‘Takaw-pansin’ congressmen / Cayaya, Sagada elder passes on

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

The issue on the actuation of three or four congressmen who displayed placards hitting President Aquino after he delivered his State of the Nation Address on July 27 has been overshadowed by the latter’s anointment of Interior Sec. Mar Roxas to succeed him as president.

Now the attention is on Roxas, Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay as contenders for the presidential race. Binay came out swinging saying voters will not forget he beat Roxas in the last elections while Poe said nobody has a monopoly of “tuwid na daan.”More of this later, so back to the SONA and the three or four kontrapelo congressmen.

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Our friendly, perennially drunk neighborhood philosopher said the“overacting” solons should have known better than grab for attention right after the President delivered his SONA.

Filipinos have terms for this – takaw-pansin and delikadeza, he said.“They could just have let him have his day and complain against him for all they cared in another venue or time. If they were snubbed after that by their peers, they had themselves to blame.”

Indeed, there is a certain time and place for everything, as a popular saying goes. They could have taken this to heart but then, whether it was politics or other reasons, our philosopher said, it left a bad taste in the mouth. You may like or dislike a person or government for that matter, but civilization is governed by certain norms on decency, he adds. Oh, well, but 

then, ang Pilipino madrama kasi eh, I thought. I left before he would launch into another of his lengthy discourses.

Anyway, Yours Truly for one, was left wondering why P-Noydidn’t mention the Mamasapano massacre, what the government was doing to attain justice for the men slain by Muslim Separatists, among others, well, like Hacienda Luisita as a “showcase” of agrarian reform.

The common observation of political analysts was the President was trying to play safe on a lot of issues anticipating a slew of charges would be filed against him after his term. There were a lot more which have been pointed out by pundits – and that is a cloud which would hang on the shoulders and Roxas and P-Noy when they hit the campaign trail. So more also on this later.

Oh well, but commentaries on the SONA, whether for or against – just keep coming in, despite the start political maneuverings in the race for the highest post of the land.

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The Philippine Misereor Partnership Incorporated (PMPI) has expressed deep disappointment on President Aquino’s scarce remarks on the environment during his last State of the Nation’s Address on July 27.

“It seems that the president, in mentioning the long list of achievements on various areas of governance and social reforms, has forgotten his responsibility to take the lead in protecting the Philippine’s rich biodiversity and natural resources,” said Sr. Cres Lucero, PMPI’s co-conveners and a member of the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines.

 Emphasizing on PNoy's gratefulness to church and various religious leaders, Lucero asked the President to listen to the spirit of Pope Francis's call to hear the cry of the poor and mother earth. 

 "In these times that we need the most the support from all sectors to promote the care for our common home; when disasters caused by natural hazards and human activities occur left and right, we expected his encouragement in line with the Pope's vision to take action to protect our environment," Lucero added. 

Lucero said it is a must for the President to use the remaining days of his office to push for projects that would protect the environment: the ones that will respond to the challenges of climate change and to safeguard our communities from disasters specially due to destructive mining activities.

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Yolanda Esguerra, PMPI national coordinator also noted that PNoy has been inconsistent in terms of pushing reforms in the mining industry that has been linked to several major environmental destructions and controversies.

 “After the release of Executive Order 79 in 2012, up to this time, what we have are categories for No-Go Zones for mining but still no specific area or province has been declared as such in a policy or legal paper even at least in the part of the President,” said Esguerra.

Esguerra added that there is still time to add “luntian at makakalikasan” to “matuwid na daan.”

 Last June, the House of Representatives approved eight bills declaring eight areas in the country as mining-free zones. But the said policies are still far from enactment especially without the approval from the Senate.

Edel Garingan, PMPI project officer for the anti-mining campaign, also mentioned that reforms in the mining sectors should not focus on fiscal regime.

“Economic reforms are just beside the point,” Garingan said. “What the country really needs is ecological rehabilitation and conservation, and this is almost impossible with the Philippine Mining Act and the poor implementation of our current environmental policies.”

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Elizabeth Mangol, executive secretary of Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (MACEC) urged the president to verify his SONA on the ground by visiting mining-affected communities and see for himself how it damaged our important ecosystems in the island and how it caused a lot of suffering to people.

 “We appeal to the President to give priority in ensuring that small islands ecosystem like Marinduque is protected from the environmentally destructive activities of mining companies,” Manggols said. “Not to mention the violation of human by these companies in the conduct of their operations.”

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Our condolences to the Cayaya family of Slaughter Compound in Baguio City.  The family patriarch Jose David Cayaya succumbed Tuesday to leukemia. His death was relayed to me by my younger brother Ben who now lives with his wife Irene and their two daughters in Calgary, Canada. Irene is the eighth daughter of a brood of 10 of his father Jose. They trace their roots from Sagada, Mountain Province.

Ben, Irene and their daughters actually came home for a two-week visit after many years in Canada. Right after they reached back Calgary, word reached them Lakay Cayaya had died.

I told Irene’s sisters during the wake maybe the old man wanted to see them and waited for them to come home before he left for the Great Yonder.  Made me ponder, life is indeed so short. Let us make the most out of it, even in these trying times.