Being One For A Good Cause

(A short message to be delivered in December before a Filipino-Swiss community in Zürich)

by jun asuncion

To help victims of natural catastrophes is a good cause for all people to be one. The havoc wrought to the Filipino people by the imbricating storms within a few days was unprecedented and had caused countless sufferings and pandemonium state of affairs: floods and landslides, displaced families and communities, homelessness and hunger, drowned and bedraggled people, missing family members and ubiquitous material destruction.

You may find it relatively easy and simple to enumerate things like these after each disaster. And if you’re being meticulous enough you might end up with a complete statistics of destruction. It is exactly at this point that we have to exercise caution because there is where we tend to categorize such report as just any ordinary media news because statistics of destruction, when they’re too high at one time, has the effect of detaching our most personal feelings with the result that we do not react- except when our own relatives are affected. The reason is that such huge numbers simply fall into a faceless, anonymous suffering crowd. In contrast, a media coverage of a single missing girl or boy whose face and background story we read everywhere, becoming talk of the town or of the whole world or of the internet for weeks or months, we tend to sympathize personally with the victim, hence we react in any form whatsoever.

This is where the usefulness of such organized rescuers, humanitarian aid and charity organizations  come into play for through their initiative, extensive networks and expertise they move people to be one for a good cause by giving us that lost face of collective suffering, of statistical anonymity.

Words will not be enough to express our respect and gratitude to these workers and organizations as well as private individuals of all races who came to help. But for now, let’s just say that the whole Philippine nation is deeply thankful and proud of you all!

For us Filipinos in Switzerland, we also wish that our very own country the Philippines be proud of us. For this reason we have also organized various forms of help including this Classical Concert to help these organizations- for us in particular the Swiss Chamber Of Commerce Taskforce Asia- to carry out their tasks on the front line. We hope to be able to make a difference, no matter how small it may be, for we do not only see the good cause but the need for charity.

Hence, let this need for charity of our distressed people reminds us all here in Switzerland of our need for unity, of being one anytime for a good cause- without pre-conditions and keeping in mind the inviolable dignity of each Filipino victim. We should not forget where we come from at the same time being aware of the unparalleled humanitarian tradition of our second home Switzerland, home to the Red Cross, Swiss Humanitarian Aid, Glückskette or Swiss Solidarity and many other charity organizations which have once again came to the rescue of our inundations and landslides victims and helped alleviate their sufferings.

In this spirit, we shall all agree that a kind and compassionate act is often its own reward. /

November 10- The Fundraising Trip To Berne

The Philippine Embassy in Berne, Switzerland.

Our trip to Berne last Tuesday, 10th of November, was part of our mission for the typhoons’ victims in the Philippines.

We arrived in the capital city two hours before the meeting and so we made use of the time by walking around in the

old part of the city. Berne is beautiful in autumn; old familiar cafes, shops, bookstores and flea market never lose their charm.

Now it’s business time. 

We were greeted on arrival by H.E The Ambassador Maria Theresa P. Lazaro (A Law graduate from the University of the Philippines, she was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1983. She joined the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs in 1984 and served in various positions, the most recent being her assignment as  Consul General of the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney, Australia. She was assigned with the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok (1988-1993) and the Philippine Mission in Geneva (1996-1998) as Consul, the Philippine Embassy in Madrid as Minister and Consul General (1998-1999) and the Philippine Embassy in New York (1999-2002) as Deputy Consul General.- source: embassy website)

My impression: A dynamic woman, friendly and accommodating, yet focussed and straightforward. After a short briefing by Consul Margarita S. Ibayan as to the rules of the meeting, the ambassador let each one us introduce her/himself  with emphasis on each one’s  respective professional experience.  After her short mission statement and definition of terms, she moderated with ease the lively group discussion that ensued between the participants, as each one  began fobbing off  one’s own ideas on the rest. I could sense her experience in arbitration as a lawyer getting applied here as the discussion got emotionally intense and going astray as she jumped in in those critical moments to keep the course of the discussion.

She listens intently though before raising a point. On the right is the First Secretary and Consul Margarita S. Ibayan, keeping the overview, listening to each argument and picking up non-verbal messages.

Actually, we have agreed  not to publicize yet all the results of what we have discussed in this meeting-

except for the upcoming  fundraising projects where Bulan Observer is one of the organizers.

In any case we were able to present our cause and we were met with open ears and benevolent hearts: SUPPORT is promised.

By the way, the ambassador is one of the founders of this Taskforce Asia that helped raise huge sum of money for the Ondoy relief.

Now, it’s our turn to distribute flyers and tickets of our Concert project to the group of Filipina leaders.

For us, we were over the moon as tickets were sold. For the rest, a smile,  and for some who scored less,  a hope of getting more by the next meeting.

The final group photo after a lively discussion. More meetings in the consulate are scheduled.

For our part, I should say we have achieved our day’s mission.

A very hospitable, soft spoken yet keen observer First Secretary and Consul Margarita S. Ibayan

now personally distributing plates for the prepared snacks to the participants of the meeting.

We drove home feeling good.

Back in Zürich, we have been receiving good feedbacks from many people and sponsors since the past few days.

Indeed, a kind act is often its own reward.

 

 

 

jun asuncion

Bulan Observer

                                                                                    —– end—

 

  

  

 

 

 

 

Wise Guys Vs. Wise Men

  By Oliver Geronilla

 

Times have indeed changed! Gone were the days when rumor-mongering, yellow journalism, and character assassination were confined to the walls of beauty salons, roadside eateries, and other similar places where rancor and candor filled the bucolic air of yore. Now you can see people from different walks of life—fishwives, henpecked husbands, bums, government and non-government workers–doing it anytime, anywhere.

Welcome to the world of the The Chatterbox!

Expect this so-called national “pastime” to go several notches higher as more and more issues–both real and concocted– surface out in time for the local and national elections. Certainly, we’ll all be tickled pink with how political parties try to outsmart each other. This is the perfect time to spot the differences between wise guys and wise men as they engage themselves in this seasonal battle of wits and dough.

And so, this early, we find people in Bulan talking about “culture” in juxtaposition with “corruption” to peddle things and ideas with all the feigned glitter and pomp of the cognoscenti. Not surprisingly, many people are tempted to buy their “merchandise” either attractively wrapped in legalese or painstakingly presented in pathos-laden dialectics. The result: mushrooming of ideas that are meant to condition the mind which of course can eventually lead to a warped weltanschauung.

Bulaneno, who remains incognito– at least to me and to other Bulan netizens– sparked my interest to examine his shrewd ways of achieving three things: getting “feedback” from the local chief executive, winning the people’s heart and sympathy, and of course creating ripples.

Making and maintaining a blog solely for the purpose of showing those purported hard facts did not– in any manner– explicitly malign anyone nor did it put things in proper perspective. In fact, Bulaneno has left things hanging and open creating reactions that are poles apart: suspicion from the sitting chief executive including his phalanx of supporters and perhaps adulation from the other side of the fence.

It would have been better if he presented what he believed to be the crux of the matter as an integral part of his blog, not as a separate opinion piece written as a rejoinder to the Municipal PIO’s commentary. But if his only purpose was just to inform the people of Bulan about these alleged shenanigans, then he failed quite miserably. All he got was a “commentary” from the Municipal PIO and some comments from a very small group of Bulan netizens- a number too minuscule to warrant change. After all, how many households in Bulan are wired?

It’s impossible for Bulaneno not to know that only a few could read his blog; and mostly, these people already have their own beliefs and principles that are hard to change.

With that in mind, I also wonder what prompted Mr. Gilana to waste his time reacting to a mere compendium of data. Things should have been taken at face value. But perhaps the urge to protect the image of the administration from being tarnished made him write a commentary followed by a riposte.

The Municipal PIO’s decision to respond to that blog–through a commentary– was quite understandable, but the ensuing write-ups from both sides turned things askew.

So came the awful use of terms and the scathing retorts made somewhat comical by the insertion of irrelevant facts and/or red herring which did not escape the eyes of Ms. Mila Asuncion and other Bulan Observers.

Libelous  remarks were obviously sugarcoated so as to avoid legal sanctions, but the allusions were crystal clear. Had it not been for the skillful use of language, how do you think would Mr. Gilana refer to that person who “pocketed a measly amount of P2, 000?” And how would Bulaneno rephrase the title of his article and perhaps rehash his concluding sentences?

These, to me, are what the culture vultures call the edification of what’s obviously not edifying.

Well, to say that “corruption exists in Bulan” is not downright wrong. We’re not born yesterday to believe that no one is corrupt in our hometown. In fact, it’s easier to understand and believe that “there is some sort of corruption in Bulan” than to totally deny it.

Perhaps, the problem, which is further compounded by our myopic views, rests on how we define corruption vis-a-vis culture. Jun Asuncion hit the right note when he dropped the word “culture” to refer to the problem of corruption that allegedly haunts the local government of Bulan. Yes, Jun, you’re right…. that’s “The Issue of Corruption, and not The Culture of Corruption.” And most, if not all, issues can be addressed given the right frame of mind and the drive to do it.

Let’s all be reminded that when engaging in a public discourse, there’s a need to be politically correct. This should be coupled with a holistic understanding of the issue at hand, pragmatic competence, and an honest and relevant presentation of facts so as not to mislead people from the real nub of the issue.

So, I ask: What’s the real score? Is it really about those whom we accuse of committing graft and corruption? Or is it about “the subculture” that nurtures and allows it to prosper?

Makes me wonder.     //

                                                                                —————end————–

Stop This Futile Warfare In Bulan!

by jun asuncion

 

A Prayer

We all in the first place convey our deepest condolences to the bereaved families of the policemen slained in this encounter…..

May the souls of these lost fighters be now in communion with their Creator who shall give them life everlasting and a sanctuary of eternal peace and love, – qualities that this world has failed to give them…

———

The Fight

Life is a fight and Bulaneños have been fighting for survival and freedom for roughly 500 years now since the first recorded Moro attacks on Bulan and since the beginning of the colonization, during the war and until yesterday in Calomagon when this ambuscade occurred.

Too much blood has been shed on Bulan soils already. My generation had seen that from 1972 onwards…gloomy years for us young Bulaneños.

I once wrote that I´ve seen the last day of Nanette, Tony, Anihay and their comrades in Bulan. Anihay suffered agonizing pains for he was caught alive yet deeply wounded, was driven around the town on a military vehicle for people to see- and probably to intimidate future rebel recruits.

Within that repressive Martial Law context, I have no doubt to call Nanette, Tony, Fenito and their brothers-in- arms as true Bulan Freedom Fighters.

For sure Marxist´s  ideology was spreading at that time all over Asia and after the war, the former HUKBALAHAP (Hukbo Ng Bayan Laban Sa Hapon)  under Commander Taruc went back to its original objective of liberating the rural peasants from the feudalistic structures. Taruc was not a die-hard communist-oriented leader, realized perhaps quite early that it had no future so  he voluntarily surrendered to the government;  his organization practically died out.

However, poverty in the rural areas continued and so was the need for land reform and social justice continued- and with it the fight continued, this time under new leadership; names like commander Dante and Joma Sison dominated. Until this day, NPA structure and strategy  is very much patterned to the old HUKBALAHAP- a guerilla and a political organization.

In the late 1960`s Marcos was still performing well and may had in fact done the right decision in fighting the resurrected  HUKS which became very powerful, and Marcos was to some extent successful.

Then there was these  issues of aggressive American Imperialistic presence in the Philippines and the increasingly corrupt and repressive Marcos´regime that this time democracy itself was in peril. Marcos became more and more dictatorial and under the pretext of fighting subversion and insurgency, liquidated his political rivals, suppressed political opposition (great names like Salonga, Tanada, Kalaw— and lastly NinoyAquino) and increasingly becoming a US marionette driven by his need for the US protection and legitimization of his dictatorial regime. Martial law was declared, writ of habeas corpus lifted, regime critics and student political organizations were banned, curfew hours installed.

Marcos was an unparalled political opportunist: He used the insurgency problems as means to further his own egoistic political ends-  thereby encouraging the further growth of insurgency by making the Filipinos more disillusioned with the state.

Now this is what I mean that our Bulan fighters were to be viewed against this background of Marcos´dictatorship- and not against the backdrop of pure commitment to the communistic ideology. Nanette Vytiaco did not come from a poor family and she was a political mind like the rest of our young student leaders at that time. Let us bear that in our minds.

Back to Calomagon, we are all aware that poverty, poor education, unemployment, disillusionment are still not solved; that the need for social justice is present  as it was.

We are also aware that the ISSUE OF CORRUPTION is as actual as before- both in the national and local levels. We are also aware that Bulan is unfortunately not spared from this virulent virus that has plagued the entire country.

Taken as it is, we are back to the circumstances that had moved Taruc and his HUKBALAHAP to continue the fight after the war and re-orient themselves to the new ideology of communism.

But now some elements have also been removed from the backdrop: Marcos´dictatorship was overthrown, our Mt. Pinatubo expelled the American bases, communism in many parts of the world was discarded.

The Bottom Line:

-The NPA should recognize that their ideology- if it is communism- is not sustainable in the Philippines no matter how long they want to fight for it. The Filipino spirit will always reject it; that if they want social justice for Bulaneños, they should fight for progress in the political arena and give up their guerilla organization and activities.

- That the local government of Bulan should stay away from dubious activities that make them suspect of corruption. They should be more transparent and genuine advocates of townspeople´s needs and aspirations.

Though feudal-like structures (when we mean by it vast  landownership of some families)  are still present in Bulan and in the Philippines as a whole, I do not espouse land reform for it will disperse or weaken production. Instead farmers employed  should enjoy internal stake/shareholders rights, their working conditions be improved.

Why all these?

-Armed strifes do not contribute whatsoever to the attainment of more humane objectives. Did Bulan move socio-economically an inch better after yesterday´s carnage? Did the NPA become stronger and gain more acceptance from the people they want to win over? Would the military now recoil from the next planned operation and surrender to them? We all know that the killing will continue, just as it had continued till yesterday since Marcos´time, that until now we Filipinos have only lost.

-Without fighting and fear, people will be more productive.

-Without corruption in the government, people will not feel being cheated, hence will be more productive and satisfied and less susceptible to leftist propandas.

Social justice is not necessarily a high living standard at once, but in the first place a pleasant feeling among the people.

Any Bulaneño who feels good in Bulan will never trade his family for an obsolete ideology or a life of killing and hiding in the hills of Bulan.

And yet, the Fight For Progress is a long way- but is made easier without killings and corruption.

If you disagree with these, show me  your reasons why…

jun asuncion

Bulan Observer

                                                                                                    —end—

DAY OF MELANCHOLY

From LGU-Bulan PIO-Tonyboy G. Gilana

 

It is November 10. We all listened once more today to the news, hoping perhaps the contents and contexts more complete, perhaps more comprehensive. The air is still melancholic!

Yesterday, November 9, in early afternoon, we received calls of a tragedy, and we all tensely waited for the news. Everywhere, different versions were being buzzed around by people, but the truth was there – eight young policemen from the 509th PPMG, on a hot pursuit operation, aboard their police mobile, were blasted by a landmine said to be planted by the New People’s Army, along the Barangays Antipolo-Calomagon road at around 11:30 in the morning, but not without a fight. Four of the police officers were killed, and two seriously injured, two others escaped. Another unidentified body was brought downtown to Funeraria Labalan. The reports said he was a member of the New Peoples’ Army. Those who died were natives of other towns, except for one Bulaneno, the locally-renowned nemesis of the NPAs in Bulan, SPO1 Johnson Gerola, labeled by his colleagues in the service as “The Legend Tiger” because he outsurvived his police batchmates in Bulan, and because he had survived many military battles and attempts on his life. He did not survive this time. But he died, together with his colleagues, in the performance of a patriotic duty. They are heroes in their own right.

And maybe, too, that unidentified NPA cadre, is a hero in the eyes of his comrades-in-arms. They should be relishing their victory now in their mountain hide-out.

There was a certain tension all over town, even though the fatal ambush took place in an isolated, remote roadside, some ten kilometers away from the poblacion. This war, now of attrition, has been taking place in pockets, for more than thirty years now, all over the country, and here in Sorsogon. Until when it will last, we never don’t know. We hope the better, more positive side of the leaders and negotiators from both sides come out for the good of all, that war is not a solution to our existing problems. Or that, war is causing us more problems than ever. Ironically, however, it is also this war that may purge us of the evils in the system that we are in.

And there was the paradox of silence and hushed noise among the townspeople as they crowded outside of the Bulan Municipal Police Station downtown and the 509th Police Provincial Mobile Group camp, or at the Funeraria Labalan where almost everyone wanted a glimpse of the dead. Families and friends shed tears for the fallen officers. Everybody seemed affected as groups and pockets of people, bystanders, huddled for the news, in many corners.

It is another rare instance today, that the peace of the town was once more broken. Every now and then, over the past years, we are shattered by news that this person or that policeman or armyman died, shot by somebody from whose side we seem to all know. To us in Bulan, it is always a big deal when we hear of those news because it is not commonplace. Despite this long-running war between government and the NPA rebels, Bulan has been a relatively peaceful town, and the townspeople, peace-loving, normally goes on and moves on with life, busy with living, making a living, as if, especially those in the urban areas, these things do not exist. In the remote barangays, especially those said to be influenced by the NPA cadres, the people, especially the barangay leaders, though afraid and cautious, fearful for their own safety, skillfully, prudently and wisely relates and deals with both sides, but do not seriously side with either of them. If the NPAs come, they welcome them. If the military patrol comes, they welcome them. The bottomline, for the local leaders, or the barangay chiefs, is that the lives of our families, of our children, of our residents, are safeguarded, and that we not be caught in your crossfires — (Those whom we love are more important than your ideologies, or your systems, or your philosophies, or your politics. You come and you go, but we remain here in this barrio, in this place, in this town.) I think these local officials and barangay leaders are heroes. They have courage in the midst of their fears. And yet they may, or can, be persecuted by either side.

The delivery of the dead fighters downtown is big news for the young generation today. Many were yet unborn when Bulan was drenched in blood during the Martial Law days, when every night was always broken by the exchange of gunfires, maybe in San Ramon, Marinab, Gabod, Busay. In 1972-76, during those darkest of years, the cadavers of both the military and the rebels were delivered daily, their pitiful broken corpses lined-up or displayed in one usual sad place in front of the police precinct. And we heard of the names of rebels, or they call them “freedom fighters” Tony Ariado, Nanette Vytiaco, Fenito Guan, Anihay, or from the other military side, Sgt. De Leon, etc. Those were really the years of living dangerously. I was ten or eleven years old when Martial Law was declared and we already felt the melancholy of the time.

The generation of today are fortunate, because they live in a time of relative peace.

But I think the generation of yesterday were more fortunate, because they were tried and tested in the crucible of those dark years, in vicissitude, in blood, in fear, in hope, in tears, in patriotism. Whether those who have fallen fought for government or against the government, they have not died in vain, if they died with that purity of intention and love of country. And for those who lived, they sure know what patriotism or betrayal meant. They emerged stronger.

And now, this day of melancholy hovers upon us, maybe, until the dead police officers are interred. Or for the families, until they shall have accepted the fate that descended upon their beloved. Both sides went there to perform a sacred duty, whatever their ideologies must have been.

I dream of that day when leaders will sit across tables, in negotiation, in truce, in goodwill and there settle differences rather than in the battlefields. I dream of that day when no corpse will come down from the mountain, and break the hearts of our people. I dream of that day when our rice and coconut farmers can bring in the best produce of their land because there are no more bullets from crossfires to fear for. I dream of that day when our our babies and our kids grow peacefully; our families live, not in fear but in friendship with one another.

I also dream of that day when there will be no more freedom fighters going to the hills to stage a revolution because they think government did not care for them, so they sought refuge in their beliefs even if this means death as a matter of sacrifice for others.

And I dream of that government, pure and honest, that takes into its caring fold every citizen, and then brings him up truly a person of dignity. I dream of this and much more…

It seems an impossible dream because history has proven that to us, from the beginning of time, all over the world. But there is no reason to despair as long as there is hope in men, and as long as there are hearts and hands to realize that dream. /

                                                                                                        - Sad End-

Reply

“SANTINO”

(The November 2009 episode)

By: Tonyboy G. Gilana

 

One of the most beautiful, most educational, most meaningful, most poignant, most timely and most relevant shows in Philippine television today is the award-winning ABS-CBN teleserye “Santino”, a story of a young boy, known in his town of Bagong Pag-asa as an orphan, and was adopted by a wonderful group of monks led by their wise leader Father Anthony. Unbeknownst to many he was actually sired by the Mayor of the town (which at present is still unfolding in the story’s plot, and people are holding their breaths). The most important asset of the boy Santino is that he is favored by God, who appears and comes to him in the form of Jesus Christ and whom Santino fondly and lovingly calls “BRO” (short for Brother, or in a respectful address, Kuya). BRO gifted him with the power of physical and spiritual healing. Mayor Enrique, on the other hand, grew up out of sad, tragic and unfortunate circumstances until he became a town executive.

And people in Bulan, just like many others, perhaps all over the country, always look forward to the time slot after the evening news. Sometimes, during office breaks, the employees talk about the previous night’s segment. A few days ago, during a seminar-workshop on local government best practices, former Irosin Mayor Eddie Dorotan, now Executive Director of Gawad Galing Pook, took some important points from the show and made it a part of his discussion. Oh, so, he is watching Santino also. Our Municipal Administrator makes it a point to daily watch the show, whenever he is free, with his son. And, if I have time, I watch it together with my wife and my two young daughters, Theresa, 5, and Bernadette, 2.

I also watched other teleseryes before, some good, some violent, some too long-winding, many are too eccentric or too self-centered and many, forgettable. To me, none comes close to the show’s striking and wonderful balance of portraying the conflict between good and evil, and how ( in the many secondary and supporting episodes), despite the so many trials, pains, sacrifices and sufferings gone through by Santino and the monks, good prevails and overcomes evil. Santino was able to convert so many people to turn back to good and to God. Out of his mouth, which actually is an inspiration from his conversations with BRO, and by his humility, purity, innocence, constancy, faith, love, truthfulness and by his example, those whom he met turned away from faithlessness, hopelessness, despair, hatred, fear, apathy, indifference, jealousy, and other vices.

And the good thing is that, the main plot remains cohesive: of Santino’s search for his roots, even as he is being ably guided by his foster parent, Father Jose, and the monks, and being watched over by BRO. There is the continuous conflict and tug-of-war between good and evil, even as Mayor Enrique, whom Santino has momentarily influenced to change, has now relapsed into his former evil self and schemes due to circumstances that dragged the latter to some desperate situations.

In this month’s episode, the story revolves around how Mayor Enrique, desperate for money to pay off debts, was caught red-handed by Santino (who was brought by his foster father Jose to his kitchen-workplace which, unknown to the latter actually caters to a gambling den operated by the Mayor’s brother, Robert), when the boy accidentally bumped the former, and down came the attaché case revealing bundles of gambling money or payola.

The incident came to the knowledge of the Bagong Pag-asa constituents, and this caused a very big uproar, controversy and a public clamor for the mayor to resign. The mayor became the target of angry mobs, almost daily.

One Councilor Arnaiz, an arch enemy of the mayor, who on earlier times was grievously aggrieved by Mayor Enrique and was seeking revenge for his misfortunes and the death of his family ,and who at the same time is politically ambitious, seized upon this chance and opportunity to inflict his vengeance on the latter. He stood ready to file a corruption case against Mayor Enrique, and sought the permission of the monks to use Santino as the star witness. But the monks would not allow Arnaiz to use the child for his revenge and for his political ambitions.

Councilor Arnaiz insisted on the mayor’s corruption, that the mayor is guilty, and that, he said, there is a public clamor for justice. He said that he represents the sentiments of the masses of Bagong Pag-asa. But the monks’ leader Father Anthony, protective of Santino and sensing the Councilor’s motives of vengeance and political ambition, incisively asked him,“ Sigurado ka bang hindi mo ito ginagawa para lang makaganti? Sigurado ka bang hindi mo ito ginagawa dahilan sa ambisyun mong palitan si Mayor? At pag natapos na ang lahat, pag natapos na ang kaso, pag nahalal ka na, pag Mayor ka na, ano na an mangyayari kay Santino? Paano na ang trauma na dadaanan niya?”

Councilor Arnaiz, ignoring the supplication of the priest, consumed by personal motives, simply answered, “ Ah basta, bahala na magsubpoena kay Santino ang Korte!” And left.

Oh yes, how easy it is to accuse and point fingers at people. And of course, how difficult it is to account responsibility for our own actions of wrong-doing!

I will not dwell in deeper philosophical reflections on this matter of Councilor Arnaiz and Father Anthony and Santino. But it can well apply to our own personal and political situation, not only in Bulan, but in the whole country. With election time coming, our people must indeed be wary and cautious and be wise enough to check on the motives of those seeking office, especially if they attempt to portray and profess themselves as immaculate, perfect or clean, or that they represent the sentiment of the people. Funny, but there is one political group in Bulan whose perennial election slogan haughtily shouts something like, “Wara kami digta! Wara kami bisyo! Mga listo nan may halangkaw kami na inadalan, mga propesyunal kami! (Kaya kami an botohan niyo)”— and yet, many elections over, the electorate repudiated and frustrated them. On the other hand, the candidates who were humble enough to admit of their shortcomings, about their colored past, of their humble education, came out triumphant. This is Bulan’s true experience in the last six or so elections!

We must realize, therefore, that nobody is perfect. Even Santino had some lapses in the virtue of obedience.

BUT. With a deep faith and by prayer, I believe God, or BRO, will help and inspire us to choose wisely, and guide us. Of course, we also have to put in our efforts that shall be complemented by God’s light.

Anyway, we are learning a lot of lessons from Santino. The teleserye is still unfolding and may be a long way from ending, I hope. Eventually, I think, maybe, (unahan na natin ang directors) Mayor Enrique and Santino, the main protagonists in the story, will come to finally discover that they are father and child. Mayor Enrique will eventually turn to goodness and to God. Foster father Jose will gladly give up Santino despite his great love for the boy. Mathilde, will deliver her child by Mayor Enrique, and give herself up to the police for the accidental death of Malena, Enrique’s real wife. Robert, Mayor Enrique’s brother will finally be exposed and caught by the police for all his evil schemes. And the three Tsismosas, Kimberly, Rosaly and Jennifer, comic characters, but notorious rumor-mongering hags who have the habit of spreading news and gossip like wildfire that often harmed and injured people’s dignity and reputation shall change for the better. And BRO will say Thank You!

To all, a happy, meaningful and introspective viewing of Santino!

                                                                                                        - The End -

Cultured Corruption, Not Culture Of Corruption

by  jun asuncion

 

It’s impressive this Culture Of  Honesty among ordinary Bulaneños and interesting how it supports the findings of the Reader’s Digest Global Honesty Test conducted last 2007 wherein Manila placed 5th among other world cities tested (see report below).

There is reason to have faith then in our people’s inherent integrity and sincerity, indispensable values for the town to progress.

However,  in man everything is there, all these polarities and paradoxes of values ( a fact that the physicist Heisenberg himself had problem understanding how in a system, i.e., in man, good and bad traits – honesty and dishonesty, sanity and insanity, etc. –  can exist and function at the same time).

Hence, to inhibit the negative and to elicit the positive in us, we need- aside from educational system- role models in our society.

Here is where the problem comes at least in the Philippines. For it is a common public knowledge that the incumbent national administration is marred with corrupt practices. The whole world knows about this.

This is a burden to the people and to all other local executives that may actually be honest to their constituents for there is a strong tendency for the public to generalize. And if there are anomalies or scandals in their local government- proven or not- this tendency becomes reinforced, things heard taken as true, becoming common public knowledge.

It’s difficult then for Filipino politicians in the present time. Had the president  et al  been honest and sincere, the Filipinos would have been more positive  in their perception of the local public servants also.

Judging from his publication, Bulaneño was specifically talking about the culture of corruption in the local administration of Bulan based on the COA’s findings and recommendations. In his blog he presented only these facts, no more, no less. But if he had fabricated these facts by himself, then that would be utmost denunciation, pure dishonesty. One thing more, he should prove his allegation before the court, not before the people (for they have no direct judicial power). And the court is not interested in this “common public knowledge” but only in hard evidence.

However, the fact that these issues got publicized again just a few months before the election would lead anyone to believe that this is indeed politically motivated.

Be that as it may, we just leave it to our Culture Of Honesty in Bulan to decide for itself.

In effect: Cultured Corruption, not Culture of Corruption, should properly describe the effect of the Arroyo administration to public perception, national or local.

jun asuncion

————–

Reader’s Digest’s Global Honesty Test

Are people honest?

Reader’s Digest conducts global cell phone honesty test: Researchers ‘lose’ mobile phones in 32 cities, and two thirds are returned

By Reader’s Digest Association

Jul 23, 2007 – 6:02:20 PM

If you were sitting on a park bench and noticed that a “lost” cell phone was ringing, would you answer it? And if so, and a stranger’s voice on the other end asked you to take time from your busy day to return the phone, what would you do? Hang up? Keep the phone? Or, agree to return it?

That’s exactly what Reader’s Digest editors wanted to find out. And so the world’s most widely read magazine used its network of global editions to conduct an informal test of honesty around the world, asking reporters in the most populous cities in 32 countries to leave 960 mid-priced mobile phones in busy public places.

Local researchers from each country arranged and conducted their own tests, observing the mobiles from a distance. They rang the phones and waited to see if anyone would answer, and then watched to see if the person would (1) agree to return it, (2) call later on preset numbers that were programmed into the handsets, or (3) keep the phones for themselves. After all, these were tempting, brand-new phones with usable airtime.

The researchers tallied the results, interviewed test participants, and filed their reports in many of the August editions of Reader’s Digest, including the Web edition of U.S. Reader’s Digest (www.rd.com) and U.S. Selecciones magazine. While the study was not scientific, the results provided a fascinating human interest story.

“What we found out surprised and intrigued us,” said Conrad Kiechel, Editorial Director, International. “In every single city where the test was conducted, at minimum almost half of the phones were returned. And despite the temptation that people must have felt to keep the phones, and the fact that the test imposed on everyone’s time, the average return rate was a remarkable 68 percent, or about two thirds of the 30 phones we dropped in each city.”

The test followed last year’s Reader’s Digest Global Courtesy Test, which made headlines worldwide. Like the 2006 test, it was developed and overseen by the magazine editors in each of the participating countries. Both programs dramatically illustrated the magazine’s remarkable geographic “footprint” by conducting simultaneous local tests and reporting the results globally.

The highest percentage of returned phones was in the smallest city, Ljubljana, Slovenia, with a population of only 267,000. All but one of 30 cell phones were returned. From a nun at a bus stop to a young waiter at a coffee shop (who also retrieved a leather jacket the reporter had accidentally left behind – not part of the test!), the residents in this picture-postcard city in the foothills of the Alps were almost universally helpful.

Could the citizens of a major metropolis, with all its stress and pressure, be as honest? The people of Toronto, Canada (population 5.4 million), came close, returning 28 of 30 phones. “If you can help somebody out, why not?” said Ryan Demchuk, a 29-year-old insurance broker, who returned the mobile.

Seoul, South Korea, was third in the rankings, followed by Stockholm, Sweden, where Lotta Mossige-Norheim, a railway ticket inspector, found the mobile on a shopping street and handed it back. “I’m always calling people who’ve left a handset on my train,” she said.

Tied for fifth place in the rankings with 24 returned phones were: Mumbai, India; Manila, the Philippines; and New York City.

In many countries, people said they believed the young would behave worse than their elders. Yet, in the test results, young people were just as honest. In New York’s Harlem section, 16-year-old Johnnie Sparrow arranged to meet a reporter later that evening. Arriving at the scheduled time flanked by a group of younger neighborhood boys who clearly looked up to him, Sparrow was surprised to learn that the lost phone wasn’t lost at all. But he was proud of how he reacted when he found it.

“I did the right thing,” he said with a smile.

Parental influence weighed heavily with some. “My parents taught me that if something is not yours, don’t take it,” said Muhammad Faizal Bin Hassan, an employee of a Singapore shopping complex, where he answered a ringing phone.

Many adults accompanied by children were keen to show the young people how to behave when they spotted a phone. In Hounslow, West London, Mohammad Yusuf Mahmoud, 33, was with his two young daughters when he answered a phone in a busy shopping street. “I’m glad that my kids are here to see this. I hope it sets a good example,” he said.

Women were slightly more likely to return phones than were men.

All over the world, the most common reason people gave for returning a phone was that they too had once lost an item of value and didn’t want others to suffer as they had. “I’ve had cars stolen three times and even the laundry from the cellar was taken,” said Kristiina, 51, who returned a phone in Helsinki.

So, how did planet earth perform in the honesty test? Everywhere, the locally based Reader’s Digest reporters heard pessimism about the chances of getting phones back, especially given economic and other pressures. And yet, globally, 654 mobiles, or 68 percent, were returned.

The Phones we got back, city by city Rank City Country Phones Recovered (out of 30)

1 Ljubljana Slovenia 29 (Phones)

2 Toronto Canada 28

3 Seoul South Korea 27

4 Stockholm Sweden 26

5= Mumbai India 24

Manila Philippines 24

New York USA 24

8= Helsinki Finland 23

Budapest Hungary 23

Warsaw Poland 23

Prague Czech Republic 23

Auckland New Zealand 23

Zagreb Croatia 23

14= Sao Paulo Brazil 21

Paris France 21

Berlin Germany 21

Bangkok Thailand 21

18= Milan Italy 20

Mexico City Mexico 20

Zurich Switzerland 20

21= Sydney Australia 19

London UK 19

23 Madrid Spain 18

24 Moscow Russia 17

25= Singapore Singapore 16

Buenos Aires Argentina 16

Taipei Taiwan 16

28 Lisbon Portugal 15

29= Amsterdam Holland 14

Bucharest Romania 14

31= Hong Kong Hong Kong 13

Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 13

——————————end—————

The Culture of Honesty in Bulan

By: Tonyboy G. Gilana

 

 

This is in response to the thesis put forward by Bulaneno in his article, “The Culture of Corruption in Bulan”

In 2005, the Local Government Unit of Bulan called forward for all our people to see, and emulate, several ordinary Bulanenos, who displayed that wonderful virtue of honesty and fineness of heart.

Mr. Alex Francisco, a young man, a lowly padyak driver who earns barely a hundred pesos daily found a package containing 600,000 pesos which was left in his vehicle. He returned it to the owner.

Another padyak driver, a young family man with four malnourished kids, also returned 75,000 pesos to the owner-teacher who left her wallet in the pedicab. The money was intended for medicines.

Mr. Andres Gojar, of Barangay Palale, who was a former barangay kagawad, and later, one of our employees at Sabang Community Park, found a service pistol and wallet containing cash, left by a policeman while in Sabang. It was returned to the owner.

Mrs. Elsa Besmonte, a BHW of Aquino found cash amounting to 5,000 pesos. She returned it to the rightful owners.

Five Bulan Integrated Terminal porters and service boys were likewise honored in 2008 for returning CPs, cash and many other items lost by passengers in the facility. And at the Terminal itself, we have several unclaimed items either lost or left by our passengers.

A few days ago, Mr. and Mrs. Reynoel and Arlene Guan of Zone 3, returned to some RGCC students CPs or cash left in their small eatery. And the students were all overwhelmed at such display of honesty.

For me, honesty is already a theological virtue. It stems from the person’s decision or choice to return to the rightful owner what is due to that person. In a way, it is his sense of justice, and ultimately, his virtue of love that compels him to do so.

And we have thousands upon thousands of Bulanenos who practice it. It comes rooted from our own culture which we inherited from our forefathers, and most especially from our deep religious faith. Of course not all these acts of people are publicized daily. It is not a rarety, to say the least.

Even in the local government unit, in the academe, in the various professions, among our students, among the poorest of the poor, we always find that precious bond with conscience, which is practiced outwardly , and is called honesty. In our local dialect, they express it something like, ” Dire bali magdila o magsuda sin asin, dire lang mangloko sin kapuwa.” or, ” Mao yuon an tukdo sa ako san ako pamilya, ni mamay, ni papay…”

Of course, what is often heard or read today are dishonesty and corruption. They make the news– which gives us the impression that people, especially government leaders, or politicians, are evil. We know that this is a fact, a reality of life, and dishonesty permeates every level of society, the government, the private sector, the church, the media… since time immemorial. And there is reason to giving more emphasis to condemning wrongdoing of people in government, especially our leaders, since they can make or unmake the destinies of our communities.

The irony of it all, however, is that there are people who condemn dishonesty or wrongdoing but excuse themselves from it even if, by their own introspection, they themselves cannot be excused. This is hypocrisy.

I cannot but smile at one political opposition leader, who was elected in 1995 here in Bulan, who was consistently decrying and shouting corruption and dishonesty by the incumbent administration. But he was never looking at himself at how he was accused of allegedly encashing and pocketing a measly P2,000 intended for the riprapping project in one barangay. If he cannot then be trusted with a small amount how can he now be trusted with the whole local government funds? And yet, that same person is now very active again in telling Bulan people that this administration is corrupt because of the Bulan Terminal. I think Bulaneno knows who that politician is.

In a smaller perspective, it happens daily to family members or neighbors.

Honesty is a moral choice. It is also a gift. But all human beings are endowed with that freedom to accept that gift or not, but once we do accept we make a confirmation on the inherent goodness that is in every man.

That is why, when Bulaneno decided to publish his article on the “Culture of Corruption in Bulan”, assuming that he was only singling out the De Castro Administration on the Bulan Terminal Case, it was as if he was condemning everybody else in Bulan.

When you refer to culture, it is a way of life. It refers to communities, to that collective psyche present in every generation. Culture refers to that character of a people. Nobody can therefore prevent me from also telling everybody on the culture of honesty inherent in us as a Bulaneno community.

Reading between the lines of the Bulaneno article, one can already see the partisanship in him. He was simply propagandizing an issue that, again, falls within the ambit of our courts — be it a question of facts or a question of law. He was right in many of his quotations of many laws and their provisions, but ultimately, all these have to be proven in fact and in law. (I think, Bulaneno knows these, because by the way he writes he either must be a lawyer or a student of law).

So there is really no use of continually imputing guilt of graft and corruption against anybody, more so against Mayor De Castro, unless her innocence is proven otherwise. Although in the bar of public opinion, nobody can prevent Bulaneno or company from continually bombarding media or the internet with their partisan propaganda. But let our courts decide, even if it may take long. Let civility and decency in our communities and in our institutions take its proper course.

And going back to the issue of honesty. Let it be said that we have an honest people, a community that treasures the golden values and virtues of our religion and of our forefathers. Let us insulate our community folks from such sweeping generalizations, because they don’t deserve it. Let us refrain from using our people, or its culture, to further our own personal interests and goals.

We are a good, decent, civil, honest community, and we have always proven it. /

                                                                                                 .———end———

Slings and Arrows (random thoughts)

 

by Oliver Geronilla

 

I don’t live in cloud-cuckoo land; so, I won’t pretend that black is white. For the nonce, let me do a double take at the scintillating points raised in some of the articles here.

Quite interestingly, many of those who make no bones about the way things are being done in Bulan are armchair observers; and I am not an exception. The comments that I put forward in here are based on secondhand information, not based on what I’ve actually seen, heard, or experienced.

Well, that’s the very essence of writing columns or commentaries. We read and gather as much information as we can; then we make our own slant—not just to float an idea, but to make positions clear.

Being away from Bulan for almost a decade and a half makes me feel hesitant to write about local issues, especially local politics. But the irresistible pull to be a “neighbor” of level-headed Bulan Observer netizens and to contribute articles on a local platform is so strong that I I’ve decided to shelve my ifs and buts. Thus, I started submitting articles (that dealt with national issues) which I co-authored with Dr. W. Scott Thompson who is the official biographer of FVR. Now that the official website of Bulan is fully functional, I believe that it’s easier for me to access pieces of information that I need in order to stay abreast of the latest developments in my hometown. This will also give me the chance to widen my palette in writing columns that focus on what’s within the readers’ grasp—something that you and I know like the back of our hands.

On language…

I might have started off on the wrong foot by anchoring my comments on language use and usage and the highly cerebral discipline of weaving thoughts in the Queen’s English. But this is the language that I know well and the language that has molded my perception and appreciation of the world. More importantly, this is the language that enables me to express my thoughts and ideas with that yokel twist of a being a Bulaneno.

Truth be told, I am fascinated with the distinctive writing styles of most of the authors or contributors of Bulan Observer (BO). Except for the minor lapses in grammar, I feel that the articles here are treasure-troves of ideas waiting to be put together for a future publication—a compendium of the works of Bulan’s contemporary think-tank. (Shall we look for sponsors then?)

Not to put too fine a point on it, I sometimes recoil at the sight of code-mixing and code switching being liberally used by many BO writers. Of course, in some cases it’s inevitable because we know for a fact that there are certain concepts or words that do not have equivalent English translations. On that note, I have nothing to complain about. I only take issue with such a proclivity when it’s done despite the availability of exact lexical and semantic translations.

BO’s major strength is publishing articles unedited. This encourages “personal journalism” to flourish. But this strength is also its major weakness. Every now and then, you’d be jolted when you come across with mistakes in Subject-Verb-Agreement (S-V-A), tense and aspect. Copy-editing, I believe, is needed for every article published here so as not to give a false impression to the young minds that such errors are permissible.

On being away from home….

In societies where education is the only hope to stay afloat, it’s not surprising to see family members pooling their resources just to send their children to good schools. The logic is quite simple: good school means having a good chance of getting a good job; having a good job means having a better life.

Unfortunately, I think Bulan is far from being the place where our dreams can actually come true. It was pointed out by one of the authors here that there are certain professions that have no room to be practiced in our hometown. I couldn’t agree more. Most , if not all, of those who earned academic degrees (other than education, and business management) from the top universities are employed in cities where there is career growth, and where their needs can be addressed. Seldom can you see Bulanenos who earned their undergraduate and graduate degrees from reputable universities working in Bulan.

By and large, most yuppies yearn to live and work in highly urbanized areas where opportunities abound, and everything seems to be perfect. They receive handsome paychecks, enjoy life in the fast lane, and breathe the sweet smell of success. But are they happy? Beats me.

Sadly, I also belong to that crop, and it pains me to admit that despite being on the crest of a wave , I feel that I am still in search of the will o’ the wisp.

For sure, there’s not just a handful of professional Bulanenos–young or not–who think the way I do. I personally know a lot of them; and we all have one thing in common: we work hard to have a better life.

Hence, after receiving our respective passports to success –our diplomas of course–, we begin joining the bandwagon: the burgeoning groups of people who have given diaspora a new face.

Those who aren’t contented with their jobs in cities like Manila usually look for greener pastures abroad. They’re called OFWs, hailed as living heroes and the lifeline of the Philippine economy. Never mind the hardships, the loneliness and homesickness that they have to endure; forget about the weakening family relations. Focus on the remittances that make life here more bearable. That’s something that we usually hear. Hence, it’s nothing new.

My high school classmate, Dr. Ma. Kristina Asuncion, practices dentistry in the Middle East. She’s not from a poor family; in fact, she does not have to go overseas just to earn money. Her sister, who is also a dentist, has a clinic in Bulan. How many dental clinics or dentists do we have in Bulan? Very few. But why is she working abroad? Not enough patients? Perhaps.

My eldest brother, Clint Geronilla, who finished BS Forestry at UP-Los Banos, opted to work in Pampanga while waiting for his working visa. He, too, will be leaving the country pretty soon. His reason? “There can’t be more than three foresters in Bulan!” Well, he might have said it in jest. But somehow, there’s a grain of truth in what he said. I believe Miss Kelly Tan, my former dorm mate at UP and a “sis” in UP Sorsoguenos– a varsitarian organization – is more than capable to set the world on fire.

Miss Tan’s decision to serve the people of Bulan through the local government unit is laudable. How I wish others would do the same – serve the people despite the sacrifices that have to be made.

All these things put me in a pensive mood. How many Kelly Tans do we have in Bulan? Just a handful.

To have better opportunities, we usually go to other places. As such, we find many of our compatriots scattered in many places– working, finding their own niche, pursuing higher education,creating waves. Every now and then, you’d hear progenies of our beloved town who’ve toiled hard to become engineers, educators, medical practitioners, athletes, etc., making it in the headlines for their excellence in their respective fields. These are the very people whom we need to make Bulan BIG.

Can we lure them back to our hometown? That’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question.

Personally, I find it difficult reintegrating myself in the town where I grew up. I have many reasons, but perhaps the biggest one is all about my profession. As a language teacher, a freelance columnist, and a ghost writer, I see very limited opportunities for me in Bulan.

Or, perhaps I am just too ambitious.

Frankly, I think of Bulan as a haven where I can spend my retirement years. For now, I still want to see how far I can go, experience joie de vivre, and perhaps “make a difference.”

When that time comes, I hope Bulan’s still the Bulan of my youth where trust and respect rule everyone’s heart; where children frolic under the sun; where people commune with nature; where nobody is left behind; where “progress and not corruption” is the buzz word.

Home is where the heart is.

                                                                             —————end———————-

- A Fundraising Campaign For Filipinos Affected By Typhoons “Ketsana”, “Parma” and “Ramil”-

  

Mila Asuncion and Franklin Patricio 

Present

 

An Evening With A Filipino Artist

 

Piano Concert

 

Featuring

 

Aries Caces

Pianist/Conductor

(click photo for music)

 

December 10, 2009

 

 7:00 pm

Gemeindesaal Zollikon

Rotfluhstrasse 96

8702 Zollikon- Zürich

 

Tickets: SFR 45.00

 

In cooperation with:

Swiss-Asia Chamber of Commerce- Taskforce Asia, Glückskette(Swiss Solidarity)

Filipino Nurses Hirslanden Klinik

—————————————————–

 

 

Sponsorship Souvenir Program

 

Sponsorship 1

Full-Page Ad in the Program

SFR 1,000.00

 

Sponsorship 2

Half-Page Ad in the Program

SFR 500.00

 

Sponsorship 3

1/4 -Page in the Program

SFR 300.00

 

 

For Inquiries:

Mila Asuncion  SO  Hirslanden Klinik     Tel. 044 382 21 04

Franklin Patricio SO Hirslanden Klinik

 Email: frank_patricio@bluewin.ch

Tel: 043 495 63 81

——————————————————————–

Culture Of Corruption In Bulan

by Bulaneño

 

To Jun Asuncion:

The issue about the Bulan Integrated Bus Terminal and the Bulan Municipal Slaughterhouse particularly the audit findings of the Commission on Audit is not a political issue. It is an issue about public accountability and graft and corruption. To quote from the comment of PIO-Bulan (Mr. Tonyboy Gilana) to the Bulaneño Blog (www.bulaneno.wordpress.com), he posted: “The Terminal issue is a justiciable issue which only the courts of the land can finally adjudicate. This battle can go on up to the Supreme Court, and by then we shall know who speaks the truth. Only then can one or the other party say that he is vindicated. There is no Pandora’s Box here. No one among us can impute guilt against anybody, unless proven by the Court. Again, this is a constitutionally-enshrined provision.”

Though it is a “justiciable issue” the Municipal Information Officer of Bulan should be reminded that the accountability of public officials is also enshrined in the Constitution of 1987, as it has been in the Malolos Constitution of 1898, the Commonwealth Constitution of 1935 and then the Constitution of 1973, the Martial Law period. Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, entitled “Accountability of Public Officers”, states the fundamental principle of public office, as public trust. It requires full accountability and integrity among public officers and employees. The President, Vice-President, members of the Supreme Court, members of the Constitutional Commissions and the Ombudsman may be impeached for violations of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, and for betrayal of public trust. Other public officials committing such acts can be investigated and prosecuted through the regular judicial process provided by law.

The Philippine government is directed to maintain honesty and integrity in the public service, and to take action against graft and corruption (Section 27, Art. II). It is also directed to give full public disclosure of all transactions involving the public interest (Section 28, Art. II). This provision is complemented by the Bill of Rights within the Constitution, which gives people the right to information on matters of public concern, including official records, documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions, and to government research data used as the basis for policy development (Section 7, Art. III).

The 1987 Constitution established special independent bodies to support the principles of honesty, integrity and public accountability. These are: (i) the Office of the Ombudsman as the people’s protector and watchdog; (ii) the Civil Service Commission as the central personnel agency; (iii) the Commission on Audit as the supreme body responsible for auditing the government’s expenditures and performance; and (iv) The Sandiganbayan as a special court that hears cases of graft and corruption. To ensure that these organizations and their commissioners can fulfill their duties without fear of reprisal from other agencies of the government, the Constitution grants them fiscal autonomy7 (Section 2, Article VIII). Their actions are appealable only to the Supreme Court.

The Commission on Audit, while primarily regarded as an evaluator of the government’s performance in handling funds, also has as a function on the input side, as it conducts audits on the income and revenues of government. Aside from ensuring financial accountability, the Commission may also inquire as to the effectiveness and impact of programs, and not alone into the economy, efficiency or the legality and regularity of government operations. The COA, being the watchdog of the financial operations of the government, is empowered to examine, audit, and settle all accounts pertaining to the revenue and receipts of, and expenditures or uses of funds and property under the custody of government agencies and instrumentalities. It promulgates accounting and auditing rules and regulations for the prevention and disallowance of irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant, or unconscionable expenditures, or use of government funds and properties.

As government officials, the local chief executive and her subordinates must not be onion-skinned in addressing valid queries on the efficiency, legality and regularity of local government operations such as the operations of the bus terminal and slaughterhouse. As public officers and employees, they must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives. They must refrain from invoking that the findings of COA involve questions of law that must be addressed only in a court of law. Some of the findings of COA involves questions of facts such as: (a) failure to submit monthly report of official travels and report of fuel consumption of government vehicles; (b) failure to secure or apply for land use conversion and exemption clearance from the Agrarian Reform Regional Office; (c) failure to strictly observe and conform to the policy, standard and guidelines in the establishment, construction, improvement, and operation of Bulan Slaughterhouse; (d) failure to post a procurement opportunity with the PhilGEPS, to mention a few. These are clear facts that were discovered during the COA audit that the LGU had neglected or failed to perform in the implementation of the projects.

It should be noted that corruption poses a serious development challenge. In the political realm, it undermines democracy and good governance by flouting or even subverting formal processes. Corruption in elections and in legislative bodies reduces accountability and distorts representation in policymaking; corruption in the judiciary compromises the rule of law; and corruption in public administration results in the unfair provision of services. More generally, corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government as procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. At the same time, corruption undermines the legitimacy of government and such democratic values as trust and tolerance.

Corruption also generates economic distortions in the public sector by diverting public investment into capital projects where bribes and kickbacks are more plentiful. Officials may increase the technical complexity of public sector projects to conceal or pave way for such dealings, thus further distorting investment. Corruption also lowers compliance with construction, environmental, or other regulations, reduces the quality of government services and infrastructure, and increases budgetary pressures on government.

Thus, as a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines, or as an ordinary citizen of Bulan, I recognize that the struggle for preventing and fighting graft and corruption in government is a task entrusted not only with the government, but also with the civil society. It doesn’t need a citizen belonging to the local political opposition of Bulan to understand the social implications of the audit findings of COA to the ordinary Bulaneños. Corruption distorts access to services for the poor, results in local government’s poor performance and, consequently, low public confidence in government. The culture of corruption in Bulan breeds the vicious cycles of poverty and underdevelopment. /

                                                                                                        —————end———————

The True Identity Of Dora The Mouse

by jun asuncion

Here’s a motivating,  inspiring comment from Dora The Mouse:

To Jun and Tonyboy Gilana

“I love the exchange of comments! It is so honest, democratic, educational, open minded and frank. This is the way it should be. I give you my respect for the honesty and sincerety of your individual statements, concerns and opinions.

This is what I admire about Bulan Observer. We can express our opinions, thoughts and concerns. Through exchange of views and concerns, we are continously learning new things either in politics, science, philosophy or even witty jokes from Atty Benjie. I am interested to buy the book History of Bulan when it is ready.

Bulan Observer is the place for everybody to have the chance for young taga-Bulans to contribute their talents and fresh ideas and for older people to share their wisdom and life experiences so that other people will learn from them. It is a great place to give and to share ideas and sometimes take those ideas and apply them to your daily life.

Thank you Bulan Observer for the many fine articles you shared with us readers.”

Dora the Mouse

                                                                                  ———Announcement————

Angelita De Guzman Kowalewsky  aka Dora The Mouse

Dora The Mouse has decided to get out of the hole  where she used to live (or hide) and is now sharing us her true identity after she had read my post The Town Of Bulan Is Different where I touched on the issue of Anonymity. Her true name is Angelita De Guzman Kowalewsky. She authored for us articles like Poignant Memories  Of The Past, Money Is Not Everything, etc. She is also  the founder of St. Remedios Charity Medical  Clinic. We thank her for all her charity works!

Thanks Dora, I mean Angelita, for your true concerns for our town Bulan!

jun asuncion

Bulan Observer

                                                                                                            end

The Town Of Bulan Is Different

Or, Reprisal-Free Bulan Politics

 by jun asuncion

Linking Bulan Observer to Bulan-LGU Website is a sign of maturity-  for both. Maturity because it is all about constructive dialogue, maturity because it is about public service and transparency, maturity because it is about democracy.

We cannot expect perfection from both of these Bulan platforms yet we strive to make them the best they possibly can be within our own Bulan concept of democracy. Democracy is best experienced in a town level for people still know each other. While  in the national level democracy is being insulted or abraded by some egoistic figures or polarized by crab mentality, Schadenfreude, envy and rancor, we Bulaneños have the chance to prove to the whole Philippines that we value town  democracy and constitutional rights and respect our own people.

Democracy offers us options on how to relate to things that matter to us in Bulan. We can cast our ballot secretly for instance but a useful debate must be public. And- in this kind of debate-  identity matters.

Hence, anonymity- though a democratic right or prerogative-  loses also its effectiveness in some democratic processes like civil discourse. Now that politics, business and social life have been “uploaded” on-line, human emotions and attitudes have also been uploaded on-line and mostly they are protected by anonymity when it comes to messages of  hate, back-biting or recrimination.

 Still, it is rude and irresponsible, vindictive in motive or perhaps cowardly when one hides behind anonymity when engaging in a discourse or publishing a claim,  particularly when one is criticising or attacking somebody. Nevertheless, I still support the right to anonymity when posting  general comments or comments that are emphatic yet  grounded  and in context and  not directly offensive against anyone in Bulan. However, a signed comment is still the best.

On the other hand, when people choose to hide their identity when talking politics, it is also indicative of fear of reprisal  which is understandable within the Philippine political context in general. Again, this should be a great chance for Bulan to show to the whole Philippines that we are different from the rest in this respect. Since Bulan is now also uploaded online, we hope that the LGU- Bulan Website and all other sites involving Bulan will contribute to our goal of reprisal-free Bulan politics and that this will be made manifest in the way Bulaneños involve themselves in our dialogue.

It is a courageous step forward for the LGU-Bulan to integrate critical voices of Bulan by linking Bulan Observer to its official site. In this manner, the LGU-Bulan has protected itself from any future criticism of being one-sided and not open for dialogue with its constituents at home and abroad. It is a sign that the incumbent Mayor Helen De Castro is for progress and constructive dialogue.

Bulan Observer is not against the idea of government. Its goal has been clearly defined from  the very beginning. And it is not about me or about the authors, contributors and commenters but is about working together for a brighter Bulan.

I’ve read all the entries in this Bulaneño Blog where it talked about the Bulan Terminal and the corresponding  Commission On Audit COA Special Report. I leave it as it is and found it wiser not to engage in dialogue with it  nor link it in Bulan Observer for the very reason that the authorship is unknown. Or  if it is because of the fear of reprisal- real or imagined-  that he chooses to be incognito, then I suppose it is better  for him to stop his activity so that he will live a normal life without such kind of fear or fear of being outed, i.e., exposed sooner or later. We know that constant fear is detrimental to mental and physical health.  But that’s his decision. That it had not published until now the LGU-Bulan’s  response through Mr. Gilana was in a way expected and also an attest to this Blog’s refusal of democratic dialogue. Again, identity matters in some issues, whereas anonymity protects yet, in some cases, renders a claim or argument not worthy of discussion or consideration. A serious democracy- let us not forget- is about fairness and  transparency.

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We Can Do Much More To Our Country

by Gemma Dimaculangan ( Her letter as posted on the Internet and later published in Inquierer.net)

 

(This letter was forwarded to me by a good friend. I  find it  representative of how today’s Filipinos think and feel about  the issues facing the Philippine politics. I challenge all thinking Bicolanos – particularly Bulanenõs-  to give and share their analysis of  it and  I’m looking forward to receiving your comments soon.-  jun asuncion)

I used to think that corruption and criminality in the Philippines were caused by poverty. But recent events tell me this isn’t true. It is one thing to see people turn into drug addicts, prostitutes, thieves and murderers because of hunger and poverty, but what excuse do these rich, educated people have that could possibly explain their bizarre behavior? And to think I was always so relieved when petty snatchers got caught and locked away in jail because I never fully realized that the big time thieves were out there, making the laws and running our country. Can it get any worse than this?

Every night, I come home and am compelled to turn on my TV to watch the latest turn of events. I am mesmerized by these characters. They are not men. They are caricatures of men – too unreal to be believable and too bad to be real. To see these “honorable” crooks lambast each other, call each one names, look each other in the eye and accuse the other of committing the very same crimes that they themselves are guilty of, is so comical and apalling that I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It is entertainment at its worst!

I have never seen so many criminals roaming around unfettered and looking smug until now. These criminals wear suits and barongs, strut around with the confidence of the rich and famous, inspire fear and awe from the very citizens who voted them to power, bear titles like “Honorable”, “Senator”, “Justice”, “General” and worse, “President”. Ironically, these lawless individuals practice law, make our laws, enforce the law. And we wonder why our policemen act the way they do! These are their leaders, and the leaders of this nation – Robin Hoodlumm and his band of moneymen. Their motto? “Rob the poor, moderate the greed of the rich.”

It makes me wonder where on earth these people came from, and what kind of upbringing they had to make them act the way they do for all the world to see. It makes me wonder what kind of schools they went to, what kind of teachers they had, what kind of environment would produce such creatures who can lie, cheat and steal from an already indebted country and from the impoverished people they had vowed to serve. It makes me wonder what their children and grandchildren think of them, and if they are breeding a whole new generation of improved Filipino crooks and liars with maybe a tad more style but equally negligible conscience. Heaven forbid!

I am an ordinary citizen and taxpayer. I am blessed to have a job that pays for my needs and those of my family’s, even though 30% of my earnings go to the nation’s coffers. Just like others in my lot, I have complained time and again because our government could not provide enough of the basic services that I expect and deserve. Rutted roads, poor educational system, poor social services, poor health services, poor everything. But I have always thought that was what all third world countries were all about, and my complaints never amounted to anything more.

And then this. Scandalous government deals. Plundering presidents pointing fingers. Senators associated with crooks. Congressmen who accept bribes. Big time lawyers on the side of injustice. De Venecia ratting on his boss only after his interminable term has ended, Enrile inquiring about someone’s morality! The already filthy rich Abalos and Arroyo wanting more money than they or their great grandchildren could ever spend in a lifetime. Joker making a joke of his own “pag bad ka, lagot ka!” slogan.. Defensor rendered defenseless. Gen. Razon involved in kidnapping. Security men providing anything but a sense of security. And it’s all about money, money, money that the average Juan de la Cruz could not even imagine in his dreams. Is it any wonder why our few remaining decent and hardworking citizens are leaving to go work in other countries?

And worst of all, we are once again saddled with a power-hungry president whose addiction has her clinging on to it like barnacle on a rusty ship. “Love (of power) is blind” takes a whole new meaning when PGMA time and again turns a blind eye on her husband’s financial deals. And still blinded with all that is happening, she opts to traipse around the world with her cohorts in tow while her country is in shambles.

They say the few stupid ones like me who remain in the Philippines are no longer capable of showing disgust. I don’t agree. Many like me feel anger at the brazenness of men we call our leaders, embarrassment to share the same nationality with them, frustration for our nation and helplessness at my own ineffectuality. It is not that I won’t make a stand. It is just that I am afraid my actions would only be futile. After all, these monsters are capable of anything. They can hurt me and my family. They already have, though I may not yet feel it..

But I am writing this because I need to do something concrete. I need to let others know that ordinary citizens like me do not remain lukewarm to issues that would later affect me and my children. I want to make it known that there are also Filipinos who dream of something better for the Philippines. I want them to know that my country is not filled with scalawags and crooks in every corner, and that there are citizens left who believe in decency, fairness, a right to speak, a right to voice out ideas, a right to tell the people we have trusted to lead us that they have abused their power and that it is time for them to step down. I refuse to let this country go to hell because it is the only country I call mine and it is my responsibility to make sure I have done what I could for it.

Those of us who do not have the wealth, power or position it needs to battle the evil crime lords in the government can summon the power of good. We can pray. We can do this with our families every night. We can offer petitions every time we celebrate mass. We can ask others to pray, too, including relatives and friends here and overseas. And we can offer sacrifices along with our petitions, just so we get the message to Him of our desperation in ridding our nation of these vermin. After all, they cannot be more powerful than God!

I implore mothers out there to raise your children the best way you can. Do not smother, pamper, or lavish them with too much of the material comforts of life even if you can well afford them. Teach them that there are more important things in this world. I beg all fathers to spend time with their children, to teach them the virtues of hard work, honesty, fair play, sharing, dignity and compassion – right from the sandboox till they are old enough to go on their own. Not just in your homes, but at work, in school, everywhere you go. Be good role models. Be shining examples for your children so they will learn to be responsible adults who will carry and pass on your family name with pride and honor.

I call on educators and teachers – we always underestimate the power of your influence on the minds of our youth. Encourage them to be aware of what is happening in their surroundings. Instill in them a love of their country, inculcate in them the value of perseverance in order to gain real, worthwhile knowledge, help us mold our children into honorable men and women. Encourage our graduates, our best and brightest, to do what they can to lift this country from the mire our traditional politicians have sunk us into. The youth is our future – and it would be largely because of you,, our educators, that we will be able to repopulate the seats of power with good leaders, presidents, senators, congressmen, justices, lawmakers, law enforcers and lawful citizens.

I ask all students, young people and young professionals everywhere to look around and get involved in what is happening. Do not let your youth be an excuse for failure to concern yourselves with the harsh realities you see. But neither let this make you cynical, because we need your idealism and fresh perspective just as you need the wisdom of your elders. YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU! Let your voices be heard. Do what you can for this land that gave you your ancestors and your heritage. Use technology and all available resources at hand to spread good. Text meaningful messages to awaken social conscience. Try your best to fight moral decay because I promise you will not regret it when you become parents yourselves. You will look back at your past misdeeds and pray that your children will do better than you did.

Remember that there are a few handful who are capable of running this country.. You can join their ranks and make their numbers greater. We are tired of the old trapos. We need brave idealistic leaders who will think of the greater good before anything else. Do your utmost to excel in your chosen field.. Be good lawyers, civil servants, accountants, computer techs, engineers, doctors, military men so that when you are called to serve in government, you will have credibility and a record that can speak for itself.

For love of this country, for the future of our children, for the many who have sacrificed and died to uphold our rights and ideals, I urge you to do what you can. As ordinary citizens, we can do much more for the Philippines than sit around and let crooks lead us to perdition. We owe ourselves this. And we owe our country even more.        /

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The Anatomy Of Destruction

by jun asuncion

 

The two super typhoons that went through and above the Philippines have reminded us again of our human vulnerability, but this time with such an intensity that hundreds of thousands of our countrymen were displaced from their dwellings, hundreds lost their lives, properties destroyed. Total chaos, total misery.

What is left now are the  vestiges of destruction,  the digital images of our sufferings that one can view anytime in internet and the herculean tasks of sustaining lives and of rebuilding all the damaged infrastructure. Today’s technology help much in spreading  our catastrophic situation and our call for help throughout the world. The millions of  Filipinos constituting the diaspora were in pain as they watch the videos and photos of their troubled countrymen; the same with the concerned international community. And they reacted quickly by organizing all forms of help. Sending financial help and fund-raising are also done swiftly with today’s technology. Thus, on one side, we are lucky that this destruction happened with this technology on hand. Still, it is a race against time; additional  suffering should not be inflicted to our homeless people by delaying the distribution of relief goods, the clean-up and rebuilding  of all infrastructure.

Are we Filipinos born only  to suffer and are we not entitled to a bit more comfortable existence? Being on the typhoon belt- and an average of 27 typhoons a year-  we are doomed to suffer losses in crop production and its effects. Crop producers and small farmers suffer the most. Invested capital and labor are lost. Unlike in some industrialized countries, farmers and crop-producers are subsidized and their products are insured from elementary hazards like water and fire. So after a virulent flood or hailstorm, farmers and crop-produces do not come out totally empty.

Our Filipino farmers have always been eeking out a living on the edge of existence. If we cannot move the Philippines away from the typhoon belt, then something should be done on the political level to improve the situation. It’s not politically correct to criticize the government in this present dire situation. But  typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng have  also exposed the anatomy of destruction in the Philippines brought about by corruption, exposed the unsubstantial  presidential speeches we heard not too long ago. The Philippines is  economically not after all on the verge of a take-off  but on the verge of drowning.

Before these floods, Filipinos were already flooded to apathy by empty debates in Congress and entertained to poverty by late night wowowee shows in Malacañang. Indeed, these devastating typhoons have also blown open the havoc of the myopic logic of greed that predominated the Philippine politics. With just thirteen rubber boats and with no budget allotment, how could the National Disaster Coordinating Council NDCC effectively and extensively perform their rescue operations? The financial resources went somewhere else.

Being frequented by typhoons every year, the Philippines should in fact be a world champion in typhoon-and flood disaster planning, should have anticipated such scale of destruction and should have been in possession of rescue materials like hundreds of rubber boats, rescue helicopters, etc. But the world has witnessed a capital city without such needed equipments and  materials. Malacañang was laid bare by Ondoy and globalized the truth of its lies and inefficiency.

It’s not wrong to be poor, but its wrong to continue being unrealistic. To hate the presence of the Americans in our country is- in my opinion-  one among our unrealistic ideas. Again, Ondoy and Pepeng have shown us that we need them. The presence of  US navy ships off the shore of Pangasinan, their rescue helicopters and rubber boats, their trained personnel, etc. have surely help the Filipinos in this emergency situation. Abrogate the Visiting Forces Agreement VFA after that? That would be heedless – and lacking in utang na loob.

 I was once in favor of this idea, but not too long ago I found my attitude unrealistic- not because of the typhoons, but because of the terrorism and insurgency problems that we have in the Philippines. Alone and with empty arsenals, equipped only with pride, and with leaders at war with one another, we cannot combat these problems in the long run. Hence, not abrogate, just define the terms clearly and work with the Americans.

Wait till the fat lady sings or rather consult our advisers Ondoy and Pepeng?  //

 

Bulan Observer

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Message of Mayor Helen C. De Castro

Submitted on 2009/10/12 at 3:42am

NOTE: This message was delivered during the Opening Program of the 6th Pista sa Kabubudlan, held on October 9-10, 2009, at the Bulan Ecopark, Barangay Calomagon.

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  “Dios marhay na hapun tabi sa iyo entero.

Dako-dako na onra nan kaugmahan na i-welcome ko na naman kamo entero sa ika-unom na pagselebrar ta san Fiesta sa Kabubudlan o Feast of the Mountains. Ini na Fiesta sa Kabubudlan sayo na na institutionalized event didi sa ato bungto.

Sa sulod sin nakaagi na lima kataon, luway-luway na inbag-o ta ini na lugar, nan luway-luway na inpatalubo ta an mga puno sin kahoy na ato intaranum. Niyan imud ta na an bunga san ato kapagalan. Ini na Ecopark sayo na espeho o panalmingan san mga gusto ta ikontribuer o idanun para sa kaayadan san kapalibutan ta.

Pero, gusto ko tabi kamo padumdumun na ini na inhihimo ta dire ini dapat nagtatapos sa pagtanum ta lang sin puno didi sa Ecopark. Para sa ako, an katuyuhan sini na Fiesta sa Kabubudlan an magtukdo, an mag-edukar, an maghikayat sin sayo na adbokasiya o awareness para pagmakulugan ta an kapalibutan ta.

San nakaagi na semana, entero kita nakabalita san nangyari sa Metro Manila. Makamumundo an epekto sadto na pag-uran nan pagbaha. Nan hasta niyan, dire pa nag-uudong an pag-uran sa Northern Luzon. Dara tabi ini sin Climate Change na epekto san Global Warming.

An sabi san mga scientists tabi, na puwera san tama na pagtapuk basura, an pinakasolusyun talaga sa Global Warming an ibalik ta an mga puno sa kinab-an. Na kaipuhan magtanum, magtanum, magtanum kirita puno.

An activity ta didi sa Ecopark dapat idara ta sa iba na lugar, o mismo sa mga natad o lugar nato. Kaya ngane. Otrohon ko tabi na an Fiesta sa Kabubudlan is more of an advocacy, an educational venture, creating an awareness among us of the need to preserve Mother Earth. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the next generation after us. We are stewards of God’s creation, of Mother Earth. Magiging kumpleto lamang tabi an kaogmahan ko bilang mao an nagbatug sini na Ecopark nan Fiesta sa Kabubudlan kun maimud ko na insasabuhay na san kada taga- Bulan an tunay na pagmakulog sa kapalibutan.

Sa sulod sin lima na kataun na pagselebrar, naimud ko tabi an pambihira na pag responde san mga taga-Bulan sa panawagan ko na mag-atender kamo sini na Fiesta Sa Kabubudlan. Nan naimud ko tabi an pambihira na entusiasmo san manlaen-laen na sector san bungto ta, lalo na an mga kabatan-an. Dahil sini, dire masukol an pagpasalamat ko sa kada sayo sa iyo. Nan gusto ko tabi maintindihan san kada sayo na ini na aktibidad, binatugan ko lang, pero wara iba na mapadagus kundi karamu, kirita entero, dahilan sa nakasalalay sa kada sayo sa ato, sa ato entero na tawo, an puturo san ato kinab-an.

Sayo sa gusto ko ibalita sa iyo na san September 30, an Ecopark an napili na Regional Winner sa Brigada Ahensiya Search san Civil Service Commission. Inkikilala na tabi an Fiesta sa Kabubudlan dire lang didi sa bungto ta kundi maski sa iba na lugar didi sa Probinsiya ta, nan sa Rehiyon Bikol. Nan dahil sa internet , naniwala ako tabi na maabut an panahun makikilala an mga taga-Bulan dahil sa inhihimo ta niyan, nan para sa kapalibutan ta. Makikilala nira na an mga taga-Bulan maaram magmakulog nan magpasalamat sa biyaya san Mahal na Diyos sa ato nan ini lalanganan o hihirutan ta. Kaugmahan ko sabihun na didi sa Bikol kita lang an may-on sin irog sini na institutionalized event.

Gamitun ko man tabi ini na oportunidad na pasalamatan an mga bisita ta na maging parte san ato aktibidad. Nagparagal sira na makaabut didi sa Bulan nan didi sa Ecopark.

May manlaen-laen kita na aktibidades niyan na adlaw nan lalo na an tree-planting activity sa aga. Makisumayo kamo sa amo, magpartisipar tabi kamo, nan iudok niyo sa boot niyo an hihimuon ta. Kaupod sa pagtanum ta an pagkamoot, sinseridad, pag-asa nan pagpasalamat. Ihuring ta sa mga puno na itatanum ta, nan sa ingud na tatanuman ta na dire kita nalilimut sa pagpasalamat sa Mahal na Diyos. Nan ihuring ta sa hangin niyan, nan ipaabut sa Mahal na Dios, nan sa mga nilalang niya, sa mga bayong, sa mga panganuron, na hihimuon ta an obligasyon ta para maging mapresko gihapun an kapalibutan. Ihuring ta sa puso ta, na nagtutubod ako sa hihimuon ko niyan para sa kapalibutan, nan pagbaba ko sa bulod na ini, dara ko an aspirasyun sin pakisumayo sa kapalibutan, nan ibabalangibog ko sa bilog na komunidad yuon na pag-asa nan aspirasyun.

Sa entero na huyaa niyan, nan pati na sa mga maabut pa taud-taud o sa aga, inpapaabut ko tabi an pasalamat sa kada sayo sa iyo. Mabuhay po an kada taga-Bulan, mabuhay kirita entero.

Happy Fiesta sa Kabubudlan! Salamat, Dios mabalos.”  //

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Submitted on 2009/10/12 at 3:39am

      

THOUSANDS TURNED UP FOR BULAN “FEAST OF THE MOUNTAINS 2009” CELEBRATION

Bulan, Sorsogon, October 10, 2009:

 “Grabe an tawo! Gulpi an tawo niyan! Mas daghan niyan kaysa last year!” Overwhelming! It was the Woodstock, Bulan Version! These were the remarks heard from organizers, media reporters, traffic enforcers and observers as thousands of Bulan citizens turned up to attend various activities in celebration of, and in response to the call of Mayor Helen De Castro to, the 2009 Fiesta sa Kabubudlan (Feast of the Mountains) held on October 9-10, at the Bulan Ecopark in Barangay Calomagon. This is the sixth year of this kind since the Lady Mayor started it all in 2004. Observers estimate that over eight thousand people came to the celebration. An average of five thousand people used to come to the Ecopark celebration during the last five years. But this time even the parking lots were more than jampacked and authorities have to locate a new site for the vehicles.

As early as Thursday, a day before formal activities were to begin, groups of young people were already setting up camps and pitching tents, even as LGU organizers were making final preparations for the busy two days ahead. Enterprising citizens , with their panindas, were already busy selling goods to the early comers.

By Friday morning, a steady stream of vehicles and people, some hiking, braving the dust, made way to the Ecopark, about seven kilometers away from the town center. It was a good and busy day for many tricycle drivers fetching passengers. This went on until midnight. Traffic was busiest between 3:00 PM until ten in the evening.

Young and old, students and teachers, barangay officials tugging along their residents, boys and girls scouts, families, along with their children, even babies and toddlers, visitors from the neighboring towns of Juban, Matnog and Irosin came. Groups of youngsters from barangays Casini and San Agustin, in Irosin registered their attendance. As of eight in the evening, registration officers already recorded 156 groups and organizations. Many more were coming and many others missed the registration. An Israeli tourist came and stayed during the festivities. Tents and huts soon filled up the designated camping area. The camp area already filled up, many decided to pitch their tents, even in undesignated areas. One teacher commented that , “ Baga ini an Family Day, a Youth Day, an Environmentalist’s Day all rolled into one.”

Traffic Safety officers, with the assistance of police interns from the Solis Institute of Technology, Barangay Tanods and other volunteers were kept busy all throughout. Police authorites from the Bulan Municipal Police Station and the 509th PPMG kept the peace and order. The Rural Health Unit First Aid Team and the Bulan Rescue Team were on hand to assist people in need. The LGU ambulance stood nearby. The Kabalikat Civicom, and other civic groups like BANWA, BEAT and Uswag-Bulan, were on hand to extend assistance to the participants. The Bulan Fil-Chinese Volunteers Fire Brigade did their share by keeping the roads watered and freed off dust near the Ecopark. Despite the stream of vehicles traveling back and forth the site, not a single accident or untoward incident was recorded. Everything went according to public order and safety plans.

After lunch, even before the Opening Ceremonies, the organizers already conducted the “Laro ng Lahi” contests like Palosebo, Tubi-Tubi-ay, and other local and traditional games.

At the Opening Program, municipal officials led by Mayor Helen De Castro,together with Vice-Mayor Manuel Gogola and the Sangguniang Bayan Members, formally declared the Fiesta open. The Governor sent her representative, Dr. Librada Esplana. The speakers spoke on the need to avert Global Warming and Climate Change, and the tragic experiences from calamities as a result of unwanton destruction of the environment. Mayor De Castro exhorted the participants that before they were to plant the seedlings the next day, they have to offer prayers of hope and, thanksgiving to God. She said that this environment activity should not end with the tree-planting activity, but rather, participants should, when they come down the Ecopark, bring along with them that aspiration and desire to help Mother Earth, by planting trees anywhere they can, especially in their own backyard. She said that this environment activity is more of an advocacy, a movement, an educational venture on the ecology. Cultural numbers were also presented. The “Fiesta sa Kabubudlan” March or Theme Song, written and composed by Mr. Edwin Gloriane, was played for the first time. Once legislated, this shall be the official song of the annual celebration.

Mayor Benito Doma of Prieto-Diaz town and Visitors from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Los Banos came. They gave lectures and workshops to the Bulan audience. Mayor Doma, an awardee-mayor, lectured on Mangrove Reforestation , while the DOST researchers, Dr. Emelyne Cortiguerra and Mr. Eduard Bonong, gave lectures and demos on charcoal bricketting, an alternative form of livelihood, instead of cutting trees for charcoal. It was attended by members from NGO’s and cooperatives in Bulan.

In the evening, a pageant in search of the “Diyosa ng Kalikasan” was conducted. It focused on awareness for the environment. Also named were the “Diwata ng Hangin”, “Diwata ng Tubig”, “Diwata ng Kabundukan”. Seven beautiful contestants represented their schools. Winner as Diyosa ng Kalikasan was Lily-Ann Gaton of Alcoba National HS. Named as Diwatas were Patricia Molina of SLI-KRAMS, Jeneza Bon of JP Laurel HS, and Margie Mirabel of Magic 5 Organization. In order to participate in this pageant, the representative had to register by way of contributing twenty seedlings to the organizers. The gowns donned by the contestants were from recycled indigenous materials.

After the pageant search, a ten-minute fireworks display wowed the entire camp. A disco-dancing, attended by hundreds of people followed. It went on until dawn of the next day. Even as other activities were going on, every place in the Ecopark was filled with people just enjoying, singing, strolling, playing, or promenading. The clear moonlit sky even brightened the celebration.

At 6:30 o’clock on Saturday, a Holy Mass of Thanksgiving, presided by the Bulan Parish Priest, Fr. Ernie Mendina, was celebrated. Mayor Helen de Castro and the municipal officials, employees and the participants were in attendance.

The highlight of the celebration, the tree-planting activity after the Holy Mass was a rare experience to many, even emotional and poignant, as adults overhear children and youngsters, heeding the appeal of Mayor De Castro, whispering to the plants and to the soil, and praying, as they plant their seedlings. One Boy Scout was overheard, “ Sana tabi mawara na an mga baha sa Bulan.” Another, “Please tabi, ayaw na pagpabagyuha sa Pilipinas, kay kairuman san mga Pilipino!” Another girl, prayed, “Sige ha, pagbalik namo otro taun kisyera maimud ko ikaw na dako na na puno.” The more than one-hectare land prepared for planting by the MENRO and the GSO was not enough space for planting, as other participants simply helped together carefully handle one seedling to be planted. It became more of a symbolic action to many, even as they promised to instead plant trees in their own communities. The organizers did not expect nor anticipate the great increase in the number of participants this year. They promised a bigger planting areas next year. The garbage site-turned Ecopark is a 14.5-hectare lot donated by the late Ambassador Tomas G. De Castro, uncle-in-law of Mayor De Castro.

After the Tree-planting activity, a kite-flying contest was conducted. Twelve beautiful kites, expertly crafted by members of the competing groups, were pitted against each other. The winner was from Team Barangay Inararan, led by Team Leader Robert Cadag. They won P2,000. Runners-up were from Team Barangay Zone 8, and Team Danao National High School.

Even as the majority of the attendees already packed up by midday, many others opted to stay a little longer to enjoy the surroundings of the camp. Mayor De Castro and the employees thanked everybody and she personally saw to it that everybody was safely on the way home upon leaving camp. The campers enthusiastically promised Mayor de Castro that they shall continue cooperating with her leadership and programs even as they profusedly thanked her for the great and unique experience, and that they anticipate a bigger celebration next year. The Mayor also thanked the municipal employees for the excellent, accident-free and peaceful celebration. Of particular mention, the Mayor acknowledged the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources under Ms. Kelly Tan, the foremost department involved in the organization of the event. She noted of the professionalism and devotion to work of the municipal employees who helped her achieve a goal in public service, even as she emphasized that this is an unending crusade to save the environment.

All the four Bulan radio stations gave full coverage to the event. Thus giving the other citizens all over Bulan a chance to monitor everything that was taking place in the Ecopark. //

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Bulan Observer Supports Swiss-Asian Chamber Of Commerce Task Force Asia

by jun asuncion

 

The devastation of  typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng to the Philippines was unprecedented in scale and magnitude. The whole world was witness to this natural catastrophe and the drama of the Filipino people as they fought to survive. Videos and  photos uploaded in internet platforms are documents of our suffering: A whole family on a roof that has been violently carried away by the gush of the swollen river only to be smashed against the concrete support of the bridge and be drowned as others were helplessly watching; a woman and a child carried by the strong current crying out for help. We can only wonder what she said to her baby before they were swallowed down the depths of the river…

 Now that the storm is over, the only thing left is to help those victims  make their miserable destiny bearable to them-  and to us. We know that catastrophes do not distinguish between rich and poor. The only difference is that the rich may recover materially much easier than the poor ones. The rich victims may already be under the shower and dressed with fine clothings  dining in fine restaurants and sleeping in comfortable rooms in hotels or fine apartments provided by their rich friends. But where are the poor? They are still there with their poor companions, stuck in the muds among the debris and sleeping in evacuation centers- if these were quickly provided by the government. Otherwise they are still  in the streets, wallowing in muddy waters, hopelessly lost, hungry and cold.

We may have been thousands of  miles away from Ondoy and Pepeng, thousands of miles away from the deep waters of Marikina and from our drowning citizens. Yet their crying voices seemed to have been heard in the farthest reaches of the universe. It is painful for those who heard them, even to those who do not share the color of our skin.

These crying voices echoed also in the alps of Switzerland and in the noble streets of Zurich. The Swiss were quick to respond, the humanitarian tradition being firmly rooted in their heart and soul. A Swiss lawyer, Dr. Martin Kurer, chairman of the Swiss-Asian Chamber of Commerce- Philippine Chapter and co-founder of the Taskforce Asia, quickly connected himself with two Filipino nurses here in Zurich, Franklin Patricio and Milagros Asuncion, who are both working in Hirslanden Clinic, to ask for  their help on fundraising for our fellow Filipinos who are still stuck in the miry streets of Manila. Milagros Asuncion is a photographer of Bulan Observer. She also had a taste of flooding  when Storm Dante battered Bulan last May. Now the engagement to flood victims continues even when far away from home.

 In order to help raise funds, she endorsed SACC by way of offering her  testimonial to the Taskforce Asia, appeared in the Caritas, a humanitarian organization with seat in Zürich, will be appearing on  a radio interview and will be- together with Franklin-  organizing a piano concert in Zürich. I am, on the other hand, just sitting quitely at the background with my laptop-, writing for some websites here and writing letters for donors. All for the benefits of our bedraggled homeless Ondoy victims in the Philippines.

The SACC Task Force Asia was set up by the Philippine Ambassador to Switzerland, H.E. M aria Theresa P. Lazaro, and Martin Kurer, Chairman of the SACC Philippine Chapter.

Here’s the Website of the Swiss-Asian Chamber of Commerce with our two  Filipino “ambassadors of goodwill” Mila and Franklin:

  

Milagros Asuncion, Nurse at Hirslanden Klinik in Zurich, Heart-Thorax Surgery Station.

 ”My name is Milagros Asuncion. I am a nurse at Hirslanden Klinik. For the past 28 years I have been working as a nurse in Switzerland. We have experienced very bad storms in the Philippines before, but this Ketsana, or Ondoy, is worse than anything I…( click here for more…)

 

 

 

Franklin Patricio, Nurse at  Hirslanden Zürich, Heart-Thorax Surgery Station

“I am Franklin Patricio. I am working as a nurse in a hospital in Zurich. The Philippines are very much affected by the storm which has hit Metro Manila and Northern Luzon, as the fate of my sisters’ family shows. Please support the… (click here for more…)

 

 

 

Bulan Observer will be supporting more humanitarian projects of the Swiss-Asian Chamber Of Commerce  in the future.

(Photos supplied by Swiss-Asian Chamber Of Commerce- with special thanks to Dr. Martin Kurer!)

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Realted Articles

 

But we are not destroyed (as published in Taskforceasia.ch)

 by Maribel Oana, Zurich, Switzerland

I still have my family: my mother, a widow for 43 years, who has been blind for almost 15 years, and crippled- because of a car accident last 2005- but saved; with her is my youngest brother with his wife and their 3 children, they are the ones taking care of my mother. Venue:  our  two-floors Residential house in Vista Verde Executive Village in Cainta Rizal, one of the most devastated areas hit by Typhoon Ondoy.

This is their story, as related to me by my mother and my sister-in-law.

September 26, 2009, Saturday at about 8 o’clock in the morning; the water in the streets were we lived were already ankle high (our house is one meter elevated from that of the street). After less than 15 minutes, the water rose and have reached our main gate and Garage, so my brother told my mother that he will accompany her in going to the second floor because the water is rising fast. My mother didn’t took this seriously because she knew that it never flooded in our house even when our neighbor subdivisions are under water, ours never was.

My brother and his 2 sons started putting the appliances such as the Refrigerator, washing machine and electric cooking range on the dining table while my sister-in-law and her daughter brought some biscuits, rice, noodles and water upstairs and nothing else (they were caught unprepared for this situation). Another 15 minutes gone by, the water was already inside our house on the first floor and 1 inch below the knee. My brother hurried to my mother and let her stand on her feet to make her believe that the water is truly inside our house and she was very much frightened and shocked as she felt the water on her knees.

My brother carried my mother upstairs for there is no more time left because the water is rising up every minute. Then he and his sons took the light furniture upstairs as fast as they can and that within 5 minutes then after that is history: a huge amount of water flooded our first floor.

My brother was nearly drowned for he was caught unaware, because the appliances that were on top of the table fell on the water and bumped him, he was trap in the middle of the swimming appliances and the swimming piano, thanks God, his sons pulled him up.

Not long ago on the second floor, they heard voices from outside calling for help; they saw our neighbors swimming outside crying and shouting for help. Their houses (only one floor-Bungalow style) were under water with only the roofs seen. My family welcomed our neighbors

(2 families and the youngest was a 5-year old boy). Before 9 o’clock (within less than one hour), the whole place was flooded 2 meters high, and remained there 2 days and 2 nights, with no electricity, 3 liters of water and only biscuits to eat (for they cannot cook without electricity). We were able to communicate with them through cellphone on a limited basis, since cellphones need to be recharged, too.

We may not be with our family physically during this Ondoy Tragedy, but they were always in our prayers and we motivated and encouraged then to pray, too and continue to trust in God even this times of suffering, for we know that God is still in control! My eldest brother and his family, and my eldest sister’s family were saved, but we are still looking for our cousin living in Provident Village in Marikina who until now is missing. My mother is a prayerful woman and she told me this; “my child, we may be struck down, but we are not destroyed, Praise be the name of the Lord!

The Aftermath: as of now death toll is rising up, a lot of people is still missing and thousands of people are homeless and hungry. In behalf of my countrymen, I’m asking and pleading you to please help us in cash of any amount or in kind (any old clothes, old shoes, old linen)./

———–end————-

A Letter To Mayor Helen De Castro

To Mayor Helen De Castro:

In response to the death incidence in Bulan Terminal just recently, I commend the actions you and your team have undertaken. It shows that in Bulan life is valued, that we care to all who come and go in Bulan.

We express our deepest sympathy and condolences to the bereaved family.

I now suggest strongly that a small yet functional medical clinic should be integrated in Bulan Integrated Bus Terminal. It should be financed partly by the revenues collected by the Bus terminal. There is enough space for such a small clinic.

Its function is to guarantee basic medical security for all the travelers and to be able to respond quickly on the spot to emergency cases like heart attack, circulatory collapse, nervous breakdown, diabetes-related problems (hypo-/hyperglycemia) and physical injuries. A wheelchair and a stretcher should be in place- and most importantly medical personnel and trained first-aiders.

 I suggest that you acquire one of these automatic cardio defibrillators  available today which is affordable enough and easy to operate with little training.

This death incidence in Fabrica is a sad news. However, we must expect more such emergency situations to happen in Fabrica because people are exposed to mental and physical stressors when they travel long distances plus factors like bad weather conditions(typhoons, flood) broken roads and bridges, bad news, etc. And we will have more and more travellers coming  to or passing our town Bulan in the future.

We are not in control of everything that life brings with it, but a medical clinic in Fabrica is a realistic project that we can control.

I thank you for considering my suggestion. I know  that you always  take my word seriously.

Respectfully Yours,

jun asuncion

Bulan Observer

SUPERTYPHOON PEPENG SPARES BULAN; BULANENO VOLUNTEERISM SURFACES ONCE MORE

Submitted on 2009/10/04 at 9:41am

PIO- Bulan

Bulan, Sorsogon, October 3, 2009, PIO-BULAN: Bulanenos heaved a very deep sigh of relief, and offered prayers of thanksgiving to God, after the Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council officially declared, in its October 2, 3:00 PM Advisory that the dangers and risks posed by Supertyphoon Pepeng to the town of Bulan is over. The Supertyphoon, packing winds of between 185-230 KPH, is on its way to the northern part of the Philippines on a west-northwest track as forecast by PAG-ASA. The MDCC Action Officer, Luis De Castro, however, appealed to the public to continue praying for other Filipinos who might be affected by the storm and that they too be spared of this calamity.

Supertyphoon Pepeng endangers the Philippines once more a week after Tropical Storm Ondoy, on September 28-29, brought death, devastation and havoc to hundreds of thousands of Filipinos in Metro Manila. Hundreds died and many more were missing from the floodwaters as high as ten meters, due to the record high volumes of rain by this malevolent weather. As of this writing, rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts are still on-going in Manila. Not a single family in Bulan is without a relative in Manila.

When news from PAG-ASA and from the Internet about Pepeng was received by the Office of the Municipal Mayor, Mayor Helen De Castro, Chairman of the MDCC, immediately called, on Wednesday, September 30, an emergency meeting of all members of the MDCC and other stakeholders to put into action and implementation the Municipal Disaster Risk-Reduction Plan.

By evening of October 1, Sorsogon Province was placed under Public Storm Signal No.1, and by then, the Bulan MDCC and all the BDCCs were already activated. Other parts of the Bicol Region were ready, and so were all other Philippine regions. Great were the lessons learned from the tragic experience of Storm Ondoy.

In the whole town of Bulan, residents were properly informed, hand-outs on readiness were distributed, operation capabilities checked and re-checked by local authorities. All the four radio stations played very responsible roles in the public information. In flood-prone barangays like Managa-naga, Obrero, San Vicente, barangay officials prepared rafts from recycled ice chests or styrofores. Managa-naga Barangay Chairman said they also prepared a kilometer-long rope for their residents in case flood waters rise.

The spirit of Bayanihan and volunteerism once more came to the fore as several groups and organizations came to help the MDCC in monitoring , in the voluntary and pre-emptive evacuation of citizens in hazard areas, and in the relief operations in evacuation centers.

Groups like USWAG-Bulan, TOFY, Kabalikat-CIVICOM, BANWA, MAGIC 5, BEAT, and the Bulan Rescue Team were all in hand to do varied roles necessary for the safety of the citzenry

During the storm, 14 houses were partially destroyed by storm surges in Barangay JP Laurel. There were also 56 families or 188 persons attended to by MSWDO/RHU personnel and by the volunteers. The Bulan Integrated Terminal became a refuge center for 125 stranded passengers bound for Masbate and Ticao Island. Hot meals were given to them while they are staying at the terminal. Sadly, one passenger from Palanas , Masbate died of a heart attack upon arrival at the terminal. He was attended to by the Bulan PNP.

Fortunately, there were no reports of damage to public infrastructure. Farmers were also thankful that there was only minor damage to crops , especially that this is now the palay-harvest season in Bulan.

The MDCC, thru the Municipal Mayor and the Municipal Action Officer, extended thanks to all those who, in one way or another, did their share in making sure that the Bulan community was safe.

————

 

BULAN INTEGRATED TERMINAL RECEIVES PRAISES FROM STRANDED PASSENGERS

 

Bulan, Sorsogon, October 3, 2009 – Several passengers, before boarding their tricycles that will bring them to the Bulan Pier today, extended thanks and praises to the Local Government Unit of Bulan and the Bulan Terminal personnel, for the attention and care given to them while staying here at the local government facility at the height of typhoon Pepeng.

Yesterday, a total of 125 passengers bound for Masbate and Ticao Island were stranded at the Terminal, Of these, 54 were males, 54 females and 17 children.

The MSWDO gave out hot meals for dinner yesterday and another breakfast pack this morning to all the passengers before they left for their trip to Masbate, after Typhoon Signal No. 1 was lifted by PAG-ASA.

These were sad moments however for the family of one of the passengers, a 60-year old male resident of Palanas town in Masbate, who died of a heart attack, 20 minutes after debarking from the MegaBus, due to fear brought about by announcements on the typhoon. He was immediately attended to by terminal personnel and the PNP..

According to Terminal Manager Ruel Gimao, the Bulan Integrated Terminal, since it started operation, has always been a holding center to hundreds of Masbate passengers, everytime the Coast Guard suspends inter-island vessel trips to and from Masbate and Ticao or Northern Samar.

Gimao said that many passengers texted him after reaching their destination in Masbate and Ticao thanking local authorities for attending to them while staying at the Terminal. They say that they felt safer at the new facility unlike before that they were exposed to many elements in private terminals in the Poblacion.

THE Local Government Unit has in the past purchased several beddings and utensils to be used especially by children and old people stranded at the Terminal. A holding room has also been especially furbished for use by these passengers. The Terminal Manager reported that in many instances in the past months, they have already helped several persons with mental illnesses, and who were on their own when they arrived at the Terminal. These people were properly referred to the police and health and social welfare authorities.

PIO-Bulan

—————————————

VFA: a Lick and a Promise?

 

By W. Scott Thompson and Oliver Geronilla*

 

“Well, because he looked like a wild boar,” the American serviceman explained his shooting of a Pinoy at Subic Bay forty years ago; was there anything more insensitive he might have said? Oh yes there is. When rich Bill Blair arrived with his wife (Deedee of the ten best dressed women of the world), he said Filipinos were “ungrateful” with respect to the bases and all else America had purportedly done for the Philippines—was he referring to the Thomasites or to the development of the Colt 45 so to be able to kill Filipinos more efficiently in the independence war?

This has always been the worst issue between Filipinos and Americans, so it’s no surprise that Senator Santiago has picked it up. She always knows how to inflame issues for her own advantage. Should the government dance foxtrot with Miriam? With her stance in the senate, it seems that she’s now on the fast beat strutting much faster to ask GMA to renegotiate the executive bilateral agreement. And if all fails, “terminate the agreement,” she opines.

Here’s the nub of the issue. At independence, the Philippines was destroyed by war and destitute; the American star was ascending all over the world. America was—since it was little affected by World War II—half the world product, if only briefly. The Philippine bargaining position wasn’t exactly strong. And the governing elite, more or less the same then as the sugar elite, satisfied itself with the famous American sugar quota, whereby the American consumer paid a 400% bounty for sweets from the archipelago, in return for all the concessions on sovereignty. There was also a lot of talk back then about how the American military commitment to the Philippines was a lot less automatic than to NATO partners, which was true, though with time this has become moot.

Principally, here was the question of jurisdiction over crimes committed by Americans on official duty at and around the bases. Status of forces agreements in almost all cases involved the American request for waivers for soldiers charged with a crime to be tried in their own courts. NATO countries granted 94.8% of the waivers requested as of 1970; the Philippines 00.9%. There just wasn’t a lot of trust in this realm.

For a generation, that’s all we heard of. The agreements here were “second class,” America saw the Philippines as “second class.” Well, yes and no. It is true that the NATO provisions were more favorable to the host countries. But in all fairness, the Philippines was just developing its judicial system and we all know some of the weaknesses. The USA used its economic position for concessions, but it was increasingly—and has been ever since—a comparison of apples with oranges.

Come the base lease endings in 1991, new temporary agreements were concluded. They really encapsulated the best of the past, though one of Cory’s chief advisers thought they were less favorable than those previously existing. Not so, said the then SND, Fidel V. Ramos, when he was interviewed at the time.

But now the atmosphere is heating up all over again. Filipinos are discovering that the 500 Americans merely ‘advising’ in Mindanao (and the moon is made of cheese?) are thick in the fight and they are worried that once again the USA can slip one over on the less powerful Philippines, and spirit away offending American troops. Well, at least the 500 got GMA enough of an excuse to extract a meaningless thirty -minute meeting with Barack Obama, right? And the fight in Mindanao, the leading authority on insurgency in Southeast Asia, Zachary Abuza, has said, is the foremost front in the region against terrorism, right?

That puts all and sundry in limbo.

Seeing the people in the government espouse principles that are poles apart is nothing new. Senator Santiago’s “either A or B” approach in making VFA work for the country is laudable, but things are not always what they seem. All these issues have been there for a long time waiting to be examined. But why just now? People might argue that certain loopholes only become apparent when problems surface out. True. But isn’t it a classical case of healing only when and where it hurts?

Secretary Teodoro sings a different tune. Almost a month ago, he warned the nation against abrogating the agreement as it won’t bode well for the country for “it might send a wrong signal to its allies that it cannot keep its commitment.” Just recently, he issued another statement saying that the discussions on the matter must be done after the elections so as  to avoid putting political color into it. That holds water, doesn’t it? Or, is it just a political posturing?

Legal luminaries have of course asked the Supreme court’s help on this issue zooming in on its constitutionality; however, the Supreme Court has articulated its position not only once but twice– It is constitutional! What happened to Art. VII, Sec. 21 of the Philippine Constitution? It says: “No treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred in by at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate.” It’s perhaps due to this reason that the Former Senate President, Jovito Salonga, together with the other petitioners who questioned its constitutionality does not lose hope. In fact, they’re keeping their fingers crossed that the other justices would join the four who dissented.

Has the Upper House done its job? For the nonce, yes. Senate Resolution No. 1356 serves as its clarion call aimed at GMA to serve notice to the US to terminate or renegotiate the agreement.

And the Lower House? Well, based on their reactions, it seems that they are not singing from the same hymnbook.

Not too long ago, Senator Joker Arroyo succinctly wrapped up the issue by asking both the legislative and the executive branches of the government to iron things out minus the bickering that we have been seeing on national television.

Clearly, they are at loggerheads. Without a unified stand on the issue, we all know too well that everything is bound to come a cropper. We think that Miriam is doing a disservice. This is a very difficult issue, and as a lawyer, she knows better than to present it all in chiliastic terms. Time for her to consult her, shall we say, “advisers”?

And oh… Let’s all wait till the fat lady sings.

——————-

* W. Scott Thompson, D.Phil., is professor emeritus of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He wrote this with the assistance of Oliver Geronilla, language instructor at HMA, Dasmariñas, Cavite

                                                                         ……………..  end…………

A letter To Governor Sally Lee of Sorsogon

To Governor Sally Lee:

We are pleased to know that you’re visiting our town Bulan. May your visit be a memorable and fruitful one this time.

Since your purpose is to discuss the Pawa hospital issue with Mayor Helen De Castro, the Bulaneños at home and abroad are already excited about the upcoming results of your talk.  The Pawa issue is not only a local issue, it is an international issue for Bulan expats all over the globe are concerned about it and are monitoring closely the developments especially how the concerned authorities are tackling the problem. Pawa Hospital is a big problem in Bulan.

We can only hope for positive results this time, which means that something concrete  must be done right after your discussion to the Pawa Hospital that would lead in a short time to the renovation of the building and upgrading of the hospital and medical facilities. That’s the basic- and the most important.

Once renovation and upgrade of all facilities has been done, Pawa Hospital will become attractive as a working place for medical personnel such as doctors, nurses, technicians and office workers. The Pawa Hospital’s present condition is very desolate so we should not wonder why it doesn’t attract local medical personnel to apply for open positions. The market in this area is highly competitive everywhere in the world. Hence, if closing the Pawa Hospital- or of transforming it to a PNP station- is not an option since the expanding population of Bulan desperately needs Pawa Hospital for their basic medical needs and security, there is categorically only one option left for us which is to renovate and upgrade it and make it attractive. This is the only way.

Therefore, since you are politically directly responsible to Pawa Hospital, we ask you to exhaust all your available means afforded by your office to upgrade Pawa Hospital and support the local government of Bulan in all its efforts to maintain Pawa Hospital. This time,  the  COA (Commission On Audit) will surely not make it difficult for you if the provincial financial resources are truly spent in a great project like Pawa Hospital. The people of Bulan would be happy if they don’t lose Pawa Hospital and would trust their leaders ever more if they could solve this problem. That would be the biggest gift to the people of Bulan.

We thank you for visiting Bulan and for all your efforts for the Pawa Hospital. We will be closely monitoring the developments in Pawa.

Respectfully Yours,

Jun Asuncion

Bulan Observer

(This letter was also sent directly to the office of Governor Sally Lee)

……………………………………………………

PAWA HOSPITAL ISSUE

Submitted on 2009/09/25 at 8:16am

By Tonyboy Gilana-PIO Bulan

Jun, I think it’s about time that your readers be informed about the PAWA HOSPITAL which has indeed been the source of so many hurt feelings and complaints from our residents.

I myself felt the same especially only a few weeks ago, some of my relatives who were supposed to be treated there has to go to Irosin District Hospital for their medical needs.

Mayor Baby told me to write you and inform your readers about the true situation of the PAWA Hospital. Mayor Baby has been very concerned about the situation although this is not within her ambit of administrative responsibility, since Pawa is under the provincial government. She knows that ninety nine percent of the patients are Bulanenos. But she says she does not want to point fingers at anybody because she has also known of the concern of Governadora Sally.

The problem with PAWA HOSPITAL is the lack of doctors. AND EVEN IF THERE IS A VACANT ITEM NOW OPEN FOR ANY DOCTOR TO APPLY FOR, THERE ARE NO TAKERS! The reason? Medical practitioners shy away from a government position because of the low salary na talagang dire mo man puwede ikabasol sa mga doctor ta. Most of them are in private practice po. But the provincial government cannot appropriate salaries more than ordained by law.

Nano tabi an inhihimo ni Mayor Baby san Problema sa Pawa: Mao tabi ini.

Seguro po dire aram san iba nato na mga kabungto, na an duwa na doctor doon sa PAWA is already being shouldered by LGU BULAN. DR. James APIN and Dr. Bernard SAN JOSE.

An Pawa po has only one resident doctor before. Mao po ini an mga nagsurunod, si Dr. Monina Luzuriaga. When Dr. Luzuriaga retired, Dr. Gordola was assigned there, then she went into private practice. Dr. Lustestica of Prieto Diaz came, then he was transferred. Then Dr. Tita Palad. During all these time, that one single doctor did all the work at PAWA!!! Imagine one doctor working 24/7! Even the nurses and attendants cannot afford this difficulty, not even if he is a superman.

Mayor Baby and Governor talked with each other last year and the Province added another item for PAWA. That should have made it two doctors.

Meanwhile, didi man sa Local RHU nato, because of the increasing demand for medical services, Mayor Baby added another item for local doctor. Kaya si Dra. Payoyo of Irosin nagkaigua sin kadanun in the person pf Dra. Kates Rebustillo. We also filled up another dentist item, Dr. Mariel Rebustillo, but Dentist Mrilou Jimenes also died last year kaya sayo na naman an dentist ta.

Sa PAWA, may position open for applicant -doctors pero wara sin nag-aaplay. Kaya solo permi si Dra. Palad san trabaho niya. In fact, didi na siya nag residence muna.

Pag Saturday, Sunday wara doktor, kaya an hinimo ni Mayor, naghimo paagi na ma-hire temporary every Sat and Sun lang sira Dr. Apin and Dr. San Jose. So that solved the week end problem.In fact Mayor was even scolded by COA for giving honoraria to the two doctors which are not supposed to be because it is against the law!! Imagine this situation. Pero Mayor reasoned out that it is for PUBLIC WELFARE that she is doing it! Mayor Baby continued to have these two doctors serve Pawa.

NOW… here comes again the problem. Dr. Tita Palad was shuffled to Sta. Magdalena, and a new doctor was assigned to Bulan, Dr. Pierre Ayuban. But you know he is from Camarines Sur. And he has to travel all the way up and down here also because he has a family out there in Camarines. He comes on time alright, but his assignment is by schedule, Monday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon. That leaves Wednesday evening to Friday afternoon with no doctor again!!! Also, Sunday evening to Monday morning there is no doctor because Dr. Apin and Dr. San Jose has to go back to their original posts!!! Kapagal!

At this time would you believe that Dr. Ludovic Tan of Irosin Diostrict is our in-charge? He has to oversee two hospitals all at the same time!!!

Governor Sally Lee requested one doctor from outside of Sorsogon to come to Bulan, but after about a month or two, dire na nag-report kay mapagalon daw sa kamutangan niya. Again, pan-o mo ini mabasol?

Kaya an mga pasyente ta sa Pawa may mga time na dire naatenderan san Doctor. May nurses, may attendants pero pan-o man kun wara doctor! Sa Bulan liwat we are already 96,000 people as of latest count.

Pero sa RHU wara kita problema.

Governor and the Provincial Health Office is very much concerned. Pero maski ngane sa Provincial Hospital, an iba sa alley na nakahigda. Grabe talaga an kaipuhan ta. Kaya ngane pag wara doctor didalagan na lang sa mga private clinic o kaya pa Irosin o kaya paRHU. An problema kay kun kawaraon ini na mga tawo.

An ihimo na lang san mga pobre ta na kabungto dalagan sa MSWDO, o kaya sa Opis ni Meyor. which we attend to with great passion.

WE ARE CALLING UPON ANYONE WHO KNOWS ANYBODY WHO WISH TO APPLY FOR A POSITION AS DOCTOR SA PAWA. The item is there, will somebody take it please? Tama man an sentimiento san sayo mo na reader, angay suon pasirahan an PAWA. Pero, dire man ada tabi puwede kay kaipuhan ta gihapun.

Last year, I was informed by Bokal Hao that the Head Nurse in Irosin went abroad because the pay there is better. Of Course , nobody can blame them because they have a family to raise po.

But we in the Local Government, lalo na si Mayor never tire out of trying to figure things out and look for solutions to the problem of Pawa, even Governor Sally also. I think, she is planning a visit one of these days.

The Local Government Unit has a Health Program, please check it out once our website comes out October 1. Also, we intend to purchase a mobile laboratory this year to reach out to our farflung barangays. Mayor has seen to it that there is now a maternity clinic in Otavi and Obrero. These are now operational. The BHWs are very active. Pero talagang dako na an Bulan, and we are adjusting to it. Even our local ambulance is kept almost busy every day. There are times when our ambulance has to bring in three patients in one single day. Our ambulance driver Tio Nani just passed away a few months ago, and to us he was a real hero, serving our patients even in the middle of the night or early dawn.

Next year Mayor wants to have a bigger RHU complete with lying -in clinic.

You see po, we can only do as according to our municipal budget. But we continue to source out sponsors like World Vision, PhilCAT, Center for Health Development, the DOH,the DSWD so we can provide for more for our people.

And also from the positive side, sa tutoo po mga mayadun man an mga personnel ta sa Pawa. I find them very friendly an dedicated. Un nga lang may mga time na seguro dahil kun minsan surunod sunod an pasyente lalo na kun gab-i may mga nagiging grumpy kay kun piraw na. Pero by and large they are wondeful people doing their jobs with passion.

I can personally vouch for them because I had my two baby girls delivered sa Pawa Hospital. Even my brothers had their kids delivered in Pawa. When my Papa was hospitalized until he died in Pawa due to a really incurable emphysema, the doctors and the nurses were very warm and accomodating, and they emphatized with our pain and sadness. And I know there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other people who were served well in Pawa and by Pawa.

It is only unfortunate that the problems are present. In a life and death situation, you cannot blame people with how they feel especially when indeed when it is time that the services are needed most they are not there!

I can only empathize with those who were brokenhearted because of the day when they needed Pawa most and there are no doctors. If I were in their shoes I will feel the same anger and hurt.

But, at the same we wish to assure the good public of Bulan, the very people we are serving that our Mayor and Gobernadora are doing the best they can to help alleviate the sufferings of our poor people who depend on Pawa.

We are not offering excuses for whatever lapses there maybe. Nor can we resurrect back those who may have gone through fatal moments just because of the few minutes or seconds that were lost just because there was no one to attend to them at PAWA.

PAWA Hospital is our primary and priority concern because of what is happening now. Two days from now, Mayor De Castro, Governor Sally Lee and the hospital staff will come together to talk about what is happening in Pawa. We shall keep you updated po.

Now. This year we just won the Best Brigada Ahensiya search in the Bicol Region. The award is given to an agency that has initiated and nurtured a program or project. We have the ecopark for an entry.

The Mayor’s staff decided that after we have received the Brigada award , we shall focus to another project– this time to Pawa Hospital. We shall plan out schedules so we can help there the undermanned janitorial staff to spruce up and beautify the physical facilites of Pawa. This is our way of contributing whatever we can for Pawa.

The Liga ng Mga Barangay donated 12 units electric fan to Pawa from 14,888 pesos we solicited during the barangay night. We shall have it installed anytime now.

Thank you for reading this. And thank you for your understanding. Indeed, PAWA is a concern to us and we are doing something for it, but closing down Pawa Hospital is out of the question po.

Tonyboy Gilana-PIO Bulan

Madame John Quincy Adams?

 

By W. Scott Thompson and Oliver Geronilla*

 

The sixth American president, like GMA, was the child of a previous president: John Quincy Adams was son to second president John Adams. After he lost his bid for reelection in 1828 to the populist Andrew Jackson, he bided his time looking for ways to be useful to the young republic, and stood for election in 1830 to the House of Representatives as a candidate from his home state of Massachusetts.

Is there another parallel emerging? We hear that the 14th president of this republic plans to stand for election to the Filipino House of Representatives from her home province of Pampanga. Is this a horrific loss of face—to go from palace to mere Batasan? Well, Adams refused to consider it as such, and as Congressman Adams in fact achieved far more than as President Adams. His was the essential and eloquent voice against slavery throughout his 17 years in the House, and he is remembered as one of the preeminent men of principle in the history of American politics. So we guess the parallel has already become dubious.

For we know that Congress is not all that GMA has in mind. Hers has been a relentless search for ways to remain in power, and we haven’t found a single suggestion here in Manila that it is because she so deeply wants to serve her country. Rather, it is usually suggested, she doesn’t wish to serve it in jail. For a single page of paper issued by the department of justice can instigate a search for any properties she or any member of her family may have obtained—even with a smidgen of evidence—of laundered or otherwise unlawfully gained funds.

Here’s what could happen. An unfriendly successor in Malacanang can authorize the DOJ to empower any investigator abroad to go to a court (say, in San Francisco) with the slightest of proof that a building was so obtained, and the court will in all likelihood freeze the ownership of this house or building, preventing its sale. The investigator can then go to that American court and through a complicated but brief process demand under oath an accounting for all funds used to acquire it (it’s called ‘Discovery’ in America). The resulting bank records, of course, can be used to follow the flow of funds all over the world. One can hide one end of a bank record—but not both ends—and the resulting search can take the investigator all over the world to discover all related funds in cut-out companies, holding firms, banks, or any other entity used to acquire properties or equities with illegal monies. The results can be, might well be, devastating.

Globalization has proceeded in international law at a breathtaking pace in recent years. Government ministers can be arrested in any of a number of countries. Israeli ministers do not, for this reason, travel to Belgium, which has ‘friendly’ laws for seizing persona of governments so accused. Small wonder Robert Mugabe doesn’t travel without previous assurances of legal immunity. The United States kidnapped the Panamanian head of state; a San Francisco court convicted the former prime minister of Ukraine on 27 counts of felony connected with his acquisition of about $40m of properties in the Bay Area and he has spent quite a time in jail or otherwise restricted there.

Apparently Mrs. Arroyo knows all this. It’s no wonder she wants the protection of high office. But at what cost to the Republic? Her problem though is a different one. A friendly successor can promise her immunity here in the Philippines, but that’s worth nothing abroad. Any properties she or her family hold abroad can be scrutinized for any illegality.

In this instance of course she can avoid travel to the accusing country, but that might be a bit of a problem if she, say for example as prime minister of a newly-formed parliamentary republic, wishes to address the United Nations (or enjoy the properties members of her family are thought to possess abroad).

Now John Quincy Adams didn’t have any of these problems. Though his family wasn’t poor—they’d been merchants prior to Father’s presidency—he didn’t have properties abroad or much at home. But he had honor, honor to burn. And his descendants—though two of his sons had painful careers trying to carry family honor—included the great Charles Francis Adams, diplomat and writer, whose namesakes continue to brighten the Boston skyline.

There is a parallel with the sixth American president for the fourteenth president to consider. She could run for Congress, and of course win, and then serve with honor in the manner that her ample professional qualifications allow her—the macroeconomic record of her presidency is very impressive. She and her family could continue to serve the Philippines in a way that causes no ugly rumors to emerge. One presumes that her financial problems aren’t great; it’s the legal ones that bother her. But if she began anew, let us say in the style of her incorruptible father, she could burnish the golden side of her record impressively—and our guess is that no one would dare challenge her legally. When you have honor on your side, even if it emerges only latterly, foreign courts just aren’t too interested in incarcerating you. And the American president would surely then welcome such a person—it is all too well known that Barack Obama spurned her initial attempts for a meeting simply because of the tarnish that lingers over her presidency.

Eight years ago, it was written that Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo had an unparalleled opportunity to leave a fantastic legacy, since she almost certainly had most of a decade to do it from Malacanang. It’s never too late to start.

————-

*Oliver Geronilla, a Bulaneño and  co-author of Dr. W. Scott Thompson (a former US Assistant Secretary of State), is a senior language instructor of  Han Maum Academy, Philippines. He has been teaching ESL since 2000.

                                                                                                     ——– end ——-

Of Green Vegetables And Green-Eyed Monster in Bulan

 jun asuncion

 

“There is a family that live adjacent to the property. When my nephew planted the vegetables and were almost a foot tall, these people had their little children (ages 8-12) went over the fence and trampled on all the growing vegetables. When my nephew went there to see his plants, almost all were damaged from being trampled. This is the kind of mentality I find it hard to understand.” - Dora The Mouse

It is true. I have experienced this when I was a young pupil in Bulan South Central School. We used to have our gardening class under the late Mr. Gillego who was a strict teacher though,  I think,  was a very kind and considerate person. It just happened that one day we found our rows of vegetable plots all ravaged, pechay (chinese white cabbage)  twisted. So it was already common at that time to take revenge, express resentment or envy indirectly by destruction of plants. I have known this behavior but have forgotten it with the passage of time. Dora’s report made me sit down and write my thoughts about it.

Well, what a way to show crab mentality. For parents to tolerate such an anti-social and anti-nature destructive behavior is  “jenseits von Gut und Böse” (Nietzsche) – beyond good and evil.

In the face of poverty, this attack is also directed against the culprits themselves without them maybe realising this. But there is more to this phenomenon if we try to examine it closer.

Let’s go back to the roots- not the twisted roots of our pechay- but to the motivating forces behind such a behavior.

Envy. It is a very strong human emotion and it is activated only within inter-personal relations;  defined as an “emotion that occurs when a person lacks another’s (perceived) superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it” or “a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another’s advantages, success, possessions, etc.”

Therefore,  it has something to do with one’s perception of him/herself  in relation to the other. Usually it leads to valuation of oneself in relation to the other, hence, self-esteem is very much connected to the emotion of envy. In general terms, people with low or negative self-esteem tend to be more envious of others. But low self-esteem is a human character trait, hence, not a poor-specific negative trait but is to be found even among the super rich and highly-intelligent  individuals.

Philosophers and psychologists have studied this human emotion at great length. For instance,  Aristotle  defined it  as “the pain caused by the good fortune of others”, and  Immanel Kant as “a reluctance to see our own well-being overshadowed by another’s”. Now, Bertrand Russel goes a step farther when he says that  envy not only renders the envious person unhappy  but also wishes to “inflict misfortune on others.”

To inflict misfortune on others.With these Bertrand’s words, the social component of envy now enters the scene and this is the point where this emotion becomes not only a purely personal affair but it becomes the cause of much of human social-interaction problems. As a rule, one intense negative emotion triggers another one such as anger which then translates itself into overt, aggressive action as trampling the garden vegetables or other things belonging to the other, directly or indirectly  hurting the other or in extreme cases to a much more heavier crimes like burning the other’s house, poisoning or murder. Between  families or clans this has led to vendettas or tribal hostilities, and among nations this has led to great wars- inflicting misfortunes on others.

Instinct of Competition. There is much more hidden in the seemingly normal and harmless emotion of envy. Beneath it is the mother of all survival instinct- that of competition. Biological creatures compete for natural resources as food, water, light, niche and mates and the denser the population in a given area, the more intense is the competition among men, among animals and among plants,- the “fittest” survive, following the law of natural selection.

 Mankind has  been competing for more other things than the plants and animals but as of now not for air to breath, which  may become  a reality in the future when air pollution has advanced to a deadly degree, not in all areas of the earth maybe, but which in turn would trigger spill-over problems to the neighboring countries and finally to competition for land and other resources due  to the exodus of population in search of air to breathe. A horror scenario which I hope only remains in my theoretical consideration.

In my own observation, envy in Bulan greatly mixes with another human emotion-  that of  pride. That people just trample the garden products instead of stealing and eating them is a sign of envy-motivated aggression and pride. It is just aimed to create damage to the neighbor, the object of envy.

Constructive and Destructive. Competition is the driving force behind social change, market economies and human interaction. It improves race,  culture, products, learning and knowledge. Some sociobiologists say that competition can be classified as constructive and destructive competition, whereby the former promotes mutual survival among competing groups whereas the latter seeks only the destruction and elimination of the competing groups. This is true in extreme cases and in lower forms of organisms (which strictly speaking may also be constructive in so far as  it serves in the end the survival or self- propagation of the specific organism).  But I think that these two classifications overlap in practice and among civilized humans it is a matter of degree and conscious choice. For even  two warring groups of human being, for instance, it is in each group’s interest to avoid deadly clashes as much as possible. This behavior already implies an unconscious  need  for mutual survival. In this case, to compete is more closer in meaning to the original latin word  ”competere”, which means “to seek together” or “to strive together”.

This problem in Bulan regarding trampling and destruction of garden vegetables  may be classified not only  as a destructive form of competition and- in my view- a fruitless (unproductive one) for the motive is just to destroy and not to gain commercial advantage over the victim. A purely emotional affair that doesn’t benefit anybody in Bulan.

Does election benefit anybody in Bulan? When Bulaneños compete for an elected position, we hope that they don’t trample one another or twist each other’s neck but rather that it be more constructive in nature where each party thinks not only of winning but  strive together to solve the problems of Bulan community-  even after the election. Transcending envy, pride and resentment may not be easy but I guess there is the key  for Bulan’s improvement. In a  town  where green-eyed monsters and hatred rules, there will be no progress. But perhaps progress only for one’s own family or clan.

But here is an interesting point about the theory of evolution and politics: If the strongest and most superior in all aspects and he who has the most of the materials and money to buy votes dominate and win each election,  is he to be considered the fittest, hence,  morally superior being also? And does it improve the moral superiority of his offsprings? Or has the darwinian theory evolution (whose goal is the improvement of the species through natural selection) nothing to do with the genealogy of morals, which means that the most morally base candidates are the “fittest” in the Philippine elections?

The Religious Bulan. Every Sunday, the Bulan Parish Church is filled with more or less the same people occupying more or less the same seats. Hence, it is normal to expect that people should be familiar with the  catholic teaching that envy is considered as one of the seven deadly sins, together with pride, sloth, gluttony, greed, lust and wrath. The corresponding biblical passage is found in The Book of Exodus (20:17) which states:

 ”You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.”

To covet is one of the synonyms for envy. That we should not covet “anything that belongs to your neighbor” - including the neighbor’s  garden with its fruits and vegetables- is a clear instruction for the christian community. Every Sunday the parish church of  Bulan is preaching on this moral value and it is  for each individual- from an elementary pupil to a politician- to implement this into action in his daily life. Small thing that makes a difference.

By the way, looking at this list of seven deadly sins I am inclined to sum it all up in one word- which is corruption.

Schadenfreude or delighting in others’ misfortune. Closely correlated with envy is Schadenfreude, a German word which is used as a loanword in English to denote the pleasure derive from the misfortune of others, a definition that brings us closer to the psychology of sadistic behavior. If according to Aristotle, envy is the pain caused by the good fortune of others, then Schadenfreude is the defense mechanism that reverses it. From pain to pleasure principle. For it is not enough that the envy person suffers. He must do something against it. Pechay or tomatoes trampled and destroyed or if a misfortune occurred to the envied person and thinking  ”buti nga sa’ yo” (it serves you right) or giggles within is a typical Schadenfreude manifestation.

Is it right to delight in other’s misfortune? Common sense tells us that it is not right; and parents also do not teach their children to do it among themselves or to delight in their parent’s misfortune like grave sickness, accident, or death. Immanuel Kant would negate it for in his Groundwork of the Metaphysics  he proposes that you should  “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law ” – his known concept of Categorical Imperative. Thus, strictly speaking,  Schadenfreude is a clear example of something that we cannot will to become a universal law.

Or if you prefer a Biblical passage to justify it, here it is:  ”Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.” (Proverbs 24:17-18 )

Perhaps Schadenfreude, sadistic thinking- or as the medieval church called it  morose delectation-  is as old as mankind, prohibited by the medieval church, considered morally base by some ethicists, yet exists today and accompanies our daily social life. This cannot be annihilated, yet tempered by training and deep reflection. Cogito, ergo sum- I think, therefore I am-  a mental formula handed over to us by Descartes.

If you think the catholic people do not practice what they learn every Sunday, then visit a Buddhist friend or a Buddhist monk to give you some explanations. For unlike most other people from other churches or religions, Buddhist people practice what they preach or the instruction they receive. They don’t kill because they’ve been  instructed so. In history, we learn that christians have enjoyed butchering one another. They even took joy conquering and colonizing other people, plundering and abusing them for centuries- all in the name of Christianity.

Wisdom and compassion to all characterize Buddhistic philosophy. It is not heaven that will make you happy, but it is in being happy now that will bring you to heaven, a buddhist acquaintance once told me. No wonder why Buddhism possesses also a counter formula to our primitive Schadenfreude or envy- and this is called mudita or happiness in another’s good fortune. Happiness and not pain, herein lies the difference, herein lies the key to understanding what that buddhist friend told me. The Buddhistic logic tells us then that compassion means unhappiness at another’s misfortune, not  ”buti nga sa ‘yo” or to celebrate it, dance around and even thank God for it.

Reality Check.  Where else but in a brain research laboratory can we verify the truth in Proverbs 24: 17-18 or the Buddhist compassion. With today’s super computers and medical equipments such as CT (Computer Tomography), MRI (Magnet Resonance Imaging), PET (Positron-Emission Tomography), etc., there is almost no more place to hide your emotions- and soon perhaps your thoughts.  These equipments will scan every millimeter- and maybe  soon every nanometer (a billionth of a meter!) of your brain,  transforming its electrical activities to colorful images.

 Indeed, some studies conducted to measure envy, Schadenfreude and compassion have shown that Proverbs 24: 17-18 was right in its admonishment  to “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth”. For namely, the brain reward or joy centers of subjects in these studies were stimulated or activated when they heard that people whom they envied had met with a misfortune and the like- our famous Schadenfreude at work!- or their brain empathy centers  lit up when people in the experiment whom they perceived as good (or not as subject of their envy) received electric shock which caused them pains or unjustified suffering.

Well, will the truth really set us free? The coming 2010 election is the best opportunity in Bulan to observe Envy, Schadenfreude and perhaps also Compassion.

Till the next cup of coffee..

jun asuncion

Bulan Observer

What Moved The Con-grAssmen To Dance The Cha(os)-Cha(os)

Two articles I found today which I consider must be shared throughout the country, namely those who signed the “death sentence”  to  the 1987 Constitution and Loren Legarda’s assailing  Gloria for JBC Directive.

- Congressmen Who Signed Con Ass- and perhaps because of the promised P20 million for each by Malacañang – as  posted in Loren Legarda’s politicalarena column:

On P20M more pork for con-ass congressmen

Posted 29/1 5:08AM | Comments (0)

“That’s a disturbing report – that lawmakers had been promised P20 million each by Malacanang just to ram House Resolution 1109, setting up a constituent assembly without Senate participation. If true, the move is akin to dangling a carrot in front of a hare or a quid pro quo. Worse, it may be seen, rightly or wrongly, as a bribe offer. But what else is new? It seems this administration will not spare any means just to extend its term past 2010. They are fooling no one. We all know that they want to amend the Constitution for purposes other than helping the economy take off.”

Jose Solis of Sorsogon 2 District  is again on the list! – as he was on Bolante’s  list.  He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice-  the Santa Claus Of Sorsogon.

In any case I counted all in all 172 Con-Assmen who signed; 172   multiplied by P20million pesos  =  P3, 440 billion! Again, our farmers will be forced to continue their suffering.

——

Reprentatives District/Sector

ABANTE, BIENVENIDO M. Pandacan, 6th District

ABLAN, ROQUE R. JR. Ilocos Norte, 1st District

AGBAYANI, VICTOR AGUEDO E. Pangasinan, 2nd District

AGYAO, MANUEL, S. Kalinga Province

ALBANO (III), RODOLFO T. Isabela, 1st District

ALFELOR, FELIX R. JR. Camarines Sur, 4th District

ALMARIO, THELMA Z. Davao Oriental, 2nd District

ALVAREZ, ANTONIO C. Palawan, 1st District

ALVAREZ, GENARO RAFAEL M. JR. Negros Occidental, 6th District

AMANTE, EDELMIRO A. Agusan Del Norte, 2nd District

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AMATONG, ROMMEL C. Compostela Valley, 2nd District

ANGPING, MARIA ZENAIDA B. Manila, 3rd District

ANTONINO, RODOLFO W. Nueva Ecija, 4th District

APOSTOL, TRINIDAD G. Leyte, 2nd District

AQUINO, JOSE S. (II) Agusan del Norte, 1st District

ARAGO, MARIA EVITA R. Laguna, 3rd District

ARBISON, A MUNIR M. Sulu, 2nd District

ARENAS, MA. RACHEL J. Pangasinan, 3rd District

ARROYO, DIOSDADO M. Camarines Sur, 1st District

ARROYO, IGNACIO T. Negros Occidental, 5th district

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ARROYO, JUAN MIGUEL M. Pampanga, 2nd District

BAGATSING, AMADO S. Manila, 5th District

BALINDONG, PANGALIAN M. Lanao del Sur, 2nd District

BARZAGA, ELPIDIO F. JR. Cavite, 2nd District

BAUTISTA, FRANKLIN P. Davao Del Sur, 2nd District

BELMONTE, VICENTE F. JR. Lanao del Norte, 1st District

BICHARA, AL FRANCIS C. Albay, 2nd District

BIRON, FERJENEL G. Iloilo, 4th District

BONDOC, ANNA YORK P. Pampanga 4th District

BONOAN-DAVID, MA. THERESA B. Manila, 4th District

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BRAVO, NARCISO R. JR. Masbate, 1st District

BRIONES, NICANOR M. AGAP Party list

BUHAIN, EILEEN ERMITA Batangas, 1st District

BULUT, ELIAS C. JR. Apayao Lone District

CAGAS (IV), MARC DOUGLAS C. Davao Del Sur, 1st District

CAJAYON, MARY MITZI L. Caloocan, 2nd District

CAJES, ROBERTO C. Bohol, 2nd District

CARI, CARMEN L. Leyte, 5th District

CASTRO, FREDENIL H. Capiz, 2nd District

CELESTE, ARTHUR F. Pangasinan, 1st District

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CERILLES, ANTONIO H. Zamboanga Del Sur, 2nd District

CHATTO, EDGARDO M. Bohol, 1st District

CHONG, GLENN A. Biliran, Lone District

CHUNG-LAO, SOLOMON R. Ifugao, Lone District

CLARETE, MARINA C. Misamis Occidental, 1st District

CODILLA, EUFROCINO M. SR. Leyte, 4th District

COJUANCO, MARK O. Pangasinan, 5th District

COQUILA, TEODULO M. Eastern Samar, Lone District

CRISOLOGO, VINCENT P. Quezon City, 1st District

CUA, JUNIE E. Quirino, Lone District

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CUENCO, ANTONIO V. Cebu City, 2nd District

DANGWA, SAMUEL M. Benguet, Lone District

DATUMANONG, SIMEON A. Maguindanao, Lone District

DAYANGHIRANG, NELSON L. Davao Oriental, 1st District

DAZA, NANETTE C. Quezon City, 4th District

DAZA, PAUL R. Northern Samar, 1st District

DE GUZMAN, DEL R. Marikina City, 2nd District

DEFENSOR, ARTHUR D. SR. Iloilo, 3rd District

DEFENSOR, MATIAS V. JR. Quezon City, 3rd District

DEL MAR, RAUL V. Cebu City, 1st District

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DIASNES, CARLO OLIVER D. (MD) Batanes, Lone District

DIMAPORO, ABDULLAH D. Lanao Del Norte, 2nd District

DOMOGAN, MAURICIO G. Baguio, Lone District

DUAVIT, MICHAEL JOHN R. Rizal, 1st District

DUENAS, HENRY M. JR. Taguig, 2nd District (2nd Councilor District)

DUMARPA, FAYSAH MRP. Lanao del Sur, 1st District

DUMPIT, THOMAS L. JR. La Union, 2nd District

DURANO (IV), RAMON H. Cebu, 5th District

ECLEO, GLENDA B. Dinagat Islands, Lone District

EMANO, YEVGENY VICENTE B. Misamis Oriental, 2nd District

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ENVERGA, WILFRIDO MARK M. Quezon, 1st District

ESTRELLA, CONRADO M. (III) Pangasinan, 6th District

ESTRELLA, ROBERT RAYMUND M. ABONO Party List

FERRER, JEFFREY P. Negros Occidental, 4th District

GARAY, FLORENCIO C. Surigao Del Sur, 2nd District

GARCIA, ALBERT S. Bataan, 2nd District

GARCIA, PABLO JOHN F. Cebu, 3rd District

GARCIA, PABLO P. Cebu, 2nd District

GARCIA, VINCENT J. Davao City, 2nd District

GARIN, JANETTE L. Iloilo, 1st District

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GATCHALIAN, REXLON T. Valenzuela City, 1st District

GATLABAYAN, ANGELITO C. Antipolo City, 2nd District

GO, ARNULFO F. Sultan Kudarat, 2nd District

GONZALES, AURELIO D. JR. Pampanga, 3rd District

GONZALES, RAUL T. JR. Iloilo City

GULLAS, EDUARDO R. Cebu, 1st District

GUNIGUNDO, MAGTANGGOL T. Valenzuela City, 2nd District

HOFER, DULCE ANN K. Zamboanga Sibugay, 2nd District

JAAFAR, NUR G. Tawi-Tawi, Lone District

JALA, ADAM RELSON L. Bohol, 3rd District

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JALOSJOS, CESAR G. Zamboanga del Norte, 3rd District

JALOSJOS-CARREON, CECILIA G. Zamboanga del Norte, 1st District

JIKIRI, YUSOP H. Sulu, 1st District

KHO, ANTONIO T. Masbate, 2nd District

LABADLABAD, ROSENDO S. Zamboanga del Norte, 2nd District

LACSON, JOSE CARLOS V. Negros Occidental, 3rd District

LAGDAMEO, ANTONIO F. JR. Davao del Norte, 2nd District

LAPUS, JECI A. Tarlac, 3rd District

LAZATIN, CARMELO F. Pampanga, 1st District

LIM, RENO G. Albay, 3rd District

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LOPEZ, JAIME C. Manila, 2nd District

MADRONA, ELEANORA JESUS F. Romblon, Lone District

MAGSAYSAY, MARIA MILAGROS H. Zambales, 1st District

MALAPITAN, OSCAR G. Caloocan, 1st District

MAMBA, MANUEL N. Cagayan, 3rd District

MANGUDADATU, DATU PAKUNG S. Sultan Kudarat

MARANON, ALFREDO D. III Negros Occidental, 2nd District

MATUGAS, FRANCISCO T. Surigao del Norte, 1st District

MENDOZA, MARK LEANDRO L. Batangas, 4th District

MERCADO, ROGER G. Southern Leyte, Lone District

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MIRAFLORES, FLORENCIO T. Aklan, Lone District

NAVA, JOAQUIN CARLOS RAHMAN A. (MD) Guimaras, Lone District

NICOLAS, REYLINA G. Bulacan, 4th District

NOGRALES, PROSPERO C. Davao City, 1st District

OLAñO, ARREL R. Davao Del Norte, 1st District

ONG, EMIL L. Northern Samar, 2nd District

ORTEGA, VICTOR FRANCISCO C. La Union, 1st District

PABLO, ERNESTO C. APEC Party List

PANCHO, PEDRO M. Bulacan, 2nd District

PANCRUDO, CANDIDO P. JR. Bukidnon, 1st District

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PICHAY, PHILIP A. Surigao Del Sur, 1st District

PIñOL, BERNARDO F. JR. North Cotabato, 2nd District

PUNO, ROBERTO V. Antipolo City, 1st District

RAMIRO, HERMINIA M. Misamis Occidental, 2nd District

REMULLA, JESUS CRISPIN C. Cavite, 3rd District

REYES, CARMELITA O. Marinduque, Lone District

REYES, VICTORIA H. Batangas, 3rd District

ROBES, ARTURO G. San Jose Del Monte City, Lone District

Rodriguez-Zaldarriaga, Adelina Rizal, 2nd District

ROMAN, HERMINIA B. Bataan, 1st District

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ROMARATE, GUILLERMO A. JR. Surigao del Norte, 2nd District

ROMUALDEZ, FERDINAND MARTIN G. Leyte, 1st District

ROMUALDO, PEDRO Camiguin, Lone District

ROMULO, ROMAN T. Pasig City, Lone District

ROXAS, JOSE ANTONIO F. Pasay City

SALIMBANGON, BENHUR L. Cebu, 4th District

SALVACION JR., ANDRES D. Leyte, 3rd District

SAN LUIS, EDGAR S. Laguna, 4th District

SANDOVAL, ALVIN S. Malabon-Navotas, Lone District

SANTIAGO, JOSEPH A. Catanduanes, Lone District

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SANTIAGO, NARCISO D. III ARC Party List

SEACHON-LANETE, RIZALINA L. 3rd district of Masbate

SEARES-LUNA, CECILIA M. Abra, Lone District

SILVERIO, LORNA C. Bulacan, 3rd District

SINGSON, ERIC D. Ilocos Sur, 2nd District

SINGSON, RONALD V. Ilocos Sur, 1st District

SOLIS, JOSE G. Sorsogon, 2nd District

SOON-RUIZ, NERISSA CORAZON Cebu, 6th District

SUAREZ, DANILO E. Quezon, 3rd District

SUSANO, MARY ANN L. Quezon City, 2nd District

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SY-ALVARADO, MA. VICTORIA R. Bulacan, 1st District

SYJUCO, JUDY J. Iloilo, 2nd District

TALINO-MENDOZA, EMMYLOU J. North Cotabato, 1st District

TAN, SHAREE ANN T. Samar, 2nd District

TEODORO, MARCELINO R. Marikina City, 1st District

TEODORO, MONICA LOUISSE PRIETO Tarlac, 1st District

TEVES, PRYDE HENRY A. Negros Oriental, 3rd District

TUPAS, NEIL C. JR. Iloilo, 5th District

UNGAB, ISIDRO T. Davao City, 3rd District

UY, EDWIN C. Isabela, 2nd District

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UY, REYNALDO S. Samar, 1st District

UY, ROLANDO A. Cagayan De Oro City, Lone District

VALDEZ, EDGAR L. APEC Party List

VALENCIA, RODOLFO G. Oriental Mindoro, 1st District

VARGAS, FLORENCIO L. Cagayan, 2nd District

VILLAFUERTE, LUIS R. Camarines Sur, 2nd District

VILLAROSA, MA. AMELITA C. Occidental Mindoro, Lone District

VIOLAGO, JOSEPH GILBERT F. Nueva Ecija, 2nd District

YAP, JOSE V. Tarlac, 2nd District

YU, VICTOR J. Zamboanga Del Sur, 1st District

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ZAMORA, MANUEL E. 1st District, Compostela Valley

ZIALCITA, EDUARDO C. Parañaque, 1st District

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Read more: http://www.2010-election.com/2009/06/congressmen-who-signed-con-ass/#ixzz0Q57tQTIH

7/8 2:51PM

Loren assails Gloria for JBC Directive

Sen. Loren Legarda yesterday accused President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of trying to undermine the independence of the judiciary.

In a statement, Loren said “this could be the only possible motive why she rejected the list of six nominees to the Supreme Court submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council to fill two vacancies in the highest court.”

She declared that if the President “succeeds in packing the highest court of the land with men or women subservient to her will, the independence of the judiciary would be totally undermined.”

“With sensitive and crucial issues expected to be taken to the Supreme Court in the face of the approaching 2010 elections that could affect the future of our country, this move of the President is indeed alarming and ominous,” she asserted.

Among these issues is House of Representatives Resolution 1109 calling for a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution without the participation of the Senate as a separate body. Loren pointed out that more than 70 percent of the people oppose the proposal as shown by poll surveys.

She also stated that electoral protests arising from the conduct of the 2010 elections could be decided by a Supreme Court the majority of whose members could be “dictated to or controlled” by the president.

“Something is being cooked in Malacañang in preparation for the 2010 elections and it smells rotten,” said Loren.

She also asserted that the move of the President could even be considered a violation of the Constitution.

The Constitution states that “The members of the Supreme Court and judges of lower courts shall be appointed by the President from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council for every nominee” (Sec. 9. Article VIII).

“The JBC was precisely set up by the Constitution to ensure the independence of the judiciary,” Loren stated. “But if the President succeeds in manipulating the JBC to recommend men and women subservient to her will to the Supreme Court, she will have succeeded in undermining the independence of the judiciary.”

Loren dismissed as “unacceptable and shallow” the claim of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita that the President only wanted a “wider list”.

According to Loren, the Constitution gave the JBC the authority to submit at least three nominees to any vacancy in the Supreme Court or lower courts, or to expand that list according to its discretion.

“But the Constitution did not give any authority to the President to demand that the JBC submit more than three nominees for each vacancy. The President is bound to make her appointments from at least three nominees submitted by the JBC,” Loren pointed out.

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That’s All For Now, Folks!

 

jun asuncion

BULAN TOWN GIRDS FOR PISTA SA KABUBUDLAN 2009

by Tonyboy-PIO

September 1, 2009 at 10:22 am

Bulan, Sorsogon – In what appears to be the biggest gathering of participants thus far, the Local Government Unit, through the Office of the Mayor and the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) are now preparing for the forthcoming Pista sa Kabubudlan 2009 to be held at the Bulan Ecological Park (Ecopark) on the first Friday and Saturday of October.

Several thousands of participants from all walks of life, especially from the youth sector, the schools, the barangays and from different organizations and sectors, will once more troop to Barangay Calomagon where the Ecopark is located to participate in different ecological activites, to be highlighted by a massive tree planting event in the 14.5 hectare-area.

This will be the fifth consecutive time this event is held since it was first launched in 2005 by the incumbent Mayor Helen C. De Castro, one of whose programs was on Environment Preservation and Protection.

The event will feature several festive activities which include environment film-showings, ecology seminars on recycling and re-use, concerts, disco-dancing, overnight camping, a Holy Mass and other religious activities, a Mutya ng Kalikasan Search, Laro ng Lahi, games and funfare, and the Tree-planting activity.

This year, several government agencies outside of Bulan, including Mayors from other towns will come to observe the Pista.

The Pista sa Kabubudlan and the Ecopark are part of the Mayor’s Environment Programs. The Ecopark was once a garbage site and the mayor was responsible for converting it to an Ecopark. Now it is part of the DILG Replication Program or GO-FAR Program for other LGUs to follow.

Bulan Town has been a consistent recipient of many awards and recognitions for its novel and trailblazing environment programs, among them the Gawad Pangulo sa Kapaligiran, as National Finalist from 1996-1999, Saringgaya Awards in 2007, Outstanding LGU for Solid Waste Mangement Program in 2008 and as GO-FAR Model LGU in 2008.

The MENRO is responsible for preparing all the activities for this year’s Pista. (PIO-Bulan)