The Nokor Missile and Philippine-China South China Sea Stand Off

The North Korean missile that will be sailing over Philippine territory is gripping the headlines and first gaps of the news today.

In the midst of all the talk this is generating, I am thinking about whether there is anything at all that the Philippine government can do if North Korea or China (for that matter) launches a live missile aimed at Manila.

The Philippines does not have the capability to defend itself from such an attack and if we're considering the possibility of a nuclear missile attack, the effect would indeed be devastating.

It will only take two or three such missiles to wipe out Metro Manila and probably any possible resistance to an invasion that will surely follow.

In a blog post I wrote months ago that compares the military strength of China and the Philippines, it clearly shows that China is well equipped to decimate the Philippines.

While the Philippines does enjoy the status of being an ally of the United States, it would seem foolish to believe that the US will place the Philippine's interests before its own.

The US may no longer the military might that it once was at its peak and being concerned with various wars in other parts of the world where it has greater economic interests, the question is whether it will really side in a war that will engage in a conflict which may not redound to significant gains.

Here's an eye opener from The Foundry:

As such, the United States should press for another UNSC condemnatory statement that closes existing loopholes and imposes additional sanctions. Washington must make clear to Beijing that continuing to obstruct a resolute international response will only engender more North Korean belligerence and a stronger allied response—neither of which is in China’s strategic interests. 

Escalating tensions from Pyongyang’s missile launch and a likely follow-on nuclear test could even spur North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to undertake more provocative military actions. The new, untested dictator is more likely than his father Kim Jong-il to miscalculate during a crisis and stumble across a redline, unaware that Seoul is more likely to retaliate to a military clash than in the past. 

All of this could occur even as the United States fails to adequately resource the much-vaunted Asia pivot. Drawdowns in U.S. forces in Europe and Afghanistan are not shifting to address growing Asian threats—a case of robbing Peter to not pay Paul. The planned $1 trillion cuts to the U.S. military would undercut Washington’s ability to fulfill its security commitments, even as North Korea and China are acting more assertively.

The statements issued by the Aquino Administration since the "escalation" of tensions between China and the Philippines with regard to support from the US government against China should be as any form of reassurance against disastrous conflict.

To the Nincompoops Who Keep Asking President Noynoy Aquino to Lower Fuel Prices

Unless you believe President Noynoy Aquino is truly heaven sent and can command the heavens to rain down oil on the Philippines, asking him to do something to lower fuel prices may be too much for the powers of the Son of Cory and Ninoy.

Here's the thing that people are missing when they think that the Aquino Administration or any administration can or will lower fuel prices if they hold rallies or hold their breath till they are blue in the face.

One. The Philippines DOES NOT PRODUCE OIL that can be turned into gasoline or regular diesel.

Two. Oil producing countries sell oil and set the price for oil based on prevailing market conditions, estimated supply and projections on future demand.

Three. The Philippines has to buy the oil or fuel refined from the oil at a price dictated by companies in oil producing countries.

Four. The Philippines cannot dictate the price of oil or fuel since it does not have a leverage in terms of being a big buyer or geo-political clout that can affect the oil industry of the world.

Five. The only way to lower the price of oil is to have government interfere with market forces by subsidizing the price of oil -- this means shelling out money so that fuel companies in the Philippines can sell it at one or two pesos less.  But the problem is, fuel companies do not show exactly how they price their product and they can jack up their prices without clearly showing why it is necessary.  So, they can claim an upward price adjustment is necessary and the government essentially must decide whether to increase subsidies to maintain a level fuel price or allow the price hike to take place, while still subsidizing fuel prices.  

Subsidies for fuel and other things are taken from the taxes collected from private individuals and companies.  So instead of people and businesses having more money to put away, invest, or spend in ways that will earn more money thereby enabling them to cope with high fuel prices, the money is taken away from them by government who loses a large amount of the tax money to corruption and inefficiency.

Six. One way to cut fuel prices by 12 percent is to lower or do away completely with the Value Added Tax on fuel and that may mean less funds for government services -- not that people would actually feel it because the government, as I've said, is inefficient as well as corrupt.

The only way to lower the price of fuel, fossil fuel, is to curb demand by shifting to lower priced substitutes. That means using less fossil fuel through a number of means:

Making public transportation more efficient.  Ride bus, save gas.  But only if buses come at a regular schedule and are not over-crowded or hot.

Synchronizing working hours according to a staggered schedule.  This might entail classifying various employees into different classes and figuring out when they are actually needed on-site.  The idea behind this is to control the demand for transportation and making peak traffic loads predictable. Laborers in construction or manufacturing might be made to report earlier since they are the more numerous.  Executives should come at a later schedule.  Certain types of professionals (those involved in medicine, for example) can be made exempt.

Allow telecommuting or working at home.  If you don't have to travel to work, you don't need to use a car or ride on public transport, thereby reducing the demand for fuel.

Establish Vehicle Free Zones within Cities.  I've actually seen executives in Makati drive their car or take a cab from one building to another building just two blocks away.  If you had a Vehicle Free Zone in Makati CBD, you'd eliminate a lot of pollution, healthier executives who will have to walk in between snack filled meetings, and again, a lesser demand for fuel.

Step up the use of renewable fuels.  Right now, gasoline is cut with 10 percent ethanol and diesel is cut with 5 percent bio-diesel.  In Brazil, there are cars running on 100% ethanol.  In the US and Europe, diesel engines are run on 100 percent UCO biodiesel. So, if you can imagine the entire Philippines using 100 percent ethanol or 100 percent UCO biodiesel, we might be practically impervious to fossil fuel price hikes.

Only 18 People Liked President Noynoy's EDSA Anniversary Message

President Benigno S. Aquino's message on the 26th EDSA Anniversary apparently got 18 likes and 924 dislikes.

It was uploaded by RTVM, so I think it's official

You can check out the actual Youtube video here.

A DIFFERENT EDSA STORY by PCIJ has more likes and more views.

 

Reviewing the Choice People Made in 2010

At this juncture, more people are seeing a widening disparity between what was promised in 2010 and what we're experiencing now.

Perhaps, at this point, it would be good to review the other choices that could have been made in 2010.

Various reactions on the PALEA strike

It's been two days since the Philippine Airlines Employees Association engaged in work-stoppage which the Philippine Airlines Management claims led to the 11-hour suspension of airport operations and the cancellation of almost 100 flights arriving and departing from PAL’s hub at NAIA Terminal 2. Further statements from the airline company say that almost 14,000 passengers were affected by the ill timed and illegal protest action that happened at the height of Typhoon Pedring.


Among the more interesting statements I read came from Gerry Rivera, the President of PALEA, who said in a statement that employees weren't able to access their computers after the passwords were changed.


Yet another statement comes from The Big Yellow Cheese himself. President Benigno Aquino the Third was quoted in an article on the Philippine Daily Inquirer that he: 

ordered Palace lawyers to check whether Philippine Airlines employees could be charged in connection with the cancellation of flights triggered by their work stoppage amid heavy rains Tuesday." 

The President said he initially considered the move by the PAL Employees’ Association (Palea) as a form of 'economic sabotage,' but later decided to allow his legal team to look more closely into the work stoppage." 

Mr. Aquino said he had been informed about a previous meeting in which Palea was reported as saying its members had “no plans to embark on such an activity.” He said the group should have issued a 24-hour notice that its members would not go to work. 

“They didn’t do any of those things and there was even a typhoon,” the President said. 

Quoting a provision in the Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008, he said the employees could be “penalized with imprisonment ranging from one year to three years or a fine of not less than P50,000, but not exceeding P500,000 or more as determined by the court.”  

Considered as “acts leading to the disruption of airport services,” he noted, was the refusal of an employee to “perform tasks such as personally manning checking counters, to check in passengers.”

Meanwhile, in the blogosphere, blogger and Journalist Raisa Robles needles PAL over an apparent attempt to mislead people with semantics, specifically with the word "non-core personnel"

I can’t help but notice that a sit-down protest held by PAL’s ground employees yesterday totally paralyzed company operations and caused 14,000 passengers to miss their flights.  

Didn’t PAL keep saying – to justify the sacking of several thousand employees – that what they were out-sourcing were “non-core” activities?  

“Non-core” would mean that these activities are not that vital to their day-to-day operations, right?  

And yet when these “non-core” personnel struck yesterday, company operations were turned into total chaos.

Robles then leaves a link to a previous article where she underscores her abilities an an investigative journalist. Robles essentially tries to contextualize PALEA's strike, somewhat suggesting it is a justifiable recourse despite what the Civil Aviation Act of 2008 says.

American blogger Ben Kritz, who has studied and written about the airline industry, registered a more astute observation in the comment section of yesterday's article:

Divesting business units is a management prerogative.  

Believe me, I'm about the last person in the country to give PAL props for the way they run their business, but the outsourcing plan is completely beyond the purview of labor relations. 

And as bad as PAL's management is, the leadership of PALEA is even more stupid, and has almost willfully made every possible tactical mistake in dealing with this issue for more than a year. 

PALEA has never argued that the separation packages were unfair -- an argument the public might understand and be sympathetic to -- but instead that PAL should not be allowed to go through with the spin-off, which defies basic logic. 

And they wait until the 11th hour, 3 days before the outsourcing plan goes into motion, at the height of a typhoon, to stage an action that tries to earn support for their illogical position by pissing off the flying public. So how'd that work out for you, Mr. or Ms. "We have a right to job security?" Maybe not so well, I'd guess.

In the storm surge of negative reactions against PALEA's strike, noted Tattaward Nominee and Social Media Guru Carlo Ople offered free advice:

Build a Website that tells stories
When PALEA declared a strike the most common reaction you get from people is either “nanaman?” (again?) or “bakit?” (why?). There is no emotional connection with the strike and the audience. Instead of harping on how PAL is allegedly mistreating them they should focus on telling stories of human interest. This can be in the form of stories of the impact of the lay-off on several employees. Take all of these stories and put them on one central platform — a website. Tell the story in different ways: photos, videos, and text. Integrate the website with social media to pump up the chances of the issue spreading to raise awareness. Most importantly put a way for readers to signify their support. A good idea would be making an online petition via Facebook so that it’s as easy as one click 

Charm Offensive
 Another possible idea is to go on a charm offensive. Delight the usual people who take flights in an extraordinary way for a day and generate buzz online and via traditional media (get press to cover). One good example of a campaign is KLM Surprise.

Just this morning, Noemi Dado aka @momblogger tweeted a picture of PAL's counter with remarks that only two were open.

@momblogger tweets: “Off to Cebu for business trip. PAL has only 2 counters open to serve this crowd. ”

The rest of Pinoy Twitterdom registered mixed reactions with the more prominent ones noting the wrong timing of the PAL strike:

@grettelism di ba you used to work for @flyPAL? You think they'll be able to see eye to eye with #PALEA? 

@ZiaAlontoAdiong @khairyalonto @PrincessTarhata it really is unfair. Dapat may job security din sila. #PALEA

@elvinching12  Palea lost public respect! 

@iloveruffag This is the truth, and PAL management paid the media to make PALEA look bad.

 @rosymina Thought the PALEA strike was so untimely. But my bro said the strikers had good timing--they didn't disrupt the flight scheds, Pedring did.

@Olidex  @lesterhallig curious, do you agree with what the palea employees did?
 
@Bai_Ashrafia  @khairyalonto @ZiaAlontoAdiong I think #PALEA asked the CA to invalidate PAL's outsourcing plan. I just don't know how it was resolved. 

@khairyalonto @ZiaAlontoAdiong yes, #PALEA is striking because@flyPAL is going to outsource.

@dakila_ph  When your job is being taken from you, you have no choice but to fight for your family's future. #PALEA

@PrincessTarhata @ZiaAlontoAdiong #PALEA is on a strike because the employees are against the outsourcing plan of @flyPAL

@darwinrona  Now I know #PALEA's issue. It's sad many of them worked 4 PAL for like 20 years so a "contractualization" deal is really unfair to them.

@LovingGreyson Lucio Tan, if you're the one who said to lay off PALEA members, I will loathe you forever and hope you die a slow and painful death.

@chabdru I feel for PALEA employees. It just seems so unfair to them.

@MangBurns did somebody told #PALEA that an employer can terminate employees who participated in illegal strikes? <-- Good point. What were the leaders of PALEA thinking?

@leloyclaudio @yogon the PALEA workers have very few other options. They don't have tenure.

@stellarleni @humanoid1988 Pls understand that #PALEA workers are being illegally forced out of their jobs & have no choice but defend their job.

@ZiaAlontoAdiong @Bai_Ashrafia palea strike is about job security; i believe a lot were laid off and services were outsourced

@marccastrodes Palea has a valid cause but striking at this time of serious natural catastrophe is wrong! They couldn't have picked the worst time. Bad.

@marisolvirola Pls understand that #PALEA workers are being illegally forced out of their jobs & have no choice but defend their job.

@JerbertB @ANCALERTS report not true. PALEA members remain strong,steadfast, committed to fight PAL's bullying.

@itsmeStellaA @ogiediaz ang dapat gawin sa mga PALEA members na yan, lunurin sa baha.

@chrismillora RT @leloyclaudio: For those inconvenienced by the PALEA strike, blame the company and not the workers.
@AnuBaDay RT @leloyclaudio: For those inconvenienced by the PALEA strike, blame the company and not the workers. - I agree.
@rjkarunungan well, it's up to them ... #PAL and #PALEA
27 minutes ago

@filipinadiver Now I know #PALEA's issue. It's sad many of them worked for PAL for like 20 years so a "contractual" deal is really unfair to them.

@VinceCura I feel for palea employees, but seeing a swarm of anti-riot police at naia2 is just not the right image we want to show tourists.

@BigD899 If PALEA was hoping for sympathy with what they did today, good luck. Still, i hope their grievances gets addressed.

@leloyclaudio For those inconvenienced by the PALEA strike, blame the company and not the workers.

@shawievaldez I think it was wrong timing for the PALEA employees to have their strike, on a critical situation pa naman! Wrong move! Tsk tsk tsk

Pnoy should probably stop talking with rebel groups and transport groups

Was it a couple of weeks ago that President Benigno Aquino III flew to Japan and talked with the leader of the MILF?  The objective of the meeting, perhaps just as historical as the Cory Aquino meeting with the MNLF, was to end hostilities between the MILF and the Government of the Philippines (GPH).  Weeks later, Aquino seemed to have been rebuffed by the present standstill of the peace negotiations.

Last week, President Aquino had a meeting with transport groups and at some point, it was announced that a potential transport crisis had been averted.  Friday last week, Piston and other groups rebuffed the President and declared a strike on Monday.

Now, I'm really beginning to worry about what his visit to China really achieved and what his upcoming visit to US and Japan will do.

This picture has absolutely no reference to the topic or personalities discussed in this blog.
It's just a picture of a cute, bald monkey.

US apologizes for displaying inverted Philippine Flag

Apparently, President Noynoy Aquino and his staff failed to notice that the Philippine Flag was displayed with the red field above the blue field.

Section 10 of the Philippine Heraldic Code or RA 8491 states:

The flag, if flown from a flagpole, shall have its blue field on top in time of peace and the red field on top in time of war; if in a hanging position, the blue field shall be to the right (left of the observer) in time of peace, and the red field to the right (left of the observer) in time of war.

Recognizing the gaffe, the Unites States through its embassy here in Manila has admitted the mistake and apologized.

Statement of Rebecca Thompson, spokesperson of the US Embassy, on the inverted Philippine flag on display during the 2nd ASEAN-US Leader’s Meeting

[September 26, 2010]

This was an honest mistake. The U.S. treasures its close relationship and close partnership with the Philippines which were demonstrated this past week during President Aquino’s trip to the U.S., with the signing of the MCC Compact, the US-ASEAN meeting, and the meeting of our two Presidents that followed it.

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President Noynoy Aquino gets flamed for botched Quirino Grandstand hostage rescue

(reposted from the Inquirer)

Aquino censors Facebook page over hostage crisis bashing


Agence France-Presse
First Posted 06:40:00 08/26/2010

Filed Under: Internet, Benigno Aquino III, censorship, Social networking, hostage taking, Grandstand Hostage

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III censored his Facebook page Wednesday after internet users ignored an appeal to stop bashing his government over its handling of the deadly hostage crisis.

Aquino banned slanderous and defamatory comments and posts, swear words and racial insults, as well as "below the belt attacks", from his Facebook account followed by 1.9 million fans.

"We reserve the right to block anyone who fails to follow these rules and report them as spammers to Facebook," he wrote on his site.

Aquino's official Facebook page was set up to promote transparency and his anti-corruption drive, but it has become a repository for angry comments about Monday's hostage crisis in Manila in which eight Hong Kong tourists died.

Posts on his Facebook page have ranged from barbs against bungling policemen to calls for him to quit, and they continued even after Aquino appealed in an initial post on Wednesday morning for them to stop.

"Shame on you and your government. Tender your resignation now," wrote Elfis Lee, a Hong Kong resident.

"Your incompetence of leading your untrained stupid police force caused such a tragedy."

Another comment from Jay Rodrigo apologized on behalf of Filipinos, but had strong words about his feelings towards Aquino, who won the presidency by a landslide in May but whose popularity now appears to be taking a direct hit from the tragedy.

"You see, our president is a retard who has done nothing but smirk in front of the TV cameras after all that has happened," he wrote on the page.

"He's slowly killing our country coz of his stupidity."

Both messages appeared to have been scratched from Aquino's Facebook shortly after he issued his warning on Wednesday afternoon that he would censor the site.

An ex-policeman, Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, seized a busload of 22 Hong Kong tourists and three Filipinos on Monday, triggering an 11-hour standoff that ended in a bloodbath following a police assault.

1920's song Mutya ng Pasig carries a message for present day Philippines

"I was once a princess in the kingdom of Love.

When love died so did my kingdom.

My strength has gone and now lives in your hearts.

If you want me to live again, give me back my love!"

My Tiyo Rudy and Tita Rosie (both opera singers) used to sing "Mutya ng Pasig" on major family occasions in our house in Quiapo built by my Lolo Pablo before the war.

While people milled around and partook of a generous buffet of pochero, kare-kare, lechon, morcon, embutido, and other Filipino food, they'd be treated to the powerful voices of the two "stars" of the clan.

I just found a video clip of that song and if you want to listen to it, here it is:

I think the lyrics are old Tagalog, the kind you'd find in Florante't Laura, and very poetic.  It's kind of tough to translate.

Written in 1926, the Tagalog song was inspired by the Kumintang, a traditional song form from Batangas (a province in the Philippines) with Malayan rhythmic pat.

MUTYA NG PASIG

Music by Nicanor Abelardo

Lyrics by Deogracias del Rosario

Kung gabing ang buwan,

sa langit ay nakadungaw;

Tila ginigising ng habagat

sa kanyang pagtulog sa tubig;

Ang isang larawang puti at busilak,

Na lugay ang buhok na animo'y agos;

Ito ang Mutya ng Pasig,

Ito ang Mutya ng Pasig.

Sa kanyang pagsiklot

sa maputing bula,

Kasabay ang awit,

kasabay ang tula;

Dati akong Paraluman,

Sa Kaharian ng pag-ibig,

Ang pag-ibig ng mamatay,

Naglaho rin ang kaharian.

Ang lakas ko ay nalipat,

Sa puso't dibdib ng lahat;

Kung nais ninyong akoy mabuhay,

Pag-ibig ko'y inyong ibigay

Here's somewhat of a literal and abbreviated translation of the song's lyrics in English.

On a night when the moon peeks from the heavens,

when the gentle breeze tries to awaken her from her slumber.

A vision of purity, her hair flows like a wave.

She is the muse of Pasig, whose every gesture is song and poetry.

(the muse speaks)

"I was once a princess in the kingdom of Love.

When love died so did my kingdom.

My strength has gone and now lives in your hearts.

If you want me to live again, give me back my love!"

I think the last two lines bring a very poignant message for all of us who want to see the Pasig River return to its former beauty.

Philippine plastic sachets and plastic bag pollution

My in-laws were victims of Ondoy floods last year.

Their house is Provident Village in Marikina City was buried in a thick layer of mud.  The house was virtually gutted by the strong currents and all their possessions were destroyed.

It is quite difficult to estimate the value of what they lost in terms of pesos.  How can you put a price on decades of memories and keepsakes that were destroyed?  How can you put a price on the sense of security they lost when they found themselves fearing for their lives inside the very home that was supposed to shelter them from harm?  How can you put a price on the trauma that they experienced?

In the terrible hours of Ondoy, when my wife and I knew for certain that the lives of her father, mother, sister, and household help were in danger, there were fleeting moments of lucidity in between spasms of absolute horror when we wondered about what could have caused the flooding.

La Nina and the deforestation of the mountains of Rizal came to mind along with images of esteros and sewers blocked with plastic garbage.

Perhaps it was the confluence of all these things that brought about Ondoy.

With the typhoon season now in full swing, perhaps one of the more doable things right now is to make sure that the storm drains and esteros in Marikina are free and clear.

The dredging and cleaning of storm drains and esteros only provides a temporary solution.

This becomes particularly evident hours or days after the first heavy rains fall as a fresh slew of garbage (mostly plastics) find their way again into storm drains and esteros.

Over the longer term, I think part of the solution to the perennial clogging of storm drains and esteros as well as the problem of overflowing land fills is the reduction of plastic waste.

Plastic waste such as plastic sachets, plastic pouches and plastic grocery bags.

In Ghana (as referenced to in the previous post), the government proposed a levy or tax on producers and consumers of products with plastic packaging.

Here is a short description of the problems caused by plastic packaging in Ghana:

In Ghana, per capita generation of plastic wastes stands at 0.016–0.035 kg/person/day, and plastics make up between 8–9% of the component materials in the waste stream (Fobil, 2000). Now most products are packaged in polyethylene films, which form about 70% of the plastic waste in the municipal waste stream. According to Fobil (2000), the plastic materials in commerce across the sub-region include low-density polyethylene (LDPE) commonly called polyethylene films, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and other plastics such as polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

---

Effects of plastic littering in Ghana

The plastic wastes have virtually choked the drainage system in the urban centres of the country to such an extent that it takes only the slightest of rainfall to precipitate floods in major cities like Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi. Indeed, as captured in the Daily Graphic of March 16, 2005, “the recent rains in Accra exposed the havoc being caused by plastic waste. Just an average of one or two hours of rain in Accra on March 15, 2005 led to flooding in certain parts of the city. The same intensity and duration of rain, a decade ago, would not have resulted in flooding”. Although different factors, such as erection of buildings and structures in water courses, have contributed to the increased incidence of flooding, lately, the significant cause of flooding in cities in Ghana is linked to the tremendous deterioration in urban drainage systems, most of which is attributable to plastic wastes blocking the drainage systems.

I haven't as of yet found a formal study on how much plastic waste we generate here in Metro Manila, but I'd say that it is a lot.  Going by some rough figuring, here's something to consider....

Giant consumer goods manufacturer Unilever claims that every day, it sells 160 million products.  Assuming that the sales volume of the other manufacturing giants, Procter & Gamble and Nestle is in the vicinity of Unilever’s, that would be some 500 million products sold daily.

Let’s peg a conservative estimate that 10 percent of all products sold are in plastic sachets, then that’s 50 million.  That’s 50 million plastic sachets and pouches that will eventually find its way to our oceans, waterways, landfills and drainage systems ready to clog the free flow of water and trigger floods or kill marine wildlife.

But it is really reasonable to think that of the 500 million products sold daily by the three giants, only 10 percent of are in tiny plastic sachets?

This only means that each day, hundreds of millions of plastic sachets will find its way to dumps and waterways where it will impose its staggering environmental impact, even as the giant manufacturers laugh all the way to the bank and dilly dally on efforts to address the looming ecological disaster.

Cliche’ as it may sound, plastic sachets and pouches mostly used to package personal care products like Colgate, Safeguard, Axe, Sunsilk, Dove Creamsilk and recently, even food items such as Best Foods and Lady’s Choice spreads, and  Knorr are not biodegradable and because millions and millions of them are sold each day, the same number of empty packages add to the already mounting pile of deadly rubbish.

Those that are dumped into oceans become marine debris and are often ingested by marine species or pollute their habitat leading to a decline in their population.

Sadly, one of the manufacturers, Unilever found a way to make hollow blocks and other construction material out of sachets and other residual materials, but could not go the extra mile.

The British - Dutch firm said that while the project was successful, it could not find a way to effectively collect all discarded plastic sachets from households, while the proposal to encourage consumers to collect the same and surrender it to retailers in exchange for rebates and other rewards would be too cumbersome.

Such a shame.  Had the manufacturers been more concerned with the environment rather than just fat profits, the sachet menace would not have escalated.

A survey by Greenpeace a few years back brought to light the magnitude of the plastics problem. 

On a clean - up drive of Manila Bay a few years back, Greenpeace reported that 76 percent of all rubbish retrieved were plastic materials.  Of the number, 51 percent were plastic bags, 19 percent were plastic sachets and pouches and 6 percent were styrofoam and hard plastics.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) also came out with a report that almost  6.4 million tons of garbage are dumped into oceans each year, again with plastics making up the bulk.

In 2005, UNEP estimated that there are around 12,000 to 13,000 pieces of floating plastic debris per square kilometer in the oceans worldwide.  A year later, it reported that the volume of floating plastic debris has ballooned to 46,000 pieces per square mile or 18,000 pieces per square kilometer.

With the advent of more aggressive marketing of consumer goods in sachets, we can just imagine the current volume of plastic debris pollution our oceans and threatening one of our major sources of food and livelihood.

In the summer months, tens of thousands of Filipinos troop to beaches and coastal areas to enjoy the fresh breeze, cool down and recharge on lazy afternoons. 

Unfortunately, these people also bring with them sachets of their favorite Sunsilk, Creamsilk, Clear, Safeguard, Colgate,Cheezee and Best Foods mayonnaise and eventually leave them behind on the shores, open trash cans and will be swept away by winds to the sea where they will start wreaking havoc on marine life for years.

Reports or studies on the amount or volume of plastic sachets dumped into landfills are scarce, but the ones conducted by Greenpeace and UNEP on the growing volume of the sachets in dumps and oceans seem to jive with the environmental signs and symptoms.

Too much plastic sachets in our drainage systems and waterways will trigger killer floods and result in dwindling harvest of marine resources worldwide.  We already had Ondoy last year.  Pakistan India, China and pretty much the rest of the world reel from flash floods every now and then.

The catch of commercial and municipal fishermen have been steadily declining over the past decades, too. 

There is no exact headcount for all the plastic sachets disposed into our environment, but we know they’re there.  And the global signs and symptoms confirm it. 

A concerted and sustained effort by consumers, and especially manufacturers in efforts to reduce waste and recycle plastic sachets is the only way the world can dodge the an ecological disaster ironically induced by a product packaging innovation its proponents described as a life-improving innovation.   

President Noynoy Aquino's plan to revive the Pasig River, plastic sachets, and flooding in Metro Manila

After writing the previous post on President Noynoy Aquino's visit to an estero near Malacanang, I found myself unfortunate enough to experience something that underlines just how important it is that the President makes good on his promise to revive the Pasig river.

Yesterday afternoon, I was awakened from a rather long nap by a frantic cellphone call from my wife.  She hollered over the sound of the rain and passing cars that it was raining hard and she couldn't get a taxi cab home.

So, roused from my sleep, I trundled over to the car and proceeded to drive towards Tomas Morato on E. Rodriguez.

At the front of what used to be called Q.I. or Quezon Institute, traffic slowed to a crawl.  The reason? Most of the street was flooded from the gate of QI to the corner of G. Araneta.

Now, this confounded me a bit because the corner of G. Araneta and E. Rodriguez is just a short walk away to a rather large tributary of the Pasig River.  Now, ordinary figuring tells me that this corner shouldn't be flooded because the storm drains in this area should be able to dump the flood water directly into the tributary just a few meters away.

I was able to look at the tributary as I drove past it on E. Rodriguez.  From the looks of it, it seemed that the level of water flowing through it was not unusually high, leading me to think that the drains leading to the tributary from E. Rodriguez was blocked.

Normally, when people are asked about what block storm drains, they normally say that storm drains are blocked by compacted mud or silt.  However, a friend who happens to be an engineer, pointed out that mud and silt normally flows along with the storm water.  What causes the blockage is not compacted mud or silt but debris and other solid waste -- the most prevalent of which are plastic grocery bags, plastic pounces and sachets.

The corner of E. Rodriguez and G. Araneta is where you can find Puregold Supermarket (a major source of plastic grocery bags), several subdivisions, and at least two major squatter colonies.  

It doesn't take too much figuring to come up with the idea that perhaps the people who buy their groceries at Puregold eventually discard plastic bags and wrappers in garbage bins which later gets picked through by people in squatter colonies for recyclables that they can sell.

Plastic bags, plastic pouches, and sachet wrappers are sometimes discarded all over the street after garbage pickers are through with them.  These things eventually end up in storm drains and voila! Storm drains get blocked.

While the major cause of Pasig River's pollution is untreated waste water from households, commercial establishments, and factories,  another major source is solid waste in the form of plastic packaging.

The plastic packaging that blocks storm drains, esteros, and even some parts of Pasig river tributaries contribute to the worsening of the pollution.  Stuck up waste water eventually becomes so concentrated with pollutants that when it is finally carried into the Pasig river, the natural processes that normally lead to its degradation is overwhelmed.  Plastics can also, at times, form a foundation on which algae and after that weeds can grow -- further choking esteros.

Now, I don't know just how serious President Noynoy Aquino is about reviving Pasig River is.  

Perhaps one of signs that he is serious about cleaning up the Pasig river would be if he comes up with an order to that would curb plastic pollution at its source.

In searching for possible solutions to plastic pollution on the internet, I came across what appears to be a paper on it.  Titled "The Dilemmas of Plastic Wastes in a Developing Economy: Proposals for a Sustainable Management Approach for Ghana", it proposes ways to get companies that use plastic packaging to pay for cleaning up the mess they create.

Here is a section of that paper:

Recent Government response

Realising the need for some structured plastic waste collection process for addressing the plastic waste menace in the country, the Ministry of Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City together with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly proposed that plastic waste producers in the city of Accra should bear the cost of collection of the plastics, declaring a levy of 11,000 Ghanaian cedis (about 1.2 US dollars) per kilogram of plastic raw material.

...

Given that any undertaking or activity that generates residuals into the environment and/or degrades the environment should contribute to environmental cleaning under the “Polluter-Pays” arrangement, such undertakings and activities have a social and corporate responsibility to contribute to a plastic collection and environmental cleaning tax fund (pollution responsibility charges). As such, for the retrieval of plastic wastes from the environment in Ghana, a plastic polluter pays (PPP) levy system is advocated. This calls for an appropriate incremental levy system (perhaps per kilogram of plastic) that takes into account the margin of plastic pollution to be placed on all actors.

A weighted proportion of the levy should be borne by producers of the plastics (production pollution levy) and a correspond-ing weighted proportion also borne by the consumers who patronise the plastics or plastic packaged products (consumption pollution levy). Under this incremental levy system, it is possible to estimate the production capacity of the plastic producer and then calculate on monthly basis. This production pollution levy will be a fraction of its marginal profit and the quantity of plastics produced by the producer, which then can return into the environment to cause environmental pollution, if uncollected. Now, consumers of plastic products incur consumption pollution charges by buying plastics or plastic packaged products.

This will be a certain percentage of the production pollution charges calculated based upon the rate of consumption. The consumer PPP levy is meant to instil discipline in consumers regarding the way they dispose off plastics and this levy is retrievable by the consumer based on a tax refund system (or cash-back), which is part of the proposed levy system. The administration of the PPP levy system would be such that several plastic collection points are set up in various towns and cities across the country. This should give plastic consumers or thrash pickers an opportunity to be given cash back when they return plastic wastes to any of

these points. Cash back may be dependent on a kilogram of plastic returned or any other acceptable calculation. It should be convenient for the populace to reach these plastic collection points, which can be established both in residential and commercial places, as well as in some supermarkets. In this case, when one drinks, for instance sachet iced-water, there is financial motivation to keep the sachets and return them in exchange for cash-back on the product.

Similarly, people would be encouraged to return their black plastic carrier bags to the collection points for some cash back. Otherwise, anybody who collects plastic wastes from the floor and takes back to the collection point would enjoy the corresponding cash back. If the plastic wastes are not returned to the collection point, then city/town authorities have the responsibility to use the consumer PPP levy on the plastics to pay scavengers to collect these wastes from the corridors of the cities and towns. In effect consumers of plastic products would bear a portion for the collection of the plastic wastes. The consumers, however, have the choice not to bear this levy when they return the plastic waste to the collection point. This kind of system has already proven to work informally in many cities in sub-Sahara Africa as some low income groups often pick-up potentially useful waste materials from the curbside for resale to the public.

PNoy creates PCOO with EO4... Communications is supposed to be two way street.

I just learned that  President Benigno S. Aquino III signed Executive Order No. 4, renaming the Office of the Press Secretary as the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and creating the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO).

Any way, I sorta remember PNoy saying that he will be creating a feedback mechanism whereby people can provide PNoy information, suggestions, and complaints.

I looked at the listed functions of the PCOO and the PCDSPO, and there seems to be no explicit mention of a mechanism through which the people can give PNoy their piece of mind.

Anyway, here is part of the Press Release which lists the functions of the PCDSPO:

The order defines the functions of PCDSPO as:

a) Coordinate the crafting, formulation, development and enhancement of the messaging system under the OP;

b) Design and recommend responses to issues that arise on a daily basis; ensure consistency in the messages issued by the Executive Department;

c) Assist in the formulation and implementation of new media strategies for the OP; assist in research and development of new media instruments;

d) Liaise with the Malacanang Records office

e) Control and supervise the conduct of market research, monitoring public opinion and gathering, use and analysis of other relevant data as may be necessary;

f) Formulate editorial guidelines and policies for state media;

g) Ensure consistency in the implementation of the corporate identity of the Executive Department;

h) Actas custodian of the institutional memory of the OP, which includes the supervision and control of the Presidential Museum and Library and liaison with the Malacanang Records Office;

i) Perform editorial functions for the Official Gazette;

j) Perform such other functions as may be directed by the President.

Fixing the real problem... It's me, not PNoy.

Last night, I had planned on waking up early to finish a blog post regarding my reaction to President Noynoy Aquino's first SONA.  However, after checking my Facebook account, I found that I had been tagged in Ben Kritz' note on Facebook and this has turned my mind on a different track.

Here is Ben's note:

As I was sitting and letting my mind stretch out and run this evening, a thought occurred to me. Noynoy Aquino is not really the problem here: For all his incompetence, demonstrated lack of understanding of priorities, vindictiveness, and lack of statesmanship, he is not the source nor hardly an aggravating factor of the mess this country is in, but rather the ultimate expression of its dysfunction. When the machinery fails to operate correctly, or operate at all, one can hardly blame the bent screwdriver or wrong-sized wrench used to try to fix it. In essence, Aquino is the human equivalent of someone trying to hammer a 15-mm socket onto a 5/8 inch headbolt -- the best result is going to be something completely half-assed. It's not the socket's fault; blame the lazy mechanic.

Does that mean I believe Aquino should be off the hook for criticism? Absolutely not. He asked for the job and fought hard for it, no matter what he says about "being chosen by the people". He deserves every bit of critical micro-examination everyone can muster. But consider this: what do you do when you have the wrong or a broken tool? You chuck it aside and pick up the RIGHT tool. No amount of constructive criticism is ever going to change 15-mm N/A into the 15.875-mm he needs to be to fit properly on that 5/8" bolt. So whatever criticism -- and God knows there's a lot -- that can be made of him should be made in such a fashion as to address the real problem: the messed-up cultural system and mindset that said, "Eh, we're out of nails, let's just hammer a screw in instead," and put him into office. When we can successfully make it clear to the people that N/A's failures are actually THEIR failures, we will be well on our way to solutions.

Here is my comment on Ben's Note:

In first year highschool, back when cory aquino had just been installed as president, there was a resurgence in organizing student councils and part of the whole exercise was electing classroom presidents. Now, my classroom adviser being a miserable and mean old fart led the process of electing. For some reason, in his twisted mind, he blurted out to the class that they should elect someone big as president. Now, in my class, i was perhaps, the biggest kid and most of my classmates, being hopelessly preconditioned to obey 'authority' figures like zombies by the educational system, did as they were told. I got to be president of the class, a responsibility which i hardly understood and i did a half assed job.

I could have had a hand in articulating student issues and having them resolved. But being ill equipped, i ended up as the class adviser's boy - following his orders, which included keeping the class quiet whenever he decided to step out in the middle of class, selling raffle tickets, erasing the blackboard, et cetera.

Applied to our current situation, the classroom adviser is the co-opted press, the unenlightened economic elite, and opportunist politicians.

Guess what these people want? Oh... Well...

Oddly enough, this sort of reminds me of a series of books by Douglas Adams that I had read through back in college.

The "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is part of a four part "trilogy" that I had pored through over and over through out college.  First because it took me a while to get all the jokes and second, because the jokes were funny in different ways each time I re-read it.

One part of the book that sort of reflects on Ben's thoughts about President Noynoy today and my recollection of being Class President in first year highschool is the 42 puzzle.

Through archival recordings, he relates the story of a race of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings who built a computer named Deep Thought to calculate the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. When the answer was revealed to be 42, Deep Thought had predicted that another computer, more powerful than itself would be made and designed by it to calculate the question for the answer.

Now, this stresses on one idea that the Get Realists and I agree on.  It is the idea that one's conclusion of what the problem is, is perhaps the most crucial phase in one's search for a solution.

What is the ultimate question for the
ultimate answer to life, the universe,
 and everything?

The number 42, in my personal lexicon, is more of Douglas Adams way of saying that this entire planet of humans is clueless about what they are for and will only get a glimpse of their true purpose just a few seconds before complete annihilation.

Applied to this country, the Philippines, I think that its people has bungled one way or another through finding the real problem.

Four or five hundred years ago, perhaps the inhabitants of these islands thought the problem was to stop the European invasion.  Rizal thought it was the unequal treatment of Indios and Spanish colonizers (the first Filipinos).  Aguinaldo thought it was the rule of the Spanish and Sakay thought it was the rule of the Americans.  Several Filipino politicians (descendants of the first Filipinos, Japanese Collaborators and partners of the American regime in the Philippines) professed the idea that being an American colony was the problem and so placed themselves in pivotal roles essentially as 'brokers' of Philippine Independence.

After being granted its so-called Independence, Philippine leaders have at consistently professed poverty and corruption (sometimes one more than the other) as the real problems.

What they didn't say is that corruption, in their Lexicon, is really a means of the rich to protect their business interests and vast stores of wealth.  More to the point, what the economic and political elite really mean by stopping corruption is to put an end to having to pay people off so that they can continue what they normally do -- which is to smuggle or misdeclare imported goods, not pay the right taxes or pay as little of it as possible, abuse labor, sell things that are bad for the people, not follow laws that cut into their earnings, swindle one another, etcetera.

Corruption is hardly a concern of the poor, very few of whom actually appreciate what corruption really is and understand the concept of corruption that does not necessarily involve stealing actual money from the Philippine National Treasury -- which, much as it may shock most people, isn't a government office with a huge vault full of cash.

One way of defining corruption more truthfully is that it is the willful and deliberate act of putting one's self interest above that and to the detriment of the common good.

Common Good or the Welfare of All Concerned should be one of the chief values that should guide all actions. (Of course, the theory in Beautiful Mind comes to mind, wherein individuals acting in their self-interest  produces beneficial effects for other individuals.  However, this can only happen if the behavior of all the individuals are uniformly predictable and consistently function within a range of parameters.)

The thing is, the Philippines will not be able to end corruption until a sufficient number (perhaps all) of Filipinos figure out what Common Good is.

So far, the odds of this happening within the next six years is 42 to 90,000,000 and counting.

State of the Nation Address of President Benigno Noynoy S. Aquino III Jul 26, 2010

State of the Nation Address of His Excellency
Benigno S. Aquino III
President of the Philippines
to the Congress of the Philippines
Session Hall of the House of Representatives
July 26, 2010

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte; Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile; Vice President Jejomar Binay; Chief Justice Renato Corona; Former Presidents Fidel Valdez Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada; members of the House of Representatives and the Senate; distinguished members of the diplomatic corps; my fellow workers in government;

Mga minamahal kong kababayan:

Sa bawat sandali po ng pamamahala ay nahaharap tayo sa isang sangandaan.

Sa isang banda po ay ang pagpili para sa ikabubuti ng taumbayan. Ang pagtanaw sa interes ng nakakarami; ang pagkapit sa prinsipyo; at ang pagiging tapat sa sinumpaan nating tungkulin bilang lingkod-bayan. Ito po ang tuwid na daan.

Sa kabilang banda ay ang pag-una sa pansariling interes. Ang pagpapaalipin sa pulitikal na konsiderasyon, at pagsasakripisyo ng kapakanan ng taumbayan. Ito po ang baluktot na daan.

Matagal pong naligaw ang pamahalaan sa daang baluktot. Araw-araw po, lalong lumilinaw sa akin ang lawak ng problemang ating namana. Damang-dama ko ang bigat ng aking responsibilidad.

Sa unang tatlong linggo ng aming panunungkulan, marami po kaming natuklasan. Nais ko pong ipahayag sa inyo ang iilan lamang sa mga namana nating suliranin at ang ginagawa naming hakbang para lutasin ang mga ito.

Sulyap lamang po ito; hindi pa ito ang lahat ng problemang haharapin natin. Inilihim at sadyang iniligaw ang sambayanan sa totoong kalagayan ng ating bansa.

Sa unang anim na buwan ng taon, mas malaki ang ginastos ng gobyerno kaysa sa pumasok na kita. Lalong lumaki ang deficit natin, na umakyat na sa 196.7 billion pesos. Sa target na kuleksyon, kinapos tayo ng 23.8 billion pesos; ang tinataya namang gastos, nalagpasan natin ng 45.1 billion pesos.

Ang budget po sa 2010 ay 1.54 trillion pesos.

Nasa isandaang bilyong piso o anim at kalahating porsyento na lang ng kabuuan ang malaya nating magagamit para sa nalalabing anim na buwan ng taong ito.
Halos isang porsyento na lang po ng kabuuang budget ang natitira para sa bawat buwan.
Saan naman po dinala ang pera?

Naglaan ng dalawang bilyong piso na Calamity Fund bilang paghahanda para sa mga kalamidad na hindi pa nangyayari. Napakaliit na nga po ng pondong ito, ngunit kapapasok pa lang natin sa panahon ng baha at bagyo, 1.4 billion pesos o sitenta porsyento na ang nagastos.

Sa kabuuan ng 108 million pesos para sa lalawigan ng Pampanga, 105 million pesos nito ay napunta sa iisang distrito lamang.

Samantala, ang lalawigan ng Pangasinan na sinalanta ng Pepeng ay nakatanggap ng limang milyong piso lamang para sa pinsalang idinulot ng bagyong Cosme, na nangyari noong 2008 pa.

Ibinigay po ang pondo ng Pampanga sa buwan ng eleksyon, pitong buwan pagkatapos ng Ondoy at Pepeng. Paano kung bumagyo bukas? Inubos na ang pondo nito para sa bagyong nangyari noong isang taon pa. Pagbabayaran ng kinabukasan ang kasakiman ng nakaraan

Ganyan din po ang nangyari sa pondo ng MWSS. Kamakailan lamang, pumipila ang mga tao para lang makakuha ng tubig. Sa kabila nito, minabuti pa ng liderato ng MWSS na magbigay ng gantimpala sa sarili kahit hindi pa nababayaran ang pensyon ng mga retiradong empleyado.
Noong 2009, ang buong payroll ng MWSS ay 51.4 million pesos. Pero hindi lang naman po ito ang sahod nila; may mga additional allowances at benefits pa sila na aabot sa 160.1 million pesos.

Sa madaling sabi, nakatanggap sila ng 211.5 million pesos noong nakaraang taon.

Beinte-kuwatro porsyento lang nito ang normal na sahod, at sitenta'y sais porsyento ang dagdag.
Ang karaniwang manggagawa hanggang 13th month pay plus cash gift lang ang nakukuha.

Sa MWSS, aabot sa katumbas ng mahigit sa tatlumpung buwan ang sahod kasama na ang lahat ng mga bonuses at allowances na nakuha nila.

Mas matindi po ang natuklasan natin sa pasahod ng kanilang Board of Trustees. Tingnan po natin ang mga allowances na tinatanggap nila:

Umupo ka lang sa Board of Trustees at Board Committee meeting, katorse mil na. Aabot ng nobenta'y otso mil ito kada buwan. May grocery incentive pa sila na otsenta mil kada taon.

Hindi lang iyon: may mid-year bonus, productivity bonus, anniversary bonus, year-end bonus, at Financial Assistance. May Christmas bonus na, may Additional Christmas Package pa. Kada isa sa mga ito, nobenta'y otso mil.

Sa suma total po, aabot ang lahat ng dalawa't kalahating milyong piso kada taon sa bawat miyembro ng Board maliban sa pakotse, technical assistance, at pautang. Uulitin ko po. Lahat ng ito ay ibinibigay nila sa kanilang mga sarili habang hindi pa nababayaran ang mga pensyon ng kanilang mga retirees.

Pati po ang La Mesa Watershed ay hindi nila pinatawad. Para magkaroon ng tamang supply ng tubig, kailangang alagaan ang mga watershed. Sa watershed, puno ang kailangan.

Pati po iyon na dapat puno ang nakatayo, tinayuan nila ng bahay para sa matataas na opisyal ng MWSS.
Hindi naman sila agad maaalis sa puwesto dahil kabilang sila sa mga Midnight Appointees ni dating Pangulong Arroyo.

Iniimbestigahan na natin ang lahat nang ito. Kung mayroon pa silang kahit kaunting hiya na natitira - sana kusa na lang silang magbitiw sa puwesto.

Pag-usapan naman po natin ang pondo para sa imprastruktura. Tumukoy ang DPWH ng dalawandaan apatnapu't anim na priority safety projects na popondohan ng Motor Vehicle Users Charge. Mangangailangan po ito ng budget na 425 million pesos.
Ang pinondohan po, dalawampu't walong proyekto lang. Kinalimutan po ang dalawandaan at labing walong proyekto at pinalitan ng pitumpung proyekto na wala naman sa plano. Ang hininging 425 million pesos, naging 480 million pesos pa, lumaki lalo dahil sa mga proyektong sa piling-piling mga benepisyaryo lang napunta.

Mga proyekto po itong walang saysay, hindi pinag-aralan at hindi pinaghandaan, kaya parang kabuteng sumusulpot.

Tapos na po ang panahon para dito. Sa administrasyon po natin, walang kota-kota, walang tongpats, ang pera ng taumbayan ay gagastusin para sa taumbayan lamang.

Meron pa po tayong natuklasan. Limang araw bago matapos ang termino ng nakaraang administrasyon, nagpautos silang maglabas ng 3.5 billion pesos para sa rehabilitasyon ng mga nasalanta nina Ondoy at Pepeng.

Walumpu't anim na proyekto ang paglalaanan dapat nito na hindi na sana idadaan sa public bidding. Labingsiyam sa mga ito na nagkakahalaga ng 981 million pesos ang muntik nang makalusot. Hindi pa nailalabas ang Special Allotment Release Order ay pirmado na ang mga kontrata.

Buti na lang po ay natuklasan at pinigilan ito ni Secretary Rogelio Singson ng DPWH. Ngayon po ay dadaan na ang kabuuan ng 3.5 billion pesos sa tapat na bidding, at magagamit na ang pondo na ito sa pagbibigay ng lingap sa mga nawalan ng tahanan dahil kina Ondoy at Pepeng.

Pag-usapan naman natin ang nangyari sa NAPOCOR. Noong 2001 hanggang 2004, pinilit ng gobyerno ang NAPOCOR na magbenta ng kuryente nang palugi para hindi tumaas ang presyo. Tila ang dahilan: pinaghahandaan na nila ang eleksyon.

Dahil dito, noong 2004, sumagad ang pagkakabaon sa utang ng NAPOCOR. Napilitan ang pambansang gobyerno na sagutin ang dalawandaang bilyong pisong utang nito.

Ang inakala ng taumbayan na natipid nila sa kuryente ay binabayaran din natin mula sa kaban ng bayan. May gastos na tayo sa kuryente, binabayaran pa natin ang dagdag na pagkakautang ng gobyerno.
Kung naging matino ang pag-utang, sana'y nadagdagan ang ating kasiguruhan sa supply ng kuryente. Pero ang desisyon ay ibinatay sa maling pulitika, at hindi sa pangangailangan ng taumbayan. Ang taumbayan, matapos pinagsakripisyo ay lalo pang pinahirapan.

Ganito rin po ang nangyari sa MRT. Sinubukan na namang bilhin ang ating pagmamahal. Pinilit ang operator na panatilihing mababa ang pamasahe.

Hindi tuloy nagampanan ang garantiyang ibinigay sa operator na mababawi nila ang kanilang puhunan. Dahil dito, inutusan ang Landbank at Development Bank of the Philippines na bilhin ang MRT.
Ang pera ng taumbayan, ipinagpalit sa isang naluluging operasyon.

Dumako naman po tayo sa pondo ng NFA.

Noong 2004: 117,000 metric tons ang pagkukulang ng supply ng Pilipinas. Ang binili nila, 900,000 metric tons. Kahit ulitin mo pa ng mahigit pitong beses ang pagkukulang, sobra pa rin ang binili nila.

Noong 2007: 589,000 metric tons ang pagkukulang ng supply sa Pilipinas. Ang binili nila, 1.827 million metric tons. Kahit ulitin mo pa ng mahigit tatlong beses ang pagkukulang, sobra na naman ang binili nila.

Ang masakit nito, dahil sobra-sobra ang binibili nila taun-taon, nabubulok lang pala sa mga kamalig ang bigas, kagaya ng nangyari noong 2008.

Hindi po ba krimen ito, na hinahayaan nilang mabulok ang bigas, sa kabila ng apat na milyong Pilipinong hindi kumakain ng tatlong beses sa isang araw?

Ang resulta nito, umabot na sa 171.6 billion pesos ang utang ng NFA noong Mayo ng taong ito.

Ang tinapon na ito, halos puwede na sanang pondohan ang mga sumusunod:

Ang budget ng buong Hudikatura, na 12.7 billion pesos sa taong ito.

Ang Conditional Cash Transfers para sa susunod na taon, na nagkakahalaga ng 29.6 billion pesos.

Ang lahat ng classroom na kailangan ng ating bansa, na nagkakahalaga ng 130 billion pesos.

Kasuklam-suklam ang kalakarang ito. Pera na, naging bato pa.

Narinig po ninyo kung paano nilustay ang kaban ng bayan. Ang malinaw po sa ngayon: ang anumang pagbabago ay magmumula sa pagsiguro natin na magwawakas na ang pagiging maluho at pagwawaldas.

Kaya nga po mula ngayon: ititigil na natin ang paglulustay sa salapi ng bayan. Tatanggalin natin ang mga proyektong mali.

Ito po ang punto ng tinatawag nating zero-based approach sa ating budget. Ang naging kalakaran po, taun-taon ay inuulit lamang ang budget na puno ng tagas. Dadagdagan lang nang konti, puwede na.
Sa susunod na buwan ay maghahain tayo ng budget na kumikilala nang tama sa mga problema, at magtutuon din ng pansin sa tamang solusyon.

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CHARGES WILL BE FILED EACH WEEK AGAINST TAX EVADERS, SMUGGLERS
TAX EVASION

Ilan lang ito sa mga natuklasan nating problema. Heto naman po ang ilang halimbawa ng mga hakbang na ginagawa natin.

Nandiyan po ang kaso ng isang may-ari ng sanglaan. Bumili siya ng sasakyang tinatayang nasa dalawampu't anim na milyong piso ang halaga.

Kung kaya mong bumili ng Lamborghini, bakit hindi mo kayang magbayad ng buwis?

Nasampahan na po ito ng kaso. Sa pangunguna nina Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, BIR Commissioner Kim Henares at Customs Commissioner Lito Alvarez, bawat linggo po ay may bago tayong kasong isinasampa kontra sa mga smuggler at sa mga hindi nagbabayad ng tamang buwis.

Natukoy na rin po ang salarin sa mga kaso nina Francisco Baldomero, Jose Daguio at Miguel Belen, tatlo sa anim na insidente ng extralegal killings mula nang umupo tayo.

Singkuwenta porsyento po ng mga insidente ng extralegal killings ang patungo na sa kanilang resolusyon.
Ang natitira pong kalahati ay hindi natin tatantanan ang pag-usig hanggang makamit ang katarungan.

Pananagutin natin ang mga mamamatay-tao. Pananagutin din natin ang mga corrupt sa gobyerno.
Nagsimula nang mabuo ang ating Truth Commission, sa pangunguna ni dating Chief Justice Hilario Davide. Hahanapin natin ang katotohanan sa mga nangyari diumanong katiwalian noong nakaraang siyam na taon.
Sa loob ng linggong ito, pipirmahan ko ang kauna-unahang Executive Order na nagtatalaga sa pagbuo nitong Truth Commission.

Kung ang sagot sa kawalan ng katarungan ay pananagutan, ang sagot naman sa kakulangan natin sa pondo ay mga makabago at malikhaing paraan para tugunan ang mga pagkatagal-tagal nang problema.
Napakarami po ng ating pangangailangan: mula sa edukasyon, imprastruktura, pangkalusugan, pangangailangan ng militar at kapulisan, at marami pang iba. Hindi kakasya ang pondo para mapunan ang lahat ng ito.

Kahit gaano po kalaki ang kakulangan para mapunan ang mga listahan ng ating pangangailangan, ganado pa rin ako dahil marami nang nagpakita ng panibagong interes at kumpyansa sa Pilipinas.

Ito ang magiging solusyon: mga Public-Private Partnerships. Kahit wala pa pong pirmahang nangyayari dito, masasabi kong maganda ang magiging bunga ng maraming usapin ukol dito.

May mga nagpakita na po ng interes, gustong magtayo ng expressway na mula Maynila, tatahak ng Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, hanggang sa dulo ng Cagayan Valley nang hindi gugugol ang estado kahit na po piso.

Sa larangan ng ating Sandatahang Lakas:

Mayroon po tayong 36,000 nautical miles ng baybayin. Ang mayroon lamang tayo: tatlumpu't dalawang barko. Itong mga barkong ito, panahon pa ni MacArthur.

May nagmungkahi sa atin, ito ang proposisyon: uupahan po nila ang headquarters ng Navy sa Roxas Boulevard at ang Naval Station sa Fort Bonifacio.

Sagot po nila ang paglipat ng Navy Headquarters sa Camp Aguinaldo. Agaran, bibigyan tayo ng isandaang milyong dolyar. At dagdag pa sa lahat nang iyan, magsusubi pa sila sa atin ng kita mula sa mga negosyong itatayo nila sa uupahan nilang lupa.

Sa madali pong sabi: Makukuha natin ang kailangan natin, hindi tatayo gagastos, kikita pa tayo.

Marami na pong nag-alok at nagmungkahi sa atin, mula lokal hanggang dayuhang negosyante, na magpuno ng iba't ibang pangangailangan.

Mula sa mga public-private partnerships na ito, lalago ang ating ekonomiya, at bawat Pilipino makikinabang. Napakaraming sektor na matutulungan nito.

Maipapatayo na po ang imprastrukturang kailangan natin para palaguin ang turismo.

Sa agrikultura, makapagtatayo na tayo ng mga grains terminals, refrigeration facilities, maayos na road networks at post-harvest facilities.

Kung maisasaayos natin ang ating food supply chain sa tulong ng pribadong sektor, sa halip na mag-angkat tayo ay maari na sana tayong mangarap na mag-supply sa pandaigdigang merkado.

Kung maitatayo ang minumungkahi sa ating railway system, bababa ang presyo ng bilihin. Mas mura, mas mabilis, mas maginhawa, at makakaiwas pa sa kotong cops at mga kumokotong na rebelde ang mga bumibiyahe.

Paalala lang po: una sa ating plataporma ang paglikha ng mga trabaho, at nanggagaling ang trabaho sa paglago ng industriya. Lalago lamang ang industriya kung gagawin nating mas malinis, mas mabilis, at mas maginhawa ang proseso para sa mga gustong magnegosyo.

Pabibilisin natin ang proseso ng mga proyektong sumasailalim sa Build-Operate-Transfer. Sa tulong ng lahat ng sangay ng gobyerno at ng mga mamamayan, pabababain natin sa anim na buwan ang proseso na noon ay inaabot ng taon kung hindi dekada.

May mga hakbang na rin pong sinisimulan ang DTI, sa pamumuno ni Secretary Gregory Domingo:
Ang walang-katapusang pabalik-balik sa proseso ng pagrehistro ng pangalan ng kumpanya, na kada dalaw ay umaabot ng apat hanggang walong oras, ibababa na natin sa labinlimang minuto.

Ang dating listahan ng tatlumpu't anim na dokumento, ibababa natin sa anim. Ang dating walong pahinang application form, ibababa natin sa isang pahina.

Nananawagan ako sa ating mga LGUs. Habang naghahanap tayo ng paraan para gawing mas mabilis ang pagbubukas ng mga negosyo, pag-aralan din sana nila ang kanilang mga proseso. Kailangan itong gawing mas mabilis, at kailangan itong itugma sa mga sinisumulan nating reporma.

Negosyante, sundalo, rebelde, at karaniwang Pilipino, lahat po makikinabang dito. Basta po hindi dehado ang Pilipino, papasukin po natin lahat iyan. Kailangan na po nating simulan ang pagtutulungan para makamit ito. Huwag nating pahirapan ang isa't isa.

Parating na po ang panahon na hindi na natin kailangang mamili sa pagitan ng seguridad ng ating mamamayan o sa kinabukasan ng inyong mga anak.

Oras na maipatupad ang public-private partnerships na ito, mapopondohan ang mga serbisyong panlipunan, alinsunod sa ating plataporma.

Magkakapondo na po para maipatupad ang mga plano natin sa edukasyon.

Mapapalawak natin ang basic education cycle mula sa napakaikling sampung taon tungo sa global standard na labindalawang taon.

Madadagdagan natin ang mga classroom. Mapopondohan natin ang service contracting sa ilalim ng GASTPE.
Pati ang conditional cash transfers, na magbabawas ng pabigat sa bulsa ng mga pamilya, madadagdan na rin ng pondo.

Maipapatupad ang plano natin sa PhilHealth.

Una, tutukuyin natin ang tunay na bilang ng mga nangangailangan nito. Sa ngayon, hindi magkakatugma ang datos. Sabi ng PhilHealth sa isang bibig, walumpu't pitong porsyento na raw ang merong coverage. Sa kabilang bibig naman, singkuwenta'y tres porsyento naman. Ayon naman sa National Statistics Office, tatlumpu't walong porsyento ang may coverage.

Ngayon pa lang, kumikilos na si Secretary Dinky Soliman at ang DSWD upang ipatupad ang National Household Targetting System, na magtutukoy sa mga pamilyang higit na nagangailangan ng tulong. Tinatayang siyam na bilyon ang kailangan para mabigyan ng PhilHealth ang limang milyong pinakamaralitang pamilyang Pilipino.

Napakaganda po ng hinaharap natin. Kasama na po natin ang pribadong sektor, at kasama na rin natin ang League of Provinces, sa pangunguna nina Governor Alfonso Umali kasama sina Governor L-Ray Villafuerte at Governor Icot Petilla. Handa na pong makipagtulungan para makibahagi sa pagtustos ng mga gastusin. Alam ko rin pong hindi magpapahuli ang League of Cities sa pangunguna ni Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.

Kung ang mga gobyernong lokal ay nakikiramay na sa ating mga adhikain, ang Kongreso namang pinanggalingan ko, siguro naman maasahan ko din.

Nagpakitang-gilas na po ang gabinete sa pagtukoy ng ating mga problema at sa paglulunsad ng mga solusyon sa loob lamang ng tatlong linggo.

Nang bagyo pong Basyang, ang sabi sa atin ng mga may prangkisa sa kuryente, apat na araw na walang kuryente. Dahil sa mabilis na pagkilos ni Secretary Rene Almendras at ng Department of Energy, naibalik ang kuryente sa halos lahat sa loob lamang ng beinte-kwatro oras.

Ito pong sinasabing kakulangan sa tubig sa Metro Manila, kinilusan agad ni Secretary Rogelio Singson at ng DPWH. Hindi na siya naghintay ng utos, kaya nabawasan ang perwisyo.

Nakita na rin natin ang gilas ng mga hinirang nating makatulong sa Gabinete. Makatuwiran naman po sigurong umasa na hindi na sila padadaanin sa butas ng karayom para makumpirma ng Commission on Appointments. Kung mangyayari po ito, marami pa sa mga mahuhusay na Pilipino ang maeengganyong magsilbi sa gobyerno.
Sa lalong madaling panahon po, uupo na tayo sa LEDAC at pag-uusapan ang mga mahahalagang batas na kailangan nating ipasa. Makakaasa kayo na mananatiling bukas ang aking isipan, at ang ating ugnayan ay mananatiling tapat.

Isinusulong po natin ang Fiscal Responsibility Bill, kung saan hindi tayo magpapasa ng batas na mangangailangan ng pondo kung hindi pa natukoy ang panggagalingan nito. May 104.1 billion pesos tayong kailangan para pondohan ang mga batas na naipasa na, ngunit hindi maipatupad.

Kailangan din nating isaayos ang mga insentibong piskal na ibinigay noong nakaraan. Ngayong naghihigpit tayo ng sinturon, kailangang balikan kung alin sa mga ito ang dapat manatili at kung ano ang dapat nang itigil.
Huwag po tayong pumayag na magkaroon ng isa pang NBN-ZTE. Sa lokal man o dayuhan manggagaling ang pondo, dapat dumaan ito sa tamang proseso. Hinihingi ko po ang tulong ninyo upang amiyendahan ang ating Procurement Law.

Ayon po sa Saligang Batas, tungkulin ng estado ang siguruhing walang lamangan sa merkado. Bawal ang monopolya, bawal ang mga cartel na sasakal sa kumpetisyon. Kailangan po natin ng isang Anti-Trust Law na magbibigay-buhay sa mga prinsipyong ito. Ito ang magbibigay ng pagkakataon sa mga Small- at Medium-scale Enterprises na makilahok at tumulong sa paglago ng ating ekonomiya.
Ipasa na po natin ang National Land Use Bill.

Una rin pong naging batas ng Commonwealth ang National Defense Act, na ipinasa noon pang 1935. Kailangan nang palitan ito ng batas na tutugon sa pangangailangan ng pambansang seguridad sa kasalukuyan.
Nakikiusap po akong isulong ang Whistleblower's Bill upang patuloy nang iwaksi ang kultura ng takot at pananahimik.

Palalakasin pa lalo ang Witness Protection Program. Alalahanin po natin na noong taong 2009 hanggang 2010, may nahatulan sa 95% ng mga kaso kung saan may witness na sumailalim sa programang ito.
Kailangang repasuhin ang ating mga batas. Nanawagan po akong umpisahan na ang rekodipikasyon ng ating mga batas, upang siguruhing magkakatugma sila at hindi salu-salungat.

Ito pong mga batas na ito ang batayan ng kaayusan, ngunit ang pundasyon ng lahat ng ginagawa natin ay ang prinsipyong wala tayong mararating kung walang kapayapaan at katahimikan.

Dalawa ang hinaharap nating suliranin sa usapin ng kapayapaan: ang situwasyon sa Mindanao, at ang patuloy na pag-aaklas ng CPP-NPA-NDF.

Tungkol sa situwasyon sa Mindanao: Hindi po nagbabago ang ating pananaw. Mararating lamang ang kapayapaan at katahimikan kung mag-uusap ang lahat ng apektado: Moro, Lumad, at Kristiyano. Inatasan na natin si Dean Marvic Leonen na mangasiwa sa ginagawa nating pakikipag-usap sa MILF.

Iiwasan natin ang mga pagkakamaling nangyari sa nakaraang administrasyon, kung saan binulaga na lang ang mga mamamayan ng Mindanao. Hindi tayo puwedeng magbulag-bulagan sa mga dudang may kulay ng pulitika ang proseso, at hindi ang kapakanan ng taumbayan ang tanging interes.

Kinikilala natin ang mga hakbang na ginagawa ng MILF sa pamamagitan ng pagdidisplina sa kanilang hanay. Inaasahan natin na muling magsisimula ang negosasyon pagkatapos ng Ramadan.

Tungkol naman po sa CPP-NPA-NDF: handa na ba kayong maglaan ng kongkretong mungkahi, sa halip na pawang batikos lamang?

Kung kapayapaan din ang hangad ninyo, handa po kami sa malawakang tigil-putukan. Mag-usap tayo.

Mahirap magsimula ang usapan habang mayroon pang amoy ng pulbura sa hangin. Nananawagan ako: huwag po natin hayaang masayang ang napakagandang pagkakataong ito upang magtipon sa ilalim ng iisang adhikain.

Kapayapaan at katahimikan po ang pundasyon ng kaunlaran. Habang nagpapatuloy ang barilan, patuloy din ang pagkakagapos natin sa kahirapan.

Dapat din po nating mabatid: ito ay panahon ng sakripisyo. At ang sakripisyong ito ay magiging puhunan para sa ating kinabukasan. Kaakibat ng ating mga karapatan at kalayaan ay ang tungkulin natin sa kapwa at sa bayan.

Inaasahan ko po ang ating mga kaibigan sa media, lalo na sa radyo at sa print, sa mga nagbablock-time, at sa community newspapers, kayo na po mismo ang magbantay sa inyong hanay.

Mabigyang-buhay sana ang mga batayang prinsipyo ng inyong bokasyon: ang magbigay-linaw sa mahahalagang isyu; ang maging patas at makatotohanan, at ang itaas ang antas ng pampublikong diskurso.
Tungkulin po ng bawat Pilipino na tutukan ang mga pinunong tayo rin naman ang nagluklok sa puwesto. Humakbang mula sa pakikialam tungo sa pakikilahok. Dahil ang nakikialam, walang-hanggan ang reklamo. Ang nakikilahok, nakikibahagi sa solusyon.

Napakatagal na pong namamayani ang pananaw na ang susi sa asenso ay ang intindihin ang sarili kaysa intindihin ang kapwa. Malinaw po sa akin: paano tayo aasenso habang nilalamangan ang kapwa?
Ang hindi nabigyan ng pagkakataong mag-aral, paanong makakakuha ng trabaho? Kung walang trabaho, paanong magiging konsumer? Paanong mag-iimpok sa bangko?

Ngunit kung babaliktarin natin ang pananaw-kung iisipin nating "Dadagdagan ko ang kakayahan ng aking kapwa"-magbubunga po ito, at ang lahat ay magkakaroon ng pagkakataon.

Maganda na po ang nasimulan natin. At mas lalong maganda po ang mararating natin. Ngunit huwag nating kalimutan na mayroong mga nagnanasang hindi tayo magtagumpay. Dahil kapag hindi tayo nagtagumpay, makakabalik na naman sila sa kapangyarihan, at sa pagsasamantala sa taumbayan.

Akin pong paniwala na Diyos at taumbayan ang nagdala sa ating kinalalagyan ngayon. Habang nakatutok tayo sa kapakanan ng ating kapwa, bendisyon at patnubay ay tiyak na maaasahan natin sa Poong Maykapal. At kapag nanalig tayo na ang kasangga natin ay ang Diyos, mayroon ba tayong hindi kakayanin?

Ang mandato nating nakuha sa huling eleksyon ay patunay na umaasa pa rin ang Pilipino sa pagbabago. Iba na talaga ang situwasyon. Puwede na muling mangarap. Tayo nang tumungo sa katuparan ng ating mga pinangarap.

Maraming salamat po.

President Noynoy Aquino's First State of the Nation Address

I hate it when people state the obvious.

Now, given the amount of airtime and newspaper space usually given to the State of the Nation Address of Presidents past, I am pretty sure I don't think I will be able to escape President Noynoy Aquino's Statement on the Obvious National Address.

Like the launch of a premiere teledrama, ABS-CBN has been hyping up President Noynoy's coming SONA and yesterday was a special treat on the Philippine Daily Inquirer as it bannered that the SONA will be beyond "SHOCK AND AWE" -- which I think was penned without the usual journalistic restraint that the Manila Bulletin is known for.

Days ago, just before his inaugural, a couple of friends were saying that President Noynoy's handlers were lowering expectations with phrases like "he's not superman" and other phrases to that effect.  Now, after 26 days, I think we are going to be treated to another whole level of 'lowering expectations".

In the art of managing expectations, the first step is usually to muddle whatever promises that were made -- this is usually made easier by making the promises VAGUE and AMBIGUOUS as well as making sure that printed copies of those promises are made unavailable from official websites.

President Aquino's promises are contained in his platform.  It was originally seen on his official campaign website but now this website has been taken down and replaced with a "place holder" page.

Another step in "lowering expectations", as briefly highlighted earlier, is to come up with a lower estimation of one's abilities.  Where previously one was saying that he could lead the country, one would now say that leading the country and solving its problems would not be possible without the PEOPLE'S SUPPORT.

Asking for the PEOPLES' SUPPORT is actually helpful and only right, but ONLY IF YOU'VE ALREADY LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR TAPPING AND MANAGING THAT SUPPORT.

Yet another step is to blow up the proportion of the problems while shrinking down the resources needed to solve them.

In any case, however the SONA goes today, I'll concentrate on whether President Noynoy Aquino makes mention of any solutions to the problems he'll encounter.

Here are a few that he has run right smack into within the first 26 days of his administration.

1. Empty coffers.

2. Corruption.

3. Power shortage.

4. Water shortage.

5. An impending food shortage.

6. Climate change.

7. Disaster preparedness.

8. Traffic.

Here are the perennial problems encountered and unsolved by all previous administrations.

1. Corruption.

2. Declining quality of education.

3. Poor disaster planning and preparation.

4. Weakening agricultural production.

5. Smuggling.

6. Drugs.

7. Continued insurgency and separatist movements.

8. Rampant criminality.

9. Lack of investment in infrastructure.

10. Heavy dependence on OFW remittances.