EDITORIALS

Exempting erring officials from preventive suspension

Should public officials accused of committing crime or offences be exempted from preventive suspension?

This is now issue of contention between the Office of the Ombudsman and the Lower House. Deputy Ombudsman Gerard Mosquera has defended the stand of the Office of the Ombudsman against the proposed bill of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez which seeks to exempt public officials from preventive suspension.

“We disagree with this premise. It is our position that the mere fact that a public officer no longer occupies position where the offence or in relation to which the offence committed, we believe the possibility of tampering of witnesses, influencing the witnesses, tampering of the records still exists,” Mosquera said.

He said public officials facing complaints may possibly influence the investigation if they remain in their posts. But some House members are not convinced by this argument.

“That is not so anymore. That reason is not applicable to persons occupying another position,” Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman argued.

More than 50 lawmakers are already supporting the said measures introduced by the house leadership that aims to amend provisions of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act

particularly exemption of public officials from preventive suspension, given that the complaints filed before the Office of the Ombudsman are in connection with their former position in government.

The House Bill 3605 has now referred to the technical working group to further study said measures.

People of this country, even government officials, are presumed innocent unless proven guilty for committing crimes like graft and corruption. But then, “guilty” officials who hold government posts, even if their crimes are unproved yet, could indeed influence outcome of their crimes through reasons Mosquera cited like coercing and influencing witnesses or tampering records.Is imposing preventive suspension on them justified? It would be a welcome development if the House technical working group could come up with a Solomonic decision on the matter after thorough study.

Burying former President Marcos

Standing on the belief that the burial of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos will bring unity and healing to the country, a manifestation was filed Sept. 27 in response to the call against burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB).

The manifestation was filed by Hyacinth Rafael-Antonio, lawyer of the Marcos family, as directed by Supreme Court Justice Alfredo Caguioa.

 Caguiao asked the Marcos family to drop the planned burial of FEM at LNMB during the second round of oral arguments on Sept. 7 saying, “if it is possible for the Marcos family to actually withdraw their petition in the face of all the pain and anguish expressed during the last hearing, as a sign of healing.”

In the filed manifestation, lawyer Rafael-Antonio maintained that burial of Marcos at LNMB is in accordance with, and implements the law “and because of this the family does not wish to abandon this undertaking.”

The burial of Marcos at LNMB has been politically dividing the country for 27 years now until President Rodrigo R. Duterte backed the plan as a fulfillment of his campaign promise, highlighting national unity and healing.

Rafael-Antonio said it is not only the Marcos family that is awaiting the burial of Marcos at the LNMB, citing the letter of Suzette P. Pido, daughter of the late Col. Ildefonso A. Perez who was incarcerated together with Marcos in Capas, Tarlac during World War II.

Despite being a war veteran and a soldier, Perez made it a part of his last will and testament not to be buried at LNMB until Marcos “was allowed to be similarly interred within its hallowed grounds.”

In her letter, Pido noted that her clan honors a “blood debt to Ferdinand Marcos” as her father personally witnessed the heroism and generosity of the former President” during World War 2

Pido recounted in her letter the story told by her father when “he met a certain Lt. Ferdinand Marcos.”

“When this Lt. Marcos found out that my father’s brother, Sid was at death’s door, he unhesitatingly gave my dad a bottle of intravenous fluid (IV) that had been smuggled into the camp by his mother Josefa Marcos, for her son’s own use in case he, himself got sick,” she wrote.

“While handing over the IV bottle to a person he hardly knew, Lt. Marcos said ‘Your brother needs this more than me,’” she added.

Pido’s uncle Sid “recovered, prospered and lived to a ripe old age” and it is in this light that she sets aside her own political beliefs despite being an anti-Marcos advocate to fulfill her father’s dying wish.”

Despite the negative reports about Martial Law, Pido said his father “wanted us, his family, to recognize the fact that despite all that has been said about the man, for one instance in his life, Ferdinand Marcos was truly a hero.”

Marcos loyalist groups across the country had been actively conducting a signature campaign in support of Marcos’ burial at LNMB with over 500,000 signatures collected since Sept. 25.

A proposal of some groups to end the impasse is for the Marcos family and loyalists   and those against the burial of Marcos at the LNMB to accept the decision of the Supreme Court on the matter to start healing and make this country move forward 

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Open letter to Ifugao government officials

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

(Hereunder is an open letter from the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front to Ifugao local government officials)

Revolutionary greetings!

As a member organization of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front (CPDF) takes pride and joy in the recent events following the progress towards long and lasting peace; with the Government of the Philippines, under the Rodrigo Duterte administration, showing cooperation at the other end of the negotiating table.

The CPDF-Ifugao, in particular, places great expectations in the next phase of the peace talks as a comprehensive agreement for much-needed socio-economic reforms will be in its crux. We, thus, enjoin all local government officials in the province to take a more active role in the peace process by launching an education and information campaign regarding such reforms.

It cannot be denied that the Ifugao people have long borne the brunt of various social, economic and political injustices on their backs while fighting to change the system at the same time.

For starters, food production remains very low due to the insufficiency of support for the agricultural sector. The national government tends to allocate the already scanty funds to mere roadworks – which are absolutely necessary but not the most prudent solution to the situation.

Such approach is based on the framework that the peasant masses of Ifugao have the necessary capital and instruments to sell produce. It dismisses the truth that the people produce less and less every year thus resulting in undernourishment. It puts the people in a situation wherein they are forced to borrow money, and sometime even land – with high interests – in order to be able to participate in commercial agriculture.

Thus, aside from hunger, they drown in the never-ending cycle of indebtedness. Agricultural support in Ifugao, therefore, should not stop simply at road construction but prioritize the subsidy of impoverished farmers and gardeners and the provision of appropriate technology to raise production levels.

It is, by no means, your fault that such is the trend in budget allotment. After all, various programs and projects promoting commercial farming were already put in place (One Town One Product, marketing of the tinawon and other “Ifugao” rice, etcetera) by previous administrations ignorant of the Ifugao people’s plight. To make matters worse, it promotes liberalization in agriculture thus giving way to a tight and unregulated control of giant agribusinesses in the market, to the detriment of poor corn and vegetable producers.

But you can prove to be different from the national level by supporting the national minorities’ (NM) struggle to preserve the progressive components of their traditional way of land ownership and cultivation, apropos to their struggle for their right to self-determination. It is a just fight supported by and within the national democratic movement.

The CPDF-Ifugao believes that you would make a huge difference if you could conduct forums and various other venues to learn even more deeply the socio-economic situation in the ground and build unities with your constituents. For example, while agriculture is priority, social service is another vital issue. Availability and accessibility are to be considered, with the latter to be addressed by necessary infrastructure.

Also, the plunder and privatization of resources found in the area is a violation of NM rights and should be staunchly opposed. Instead, water systems and other natural riches should be developed and utilized for the people’s welfare, not for big businesses’ profit.

Please note that present circumstances of intense military and “civil-military” operations will, in effect, dissuade the people from participating in such forums. To ensure that you will have a well-represented and rewarding discussion, all forces of the Philippine Army must go back to their barracks.

Their presence in the barrios and all throughout the guerrilla zone is already a violation of the agreed-upon ceasefire. It would be even more of an infringement once discussions begin because of its inevitable severe effect on the people’s political right to assert necessary and appropriate socio-economic changes.

We are one with the entire revolutionary movement in the belief that there cannot be any genuine peace without social, economic and political fairness. Implementing revolutionary socio-economic reforms is the next step towards peace. For the largest part of history, the bureaucracy is tasked with promoting and defending the rotten current system. Now, this time in history present you with the opportunity to be part of the change. It is with optimism that the revolutionary masses of Ifugao await your response to this challenge.

Cordillera People’s Democratic Front-Ifugao 

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China sets eyes on Benham Rise

PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz   

As soon as the United Nations had awarded Benham Rise to the  Philippines than China sets her eyes on this undersea landmass in the Philippine Sea.  According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), this 13-million-hectare area off the coast of Aurora province is potentially rich in mineral, natural gas deposits, and manganese nodules that are vital in the production of steel. 

Studies conducted by DENR have also shown large deposits of methane in solid form (methane hydrate or methane ice).  Further studies also showed that natural gas deposits in the area would enable the Philippines to achieve energy sufficiency.

The Benham Rise is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).  However, she did not claim it until 2008.  The following year, the Philippines, which was the sole claimant, formally submitted her claim to the U. N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. 

Larger than the entire island of Luzon, Benham Rise was awarded to the Philippines in 2012, after the United Nations approved her claim that Benham Rise was an extension of her continental shelf.  In December 2013, the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) informed the DENR – with finality -- that Benham Rise is part of the country’s continental shelf and territory.  As such, it is not subject to any maritime boundary disputes and claims.  Wrong!

In February 2016, the Philippines’ Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) reported that several Chinese ships were seen in the Benham Rise.  The following July, China Daily published a report about China’s “secret undersea exploration” in the Benham Rise area.  The report said that China discovered massive mineral deposits.  It also said that the volume of natural gas deposits in the area was at par with what was discovered in the Spratly Islands.  

Quid pro quo

With the recent warming up of relations between China and the Philippines under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, China has a grand opportunity to solidify her hold on the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal when Duterte visits China in October. 

It is expected that Chinese President Xi Jinping would shower Duterte – who has shown willingness to put the territorial disputes between the two countries in the back burner – with low-interest loans for infrastructure and economic development projects, and military hardware.  But as China had demonstrated in previous “quid pro quo” deals with third-world countries, she’d get more than what she bargained for.   

Indeed, China’s “wish list” could include lucrative economic contracts in the areas of energy, transportation, port management, agriculture, mining, and oil and gas exploration. It wouldn’t be surprising if China acquires long-term agreements to use the former American bases – such as the Subic Naval Base and Clark Airbase -- as logistical support bases for her growing navy and air force that she needs to project power into the Second Island Chain, which runs from the Ogasawara Islands and Volcano Islands of Japan through Guam and the Marianas to Papua-New Guinea.    

If China builds an artificial island on top of Scarborough Shoal (which at 58 square miles is slightly smaller than the area of Quezon City, the capital of the Philippines), she’d be in a position to militarize it.  And once militarized – like what she did to the seven artificial islands she built in the Spratlys -- she’d be able to control the choke point at the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait, which is the gateway to the Philippine Sea… and beyond.   

            Chinese Dream

In my column “China raises the ante” (July 31, 2013), I wrote: “Last June 27, 2013, an intriguing article appeared in the Want China Times titled, ‘China to take Second Island Chain by 2020: analyst.’  It says: ‘Within seven years, China will be able to control the Second Island Chain — a series of island groups that runs north to south from the Japanese archipelago to the Bonin and Marshall islands — now that the PLA Navy commands the nation’s first aircraft carrier, according to the Hangzhou-based Qianjiang Evening News.’  

“The article also said: ‘In 1982, Admiral Liu Huaqing, the former commander of the PLA Navy and the mastermind of China’s modern naval strategy, said that it would be necessary for China to control the First and Second Island Chains by 2010 and 2020. The PLA Navy must be ready to challenge US domination over the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean in 2040. If China is able to dominate the Second Island Chain seven years from now, the East China Sea will become the backyard of the PLA Navy.’ ”

Lake Beijing

With China’s goal of controlling the vast Western Pacific, which includes the East China Sea (ECS), South China Sea (SCS), and the Philippine Sea, the entire Western Pacific would be transformed into “Lake Beijing.”  The Philippines would be right in the middle of the lake, isolated from the rest of the world.  “Lake Beijing” would also encompass the mineral-rich Benham Rise as well. 

As things are today, China is behind in her timetable to achieve control over the First Island Chain, which includes the ECS and SCS.  However, by militarizing the Spratly archipelago, the Paracel Islands, and Scarborough Shoal, China would be able to establish a “strategic triangle” formed by these three island groups where China could monitor – and control – all the movements in the SCS. 

The next step would be to declare an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the entire SCS.  With an ADIZ already in place over the disputed Senkaku Islands in the ECS, China would then be ready to break out into the Second Island Chain right up to America’s doorsteps, Guam.   And the last – and final -- step would be to take full control of the choke point at the Strait of Malacca, and eventually… penetrate the Indian Ocean.

What is at stake in these disputed waters is control of the huge mineral deposits, marine resources, and the world’s busiest maritime lanes.  What could the U.S. and her allies in the region do to stop China from gaining control over this huge body of water, which extends more than 10,000 miles from the Indian Ocean to the Second Island Chain? 

If the U.S. fails to stop China, she might as well kiss the Indo-Asia-Pacific region goodbye and cocoon herself into isolation just like before she entered World War I.  But inaction does not guarantee peace either.  The “Munich Appeasement” of 1938 did not stop Germany from invading Czechoslovakia. 

On the contrary, it emboldened Germany to pursue territorial expansion, thinking that the Great Powers – particularly America -- wouldn’t intervene.  In fact, as Germany continued her conquest of Europe, then U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt told the American people in 1940: “I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again: your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.”  Wrong! 

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt declared war on Japan the following day.  A few days later, Germany declared war on the U.S; thus, bringing the world to war once again for the second time.

Which begs the question: Is appeasement a guarantee for peace or just a momentary stop-gap that would only encourage a rogue country – China, Russia, North Korea or Iran -- to start another world war?   Sad to say, if history is the barometer of things to come, the imbroglio in the SCS has all the elements of war in the offing.  And as China sets her eyes on Benham Rise, the world teeters on the brink of World War III.

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)

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Remodeling lonely Benguet barrios

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO 

March Fianza

The more frequently used roads to and from Baguio after World War II were the scenic Kennon and Naguilian roads that traversed the Benguet towns of Tuba and Sablan, respectively.

Food, clothing and construction supply went up and down these roads until the Ministry of Public Works and Highways repaired the Badiwan-Taloy dirt way into an all-weather two-lane cemented road. They named it Marcos Highway after the strongman President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Marcos Highway did not serve as a substitute route for Kennon and Naguilian. In fact, it became the main thoroughfare for commercial bus companies and private cars who found the road to be safer.

Next, government ordered the installation of electric poles under its rural electrification program. A tourism and sports complex within a 355-hectare area was constructed by the Philippine Tourism Authority; residential houses, sari-sari stores, woodcarving stalls were built along the highway, and the rest is history.  

In almost all cases, development or community growth are acceptable results that immediately follow road construction. A classic example and most recent development was the rehabilitation of the Pico-Lamtang-Irisan and Tam-awan roads. Today, lot spaces on both sides of these roads are being developed privately even while prices per square meter have shot up.

“It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness”, it was said. Hence, Congressman Ronald M. Cosalan has not stopped focusing on the growth of remote barrios by opening more new routes that traverse Benguet communities.

I recall the words of the late Mountain Province Gov. Leonard Mayaen during his last press briefing that I attended last year. When asked about tourism programs of the government that are slow in coming, he said: “Just give us the roads and we will take care of development by ourselves.”

Just last month, Congressman Cosalan sourced out some P2.9 B funds for road and other public works through the General Appropriation Act of 2017. This time, bulk of the roadwork will be concentrated on opening a roadline to interconnect at least four Benguet towns – Tublay, La Trinidad, Sablan and Tuba.

The proposed road artery that is now on the planning table of the DPWH will cross Tuel in Tublay, pass through Triple “B” or Barangays Banengbeng, Balway, Bagong, and Kamog, all in Sablan, then exit to Naguillan Road.

Cosalan described that from Naguilian Road, the new roadline will enter a section at Monglo, Bayabas; go down to San Pascual in Tuba, then exit to Aringay, La Union.

When finished, the proposed roadline will practically serve as a circumferential and tourism road that will spur development in far-flung sitios. A catalyst for growth, so to speak.

For provinces in the Cordillera that have municipal populations that are concentrated in poblacion barangays, road and transport development are the vital factors that disperse the economy.

Roads are necessary in hauling goods as they are the arteries of trade; and after a long day’s work, it leads us safely home. Thus, the design of new roads that traverse our distant barrios are as important as the design of other infrastructures around us.

A road network has to be constructed not only as a necessary transport facility but should also protect and even enhance the beauty of the countryside. The DPWH has to construct a road system that is in harmony with its surroundings.

If I were to suggest and since it has been noticed that the youth and the middle age among us have become health conscious, government has to improve sections of the road network for tourists, backpackers, campers and cyclists.

It is high time, government planners establish healthy designs and principles that can help change the way we plan and deliver road projects. As a consequence, residents who were used to staying in remote sitios will feel the easy access, and barangay centers that are normally crowded will decongest.

Relative to the construction of the Tuel-Triple “B”- Kamog-Monglo-Bayabas-San Pascual road system, there is a need to focus on Barangay Ambongdolan which boasts of being the only village in Tublay that has caves within its jurisdiction.

Ambongdolan is home to two natural cave systems – the Paterno and Bengaongao caves. The area is a potential tourism hub that caught the eyes of Ms. Cara V. Cosalan, the congressman’s energetic wife and partner in so many of his development projects.

Aside from those who accidentally drop by, local and foreign tourists have visited this promising tourism spot that can be reached in an hour from La Trinidad.

 Except for a meeting that was initiated by Ms. Cosalan last week to inform barangay officials and residents about fixing tourism plans and for them to do their share, tourism activity in Ambongdolan is running on its own with no help yet from outside.

Government experts through Tourism Regional Dir. Venus Tan are also being tapped as the adjoining spots around the Ambongdolan Caves need to be improved as picnic and camp sites, hiking and biking trails, etc.

On the eastern front, the Labey-Ambuclao road system as an alternate route from Bokod to Halsema will be rehabilitated early next year. At the same time, Congressman Cosalan said, the Guisset-Binga Dam gate will also be widened and cemented.

These are all geared towards improving the lives of people most especially in far-flung barrios. Indeed, it has been repeatedly said that “the road to success is always under construction.”

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Renaming that is demeaning

BENCHWARMER

Ramon Dacawi

  

(Two members of the National Historical Commission recently visited Baguio to caution us against defacing or replacing old buildings and structures which are of historical and cultural significance to Baguio. I guess that includes a tacit warning against a tendency of some of our past leaders to rename streets, in the process defacing the old and historical names. Such a cautionary reminder takes me back to a personal piece in 2009.):

Being a town in a country that also speaks English, Sexmoan in Pampanga had all the right when it renamed itself Sasmuan. As a nation, we may one day decide to drop our citizenship nomenclature as Filipino for its colonial connotation and imposition. .

Some of our fellow natives of the Cordillera refuse to be called Igorot, a term which means “from the mountain”. Being from these mountains, I don’t mind being called Igorot and just feel proud being one, despite the derisive connotation those who do not really know who we are presume and attach to it because of their ignorance.

 Some of those who do know us from the diversity of our ethnicity as a nation want to identify themselves as Igorots. They have all the right, as they, too, are Igorots by choice, heart and sentiment. Some are even more deserving to be Igorots than some of us who claim to be by blood and name,

 What bemoans me, on this the centennial year of Baguio’s founding, are those insensitive moves to change the old and original names of our city streets, names which are part of our history and heritage. What sucks is that unlike these original names, the proposed replacements hardly have or had something to do with Baguio over the 100 years since its founding or even before its colonial founding fathers declared it the second chartered city in our country.

 Even if the replacements being pushed did or have a link to Baguio’s history and identity, such moves would be an embarrassing act of injustice to the memory of earlier personalities, places, events and things that figured in Baguio’s growth and development.

 While there were precedents to this myopic insensitivity, it would be foolish to repeat such mistakes just so we could show we are abreast with current history and in reverence to who makes history today, but at the expense of those we honored yesterday. For one, we changed the Baguio Botanical Garden to “Imelda Park”, only to restore the old name after the former First Lady was no longer in power. By this, we are teaching our children to later do the same, for them to replace the names we had installed as replacements.

 The names of our streets, neighborhoods, parks and communities are not like cell phones, cameras, Ipods and laptops that we need to change or upgrade now and then lest we be labeled Jurassic. They are like priceless family heirloom, say a gold or silver timepiece passed on from father to son and so on. The antique watch is a symbol of continuity, a reminder of one’s origins, of one’s family roots, history and identity. It was crafted by human and, therefore, loving hands that infused it with a soul. It’s so unlike modern analogue and digital clocks and watches that are fashioned out with great precision by machines and robots. Yet these devices of precision and mass production can never breathe character into these commodities. These gadgets only transform the sense of hero worship we had for Batman and Robin, or Darna, into  values for robotic models among our younger generations.

 Let’s spare Session Road, our short, inclined, and, therefore, distinctly unique main street in form and name. Renaming it Corazon C. Aquino Road, as was proposed one time in the city council, would be deeply embarrassing to the beloved President’s memory, to her family and to us all from Baguio. It would erase our memory of the members of the Philippine Commission who used to pass through it on their way to their summer sessions at the former Baden Powell Hall, the memory of which was also diminished when the edifice was leased and turned into a hotel.

 The members of the Commission and our city’s founding fathers, our own grandparents and parents, including President Aquino, might turn in their graves should the proposal  pass the city council’s scrutiny and approval.

 As former city Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Bautista Jr. aptly put it, President Aquino might have never stepped on Session Rd. in her life-time.

 Insensitivity also misguided that earlier proposal to rename the Halsema Highway, our main road through the Cordilleras, after Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, President Aquino’s husband who, like her, is revered as a national hero. The fact that colonial Mayor Eusebius Halsema, undoubtedly the best Baguio ever had, built the highway was precisely the reason why it was named after him. 

 We need not, should not and should never memorialize someone or something at the expense of another who or which is part of Baguio history. There’s no point  pitting one historical figure with another.

 The alternative is to look for still-unnamed streets or places to name, or to wait for ones still to be opened. I remember having drafted one legislative measure that gave (not replaced) names to Loro, Maya, Kalapati and Aguila streets of Dizon Subdivision for my boss, then city councilor Des Bautista. Col. Aguila, a resident of the subdivision, told me they wanted to name their streets after Philippine birds. I spelled “Agila” (eagle) right, but he insisted the name is spelled with a “u”. I shuddered, lest Miss Anbgeles Castillo, my Pilipino teacher at the UB Science High, would turn in her grave

Propriety also tells us to check if a street planned to be named already had a name but only forgotten.

 For many things and partly for their sense of propriety and history, I admire former city Councilor Edilberto Tenefrancia and former Senator Juan Flavier..Both Baguio boys, they gave mental and moral compass to legislation, to local and national governance.

 Tenefrancia made his point when the city council was discussing a proposal to rename a street. He noted that even streets named not after people but things should remain because they, too, are part of Baguio history. I’d join him in protest should somebody propose to rename Chanum,  which means “water” in the native Ibaloi tongue,   Kayang (hill), or  Otek (small) streets. .

 The illustrious Baguio boy and lawyer Art Galace also once came out against dropping our memory of a historical figure by renaming a road in honor of his father, the former city chief of police Agustin Galace. Art didn’t want the memory of his father, who served his city well, be tarnished by legislation to cancel the original name. 

 When he gave all he had for the upgrading of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, then Senator Flavier scoffed at offers  to name one of the country’s best regional medical facilities in his honor.

 “Hanak pay met natay (I’m not dead yet),” the irrepressible Flavier, so disarming for his wit and intelligence, reminded the proponents. He told them there’s a law prohibiting naming of public places and property after the living. He likewise rejected Plan B to name it in honor of his father. “Ania met ngay inaramid ni amak nga minero para iti Baguio (What did my father, a miner, do for Baguio)?,” he asked.

 I heard  a proposal was filed to have Utility Road, that access leading to the Baguio Water District, the Public Utility Service Office and the Benguet Electric Cooperative and DPS (Department of Public Services) Barangay renamed “Victory Street”. Is it because Victory Liner, the transport giant, recently bought a lot and became their neighbor?  

Enough of this nonsense to undo the memory of those we already honored and those we also want to memorialize. Enough of these moves that embarrass everybody and weaken our sense of identity and history and those or our next generations of Baguio boys and girls. What we need is legislation to ban such practice that only ingratiates and ruins the character of those who trace their roots to Baguio – the sense fair play that is (or was?) the mark of a Baguio boy and girl.

 Meanwhile, can somebody explain why “Bokawkan Road”, that inclined artery that links Baguio to La Trinidad,Benguet, was renamed “Buhagan Road”?.  (e-mail: mondaxbench@yahoo.com for comments). 

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Mobilizing homeowners associations

BANTAY GOBYERNO

Ike Señeres

The barangay is supposed to be the smallest political unit in our society. As it actually happens however, there are many villages within a barangay that are just smaller parts of it, and these smaller villages are in effect the smallest political units in our society. They go by many names such as purok or sitio, but the bottom line is the same, that these are the smallest units.

More often than not, the so-called villages in the more affluent sections have their own homeowners associations, usually in the gated communities in the urban areas. Originally I thought that only the owners of the houses in these villages could be considered as the homeowners. As it turns out however, even the renters of these houses could be considered as homeowners, if they have resided in the villages for at least six months.

As it is actually happening now, only the gated communities both in the urban and rural areas are forming their own homeowners associations. As it could actually happen however, even the “un-gated” communities in both these areas could also form their own homeowners associations, regardless of whether they own their dwellings or not, and regardless of whether they own the legal titles to the lands where they have built these dwellings or not.

What is not important in this context is the ownership of the dwellings and the lands. What is important is that they have resided in these communities for at least six months. In other words, it does not matter if they are renters or squatters, for as long as they are residents of those communities.

Do take note that in the case of the “un-gated” communities, I am using the term “dwellings” instead of houses. That is so because many of those dwellings are makeshift, so much so that we could hardly call them “houses”. If you ask me whether those dwellings are habitable, I will say yes, but I will have to stretch the meaning of what that word really means.

As of now, we may have to leave out those who are “homeless”, because it would be very difficult to establish their residency. For all intents and purposes therefore, anyone in the community could join the homeowners association within, for as long as they have a place to stay that would be the basis for establishing their residency.

What could be the justification for organizing homeowners associations? As it was supposed to be, the residents of barangay units are only supposed to be a few thousands, but now some barangay units now have residents in the tens of thousands. Somehow, that defeats the purpose of having closely knit and family based barangay units.

To be able to get back to what it is supposed to be, the short term remedy is to organize homeowners associations. As the law provides however, the residents of barangay units could call for referenda that would allow them to decide whether to break up their barangay into smaller units or not.

Call it homeowners associations, call it community associations or call it whatever you like, but we do need smaller and more manageable units in areas where the population of barangay units have swelled beyond a few thousands. As a matter of fact, these need not operate as political units, because no open elections are needed to select their leaders.

Aside from that, these smaller units need not compete with the political powers of the barangay leaders. The emphasis should be on cooperation rather than competition. If and when practical, these smaller units could even organize themselves into cooperatives, thus acting as economic units just like the kibbutz in Israel.

 If and when organized into cooperatives, these smaller units could be formed into clusters of dwellings that function as local self-help organizations, wherein the members could help each other in producing their own food, filtering their own water, producing their own electricity and recycling their own garbage.

In theory, anyone can buy their own food if they have money, but as it is already happening; many people in the poorer communities are going hungry because they have no money to buy food. In that case, they may not also have money to pay for their water and electricity. Garbage is another story, because they could actually make money by recycling their own post consumer waste.

As it is supposed to be, smaller problems could be solved at the lowest levels so that there will be no overload at the highest levels where the bigger problems are supposed to be solved. That is what subsidiarity is all about.

True enough, we know that the bigger Republic of the Philippines is doing what it could to solve our national problems, but the fact of the matter is that each and every barangay is technically a republic in itself, because it is empowered by the law to function as such. In a manner of speaking, it could be said that the Philippines is a nation of thousands of small republics, all functioning as parts of the bigger national Republic.

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Historical Mt Province provincial capitol

HAPPY WEEKEND

Gina Dizon

(First of two parts)

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Looking forlorn and deserted, the site of the demolished part of the provincial capitol building here is a bone of contention for  officials and local folks whether a new building shall be built on the site now used as a parking lot, or whether to let it stay this way on a ghostlike lot.

The next question is whether to demolish the other half currently used as the provincial capitol or preserve it.

It is a pathetic site with the torn half of the capitol used as office of the governor, administrative quarters and basement as the treasury.    

The past provincial administration’s leadership was in a state of helplessness to push through with fully demolishing the building with a cease and desist order looming. 

Building  a new one since half part of the capitol was demolished  April 2013, even as it was backed by a resolution from the previous Sangguniang Panlalawigan authorizing  the late governor Leonard  Mayaen to pursue the project proved to be difficult.

With the new leadership under the watch of Gov. Bonifacio Lacwasan, it may also be the same unless there is a strong decision to go about things and build a complete one.

As it is, the cease and desist order issued by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines chairman Maria Serena Diokno in April 2013  stopped the demolition of the other half of the building prompted by opposing individuals and women of Bontoc. 

The capitol building carries a cultural and historical significance in accordance to Republic Act 10066 or the National Heritage Act of 2009 which provides structures more than 50 years old are “important cultural property buildings”.

One contested issue is the non-incorporation of the historical features of the old capitol building in the modern architectural and structural design of the supposed plan of the former leadership.

 Mayaen then wanted to build a 3-storey structure with an elevated entrance  to house a parking space at the basement to also serve as an assembly site for flag raising ceremonies doubling as a parking space. An entrance and exit leads inside and outside from the ground floor at both sides of the ground floor of the building like how it now shows. 

The supposed new structure was designed  to house the governor’s office at the left side and adjacent  administration offices, unit offices in the center and the legislative quarters on the second floor. At the 3rd floor is the plenary hall of the legislative office and adjacent is the vice governor’s office at the right side of the building.

At the left side is the conference hall and the middle is a department office on the third floor. The fourth level is designed to build the attics and a dome to reflect light on the ground floor. At the ground floor are two wide department units to serve as offices measuring 180 square meters to be found in both sides

Former governor Jaime Gomez has no question of how the offices inside shall look like and be used for, although he is concerned about the façade of the building on its front appearance -- a two- story building looking like the old one complete with a wide veranda, brick like structures on its columns and walls, and attics which currently shows in the undemolished half of the capitol building. 

In the same wavelength, former governor and now Rep. Maximo Dalog considers the capitol a historical monument that composes a “jewel” of the past.

Particular about following what the law says, lawyer by profession Dalog, a lawyer refers to Republic Act 10086 of 2010 on strengthening people’s nationalism and history on preserving  the capitol.

As provided in said RA 10086, “conservation”  refers to “all processes and measures of maintaining the cultural significance of a cultural property including, but not limited to, physical, social or legal preservation, restoration, reconstruction, protection, adaptation or any combination thereof”.

Dalog said the law mandates a return of the capitol building to its original state and preserving its physical condition by introducing technical interventions to conserve the capitol.

RA 10086 says it is “preservation to all activities that employ means to control, minimize or prevent damage or deterioration to cultural property; and restoration  to the action taken or the technical intervention to correct deterioration and alterations and return cultural property to its original state or condition.”

This practically means retaining the undemolished half of the historical building, preserving it, incorporating  new or simulating material if needed and keeping the  history alive and what remains from remnants of the past through technical means.  Otherwise what is there to preserve or to ‘restore? And that also means a return of the old look of the demolished one.

But with the looks of it, the new plan does not retain the old design. There is no veranda in the new plan, the columnar designs are done away with and it’s a 3-storey modern building, although attics would be in place.

Which brings us to the question of retaining the old structural design.

The National Heritage Act of 2009 and the Peoples Nationalism and History Act of 2010 are more than what these want to convey. 

The capitol then known as the Bontoc Government Building was built in 1909 at the turn of the century after the Americans took over the establishment of a civil government following General Emilio Aguinaldo’s capture on March 1901. The Lepanto-Bontoc province was divided into three sub-provinces namely Bontoc, Lepanto and Amburayan, each having its own governor. The Philippine Commission passed Act No. 1870 in 1920 organizing the (old) Mountain Province composed of seven sub provinces-Bontoc, Lepanto, Amburayan, Ifugao, Kalinga, Benguet and Apayao-which were then military commandancias during the Spanish regime. Bontoc was made the capital sub-province and the Bontoc Government Building was the structure to hold office.

Former governor Jaime Gomez now in his 80’s, holds a strong historical position  on significance of the veranda at the capitol. The veranda was then made of  pine wood was used as resting space by visiting constituents from Lepanto, Amburayan, Kalinga, Ifugao, Apayao, Benguet  after a long hike from their hometowns. They had to sleep on the wooden floors of the veranda to meet officials the next day or to continue their business.

“Those were the early days of the turn of the century when there were no inns or big houses to accommodate visitors coming to Bontoc,” Gomez said.

The capitol was a symbol of power as Bontoc was then the seat of governance of the province and building housed the administrative and political functions.

The veranda was more than a physical veranda. Attached to the capitol, it held a historical background of the making of Bontoc as capital town where people from different provinces then converged.

It is a story worth talking about and celebrating in the history of Mountain Province including significant days when the joint Lang-ay festival and the founding anniversary is celebrated every April 7.

It is a veranda where people from the then undivided Mountain Province converged to sleep for the night or sit to wait to talk with officials of the province. The veranda today continues to be a lobby for people to sit and wait for their time to talk with the Governor.

April 7 marked the day when the Provincial legislative Board in 1967 passed the first resolution declaring the birth of a new district and separate Mountain Province. Proclamation 144 was then signed by former president Fidel Ramos declaring April 7 as the Mt Province Foundation Day. 

And so it is on the first week of April when Mountain Province people composed of the five major tribes-Kankanaey and Aplai from western and southern Mt Province, Bontoc from the northern part of the province, Balangao and the Baliwon from the eastern part congregate to celebrate their oneness and distinction as diverse tribes of Mountain Province. 

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