Public-private partnership

THE MOUNTAINEER
Edison L. Baddal
(Last part of a series)

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- On the other hand, despite the passage of RA 9485 (aka the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007), which aims to cut red tape by lessening the number of signatories in official transactions in government offices to help fast-track such transactions, the expected speed for such leaves much to be desired.

Undoubtedly, this is a huge setback in luring foreign investments in our shores. There is a need to enforce the law more vigorously in order to attract the attention of prospective investors who may be observing the extent of the law’s enforcement. Transactions may have been speeded up a bit as a result of the law but still much has to be done to expunge unnecessary delays in the processing of official documents in government offices.

By promoting Public-Private Partnership as a strategy to speed up and achieve socio-economic advancement of the nation, it is believed that the Philippines will catch up rapidly with its more progressive neighbors in due time. This is notably true in the prosecution of infrastructure projects.

As envisioned under the program, infrastructure PPAs will be left to the private sector to enable the government to focus more on the delivery of social services. If this partnership will be managed well on mutually advantageous terms and conditions, the desired annual GDP growth of 7-8% for the remaining five years of the Aquino administration will not be far-fetched. This will greatly impact the lives of the poor, particularly on the D and E income brackets, especially if power costs will be reduced to a socialized range.

It should be noted that the entry of more IPPs in the electricity generation industry will go a long way in reducing power costs as competition will force those investors in the industry to strategize by effectuating cost-effective measures like the use of cutting-edge technology and installation of state-of-the-art facilities.

Having virtually neutralized the commission of graft and corruption in public work projects as part of his good governance campaign, President Aquino has set a high moral ground in his governance style. He manisfested his passion and integrity on this by scrapping big ticket projects like the Php 18-billion Belgian lake dredging project of the Laguna de Bay after a review by current officials discovered that it was rigged. The project was among those in the pipeline for implementation by the previous dispensation.

Though the Philippines may be politically weak compared to its Southeast Asian neighbors, the strong moral environment that Aquino is anchoring his government may yet be the “propulsive force” (to borrow the words of Claro Recto, a first-rate nationalist) that will speed up the socio-economic advancement of the country. In fact, this high moral tone of the Aquino incumbency is enough to build a wellspring of trust that will encourage the private sector to join his Public-Private Program even as it will build goodwill between local and foreign investors.

Way back in September, 2010, it was reported that the financial system in the country has enough excess funds parked at the BangkoSentralngPilipinas (BSP) such as Special Depository Accounts (SDA). This amount could have reached 100 billion pesos by now (as it has already amounted to 909 billion in August, 2011) and presumed to be sufficient to bankroll big-ticket projects. The Special Depository Accounts is among the facilities given to the central for liquidity management which consists of fixed-term deposits for banks, trust entities of banks and even nonbank financial institutions.

Instead of being parked as SDAs for its high yields or otherwise being subjected to Reverse Repurchase Agreements (RRPs) to siphon off such liquidity from the financial system, these funds should be diverted to finance major infrastructure projects for public convenience. It goes without saying that it is more worthwhile for the moneyed to invest in longterm public works than just parking their money as SDAs to accumulate high interests in the vaults of the central bank which is mainly for self-gratification.

Somehow, it is the moneyed’s way of paying back to the public the oodles of money they gained from their huge businesses which may never have thrived without patronage of the masses. It is their way of plowing back to the public their excess liquidity as assistance to the government in realizing the palpable effects of effective governance.

For the LGUs, it will provide them the opportunity to have more choices in seeking external funding for their PPAs (Programs,Projects and Activities) aside from the traditional PDAF of congressional members and project shares from higher LGUs. On the other hand, opportunities for graft and corruption will be much lessened as prosecution of public works financed from private (to be counterparted with local funds), will be subject to stringent monitoring and evaluation aside from strict application of audit policies, rules and regulations. It will surely enhance the efforts of the LGUs to engage the services of the CSOs as reliable partners in development as envisioned in the Code and enshrined in the constitution. The public-private partnership program of the Aquino dispensation is in sync with the relevant provisions of the Local Government Code regarding more involvement of NGO/Pos/PS in local governance.

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Public private partnership

THE MOUNTAINEER
Edison L. Baddal
(First of two parts)

Public Private Partnership (PPP), the centerpiece of the Aquino Government’s economic program, is no doubt a step in the right direction. It is the right strategy to optimize private participation in governance as it aims to mobilize the private sector to share the burden of nation building. Incontrovertibly, this is crucial in upping the ante of economic growth of the country. All things considered, it might be the trigger that will precipitate the socio-economic advance of the country which at this time is sorely lagging behind its more economically aggressive neighbors, i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand.

The country has a lot of catching up to do with its neighbors as it is now only ahead Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, the cellar dwellers among Southeast Asian nations in socio-economic development.

But it is not far-fetched to consider that the three might still catch up with the Philippines if they properly leverage their strong governments to jumpstart their socio-economic advance. As things stand now, the comparatively weak political environment of the Philippines is proving to be its Achilles heel in attaining the same level of progress being enjoyed by its neighbors.

Nonetheless, the progressive SE countries leveraged their strong governments by nurturing advantages that factored much in their economic progress, among which are: better infrastructure, lower cost of doing business, lower power costs and manageable graft and corruption. Infrastructure-wise, said countries allocates a higher ceiling for infrastructure from their annual budgets which in effect results into a higher slice in their Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Infrastructural projects and programs is equivalent to about 5% to 7% of their GDP compared to the Philippines which appropriates about 2.3% to 3.3% or less. The strong and no-nonsense leaders of those countries helped much in the effective prosecution of public work projects anchored on incisive measures that precluded massive commission of graft and corruption or if there are instances of graft (which most certainly there are), these are perpetrated to a tolerable, if, minimal, level.

Generally, graft and corruption per se is ingrained in the prosecution of public work projects in any country and as such could not be totally obliterated even in politically strong countries like China. The difference, though, is that the prosecution of graft and corruption cases in China and other politically strong countries is uncompromising, speedy, reliable and generally impartial. Their justice system is such that, although it may not be perfect, is obviously dependable and fairly disposed towards serving the satisfactory ends of justice.

Thus, foreign investors have more confidence in investing in those countries unlike the Philippines. In the Philippines, grafters usually enjoy the perks of keeping their loot by hiring the best lawyers, usually the pettifogging or shyster type, who manage to have their cases reversed in the Supreme Court through brilliant quibbling and oftentimes twisted arguments.

In the case of power costs, it is presumed that the Philippines has the highest electricity rate in Asia. It has a higher electricity cost than economic powerhouse China itself which is now the second largest economy in the world after it dislodged Japan in the third quarter of CY 2010. Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia charges as low as 5-7 cents per kilowatthour of electricity which is a lot lower than the 23 cents that the Philippines charges.

This surely downgrades the investment competitiveness of the country as the add-on cost of high electricity will heavily nibble hard at the mark-ups of foreign investors in their enterprises. Aside from being less competitive, business operations become less cost-effective.

On the sidelight, there is a projection by the University of the Philippines’ National Engineering Center that by CY 2014 there will be an increase in demand over supply in electricity nationwide. At this point, it should be considered that the very high cost of electricity is what is preventing the Philippines from being number one in the Business Process Outsourcing despite the facility of Filipinos to speak English. China and India are the first and second, respectively, in terms of BPO investments in BPOs in Asia due to their comparatively lower electricity cost with the Philippines as the poor third.

Projections on electricity demand have it that demand would “grow by three percent annually” starting 2011. It thus firmly justifies “ further investments in the generation business by Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the next five years .” The IPPs, which sprung up during Ramos’ presidency (that effectively demonopolized the stranglehold of the NAPOCOR on electric power generation), helped solve the crippling power crisis that beset the country during the first half of the decade of the 90’s.

The study estimates that there is a need to generate an additional 1,200 megawatts of electricity for a sufficient supply of electricity for Luzon at present on top of additional megawatts that should be further generated to avert a projected excess of demand over supply by CY 2014. Aggravating the power supply needs at present is the tight power supply in Mindanao in which the study rationalized that is the reserve energy margins of the electric providers there “remained below the targeted 21 percent.”

There is a disquiet that this power crisis in Mindanao will plunge the island into a rotating brownout for conservation purposes just like what happened there in 2010 during a damaging El Niño crisis. The El Niño greatly reduced and almost drained the water levels of the hydro plants there to critical levels that resulted in a rotating brownout and effectively stalled in the process the island’s economic growth.

With NAPOCOR still controlling 70% of electricity generation of the country and having a 100% control over the IPPs, there is an exigent need for IPPs to aggressively pursue electricity generation independent from NAPOCOR control so as to prevent the expected increase in demand over supply within the next two years.

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Rich man’s justice

THE MOUNTAINEER
Edison L. Baddal

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- In the not too distant past, a headline bannered a story about a controversial decision handed by the Sandiganbayan which approved a plea bargaining agreement that was forged between the Ombudsman (under Ex-Ombudsman Merceditas Guttierez) and erstwhile General Carlos Garcia.

Pursuant to the agreement, Garcia returned 138 million pesos to the government. Prior to that, Garcia was charged with plunder before the Ombudsman for having allegedly stolen oodles of money from the military coffers when he was still active in military service. Expectedly, everybody was stumped at the unsettling decision as the magnitude of military corruption triggered by the Garcia plunder case has polarized mainstream society. Garcia’s shenanigans and that of other military top brass like Jose Ligot and Angelo Reyes adduced to and lent credence to the unbridled corruption in the military establishment.

This stark lowdown is constantly causing a simmering flow of discontent among middle echelon officers of the military establishment.

No less than a stunning victory for General Garcia, the people (as always) have been screwed up again for the umpteenth time by a cur in the checkered history of endless corruption in Philippine bureaucracy. Perforce, it was a resounding debacle for the government that fought tooth and nail to recover completely the lucre stashed by Gen. Garcia and members of his family in banks here and abroad.

Notwithstanding a motion for reconsideration immediately filed by the government against such unwarranted agreement, Garcia is surely exulting over a double whammy as he has been virtually exonerated by the Sandiganbayan even as he was able to keep half of the loot. Such fortune handed on a silver platter, so to speak, defies the imagination as Garcia could have never earned such wealth even as a general for three or more lifetime.

Even unacceptable, if unconscionably nerve-wracking, is the fact that such kind of fortune seemed to have been clothed with legality by the controversial agreement. It could be that a huge sum of money changed hands which is not far-fetched considering the range of corruption in government. As of now, the government is licking its wound over such huge mortification as it is a big setback in its perfervid campaign to stamp out graft and corruption in all government processes, procedures and systems.

Not so far back, Hubert Webb, scion of Ex-Senator Freddie Webb, was released from jail by the Supreme Court after 15 years of incarceration for the charges of rape and murder committed two decades ago. A mere technicality involving the legitimate ownership of a crucial physical evidence facilitated his release including his cohorts in the crime. Another high profile case involving a moneyed person is that of Senator Lacson who went on a lam for more than a year to escape arrest when he was implicated in an alleged murder case committed in 2000.

The court junked the charges against him lately which forced him to surface out of hiding. Likewise, Imelda Marcos has been winning a slew of cases of graft and corruption charges leveled against her in the not too distant past during the heyday of the Marcos dictatorship. At this time, she is having the time of her life living out her salad days once more after having had herself elected as a Congresswoman of Ilocos Norte in 2010.

More recently, the Supreme Court en banc recently declared the 20 percent shares of Eduardo Cojuangco in the San Miguel Beer, Inc as private in nature. This is complete turnaround from a previous decision issued by a division the Supreme Court which declared the same shares as public in nature so it offered hope to the coconut farmers of a small windfall from the decision which was widely believed to have been derived from the coco levy funds which were collected from the destitute farmers way back in the ‘70s by the rapacious Marcos government. Same fund is widely believed also to have been used by Eduardo Cojuangco, Marcos wealthiest crony, to put up the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB).

The disputed 20-percent shares is believed to have emanated from the UCPB and invested by Eduardo Cojuangco in the SMBI. This then dashed the hopes of thousands of coconut farmers who hoped to recover their investments in the coco levy fund. Cojuanco’s huge money was able to fully turn around the Supreme Court’s first decision.

At this time, the moneyed Ampatuans, who are charged with the grim killing of 57 persons, including 30 journalists on November 23, 2009, are being defended by some of the best legal minds in the land. They are awash with cash to pay such lawyers in order to buy back their freedom. With the above cases as a template, it is not a far-fetched possibility that they might yet get off the hook by a mere technicality.

If anything, being awash in cash is a potent leverage for a rich man accused of a crime, particularly heinous crimes, to wriggle out of a case. This is so as hiring a brilliant, calculating lawyer (who have a lot of machinations up their sleeves) does not come cheap. Corrollary to this, a philosopher once stated ( pertaining to love) that “Money speaks for one moment what the most eloquent lover could say in a minute.” As a metaphor in celebrated cases like the above, a rich man accused of a crime is oftentimes able to escape conviction having enough wherewithal to pay brilliant if unscrupulous lawyers.

The only downside to this lowdown is that it is sending the wrong message that crime does pay if you have money to escape conviction.

What could have caused this series of legal snafus for the government? Is it a case of sloppy handling by the government lawyers of the cases? Is it a case of government lawyers being outsmarted by pettifogging but brilliant and well-prepared private counsels of the celebrated accused? Or does both factor in the losses incurred on such high- profile cases by the government? Various speculations could be brought to the fore vis-a-vis the cases but the fact remains that most oftentimes government lawyers are outwitted by private counsels of the celebrated accused.

It is common knowledge that moneyed people usually hire the most brilliant lawyers in the land so as to wangle a favorable decision from the courts even by the merest technicality. Seasoned and brilliant lawyers know too well the cold neutrality of judges in courts in handling cases particularly the fastidious appreciation of evidences. Unwittingly, the cold neutrality of judges in the appreciation of cases in most instances provides an escape valve for a rich criminal to go scot-free. In fact, there might be a grain of truth to the assumption that justice in the Philippines is unfavorably skewed towards the affluent. This being so as in our country, the poor, who are deprived in many aspects can never afford to hire brilliant lawyers and are oftentimes the victims of injustice unless divine intervention occurs.

Somehow, a system should be evolved and institutionalized in our justice system for the law to have more consideration and compassion for the poor to realize that famous Magsasayesque dictum that “Those who have less in life should have more in law.” It is about time that the government should pay heed to the persistent clamor of the poor to have more justice under the law to make up for their material deprivations. A fool-proof system to be evolved for this will make justice a leveller aside from sickness, death and taxes.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
Breakthrough in waste management (2)

Baguio resolved its garbage crisis late but it is worthy to consider its effort in this area. Methinks, however, that this should have been resolved once and for all in 2006 as Republic Act 9003 prohibited the use of controlled dumpsites by 2005.

Based on the timeline provided by the law, the Irisan dumpsite should have been closed by 2005 and thenceforwards the garbage crisis could have been averted. The garbage crisis easily came about considering the 270 to 300 tons that Baguio households churn out daily.

Pending the operation of its sanitary landfill, the city could consider using a newly-invented waste separator which automatically segregates biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste materials.

According to its inventor, Engineer Dominador Rosales Jr., the waste separator would practically eliminate the need for dumpsite as there will be no need for manual sorting of wastes which at the moment is the one being done at the MRF or at the household level.

As elaborated by the inventor, the system works in this manner, mixed wastes (biodegradable and non- biodegradable wastes) are loaded into the separator which is housed in a large 20-foot container van.

The entry port where mixed wastes pass are equipped with trap doors to prevent bad odor from coming out. Once loaded into the separator, the biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste are mechanically separated and carried to their respective exit ports. The non-biodegradable wastes are then sprayed with bioenzymes to arrest bad odors and then directed to the carousel segregation system (CSS) while the biodegradable waste go to the equipment’s rapid composting system (RCS) chamber.

These recyclables would then be kept in specific warehouses until it is large enough for disposal to factories or junk traders. For recyclable tin cans, these are compacted to economize space while residual plastics which are not sold as raw materials for one reason or another usually melted and converted to decors, chairs and tables.

For the bio- wastes recovered from the rapid composting system (RCS), these are sprayed with bio-enzymes, carbon activator, microbes and cocopeat to hasten composting. These substances then causes the removal of the leachate, materials which are sometimes toxic and pollutes water as it seeps through solid wastes. The removal of the leachates then convert the bio-wastes into raw organic fertilizers.

These are then channeled down to the zeolite mixer in which the raw organic fertilizers are mixed with zeolite and then sent to the composting bin to be composed within a 24- hour period. Thenceforwards, these raw organic fertilizers will now be packed in polytwine bags for use by farmers in the field after a lapse of one week.

This breakthrough in solid waste management would surely be a boon to the LGU’s who are hard pressed to toe the line as per requirements of RA 9003. The inventor clarified that the separator will do away with the manual sorting and collecting of recyclable materials in the dumpsites even as dumpsites are no longer allows by the law.

Also the Termophilic Aerobic Oxidation produced by the reaction of the bio-enzymes with the biowastes, putrid odor is scuttled in the process of producing raw fertilizers even the farmers to procure cheap fertilizers. Consequently, it will spare the environment of pollution and thus improve the ambient air quality of the territories where the raw organic fertilizers are produced.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
EDSA I and after (11)

In communist China, a massive student protest for democratic reforms at the Tiananmen square ended violently when the 27th army division cracked down on the protestors on June 4,1989. In Myanmar, the hardline military ruling clique refused to hand over power to Suu Kyi even after she won the election by a landslide in 1990.

She has since become the symbol of people’s defiance against the military clique.About two years ago, some 100 people were killed when a people’s protest movement led by monks failed to dislodge the Myanmar’s ruling military clique. People power may have failed in some countries but its successful adaptation and adoption by peoples groaning under an oppressive regime cannot and will never be ignored.

On the home front, the military became restive as Cory Aquino consolidated power after her assumption to the presidency. Seven military coups rocked her government starting with the Manila Hotel incident in July, 1986 led by Gringo Honasan. The rest were mere military adventurism led by junior officers.The most deadly coup to be faced by Cory Aquino was that which took place in December, 1989.This was also led by Honasan. The coup negated the improving economic growth and outlook of the country then.

Generally considered a transition president during her watch, Cory successfully weathered all the storms that buffeted her turbulent reign. She showed a superior moral strength in facing up to all those challenges and she brandished it as her most potent weapon. Her peaceful handover of power to Fidel Ramos on June 30, 1992 was a moral, let alone spiritual,triumph on her part.

The Ramos presidency is among the best the country ever had as the country enjoyed an unprecedented economic growth, political stability and peace as the military rebels were kept at the barracks and insurgency was regulated. During his watch, the 1996 GRP-MILF peace agreement was signed which ended a more than two-decade MILF-GRP conflict. His sweeping socio-economic reforms were stalled by the 1997 Asian economic flu that brought down the industrializing economies of South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore and sank down the economy of Japan further into the doldrums. However, his safety nets secured the Philippine economy from being seriously affected by the 1997 Asian economic crisis.

Ramos’ socio-economic achievements were brought down the drain by Joseph Estrada who took over as President on June 30,1998. He mismanaged the economy aside from personal involvement in economically damaging shady deals, not to mention syndicated crimes like jueteng.

His criminal and shady network sparked colossal and far-reaching protests which culminated into EDSA II and abbreviated his presidency on January 20,2001. His ouster swept Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo into power. She was promising at first although she has had her share of controversial scandals like the Asean street lamps overprice, the ZTE Broadband scam, the hot fertilizer scam, Girl Scout fund diversions, ‘Hello Garci’ scandal, Mega-Pacific computer scandal among others.

To her credit though, she exhibited a lot of guts to face up to all of them aside from all challenges to her rule with verve, panache, persistence, rubbery attitude and gumption. At best, she is showing to one and sundry that she meant business and dead set on carving a niche in history as a good and working president.

She is also showing inclination as a no nonsense leader who would not waste any opportunity to move the country forward. The post-EDSA leaders have left indelible imprints, favorable or otherwise, in the nation’s political-administrative landscape for posterity to honor or to despise.
***
Meanwhile, the current economic crisis which is wreaking havoc in advanced economies is also affecting the national economy in some ways. At this point, solidarity, teamwork and oneness regardless of distinction as to race, ethnicity, language among others should unite Filipinos once more just like the past EDSAs when they banded together as one to bring down contemptible president.

This is a hackneyed cliché but worth iterating as we are denizens of this country whose greatness is being delayed every now and then. The current government is anything but perfect but the political guns of twitting and pooh-poohing should be silenced at this point.

The Filipinos did it before and they can do it once more with greater pride, dedication, enthusiasm and patriotism even to the extent of jingoism. If ever there will be an EDSA III,the partnership and solidarity between the people and the government for development should be the rallying cry and slogan and not for bringing down a government. An individual’s stake in the development of a nation is never a high price to pay at whatever cost anytime, anywhere.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
EDSA I and after (1)

The celebration of the 23rd anniversary of EDSA circa ’86 revived some personal memories of those four fateful days, February 22-25, when the earthshaking event took place. My reminiscences may not be as vivid as they used to be yet they are treasured eyewitness accounts of it aside from having crystallized pertinent conclusions according to perspectives, notably its aftermath.

As everybody knows, those days featured the stand-off between the vaunted Marcos military and renegade military breakaway group headed by the duo of Fidel Ramos and Enrile. The duo were holed up at Camp Aguinaldo then shielded by a hordes of people.

Prior to the event, Ramos and Enrile occupied the positions of Vice Chief of Staff of the AFP and Defense Minister respectively, in Marcos’ cabinet. The duo’s two- decade association with Marcos vis-à-vis EDSA I painted a poignant story of flawed loyalty and trust that got ruptured at the seams on EDSA I.

It also depicted a harmonious friendship that turned ironically turned sour and at once deadly. Nevertheless, strange and convoluted as its denouement like a fiction, the kaleidoscope of events that unfolded created staggering ramifications nationally and globally. For the country, the immense repercussions it impacted on several spectrums made it among the towering events and milestones in this damned nation’s checkered history.

As I recall now, Manila and its environs then were shrouded in uncertainty and people were gripped in utter fear and breathless angst while they awaited every single, subtle move between the two camps. Enrile and Ramos were stark raving mad at Marcos’ brazen attempts to wipe them out and were ready to face the Fabian Ver-led Marcos army in a suicidal stance.

But Divine Providence patently intervened when Marcos’ plan to bomb Camp Aquinaldo did not materialize as Gen. Sotelo, who was ordered to carry out the deadly mission, had a sudden change of heart when he saw the hordes of people massed around Camp Aguinaldo. He landed down to the camp and joined the rebels.

This turnaround started to turn the tide of battle predominantly against Marcos. Sotelo’s turnaround, though, was preceded by the courageous blocking of military tanks sent to crush the rebels by the hordes of people. From thereon,things began to turn inexorably helpless for Marcos when his final attempt to crush the rebels through sneak attacks under the cover of darkness by a battalion of marines was discovered by the multitude and the former beat a hasty retreat.

On February 25,1986,a pale, worn-out, spiritless and almost teary-eyed Marcos took his third oath of office as president in Malacanang in the morning at the same time that Cory Aquino was taking hers at Club Filipino, San Juan, Metro Manila. Political pundits opined that Marcos’ oath-taking was apocryphal as it was a last- ditch attempt to show to the world that he was still in control of the volatile situation then. Hence,it was just a ploy to cover up a planned secret exit from Malacanang in the evening. At 9 pm of February 25,1986, Marcos, his family and loyal cabal of officials were flown out of Malacanang by a US military plane and brought to Honolulu, Hawaii. He lived in virtual obscurity in Waikiki heights until his death in 1989.
xxxx
The peaceful culmination of the first EDSA people’s revolution convulsed the European socialist satellite countries within the USSR’s “iron curtain.” Peoples of these countries adapted the EDSA strategy with backing from the military. First satellite country to wriggle free from socialism was Poland in 1989. This was the apogee of a continuous protest movement spearheaded by Lech Walesa against General Haruzelski’s authoritarian and represseive regime. Poland’s example was followed by Albania and Bulgaria.

In Romania,however,hundreds of thousands were killed by the state security as communist leader Nicolae Ceaucescu decided to hold on to power even after the army joined the people in fighting his tyrannical rule. He ended up a crumpled heap of carcass when he was killed by a firing squad. Consequently,the Berlin wall crumbled thunderously to the ground in 1990 after a prolonged protest by democratic organizations there and reunited the peoples of East and west Germany once more. The USSR itself, the first socialist country to be set up in the world in 1917 and which existed for seven decades, crumbled as a communist nation in December, 1991. Meanwhile, Socialist leader Daniel Ortega was dislodged through an election in 1990 by his democratic challenger, Violeta Chamorro.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
Defending territorial integrity
(Second of two parts)

Looking back, Hamas never recognized Israel as a sovereign nation when it won control over Gaza on the heels of its major victory during the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January, 2006.

This unyielding stance unmasked its hideous intention to destroy Israel at whatever cost. Anyway, the destruction of Israel is its staunchest goal when it was organized during the first Intifada that occurred from 1987 to 1993.

Hamas further made no bones of its horrible intention when it refused to renounce violence as its policy even after several nations, including the United States and the European Union, severed direct economic aid to the Palestinian Government in which it is a part. Inexorably, the uncontrolled smuggling of arms into Gaza across its steel-fenced border with Egypt is serving this grim purpose.

It could be contended that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza (which it captured from Egypt in 1967) on September 12,2005, after occupying it for 39 years, could have been a lapse on its part. Even its withdrawal from the west bank (which it captured from Jordan in 1967)in favor of Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Front in 1994 seemed to have been misplaced.

This is because its vision of a land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians is proving to be a flop having failed to create the environment of peace and security for the Israelis. In the case of Gaza, its failure to completely destroy the secret tunnels used for smuggling arms into it even after it continues to exercise control over its air space and sea access to its ports, is proving to be a stab and a prickly thorn on its back.

Fact is, while Israel is prudently giving concessions in every opportunity to the Palestinians hoping for peaceful co-existence with them the latter, notably the Hamas and other militant groups, are bent on eradicating Israel from the map.

While the media is castigating Israel for excessive display of firepower against a recalcitrant enemy, some things should be considered seriously. Putting things into proper perspective, Israel has never been the aggressor in this war and so with the past wars that it fought against the Arabs starting from its 1948-1949 war of liberation.

In the latter, six Arab nations comprising Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Iran conspired to destroy Israel. They used their military might as a drag against Israel’s existence after the latter boldly declared its independence as a sovereign nation on May 14,1948.

If anything, the war of liberation in 1948-1949,the 1956 Israeli Suez campaign, 1967 six-day Arab-Israeli War, 1973 Yom Kippur War, 1982 Lebanon invasion to neutralize a nascent Palestinian terrorist attack, 1987-1993 first Palestinian Intifada, second Palestinian Intifada in 2000-2005, Israeli-Hezbollah war in mid-2006 and now the Gaza-Israeli war, all boils down to one thing: the determination of Israel to survive as a sovereign nation hand in hand with its need to maintain and protect its territorial integrity. Needless to say, being a small nation girded by angry and hostile nations bent on its destruction and annihilation, it is its prime duty to do no less.

For the prejudice, discrimination and violence that the Israelis experienced for centuries in every country where they tried to settle down, not to mention the extreme anger and hostility of the Arabs against them, their piece of land is the only land where they feel secure and comparatively at peace. Hence, they cannot just let their small plot of land be grabbed by angry wolves after investing much blood (exemplified by the Nazi holocaust), sweat and tears since the turn of the twentieth century when Jews started migrating to Palestine to create a country of their own at the auspices of the Balfour Declaration.

Jordan and Egypt have recognized Israel as a nation but the fact remains that its people hate the Jews in the same way as that of the Syrians, Iraqis, Iranians and other Arab countries.There’s even a sinister information bandied about some years back that children in West Bank and Gaza are being trained to hate the Jews so that they grow up hating the Jews.

Arabs are known to close ranks and drop their hatred and prejudice against each other once they face a common enemy. This practice is borne out of an Arab saying which goes: “My brother and I will fight my cousin but my cousin and I will fight a stranger.” Right now, the recent rocket attacks from Lebanon into northern Israel is believed to be from the Hezbollah, another terrorist group based in Lebanon bent on destroying Israel. This threatens to open another front in Israel’s current war just like in 2006 when Hezbollah struck at Israel while the latter was battling Hamas.

It is widely believed that the Hezbollah attack is meant to show league with the Hamas militants being its brother in terrorism, anti-semitism and racism. Anyhow, Israel has already withstood such kind of challenge in its previous wars. This was most exemplified by the 1973 Yom Kippur War where it simultaneously battled Syria in its northern border and Egypt in its southern border and won over both with a resounding victory.

Also, its experience in battling Arabs simultaneously on six fronts during its 1948 war of liberation comes in handy if and when it fights Hezbollah again in its northern border while dealing with the Hamas in its midwestern border.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal

Defending territorial integrity
(First of two parts)

The Gaza-Israeli war has already caused a lot of damage in Gaza city with the hapless civilians taking most of the brunt since December 27,2008.Casualties increased and destruction worsened when the Israeli Defense Forces launched its punitive ground offensive on January 3, 2009.

As of the latest count, several hundred Gazan lives, including women and children, have been lost. As Hamas gunmen are operating mostly in crowded areas and insidiously using people as shields, civilian casualties and properties reduced to smithereens could not be avoided.

For the Israelis, the war was inevitable even before the blow-up owing to the fact that Hamas militants have been provocatively firing Qassam rockets, mortar shells and bombs into southern Israel without let-up ever since the middle of 2007. Ashkelon City is the prime target of the bombs.

For 2008 alone, about 3,200 rockets have been fired by Hamas into Israel which could reach more than 4,000 if those fired from June,2007 up to January,2008 are included. Nonetheless, the truce between Hamas and Israel from June,2008 up to December 19,2008 following a small-scale fighting in February-March,2008 failed to stop Hamas militants from firing rockets into Israel.

It is on account of the unwarranted provocations that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a journalist on November 11,2008 this: “The question is not whether there will be a confrontation, but when it will take place, under what circumstances, and who will control these circumstances, who will dictate them, who will know how to exploit the time from beginning of the ceasefire until the moment of confrontation in the best possible way.”

He intimated this after Israel ’s incursion into southern Gaza on November 4,2008 wherein Israel destroyed many tunnels through which arms are smuggled into Gaza . These tunnels are subtly hidden beside the Gazan southwest border with Egypt, notably along the Philadelphi route and in several coastal towns along the Meditterranean sea on the North and Northeast borders of Gaza .

Ehud’s statement was well-grounded as Hamas obviously exploited the six-month ceasefire as evidenced by a lot of arms that have been smuggled into Gaza during the period. In fact, some 20,000 gunmen have been secretly armed by Hamas during the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, when Hamas first fired rockets into Israel in mid-2007, it was in the midst of a violent internecine conflict with its rival Fatah faction. The fighting between the two anti-Israeli rivals within Gaza started in January, 2007 and extended up to the middle of that year when a power-sharing scheme between them broke down due to irreconcilable ideological differences following a Hamas major electoral victory on January 25,2006.

Subsequently, the retaliatory strike fired by the Israelis against that initial Hamas salvos started the intermittent tit-for-tat skirmishes between Hamas and Israel. These skirmishes, which sometimes involved cross border raids and punishing incursions, intensified after Hamas took complete control of Gaza during the elections of June 14,2007 which it won easily.

At this point, perhaps the primary goal of the IDF is not to punish the whole Gaza population but to stop once and for all the Hamas militants and other militant organizations in Gaza from firing rockets or mortar bombs into Israel. Attendant thereto is the complete destruction of all covert Hamas military installations and structures which the latter is using to store arms and ammunitions.

Another goal might be to neutralize any attempt by the Hamas to prejudice a plan by the Israeli authorities to forge a permanent peace agreement with the moderate Fatah group led by Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas. Incidentally, Israelis desire a peaceful elections on February 10,2009 and a spoiler role of the Hamas and other Gaza militant groups on the significant national occasion is out of the question.

At the moment, the increasing casualties among the civilians are being deceitfully used by the Hamas to get the sympathy of the western media and western nations. It seems to be succeeding in this as the western media and several western leaders, including enlightened Arab leaders, are earnestly calling for a ceasefire with the support of the UN. Hamas is hoping that increasing international pressure on Israel may yet persuade it to halt its punishing ground offensive.

If this happens, the war will result in a strategic stalemate just like the 34-day Hezbollah-Israeli war in mid-2006.Surprisingly,Israelis are being blamed for the widespread shortage of food supply in Gaza which, on the whole, is part of the machinations by the Hamas to court world sympathy. What is baffling is that tendentious as the western media and leaders are, they are only focused on the grim consequences of the turmoil in Gaza without considering who started the war, how it started and why the war came about in the first place.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
Dream ‘mismatch’

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Manny Pacquiao has just added Oscar de la Hoya to the growing list of Mexican boxing legends that he pulverized. For the ninth time, despite his abhorrence for being tagged as a “Mexicutioner”, he has just proven himself as that.

On the sidelight, the victory came at a time when, as usual, nothing positive are hogging the headlines in major dailies as the government is running the gauntlet of facing recycled charges of corruption and dorky impeachment raps composed of ridiculous offenses.

This imbroglio is not surprising as oppositionists are taking every opportunity to hurl potshots at the government for easier recall come election time that is just 16 months away. By itself, the victory scuttled even just for a day or two, the perennial bleak news that a nonchalant people has been hitherto constantly bombarded with.

Thus, Manny will always be regarded agape not only for his exploits in boxing but also for his ability to unite Filipinos, regardless of race, calling, education and the like after every victory in slugfest.

The smashing Pacquiao victory debunked all favorable predictions of an Oscar win by a sensational media overhype over his ring exploits. Pacquiao may not have been uptight prior to the face-off even as he kept a low profile in the media blitz although he might have felt uneasy.

There’s no doubt that Oscar’s ebullient hangers-on parlayed the favorable predictions of an Oscar win by noted boxing aficionados, including Oscar’s tormentor Bernard Hopkins, either to intimidate Pacman or to send a subtle message that victory was simply a touch-and-go on his part. It sort of suggested that he was a small hawk trying on spec to defeat an eagle.

It was thus that a claim by an ex-trainor of Muhammad Ali of a Pacman win was taken with a grain of salt even as he might have been considered cuckoo for his bold comparison of Pacman to Obama and Oscar to Maccain. However, Ricky Hatton, bandied as Pacman’s possible next foe, added another brazen prediction of a Pacman win as he claimed that Oscar is already worn-out as a fighter having fought his last fight more than a year ago.

This media overhype of a largely predicted win that turned exactly the opposite evoked a strange parallel in a big boxing match in 1991 between Mike Tyson, the reigning heavyweight champ then, and challenger Buster Douglas in Tokyo, Japan.

Days before the scheduled fight, the media glowed over Tyson’s ring exploits that subtly suggested Douglas to be just another victim of Tyson’s iron hands. Back then, Tyson was a complete knockout artist having floored all his foes ever since becoming a heavyweight champion in the late eighties with only “Bonecrusher” Smith escaping his knockout jabs although he too was defeated but on points. Douglas and company kept a low profile in this entire hullabaloo.

Subsequently, in a monumental upset that shocked the boxing world, Douglas knocked the daylights out of Tyson in the 11th round during their actual fight. It was Tyson’s first knockout and the upset was nothing short of phenomenal. As a result, Tyson’s stature was momentarily reduced from “iron man” to “tin man”.
***
At any rate, Pacman’s spanking victory proved that the aging Oscar is no match to his superior boxing skills. The latter was simply outclassed, outpunched,outsmarted and outwitted.

All too suddenly, De la Hoya’s overhyped boxing powers has gone kaput having registered only token resistance to Pacman’s barrage of punches. In a way, his brawling days with fast and furious punches against his previous foes flailed against Pacman’s swift, swarming and strong punches accompanied by dizzying moves.

The different combinations unleashed by Pacman rattled and dazed De la Hoya that throughout the fight he toyed with Oscar even as he neutralized Oscar’s height and reach advantage by turning the latter’s face into a bloody mess. The nitty-gritty is that the match turned out to be a carnage with the pathetic Oscar fighting like a defanged tiger before the 8th round TKO.

At this point, Freddie Roach’s gamble for the match that was promoted as a “dream match” proved to be a “dream mismatch” in Pacquiao’s favor. It upended in a classic manner Pacman’s underdog image vis-à-vis the stature of Oscar and his éclat of boxing skills in his heyday.

As footages of the fight showed, the bloody end for Oscar could have come earlier during the 7th round had not Pacman wavered in giving the killer punch even after treating the former with severe beatings. Obviously, Pacman has still an iota of respect for Oscar for his vacillation to deliver the knockout punch in the 7th or 8th. The saddest part here is that, Oscar’s dream of retiring in glory in his aftermost fight turned out to be his most humiliating defeat.

Meanwhile, Pacman’s obviation of Oscar’s height and reach advantage in their tiff reminded this hack of another classic heavyweight match in the late eighties. This was between Mike Tyson and Larry Holmes sometime in 1988. Holmes was much taller and bulkier than Tyson.

Prior to this, Larry Holmes was semi-retired from boxing after he reigned as a heavyweight champion for several years in the eighties. He sprung out of out of semi-retirement and challenged Tyson,who was then the unified heavyweight champion and at the peak of his career. Tyson charged like a bull from the opening round and busted Holmes’ face with hard punches to disable him from maximizing his bulk. Eventually, Larry Holmes ended up a bloodied and crumpled mess cringing in the canvass in the fourth round.

Oscar’s wobbly and tippy movements in his recent fight with Pacman was reminiscent of Holmes sluggishness against Tyson then. Just like Holmes, Oscar failed to find his range against the fast-slugging Pacman. Just like Holmes, Oscar failed to withstand Pacman’s barrage of punches that made him look like a beaten pulp. Finally, just like Holmes, Oscar proved no match to Pacman’s punching power and skills.

On the other hand, Oscar and Holmes are both celebrated boxers in their own time. Oscar was a 10-time world champion in six different divisions while Larry Holmes was a feared heavyweight champion in the eighties in which one of his worthy victims was Muhammad Ali. He earned a record of 48 straight wins before he was upset by Michael Spinks. Pacman today is the doppelganger of Tyson during the latter’s heady reign in the late eighties as heavyweight champ.

There’s no doubt that the stunning victory earned for Manny an immortal place in the annals of boxing on an equal footing with the greatest boxers of all time like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Larry Holmes, Joe Luis, Joe Frazier, “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler, Lennox Lewis, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leaonard, Alexis Arguello and even Rocky Marciano, to name a few.

Many will attribute Pacman’s victory to his natural talents and skills as a boxer not to mention the hard training he invests every time he fights. One should remember, though, that before the start of his actual fight, Pacman always invoke the help of the Lord for his success either in the locker room and in his ring corner. The show of piety may be public but being apparently a man of integrity, the act gives credence to his other aspect as a man of faith.

The pious, if public, act is a sincere acknowledgement that an Almighty God exists who guides the destiny of individuals and nations. His statement that prayer is his talisman or juju for his victories is not an understatement. His string of smashing victories attest to that. Alfred Lord Tennyson once averred that “more things are wrought by prayer than the world ever thinks of.” He is a shining practitioner of that.

It is an axiom that God will always uplift and gives grace to the humble. I state with candor that humility and sincere prayers are Pacman’s main weapons in his successes. He puts into real action that adage that says: “Pray as if everything depends on God but work as if everything depends on you.” Nothing is farther from the truth. Happy Holidays!

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
NGOs in local governance (2)

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Another mode of participation of NGOs in local governance is membership in the local special bodies in the LGU. These local special bodies are the appendages set up by the code to help the chief executive dispense more effectively his duties and responsibilities in serving the public.

These special bodies like the Local Development Council, Local Peace and Order Council, Bids and Awards Committee, People’s Law Enforcement Boards, Local Health Boards and Local School Boards, have NGO representatives in their respective compositions. The development councils contains the greatest number of NGO members as it is required that not less than one-fourth of the whole membership thereof is made up of NGO members. Coming next is the local peace and order councils in which four or more members come from the locally operating NGOs/private sector or civil society groups.

The downside in this, though, is that most NGO members of these special bodies should be duly accredited by the local legislative councils before they could become members. The process of accreditation is quite stringent to ensure that only legitimate NGOs who satisfy the requirements should be accredited.

In this area, many NGOs who want to become members of the local special bodies are discomfited and unnerved by the rigor of accreditation on account of deficiencies in the requirements. Meanwhile, NGO memberships in other committees outside of the local special bodies do not require accreditation by local legislative councils.

The most open and available participation of NGOs and civil society groups for that matter is the barangay assemblies which is conducted twice a year which is at least once a semester. These are usually conducted in March 21 for the first semester and October 21 for the second semester. In this, civil society groups could evaluate incisively the annual accomplishment report of the barangay officials.

This is focused on how they fared in the extent of implementation of the programs, projects and activities of the development plan of the past year. Aside from this, they could also join the constituents in scrutinizing the proposed executive budget for the forthcoming year. By the same token, they could also scrutinize if the projects listed in their annual development plan really conforms to the primordial needs of the greatest number of the constituents.

Other avenues for participation by the NGOs in local governance is the processes of recall, initiative and referendum but which are rarely utilized. Recall is the withdrawal of support from an elective official by the electorate due to loss of confidence as had once been expounded in this column. Initiative, on the other hand, is a process “whereby registered voters of a local government unit may directly propose, enact, or amend any ordinance.” For referendum, it is “a process whereby the registered voters of a local government unit may approve, amend or reject any ordinance enacted by the sanggunian.”

Succinctly put, as the constitution and the statutes recognize the contribution of NGOs or civil society groups in nation-building, it is up to the latter to maximize its participation in governance. By all accounts, their contributions is immeasurable in the past and present especially in monitoring the excesses and abuses of those in the helms of power.

The participation of NGOs in exposing government excesses that culminated in the two EDSAs in which two abusive presidents were ousted is no doubt a milestone in history. It is for this that the code opened a lot of avenues for civil society groups to have a part and a say in governance. Also, aside from being in line with the dictate of the constitution, it is also ensure that their participation is always within the bounds, ambit and sphere of our laws.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
NGOs in local governance (1)

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- This hack was recently invited to share some information or insights on mechanisms or processes on how nongovernment organizations can validly participate in local governance under the aegis of our laws. This was a novel topic for me although I once talked about NGOs in one out-of-town lecture but this was concentrated on the accreditation of NGOs by local legislative councils for membership in local special bodies. Nevertheless, that lecture inevitably but indirectly touched on the NGOs’ participation in local governance.

In view of that, I jumpily searched the provisions of the Local Government Code that deals with the relations of the NGOs (which also include People’s organizations and private sector) with the Local Government Units. Generally, NGOs refer to those civil society groups or organizations that operate outside of the government bureaucracy although their activities are under regulation by the government, particularly the LGUs. On perspective, the code provides a lot of opportunities for NGO involvement in local governance.

On top of this is the leeway given to NGOs, as active partners of the government in the pursuit of local autonomy, to enter with LGUs “into joint ventures and such other cooperative arrangements to engage in the delivery of certain basic services, capability-building and livelihood projects, and to develop local enterprises.” It furthered that such joint ventures are “designed to improve productivity and income, diversify agriculture, spur rural industrialization, promote ecological balance, and enhance the economic and social well-being of the people.”

All said worthwhile activities are all geared towards the promotion and achievement of socio-economic development, especially in poverty and hunger alleviation, reduction and at best, eradication.

In this aspect, an NGO could forge a MOA with an LGU for the operation of a certain economic enterprise with the appropriate schemes like build-operate-transfer, build-transfer and the like. An instance of this is when an NGO or any private sector with adequate financial outlay and technical capability/competence is allowed to operate an LGU economic enterprise.

At present, LGUs are perennially short of funds even under the auspices of devolution with the internal revenue allotment as still the main source of funds to run their local bureaucracies. Hence, it is not uncommon for LGUs to tap a private sector or an NGO to operate a local economic enterprise. This process is termed as debureaucratization, a distinct mode of decentralization of power which involves the transfer of power or authority from the government either through a government agency or an LGU to an NGO or private sector. In some instances, an NGO could be involved in capability-building activities to enhance local governance.

When I was assigned at one LGU as a representative of the government agency where am hitherto holed up, a private organization once conducted a skills training in the formulation of an LGU profile to the local employees.

In another LGU assignment, a private sector conducted a skills training on the conduct of a feasibility study, formulation of a project proposal and conduct of a financial analysis to LGU functionaries, officials and barangay officials. In both instances, the LGU took charge of the venue and other nonfinancial aspects of the training while the NGO partner took charge of financing, facilitating and supervising the conduct of both trainings. This is a cool example of a fruitful partnership between an NGO and an LGU for a worthwhile activity.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
A view to a win (2)

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Obama served as hope to the youth, the most economically active and productive group. His economic program and priorities successfully generated an optimistic and confident outlook for their economic future.

Looking back, Franklin Delano Roosevelt won a landslide victory during the 1931 US presidential elections due to his practical and economically vibrant programs. Fifty years later, Ronald Reagan also won by a landslide on the heels of the 1980-1981 economic downturn caused by Carter’s failed economic policies.

Another factor to his victory is his being a biracial man. A product of a white American mother and a black Kenyan father, he is both a white man and a black man although the black pigments prevailed in his skin color thus he is blacker than white. Even so, he is not totally black unlike his tribemates in native Africa and other blacks in the USA whose strains have never been infected with white strains and hence are utterly black.

His deep-brown complexion may have helped divert the attention of people to his skin color. Besides,aware that he is the product of both white and black races, whites are identified with him even as blacks are more so. This must be the reason why Obama was able to get 43% of the white votes to Mccain’s 55%.

Nonetheless, this advantage of Mccain was largely compensated by a wide margin as Obama clinched 96% of the black votes. Incidentally, McCain got most of his white votes from the deep South which used to be the hotbed of racism that gave rise to the civil rights movement.

Meanwhile, Obama’s deep-brown skin color contrasted with the blacker complexion of Rev. Jesse Jackson who ran as president in both the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections but was rebuffed on both instances. In the 1988 presidential derby, though, he was the first runner-up to Michael Dukakis in the race for the democratic nomination.

At that time, segregationist policies were making a strong comeback as Reagan reinforced racial equality even as he failed to enforce laws on affirmative actions. Americans then were fearful of a massive influx of black faces in the cabinet. Jesse

Jackson was among the frontrunners during the heady days of civil rights movement in the 1960’s led by Martin Luther King,Jr. Thus, his crocodile tears and affecting stance following Obama’s landslide victory are no less tears of joy and expression of inexpressible triumph for the civil rights movement as Obama overwhelmingly succeeded where he failed twice.

Lastly, he is credited with an awesome organizational skills as he was able to mobilize thousands of volunteers who kept his campaign awash with liquid cash both at the height of his races for the democratic nomination and for the presidency. It is said that his volunteers were able to solicit $600 million to bankroll his presidential campaign.

This spanking organizational skills enabled him to overcome Hillary Clinton’s almost insurmountable lead during the initial months of the primary elections for the democratic nomination. It also enabled him to sustain his pre-poll survey lead over McCain in the run-up to the presidential election.

Black power is now a reality in America even as it began to manifest in thw world before Obama’s win. Black power began to stir worldwide when Kofi Annan from the African continent led the United Nations for two terms from the late ‘90s and into the current decade of the twentieth century.

This energetic stirring of black power in America is the fruition of the dismantling of many segregationist state and federal policies and laws as a result of the massive, but non-violent, civil rights movement that started in the mid-50’s and spilled into the decade of the sixties. Obama as the first elected black president of the USA is the culmination of said movement that claimed the lives and made martyrs out of leaders like Malcolm X, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is also the culmination, a century and a half later, of the thousands of lives that were wasted in the fratricidal American civil war from 1861-1864 on the issue of slavery. President Abraham Lincoln died as a martyr for the abolition of slavery and a century later, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated allegedly due in part to his sympathy to the civil rights movement.

Hence, Obama’s victory is the greatest affirmative action that the whites did for the black Americans. As the civil rightists in the 1960’s used the battlecry “We shall overcome” against the malevolent evils of racism, racial inequality and segregation, this time the blacks are shouting jubilantly in every corner of the USA with the resounding triumphant cry “Yes, we did.”

If anything, it is a concretization of Martin Luther’s aspiration in his “I have a dream” speech where he fervently wished that a time will come in Mississippi and elsewhere in racist states of America when a black man and a white man will sit face to face in one table sharing a meal together in the spirit of brotherhood, camaraderie and equality. That time is now.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
A view to a win (1)

BONTOC, Mountaijn Province -- Barack Obama’s victory in last Tuesday’s USA Presidential elections came at a crucial period when there is one urgent, collective desire of US citizens: change.

With many policies of George Bush in his eight-year presidency not in sync with the sentiments of the majority of the Americans which made him unpopular, the campaign slogan of change was mostly timely. The straw that broke the camel’s back which further intensified the clamor of the Americans for change in leadership came with the breakdown of the financial markets following the unthinkable collapse of wall street in mid-September.

Obama’s adroit spin doctors could not have found the most appropriate theme at the right time so that by homing in and harping on the necessity of change in the race for the white house, the Americans found the embodiment of their collective desire for change in Obama’s persona.

Meanwhile, Mccain’s desperate to up his chances in the polls by twitting Obama’s lack of experience in holding an executive position before the latter made a go for the presidency generally fell on deaf ears as the Republican party that he represented was viewed as having caused all the welter in the economic and political life of the nation. Even his sudden tack for change to misled the voters and to chip away at Obama’s lead in the pre-election surveys failed to turn things around in his favor.

Prior to the victory, it was a rough road towards the White House for Obama. The color of his skin and his ethnic race were the biggest stumbling blocks for a successful campaign thus his battle for the democratic nomination was virtually an uphill climb. In fact, he was almost dismissed on the first months of the primary elections in early 2007 as an underdog given that he was trying to buck a strong stranglehold of the Clintons on the Democratic party.

On the whole, he may have been regarded with a simper as another black man with designs aflame for the presidency. Up to that time, Americans were not yet ready for a black president even as a woman president is also an oddity for them. Nevertheless, true and genuine leaders always arose out of the ashes of turbulence at the most needed time thus the finger of destiny might have looked down upon him with favor. Be that as it may, there are many inherent factors that combined to give him the presidency.

The most pivotal factor that took the attention of partymates and the electorate is his admirable and peerless eloquence. He first manifested this during the 2004 Democratic convention to nominate the standard bearer of the party for that year’s presidential elections. The democratic nominee then, John Kerry, noticed the tremendous eloquence of Obama on that occasion.

Later, the same slick eloquence won him a senate seat on a landslide victory as the democratic contender from Illinois during the subsequent midterm elections. Similarly, his eloquence electrified the delegates and audience in different states when he barnstormed throughout the USA to gain the Democratic nomination. He prudently used this spectacular ability as a leverage against his ebony skin so that people’s attention was deviated from the color of his skin to his spanking and riveting rhetorics.

Consequently, his eloquent pounding on the necessity of amending economic policies in order to unscramble the economic mess that caused recession recently to the US economy proved crucial to the decision of the people, particularly the legions of undecided white voters, to go his way. All in all, his magnificent eloquence made vacillating white voters reconsider their prejudice and animosity for a black president.

After all, Americans have already come of age politically so that race is no longer a burning political issue following many affirmative actions initiated by former presidents in favor of the blacks.

Complementing his native eloquence is his charisma, that tenebrous power emanating from a person that enables him to attract people to his side even without trying hard to. This is manifested in his ability to mobilize hordes of people to listen to his speech. He has that innate ability to make people listen afire to his rhetorics and thus ignite people’s indifference and apathy into dynamic action as instanced by his thousands of volunteers.

Added to the above are his stringy physique, flat paunch and gentle physiognomy. Obama’s sunny disposition is a stark contrast to Mccain’s stern disposition. Obama gives out a ready smile at a drop of a hat so that people find him more amiable and down-to-earth. Notwithstanding his neophyte status as a politician, he exudes more integrity which spilled into the democratic party itself in contrast with Mccain who was regarded as Bush’s clone and in effect manifested the aura of unpopularity of the latter.

Such traits of integrity, charisma, eloquence combined with good physical attributes and exuberant youth greatly helped in clearing Obama’s path to the presidency. It is probably because of such attributes that he won 66% of the youth votes from late teens to early twenties and also a sizeable portion of the votes of the not young ranging from those aged from the mid-20’s to early 30’s.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
Recall process abused (2)

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Intriguing questions that beg to be answered relative to the flurry of recall petitions flooding the Commission on Elections are: Are the recall petitions really the initiative of the voters? Or are they just part of the machinations of sour-grapping politicians who cannot accept defeat and are therefore using their supporters for their political ends?

Incidentally, in Philippine elections, politicians either win or are cheated. As fair play and objectivity do not generally underlie transactions in the country including elections, no loser in an election is man enough to graciously accept defeat. As humility is likewise not among the sterling virtues of Filipinos, its spillover effect in politics is manifested through the use of goons, guns and gold.

These 3 “Gs” are part of the package of an electoral campaign of many aspiring politicians particularly at the local level to ensure an electoral win. Unluckily, as politics is a favorite game and pastime of Filipinos, voters enjoy viewing electoral rivals bruise and outmaneuver each other. It is a way of sublimating their brutal instincts.

As electoral losers generally don’t take their defeat sitting down having invested much to get elected, some resort to outright lodging of electoral protest after their electoral defeat while others wait for some time to lapse before galvanizing their supporters to lodge a recall petition against their tormentor. In this context, my reckoning is that almost all recall petitions being lodged in the Comelec are politically motivated as they are propped up and prodded by political losers. As they have a lot of money to splurge on the recall process, electoral losers are the shadowy financiers of recall petitions in order to affect innocence of their participation in it.

They usually use their middle class supporters to initiate the process with the latter often obliging to such whim as they will benefit most in terms of political favors once their candidate wins. The middle class does not hesitate to take chances in boosting their economic stock as political involvement is among their avenues to be at par with the upper echelon of society.

The recall process is far from perfect as any mechanism is but it should be scrutinized thoroughly in order to minimize its use for political machination by naughty politicians. Right now, the system is being grossly abused by vile politicians. It is high time that foolproof amendments should be structurally emplaced in the process to ensure that only the noble intention of worthy public service should be the primary reason for its initiation.

One amendment should be the abolition of the preparatory recall assembly which is composed of local chief executives who are hardnosed politicians. Any recall petition from their ranks may always smack of political ill will and vicious backlash because of their stature.

In this context, only the 25 percent electorate should initiate any recall petition as provided in the law but this should be from the poor voters and not the middle class so as to erase any suspicion of currying political favors from the potential candidates. All said, this will also ensure that its purpose for replacing unworthy officials as provided in the constitution is strengthened and not defeated aside from vesting the process with credibility.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
Recall process abused (1)

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Recall is a political mechanism wherein an elective leader is subjected to an election midway into his term on the heels of a regular election which he won. This is resorted to after the concerned official has lost the trust and confidence of the electorate.

It is an explicit power provided by the constitution whereby the electorate can recall or withdraw the trust that it reposed to an elective official through the sacred ballot. However, this is only resorted to once the latter proved unworthy of such trust and not for any whimsical reason.

In another angle, it is a mechanism in which the stake of the electorate in the power and authority being dispensed by an elective official is given due recognition and affirmation by the state. It was instituted to enable the electorate to exercise such stake even as it is no less their human right, too, as it is inherent of them to elect the leader they deem best who can concretize their collective aspirations. Summing it up, recall is a process that embodies and puts into practice the principle “that power resides in the people and sovereignty emanates from them” as stated loud and clear in the preamble of the constitution.

In essence, an elective official is a sort of lessee of the power he is dispensing having temporarily borrowed it from the people who is the real holder of political power and thus, the lessor of such power.

The power having been granted not through barratry but through persuasion and some measure of cajolery, it then behooves an elective official to prove himself equal to the degree of public service required and expected of him by the electorate. Corollary to this, he is also expected serve with integrity, probity, fairness, justness and competence.

It goes without saying that at any rate, he must be equipped with the proper ergonomics- the mental and physical capacities inherent in a person’s psyche and physical structure relative to the demands made upon him by the various tasks required of him as an official. Though power per se is self-fulfilling, its proper use for the public welfare is by no means an easy task even as it is subject to public scrutiny at all times.

With their limited perspective on the kinetics of governance notwithstanding, people as watchdogs over the public actuations of elective officials oftentimes use fancy yardstick in measuring their degree of effectivity.

The downside in this is that such unrealistic standards consequently effect an unforgiving attitude of any lapse, major or minor, of their elective officials. Which, by itself, is the unkindest cut of all as officials had to deal with perplexing systems and procedures aside from interlocking traffic of policies, rules and regulations from government agencies which they are expected to implement effectively within their jurisdiction.

In the history of Philippine elections, a number of local elective officials have been the subject of recall petitions. The flurry of recall petitions now flooding the Commission on Elections made me think of two recall elections that made headlines due to the prominence of the personalities involved even though the contests were held on local territories. What made this exciting and inexorably merited national attention was the peppery exchange of diatribes and rhubarbs between the protagonists which often bordered on the personal.

The first was the recall election in Bataan in the late 80’s that pitted then incumbent Governor Enrique “Tet” Garcia against Leonardo Roman. Roman won the tiff but “Tet” tenaciously held on to the governorship through legal maneuverings. While they were trying to outwit each other, confusion gripped their constituents as to whom to recognize as he rightful leader until “Tet” graciously turned over the governorship to his nemesis.

The second one, which was equally bitter, was the recall elections in Caloocan city in 1996 which pitted then Mayor Rey Malonso against Boy Assistio. Malonso soundly walloped Assistio in that recall elections after his runaway victory over the latter during the 1995 local polls.

Of late, the most prominent recall petition to be lodged in the Comelec that riveted people’s attention now is the one lodged against Fr. Ed “Among” Panlilio, the sitting Governor of Pampanga. A first termer, who has just warmed his seat, he is facing the prospect of a recall election due to his unflinching fight against the twin evils of jueteng and pervasive corruption in the local bureaucracy of Pampanga.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
Bailout, trend to a policy shift (2)

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- With the bailout, it is now apparent that the US government is doing what it long eschewed and advocated that it will never do: government intervention or meddling in business.

Where it previously preached aversion to social welfare, Bush has socialized the attendant risks and costs of the financial crisis with the bailout while consequently privatizing gains. The mechanism is tantamount to practicing social welfare for the rich as taxpayers’ money are used to bail out the bankrupt banks and financial firms with the proprietors of the bailed out banks enjoying the fruits as they are still hitting pay dirt while taxpayers are left holding an empty bag.

Nonetheless, with the bailout program intending to re-capitalize the insolvent banks and firms, the US Government has effectively put an end to the Reaganite advocacy on less intervention by the government in business. Reagan, during his presidency, dynamically preached the superiority of free market system as he professed that the best form of government is a government that exercises less restraint in business.

In retrospect, Reagan’s theory originated from the economic tremors in the ‘70s in which “managed capitalism” was gradually done away with in contravention to the provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. The act, according to Edsel L. Beja, Jr., a noted economist, was “designed to discipline the financial markets through separation of commercial and investment activities.”

This law was crafted as a result of the great financial collapse of 1930 that ushered the great economic depression of the early thirties. With the breakdown of “managed capitalism”, the road was then paved for the predominance of policies pointing towards right-wing economics and right-wing politics.

It goes without saying that as right-wingers in the political and economic spheres of the US Government reared their ugly heads, the more that market forces were left on their own. Reagan championed and exemplified rightwing politics and economics through Reaganomics, which is a package of economic policies that buoys up unregulation and liberalization of business. It was named after him being the staunchest exponent.

One feature of Reaganomics is that “markets always worked because they are rational, self-producing and self-regulating.” It is thus that Reagan and other right-wing politicians like him, despised government intervention and regulation of the financial market.

My fancy notion is that, Reagan may have been earnest in promoting liberalization and unregulation in business as he was then in a humongous ideological struggle with communism during his time. And part of his aces is exhibiting proof of the superiority of a laissez-faire approach to business is avoiding any direct intervention in business itself as this smacks of socialism. Inexorably and invariably, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in the 1990’s opened the financial markets to a free-for-all with most of the transactions being off-balance sheet transactions and not accurately accounted for as enough liquidity was never considered.

With the conditions of things now in the financial market as a result of the collapse of the US economy, the US Government cannot afford not to be interventionist now like its European counterparts and Japan which got rid of all non-performing assets of all private banks to stimulate the financial markets.

Closer to home, with the tendency of the Philippines to follow US policies, Gov. Amado Tetangco of the Central Bank is mulling the idea of a superbody which will regulate the dynamics of the financial markets. This huge but integrated regulatory agency will combine all the functions of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Insurance Commision and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The reason for this is that the Philippine financial market is tied up with the US financial markets so its financial markets is becoming complex although not as complex and advanced as the US financial system. To forestall or at least regulate in some ways any mess or gaping hole that may result in Philippine financial markets in the offing as it becomes more complex, a regulatory body to oversee the complex financial market becomes imperative.

As exemplified by the US and Japan’s experience, there is wisdom in an environment of government regulation and intervention in the dynamics and kinematics of the capitalist financial markets or systems. Finally, the breakdown of the US economy seems to fit a prophecy made by an anointed prophet who once predicted that the Philippines will become the America of Asia. In his prophecy, enunciated sometime in 1992, he predicted the breakdown of the western economies with negligible damage to the Philippine economy.

Currently, the US economic crisis had not much palpable little effect on the national economy save for the intermittent downslide of the peso as a result of the crashes in the international stock market. Looking back, the Philippines was not also affected much from the damaging effects of the 1997 Asian financial crisis which infected much of the Asian continent. If this is the unraveling proof of such a seemingly fancy prophecy then God bless the Philippines!

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
Bailout: Trend to a policy shift

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- With the US congress having stamped its approval of President Bush’s $700 billion bailout plan on Oct. 3, it is expected that the financial turmoil created by the bankruptcy of many wall street bankers will level off to a certain extent. However, even with this pump-priming initiative of the US Government, it failed to erase the jitters in the financial markets in Europe and Asia with the unbelievable fall of many Wall Street investment banks.

These banks, generally regarded as masters of the universe, are the chief clients of wall street, a global financial king which dictates the dynamics of investment trading worldwide. In the same vein, wall street executives are looked upon not only as financial whiz kids, being mostly “ivy-league” graduates, but also financial deities as they are immensely knowledgeable of the trends in the financial market and its impact not only on the US economy but on the rest of the world.

At any rate, the fall from grace of these leviathans in investment banking, like dominoes or stack of cards, inexorably affected the financial market of all countries. Shock waves of tremendous magnitude coupled with trepidation and fear accompanied the collapse of the US financial market. This is due to the fact that almost all the financial markets and systems of the capitalist world are tied up with the day-to-day operations and developments of wall street.

The disastrous fall transpired in the first two weeks of September but this was portentously preceded by the acquisition of the US Government of investment banks Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Bear Stearns within the last 15 months after the financial crisis that struck the USA in 2007.

First to fall was the Lehman Brothers in September, once an invincible multi-billion investment bank, whose bankruptcy threw wall street into panic and turned the finance and business world around the globe upside down. Most intriguing about this is that this financial empire once bought a tottering investment bank named Archston to the tune of $3.9 billion last Oct. 2007.
This was the fourth month of the financial crisis which transpired last year starting July, 2007.

The financial crisis last year came to the fore when two hedge funds managed by Bear Stearns, another huge investment bank, imploded and led to its purchase by JP Morgan. Back then, Lehman Brothers seemed to have been unaffected by the financial crisis as it has enough liquidity to buy the assets of Archston.

Nobody had the hunch that 11 months later, Lehman will suffer implosion of its funds itself that triggered its bankruptcy. Closely following suit is the downfall of another investment banker, Merill Lynch, whose assets were quickly bought by the Bank of America. Another investment banker, Washington Mutual, also fell and included to the list of distressed firms that need to be bailed out by the Fed.

Consequently, the unexpected insolvency of these financial giants one after the other thus left Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as hold-outs in the investment banking business. Nonetheless, perhaps anticipating a precipitate fall or entertaining angst on what befell their bigger competitors in the business, they self-demoted their category from standalone investment banks to holding companies so as to access federal bailout funds to hedge against future insolvency.

Prior to the fall of these huge investment banks, AIG, the largest US insurance company with insurance interests spread out in many countries around the world including the Philippines, suffered heavy book losses in its transactions. Its innovative financial products called credit-default swaps and collateralized debt obligations failed to sustain its profitability as the management failed to calculate adequately the risks involved in peddling these products. Thus, it failed to predict accurately the magnitude of its losses which at first it presumed to be about a few billion dollars but which turned to be a whopping hundreds of billions of dollars after sometime.

Honesto C. General, in his column Sept. 24, fancied that the AIG may have gotten in dept trouble with the New York Insurance Commissioner. He averred that “under the insurance code, the AIG is required, as any insurance company in the Philippines, to keep its admitted assets (assets admitted by the Insurance Commissioner, not by AIG’s accountants, at 110 percent of liabilities. This is the mark of insolvency.”

The admitted assets below this threshold causes a dilemna on the part of the insurance company and for the AIG, in order for it not to lose its license and to keep its business afloat, the Fed rescued it with an $85 Billion loan. Right now, it is selling some of its assets in some parts of the world in order to pay some of its debts to the Fed. Philamlife, its subsidiary in the Philippines, and probably its subsidiary in the Bahamas are among its assets that it is putting up for sale to the tune of 402 billion pesos. Grapevine sources intimate that SM is among the takers.

By financially pumping billions into the finance industry, the US Gov’t will buy bad assets from banks and other financial firms through the Treasury and the Fed. These bad assets, considered as nonperforming assets in layman’s terms, are the toxic subprime mortgages invested in the banks that failed to bring money to said banks when real estate prices fell.

This plunge, after a time of bubble, destabilized and choked the smooth dynamics of the finance industry. Nevertheless, the meltdown of the industry that triggered the US economic crisis, with its crippling effects being felt worldwide, came to a head when the Lehman Brothers, a giant investment bank filed for bankruptcy.

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
Doomed MOA (2)

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Then and now, Muslims have always been suspicious of non-Muslims given their harsh experience with the colonials. To make matters worse, as Muslims were never subjugated up to now, they were alienated and discriminated from colonial times up to now. This situation runs parallel with the experience of the Igorots who are constantly at the receiving end of the discriminatory and haughty attitude of lowlanders.

Just like the Muslims, the Igorots, who were never subdued by the Spaniards and only pacified by the Americans, are perpetually sniffled and regarded with contempt by the lowlanders since Spanish times. Where Spaniards branded the Muslims of Mindanao as Moros, they branded the Igorots as savages, uncouth and ignorant.

Currently, this recalcitrant attitude is reflected in the actuations of Muslims towards the rest of the Filipinos, notably their Christian brothers, and is radiated towards the government itself which they generally regard as a foreign form of government whose principles and ideals are unfamiliar to them. In fact, the paranoid feeling of discrimination accorded the Muslims due to their Koran-based religion and culture by Christian Filipinos, is the main reason why the Muslim Islamic Liberation Front broke away from the Moro National Liberation Front when the latter forged a peace deal with the Ramos government in 1996 in order to continue the rebellion.

Secondly, the very idea of ancestral domain in MILF territory maybe vague to the Muslim rebels as it is perceived a contradiction to their aspiration of an independent homeland its inherent vestiges of control by the GRP. It is this corner’s conception that the MILF’s aspiration for an independent homeland should be devoid of any scintilla of political sovereignty from Imperial Manila no more no less. Hence, it is to be supposed that the grant of home rule, as intended in the failed MOA, is regarded as an anathema to their cherished aspiration of a completely independent Mindanao for the Muslims.

Thirdly, the type of Mindanao that they envisioned is one where they can live under a theocratic form of government anchored on the principles and ideals spelled out in the Koran. It is a type of government patterned after the theocratic-autocratic governments of the middle eastern Arab countries whose government are based on the principles laid down by the Koran.
It goes without saying that Koran is by all means the end- all and be- all of Muslim life. Most probably, this is the very reason why they refuse to recognize the authority of the GRP and also the Philippine constitution as the fundamental law of the land as it is only the Koran that they recognize as a law.

Hence, they perpetually chafe under the weight of a Christian government, which is at the most an infidel government for them, whose principles and ideals are contrary to Koranic principles and ideals. In effect, laws and regulations enunciated every now and then by the GRP are like eddying pools of water moving against the main currents of Islam, governed by the precepts of the Koran.

With the scuttling of the MOA, the ball is now in GRP’s hands to initiate confidence-building measures to force the MILF leadership to trudge back the path of peace. The GRP should be able to coax back the MILF peace panel to the negotiating table. But it should seriously consider the deeply religious and cultural roots of the conflict.

It cannot be denied that the roots of the Muslim rebellion is basically religious and cultural. At this point, the only advisable way for the GRP to effect a renegotiation of the peace process with the MILF is to neutralize the MILF renegade groups. When that happens, it will be able to steer the peace process on its own terms from a position of strength unless it is willing to have the territorial integrity of the country divided.

In the history of peace agreements, armistice and truce at various periods anytime anywhere, the dynamics of a peace process is anchored on mutual trust and confidence.. These moral forces having been vitiated presently between the GRP and the MILF due to violence, it will take a humongous effort for such to be restored on both sides.

But as territorial integrity is effectively sustained through politico-military superiority, it is incumbent on the GRP to show that it has the upper hand. Truly, the path to peace is arduous, winding, circuitous and treacherous but its dividends is worthwhile and priceless as far as achieving development in all its dimensions is concerned.

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