The Cebu Declaration

On October 1, 2014, Cardinal Ricardo Vidal led the signing of the Cebu Declaration. With him are the other pillars of the Roman Catholic Church including Archbishop Emeritus Fernado Capalla of Davao, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa, Archbishop Romulo dela Cruz of Zamboanga and Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of Butuan, as well the leaders of other religious faith. The gathering was inspired by the Lipa Declaration which was launched in Lipa City on August 27, 2014.

The Cebu Assembly proclaimed its support for the Lipa Declaration and proposed concrete and immediate steps to translate the desired objective of national transformation into a viable program of action.

The  Cebu Declaration noted with great pain that while the moral and spiritual crisis and its political and economic effects continued to deepen, the national political leadership consistently failed to show the will or the capacity to respond to these ills in any appreciable measure. Consistent with the Lipa Declaration and in the light of new issues which have since emerged—to which the incumbent administration has failed to adequately respond—the members of the Assembly called upon National Transformation Council to:

1)            Pursue all necessary and available lawful means to compel President Aquino to step down at the soonest possible time;

2)            Immediately organize the equivalent of a government in waiting, consisting of men and women of integrity and proven worth, in order to assure the nation and the international community that President Aquino’s removal and the prosecution and imprisonment of every culpable member of the government for corruption will not create a political vacuum;

3)            Initiate extensive consultation with the Islamic community in Southern Philippines to arrive at an authentic consensus on how to solve the long-festering multicultural problem in the area, free from any possible intervention by any foreign interest party, beginning with the countries in Southeast Asia, and including the new extremist entity called “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” by those who control it;

4)            Cause the immediate filing of criminal cases against all the Senators and Congressmen, Members of the Cabinet, the Commission on Audit and the various government agencies involved in the misuse of the PDAF and the DAP from 2010 to date, and to sue whatever public pressure is necessary to make all those involved in these cases to immediately vacate their respective positions;

5)            Organize a panel of experts who will undertake a comprehensive study of the country’s energy problem and propose solutions that will be free of any political bias for or against any particular energy source, and take into primary consideration the interests of the general public and the consumers rather than the various actors in the generation, transmission and distribution chain;

6)            Organize public support for the PNP rank-and-file in their call for a th0rough cleanup of the PNP and an immediate change in its top leadership;

7)            Institutionalize a public forum, where aggrieved individual citizens could air their just grievances and mobilize public support for such grievances without being subjected to the arbitrary censorship imposed by government and the conscript press; and

8)             Actively support the call and effort of the concerned citizens of the country to establish a people’s Truth Commission to discover and reveal the accountability and any consequent liability of the administration of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III arising from its massive misuse of the public funds through the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) that has been ruled unconstitutional by unanimous vote of the Supreme Court.

These steps must be undertaken immediately to stop the continuing decline of the present moral and political order. The intractability of the problems confronting the Philippines demands long term radical reforms which the National Transformation Council cannot undertake on its own. As it engages in the historic project of transforming the present dispensation into a modern, prosperous and equitable future for all Filipinos, it will need the continuing support of the citizenry. This is the defining call for every patriotic Filipino.

The Lipa Declaration

On August 27, 2014, people of different social and economic backgrounds and political persuasions and religious beliefs gathered in Lipa City to launch the National Transformation Council and sign the Lipa Declaration. Led by the pillars of the different faith communities in the country, the National Transformation Council and the delegates signed the Lipa Declaration.

The Lipa Declaration calls for genuine national transformation and the establishment of a transitional government that will spearhead the necessary fundamental changes in the existing political, economic and cultural systems in the Philippines.

It notes that a crisis of unprecedented proportions has befallen our nation as the life of the nation is in grave peril from the very political forces that are primarily ordained to protect, promote and advance its well-being, but which are aggressively undermining its moral, religious, social, cultural, constitutional and legal foundations. It decries the unbridled and unpunished corruption and widespread misuse of political and economic power in all layers of society which not only destroyed our common conception of right and wrong, good and bad, just and unjust, legal and illegal, but also put our people, especially the poor, at the mercy of those who have the power to dictate the course and conduct of our development for their own selfish ends.

The Lipa Declaration calls for the resignation of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III who, far from preserving and defending the Constitution, as he swore to do when he assumed office, has subverted and violated it by corrupting the Congress, intimidating the Judiciary, taking over the treasury, manipulating the automated voting system, and perverting the constitutional impeachment process. It declares that he has lost the moral right to lead the nation, and has become a danger to the Philippine democratic and republican state and to the peace, freedom, security and moral and spiritual well-being of the Filipino people.

But instead of calling for a new election for the replacement of President Aquino after he stepped down prior to 2016, the Declaration calls for the restoration of our damaged political institutions to their original status and form before we begin to consider electing a new government under normal political conditions. It welcomes the National Transformation Council’s proposal to open broad public consultation on the need to modify and strengthen the presidential system or to shift from the unitary/presidential system to a federal/parliamentary form, endowing such structure with:

1)      A totally independent judicial department, free from any kind of intimidation or bullying by either the Executive or the Legislative Department, and with the sufficient wherewithal to clear the backlog of the courts and fast-track of all cases;

2)      A merit-driven, professional civil and military service;

3)      A totally transparent government budgeting, procurement, disbursement, accounting and auditing systems and procedures; and

4)      An irreproachably independent and completely dependable electoral system, free from the virus that has corrupted the automated voting system since 2010.

The Declaration strongly assails our failed electoral system and supports the Council’s position that until our electoral system is fraud-free, we should refrain from holding any farcical election. Insofar as the economy is concerned, the Declaration supports the proposal that with political reform, there must go hand and hand comprehensive economic reform consistent with the suggestion of Pope Francis that an economics of exclusion and inequality, coming from a misguided vision of the human being and of society harmfully acted upon through myopic laws, policies and programs should be rooted out.

The Lipa Declaration is a call for social and political revolution. And as the National Transformation Council prepares to embark upon the necessary reforms, the people supporting the Declaration call upon the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as the constitutional “protector of the people and the state,” to extend its protective shield to the Council, and not allow itself to be used in any manner to undermine the Council’s purely transitional and non-partisan role nor to allow any armed group to sow violence, disorder or discord into its peaceful ranks.

The Lipa Declaration is a revolutionary call whose time has come. VIVA LA REVOLUCION!

To the Graduates of 2014

Dear Graduates

Years ago,   you have embarked in a journey with great hope and enthusiasm. You believed that there is nothing that you could not conquer. With the energy and idealism flowing in your veins, you surmised that the world was too small to spread your wings over.

However, the passage of time has withered your hope and enthusiasm. The weight of responsibilities which were imposed upon your shoulders dried up the energy and idealism in your veins. This is to be expected since you have chosen a field of endeavour which demands more than what an ordinary human being could give—an adventure where the lukewarm and timid would not last half of the journey. But despite of this, you persevered until the race is finished.

You are here today ready to take up the rewards of your patience and perseverance. More than anything else, this day marks the rebirth of a new you. You are not the same person as before—you are now an offspring of your sacrifices and triumphs. You are the news of the day. To you belong the sunshine and the stars.

The past is expected to come back somehow. However, the past is not about your family, teachers, friends or enemies. The past is not about broken dreams and shattered spirit. It is not about the confusion and worries of the yesteryears. It is not about your parents, siblings or relatives—no matter how you love or avoid them. It is not about your teachers—no matter how amiable or awesome or wretched or wicked they are. It is not about your friends—no matter how faithful or consoling or conceited or treacherous they are, or no matter how they turned-out to be your best enemies.

The past is about you. It has always been about you. It is about how you deal with your family, teachers, friends or enemies. Your memories of people depend on how you see and receive them in your life. They exist for themselves; you—your existence does not depend on theirs.

The days following your graduation will still be euphoric. You will continue to walk in “cloud nine” for a few more days. Don’t hurry up. Reflect for a while. Your new world will start to dawn upon you when you tread on the new path that you have chosen after leaving the one that you have travelled with your teachers.

Of course, there are certain lessons that you must always remember. After all, there are memories which could not be considered as prison. There are memories which bring you smiles and laughters. There are memories which make you feel proud and triumphant.

Sail on. Keep moving. Find new adventures. Make your life meaningful. Take risk.

Cry, if you must, but tell the world that you will never quit. Never quit—life is about advancing and challenging and conquering. Life is about not quitting!

Do not forget your roots. Always touch the ground no matter how high you soar. Do not forget the reason why you are here today. Be true to your words—make them your bond. Do not break the trust and confidence of your most loyal friends and love ones. Be true to yourself and you will always see the truth in others.

Be the best! The best is always the most upright and socially-committed to serve others—and if you are not the most upright and socially-committed to serve others, then you will not be the best. Do not forget the weak, the poor and the oppressed. Do everything to strengthen them, to improve their lot, to vindicate their rights.

Do not fear to hold power or to be entrusted with it—in your hands are the greatest potentials for good and as such, the greatest responsibility for humankind.

Remember this. Always bear this in your mind—the future is yours and every good thing that your heart desires if you remain true, good and beautiful no matter what. So keep calm and be true, good and beautiful always.

Godspeed!

Advance, don’t quit!

Sail on, companeros y   companeras!

   

Crowdsourcing a Constitution: Claiming Back the State for the People!

Citizen participation in Constitution drafting is no longer a cumbersome process today. Social networking engines provided public discourse the needed reboot to encourage wider people’s participation. Distance and time are barriers no more. Interfacing via social network sites are the new medium of forming opinions and persuading people to agree.

Crowdsourcing is a method where ordinary citizens are given a chance to discuss and propose the provisions that they like to put in a constitution or statute. Iceland has engaged in this dynamic process in 2009-2011 as part of its phenomenal Kitchenware Revolution. Grassroots and e-discussions on the drafting of a new constitution filled both public and private spheres until a proposal to convene a Constitutional Assembly of 25 people to work on the actual drafting of the new Constitution was actually passed by the Parliament. 

Crowdsourcing concept is premised on citizen participation and social mobilization. Apathy and indifference are anathema to it. It involves mobilization of creative human talents and material resources. It is possible only with consistent and patient guidance of facilitators whose job is to encourage discussion of public issues and concerns. Dangers of manufacturing consent of course are always there. And hence, the tendency to castrate self-expression by these facilitators should be checked and avoided.

What would crowdsourcing mean to the present Philippine society?

It signifies the right of the people to claim back the State from the hands of oligarchic political interests. It is synonymous with open discussion of issues confronting the people and their government which can lead to full scrutiny of our political life. With the massive movement of people, in and out of the social networking sites, the ability of government propaganda machines to manufacture consent is lessen until eventually, they could no longer abuse and misuse the opinions of the people. Crowdsourcing will empower the people to claim back political power which has been taken hostage by dynastico-personalist politicians through bribery, coercion, deceit and high tech machinations.

What does crowdsourcing demand from the people?

It demands openness and sensitivity as it requires the genuine participation of the widest possible number of people. It obliges us to have highly inquisitive spirit as we attempt to bare all to see what went wrong in our government and society so that we can rebuild them with truth and sincerity. It directs us to be conscious and resolute as we restructure the Philippine society and root out the pretentious and mediocre corrupt dynastico-personalist regime. It requires us to be one with the masses as no real change is possible without a social revolution emanating from those who are still excluded from the physical and virtual world.

Crowdsourcing the Constitution should be a call for social and political revolution. Anything less will fall prey to the regime that lives on corruption, mediocrity and shameful display of arrogance. Superficial reforms can no longer root out what have become systemic and deep-seated defects in the Philippine society. People should change themselves and the structures which their ineptness and indifference had helped to create. As such, they should be invited to dream again and live on the idea that unless they take back the power from dynastico-personalist politicians and the oligarchy their lives can never change.

Crowdsourcing a constitution is an idea whose time has come!

   

National Shame

Third Week, August

The Cardinal of Manila shed tears. He cried over the plight of the homeless in his archdiocese and the misuse of billions of pesos by members of the Congress intended for local development programs. The problems of the poor seem legions while the greed of those who plunder the public funds is indescribable.

The indignation over the senseless waste and misuse of public funds is starting to catch fire. Calls for the abolition of the pork barrel funds are snowballing. Civil society groups and the faith communities have made a stand against the continuation of the practice and appealed to the members of the Congress to be sensitive to the demand for accountability.

Congress continues to ignore the issues against the pork barrel funds. It refuses to investigate its own members for the anomaly. It claims that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) can do the job better. It insinuates that it option not to conduct any investigation is dictated by delicadeza since its members might be involved in the mess. However, the Congress misses the point.  If it had investigated other issues and scandals in the name of inquiry in aid of legislation before, why could it not conduct an inquiry involving the misuse of public funds?

Delicadeza has nothing to do with callousness and insensitivity. On the contrary, delicadeza would prompt the Congress to ask its members to go on leave while the matter is still being investigated. Delicadeza would appeal to the sensibilities of the Congress in asking for public apology for the scandal that the issue has been making. Delicadeza demands more than a general denial from members of the Congress suspected of partaking in the mess. Delicadeza calls for serious investigation and truth-telling so that all issues pertaining to the pork barrel mess could be uncovered and shown for public scrutiny. This is what delicadeza demands of the Congress. This is the call of the time. 

The tears of the Cardinal are understandable. The pork barrel scam shows the wanton disregard of public decency and morality. It embodies both personal and structural sins. It weighs on the moral fabric of the society and destroys the integrity of public service. It symbolizes the gravest abuse of power and the destruction of the future. It is greed. It is evil.

            

                The pork barrel scam is a national shame. The issue should occupy the center of public attention. Public discussions should be encouraged to inspire awareness and correction. Officials must heed the call for accountability and responsibility before the issue fuels unrest and violence. They cannot continue to ignore the issue without compounding the shame and stigma that it brings to public service.

    

            It is high time to abolish the cause of our national shame. Abolish the pork barrel funds. Abolish the scheme that gives rise to corruption. Give local government units direct access to development funds without the intervention of lawmakers and other national officials. Redeem our dignity. Do away with the pork now!

Accountability and Apology

Second Week, August

The Republic of China (Taiwan) had announced the lifting of the sanctions that it has imposed against the Philippines for the death of its fisherman in the hands of members of the Philippine Coast Guard. The trade related sanctions were lifted on account of the written apology which the government’s representative handed to the widow of the deceased and the filing of criminal charges against the erring officials.

What does the Philippine government achieved by such gesture? It achieved something political significant for the two governments. The gesture repairs the damage which the incident had caused to the relationship between the Philippines and Taiwan. Of course, the outcome of the cases filed against those responsible for the incident will impact on the restoration of the diplomatic relations between them.

Asking apology for a wrong done is not part of the Philippine criminal justice system. Even in instances where a convicted felon has applied for probation, asking apology for the crimes committed is never a part of the assertions that constitute the application. Nor is the probationer obliged to show remorse for the crime that he had committed before the application could be granted. The conditions of probation also do not include any obligation ask apology from the victims or even to show remorse for the crime done.   

In 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd asked apology to all aborigines of Australian for the suffering and loss that they continue to suffer from forcible evictions and discriminatory laws and policies that the parliament has adopted. His speech before the Parliament was greeted by a standing ovation of the members of the parliament.

Dig the base of the iceberg

First Week, August

“Everybody is searching for a hero,” so the lyrics of a popular song goes. Well, not everybody is searching for a hero now. In fact, nobody needs a hero right now. Nor do we need to search for one. What we need today is truth and whether we seek or stumble upon it would not matter. We need it even if we do not want it.

The P10 billion pork barrel scam is only one of the many anomalies committed in the name of local development. Others remain plain rumors unto this day—they gave rise to no headline or investigation. Billions of money had been lost yet nobody seems alarmed. Our attitudes to such waste, if not plain robbery, is a business as usual type. The phenomenon seems common place and as such, we have become immune to it.

If there is anything worth investigating in the Philippines, it is this. Public moneys have been squandered in billions since the first Edsa Revolt in 1986. No President had able to put a stop into it. Every past President seems complicit in this waste of public money, one way or the other. And thus, everyone seems unworthy of calling for a truth commission that will unearth all evidence of misuse of public funds.

            How much people’s money got wasted by sheer mismanagement of national and local officials? How much people’s money was plundered by elective and appointive officials? These questions seek answer and the answer that they are demanding should take into consideration all past and present government administration.

Fact is that public funds are wasted. Whether such waste happened by corruption or simple mismanagement is inconsequential. We need to know how much got lost and who are responsible for them. Once we now the truth— its complete version of course—we should then resolve to exact accountability and responsibility from those who stole or mismanage them.

Investigate the loss of public funds from 1986 to the present and render full accounting to the Filipino people. This should be the first order of the day to institute administrative and financial reforms in the government. Unless we do this, all our efforts would mean nothing; they would just be like scratching the tip of the iceberg. We need to dig deep towards the base of the iceberg. This sounds revolutionary but the situation demands it. Only a revolutionary action can meet the enormous task needed to change the grave economic, political and social ills afflicting our country. Any initiative short of such drastic action will only be futile for our problems require more than the institution of superficial reforms.

Of Principals, Accomplices and Accessories

Of Principals, accomplices and accessories

When a crime is committed by a single person, the burden of the prosecution is simple: it has to present evidence establishing the elements of the crime and the identity of the accused who committed the same. On the other hand, prosecution of a crime is difficult when it is committed by two or more actors. In such a case, the evidence must show not only the elements of the crime but the participation of all the accused in the commission thereof as well. The evidence must show whether they have acted as principals or accomplices.

Of course, accessories are criminally liable also. However, they do not have any participation in the commission of the crime. Their liability is limited to the acts that they have performed after the principal/s had committed it. 

 First Week, September

Under the Revised Penal Code, a principal is criminally liable for taking direct part in the commission of the crime, or inducing another to commit it, or giving indispensable cooperation to the same. On the other hand, a person is considered as accomplice to the crime if he or she gives material or moral support to the principal accused before or during its commission without any participation in the criminal conspiracy between or among said principals. Principals and accomplices in a crime, as well as those who have acted after its commission as accessories, should be prosecuted if justice is to be done. Full accountability demands that liability should be exacted from all those who have violated the law.

With these basic principles in mind, all persons who have a hand in the pork barrel scam must be exposed and prosecuted. In truth, Janet Lim-Napoles could not have amassed those funds without the indispensable cooperation of officials from the Department of Budget and Management and the direct participation of some Senators and Congressmen. Also, she would not have the callousness to display a lavished lifestyle if she was not assured of protection from high-ranking government officials. Documents pertaining to the pork barrel scam will disclose their common intention of stealing the public funds. Accordingly, they should all be prosecuted for Plunder and the Malversation of Public Funds pursuant to existing laws. In addition, people who have benefited from these acts of despoliation of the public treasury and those who have facilitated or attempted to assist them to evade prosecution should be hailed to court as accessories. This is what justice requires.  

The clamor for accountability and demand for blood must be satisfied if the public is to be pacified. Half-way efforts towards these ends can only be considered as attempts to thwart justice and ridicule the public will.

Of course, all these efforts will go to waste until the source of this evil is totally abolished. Discretionary funds are always prone to abuse and corruption. Their existence gives rise to legions of abuses as no mortal has the power to resist the luxuries and power that they offer to anyone who has access to them. Hence, they should all be abolished. There is no other way but this.  

Rebellion

Government spokespersons have announced that rebellion raps will be filed against Nur Misuari and some leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). They conveniently tagged Misuari’s group as a faction of the MNLF despite of the fact that nobody in the MNLF has tried to contradict or disavow the action of the group. Perhaps a deliberate effort to make the incident appear as an isolated armed assault by a faction of the MNLF, the tag does not describe well in a conspiracy of silence among the other leaders of the Moro armed group.

Compared with arson, murder or torture, rebellion is more reputable as it implies some political sense. In times when the government is plagued with corruptions and accused of neglecting the welfare of its people, rebellion ceased to be a shameful crime. At other times, rebels are hailed as heroes because they take direct political action when others are shamefully silent on the political injustices perpetrated by the government. Somehow the charge of rebellion implies some moral justification for the action of its perpetrators.

Rebellion is also a convenient excuse for atrocities committed by its perpetrators. Rebellion absorbs all violent crimes committed on its occasion or pursuant to the same. Arsons and murders may not be prosecuted separately from rebellion; they are to be proved as integral element thereof. This principle has been affirmed by the Supreme Court in several cases in the past.

             Despite of the seeming logic of this principle, critics are unconvinced of its utility. Prosecuting perpetrators for rebellion means that the government has to let go of the killings and destruction that they have committed. The killings and the destructions committed by rebels would become a mere component of the crime of rebellion. This means that perpetrators have to account only for rebellion whose penalty is lower than the penalty for arson or murder.

The penalty for rebellion is not the supreme penalty under the Revised Penal Code. Only leaders of rebellion face a prison term of twenty years and one day to forty years, which is actually lesser than life imprisonment. Their followers face only a maximum of twenty-year prison term and enjoy the right to post bail for their provisional liberties.

Rebellion is not easy to prosecute also. Showing that an armed group encamped in a barangay and killed members of the security forces that attempted to flush them out would not be sufficient. Motive should be proven even if jurisprudence tells that motive is not an element of a crime. Since rebellion is a political crime, proof must be adduced showing the political motive of the offender to overthrow the government or to remove allegiance to the government any part of the Philippine territory. Certainly, a declaration by the perpetrators that they went to the place to conduct a peace rally does not show the political motive needed to nail them for rebellion. Government prosecutors must adduce more evidence to establish the necessary motive.

And finally, no claim for damages or compensation may be made by victims against the accused in rebellion. There is no civil liability to speak of in rebellion because the crime is deemed committed against the public order. Claimants become faceless participants in a play where the State is trying to pin down a group of scoundrels who used armed violence to challenge its authority. Victims of atrocities are left in the margin waiting their turn to be called to trial so that they can identify the perpetrators and make a detail narration of their harrowing experiences. Sadly, their services would be terminated without any compensation or any sign of gratitude from the State which purport to represent their interest in the trial.      

Armed Violence in Zamboanga City

3rd Week September

News reports claimed that around a hundred fighters of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) have taken hostage some civilians in Zamboanga City. As of this writing, the firefight between MNLF fighters and government troops is still ongoing. Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is on heightened alert because of reported attacks by the combined forces of the MNLF, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the Abu Sayaff in other areas in Mindanao. Once again, the region is mired in chaos, bloodshed and uncertainty.

The MNLF had launched a separatist rebellion in the 1970s against the Philippine government in a bid to establish an independent Bangsamoro Republic in Mindanao. These armed hostilities have ceased with the signing of the Final Peace Agreement in 1996 between the MNLF and the government.  As part of the agreement, many fighters of the MNLF were absorbed in the AFP while the claim for a separate republic gave way to a renewed autonomous region. Despite of this, critics and the hardcore elements of the MNLF have continued to assert that the fight for the right to self-determination of the Bangsamoro people remains alive.

Meanwhile, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a splinter group of the MNLF, has continued with its claim for an Islamic Bangsamoro Republic in Mindanao. The government has tried both military and political approaches to deal with the MILF. The Estrada Administration had launched a total war against the MILF but failed to root out the armed group from the region. The Arroyo administration had tried to make peace with the MILF. Its effort towards peace resulted to the forging of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain Aspect of the Tripoli Agreement (MOA-AD).   However, the controversies which the agreement created and the oppositions posed by many traditional politicians prevented the signing of the agreement.

Last year, the Aquino Administration has announced the signing of the Framework Agreement between the MILF and the government. In the hindsight, the Framework Agreement is a soft version of the aborted MOA-AD. Practically, it is Episode 1 of the MOA-AD.

Meanwhile, Chairman Nur Misuari of the MNLF has declared the establishment of the Independent Republic of Mindanao. His declaration failed to get serious attention from the national media; not much was heard from concerned government agencies also. And now, the armed clashes between the MNLF and government forces put Zamboanga City in the center of the Philippines. They give Misuari’s declaration the attention that it did not get before.   Is this the opening salvo of a renewed armed conflict between the MNLF and the Philippine government?

Nothing is certain at this point. An internal armed conflict is a protracted armed violence between an armed dissident group and the government. Whether the MNLF can still sustain a protracted armed campaign against the government remains to be seen. Most of its fighters are aged but veterans of the armed conflict that lasted for almost two decades. On the other hand, the government claimed it will certainly contain the armed violence and prevent it from spilling out of Zamboanga City. However, its actions in the past days show its capability to do so.

If there is anything certain, it is none other than the displacement and suffering that the armed clashes are bringing to innocent civilians. As long as the fighting continues, civilians will continue to suffer injuries and sustain damages. The fighting must stop now. By what means? Let the circumstances dictate the strategy and the tactics. 

PERKS

The government has explained that the bonuses which the officials of the Social Security System (SSS) have received are legally justified. No statute prohibits the P1 million performance bonus granted to each member of the Board of Trustees. Emilio De Quiros, Jr., the Executive Officer of the SSS, was even quoted to justify the grant as necessary since the system needs to compensate its officials well if it is to compete with the private sector in hiring competitive people. In other words, such “perks” make the SSS competitive with private social insurance companies.

Of course, the reasoning is flawed. No right thinking person can agree to that.  

So what if it is legally permissible? Does it give the SSS Board the right to appropriate P276 million worth of bonuses? 

In the first place, these officials are not chosen because of their supposed qualifications to hold an equivalent position in private companies. Members of the Board are chosen because they are supposed to represent the interest of the stakeholders in the SSS. The law provides for their representation. Their appointments have nothing to do with these professional qualifications. And secondly, the fund and its profits are not for them to squander. The SSS funds are intended for specific purpose that not even the President of the Philippines could touch the. As such, the SSS officials should not be so reckless in handling the funds entrusted to their care.

One wonders whether these officials are living in a different moral order. De Quiros’ moral justification fails in every conceivable moral maxim unless by some arbitrary machination we may be forced to believe that in this case, the end justifies the means. And even by this remote possibility, Machiavellian logic would likely reject such ethical re-formulation since the ends that the SSS has advanced is highly dubious and inexplicable.

            Under existing practice, political appointees to government-owned and controlled corporations normally enjoy some perks. These perks, (the term is beginning to sound more of “pork”), are extended to officials of these corporations to keep them in the public service and draw them away from the lure of fat salaries in private companies. Such idea is also flawed of course. It conveys the uncanny equation between luxuries and public service. In a country where the poor could not afford even the so-called free public education, luxuries—including occasional ones—for public officials are a scandal. And thus, any justification for “perks” in the name of public service fails, not only because of the inherent contradictions of these terms, but by simple logic as well. There is no such thing as sweet dreams in the middle of a nightmare. Awake or not, one simply could not believe that it exists even in a dream land.  

            So what is to be done to this anomalous practice of giving perks to public officials to keep them in the public service?

Abolish the perks, dismiss the officials. This is the only logical answer to the question. Contrary to the notion of some people, talents are not wanting in the bureaucracy and the rosters of government-owned and controlled corporations. Talents and geniuses are there. What is wanting is the political will that can discover and place them in their proper places. Bribes are not necessary to make them do their best. What public servants need is equitable and decent compensation that afford them dignified existence and assures good future for their love ones. Unlike those who have been appointed because of patronage and political affiliation, talented and dedicated public servants live by becoming living examples of the mandate of their position.

             

Crimes and Rewards

Promising rewards for information significant for the capture of big time criminals is not new. However, it does not happen all the time. The PNP rarely offers rewards for information that can lead to the arrest of suspects, notorious or otherwise. In few instances, the victims’ relatives also gamble away a huge amount of money in exchange or vital information that can lead to the arrest of suspects and the resolution of the crimes.

The community is one of the pillars of the criminal justice system. Almost all theories of law enforcement and penology point to the importance of public participation in criminal investigation and prosecution. The preservation of order and public peace serves as the primary goal of law enforcement. The foundation and the ends of the criminal justice system lead to the people. However, because of the continuing failure of the system to assure people of fast and effective justice, public participation has given way to indifference and apathy. These in turn lead to the loss of the civic consciousness of the citizens.

Offering reward to induce public participation in criminal investigations shows the weak state of our law enforcement. It indicates the failure of the law enforcement agencies to do their job of putting suspects behind bars. As stated, it reflects the loss of the civic consciousness of the citizenry.  Material incentives have replaced the spirit of voluntarism which has been the foundation of sound public order.

Law enforcement authorities usually release a “Most Wanted” poster disclosing the bounty placed on the head of each suspect listed therein. Meanwhile, the National Internal Revenue Code states the instances where rewards maybe claimed by informers who tipped off the authorities about violations of the revenue code.

Since rewards cannot be promised in all instances, they also reflect the unequal treatment that government officials give to the cases pending before them. The case of a beautiful and rich young lady who was killed by unidentified suspects after her late night hang-out in Global City illustrates this point. The Las Pinas government has offered a P500, 000.00 rewards for any information that can lead to the identification and arrest of the suspects. Later, Malacanang raised the bounty to P2.5 million.  After the authorities announced the P2.5 million rewards for anyone who could provide information that may lead to the arrest of the suspects, somebody surrendered to the NBI and admitted that he was one of those who abducted and stabbed the victim.

Indeed, money works in mysterious ways. In another instance, a P10 million reward was offered by no less than the highest official of the Aquino administration for the arrest of the suspected mastermind of the pork barrel scam. The ploy seemed to work as the suspect surrendered to Malacanang officials immediately after the announcement of the unusually big bounty. Her lawyer reasoned out that people are out to kill or find her and surrendering to the President would pre-empt bounty hunters from finding her. Hers is a special case of course. In no other instance has any Philippine President offered money for information and the arrest of a suspected criminal. This was first in Philippine history.

Public moneys are usually used to pay informer’s rewards. Yet, not every victim is given this special treatment. Many heinous crimes remain unresolved for many years, if not for eternity, because they have not been given such special treatment. They have become cold cases because no hot moneys were put into them as bounties for their resolution. As in life, victims of heinous killings continue to suffer even after death because of poverty. Their deaths do not make them equal with others who lived and died in affluence. The institution of the living is not capable of giving them the treatment they would have in the afterlife. Yes, money works in mysterious ways. Unfortunately, it does work as such only for those who have it in the first place.

Nth PCOS Question

            Ateneo Professor Lex Muga put it lightly when he disclosed his observation that the election results seem to reveal a 60-30-10 pattern. He did not claim that there was fraud in the election despite his discovery that in all the 16 canvass of ballots, the administration slate consistently got 60 percent of the votes, the UNA got 30 percent, while the independent candidates got 10 percent (see http://wew.interaksyon.com/article/64021/midterm-polls-a-month-after--fraud-doubts-linger-as-pcos-defects-surface).

The Comelec continues to deny the probability of electronic rigging. Contrary to the claim that the vote counts of the PCOS followed a pattern (60-30-10), Comelec is maintaining that the seeming symmetry in the results’ ratios is merely due to computer glitches caused by faulty CF cards. The results do not indicate any technical fraud or a mishandling of the elections.

Assuming that we accept this as a fact, should we feel comfortable about the workings of the PCOS?

The PCOS machines had cost our taxpayers billions of pesos. They were purchased not to make the work of the Comelec easier but to secure the credibilty and efficiency of the electoral process. As such, there should be no room for any question that will give rise to speculations and worries.

The alleged pattern disclosed by the results of the PCOS cannot just be brushed aside as product of computer glitches. The synchronized ratios that the machines have generated are alarming. They feed the people’s distrust of the technology and trigger the suspicion that the election body had played dirty with the people’s votes.

The PCOS machines had counted something more than a public opinion. They have scanned and tabulated the sovereign will of the people. Any error or possibility of error in their results must alarm us about the credibility of their functionings. The flimsy ratiocination of the Comelec will not be sufficient to dispel serious questions on the manner by which it has handled the past elections. Understandably, the Comelec will defend the PCOS against the assaults of critics since they were conceived as its saving grace from previous controversies. However, its blanket denial of the questions about the PCOS is highly reprehensible. Its constitutional duty is to safeguard the elections and not to shield any election system from public questions and scrutiny. Failing in its constitutional duty, the Comelec should be made accountable for violation of its mandate. More than giving a general response to the critics’ claim of high-handed rigging, the election body owes us a credible accounting of how it has administered the last election. 

Questions related to the 2016 Presidential election have dominated the broadcast and print media already. News about government and politics are linked to the coming Presidential election. For sure, the Comelec will find means to make its works easier again. In fact, it has intimited its inclination to use same PCOS machines in 2016. Unfortunately, such intimations have only worsened the continuing distrust on the system that the Comelec has adopted in running the elections. The Comelec officials have to deal with the doubts about the automated election system to assure that the next elections will be more acceptable and trustworthy. They should not fail in rectifying whatever mistakes that they have committed during the past elections. Whether they like or not, the PCOS is one of the biggest mistakes that they have to account for and rectify before the next election. This must be so because the future of the country is too high a price to gamble away for these dubious machines. 

New Faces, Old Problems

The difficult days of new local officials have started. By tradition, their first 100 days are expected to showcase the changes that are bound to happen under the new administration. Solutions for the most pressing problems, or at least the efforts at finding them, must be evident if the newly installed administration is to get the support of its constituents during its term.

The problems left behind by past administrations are usually intractable. They are real problems which may involve the machinery of the government or the lives of the people whom the elected officials have sworn to serve. They are not a product of simple miscalculations or indiscretion in the use of public power. For most part, they are about lack of resources and the failure of governance in the face of grave societal problems such as environmental degradation, poverty, violence, deep-seated apathy and the distrust among people.  

New officials will soon feel the crippling helplessness that others before them have felt. The dysfunctions of government and the temptation to give up at finding solutions seem inevitable as the tasks needed to address even the most basic social problems continue to pile up with the passing of time.

While finding solutions to these concerns is extremely difficult, the efforts needed to resolve them are not insurmountable. Of course, such task will demand not only resources but the best of talents as well. Resources and talents are exhaustible materials; unfortunately, they are sometimes both lacking in our local government units.   

Experience shows that the national government does not devote sufficient resources for any local concerns. Sometimes, autonomy and devolution tend to worsen the stagnation and paralysis of many poor municipalities and provinces. Most of the time, local government units have to secure loans from private and public financial institutions to carry out their development programs. Also, partnership with private companies becomes convenient leeway to build new infrastructures and acquire equipment and facilities to deliver social services to the people. Because of this, many local government units have started to become excessively entangled with the complexity and problems brought by privatization of public functions and the liberalization of public policies.

            Local governments should be encouraged to link with educational institutions to address their shortage of creative human resources. The synergy that this partnership creates will work well for both of them. On one hand, this will help local govenments find the needed skills and talents to resolve many of their concerns. On the other hand, this partnership can enrich the academics as they will have the chance to test their knowledge and theories through practice.

Guns and Justice

Assistant Provincial Public Prosecutor Alexander Sandoval was shot to death yesterday. He was young but an experienced prosecutor. Police investigators confirmed that he had sustained 9 gunshot wounds. The killers took their job seriously. They made sure that he would no longer stand up to prosecute criminals and violators.

But who can probe the mind of a killer?

Nobody knows for sure what prompted the assassins to kill Prosecutor Alex. Seldom would killers make known what motivate them in carrying out their nefarious design. Money usually serves as attractive motivation to the gun wielders. To the masterminds, however, stories are usually deeper than the money plot—well, one can only guess the evil that lurks behind the dark regions of those brains.

Prosecutor Alex was the second member of the Bar to have been killed in the province for the last ten years. The shooting of the late Judge Voltaire Rosales in Tanauan City on June 10, 2004, still rings up to this day. Both were ambushed by unidentified assailants; both were riddled with bullets a distance away from Hall of Justice.

Those nine bullets have shattered not only the lives of Prosecutor Alex’s family. Regardless of the motives that propelled them, they have pierced through the heart of Justice as well. With a prosecutor dead in the hands of unknown assassins, how can public prosecutors and lawyers do their work with equanimity and vigor?  Everything is standing still unless the wheels of justice started rolling for a dead Fiscal.

Loose guns and loose minds screw a lot. Justice requires that guns, if they are not all prohibited, should be under strict regulation. Parenthetically, gun control requires that loose firearms be eliminated completely; otherwise, gun control laws will become farcical, a sick joke to peace-loving citizens. All these require a decisive government, a ruling administration which is tough on crimes and their perpetrators.

Guns and Justice are anathema to one another. Guns represent lawlessness and violence while justice symbolizes the rule of law. They do not mix and they should not mix-up. But in an imperfect world, in a society where laws fall short to the requirements of justice, the resort to arms to get justice is too tempting. Should prosecutors and lawyers resort to guns to insure that “justice will be done, though heavens should fall?” Answers should be provided so that their minds can be appeased. After all, this is not a rhetorical question. The context under which they perform their work justifies the practicality of the question.

Whatever caused Prosecutor’s death is inconsequential at this point. The prosecution of perpetrators and everyone who has a hand in his killing is the most important thing to his family and friends. This will assure justice to his family and restore the dignity of the criminal justice system.

Prosecutor Alexander Sandoval now belongs to our memory. He has become a symbol of our quest for a just and peaceful society. May he continue to remind us that more is required of those who are entrusted with the mission of bringing justice to the people. So long..Prosecutor Alex, rest in peace.  

Re-writing History

The internet is like any other products of human ingenuity—it may be used in whatever way its user prefers.

Even history may be re-written with the internet. This is one of the implications of the e-age. The propaganda age has gone into another level. It has levelled up at tremendous and an uncontrollable pace.

The case of Ferdinand Marcos, Philippines’ infamous President, illustrates this point. The administration that took over from his reign had hard time re-writing the textbooks which were prescribed in Philippine public schools for almost twenty years. These martial law textbooks depicted Marcos as highly intelligent and virtuous and that martial law had brought order and progress to the Philippine society.

The revision of these textbooks did not happen overnight. For one, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS, the predecessor of the Department of Education) was saddled with problems confronting the reorganization of the bureaucracy under the new administration. As such, textbook revisions were left to contractors and providers.

With the failure of the subsequent administration in uplifting the lives of ordinary citizens, it has been difficult to depict the evils of martial rule. The lives of the people did not improve. Graft and corruption have not lessened.  Because of this, the logic and reasons behind the EDSA revolt end up with yearly musing about what really happened during those fateful days. The unmasked evils that gave rise to the upheaval were concealed by subsequent failures of governance.  

             Justice Isagani Cruz once said:

“The death of Marcos has not plunged the nation into paroxysms of grief as the so-called "loyalists" had hoped. By and large, it has been met with only passing interest if not outright indifference from the people. Clearly, the discredited dictator is in death no El Cid. Marcos dead is only an unpleasant memory, not a bolt of lightning to whip the blood. This only shows that if he was at all a threat to the national security when he was already moribund that feeble threat has died with him. As the government stresses, he has been reduced to a non-person (which makes me wonder why it is still afraid of him). His cadaver is not even regarded as a symbol of this or that or whatever except by his fanatical followers. It is only a dead body waiting to be interred in this country. This is a tempest in a teapot. We have more important things to do than debating over a corpse that deserves no kinder fate than dissolution and oblivion. I say let it be brought home and buried deep and let us be done with it forever. (see Marcos v. Manglapus, G.R. No. 88211, Resolution on Motion for Reconsideration, October 27, 1989)

             Justice Isagani Cruz’ point of view is valid unto this day of course. However, with the resurgence of the Marcoses in Philippine politics (the clan has a senator now, a Congresswoman and a governor, and allies occupying high positions in government), it has now become easier to depict the deposed dictator as a hero and social messiah. The internet has provided the medium for building the cult anew. The dead is rising again—the social networking sites are giving birth to a new regime of the undead.

Talking and Fighting for Peace

Talking and Fighting for Peace

The communist armed rebellion in the Philippines is the longest armed conflict in Asia. The government has tried its best to end the conflict through peaceful means. It has been working hard to engage the communist extreme left in the peace table but to no avail. Its armed violence continues while its propaganda machines are depicting the inevitable victory of the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist movement.

The attacks in the recent month are proof that like toothaches, the armed conflict will not just go away. It seems that the National Democratic Front (NDF) can always find reasons to stall the peace talk every time it wants to back out from the peace negotiation. Just recently, the NDF demanded for the release of certain political prisoners as a pre-condition for the continuation of the peace talk. Of course, the government cannot just do so. Almost all of the personalities that the NDF wants to be released are facing criminal charges in courts for the commission of crimes unrelated to rebellion. Thus, it is not easy for the government to have them released from jail, even for the sake of the peace process.

Seriously, it seems that the talks are not getting anywhere. Unfortunately, the government is not successful in the battlefield either. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is tasked to end the armed conflict by military action. It solely shoulders the responsibility of waging war against all armed rebel groups in the country. But despite its efforts, the rebellion continues to drag on.

The communist movement seems to gain strength continuously. Sadly, many politicians are colluding with the CPP-NDF-NPA for their political ends. Funding and material supports are coming to the communist extreme left not only from businesses but also from politicians who made use of its armed partisans during and after elections. Ironically, this relationship between them is both parasitic and symbiotic. They both derive benefits from this unholy partnership despite their opposite interests.   

Of course, the government could not just stop the talking with the CPP-NDF-NPA. However, it has to be more creative this time. The armed communist rebellion is a complex campaign involving both political and military approaches. Unfortunately, the government response to this campaign often results to political losses both in the local and international fronts.

            “Even wars have limits,” says the basic principle of the laws of war. But the armed conflict we know does not show any regards to certain humanitarian principles applicable to internal armed conflicts. What we see are soldiers (who do not have combat duty) and civilians being liquidated by armed partisans. These violations of basic humanitarian principles make the need for peace imperative and urgent.  

            Ending the armed conflict would not guarantee peace. On the other hand, not ending it or doing nothing about it is fraught with grave danger of atrocities and destruction. A Stalinist Godless utopia means the subjugation of Philippine society to totalitarian ideology and the death or imprisonment of many who would oppose the CPP.

Talking peace is not enough to end the armed violence. The armed violence should be ended, and in truth, talking peace is only one of the many means of doing it.