had grabbed him, the police let him go and ran off to help another group of officers who were beating a group of students.
Relieved but shaken, Palatino walked quickly toward a Shakey's Pizza on España Boulevard, where earlier texts had instructed everyone to meet once the protest ended. As he walked, his phone pinged loudly with text after text.
Like other leaders, Palatino was responsible for making sure everyone in his group was safe and accounted for.
Texts of "WHERE ARE YOU?" raced through the crowd.
After an hour, 10 people out of the 1,000 had not replied. So organizers dispatched people to police stations and hospitals to check for the missing.
An hour later, students started filtering home in time for the 6:30 news, which was filled with graphic scenes of police officers beating the young protesters.
Just after 7 p.m., Palatino received a text with the final tally: 34 students injured, eight seriously. Ten people detained, then released.
"Before, we had no choice but to keep quiet and listen to the president," Palatino said, still holding his tiny phone. "This is a development for democracy."
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, August 25, 2006; A01
MANILA -- Raymond Palatino's cellphone pinged loudly, and a text message lit up the display: "Other students are already marching. Where are you?"
Palatino and hundreds of others -- nearly all carrying cellphones -- were on their way to Manila's gated presidential palace for a protest rally. Palatino and what people here call a "text brigade" were still a couple of miles away, about to board buses in the steamy midday heat.
"No, not ready," he typed, holding his phone in both hands, his thumbs flying across the buttons. "We're 30 minutes away."
In a string of unsolved murders in recent months, trade union leaders, government critics, students, journalists and others have been killed. Students had begun clamoring for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to do something.
Once they might have called a demonstration by printing fliers. Now, they do it by mass texting. Palatino had spent days getting the word out, banging out text after text on the keypad of his little Nokia phone.
"WEAR RED. BRING BANNERS." The messages -- faster and cheaper than phone calls -- went to thousands of young people, telling them to gather near Morayta Street.
"I didn't talk to anyone," said Palatino, 26, a university graduate who has a contagious smile and aspires to be a teacher. "All the organizing is done through texting. It's affordable and instant."
Cellphones and text messaging are changing the way political mobilizations are conducted around the world. From Manila to Riyadh and Kathmandu protests once publicized on coffeehouse bulletin boards are now organized entirely through text-messaging networks that can reach vast numbers of people in a matter of minutes.
The technology is also changing the organization and dynamics of protests, allowing leaders to control, virtually minute-by-minute, the movements of demonstrators, like military generals in the field. Using texts that communicate orders instantly, organizers can call for advances or retreats of waves of protesters.
This tool has changed the balance of political power in places where governments have a history of outmuscling dissent. In April, Nepal's King Gyanendra ordered authorities to cut cellphone service after protesters against his absolute rule used text messages to help assemble street protests by tens of thousands of democracy advocates.
The Philippines, widely called the text-messaging center of the world, has led the way. When President Joseph Estrada was forced from office in 2001, he bitterly complained that the popular uprising against him was a "coup de text."
This country of 85 million people has only 2 million Internet users and 3 million people with land-line telephones. But there are more than 30 million cellphone subscribers here, according to government statistics, more than double the figure in 2002.
Initially, mobile phone companies offered free texting. Today, a text message still costs just 2 cents, a fraction of a call. A typical Filipino mobile phone user sends about eight texts a day, spending far more time texting than talking.
Every major Philippine political party and nonprofit group has a database of its supporters' cellphone numbers. Many use computers to automatically generate mass text mailings to those phones with news about issues or rallies or upcoming votes.
"When Estrada was ousted, we realized the power of texting," said Palatino, the slight, well-spoken president of a national youth party. "Since then we have never stopped using it to advance our causes."
At 1:30 p.m. on a recent day, Palatino and three students lingered near the doughnut case in the 7-Eleven on a congested corner of Morayta Street. They stood in the air-conditioned cool, cellphones in hand, waiting for a text.
Outside in the sweltering sunshine, amid street kiosks selling goods from iced coconut drinks to 1973 National Geographic magazines, other young people stood around, trying to blend in and avoid the notice of a few police officers who walked up and down, watching. Some of the students carried rolled-up banners that said "Stop the Killings." Each clutched a cellphone.
They knew police had been ordered to disperse unauthorized crowds near the presidential palace and would not hesitate to use wooden batons and water cannons to do it. So organizers wanted to make sure that everyone converged at the same time to make the rally harder to break up.
Soon Palatino's phone was alive with a flurry of texts from coordinators and marchers anxious to start.
One asked: "Are the media here?"
About a dozen TV cameramen and newspaper photographers gathered outside. They, too, had been summoned by text.
At 1:45, Palatino's phone pinged again, this time with the message: "ASSEMBLE RIGHT NOW!"
A smile crossed his face. With a few more taps of his thumbs, he forwarded the command down the text brigade ranks. He sent it to those on his phone list, and each who received it did the same. In seconds, about 1,000 students were in the street, stopping traffic and sending cars and bicycle taxis scattering.
Two students quickly hooked up a public address system to the battery of a vehicle. One by one, leaders climbed on top of it to fire up the crowd. Palatino demanded that President Arroyo do more to end the killings and allocate more money for universities.
"Books, not bullets!" he shouted.
The all-at-once strategy worked: The police were caught off guard. Only a few officers were on the scene, and they quickly pulled out their own cellphones to make urgent voice calls. Within minutes, scores more officers arrived.
They lined up to block the demonstrators. Many wore helmets and carried riot shields. A red firetruck arrived at the intersection. It stopped, its water cannon pointed at the crowd.
Palatino looked at the growing confrontation, worry creeping across his face for the first time. "It will be a success if we can stay long enough to get our message out," he said.
As the speeches continued, a police commander negotiated with a female protest leader.
At 2:38, she stepped away and composed a text, which she sent to Palatino and eight other organizers. In a mixture of Tagalog and English, the country's two official languages -- a popular combination known as Taglish -- she called for a meeting to plan their next move.
They huddled in the middle of the street like a football team. It started to rain.
The protest was a success, the leaders agreed. It had lasted an hour already and surely would make the evening news. They worried about the police, but decided to take their chances and keep going. They agreed to press on toward Mendiola Street, historically a popular protest site within sight of the presidential compound.
They knew they couldn't break through the police lines. So they decided to take a different route, Bustillos Street, which the police might not expect.
Then came the next mass text command. "BUSTILLOS!"
At first, the police looked pleased: The students were retreating. Then, they realized the protesters were only changing course. Officers hustled into new positions and cut off the crowd closer to the palace.
At 3:30, violence broke out. The students retreated, police running after them, hitting them across the back, head and arms with batons. Thwack! Thwack!
Caught up in the melee, ducking from the swinging batons, Palatino heard his phone ping loudly.
"GET OUT OF THERE. You are in a dangerous place," warned the text, from a friend who could see that Palatino was about to be pinned between the crowd and a wall.
An officer grabbed Palatino.
"ID! ID! Now!" the red-faced officer demanded.
A small group of officers closed in around Palatino, whose eyes were suddenly wide with terror.
Students who saw it quickly typed a text alert to others, using Palatino's nickname: "Mong is being arrested."
But as suddenly as they had grabbed him, the police let him go and ran off to help another group of officers who were beating a group of students.
Relieved but shaken, Palatino walked quickly toward a Shakey's Pizza on España Boulevard, where earlier texts had instructed everyone to meet once the protest ended. As he walked, his phone pinged loudly with text after text.
Like other leaders, Palatino was responsible for making sure everyone in his group was safe and accounted for.
Texts of "WHERE ARE YOU?" raced through the crowd.
After an hour, 10 people out of the 1,000 had not replied. So organizers dispatched people to police stations and hospitals to check for the missing.
An hour later, students started filtering home in time for the 6:30 news, which was filled with graphic scenes of police officers beating the young protesters.
Just after 7 p.m., Palatino received a text with the final tally: 34 students injured, eight seriously. Ten people detained, then released.
"Before, we had no choice but to keep quiet and listen to the president," Palatino said, still holding his tiny phone. "This is a development for democracy."
Sunday, August 13, 2006
In Defense of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
07 August 2006
makati city
When I was a kid, I never dreamt of becoming a president. I have known that the task has always been hard, and no matter how you struggle to perform well, the fact is that you cannot please everybody.
These days, I have thought of something that is much harder than being the president. That is, being in the shoes of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Just exactly how hard it is to be PGMA?
1.It takes galls and guts to prove that you won "fair and square" during the presidential polls last May 2004.
While some of us may find it too easy, it would be making things possible if you were to fill in the shoes of GMA as there are a lot of fingers, with overwhelming and sufficient evidence, that pinpoints you not just a loser, but a cheater on that election.
GMA: "So will I still lead by 1 million overall?"
Garci: "Pipilitin ho natin ’yan." ("We will do everything to make it so.")
("Hello Garci" tape, May-June 2004. GMA made no less than 15 calls to Garci for several weeks after the elections. As a result, she got a lead of more than half a million in Muslim Mindanao, universally regarded as FPJ’s bailiwick.)
2.It takes a lot of skills and talent to appear and act in a manner that you are not used to, such as going to the slums to pretend that you are "para sa masa", coming before the public looking sorry for the victims of the spate of killings and human rights violations and appearing to be in fighting form against corruption.
Indeed, who would ever forget the sudden shift of the mood of the president when she explained and apologized for her direct intervention on the elections of 2004? From a tough-looking iron woman who could turn a person into a stone with a single blink of an eye, she suddenly metamorphosed into a kind lamb that looked incapable of committing any untoward activity.
"I was anxious to protect my votes and during that time had conversations with many people, including a Comelec official. My intent was not to influence the outcome of the election, and it did not. As I mentioned, the election has already been decided and the votes counted. And as you remember, the outcome had been predicted by every major public opinion poll, and adjudged free, fair and decisive by international election observers, and our own Namfrel.
"That said; let me tell you how I personally feel. I recognize that making any such call was a lapse in judgment. I am sorry. I also regret taking so long to speak before you on this matter. I take full responsibility for my actions and to you and to all those good citizens who may have had their faith shaken by these events, I want to assure you that I have redoubled my efforts to serve the nation and earn your trust."
(July 2005).
In the harshest possible terms, I condemn political killings. We together stopped judicial executions with the abolition of the death penalty. We urge witnesses to come forward. Together we will stop extrajudicial executions.
(State of the Nation Address, July 24, 2006)
3. It is not easy to cook up reasons and rhetoric to explain the current turmoil our society is battling with. Jargon, statistics and sound bites, however impressive and outstanding they are, have fallen short to overshadow the face of poverty and crises.
"I am not here to talk about politics; I am here to talk about what the people want; details on the State of the Nation and what their government is doing to make progress every single day.Sama-sama nating isusulong ang bansa patungo sa kinabukasang nagniningning.Gaya ng nakikita sa graph na ito, dahil sa ating reporma sa ekonomiya, we now have the funds to address social inequity and economic disparity. Too many ... masyadong marami, ang mamamayang nagugutom.
Hindi ako hihinto hanggang magtagumpay ang ating laban sa kahirapan.We now have the funds to stamp out terrorism and lawless violence.May pondo na tayo para labanan ang katiwalian.Our reforms have earned us P1 billion from the U.S. Millennium Challenge Account for more investigators, prosecutors, and new technology to fight corruption. We are matching this with another billion from our fiscal savings.
We now have the funds for constitutional and electoral changes. Sa kasalukuyang sistema, napakabagal ng proseso, at bukas sa labis na pagtutunggali, at sikil ang lalawigan at mamamayan sa paghahari ng Imperial Manila. Panahon nang ibalik ang kapangyarihan sa taumbayan at lalawigan.
For surely, there must be a better way to do politics, so that those who lose elections do not make the country pay for their frustrated ambitions. There must be a better way so that those who win the nation's mandate to govern can work without delay and whimsical obstruction. There must be a better way."
(State of the Nation Address, 24 July 2006)
Aside from that, you have to be imaginative and fictitious to vamp up more pledges and promises especially that the people are now breathing on your neck. You have to explore new and catchy phrases, and have to try every means to deceive/convince people to rally behind you.
"We will expand President Ramos' flagship San Roque Multipurpose Dam with the massive Agno River Project. Another major project is the Banaoang Irrigation. We allocate P200 million a month for small irrigation projects like those in the flood control plan of the Region II Development Council headed by Bishop Ramon Villena. Plus another P200 million a month for farm to market roads.
Also in the works is an international airport in Poro, La Union and the improvement of the 2 airports in Batanes as recommended by Governor Vic Gato. Ilocos Sur will have a seaport in Salomague while the Cagayan Zone Authority will better the one in Port Irene.
To save dollars, windmills in Batanes and Ilocos Norte turn megawinds into megawatts. When Army Commander Romy Tolentino was North Luzon commander, he became a soldier-farmer, planting jatropha as yet another alternative fuel.The Metro Luzon Urban Beltway spans most of Central Luzon, Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Mindoro and Marinduque. It must be a globally competitive urban, industrial and services center, because it produces more than half of the country's GDP.
To be world-class we invest in five comprehensive strategies for global competitiveness:
1. Make food plentiful and affordable to keep our labor cost globally competitive.
2. Reduce the cost of electricity to make our factories regionally competitive.
3. Modernize infrastructure at least cost to efficiently transport goods and people.
4. Mobilize, upgrade and disseminate knowledge and technologies for productivity.
5. Reduce red tape in all agencies to cut business costs.The most prohibitive red tape is in our outmoded Constitution. We need Constitutional change to bring our rules of investment into the new millennium
The new public bidding process has been shortened to 45 days for infrastructure, and 26 days for supplies, as of today. Even before this, Metro Manila firms paying bribes for public contracts declined from 57% in 2003 to 46 today. Congratulations, Metro Manila
Machine-readable electronic passports will enhance the credibility of Philippine travel documents, improve the mobility and increase the prospects of Philippine business and labor. "
(State of the Nation Address, 24 July 2006)
4. You have to be at ease rubbing elbows with the butchers and criminals. In all the occasions, you have to make sure that you acknowledge them, appreciating all their efforts even these have meant blatant use of guns, goons and grenades to silence those who prefer to speak up. For they are your last recourse, they are the pillars of your own version of democracy.
"Sa ganitong mga proyekto, palalakasin natin ang ekonomiya ng mga barangay at lalawigan. And we will end the long oppression of barangays by rebel terrorists who kill without qualms, even their own. Sa mga lalawigang sakop ng 7th Division, nakikibaka sa kalaban si Jovito Palparan. Hindi siya aatras hanggang makawala sa gabi ng kilabot ang mga pamayanan at maka-ahon sa bukang-liwayway ng hustisya at kalayaan."
(State of the Nation Address, 24 July 2006)
5. Can you spend your nights sharing bed with Mike Arroyo? You have to, because he is your husband (at least in the eye of the people) even though just looking at him spoils your day. You have to project a very good wife to him even if he always steals the limelight from you from his infamous (mis) adventures.
You should keep your blood level, as you have to tolerate his unwanted activities such as his addiction to jueteng, etc.
6. You should accept Mikey Arroyo as your son even if his movies, which all flopped, make you puke. Like father like son as he is, you have no choice at all.
7. No matter how you have glued yourself to power, you are now trembling down to your knees at the sight of millions of people challenging your supremacy. Your tricks aimed at deceiving these people are a failure and you have no resort at all but to silence them with the hails of bullets.
Should I be Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, I would rather go out of my office to save my face.
makati city
When I was a kid, I never dreamt of becoming a president. I have known that the task has always been hard, and no matter how you struggle to perform well, the fact is that you cannot please everybody.
These days, I have thought of something that is much harder than being the president. That is, being in the shoes of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Just exactly how hard it is to be PGMA?
1.It takes galls and guts to prove that you won "fair and square" during the presidential polls last May 2004.
While some of us may find it too easy, it would be making things possible if you were to fill in the shoes of GMA as there are a lot of fingers, with overwhelming and sufficient evidence, that pinpoints you not just a loser, but a cheater on that election.
GMA: "So will I still lead by 1 million overall?"
Garci: "Pipilitin ho natin ’yan." ("We will do everything to make it so.")
("Hello Garci" tape, May-June 2004. GMA made no less than 15 calls to Garci for several weeks after the elections. As a result, she got a lead of more than half a million in Muslim Mindanao, universally regarded as FPJ’s bailiwick.)
2.It takes a lot of skills and talent to appear and act in a manner that you are not used to, such as going to the slums to pretend that you are "para sa masa", coming before the public looking sorry for the victims of the spate of killings and human rights violations and appearing to be in fighting form against corruption.
Indeed, who would ever forget the sudden shift of the mood of the president when she explained and apologized for her direct intervention on the elections of 2004? From a tough-looking iron woman who could turn a person into a stone with a single blink of an eye, she suddenly metamorphosed into a kind lamb that looked incapable of committing any untoward activity.
"I was anxious to protect my votes and during that time had conversations with many people, including a Comelec official. My intent was not to influence the outcome of the election, and it did not. As I mentioned, the election has already been decided and the votes counted. And as you remember, the outcome had been predicted by every major public opinion poll, and adjudged free, fair and decisive by international election observers, and our own Namfrel.
"That said; let me tell you how I personally feel. I recognize that making any such call was a lapse in judgment. I am sorry. I also regret taking so long to speak before you on this matter. I take full responsibility for my actions and to you and to all those good citizens who may have had their faith shaken by these events, I want to assure you that I have redoubled my efforts to serve the nation and earn your trust."
(July 2005).
In the harshest possible terms, I condemn political killings. We together stopped judicial executions with the abolition of the death penalty. We urge witnesses to come forward. Together we will stop extrajudicial executions.
(State of the Nation Address, July 24, 2006)
3. It is not easy to cook up reasons and rhetoric to explain the current turmoil our society is battling with. Jargon, statistics and sound bites, however impressive and outstanding they are, have fallen short to overshadow the face of poverty and crises.
"I am not here to talk about politics; I am here to talk about what the people want; details on the State of the Nation and what their government is doing to make progress every single day.Sama-sama nating isusulong ang bansa patungo sa kinabukasang nagniningning.Gaya ng nakikita sa graph na ito, dahil sa ating reporma sa ekonomiya, we now have the funds to address social inequity and economic disparity. Too many ... masyadong marami, ang mamamayang nagugutom.
Hindi ako hihinto hanggang magtagumpay ang ating laban sa kahirapan.We now have the funds to stamp out terrorism and lawless violence.May pondo na tayo para labanan ang katiwalian.Our reforms have earned us P1 billion from the U.S. Millennium Challenge Account for more investigators, prosecutors, and new technology to fight corruption. We are matching this with another billion from our fiscal savings.We now have the funds for constitutional and electoral changes. Sa kasalukuyang sistema, napakabagal ng proseso, at bukas sa labis na pagtutunggali, at sikil ang lalawigan at mamamayan sa paghahari ng Imperial Manila. Panahon nang ibalik ang kapangyarihan sa taumbayan at lalawigan.
For surely, there must be a better way to do politics, so that those who lose elections do not make the country pay for their frustrated ambitions. There must be a better way so that those who win the nation's mandate to govern can work without delay and whimsical obstruction. There must be a better way."
(State of the Nation Address, 24 July 2006)
Aside from that, you have to be imaginative and fictitious to vamp up more pledges and promises especially that the people are now breathing on your neck. You have to explore new and catchy phrases, and have to try every means to deceive/convince people to rally behind you.
"We will expand President Ramos' flagship San Roque Multipurpose Dam with the massive Agno River Project. Another major project is the Banaoang Irrigation. We allocate P200 million a month for small irrigation projects like those in the flood control plan of the Region II Development Council headed by Bishop Ramon Villena. Plus another P200 million a month for farm to market roads.
Also in the works is an international airport in Poro, La Union and the improvement of the 2 airports in Batanes as recommended by Governor Vic Gato. Ilocos Sur will have a seaport in Salomague while the Cagayan Zone Authority will better the one in Port Irene.
To save dollars, windmills in Batanes and Ilocos Norte turn megawinds into megawatts. When Army Commander Romy Tolentino was North Luzon commander, he became a soldier-farmer, planting jatropha as yet another alternative fuel.The Metro Luzon Urban Beltway spans most of Central Luzon, Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Mindoro and Marinduque. It must be a globally competitive urban, industrial and services center, because it produces more than half of the country's GDP.
To be world-class we invest in five comprehensive strategies for global competitiveness:
1. Make food plentiful and affordable to keep our labor cost globally competitive.
2. Reduce the cost of electricity to make our factories regionally competitive.
3. Modernize infrastructure at least cost to efficiently transport goods and people.
4. Mobilize, upgrade and disseminate knowledge and technologies for productivity.
5. Reduce red tape in all agencies to cut business costs.The most prohibitive red tape is in our outmoded Constitution. We need Constitutional change to bring our rules of investment into the new millennium
The new public bidding process has been shortened to 45 days for infrastructure, and 26 days for supplies, as of today. Even before this, Metro Manila firms paying bribes for public contracts declined from 57% in 2003 to 46 today. Congratulations, Metro Manila
Machine-readable electronic passports will enhance the credibility of Philippine travel documents, improve the mobility and increase the prospects of Philippine business and labor. "
(State of the Nation Address, 24 July 2006)
4. You have to be at ease rubbing elbows with the butchers and criminals. In all the occasions, you have to make sure that you acknowledge them, appreciating all their efforts even these have meant blatant use of guns, goons and grenades to silence those who prefer to speak up. For they are your last recourse, they are the pillars of your own version of democracy.
"Sa ganitong mga proyekto, palalakasin natin ang ekonomiya ng mga barangay at lalawigan. And we will end the long oppression of barangays by rebel terrorists who kill without qualms, even their own. Sa mga lalawigang sakop ng 7th Division, nakikibaka sa kalaban si Jovito Palparan. Hindi siya aatras hanggang makawala sa gabi ng kilabot ang mga pamayanan at maka-ahon sa bukang-liwayway ng hustisya at kalayaan."
(State of the Nation Address, 24 July 2006)
5. Can you spend your nights sharing bed with Mike Arroyo? You have to, because he is your husband (at least in the eye of the people) even though just looking at him spoils your day. You have to project a very good wife to him even if he always steals the limelight from you from his infamous (mis) adventures.
You should keep your blood level, as you have to tolerate his unwanted activities such as his addiction to jueteng, etc.
6. You should accept Mikey Arroyo as your son even if his movies, which all flopped, make you puke. Like father like son as he is, you have no choice at all.
7. No matter how you have glued yourself to power, you are now trembling down to your knees at the sight of millions of people challenging your supremacy. Your tricks aimed at deceiving these people are a failure and you have no resort at all but to silence them with the hails of bullets.
Should I be Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, I would rather go out of my office to save my face.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Where are our students?
From the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism blog:
IT’S been over a month since University of the Philippines students Karen Empeño and Sheryl Cadapan have disappeared, along with their companion, farmer Manuel Merino, all of whom were reportedly forcibly taken by soldiers in Bulacan last June 26. The three remain missing despite the Supreme Court’s grant of the petition for habeas corpus filed by the students’ parents ordering the military to produce them in court last July 24.
The disappearance of two of its students — Empeño is with the Sociology Department of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy while Cadapan is with the College of Human Kinetics — has alarmed the UP Diliman community. In a July 12 resolution, the University Council, a body composed of faculty members, said it feared for the lives of the two, greatly concerned over the Arroyo government’s inaction about their disappearance.
Recently, former student leaders who served in the University Student Council (USC) in the Diliman campus have added their voices to express concern and condemnation of the two students’ abduction in the dead of night, calling it the “ultimate act of cowardice.”
The council alumni, which include Senator Francis Pangiinan and former education undersecretary Chito Gascon, both former USC chairpersons, also lashed out at the return of “state-sponsored terrorism” unheard of since the time of Marcos, and Arroyo’s lack of concern for the fate of the two students. (see statement below)
Meanwhile, Court of Appeals Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza ordered last week the group of Major General Jovito Palparan, commander of the 7th Infantry Division in whose area of jurisdiction the students were last seen, to produce them in court during the hearing tomorrow.
But the military says it cannot comply with the appelate court’s order, denying that any of its troops is holding the two students and Merino. Army chief Lieutenant General Romeo Tolentino even suggested that activists who have been reported missing may have gone underground and joined the communist New People’s Army (NPA).
Tolentino said the alleged abductions being blamed on the Army may only be a ploy to cover up the fact that they went underground. The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), through spokesman Gregorio Rosal, however dismissed the claim as “absurd,” citing reports that several witnesses have pointed to the military or police as the perpetrators in most of the cases of disappearances.
As if alluding to Tolentino’s insinuation, Palparan, who guested via phone patch at the “Debate” talk show on GMA-7 last week, also kept saying that night that they have a certain Ka Tanya and Ka Siera in their custody after their arrest in Hagonoy.
Yesterday, the mothers of the two missing UP students went to the Army headquarters in Malolos to confront Lt. Col. Rogelio Boac, Task Force Bulacan commander, about Palparan’s claim but he denied any knowledge of the supposed arrest of two women NPA rebels.
Below is the text of the former student leaders’ statement:
UP DILIMAN USC ALUMNI STATEMENT ON THE ABDUCTION
University of the Philippines, Diliman students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan were abducted by armed men around 2 a.m. on June 26. It has been a month since the students were taken and there is no word on their whereabouts or any indication that the government is acting on their forced abduction.
We are former members of the University Student Council, fellow student leaders and friends of Ms Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.
We are deeply concerned that student leaders and activists are being threatened by the government.
We condemn the ultimate act of cowardice when masked armed men come in the dead of night to drag students from homes.
We condemn the return of state-sponsored terrorism on a scale that we have not seen since the time of Ferdinand Marcos.
We express our unqualified disappointment with the Arroyo government which has yet to express any hint of concern for the fate of these students.
We call on the Arroyo administration to mobilize its resources to assist in the recovery of these students.
We call on all sectors to join us in condemning forced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, and all forms of state-sponsored terror.
We call on all Filipinos to guard and honor human rights and human dignity that we fought for so valiantly at the cost of so many lives.
Concerned University Student Council Alumni, University of the Philippines, Diliman:
Abraham Rey Acosta, USC 1995-96
Grace Afuang, USC 1997-98
Rhona Agtay, USC 1995-96
Gigo Alampay, USC 1984-85
Gidget Alikpala, USC 1987-88
Almahdi “Aldean” Alonto, USC 2000-01
Tita Aquino, USC 1991-92
Jonas Bagas, USC 1997-98
Gay Bemeza, USC 1987-88
Marichu M. Bernardo, USC 1998-99
Ryan Cablitas, USC 1996-97
Percival Cendaña, USC 1995-96, USC 1996-97, USC 1997-98
Angelico Clerigo, USC 1998-99, USC 1999-2000
Forsyth Cordero, USC 2000-2001
Jed M. Eva III, USC 1995-96
Carlo Fabregas, USC 1997-98
JJ Fernandez, USC 1987-88, USC 1988-89
Chito Gascon, USC 1985-86
Dorothea Lazaro, USC 1998-99
Vincent Lazatin, USC 1986-87
Emil A. Liwanag, USC 1998-99
Cielo Magno, USC 1997-98, USC 1998-99, USC 1999-2000
Eyron Buera Magtibay, USC 1999-2000
Norman F. Manguinao, USC 1998-99, USC 1999-2000
Mardi Mapa-Suplido, USC 1985-86, USC 1986-87
Kate Natividad, USC 1998-99
Ramby Nolido, USC 1987-88
Len Pagalanan, USC 1998-99
Raymond Palatino, USC 1998-99, USC 2000-01
Liberty M. Palomo, USC 2000-01
GlennMark C. Pamplona, USC 1995-96, USC 1997-98
Kiko Pangilinan, USC 1985-86, USC 1986-87
Bien Peñaranda, USC 1999-2000
Aaron Karl D. Pundol, USC 1997-98, USC 1998-99
Charmaine G. Ramos, USC 1991-92
Nova Rellosa, USC 1989-90
Gil de los Reyes, USC 1985-86
Arnold Cesar O. Romero, USC 1999-2000
Katheryn Rualo, USC 1999-2000
J. Edward San Juan, USC 2000-01
Jill Santos, USC 1998-1999, 2006-2007
Raymond Sebastian, USC 1999-2000
Camille Sevilla, USC 1985-86
Grace Simbulan, USC 1997-98
Giovanni Tapang, USC 1990-91, USC 1993-94
Monette Velarde, USC 1999-2000
IT’S been over a month since University of the Philippines students Karen Empeño and Sheryl Cadapan have disappeared, along with their companion, farmer Manuel Merino, all of whom were reportedly forcibly taken by soldiers in Bulacan last June 26. The three remain missing despite the Supreme Court’s grant of the petition for habeas corpus filed by the students’ parents ordering the military to produce them in court last July 24.
The disappearance of two of its students — Empeño is with the Sociology Department of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy while Cadapan is with the College of Human Kinetics — has alarmed the UP Diliman community. In a July 12 resolution, the University Council, a body composed of faculty members, said it feared for the lives of the two, greatly concerned over the Arroyo government’s inaction about their disappearance.
Recently, former student leaders who served in the University Student Council (USC) in the Diliman campus have added their voices to express concern and condemnation of the two students’ abduction in the dead of night, calling it the “ultimate act of cowardice.”
The council alumni, which include Senator Francis Pangiinan and former education undersecretary Chito Gascon, both former USC chairpersons, also lashed out at the return of “state-sponsored terrorism” unheard of since the time of Marcos, and Arroyo’s lack of concern for the fate of the two students. (see statement below)
Meanwhile, Court of Appeals Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza ordered last week the group of Major General Jovito Palparan, commander of the 7th Infantry Division in whose area of jurisdiction the students were last seen, to produce them in court during the hearing tomorrow.
But the military says it cannot comply with the appelate court’s order, denying that any of its troops is holding the two students and Merino. Army chief Lieutenant General Romeo Tolentino even suggested that activists who have been reported missing may have gone underground and joined the communist New People’s Army (NPA).
Tolentino said the alleged abductions being blamed on the Army may only be a ploy to cover up the fact that they went underground. The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), through spokesman Gregorio Rosal, however dismissed the claim as “absurd,” citing reports that several witnesses have pointed to the military or police as the perpetrators in most of the cases of disappearances.
As if alluding to Tolentino’s insinuation, Palparan, who guested via phone patch at the “Debate” talk show on GMA-7 last week, also kept saying that night that they have a certain Ka Tanya and Ka Siera in their custody after their arrest in Hagonoy.
Yesterday, the mothers of the two missing UP students went to the Army headquarters in Malolos to confront Lt. Col. Rogelio Boac, Task Force Bulacan commander, about Palparan’s claim but he denied any knowledge of the supposed arrest of two women NPA rebels.
Below is the text of the former student leaders’ statement:
UP DILIMAN USC ALUMNI STATEMENT ON THE ABDUCTION
OF KAREN EMPENO AND SHERLYN CADAPAN
Diliman, Quezon City
University of the Philippines, Diliman students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan were abducted by armed men around 2 a.m. on June 26. It has been a month since the students were taken and there is no word on their whereabouts or any indication that the government is acting on their forced abduction.
We are former members of the University Student Council, fellow student leaders and friends of Ms Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.
We are deeply concerned that student leaders and activists are being threatened by the government.
We condemn the ultimate act of cowardice when masked armed men come in the dead of night to drag students from homes.
We condemn the return of state-sponsored terrorism on a scale that we have not seen since the time of Ferdinand Marcos.
We express our unqualified disappointment with the Arroyo government which has yet to express any hint of concern for the fate of these students.
We call on the Arroyo administration to mobilize its resources to assist in the recovery of these students.
We call on all sectors to join us in condemning forced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, and all forms of state-sponsored terror.
We call on all Filipinos to guard and honor human rights and human dignity that we fought for so valiantly at the cost of so many lives.
Concerned University Student Council Alumni, University of the Philippines, Diliman:
Abraham Rey Acosta, USC 1995-96
Grace Afuang, USC 1997-98
Rhona Agtay, USC 1995-96
Gigo Alampay, USC 1984-85
Gidget Alikpala, USC 1987-88
Almahdi “Aldean” Alonto, USC 2000-01
Tita Aquino, USC 1991-92
Jonas Bagas, USC 1997-98
Gay Bemeza, USC 1987-88
Marichu M. Bernardo, USC 1998-99
Ryan Cablitas, USC 1996-97
Percival Cendaña, USC 1995-96, USC 1996-97, USC 1997-98
Angelico Clerigo, USC 1998-99, USC 1999-2000
Forsyth Cordero, USC 2000-2001
Jed M. Eva III, USC 1995-96
Carlo Fabregas, USC 1997-98
JJ Fernandez, USC 1987-88, USC 1988-89
Chito Gascon, USC 1985-86
Dorothea Lazaro, USC 1998-99
Vincent Lazatin, USC 1986-87
Emil A. Liwanag, USC 1998-99
Cielo Magno, USC 1997-98, USC 1998-99, USC 1999-2000
Eyron Buera Magtibay, USC 1999-2000
Norman F. Manguinao, USC 1998-99, USC 1999-2000
Mardi Mapa-Suplido, USC 1985-86, USC 1986-87
Kate Natividad, USC 1998-99
Ramby Nolido, USC 1987-88
Len Pagalanan, USC 1998-99
Raymond Palatino, USC 1998-99, USC 2000-01
Liberty M. Palomo, USC 2000-01
GlennMark C. Pamplona, USC 1995-96, USC 1997-98
Kiko Pangilinan, USC 1985-86, USC 1986-87
Bien Peñaranda, USC 1999-2000
Aaron Karl D. Pundol, USC 1997-98, USC 1998-99
Charmaine G. Ramos, USC 1991-92
Nova Rellosa, USC 1989-90
Gil de los Reyes, USC 1985-86
Arnold Cesar O. Romero, USC 1999-2000
Katheryn Rualo, USC 1999-2000
J. Edward San Juan, USC 2000-01
Jill Santos, USC 1998-1999, 2006-2007
Raymond Sebastian, USC 1999-2000
Camille Sevilla, USC 1985-86
Grace Simbulan, USC 1997-98
Giovanni Tapang, USC 1990-91, USC 1993-94
Monette Velarde, USC 1999-2000
Sunday, July 30, 2006
BALI-BALITA ni Edel Garcellano
reprinted from: www.tigilpaslang2.blogspot.com
Noong i-text sa akin ng isang guro ang tungkol sa mga nawawalang estudyante sa Bulacan, hindi ko malaman ang aking daramahin: araw-araw sandamukal na balita ang aking nababasa at napapakinggan, at itong mistulang desaparecidos sa ating panahon – luma na marahil sapagka’t mula’t mula pa sa rehimen ni Marcos ito’y ulit-ilit nang pinangangambahan – ay waring hindi na ito tumimo sa aking isipan. Sino sila? Bakit nga raw dinukot? Alam ko na rin naman ang sagot sa istoryang ito: tiyak na mga tao ng estado ang nagpasimuno, mga sintomas wika nga ng mga dapat ilihim at isiwalat sa publikong lipunan na gumagalaw sa kumpas ng iilan: iyong mga nakakotse’t sekretarya, kasunod ang mga hagad na escort at agresibong kumakaway, tabi! tabi! may lakad kami!
At sa telebisyon mo nga maririnig ang pakiusap ng isang ina: sana ay makita na ang aking anak, birthday nya sa makalawa, ang presidente ay isa ring ina, sana ay magawan ng paraan ito, sana...Ang tv screen ay babalik sa broadcaster, sa ibang dako naman...Luma na ang mga eksena: sa Arhentina ang mga naulila ay magpu-prusisyon upang ipaalala sa unti-unting lumilimot ang mga malagim na pangyayari, alalaumbaga’y pilit na binubuhay ang mga pangalan at mukha sa mga taong nakatulala, nakatingin, at humihinga ng malalim upang kagyat muling bumalik sa kanilang ginagawa: huntahan ng Eat Bulaga, mga tanong sa Deal or No Deal ni Kris Aquino o magkamot ng alipunga na nababad na naman sa baha.
Ang ingay ng ulan ay bubuhusan pa ng mga ingay ng mga radyo at tawanan sapagkat iyon ang napapala ng mga pakialamero yang mga erehe sa gobyerno o yung sobrang mag-isip kaya nakukursunadahan ng mga heneral na nagtatrabaho lamang upang panatilihin ang kapayapaan sa loob ng tahanan sa palengke sa kalsada sa ilang na pook sa buong kabayanan.
Ano ang kanilang kasalanan? Ilang talaan ba na ng nadisgrasya ang kaniyang natunghayan buhat nang siya’y magbinata sa Maynila at ngayo’y namumuti na ang buhok sa kaiisip ng pera sa pamantasan, ganito pa rin hanggang ngayon? Ilan na ba sa mga kakilala – malayo o malapit - ay di na nya nabalitaan pa at kung mabalitaan man ay may sukob ng lagim ang mga kwentong maririnig.
Ilan daang taon na bang nangyayari ito: ang bumalikwas na naliligo sa malamig na pawis kung may kakatok sa pinto sa oras na wala namang inaasahang darating o makakasalubong ang isang tao nananinipat ng tingin at ika’y kagyat na iiwas sa pagsulyap sapagkat baka isang peligrosong engkwentro ito.
Malaki na ang mga bata. Silang nalahian na rin ng takot ng matatanda ay bagkus ngayong tumatahak sa daang kanyang iniiwasan. Marahil sa kanilang panahon ito ngayon ang nararapat gawin. Marahil anuman ang mangyayari, inisip nilang baka pagsisihan sa dakong huli ang di pagsunod sa kutob at lohika ng nararapat sa mundo.
Ganun nga siguro. Ang kinabukasan ay nililigiran ng mga bangkay ng mga berdugo ng kapitalismo at mangingibig ng hustisya at karapatan.
=========
Edel Garcellano teaches at the University of the Philippines-Diliman
Noong i-text sa akin ng isang guro ang tungkol sa mga nawawalang estudyante sa Bulacan, hindi ko malaman ang aking daramahin: araw-araw sandamukal na balita ang aking nababasa at napapakinggan, at itong mistulang desaparecidos sa ating panahon – luma na marahil sapagka’t mula’t mula pa sa rehimen ni Marcos ito’y ulit-ilit nang pinangangambahan – ay waring hindi na ito tumimo sa aking isipan. Sino sila? Bakit nga raw dinukot? Alam ko na rin naman ang sagot sa istoryang ito: tiyak na mga tao ng estado ang nagpasimuno, mga sintomas wika nga ng mga dapat ilihim at isiwalat sa publikong lipunan na gumagalaw sa kumpas ng iilan: iyong mga nakakotse’t sekretarya, kasunod ang mga hagad na escort at agresibong kumakaway, tabi! tabi! may lakad kami!
At sa telebisyon mo nga maririnig ang pakiusap ng isang ina: sana ay makita na ang aking anak, birthday nya sa makalawa, ang presidente ay isa ring ina, sana ay magawan ng paraan ito, sana...Ang tv screen ay babalik sa broadcaster, sa ibang dako naman...Luma na ang mga eksena: sa Arhentina ang mga naulila ay magpu-prusisyon upang ipaalala sa unti-unting lumilimot ang mga malagim na pangyayari, alalaumbaga’y pilit na binubuhay ang mga pangalan at mukha sa mga taong nakatulala, nakatingin, at humihinga ng malalim upang kagyat muling bumalik sa kanilang ginagawa: huntahan ng Eat Bulaga, mga tanong sa Deal or No Deal ni Kris Aquino o magkamot ng alipunga na nababad na naman sa baha.
Ang ingay ng ulan ay bubuhusan pa ng mga ingay ng mga radyo at tawanan sapagkat iyon ang napapala ng mga pakialamero yang mga erehe sa gobyerno o yung sobrang mag-isip kaya nakukursunadahan ng mga heneral na nagtatrabaho lamang upang panatilihin ang kapayapaan sa loob ng tahanan sa palengke sa kalsada sa ilang na pook sa buong kabayanan.
Ano ang kanilang kasalanan? Ilang talaan ba na ng nadisgrasya ang kaniyang natunghayan buhat nang siya’y magbinata sa Maynila at ngayo’y namumuti na ang buhok sa kaiisip ng pera sa pamantasan, ganito pa rin hanggang ngayon? Ilan na ba sa mga kakilala – malayo o malapit - ay di na nya nabalitaan pa at kung mabalitaan man ay may sukob ng lagim ang mga kwentong maririnig.
Ilan daang taon na bang nangyayari ito: ang bumalikwas na naliligo sa malamig na pawis kung may kakatok sa pinto sa oras na wala namang inaasahang darating o makakasalubong ang isang tao nananinipat ng tingin at ika’y kagyat na iiwas sa pagsulyap sapagkat baka isang peligrosong engkwentro ito.
Malaki na ang mga bata. Silang nalahian na rin ng takot ng matatanda ay bagkus ngayong tumatahak sa daang kanyang iniiwasan. Marahil sa kanilang panahon ito ngayon ang nararapat gawin. Marahil anuman ang mangyayari, inisip nilang baka pagsisihan sa dakong huli ang di pagsunod sa kutob at lohika ng nararapat sa mundo.
Ganun nga siguro. Ang kinabukasan ay nililigiran ng mga bangkay ng mga berdugo ng kapitalismo at mangingibig ng hustisya at karapatan.
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Edel Garcellano teaches at the University of the Philippines-Diliman
Thursday, July 27, 2006
The Running Man
26 July 2006
metrica, manila
Under the scorching heat of the sun, I found myself rubbing elbows with the tubaw-wearing youth on the grounds of Senate. Bored of being bum for weeks, I was in the process of “soul-searching” when I got drawn in to these people’s grasp of reality. Anyway their ideas weren’t too big to take in as I could easily identify with the evil effects of the whopping budget slash in education sector.
Though-looking as I am but I would not deny that at that time, I felt boneless, especially upon catching a glimpse of the marines who looked hell-bent in wiping us off the earth. Sitting prettily while alternately digesting my sandwich and the heart-warming, temperature-rising speeches of the mass leaders, piles of bodies hurled into mine. Blood started to taint the ground as the men in uniform thrashed us to death. The throng was in complete disarray.
I was struggling to get out of the mesh of bodies when someone grabbed me and escorted me towards a safer place. Exactly after she hauled me, blows of truncheon hammered right on the nail where I was ensnarled.
I learned that that girl was Sherlyn, a representative to the University Student Council of the University of the Philippines-Diliman. She had been actively participating in mobilizations, and had developed an instinct in situations such as these.
With my regular stay in Vinzons Hill where Sherlyn was also a tambay, I found out that she was the one who was edged out by the controversial Nancy Navalta in a race. She was a university athlete. Among the tambay, Sherlyn was also popular for her dance step, a sort of “The Running Man” infused with whatever-you-wanna-call-it steps. This “The Sherlyn Cadapan Dance Step” required a lot of intense muscle flexes that no one has dared to follow or imitate.
While she dances gracefully and automatically turns into a horse when running, Sherlyn works like a dog. She has never wavered in her commitment. Yet, though serious, she has never missed to inject fun to her work. In deed, she could transform a prayer meeting into a party, or a market.
Knowing how deeply entrenched Sherlyn is to her commitment, I was not waylaid when one day, she just shook our hands, packed her bag and went out the door. I knew where she was leading to, and I never had a doubt about her decision.
I haven’t seen Sherlyn since then. Until her face flashed on the television screen. She was abducted by the military, being singled out as a terrorist.
Gen. Jovito Palparan, who was acknowledged by Pres. Arroyo in her last State of the Nation Address for his achievement in restoring “peace and order” in the country, was quick to validate the abduction. He said that the military has enough evidence that pinpoint Sherlyn, along with Karen Empeno and Manuel Merino to have linked with the New People’s Army. Whatever these proofs are, however, everyone knows the track record of Palparan for vamping up stories and accusations to gorge his fondness of mercilessly killing suspicious individuals.
Still uneasy and beleaguered by these recent developments, no disclaimer can ditch the fact that the series of abduction and killings only means one thing: the Arroyo government is in full battle gear to flex its muscle to the people going against its interest. Everyone is subjected to suspicion, knowing how paranoid this government is, which could lead to abduction, incarceration and even death.
Sherlyn is just a person whose only passion is to provide genuine service to the underprivileged being neglected by the government. Hers is a work so modest and noble that she is well-loved by the people. Tagging her terrorist is false and malicious.
For a terrorist is someone whose passion is to sow fear among the people. Expert in employing goons, gold and guns, he is determined to defeat everyone just to advance his stake. He has resorted to using all the dirty tricks such as tagging some individuals “terrorist”. A terrorist is shunned by the people.
With the statistics and records staring straightly to us, we know who the real terrorist is.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Breaking the Barriers
05 December 2005
metrica, manila
About a year ago, the town was in total shambles. Calamities came one after the other, seemingly never-ending, wreaking havoc to the once pristine and placid town of Dingalan. Loss of lives, as well as loss of properties was beyond compare, making the already beleaguered people hopeless and helpless to go on living. For them, life would never be the same again.
After a year, Dingalan is now on its way to full recovery. Reconstruction and rehabilitation are being carried through to bring back the glory of the town. With sheer determination, the people have come together to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Through this unity and collective action, the town is now inching towards progress.
Brgy Butas na Bato, like any to other place in Dingalan, bore witness to the nature’s wrath. Indeed, it was one of the most devastated. And, akin to the other communities, from the remnants and vestiges of the aftermath, it is now in the process of restoration.
Brgy Butas na Bato lies at the outskirts of the town proper. A depressed area, it has a significant number of people who are mostly making their ends meet through fishing and farming. Majority of them are living below the poverty level. With the very limited resources, their quest for a better life is still elusive as their development is still at the minimum pace.
For the inhabitants of Brgy Butas na Bato, patching up the irreparable damage caused by the tragedy is not attained overnight; it takes years to do so. Hence, for the entire community to move on and to improve its miserable living condition, a comprehensive and wide-ranging plan for a long time solution is a mission to fulfill.
The course to secure their future is indeed a long and winding road. Every step must be done systematically, in a highly organized manner, with utmost care. Otherwise, their initial bold steps that are now taking place would be in vain.
In order to ward off the impediments that may crop up along the way to their goal, a strong, solid and stable foundation should be firmly built, as it is their best defense to any tragedy that may furiously strike them again. So, the most crucial and critical undertaking is to put up the most resistant and resilient pillar, the decent education of their children.
But their dismal situation slows down the establishment and stability of this underpinning. Chief of the huge problems is the glaring lack of conducive learning atmosphere.
There is no school within this thickly populated community. The nearest school is located at the town proper, which is two kilometers away from this place. This requires the children, whose ages range from 6-12, an hour and half walk, enduring the scorching heat of the sun and the heavy drenching of the rain. Since the daily P40 tricycle fare is too much to afford for their families, they have no choice.
During the rainy season, the sight of these children going to classes is even more depressing. Oftentimes, they arrive at their classes soaking wet and even mud-spattered. And since the flood already washed away the bridge that was once the link between their place and the town proper, they brave crisscrossing the rising and rushing water of a huge river just to make it to the school. Before their classes end, most of them are ill and unwell.
This concrete condition deters these children to carry on their education. In fact, there is an annual downward trend of the enrolment of students in the area as the number of dropouts continues to shoot up. This deprives these children of their right to an accessible and decent education.
Unless this problem is worked out, the future of Brgy Butas na Bato is in the state of ambiguity.
It is in this situation that the people of Brgy Butas na Bato are once again soliciting for our help to make their dreams come true. Their request is simple and modest: to assist them in providing a good education to their children by putting up a primary school within the bounds of their community.
The establishment of a primary school will not only be a vital contribution to the restoration of the place but will also be a great leap forward to the fulfillment of people’s vision. This will encourage their children to acquire better learning, making them ready in assuming important role for their bright future.
The people of Brgy Butas na Bato have pinned their hope to us. As a first bold step, let us not deny them of their request and provide concrete conditions that will pave the way to the fulfillment of their pursuit for a better life.
Writing 30
tuesday,
17 november 2005
sampaloc, manila
And now, the newsmakers have taken the headline.
Sick and tired of her consistent bad image and poor projection, Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has resorted to lambasting the media for its espousal to bad boy image. Speaking before seasoned journalists and media practitioners, she lectured them on how to be fair and square in carrying out the five W’s and H of reporting.
The president’s bitter criticism to media is explicable, especially now that her political survival is on highly dangerous ground. Indeed, in her speech, she exhorted the media not to be used as “pawns in political games and destabilization schemes,” but to be messengers of “positive news” about “a nation on the verge of economic takeoff.” She even encouraged it to hook up with her administration in molding the “destiny of this republic for the good of the greater number.”
The speech is an obvious intrusion to the independence of media. It is reminiscent of the way the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos handled the press – state propagandists. She wants every story to be warped to prop up good image to her constituents, a desperate attempt to cling to power. She coerces the media to close its eyes in pursuit of justice, to keep its mouth shut in accounting the reality. She is muddling up the truth with myth.
A muzzled press is tantamount to a muzzled public. To deny the press of the fact is to deprive the people of their right to be informed. There can be no press freedom if journalists exist in conditions of fear, threat and violence – conditions that are real and rampant in the country, being perpetrated by those who have the monopoly of gold, goons and guns. Neither can there be genuine democracy in a country whose citizens exist in the same conditions.
To further seduce the media, Arroyo bragged about her accomplishment in providing an environment decent in validating the calling of journalists – a twist of fact indeed for it is during her presidency that the Philippines was singled out as the most murderous and most dangerous place for media people. She appears to be completely oblivious of the statistics and fashion of killings of journalists, totally ignorant of the fact that cases have been unresolved, that the murderers are all scot-free.
The president’s intimidation of media, along with her calibrated preemptive response and militarization policies, only bears out that the Arroyo government is now taking up the Marcosian way of holding on to power. It is state terrorism at its best, in the most appalling manner, cowing the people to stand up for their beliefs and conviction and transforming them into mere blind followers. It is the creation of kingdom – or queendom – out of lies, apathy, deceit, dishonesty and injustice. It is reign of terror.
As Arroyo fritters away no time in making it to the headline, the people, having grown tired of her indifference, incapability and ineffectiveness, have her in the obituary of their hearts and minds. With this another lapse of judgment, her political career is writing 30. #
17 november 2005
sampaloc, manila
And now, the newsmakers have taken the headline.
Sick and tired of her consistent bad image and poor projection, Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has resorted to lambasting the media for its espousal to bad boy image. Speaking before seasoned journalists and media practitioners, she lectured them on how to be fair and square in carrying out the five W’s and H of reporting.
The president’s bitter criticism to media is explicable, especially now that her political survival is on highly dangerous ground. Indeed, in her speech, she exhorted the media not to be used as “pawns in political games and destabilization schemes,” but to be messengers of “positive news” about “a nation on the verge of economic takeoff.” She even encouraged it to hook up with her administration in molding the “destiny of this republic for the good of the greater number.”
The speech is an obvious intrusion to the independence of media. It is reminiscent of the way the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos handled the press – state propagandists. She wants every story to be warped to prop up good image to her constituents, a desperate attempt to cling to power. She coerces the media to close its eyes in pursuit of justice, to keep its mouth shut in accounting the reality. She is muddling up the truth with myth.
A muzzled press is tantamount to a muzzled public. To deny the press of the fact is to deprive the people of their right to be informed. There can be no press freedom if journalists exist in conditions of fear, threat and violence – conditions that are real and rampant in the country, being perpetrated by those who have the monopoly of gold, goons and guns. Neither can there be genuine democracy in a country whose citizens exist in the same conditions.
To further seduce the media, Arroyo bragged about her accomplishment in providing an environment decent in validating the calling of journalists – a twist of fact indeed for it is during her presidency that the Philippines was singled out as the most murderous and most dangerous place for media people. She appears to be completely oblivious of the statistics and fashion of killings of journalists, totally ignorant of the fact that cases have been unresolved, that the murderers are all scot-free.
The president’s intimidation of media, along with her calibrated preemptive response and militarization policies, only bears out that the Arroyo government is now taking up the Marcosian way of holding on to power. It is state terrorism at its best, in the most appalling manner, cowing the people to stand up for their beliefs and conviction and transforming them into mere blind followers. It is the creation of kingdom – or queendom – out of lies, apathy, deceit, dishonesty and injustice. It is reign of terror.
As Arroyo fritters away no time in making it to the headline, the people, having grown tired of her indifference, incapability and ineffectiveness, have her in the obituary of their hearts and minds. With this another lapse of judgment, her political career is writing 30. #
Saturday, July 08, 2006
the flying sexy girl
01 july 2006
makati
One thing about Nanen: she has never failed to surprise us. At a single period of time, she could be dead serious perfecting the assigned tasks to her while unleashing her prowess to make us laugh – or cry or get irritated. Schizophrenic she is not; she has just a gift to instinctively shift from one character to another that could spontaneously transform us into laughing hyenas or combust us into raging bulls.
But beyond her colorful personality lies the true color of Nanen. Deep down in her heart, she is true and tried to her commitment. Her immersion to the real world tightens her grip to what she believes in. She would defy the pull of gravity to make sure that she presses on her principles and passion.
That was how Nanen has steeled in her resolve. I was not caught unawares at all when she announced that she decided to go beyond the four corners of her classroom to give way to her undying passion to go among the hapless and the helpless.
It was the last time we talked about it seriously. Still, she has not missed surprising me of her texts and messages. In her texts, she is still the same Nanen that I used to know, my housemate, officemate and friend.
Until I heard the news that Nanen was abducted by the military in a village where she has devoted her life. My reaction was obscure and indefinable, for Nanen was not only too frail to do that, her work is much more noble and dignified than those who are in the power. She was charged with fabricated cases.
I don’t know what has pushed the army in abducting Nanen. What is clear now is that the army and the government are too paranoid now that they would resort in these activities just to make sure that no one would go against their interest. And for some reason, they think Nanen is one of them.
That must be the exact explanation why, aside from Nanen, they still continue to pick on people who they think threaten the already wobbling government. Faces of Cris Hugo, the Maco Four, several journalists, and endless names of faceless people stream in my mind. They are victimized of the paranoia of this government.
But they are not the only ones who are victims here. We are also sufferers, being browbeaten and cowed by this government by exhibiting its expertise in the use of gold, goons and guns. We are being tamed by the sight of the pile of bodies, of the blood that spills in the broad of the day and in the dead of the night. We are the losers.
I don’t know what happens to Nanen now. But whatever will it be (which I hope would be better), I still envy Nanen. She is able to arrive at life she has always wanted, without compromise or concession. And she has surprised the hell out of me for being able to do that.
makati
One thing about Nanen: she has never failed to surprise us. At a single period of time, she could be dead serious perfecting the assigned tasks to her while unleashing her prowess to make us laugh – or cry or get irritated. Schizophrenic she is not; she has just a gift to instinctively shift from one character to another that could spontaneously transform us into laughing hyenas or combust us into raging bulls.
But beyond her colorful personality lies the true color of Nanen. Deep down in her heart, she is true and tried to her commitment. Her immersion to the real world tightens her grip to what she believes in. She would defy the pull of gravity to make sure that she presses on her principles and passion.
That was how Nanen has steeled in her resolve. I was not caught unawares at all when she announced that she decided to go beyond the four corners of her classroom to give way to her undying passion to go among the hapless and the helpless.
It was the last time we talked about it seriously. Still, she has not missed surprising me of her texts and messages. In her texts, she is still the same Nanen that I used to know, my housemate, officemate and friend.
Until I heard the news that Nanen was abducted by the military in a village where she has devoted her life. My reaction was obscure and indefinable, for Nanen was not only too frail to do that, her work is much more noble and dignified than those who are in the power. She was charged with fabricated cases.
I don’t know what has pushed the army in abducting Nanen. What is clear now is that the army and the government are too paranoid now that they would resort in these activities just to make sure that no one would go against their interest. And for some reason, they think Nanen is one of them.
That must be the exact explanation why, aside from Nanen, they still continue to pick on people who they think threaten the already wobbling government. Faces of Cris Hugo, the Maco Four, several journalists, and endless names of faceless people stream in my mind. They are victimized of the paranoia of this government.
But they are not the only ones who are victims here. We are also sufferers, being browbeaten and cowed by this government by exhibiting its expertise in the use of gold, goons and guns. We are being tamed by the sight of the pile of bodies, of the blood that spills in the broad of the day and in the dead of the night. We are the losers.
I don’t know what happens to Nanen now. But whatever will it be (which I hope would be better), I still envy Nanen. She is able to arrive at life she has always wanted, without compromise or concession. And she has surprised the hell out of me for being able to do that.
Friday, July 07, 2006
A Brazen Act of Violence
09 november 2005
sampaloc, manila
The twists and turns of events bring the nation back to its darkest days. Already trapped in dire economic woes and political turmoil, it is being dragged along the way of reimposition of Martial Law with the full-scale implementation of the " calibrated preemptive response" (CPR).
The CPR is Malacanang's solution to the intensifying crisis. In sheer desperation to put the country out of disorder, the government has resorted to use 'muscle' to defeat anyone going against its interests. It has vowed to quash any group that attempts to bring down the Arroyo administration, avowing that it is for the good of the country.
Unambiguously, this is akin to the toppled Pres. Ferdinand Marcos's brand of leadership. This is a recycled but heightened version of Martial Law - a blatant use of force to oblige the people to rally behind the government.
Amid the government's claim that it is working within the framework of democracy, the CPR is an obvious suppression of freedom of speech to its truest sense. The suspension of 'maximum tolerance' and the ban of street protests and political activities are as good as the deprivation of people's basic right to stand up for their beliefs and conviction. It is tantamount to the suspension of writ of habeas corpus and the open declaration of martial law.
In promoting economic and political stability, it glorifies the use of guns and other forms of brutality. It breeds a culture of violence to sow terror to the already traumatized Filipino people. It means loss of lives, harrassment and political repression in the most appalling and scandalous manner, converting the country into a combat zone and killing field.
Indeed, even before the implementation of the CPR, the Arroyo government has already accumulated a whopping record of human rights violations. In its four years in power, it has turned the country into a slaughter house where killing is common to crop up in the light of the day and the dead of the night. It has mounted up more than 3000 cases of illegal arrests, summary executions, massacres and forced disappearances that involve more than 100,000 victims, surpassing the record set by Marcos during Martial Law.
With the surfacing of CPR, Filipino people has no guarantee that human rights violations will not be committed. Given the expertise of the present administration to deliberately use gold, goons and guns for the sake of advancing its interests, a blood spill is always a possibility.
Yet, no matter how the Arroyo government projects itself, the implementation of CPR only bears out its desperation to cling to power. This is a sign of weakness, and not of strength, an indication that it is now trembling to its knees at the sight of the swelling waves of protests capable of overthrowing it from supremacy.
Armed with the lessons from their bitter experience of the past, the Filipino people know how to deal with this present situation. Having grown tired of the endless economic miseries brought about by the government's neoliberal policies, they understand that the implementation of CPR would only make them more hopeless in their quest for a decent and humane living and a bright future.
In these times of chronic economic and political crisis, it has become more glaring to them that ousting Arroyo is not just an option but a MUST. In these times of brazen acts of violence, to sit down is to lose the only right left to them.
sampaloc, manila
The twists and turns of events bring the nation back to its darkest days. Already trapped in dire economic woes and political turmoil, it is being dragged along the way of reimposition of Martial Law with the full-scale implementation of the " calibrated preemptive response" (CPR).
The CPR is Malacanang's solution to the intensifying crisis. In sheer desperation to put the country out of disorder, the government has resorted to use 'muscle' to defeat anyone going against its interests. It has vowed to quash any group that attempts to bring down the Arroyo administration, avowing that it is for the good of the country.
Unambiguously, this is akin to the toppled Pres. Ferdinand Marcos's brand of leadership. This is a recycled but heightened version of Martial Law - a blatant use of force to oblige the people to rally behind the government.
Amid the government's claim that it is working within the framework of democracy, the CPR is an obvious suppression of freedom of speech to its truest sense. The suspension of 'maximum tolerance' and the ban of street protests and political activities are as good as the deprivation of people's basic right to stand up for their beliefs and conviction. It is tantamount to the suspension of writ of habeas corpus and the open declaration of martial law.
In promoting economic and political stability, it glorifies the use of guns and other forms of brutality. It breeds a culture of violence to sow terror to the already traumatized Filipino people. It means loss of lives, harrassment and political repression in the most appalling and scandalous manner, converting the country into a combat zone and killing field.
Indeed, even before the implementation of the CPR, the Arroyo government has already accumulated a whopping record of human rights violations. In its four years in power, it has turned the country into a slaughter house where killing is common to crop up in the light of the day and the dead of the night. It has mounted up more than 3000 cases of illegal arrests, summary executions, massacres and forced disappearances that involve more than 100,000 victims, surpassing the record set by Marcos during Martial Law.
With the surfacing of CPR, Filipino people has no guarantee that human rights violations will not be committed. Given the expertise of the present administration to deliberately use gold, goons and guns for the sake of advancing its interests, a blood spill is always a possibility.
Yet, no matter how the Arroyo government projects itself, the implementation of CPR only bears out its desperation to cling to power. This is a sign of weakness, and not of strength, an indication that it is now trembling to its knees at the sight of the swelling waves of protests capable of overthrowing it from supremacy.
Armed with the lessons from their bitter experience of the past, the Filipino people know how to deal with this present situation. Having grown tired of the endless economic miseries brought about by the government's neoliberal policies, they understand that the implementation of CPR would only make them more hopeless in their quest for a decent and humane living and a bright future.
In these times of chronic economic and political crisis, it has become more glaring to them that ousting Arroyo is not just an option but a MUST. In these times of brazen acts of violence, to sit down is to lose the only right left to them.
Education for Sale
The Further Commodification of Education through GATS
Still suffering from its continuously worsening state, the Philippine education is up for another battle with its inclusion to General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS). In the guise of a corporatized, world-class education, the crisis-ridden education sector has now opened all its way to a free enterprise directly controlled by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
GLOBALIZING EDUCATION
"Free trade" in education services has been flourishing since the formal promulgation of GATS in 1994. Education service, a springboard for a more potent free trade, was one of the explicit topics in the international trade meetings that led to the creation of the WTO in 1995.
Since trade talks spiraled among trading powers prior to WTO's ministerial conference in Seattle, education and other social services were among the extensions of the term of GATS. This round of table talks, however, collapsed due to protests inside and outside the conference.
In January 2000, new negotiations on GATS were successfully stirred under the "built in" agenda of WTO, which secretly dealt with GATS expansion even without a comprehensive round. As conceived, GATS is designed to "cover not just cross-border trade but every possible means of supplying a service, including the right to set up a commercial presence in the export market."
Major proponent of the GATS term expansion is the United States, which clearly stated its goal in purely economic terms: trade barriers bound by internal trade policies encompassing different public services hurt US-led corporations and were therefore barriers to American exports and job creation.
It spearheaded a draft to "create conditions favorable to suppliers of higher education, adult education and training services" by "removing and reducing obstacles" - subsidies for higher educational adult education and training, and tax treatment that discriminates foreign suppliers - to transmission of such services across national borders through electronic and physical means, or to the establishment and operation of facilities (i.e. classrooms, schools or offices.)
Member nations under WTO that adhere to the GATS program abide by two principles: the national treatment principle, which states that members should not discriminate in favor of national providers, and the most-favored nations principle, which states that members should not discriminate between different member nations.
GATS encompasses a wide array of commitment in education - from preschool to tertiary and vocational educational services. With barriers now scrapped, cross-border supply of a service of a member country to another is now feasible. Students can easily study in another country through the exchage-student system, while education service providers from a country can now set up establishments in another member-nation tax-free. "Home study system," "virtual unversities" and "correspondence schools" are also made possible through GATS.
Utilizing GATS for greater privatization of the public sector, particularly the education and health, US companies are now smoothly penetrating and monopolizing these services in support of a galvanized foreign education and easy workforce. Reportedly, US generated $6.6 B trade surplus in its educational and training services export sector in 1996.
UNEDUCATING AND MISEDUCATING EDUCATION
Constantly in need of a sufficient budget, Philippine education is vulnerable to the promises of GATS. With past and present administrations always doling out meaget budgets, the education sector is being pushed for a greater funding from private resources.
Since 1998, 154 state-funded schools have already closed down due to insufficient budget. Facing extinction, many public schools have either merged with other institutions or have engaged in tie-ups with private corporations.
These circumstances are along the line of GATS. Adhering to this neoliberal prescription, the government has ensured that education policies are working within the bounds of privatization, liberalization and deregulation, which are the focal points of GATS. In Long-Term Higher Education Development Plan, for instance, the government forces 70 percent of State Universities and Colleges to privatize by 2010.
While GATS assures a globally-attuned education, it does not ensure a better education and a bright future for the Filipino youth. In fact, since the implementation of GATS, the education has become more elusive to many Filipino youth.
Liberalization and deregulation under GATS give pretext for schools to raise tuition and other miscellaneous fees almost three-folds annually. Privatization of many public schools drive students to leave their classrooms.
Already, 74 percent have dropped out this year because education has become out of reach to them.Under the "borderless education, knowledge economy and level playing field competition," foreign and local corporations are freely entering and filling in the meager budget of schools, as in the case of the University of the Philippines-Ayala Corporations tie-up.Yet, this only makes the schools susceptible to the control and dictate of the private corporations, if not fully corporatized.
The intensification of the commercialization of education shows that the government is taking its hands off in providing a decent and accessible education for the people. Within the framework of GATS, education has already ceased to become a right; it has turned into a commodity only the affluent few can afford. This is in blatant contrast with Article 26 of the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights which states that "access to higher education is a right."
As in the Revised Basic Education Curriculum, GATS has also impelled a bold change in the curricula and courses -- now designed according to the standards and demands of the global market. This results in the strengthening of the colonial character of the Philippine education, primarily serving the interests of other countries instead of ours. Caregiving, vocational and technical curricula and courses are also encouraged with the labor export in demand to the global arena. These institutions train the youth not to become leaders or managers but to be docile, semi-skilled workers who are submissive and passive to exploitation in foreign lands.
Still suffering from its continuously worsening state, the Philippine education is up for another battle with its inclusion to General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS). In the guise of a corporatized, world-class education, the crisis-ridden education sector has now opened all its way to a free enterprise directly controlled by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
GLOBALIZING EDUCATION
"Free trade" in education services has been flourishing since the formal promulgation of GATS in 1994. Education service, a springboard for a more potent free trade, was one of the explicit topics in the international trade meetings that led to the creation of the WTO in 1995.
Since trade talks spiraled among trading powers prior to WTO's ministerial conference in Seattle, education and other social services were among the extensions of the term of GATS. This round of table talks, however, collapsed due to protests inside and outside the conference.
In January 2000, new negotiations on GATS were successfully stirred under the "built in" agenda of WTO, which secretly dealt with GATS expansion even without a comprehensive round. As conceived, GATS is designed to "cover not just cross-border trade but every possible means of supplying a service, including the right to set up a commercial presence in the export market."
Major proponent of the GATS term expansion is the United States, which clearly stated its goal in purely economic terms: trade barriers bound by internal trade policies encompassing different public services hurt US-led corporations and were therefore barriers to American exports and job creation.
It spearheaded a draft to "create conditions favorable to suppliers of higher education, adult education and training services" by "removing and reducing obstacles" - subsidies for higher educational adult education and training, and tax treatment that discriminates foreign suppliers - to transmission of such services across national borders through electronic and physical means, or to the establishment and operation of facilities (i.e. classrooms, schools or offices.)
Member nations under WTO that adhere to the GATS program abide by two principles: the national treatment principle, which states that members should not discriminate in favor of national providers, and the most-favored nations principle, which states that members should not discriminate between different member nations.
GATS encompasses a wide array of commitment in education - from preschool to tertiary and vocational educational services. With barriers now scrapped, cross-border supply of a service of a member country to another is now feasible. Students can easily study in another country through the exchage-student system, while education service providers from a country can now set up establishments in another member-nation tax-free. "Home study system," "virtual unversities" and "correspondence schools" are also made possible through GATS.
Utilizing GATS for greater privatization of the public sector, particularly the education and health, US companies are now smoothly penetrating and monopolizing these services in support of a galvanized foreign education and easy workforce. Reportedly, US generated $6.6 B trade surplus in its educational and training services export sector in 1996.
UNEDUCATING AND MISEDUCATING EDUCATION Constantly in need of a sufficient budget, Philippine education is vulnerable to the promises of GATS. With past and present administrations always doling out meaget budgets, the education sector is being pushed for a greater funding from private resources.
Since 1998, 154 state-funded schools have already closed down due to insufficient budget. Facing extinction, many public schools have either merged with other institutions or have engaged in tie-ups with private corporations.
These circumstances are along the line of GATS. Adhering to this neoliberal prescription, the government has ensured that education policies are working within the bounds of privatization, liberalization and deregulation, which are the focal points of GATS. In Long-Term Higher Education Development Plan, for instance, the government forces 70 percent of State Universities and Colleges to privatize by 2010.
While GATS assures a globally-attuned education, it does not ensure a better education and a bright future for the Filipino youth. In fact, since the implementation of GATS, the education has become more elusive to many Filipino youth.
Liberalization and deregulation under GATS give pretext for schools to raise tuition and other miscellaneous fees almost three-folds annually. Privatization of many public schools drive students to leave their classrooms.
Already, 74 percent have dropped out this year because education has become out of reach to them.Under the "borderless education, knowledge economy and level playing field competition," foreign and local corporations are freely entering and filling in the meager budget of schools, as in the case of the University of the Philippines-Ayala Corporations tie-up.Yet, this only makes the schools susceptible to the control and dictate of the private corporations, if not fully corporatized.
The intensification of the commercialization of education shows that the government is taking its hands off in providing a decent and accessible education for the people. Within the framework of GATS, education has already ceased to become a right; it has turned into a commodity only the affluent few can afford. This is in blatant contrast with Article 26 of the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights which states that "access to higher education is a right."
As in the Revised Basic Education Curriculum, GATS has also impelled a bold change in the curricula and courses -- now designed according to the standards and demands of the global market. This results in the strengthening of the colonial character of the Philippine education, primarily serving the interests of other countries instead of ours. Caregiving, vocational and technical curricula and courses are also encouraged with the labor export in demand to the global arena. These institutions train the youth not to become leaders or managers but to be docile, semi-skilled workers who are submissive and passive to exploitation in foreign lands.
The implementation of GATS in recent years proves that it does not work in the concrete condition of our society. It has failed to uplift the dismal state of education, but has rather worsened the vicious cycle of crisis of education.
Unambiguously, GATS is not responsive to the needs of the people and the country. It has produced 'modern-day slaves' by uneducating and miseducating the Filipino youth.
By intensifying privatization, liberalization and deregulation in education, GATS has only benefited and has strengthened the power of the capitalist-educators and private corporations who are hell-bent in making more money out of education.
Clearly, globalization of education is not about the exchange of learning between countries but of capital, of making profit by commodifying education.
Unless GATS is discarded, the colonial and commerialized state of education will still abound. And in the upcoming WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong this December, the Filipino youth can expect no less but a bleaker future.*
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