Friday, January 30, 2009

The Education students' FS saga

Education students are the future teachers of society. But are they up to the challenges of teaching? How will they handle a class of 70 to 80 students when they’ll teach in public schools? Can they make their class interesting given the limited resources?

The training before
Education students before are oblivious to what awaits them in the actual field of teaching, owing perhaps to the fact that their training gives them little opportunity to see the realities of teaching.

Like cloistered monks whose lives are devoted to a life of prayer inside the monastery, education students spend most of their training inside the comfortable confines of the classroom, learning different principles and strategies of teaching.

Like cloistered monks who have shunned the world of men, education students only have an iota of knowledge on the real world of teaching—a world fraught with unexpected twists and turns.

But that was before Field Study (FS) came into the fore.

Enter Field Study
FS is an extended practicum program spearheaded by Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM), a project initiated by the Department of Education (DepEd). BEAM is jointly funded by the Philippine Government and the Australian Government through a grant of AUD$36 million from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), according to BEAM’s website.

The entire FS program comprises six stages: FS 1: Learner’s Development and the School Environment; FS 2: Classroom Management Skills in the Teaching and Learning Process; FS 3: Micro-teaching and Use of Technology; FS 4: Team Teaching: Exploring the Curriculum; FS 5: Learning Assessment Strategies; FS 6: On Becoming a Teacher.

FS is one of the major activities of BEAM’s Pre-service Teacher Training in which future teachers, while they are still having their training in Teacher Education Institution (TEI), are already deployed to different schools, especially public schools, either to observe or to practice teaching, depending on what particular stage of FS they are in.

This model, according to BEAM’s website, is consistent with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memo. Order 30, s. 2004, which says, “the deployment of student teachers should begin in second year rather than in their fourth year.” The institution of FS aims to give opportunity to future teachers “to more fully develop their teaching skills through a developmental and sequential approach.”

The FS experience
At first, Education students were clueless what FS is all about. It was as strange to the Education student as Coca-Cola was to Xi, the playful character in the film “Gods Must Be Crazy.” What they knew was that FS is just one of the new subjects in the Education Program’s BEAM Curriculum.

“Prior to enrolling FS, I do not have any idea of what it is all about and what am I going to do in this course,” said Mark Jason Diaz, a senior BSED-Social Studies student.

So when the first batch of FS students, half-jestingly called “The Experimental Batch,” was deployed to their cooperating schools—Bangoy National High School, Sta. Ana National High School, Davao City National High School, etc.—it was only then that they discovered what FS is like. And succeeding batches of FS students soon realized that FS offers opportunities like never before. Some find it exciting. Others find it enriching. Still others find it enlightening.

“Having the FS on the field was a very exciting one,” said Mark Jason Diaz who is now on his FS 5 & FS 6. “I got to meet other people with different personalities.”

Lou Tarranza, a senior BSED-English student, recalled how the members of the school community cordially received them. “I was amazed with the ambiance. The teachers were very approachable and at the same time, I really appreciate their hospitality,” Tarranza said.

Problems, problems
But everything does not always go well for the FS students. Among the problems they experience is how to balance their limited time. It is even doubly difficult for working students. “Being a student assistant,” Mark Jason Diaz said, “it’s really difficult since I need to make some adjustment on my duty hours so that if would fit my FS schedule.”
Though not a working student, Ismael Oledan, a senior BSED-Social Studies student, also experienced juggling between his class schedule and FS. “One of the difficulties I encountered while I was having my FS was how to manage my time between FS and my class schedule,” Oledan said.

Other sources of complaints are the requirements: Portfolios, Lesson plans, FS manuals, visual aids and a host of other requirements. And accomplishing them just eats a great deal of their time, including their precious time for sleep. “We sacrifice many sleepless nights just to finish them,” said Ginalyn Vistal, a senior BSED-English student. “It is really a burden on my part as a student because I also have major subjects, which are equally taxing.”

Not for the faint-hearted
But then, “These are the times that try men’s souls,” said Thomas Paine centuries ago. He was of course referring to the tumultuous times of the American Revolution. But the saying applies as well to the times when Education students are struggling to finish their FS.

Frankly, teaching is not for the faint-hearted. Only those who have the right blend of passion, commitment, altruism and competence can survive in this, well, unglamorous profession. That is why FS is there to expose future teachers as early as possible to the realities of teaching, so it would make them ponder whether they have chosen the right profession or if they deserve to be a teacher to begin with.

Call it a hassle or anything, but no doubt FS taught Education students valuable lessons— lessons they can apply in the actual field of teaching. “In FS, I learned that patience is indeed a virtue,” said Jidelyn Lobino, a senior BSED-Physical Science student. “Some learners are really hard to handle, but keeping your composure and controlling your emotions really help a lot. Patience helps you to not get disappointed of yourself.”

‘Crossing the Rubicon’

“Despite the difficulties, FS courses had given me a lot of learning experiences that I could surely apply once I become a full-fledged teacher,” said Jed I. Bete, a graduating BSED-Social Studies student. “Through FS, I was able to experience and witness the real scenarios in the world of ‘public education’. I also came into a realization that in teaching, it’s good to be idealistic. However, it is better to be realistic.”

Having gone through all the six FS courses, Jed I. Bete knows whereof he speaks. Asked if he was dissuaded by the sorry state of ‘public education’ and of the teachers in the Philippines, Bete replied in the negative. In fact, he is “even more encouraged to fulfill” his dream of becoming a teacher, which will be a dream no more as he will graduate this March 2009.

“Despite those terrible realities,” Bete said, “I still believe that there is happiness and satisfaction in the profession of teaching. Aside from that, being an agent of change, I know I am needed not only by my future students, but also by the society at large. How could I introduce change to the system? I am crossing the Rubicon. I am becoming a teacher.”

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

CARP's emasculation: A subtle corruption

It was Christmas season, the time of the year when people are exchanging gifts. For the farmers, agrarian reform advocates and some Bishops who had staged hunger strike outside the Batasang Pambansa, it would have been a merry Christmas had they received a gift in the form of a genuine agrarian reform. But members of the Congress dampened what would otherwise be a joyous occasion for those who are clamoring for an improved Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).


On December 17, 2008, the Congress passed Joint Resolution No. 19, extending for another six months the CARP, which expired in December 2008, but without the compulsory acquisition of lands for redistribution.


This was already the third time CARP was extended. Ten years after it was first implemented, CARP was first extended for another ten years in 1998. And for the second time around, it was extended for another six months until it expired in December 2008.


The CARP was said to be the centerpiece program of the Aquino Administration. On June 10, 1988, Corazon Aquino signed into law Republic Act 6657, known as Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law. It served as the legal framework of her administration’s agrarian reform program. But the passage of this law was not smooth sailing, marred as it was by haggling between the landowners and advocates.


Analysts say it would have been a different agrarian reform had Aquino taken up the task of passing the law herself instead of delegating the task to Congress.


“As President, she had a splendid opportunity to institute an agrarian reform program that would go to the root of this problem not only because her enormous popularity initially deterred active landlord opposition, but also because she possessed emergency powers under the Freedom Constitution,” Professor Francisco Nemenzo said. “Unfortunately, she chose to act as if it were sinful to govern in the absence of a legislature with which to play the check-and-balance game.”


According to Marissa de Guzman, it was “a decision that would deal a lethal blow to CARP’s prospects as the landlord-dominated Congress succeeded in emasculating it…It was a disabled and conservative version of what stakeholders and civil-society actors had clamored for.” Nevertheless, CARP took off; it is a marvel to some that it was able to reach this far and achieve some pockets of improvements given its infirmities.


No doubt, the resolution that was passed last December followed legal procedures. Deliberations were held and legislators voted upon it after successive readings. What is anomalous, however, is the way Congress used its legislative power to the landowners’ advantage. With the removal of the compulsory acquisition of land, the CARP was dead in the water. No landowner in his right mind will give up his land for redistribution. Thus it appears that the legislators, some of whom are landowners themselves, are doing a great disservice particularly to the farmers.


But the mandates of the Constitution are clear, the lawmakers are not supposed to behave that way, especially in dealing with a social justice law like CARP. The “Social Justice and Human Rights” part of the Constitution is “a desperate cry for help coming from the throats of the suffering masses,” constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas, S.J. said. “The opening sentence identifies the addressee of the cry for help—Congress.” The opening sentence reads: “The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good.”


“Social justice in the Constitution is principally the embodiment of the principle that those who have less in life should have more in law,” Fr. Bernas said. “It commands a legal bias in favor of those who are underprivileged.”


But unlike the rights in the Bill of Rights, which are “self-executing” and “ready for use,” the social justice rights, in terms of legal effectiveness, “are primarily in the nature of claims and demands which people expect government to satisfy…[and] the satisfaction of these demands must for the most part depend on Congress,” Fr. Bernas said.


The “highest priority” clause is also a deliberate choice according to Fr. Bernas. “It communicates the message that what is expected of Congress is not just the exercise of day-to-day police power but of powers needed to achieve radical social reform of critical urgency.”


But what is clear in the Constitution is not clear for the lawmakers. On hindsight, what the lawmakers did to the CARP was a far cry from the mandates of the Constitution. Instead of satisfying the social rights of the farmers, who are among this country’s underprivileged class, they used their power to effectively keep landowners from losing grip on their lands. There is a term that refers to the misuse of public resources by a public agent for private gains: corruption.


Why doesn’t CARP’s emasculation look like corruption? Part of the answer is that we limit the application of corruption to the malversation of funds, bribery and thievery. In other words, we only recognize the Joseph Estrada-type or the JocJoc-type of corruption. We fail to see the other truth about corruption: That corruption takes place in more subtle ways than one.


The blowback is that our idiocy—the state of not knowing the truth—with regard to corruption hinders us from recognizing the kind of corruption that even takes place before us. There is no clear remedy for this idiocy, but a closer look at the meaning of corruption might help. Analyst Herbert Docena said that public agent under the traditional definition of corruption—the misuse of public resources by a public agent for private gains—can be construed in two ways. First, public agent can be an individual, such as a “government bureaucrat or politician.” Second, public agent can be a class, such as a “country’s ruling elites.”


“Whenever the ruling class in the aggregate uses the state or public resources for private gains, then—by definition—the ruling class is being corrupt,” Docena said. “When the ruling elite uses the powers of the state to pass or enforce laws and policies which preserve or promote their class interests, then that…is also corruption.”


The emasculation of CARP through the passage of the Joint Resolution No.19 is therefore a classic act of misusing the public resources by a public agent for private gains. But few dared to call it for what it is: a blatant flouting of the law to benefit the few.


The day the resolution was passed was the day the lawmakers rebuffed themselves, including their goddess, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA). GMA and most lawmakers used to bandy themselves as pro-poor, pro-farmers, protectors of the interest of the people, etc.


But the emasculation of CARP has only served to highlight whose interest they are protecting. And it certainly not the farmers’, but theirs.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Think again



[caption id="attachment_278" align="alignright" width="133" caption="Timothy Ball, PhD"]Timothy "Tim" Ball, PhD[/caption]

According to Professor Timothy "Tim" Ball, one of Canada's first PhD holders in Climatology and pioneer of reconstructing the past climates, global warming doesn't exist. But few people believed it. Professor Tim Ball knows why.

"I think it may be because most people don't understand the scientific method which Thomas Kuhn so skilfully and briefly set out in his book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions," Prof. Tim Ball said. "A scientist makes certain assumptions and then produces a theory which is only as valid as the assumptions. The theory of Global Warming assumes that CO2 is an atmospheric greenhouse gas and as it increases temperatures rise. It was then theorized that since humans were producing more CO2 than before, the temperature would inevitably rise. The theory was accepted before testing had started, and effectively became a law."


Professor Tim Ball belongs to the camp of "heretics" in the climate change debate. Although some would call him and his ilk as "skeptics", "heretics" is more fitting a term. Like the heretics in the past centuries, he is met with disdain and damnation for challenging scientific dogma. The scientific dogma being that global warming exists; that CO2 causes it; and that we should act swiftly before it's too late.


For espousing views that contradict the popular notion
, he is scoffed at.  "I once received a three page letter that my lawyer defined as libellous, from an academic colleague,saying I had no right to say what I was saying, especially in public lectures," Prof. Tim Ball said.

Yet he stood by what he believed is based on facts. Whether you "Believe it or not," Dr. Tim Ball said, "Global Warming is not due to human contribution of Carbon Dioxide (CO2)."

The President-eject

For political correctness's sake, President Obama, before he took his oath of office, was referred to as President-elect. Although it is obvious that there's no stopping Obama from taking the helm of US leadership, as Bush the Younger can not veto the inauguration day, and thus the former deserved to be called President, Obama is still addressed as President-elect until he is properly sworn into office.

But what do you call a person who has never been a President since 2004 but who acts like one, and whose mandate is severely questioned?

And yes, I am talking about GMA's staying in power. President-eject is perhaps an apt title.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Estrada, the RP Obama?

One crucial job of a PR officer is to gloss over the flaws of the person or institution whom she is working for. That is why I am not surprised and I don't mind Margaux Salcedo, erstwhile GMA TV reporter and now Spokesperson of Erap, saying that her boss, not Jojo Binay, is the Obama of the Philippines.

"This may sound biased, but if there is anybody who we can call Barack Obama of the Philippines, it would [be] former President Estrada,” Salcedo was quoted by Inquirer as saying.

“It was really President Estrada who inspired the people,” Salcedo said. “As President Obama is inspiring America, [so did] President Estrada inspire the Filipino people in 1998.”

Salcedo came close to making herself a laughingstock. Good that her boss rescued her when Erap backflipped. If there are any similarities between him and Obama, Erap said, it is that both of them have "charisma" and "star power."

But the constrast, which Erap failed to mention, is that he, unlike Obama, used his charisma and star power to dupe his people, so that he would be catapulted to the highest position of the land, and thus advance with ease his and his cronies' narrow interests.

Estrada did not inspire the Filipino people, either. The gullible Filipino people were led to believe that voting for Estrada would be the first step towards progress, which has eluded the Filipinos for many years. The trick worked. But when it was testing time, Estrada failed miserably.

Erap as the Obama of the Philippines? Pag sure oie!


Excited to hear his take, I told my less politically inclined father about Margaux Salcedo's comment when I arrived home.

"Ha?" my father asked. "Si Erap Obama of the Philippines? Wala siya kuyapi? Kabulok niya."

The indefatigable anti-corruption crusader

It is no small irony that while Obama advised his good friend GMA to stop clinging to power through corruption and deceit, the latter has already been laboring to end corruption in the Philippines and bring down the shenanigans.

"Our investments also include essential ways to strengthen our institutions of governance in order to fight the decades-old scourge of corruption," she said in her 2008 State of the Nation Address. "I will continue to fight this battle every single day. While others are happy with headlines through accusation without evidence and privilege speeches without accountability, we have allocated more than P3 billion – the largest anti-graft fund in our history – for real evidence gathering and vigorous prosecution."

If that were true, why, as reported in the news, the US Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) just won't give economic assistance to the Philippines until it curbs corruption?

'On the wrong side of history'

Amando Doronila used to preach in his columns  that there is a frosty relationship between RP and USA. And that "It will take a blast of diplomatic climate warming to defrost the deep freeze between Manila and Washington."

I also used to subscribe to his sermons. But that was before Obama delivered his speech. I do believe now, after hearing Obama's inaugural address, that the relationship between the USA and the Philippines remains unchanged. It is warm as usual. In fact, so warm is the relationship that President Barack Obama, the first black president in the White House, expressed his concern over GMA's staying on "the wrong side of story." (Up to now it remains a mystery to everyone when she'll cease to be our President.)

"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent," Obama said in his inaugural address, "know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

That's what friends are for, offering pieces of advice to each other and extending help to a derailed friend. Obama is really our friend. He even offered redemption for those who are "willing to unclench" their "fist."

***

But this one's for "Bitoy's Funniest Videos."

"Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita gave this piece of unsolicited advice to the first black US president when asked if there’s anything Mrs. Arroyo could learn from Obama,"
Philippine Star reports.

“If there’s anything to learn, it would be President Obama learning from President Arroyo,” the paper quoted Ermita as saying.

"She is the model… probably in the face of adversity," Ermita added, "the new president can learn from other leaders, like the Philippine president, on how to face up to problems and challenges especially when there are constant attacks from the opposition and detractors."

But can he?

"Yes, Obama can learn from GMA," quipped Prof. Winnie Monsod in an interview with News on Q's Ivan Mayrina and Rhea Santos . "He can learn from GMA on how not to do things."

Crack in the parchment

By now it should be clear to everyone that some of the members of Congress have never had divided loyalties. They have never been caught up in an awkwad situation in which they have to choose between advancing the interest of the people and keeping that of their own class's.

The emasculation of CARP, as economist Solita-Collas Monsod called it, left a crack in the parchment that veiled the Congress. Through which, the inner workings of its members may be seen.  "The joint resolution [the resolution that says there is no compulsory acquistion of lands] bodes ill for CARP," wrote Doronila. "It unveiled the resurgence of landlord power lurking inside Congress, with knives sharpened to mangle any attempt to improve the implementation of CARP with measures to step up the transfer of large landholdings to farmers and providing them with support services, including credit and infrastructure, that would enable them to improve their productivity and incomes."

The day the extension of a clawless CARP is approved is the day the venerable members of Congress---who used to bandy themselves as pro-poor during elections---rebuffed themselves. "Thus are they exposed, the senators of the Republic, in particular the pretenders to the presidency of the country," declared Monsod. "The way they emasculated the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) under the guise of a six-month “extension,” or stood idly by, as their colleagues emasculated it, has made it clear that their protestations of concern for the poor are all sound and fury, signifying nothing. To add insult to injury, the Senate wants us to believe that this is for the benefit of the poor."

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I drop by NBS, and look what I've got

The other night I spent an hour in NBS  going through the mound of books there. All the digging paid off. Just when I was about to leave, I espied a book that I thought is interesting. It's called "Watchdogs of Democracy" subtitled "The Waning Washington Press Corps And How It Has Failed The Public." It was written by Helen Thomas, a member of the Fifth Estate. The Fifth Estate comprises that rare band of people who maintain a critical eye on the media, the Fourth Estate.




[caption id="attachment_256" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Watchdogs of Democracy: The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Failed The Public"]The Washington Press Corp and How It Failed The Public[/caption]

For Php 99.00 I bought the book (Hardbound). Curiously, I checked it out in the internet to know how much it's usually sold. Amazon.com sells it for  $11.20 (roughly Php 526.00). At ebay, the price varies: from $1.00, to $16.00, to $50.00.

I somehow managed to skim a few pages of the book. For all its obvious reference to the press in the USA, I think it strikes some familiar chord in the Philippines. After all, the press, regardless of the country where it operates, has an ultimate task: To pursue the truth wherever it leads.

I have yet to read its entirety. Suffice it to say now that my lifelong dream of having a library myself is coming to pass.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Ouch!


We have varied reasons why we blog. Some of us blog to share their recent adventures and misadventures. Others just want to tell the world how happy they are that they met their crush at the corridor. Still others blog to air out their grievances, grievances they cannot otherwise say but in a blog.



As for the students of Quezon City Science High School, they blog because they want to expose the misdeeds of their Principal. Result: They were suspended for doing so.



Indeed, a bad news to read:


Officials of the Quezon City Science High School (QCSHS) recently suspended four students who allegedly posted a blog that criticized the school’s principal.


Aside from suspending the four students whose identities were withheld, QCSHS’s principal Zenaida Sadsad also ordered the closure of the school’s two student publications, Electron and Banyuhay.


The concerned blog, http://scientiaetvirtus.multiply.com that was posted on social networking site multiply.com, contains articles and photographs against Sadsad’s policies and person as well as the students’ gripes over irregular lunch hours and required subjects, among others.


The personal attacks against Sadsad in the blog even included violent declarations such as “Sadsad must die”.



Questions arise, however. If she’s not what the students said she is, then why do the students have to suffer from suspension? If she did not do what the students said she did, then why she went so far as to ordering the closure of the two student publications, Electron and Banyuhay? Why did she gravely abuse her authority to get even with the students.


She could have cleared her name by repudiating the students’ allegations, either through the students' blog itself or through other medium.


In my opinion, suspending the students and closing the publications are unnecessary. The school officials’ response to the students’ criticisms smacked of guilt on the former's part. Sure, the students’ criticisms do not stem from the sheer pleasure of criticizing someone. Something, someone must have provoked them. Otherwise, they would have not mustered their courage to put up a blog to criticize their principal.


My unsolicited advice: As Justice Malcolm said in United States v. Bustos, “[Wo]Men in public life may suffer under a hostile and an unjust accusation: the wound can be assuaged with the balm of a clear conscience. A public officer must not be too thin-skinned with reference to comment upon his official acts. Only thus can the intelligence and dignity of the infividual be exalted.”


No doubt, the criticisms wounded the Principal, and they could have easily been healed with "the balm" of her "clear conscience." If she did nothing bad, keber. She need only act as if she really did not do anything bad. However, as it turned out, her conscience is probably far from clear. So to fend off the wounds the students inflicted upon her, she suspended them. After all, it is easier to shoot the messenger than to drop by the confessional box.


Ouch! Truth does really hurt.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Maarte na mga Madre

A Filipino can get rid of his usual get-up when he’s somewhere else. A Filipino, when abroad, can live without wearing slippers. But wherever a Filipino goes, he just can’t get rid of his stomach. Whether in Paris or Rome, his stomach will always look for something it recognizes; for something it will not get upset. However, the danger is when before you knew it, someone is already upset with what you eat.


Philippine Star reports:



The Missionary Sisters of Sacred Heart (MSSH) in Manhattan has filed a complaint against a Filipino-American couple, Michael and Gloria Lim, over a Filipino delicacy called tuyo (dried fish), and its funky cousin, the tinapa (smoked fish).

Ang arte naman ng mga madreng ito.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Doing less with more

Philippine Star reports:
For 17 straight years, Sen. Joker Arroyo has remained the undisputed “Scrooge of Congress” for being the thriftiest, most frugal, tight-fisted, penny-pinching lawmaker.

The officially published Itemized List of Expenses of each senator for 2007 as audited by Commission on Audit (COA) showed that Arroyo had the lowest expenses for incumbent senators who served the full 12 months.

COA statistics showed that the senator incurred expenses of P12,293,084.06.

Only Sen. Manuel Villar came close, spending P12,442,323.98. Villar was ousted last November following speculations that he may have used his previous position as Senate President to pursue his presidential plans.

The COA report showed actors-turned-senators were the biggest spenders. Sen. Bong Revilla was on top with P15,889,626.66 followed by President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada with P15,449,229.69. Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan’s expenses amounted to P15,271,305.21 while Sen. Lito Lapid spent P15,103,242.15.

What can I say? Well, kudos to Joker Arroyo for being frugal. To our guapo Senators for being wasteful, Adios! Your motto seems to be, "Doing less with more."

For a related account on the spending of Congress, read PCIJ's report: An Expensive---and Unaccountable---Legislature.

Ranido to Bishops: Shut up!

Mindanao Daily Mirror columnist Florencio A. Ranido devoted an entire column the other day to the Catholic Bishops', as Ranido called it, "pastime"---meddling on purely state matters:

They just cannot keep their big mouths shut and their hands off on purely State matters. The latest attempt by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines to meddle on affairs that exclusively belong to the State is the objection to moves by some administration officials and members of Congress to restore death penalty on heinous crimes specially on illegal drug traffickers. Continue reading...


Sunday, January 11, 2009

It's not the Constitution, idiots!





[caption id="attachment_228" align="aligncenter" width="324" caption="Proponents of Cha-cha must be cooking something besides further opening up our economy to foreign investors. (www.bulatlat.com)"]Proponents of Cha-cha must be cooking something besides further opening up our economy to foreign investors. (www.bulatlat.com)[/caption]

If we were to believe our venerable Representatives, the only reason they want to change our Constitution is to further open up our market to foreign investors. No more no less. It isn’t a ploy to extend GMA’s or any other incumbent officials’ terms. By opening up our economy, foreign investments will be flooding in.


“I am asking for an economic provision na 60-40 tatanggalin natin dahil ito palagay ko naiiwan tayo ng ibang Asian countries dahil sila open for foreign investment samantalang tayo limited ang foreign investments natin,” Speaker Nograles, the pride of Davao, was reported to have said. Apparently, he’s trying to allay fears that the administration-sponsored Cha-cha is a pretext to further GMA’s hold on power.



What a noble cause!



But the recent Cha-cha moves provide excellent case study of dogs (read: sleazy Representatives) barking up the wrong tree.



Rex C. Drilon II’s exposition (Cha-cha and foreign investment) said it all: The idea that opening up our economy so foreign investments may flow is a wrong notion. Proof of this is that Philippines has neighbors with far more restrictive economies but whose foreign direct investments are far higher than ours:



The Philippines has a neighbor, a non-English speaking, communist country where there is no freedom of speech nor free press, no religious freedoms, no judicial and legal system as we know it, no code of commerce nor code of corporate governance. It received more than $9 billion in foreign direct investments (FDIs) last year. It is a restrictive economy.

The biggest country in the region with similar sociopolitical and economic environment received $60 billion last year in FDI in spite of human rights violations, use of child labor, tainted products and is probably the world’s biggest violator of intellectual property rights. This year, its FDIs are expected to reach $115 billion. It, too, has a restrictive economy.

On the other hand, we who have been christened as the bastion of Christianity in Asia, praised for our Edsas, proficiency in English etc. only received “a little over $2 billion in 2007 and as of October 2008, we are told we are down 58 percent and will be lucky if we get $1 billion.”

So why is Philippines so aloof to foreign investors?

Our venerable Congressmen want us to believe it’s the Constitutional provision that restricts foreign investors from investing. But people like Rex C. Drilon II thought otherwise. “Corruption, uneven playing field, ineffective governance and leadership, changing rules, no sense of urgency for reforms and a negative country image, among others, are the reasons why.”

Can Cha-cha solve them all?

Saturday, January 10, 2009

The Catholic Church as a lobbyist

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="(Photo courtesy of www.nationalreview.com)"][/caption]



The fact that Catholic believers are launching an all-out war against the passage of the RH Bill into law is no cause for alarm. By all indications, it does not mean that we are going back to the middle ages when there's no distinction between the state and the church. It isn't a return to history. Far from it.

We should rather see the role especially of the Catholic Church in a different light. When the Catholic Church is vehemently opposing the RH Bill, in my opinion, it assumes the role of the lobbyist. The Catholic Church thus becomes one among many players of our democratic system that tries to use state apparatus to protect its special interest. Shutting its members from the debate over the passage of the RH Bill because it is entirely a secular matter betrays the democratic ideals that we espouse.

This, I realized after reading Robert Samuelson's Lobbying is Democracy in Action.

"We are a collection of special interests, and one person's special interest is another's job or moral crusade," writes Samuelson. "If people can't organize to influence government—to muzzle or shape its powers—then democracy is dead."

In the Philippine political context, it so happened that the Catholic Church wields considerable power so that it can influence the government like no other other interest groups can.


But the Catholic hierarchy should be too careful to not get lost along the way. While it has the right to oppose the RH Bill, it may be well to remind its hierarchy and its members that the state does not exist for Catholics alone.

Manuel L. Quezon III had it right when he issued this caveat: "our Republic does not exist for Catholics alone, and this means that their faith and morals cannot be made the exclusive basis for state policy."

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Adams Myth: No stopping for Pinoy world domination agenda

In response to the World Dominatrix's (i.e., Jessica Zafra's) blog post Adams Myth on the global financial meltdown: Bad news, good news, I asked the revered economist Adams Myth if the Pinoy world domination agenda will be adversely affected, given that "our yayas are coming home... their amos can’t pay them anymore...the most potent troops of the Philippines, dispersed all over the globe, have been trimmed down"?

One who sees beyond the cloud of gloom, Adams Myth 's reply is full of optimism. He said:
"The yayas, nurses, bellboys, mechanics, English teachers and TNTs won’t be sent home. The construction workers and seamen will. Musicians in cruise ships will be packing in. Musicians at hotels won’t. The rule of thumb is, the more cyclical (i.e. boom-bust) the industry is, the more prone to layoffs. But at the end of the day, whatever slowdown we may see in out-migration this year will be temporary. Our competitive advantage still lies in making babies and sending them off to work in countries whose leaders know how to create jobs."

How Filipinos can dominate the world?

It has been said that we  have already taken over the world with the rise of Manny Pacquiao, Charice Pempengco, Arnel Pineda and their likes. No, we haven't. As of yet.

But we can, if we tap these potent human resources of ours---the yayas, DH (short for Domestic Helpers), Chimays, Atchays, whatever you call them.

We Filipinos are mocked for having the most number of maids working abroad. In fact, a certain dictionary even defined Filipinos, rightly or wrongly, as "domestic helpers"--- enough to pique our countrymen, here and abroad.

Be that as it may, we can co-opt Filipino maids working abroad to dominate the world. Jessica Zafra knows how, as she always does. Made way back in 1994, here is her proposal:
"I propose that we establish stronger communications with the Pinay maids out there. I propose that we give them consciousness-building seminars that will make them more aware of their unique powers. Then I propose that at a given signal, the Pinay maids all over the world stage a sit-down strike."

Imagine what would happen if they do that?

Want to be party? Interested? Read: A simple proposal for world domination.

What is the genius of the constitution?

There is a particular scene in "With Honors", a movie that, it is said, lampoons the presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981-1989), that I like best because it is the only scene that I managed to watch so far, thanks to Youtube. Professor Pitkannan, the heady professor of government, once asked his students what is the genius of the constitution?

Monty (played by Brendan Fraser) gave an answer, a flimsy one.

Monty :  The president can't bomb without reason.
Professor Pitkannan: He has a reason. He thinks we need more parking spaces. The point is, can he destroy the world?
Monty: Not without Congress
Professor Pitkannan: The President can make a war in 90 days without consulting Congress.

It was only after indulging in the language of insult with Simon Wilder (played by Joe Pesci) did the professor receive a brilliant answer to his question.


Wilder: The genius of the constitution is that it can always be changed. The genius of the constitution is that it makes no permament rule other than its faith in the wisdom of ordinary people to govern themselves.
Professor Pitkannan: Faith in the wisdom of its people is exactly what makes the constitution incomplete and crude.
Wilder: Crude! No sir. Our founding parents...were white farmers. But they were also great men because they know one thing that all great men should know: That they didn't know everything. They knew they were gonna make mistakes.  They made sure they leave a way to correct them. They didn't think of themselves as leaders. They wanted a government of citizens, not royalty; a government of listeners, not lecturers; a government that could change, not stand still. A president isn't an elective King, no matter how many bombs he can drop because the crude constitution doesn't trust him.  He's the servant of the people. He's just a bum. The only bliss he's searching for is freedom and justice.

Demokrasya

My Filipino is not impeccable. Just trying my hand at it.

Marami ng halalan ang idinaos sa Pilipinas, kaya naman  masasabi nating ang Pilipinas ay isang tunay na demokratikong bansa. Subalit sabi ng iba hindi sukatan ang dami ng halalan na idinaos na upang masabi nating ang isang bansa ay demokratiko o hindi. Ang tunay na batayan ay kung paano nagbigay-daan ang mga halalang ito sa pagkamit ng "katarungang panlipunan at pangekonomiya (loose terms for social justice and economic justice).

***Dito na nagtatapos***

What counts most, according to Fareed Zakaria, is the inner stuffing of democracy:
When we think about democracy, we should really think about not simply the electoral process but the inner stuffing of democracy, which is the institutions that produce liberty, separation of powers, the rule of law, courts and constitutions and that that inner stuffing is in many ways more important than elections. Anyone can hold an election. It’s very difficult to produce institutions that preserve liberty.

I'm beginning to love Jessica

Zafra, that is.

I've heard her name many times, and her proverbial biting wit is known to me. But it was very recently that I got keenly interested with her.   As if I were a stalker who madly pursues his subject just to know even the most inane detail of his subject (read: victim), I've frequented her blog (jessicarulestheuniverse.com), watched her in Youtube, read a couple of her articles, published here and abroad, and scanned a few pages of her Twisted books at NBS.

What I find fascinating about her is that she is oh so intelligent.  But you need not tell that of course. She's  aware of it herself.

And she also writes well that she can drive home a serious point in a funny way. Read her Twisted series books and you'll know what I mean.

Read: Getting Personal with Jessica Zafra