All In!

If all that is playing out right now is a politico-legal battle between the Maharlika/Spanish Macapagal Arroyos and the Chinese Cojuanco Aquinos, I'm bent on wondering whether what it will all mean to the working poor like me.

Will any of the spoils go back to the National Treeasury and if so, will it be judiciously and efficiently used to solve the problems created by poverty?

Breaking Up Hacienda Luisita May Not Be A Good Thing

I can understand the jubilation of some people over the Supreme Court's decision to have Hacienda Luisita broken up and divided among its farmer beneficiaries.  On the surface of things, giving land to the landless may seem like a pretty good way of redistributing wealth and reducing poverty.

Under the CARP, farmer tenants are suppposed to get 3 hectares each, but if you divide the total land to be distributed (around 4,000 or 5,000) by the number for farmer beneficiaries (6,000), that result would be farmers having just .75 hectares each.

Kasangga Party List Representative Ted Harresco pointed put something that I've heard before, and it is simply that small farms are basically losing ventures if operated independently.

First, you don't get the economies of scale that would enable you to get farm inputs at a lower price or employ these inputs efficiently.  Second, being a small independently operated farm, the farmer would have a hard time negotiating for a good price for his crop.

Large collectively operated farms, in contrast, have the benefits of being able to negotiate a better deal on farm inputs either through lower prices or better terms.  Moreover, in selling their produce, they can - to some extent - actually have more control over the selling price.

Harresco believes, based on his view of the average lifespan of farmer cooperatives, that it will be very difficult for the farmer beneficiaries who chose to operate their farms individually to make a profit.

Land is capital in economic theory, but in reality, land that is untilled and unproductive is just empty space.

Poverty, as I have said before, is not the lack of money but the lack of options.

A small plot of land limits a farmers options to the crops that would have the best chance of returning profit, it would limit his access to good financing deals, and limit his ability to negotiate a good price for his produce.

Perhaps one way that the farmer beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita can ensure the profitable operation of their individual farms is to reintegrate the small individual plots and operate the land collectively.

This might seem similar to the idea of a Share Distribution Option already tackled by the high court, but, if ever the farmer do create a similar arrangement in the future, it will be without the participation of the Aquino-Cojuancos.

Ending It All

This country went coo coo, a long time ago.

What started it all was the idea that Filipinos, the meek and tolerating lot of brown monkey spunk that they all really are, woke up in the horrible hours of mornig past the middle of february more than 20 years ago and decided to stop what would have amounted to a ten minute war.

Whoever thought that after deposing the son of Satan himself, they'd actually start worshipping the Grand Empress of Yellow?

Go figure.

In more recent times, the feat was repeated when they deposed a King of Whoring qnd Corruption, and replaced him with the Arch Duchess of Machiavellian Arts.

These people are doomed, and yet, like the vagrant snorting a plastic bag full of rugby, they manage to survive the toxic hangover.

The Maguindanao Massacre, Two Years After

I've come to know two people in broadcast journalism who died needlessly. 

One was Ralph Runez, a camera man of RPN9, and another is Hazel Recheta, a reporter of ABC5.

Ralph died fighting people who were robbing him of a video camera he had invested in and Hazel died in a car crash on her way home from a coverage of Mayon Volcanoe.

I attended both funerals.  In both, it seemed the entire broadcast industry showed up and it's really a small community. 

Almost everyone knows everyone, if not directly, then through at atleast one other person.

For some reason, i associate the deaths of Hazel and Ralph with the deaths of the people killed in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.  They were all needless, meaningless deaths.

Reporters, TV cameramen, and news photographers share a common bond.  Those that have gone through most of the beats (yes, there are still beats) and have had their bylines or names on TV or Radio for a few years will probably find it easy to establish rapport with one another - without having to delve into their family histories or college year books.  The rapport is almost instant because you're certain you share a common interest (news) and have a common frame of reference (news).

The killing of so many journalists two years ago sent a shock wave through the community of reporters, cameramen, and photographers.

Some reporters here in Manila actually knew some of the reporters who were killed there.  Some Manila Reporters actually covered stories with the reporters who were killed and some reporters in Manila actually came frok that area.

People outside the community of reporters, cameramen and photogs will probably raise an eyebrow at the fuss being made over the Maguindanao Massacre.  Why are their lives so much more important than the thousands who die every year because of one accident or another, one catastrophe or another?

Well, their lives aren't so much more important than yours or mine. Really.

But then again, come to think of it, your relatives aren't more important than my relatives either or your friends aren't more important than my friends.  If a cataclysm were to happen, would you be alright if your relatives or friends died and not mine?

Thing is, and this was a real possibility for me back then, what if my wife (a reporter back then) had been assigned to cover the Mangudadatus on that fateful day?  What if it were any of the people I knew?

I can't even think about it.

So, from where I am looking at things, I say, it's quite all right to over emphasize the death of journalists on November 23, 2009.  Because, they were all someone's relative, friend, wife, husband, son, daughter . . . .  More so, if journalists can't be safe, neither can ordinary citizens like you and me.

Good night.

The Real Mugshot of Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

It has probably spread on the internet by now.

I, Citizen...

Perhaps, it is time that the ordinary citizen take heed and recognize that their duty to the country is not limited to that few hours a day once every three years to elect a candidate.

The Citizen is the Sovereign of this Land and yet we let ourselves to be so willingly ruled by mere representatives.

(more to follow)

Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo arrested, has justice been served?

If this were one of those low budget, no concept Filipino massacre films that might have starred Kris Aquino, the epilogue would probably we flashing on the screen and the air would be filled by the musical stylings of some poor composer who probably gave up asking the film producer for his royalties.

Most Pinoys are duped into paying good money to watch such films, that are almost always falsely claimed to have some kind of moral lesson.

Some people celebrated Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's arrest for electoral sabotage charges filed at the Pasay Regional Trial Court. Perhaps the fact that it was 'electronically' raffled off to Judge Jesus Mupas, who had previously been penalized for sitting on cases and is currently saddled with 500 cases, should add even more glee to already the hysterical schaedenfraude frothing in the corners of some media outfits and government offices.

The way it looks, the case against Congresswoman Arroyo seems set up so it can drag on and all the while, she'd have to remain under arrest - either at her house, at the hospital or perhaps, the Pasay City jail.

Surely, there can be no sympathy for the accused even as people watch images of her in a sickly state.  Surely, she could be feigning sickness just as she feigned innocence amidst the many charges of grand scale corruption lobbed against her administration.

After all, didn't we all hear the 'Hello Garci' tapes and all the other stories of how she manipulated the elections in 2004 as well as 2007?  Weren't we all watching as the Senate conducted probe after probe that, for the most part, claimed that the former President was the mastermind of some of the biggest corruption allegations in our history?

The Fertilizer Fund Scam and  the NBN ZTE Deal, in fact, were epic investigations spanning the terms of two Senate Blue Ribbon Chairmen. 

Don't we all remember that?

The fact is, a lot of us do.  But, perhaps, not enough.

The 'Hello Garci' hearing was as much about every single politician, local and national, who used various illegal means to ensure their victory at the polls.  It was an indictment against those who planned and participated in the wholesale corruption of our country's electoral process.  It was a condemnation of all those who stood by silently or covered their eyes as one of our most fundamental democratic rights was gang raped, bludgeoned to death, runover with a back hoe, heaved like a sack of trash into a pit and then buried.

Hello Garci was not just about politicians, it was more about us and our great capacity for tolerating the wrongs that we see as long as we can benefit from it - one way or the other.

If Filipinos have one talent that soars above every other talent that they are supposed to possess innately, it is going with the flow.

Going with the flow and jumping on the bandwagon was what led people to elect Joseph Ejercito Estrada as President and going with the flow led to his downfall.

If we were all somewhat right in the head when former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada was being impeached on Jueteng and other charges, the crowds that gathered for EDSA DOS wouldn't have materialized after senators left the impeachment trial on account of an unopened envelope.

We all forgot about the rule of law back then.  We all forgot about due process.  We forgot about all the principles that make democracy stable and able to function. 

We forgot that the Impeachment Trial was not a court of law in the traditional sense, but a court of politicians - yes - lying, cheating, stealing politicians.

We simply held our hands up, surrendered to the impulses of the moment, and went on a tililing rampage. 

Back then, the people who trooped at EDSA, probably thought, nothing could be worse than Estrada.

Years later, the people who supported the ascent of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as President under a Constitutionally doubtful process, would abandon her as soon as it seemed to be the right time to do so. 

Cabinet members resigned without having to admit to any participation to any wrongdoing that made it possible for Gloria to shovel tons of money into the hands of corrupt Comelec officials, teachers, military men, local government officials, and voters.

Those who ran under her party coalition, had received generous support from her, and got elected would later try to erase any affinity that they had forged with her -- some having a more difficult time than others.

If it isn't obvious to you, let me spell it out...

We were unprincipled participants in a grand ruse motivated by political opportunism in 2001 Erap was thrown out of the Palace, when Gloria was installed, and when the 2004 elections were cheated wholesale.

And now, here we are. . . Going with the flow, duped into supporting the selfish interests of those in power.

Did the events prior to Gloria's arrest demonstrate that the main actors and their followers in this current political drama show that they had developed a capacity to wield principles?

Without being guided by principles, the ensuing action against Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is not justice but retribution delivered out of vindictiveness.

Over the past few days, we saw the Aquino administration ruthlessly use the very same tactics they criticized the Arroyo administration for.  They used the previous administration's Immigration Watchlist Order (which they already knew to be unconstitutional) against Gloria Arroyo, an instrument whose requirements weren't even satisfied - the suject of the watchlist order must be charged with a crime.  Despite the TRO issued by the Supreme Court, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima ordered the Bureau of Immigration to prevent Gloria Arroyo from leaving and effectively denied her Constitutional right to travel freely.

Already, Gloria Arroyo has been deprived of her rights without seeing a day in court, just as she had once people thrown in jail for rebellion charges.

If that's justice, then it is justice in a barbaric and capricious way.

(More aggravation to follow.)

The Department of Gaffes

Former President now Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 8:11 in the evening.

This was just after a couple of hours after the Supreme Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order against the Department of Justice's Immigration Watch List Order (WLO). 

The WLO is an instrument under DOJ Department Circular 41and the circular specifies the requirements that must be submitted by those under WLO in order for them to be granted an Allow Departure Order.  Under Section 7 of that circular, people under the WLO are required to submit affidavits detailing their travel itinerary, report to the DOJ upon their return, and seek the permission of those prosecuting their case.

Conversations on twitter and facebook repeatedly churned claims that there is no pending case against the Arroyos, though the couple were named as respondents in a joint DOJ Comelec investigation on electoral fraud. (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/10/27/11/doj-issues-new-watchlist-order-vs-arroyo-et-al)

The Arroyo couple were prevented from leaving on a flight to Singapore, by order of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.  The justice secretary reportedly ordered the Bureau of Immigration to prevent the Arroyo couple from leaving the country.  A request was also made to the Department of Transportation and Communication to instruct relevant agencies to do the same.

What erupted at the airport was a dramatic spectacle of Gloria Arroyo arriving on board an ambulance of St. Luke's Hospital.  Wearing her halo vest, she was seated in a wheel chair and for a few moments TV cameras were allowed to soak in the image of a once powerful woman looking diminished, aged.

It was said that the show was meant to inspire sympathy for her.

Then, after an hour or so, the Arroyo couple left the airport with First Gentleman Arroyo shouting that the Aquino Administration was without conscience and that the former President despite her condition had been treated cruelly.

Congresswoman Arroyo's spokesperson was also heard comparing what happened to Martial Law.

Other members of the Arroyo camp wailed over the Aquino Administration's trampling of an individual's right to the presumption of innocence and right to travel.

I've heard it said, an individual can be deprived of his rights only by a court of law.

A former classmate at UST asked me on Facebook about what has happened to the 40,000 others under the DOJ's watchlist order.

And I thought a bit, then asked, "where is cito lorenzo?" of the fertilizer fund scam fame?

The Nationalist Cause

(Responding to Herman Tiu Laurel.)

There are many ways to think about what being nationalistic means.

Some serve their countries with a gun in their hands and others hold peace rallies denouncing the brutalities of war. Others insist on using the native tongue (whatever that may be in an archipelago with several languages/dialects) and others call for he removal of 'Filipino' language classes, stressing the bigger pay off from gaining proficiency in English.

Still others believe that nationalism is best manifested in protecting Filipino businesses and compelling Filipinos to buy nothing but Filipino products - regardless of quality or cost.

But, what is a nation? How does one become nationalistic?

It would be surprising to figure out just how nationalistic Jose Rizal would be in the context provided by Manuel L. Quezon. Rizal wanted representation in the Spanish Cortes, Quezon wanted independence.

On one hand, Rizal's nation was the Philippines as a province of Spain. Quezon's nation was what he and other landed caciques negotiated with the American Congress.

The nation, as rendered by so many politicians after Quezon, is basically one where their interests and wealth were protected.

If you had asked the sons of people who toiled in their land, the workers in their factories, and the servants that cleaned their out houses, their definition of what a nation is would probably be vastly different.  It would probably be closely linked to their physical communities, just like the ancient Muslim Kings conceived of their settlements.

(However, imagining an alternate Philippines as a proletarian Utopia gives me the same shivers as the Behavioralist Heaven of BF Skinner.)

Regardless of how nation would have been conceived, I think that we are at the cusp of redefining it and it has never been completely defined.

In this age of social networking and BPOs, I think the very idea of where one's community is and where one actually works has changed for a few million Filipinos.

Of the infinitessimally small portion of Filipinos who earn a living online, a number might come to the realization that it really doesn't matter what nationality is paying for your work.  The only thing that matters is that the money comes in and projects are turned over on time, according to specs.

If you take it further and imagine what they do with the money they earn, you'd probably be shocked by the anti-nationalistic spending that they do.  Most of what they buy is probably imported, with a few exceptions.

Even if they wanted to buy all Filipino, they'd have a tough time doing so.

Just consider Coca Cola or San Miguel beer.  You'd think that Coke actually has Philippine sugar in it, but it doesn't or at least, not as much as it should have. And then consider San Miguel Beer, does the Philippines produce barley or hops?

Have you ever eaten Jollibee Palabok? The three or four shrimps they have there most probably come from Thailand.

When you flip on a light, do you think that the power coming through it comes from Philippine coal burned in Philippine made coal plants?

The point is, the things that make our lives as Filipinos living in the Philippines convenient or enjoyable are all imported completely or are made from imported components.

What most people aren't aware of and what most very rich people aren't willing to state plainly is that more Filipinos could actually have more of these things if there weren't constitutional provisions that barred the 100 percent foreign ownership of capital.

The kernel of the idea is simple, if we didn't have such a restriction on foreign capital, we'd probably see a bigger influx of foreign business here in the Philippines. More businesses equals more people employed, higher demand for goods and services, more people with purchasing power, better prices for goods, etcetera.

If, for example, more foreign businesses set up shop here, perhaps there'd be a greater demand for power and the ordinary consumer wouldn't have to be burdened with paying for the over capacity of power producers.

The way things are, foreign businesses thinking of setting up business here probably encounter the 60/40 ownership limits and try to figure out what it will really cost them.

Most foreign businesses balk at the idea of either ceding control of their business to Filipino counterparts or look for partners to put up the 60 percent stake that's needed. The result? Well, fewer foreign businesses coming in, less people being employed, fewer people with purchasing power, and the cost of goods being higher than it should be.

How many Filipinos do we know of can really afford to have a 60 percent stake in any major, multi-billion peso enterprise?  I have no idea, but if the pareto theory holds true, then perhaps 20 percent of Filipinos own 80 percent of the capital. 

So, a foreigner coming here wanting to invest cannot do so unless a Filipino or several Filipinos can put up a 60 percent stake in the business.

The thing is, the typically overly shrewd Pinoy will probably look at the foreigner and figure that he has the upperhand, then try to put one over the foreigner.  How?

Well, it can happen in a number of ways and the simplest example is this:

The Filipino investor will probably tell the foreigner that he doesn't have enough capital to put up 60 percent, but can manage only 10 percent. Granting that the foreigner has some strategic interests in the Philippines and really wants to set up shop here, the Filipino investor could tell the foreigner to put up 90 percent of the capital but on paper make it look like a 60/40 split. Now, arrangements can be made internally for splitting up the profits, but instead of the Filipino earning just 10 percent (the proportion of funds he invested) he could probably play his upperhand and demand more than 10 percent of the profits for his trouble.

But getting 20 percent for 10 percent of the stake in the business is even small in some cases.  Some are even just nominal stakes.

Now, how's that for entitlement?

That, my friends, is how the rich get richer here in the Philippines.

Can anyone say PLDT? How about TV5? Ayala? SM? Cojuanco? Aquino? Marcos? Ramos? Macapagal?

Who's behind Baron Buchokoy?

Benign0 makes a fine point as usual about Baron Buchokoy's refusal to to come out in the open and answer a couple of questions about his work.

But even without Buchokoy, people have already been coming out to speak for him and are putting out speculations about his motives. 

Some say he's working for Senator Bongbong Marcos and is crafting these videos to spread a revisionist view of the Marcos years.  It's easy enough to take this view, a number of Buchokoy's videos does paint former President Ferdinand Marcos and the Marcos Regime in a favorable light.

But then again, parts of some of Buchokoy's video also casts Senator Villar's C-5 scam in a better light and his latest video makes use of soundbytes from Senator Dick Gordon.  It also makes references to the plight of Hacienda Luisita Farmers.

President Benigno Aquino's communication team and Budget Secretary Butch Abad dismisses the video as belated anti-Noynoy propaganda, even hinting that former President Gloria Arroyo's camp may be behind the video.

Pedro Jacobo aka Pedestrian Observer, in a thread on Inday Varona Espina's wall, says that it really doesn't matter who made the video. He says those behind it obviously know what they are doing and his real concern centers around those who believed the video outright.

Then again, granting that Buchokoy did take a pretty liberal license in constructing an alternate view of history to come up with an engaging narrative, could it be much worse than believing the propaganda that President Aquino pumped out during the campaign season last year? Could it be much worse than believing the current Administration's propaganda that tries to convince people that the government is indeed functioning?

Going beyond this, what are the ideas being put forward by Buchokoy? And why did he chose to use Marcos and other people as elements in his narrative?