Datu Salumay: An Irony of green pastures

DAVAO CITY – As you step on the land of Barangay Datu Salumay of Marilog District in Davao City where the hard working peasants live, you will surely witness the wide ranges of abundantly green fields; you will somehow smell the future excitement of a big harvest and you will slightly hear the farmers’ anticipation to gather the crops and turn them to gold. But beyond this bountiful scenery, there’s a hidden irony. The community of Datu Salubay is besieged of hunger as its number one problem.

Flowers grow well at Datu Salumay.

Brgy. Capt. Merilyn Wayan unveiled the ironic reality of their green community in an interview with the Mass Communication students from the Ateneo de Davao University last month. Mrs. Wayan has shared the issue on poverty, which is a major struggle of the inhabitants in their barangay.

“It is true that we are delivering goods to the city market, as what you can see, we are an agricultural area. But it is also a reality that many of the residents here does experience starvation” said Mrs. Wayan.

The people’s tradition of prioritizing economic exchange while sacrificing their stomachs is the main reason why hunger is evident. The money they got from selling crops in the city markets directly goes to the payments of their credits. Leaving them without a single of centavo, or if there is, it is not enough for the family to buy foods.

The author facing the green mountains of Marilog District.

“They can eat camote and the like, but still they choose to sell everything. They store nothing for them to eat” a barangay kagawad stressed.

Beside from the local residents’ tradition, the family’s number has also an impact why they experience poverty.

According to Mrs. Wayan, the citizens are not aware of family planning. They don’t think of limiting the numbers of their kids. They assume that when their children will grow, they will have added workers to till the soil and plant crops in their lands.

Since the families don’t eat well, another problem co-exists. Malnutrition has been a glaring caused of hunger. The kids are the most vulnerable sector who is greatly affected by the crisis.

“We always ask help from the City Office in solving this problem. We perform immunization, feeding programs and the like to counter the crisis” said Mrs. Wayan.

Today, the small government of Datu Salumay is coordinating with Davao City Office’s project in strengthening the advocacy to correct the wrong practices and eradicate the pressing issues of their community.

“The local government is supportive. All we’re hoping for is the cooperation of our people.” Mrs. Wayan added.

Today, their small government unit is working hand on hand to attain their community goals. So that, sooner or later, there’ll be no more irony of Datu Salumay’s green pastures.

For a better Maguindanao

DAVAO CITY – The infamous massacre in Maguindanao that killed 58 lives of innocent individuals a year ago is an evidence of how prevalent impunity is in the Philippines.

It is no longer a surprise for us Filipinos to hear amassing of millions of money from the public’s fund and to see glaring mansions of powerful politicians. These are real faces of corruption -a politically-made-culture, which is not accepted yet continued to strike a chord in the long history of our politics.

Despite of the strong opposition and demand to end this evil, this practice of abuse has never eradicated. From the smallest sector of our government up to the national level, this sad reality is still unveiling.

Today, the people have never lost their hopes for a better country. The people are still wishing for a sincere and willful government. The demand for transparency has elevated. Progressive groups have taken step-by-step actions to correct the perverted system.

In pursuing the goal, the Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project hosted a round table discussion last Jan. 25 at Water Front Insular Hotel in Davao City with a theme “ Maguindanao after 11.23: Building Accountability and Transparency.”

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, the main panelist of the event, shared his struggles in building an accountable and transparent province. In line with his eagerness of putting Maguindanao out of the list in the top ten poorest provinces in the country, he is now applying new strategies to restore the province.

The challenge in Maguindanao goes beyond the attainment of justice and the restructuring their provincial system of governance. But also to premium the need of quality education, empower their people and protection of their resources.

Gov. Mangudadatu asked the public to participate in this course of action, he further stressed that the Filipinos should not only watch Maguindanao but the whole country instead.

 

DMFD: To strike a chord

The gruesome killings of 30 media practitioners in Maguindanao last year is an evident scenario that reflects how Philippine Media has been corrupted and abused in the past decade.

This horrifying event is one of the many reasons that had brought the various media institutions from Davao City to unite their selves that paved way the launching of the first Davao Media Freedom Day (DMFD) that aims forward a just and fair treatment from the Philippine government.

“We [the media men] labor so hard yet we encounter these sad realities” said Tek Ocampo in Filipino, a local newscaster from GMA News Network Davao and one of the speakers of the 1^st DMFD launching in AdDU.

He pointed out how newsmen came across a range of mistreatment from the government that has somehow impeded their rights.

Discussions on threats from the authorities and risks on dealing with their profession as watchdogs and protectors of the masses were talked about. Other speakers shared their personal experiences on these issues –attesting that media cruelty is not mutually exclusive in the regime of Marcos but even in the present time.

Ideas aroused that if the newsmen are suffering from various danger and threats then maybe it’s now the high time for them to take actions like arming themselves for security purposes. However, journalists do not disagree on this.

“Journalists are journalists. Police are police” stressed Estella Estremera, Sun Star Davao’s Editor-in-Chief, which she tried to give emphasis on everyone’s delineation of roles in the society.

Despite of the eagerness of the law-makers to give the newsmen’ treatments like how they allow businessmen carry arms for protection, media believes that the idea wouldn’t solve the present problems, yet it will only open more possibilities for chaos.

If the Philippine government is serious on giving actions on these crucial realities that maligned rights of their citizens, it is possible that justice will be served. But if the government will be too feeble on putting all their promises into solid acts, then, these distressing realities will continue.

The launching of Davao Media Freedom Day will not only remind the people of what had happened to the journalists in Maguindanao. But its yearly celebration will also strike a chord to all Davaoenos how important media is in the society and how should the government give them the sufficient services and treatment they deserve.

 

Sex Education in the Philippines

Sex.

Basically, it is one of the few words that catch our attention. Whenever we see the word “sex” in magazines, newspapers and other print materials, we tend to stop at some point and become interested to read the article where it is written. It’s not because we simply feel the urge to read about sex but perhaps the “questioning self” wants to clarify and discover the truth about this matter.

In liberal democracies, sex is viewed as a normal activity for both adults and teenagers. Whether they are married or not, in a serious relationship or just in a fling, they engage to this kind of human activity.
In fact, most of their High School youngsters have this “get laid plans” before entering college. For them, sex is not a big deal. So, their state colleges and universities came up with a decision to integrate sex education into their classrooms as a regular part of instructions.

In the Philippines, it’s very different. Whenever we say the word “sex”, we are labeled as “rude”. No wonder why if we heard of “sex” we directly associate it to “vulgarity”. We cannot blame ourselves because we are living in a society with a stronghold of moral standards and conservatism. Some of us are still walking around the circular path of Father Damaso’s preachings in Noli, dictating us not to do this and that, which made us all hypocrites at the end of the day.

For sure, you haven’t heard your parents explain to you what sex is. We only encounter this word when we meet our friends, classmates, neighbors and the internet. We’ve got bits of information from our peers of the same age, brought about by curiosity and eagerness to know. We’ve got nothing from our moms and dads. It feels like everyone in our family is keeping his or her mouth shut when it comes to sex. Maybe, it’s not because they don’t want us to know what it is all about, but because they don’t know how to convey their thoughts. They find it awkward to share what they knew since they themselves have no backgrounds on sex education. Frankly speaking, majority of the Filipino families doesn’t have proper socio-cultural background in dealing with this particular matter. They find malice in educating us about sex. That’s why you can still hear children up to now, calling their organs “bird” and “flower”.

If the family, as the basic social unit and the ideal source of first learnings, is not capable of providing sex education, then it would be better if the government takes the responsibility in order to address these needed knowledge and values. It would be difficult for the children to understand things that are hidden and not well explained. Just like how my friend, way back in his childhood days, asked his dad why his mom got pregnant. The only answer he got was that “kapag masayang-masaya ang isang babae, mabubuntis sya.” Now tell me, is my friend’s dad a good sex educator? Does this statement would help him know what the truth about sex is?

We cannot deny that we are in the state of adolescence, whereas we have these raging hormones that are easily stimulated by uncensorable knowledge from non-school, techno-social environment. Such stimulation could possibly bring us all to the world of undesirable consequences. The Young Adult Fertility Survey conducted by University of the Philippines Population Institute said that there’s a significant percentage of early to late adolescents who are already into premarital sex. This result reflects our society today. Talk about our friends in High School who have their babies before or after graduation. Talk about Nene in “Katorse” who feared about her nanay’s reaction rather than the burndens she’ll carry after having unsafe sex. Problems regarding ignorance in sex are indeed rampant.

With SexEd, the intention is not to encourage young ones to engage into sex but to propagate learnings instead. As long as highly influential institutions, like the Church, are there, willing to guide and give assistance, we will not forget how to draw the line between what is moral and not.

If our government will continue to adhere to all the medieval age thinking, I doubt if we could help this country from preventing Rapid Population Growth. As what Conrado de Quiros said “It’s the Education, not the Sex”, true indeed that we’re for education and not of sex. However massive screening and studies must be allotted regarding this matter if ever our government would implement sex education as part of our private and public schools’ curricula. We can never say “never”, when in fact we’re not blind of the rampant controversies around us and when our eyes are all open, widely open to see those problems. Let us not be miopic in these issues. Let us think of the future and most importantly, THINK OF TODAY.

Noynoy, We will wait and hope

ONE of the most exciting parts of President Noynoy Aquino’s inauguration was seeing GMA leaving the Malacañang Palace. It is not because the Filipino people will miss the issues of her luxurious dinners abroad but because it symbolizes hope-filled years for a better Philippines.

P-Noy did not claim that he is like Superman or Einstein. He acknowledged himself as a simple human being who is willing to serve the Filipinos. Without arrogance, he said, “Kayo ang boss ko.” This signifies his humility as a man and a public servant. With this humility, we can’t expect him to act like a superhero who would risk his life for somebody nor to solve mysteries like those scientists. But we could not also allow him to just sit, talk, sign papers, and follow Liberal Party’s decisions just because he said he is a simple man.

We, the Filipino people, want something from him — something that could improve the ill-situation we have; something that would change the distorted structures of the government; something that is new.

In his speech, he stressed that he can forgive all who offended him but those who violated the law will face the consequence. He bannered again his mother’s statement as he said, “There can be no reconciliation without justice.” This statement is firm and powerful and this alone will make us wait and hope.

We will wait for P-Noy’s actions against corruption derived from the previous administration.

We will hope that justice would truly prevail; that there’ll be no biases; that no one will preserve selfish desires and interests.

We will wait and hope for an answer to the mysteries unsolved and problems not coped in the past nine years. Yes, P-Noy is just a man.He is not a hero like Superman or a scientist like Einstein but we hope he will be there to defeat the anomalies and solve issues.

We hope he will allow justice to prevail. We hope he will treat us as his boss for the next six years because this is what encompasses servant leadership.

photo source: PPV Studio

Philippine Election Analyses

The Odds

On the days leading to the historic May 10 Automated National and Local Elections, the Philippines was engaged in heated debate whether or not to hold the elections, as several anomalies sprouted to cast doubt on the accuracy and reliability of the machines.

The issue on printing ballots was one of the problems faced by the Commission on Election (COMELEC) during the preparation period. The Head of Poll Body’s printing committee for National Printing Office, Esmeralda Amora-Ladra, reported that they were unlikely to produce the required 50 million ballots since the NPO machines were not operating at maximum capacity. She further stressed that there was a need for them to avail of another set of machines in order to do the work faster. The NPO also forwarded a suggestion to the COMELEC to prepare measures in the case of possible manual elections.

Another glitch faced by the commission is the Ballot Secrecy Folder Scam. A certain whistleblower in the person of Atty. Melchor Magdamo, a former legal attorney of COMELEC under Commissioner Jose Melo last 2008, surfaced accusing Melo, Tolentino and other COMELEC officials of allegedly committing corruption. He said that these officials disobeyed an order of the COMELEC en banc since they proceeded on the bidding for expensive folders 2 years ago despite of an existing order to postpone such plan.

Add to the list of problems the malfunctions of the multibillion PCOS machines on tests conducted by the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) a few days before Election Day. Some of the machines could not read the ballots and could not count the votes properly while others were simply damaged.

The potential disasters uncovered candidates and voters alike to an extent that various political aspirants and groups appealed to COMELEC to postpone the elections, lest failure of elections happen.

Quick Response

As rumors of the postponement of elections circulated, Smartmatic took immediate actions to address the irregularities of the PCOS machines. They replaced the memory cards of the machines for every precinct as Election Day loomed as well as appearing on national TV to ensure the public that the elections would precede smoothly. Fortunately for Smartmatic and the voting public, majority of the machines functioned well on May 10. A successful election already seemed assured as the day closed on a historic national event of our time.

The Scent of Success

Despite the odds, the May election was a success. This success is mostly due to the efforts of teachers acting as the BEIs who made sure that the machines ran smoothly and without error, and the patience of voters cramped in dilapidated classrooms waiting as long as four or more hours in inopportune weather to exercise their right, to ensure that those they consider capable to assume leadership of the land.

The success of this election is illustrated by the high turnout rate. With a rate of 75%, the May 2010 Philippine Elections ranks as among the highest all over the world. Now, the Filipinos could proudly say to the rest of the world that indeed this nation is the first ever country in South East Asia to have fully and successfully carried out the shift from manual to automated polls on a nationwide scale.

Media Meets Technology

The media as the country’s watchdog played an important part in the recent elections.

Aside from covering the events of Election Day nationwide in real-time using advanced technology on par with that used in CNN, the media served to mobilize the citizenry in getting involved on the country’s important issues and activities, using popular social networking sites, cell phones and blogs to connect with the masses, particularly the youth. The latter action was most remarkable, because it provided an avenue for vigilant citizens to send stories of anomalies happening on their regions.

The only snag on the elections on the side of the media was the perceived biases in news coverage of major media outlets in the country, leading some of the networks to be labeled as “yellow networks” and “orange networks”.

Political Dynasties

As a result of the elections, various political families perpetuated their influence.

The Marcoses in particular bagged several powerful positions in the government. From the new Senator Bong-bong Marcos; to his mother, Congresswoman Imelda Marcos; down to his sister, Governor Imee Marcos, who trounced their relatives at the automated polls, the stage has been set for a Marcos political comeback. The Garcias of Cebu are still in power despite the challenges to their dominance. The Singsons, who happen to be the oldest political dynasty in our country, continue to maintain their control over the people. In Davao, the Nograleses and Dutertes still walk the halls of power, within Congress and Local Executive positions as well as outside of it. Even the president himself is the product of a prominent political family.

These are but few of the hundreds of political families that still hold influence in the actions and plans of this country. The continued existence of political dynasties is in contradiction to Article II, The Declaration of Rules and State Policies, Sec. 26 of 1987 Constitution, but given their clout and our fixation with the politics of personalities and personal networks rather than in political platforms the phenomenon continues.

Our Tomorrow

The courage shown by the COMELEC to automate the nation elections is their legacy to our country. However, that legacy will be wasted if they will not impose honesty amongst themselves and if they will not speak of the truth on the controversies they face.

We Filipino voters are the reason why our elections ended successfully. Our willingness to cast our votes and our strong participation to expose anomalies paved way for a hope-filled six years.

We have witnessed that technology played a great role in this year’s election. However, its contribution could never alter the substance of our electoral democracy. The challenge for us Filipinos is to vote based on platforms, not by fame or power. We should never let these oligarchs and political dynasties rule over us again and again. If not for us, election automation and the promise of a matured democracy can never materialize.

photo source: www.digitaljournal.com/article/285454

Election Day Fiasco

Why on earth COMELEC allowed thousands of voters to vote in one small precinct with only one not well working PCOS machine.

No wonder why voters go wild, shouting and irking out loud. Who would love to stay in a queue with thousands of people without breakfast, fell in line on their respective precincts at exactly 7 AM and ended up voting at 3 PM plus the heavy rain?

My goodness. It would make everyone go crazy, in all fairness, these voters stayed and never gave up because casting their votes in their perspective is so much important.

Talking about the system, (I don’t know if we can call it a system though its not systematized at the first place) COMELEC has this problem with simple math analysis.

Yeah, we concede that such PCOS machine could read 1 thousand ballots, however, COMELEC must also consider that they set voting period.

They must study how many voters could vote in an hour.

They must study how small or big the classroom must be.

They must study all these things.

But they failed to.

Well, I’m just one of the victims of their illogical mindsets and problematic plans. Anyway, the election is successful. Yes, it is. However, we must not be contented of the results that we are having right now. We must evaluate and recheck and better all those problems that we encounter within that day.

Remeber, election is not for glamor of COMELEC. It’s for us, it’s for the Filipino people. It’s for our democracy!

Philippine Election: May 10, 2010

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Ilang araw na lang, gaganapin na ang pinakahihintay nating eleksyon. Ang panahon kung saan tayo’y mamimili’t magdedesisyon kung sinu-sino ang nais nating maihalal at manungkulan sa ating bayan. Ito rin ang araw na magsisimbolo na tayo’y naninirahan pa sa isang bansang demokratiko sa kabila ng malawakang kurapsyon, paglabag ng konstitusyon, at pag-abuso ng kapangyarihan.

Ang mga kabalastugang ito ay hindi na bago sa ating lipunan, wari bang kabilang na ito sa mga libo-libong gawain ng sino mang nailuklok sa pamahalaan, mula sa pinakamaliit na pwesto hanggang sa sentro ng kapangyarihan. Marahil kakambal na ngang maituturing ang panlalamang sa ating politika.

Subalit, may pag-asa pa nga bang masugpo ang mga ito bukod sa pagboto?

Nang nagsimulang bumandera sa radio, telebisyon, dyaryo, at maging man sa ating mga lansangan ang samo’t saring posters at political ads ng mga kandidatong tumatakbo sa taong ito, ay siya ring pagkalat ng kabi-kabilang text-messages na tumatalakay sa pambansang eleksyon maging man sa mga kandidato. Gaya ng mga GM jokes patungkol sa mga politiko na ipinapasa-pasa sa ating mga cellphones.

Halimbawa na lamang nito ay ang “nakaw text story” :

Noynoy: Hindi ako magnanakaw.
Villar: Hindi na ako magnanakaw.
Erap: Babalik ako para magnakaw.
Gloria: Mga tanga! Wala na kayong mananakaw!
(evil laugh) LOL

Mapapansin natin na ang simpleng text message na ito’y hindi lamang gustong magbigay ng halakhak kung hindi’y kakabit nito ang mensaheng nais magmulat at maghatid ng impormasyon na dapat nating malaman. Ipinapakita lamang nito na gising ang mga Pilipino, na kahit sa text ay nagagawa nating gamitin ang ating kalayaan at karapatang isiwalat sa publiko ang ating mga hinanaing at personal na pananaw.

Maging man ang mga simpleng twits o komentong may kinalaman sa politika sa ating mga facebook at twitter accounts ay isa nang ekspresyon na kahit papano’y tayo’y nakikilahok at ‘di nagsasawalang kibo sa mga anomaliyang nangayayari sa ating bayan. Pati ang industriya ng fashion  ay ginawa na ring instrumento upang ipahayag ang kanya-kanyang paninindigan sa pamamagitan ng mga statement shirts at caps. Ang lahat ng ito’y iilan lang sa maituturing makabagong pamamaraan ng pagsulong ng propaganda.

Ngunit ang pakikibaka tungo sa pagbabago ay hindi nagtatapus sa simpleng shout-outs.
Maging man sa pagmarka ng mga “bilog na hugis itlog” ng ating balota. Ang pagsulong ng mga tunay na lider at indibidwal na may progresibong pananaw ay isang solusyon upang malabanan ang mga gahamang politiko na walang ibang ginagawa kundi ay pangalagaan ang kani-kanilang pansariling interes.

Ang pakikipaglaban ay dumadaan sa mahabang proseso kasabay ang tamang pagkilos.
Kaya naman ay marapatin nating usisain ang pagkatao ng mga tumatakbong politiko na nais maglingkod. Husgahan natin sila ayon sa kanilang karanasang makiramay sa mga maralita, mga manggagawa, mga magsasaka, at ng mga ordinaryong mamamayang Pilipino na patuloy na nangangarap at nagsisikap upang makaahon sa kahirapan. Lumahok tayo sa darating na eleksyon dala ang pusong uhaw sa pagbabago. Kumilos tayo’t pagyamanin ang ano mang bagay na ating maibibigay sa inang bayan.

Ang sagot sa tanong kung may pag-asa pa bang masugpo ang mga problemang mayroon ang ating lipunan ay “Oo, May  malaking pag-asa.” Pag-asang nakasalalay mismo sa ating mga kilos at desisyon bilang matapat na mamamayan ng Pilipinas.

Aquino-Roxas get support from Iglesia ni Cristo

Most Corrupt Countries in SEA, Phils. ranked 4th

The 3 shameful and 3 grateful

PERC released the top three most corrupt country in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia is declared as the most corrupt, at 9.27, with Cambodia, 9.10 and Vietnam, 8.07 ranked second and third respectively.

Singapore remains as the least corrupt country in Southeast Asia with a score of 1.42, followed by Australia with 2.28 and Hong Kong with 2.67.

We Ranked 4th

Philippines is ranked as the fourth most corrupt country in Southeast Asia out of 16 surveyed by over 2,000 expatriate businessmen, according to an annual poll.

The Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) said the Philippines scored 8.06 on a scale of 0 to 10 – with zero as the best possible score, indicating the lowest level of corruption among politicians and civil servants.

The 16 countries surveyed from the least corrupt to the most corrupt are:

1. Singapore, 1.42
2. Australia, 2.28
3. Hong Kong, 2.67
4. United States, 3.42
5. Japan, 3.49
6. Macau, 4.96
7. South Korea, 5.98
8. Taiwan, 6.28
9. Malaysia, 6.47
10. China, 6.52
11. India, 7.18
12. Thailand, 7.60
13. Philippines, 8.06
14. Vietnam, 8.07
15. Cambodia, 9.10
16. Indonesia, 9.27

…

I am not surprised with this news. We knew it already that our government officials are corrupt! But thank God we didn’t place number one. But still, I’m not happy. Such result continually gives me an idea to be ashamed as a citizen of this land. But i wont let these powerful oligarchs, elites, and political monsters hold our future, putting us always in shame.

I still have my hopes, dreams, and faith that we could put corruption to trash. That we will live in this country with pride and unity.

based on the article of:  Agence France-Presse

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