Filipinos' failure to act against injustice will lead to more deaths

This is in reaction to the Youngblood article titled “One broken family.” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 12/18/08) After reading the article, tears welled up in my eyes at the thought that young as she was, she had seen the injustices being committed in our country. She was very frank and overflowing with righteous indignation when she, “Just when I thought it is never too late for justice to be served (especially in the Philippines, where the justice system is always 10 years too late), connections have once again overpowered justice.” I believe this statement rightly describes our present justice system, which is animated not by justice but by power, wealth and connection.

Those in power now who are abusing their influence (especially our representatives in Congress) must never underestimate the ability of our people to force them out of office. Heaven forbid, time may come when, because of deep anger and hatred, our people would feel that chasing our very corrupt leaders would no longer be enough.

We can learn from a country with lots of similarities to our history and nature as a people: Cuba. In 1934, Fulgencio Batista took over the government in what was known as the “Revolt of the Sergeants.” He ruled for 25 years as a dictator and was widely perceived as very corrupt. He committed a lot of human rights abuses against his own people. The United States condoned his regime because he was friendly to their interests even if they went against the interests of the Cuban people.

In July 26, 1953, a group of young men led by Fidel Castro and his brother Raul attacked the Moncada army barracks in Oriente province. It was a failure and led to the death and imprisonment of some rebels.

This didn’t deter the Castro brothers from removing a very corrupt and abusive leader in power. After being pardoned in 1956 as a result of public pressure, and with the help of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, they again tried to remove Batista from office. In Jan. 1, 1959, less than three years after being released from jail, they finally succeeded in forcing Batista out of the country.

Political ideologies notwithstanding, Castro represented the anger and hate of the Cuban people against a very corrupt and unpopular leader. In our country, we have a very ripe moment to force our “self-appointed” and very corrupt leaders to justice. But time is not on our side. And many more will die from the injustices in our land because we know what to do but don’t act on what is right.

(First published in the Letters to the Editor section, Philippine Daily Inquirer, December 31,2008)

Tricked and not treated so well by peace officers

At about 1 am Friday October 31, as my officemate and I were on our way home, a police mobile patrol with plate number 588 flagged us down for purportedly beating the red light sign in the Duty Free Fiesta Mall area. Since we know that we just committed a traffic violation, my officemate didn't hesitate to give his driver's license. After haggling with the police officer to just let it pass, the police asked if my officemate can talk to his superior in the police car. After a few minutes, my officemate returned to the car and his license back. I asked him,"What happened? Did the police asked for money?" "Yes, I told them that I didn't have enough money. They said,'Kayo na bahala samin'. Then I pulled two twenty pesos from my pocket and I gave it to them.", he retorted.

I was laughing and shaking my head as he said the story. For a paltry sum of forty pesos, I said to him. Minutes thereafter, we saw the same police car at the right side of the road, with its sirens and headlights off, successfully nabbing another hapless violator (an airport taxi) beating the red light in the intersection of Kabihasnan going to Sucat.

Lesson here, discipline ourselves on the road. Even if it is 2 am or 3 am in the morning, you'll never know when these supposedly protectors of the people will strike next.

A way to sell nation's interests

A letter-writer from South Cotabato, Remigio D. Saladero Jr., lamented the vested interests involved in the peace process in Mindanao. ("Treachery backed by US, cause for impeachment," Inquirer,9-5-08) I can feel his outrage against the United States. By now, we must realize that the players involved in the peace process are not really keen on a just and lasting peace in Mindanao. They are just using the peace process to advance their interests, among them the United States which wants a strategic military presence in Mindanao to counter China and to benefit economically from the oil reserves in that resource-rich part of our country. We must resist in whatever form any kind of intervention by other countries.

We can learn from what happened in Iran. In 1951, Iranians voted into power the nationalist government of Mohammed Mossadegh. Prior to that, the Iranian Parliament voted to nationalize their petroleum industry. It also took over the assets of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now called the British Petroleum).

The Mossadegh government wanted his country to reap its fruits first before other countries could benefit from them. The British government quickly responded by dispatching the Royal Navy to the Persian Gulf to block Iran's oil exports around the world. Since Britain's interests were the same as that of America's (the acquisition of oil reserves all over the world), the former, under Winston Churchill, conspired with the latter, under Dwight Eisenhower, to overthrow Mossadegh.

The planning for the ouster of Mossadegh was assigned to US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and his brother Allen, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Operation Ajax, as it was called, was overseen by Kermit Roose-velt, grandson of Theodore Roose-velt. After a couple of years, the operation was successful.

Tehran, Iran's seat of power, riots and street clashes ensued, wherein more than 300 people died. The destabilization move against Mossadegh took its toll on him. Soon thereafter, Mossadegh resigned from office. The Shah, with US backing, was installed in power. Subsequently, the United States and the rest of the West were able to gain a strategic military foothold and at the same time secure their economic interests in the Middle East up until the time of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

The United States will use every means at its disposal to secure its national interests. The distressing thing is that we have a leadership that is willing to give away everything, the country's quest for peace, its people and its lands to other countries just to stay in power.

(First published in the Letters to the Editor, Opinion Section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 26, 2008)

Calling Muntinlupa City traffic enforcers!

Please ask the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the local government officials of Muntinlupa City to check the traffic situation on the southbound lane of Zapote Road, between Alabang Hills and the intersection leading to Ayala Alabang. The traffic there is horrendous because there are many vehicles that counterflow the traffic. They cut other motorists by the time they reach the stoplight, thereby impeding the movement of vehicles, including those travelling north.

Traffic enforcers must apprehend and issue traffic violation tickets to erring motorists. "Chaotic" is one word you can use to describe this common occurrence.

(First published in the Metro Citizen's Call, Metro section, Philippine Daily Inquirer,September 8,2008)

Calling Muntinlupa City traffic enforcers!

Please ask the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the local government officials of Muntinlupa City to check the traffic situation on the southbound lane of Zapote Road, between Alabang Hills and the intersection leading to Ayala Alabang. The traffic there is horrendous because there are many vehicles that counterflow the traffic. They cut other motorists by the time they reach the stoplight, thereby impeding the movement of vehicles, including those travelling north.

Traffic enforcers must apprehend and issue traffic violation tickets to erring motorists. "Chaotic" is one word you can use to describe this common occurrence.

Public officials now kings of the road

My friend was recently cruising on the main road from Sales Bridge after Villamor Air Base going to Fort Bonifacio at around 10 a.m. when she noticed behind her a VIP convoy. It was composed of a police escort, a Black Ford Expedition with the number 7 on its license plate (presumably owned by a senator) and two AUV vehicles sporting government plates with blinkers and sirens blaring, signaling her to move aside. Since it was impossible to move to the right because many jeepneys were not moving on that lane, she didn't budge. When traffic became light, the police escort went to the left side of her car and hit her side mirror, folding it in the process.

Are these officials now the knigs of the road? We citizens pay for their vehicles, their transportation expenses and their salaries. We also pay our taxes so we can use our roads. In civilized countries, such behavior by public officials is condemned and they are punished posthaste. Here, government VIP convoys bullying thier way in traffic is accepted as part of our daily lives. After witnessing incidents like these and hearing and reading about rampant graft and abuse of power in government, it is no wonder many of us do not respect nor trust our top officials.

(First published in the Metro section, Citizen's call, Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 2,2008)

Going beyond 'same same'

The editorial "Same same" (Inquirer, 1/21/08) observed: "This is a great evil of our times, this 'pare-pareho lang sila' mentality, which justifies tolerating the status quo on the defeatist assumption that all leaders are the same ... When the youth say 'they' are all the same, they obviously don't include themselves. And if they are the majority (which they are) then it means the youth can seize the day---but don't want to. They have judged, but refuse to be judged themselves." Thus the editorial clearly explained why we Filipinos point the accusing finger at our leaders for our follies, but never at ourselves. The editorial challenges us as a nation to wake us up from our stupor.

We can look to Japan as a model. Like the Philippines, it was a feudal society. Japan started its very long but sure path to progress during the Meiji Restoration from 1868 through 1914. When it started, the Meiji government was manned by very young people, with the youngest at 31 and the oldest at 41.

During that time, Japan sent its most talented and skilled people abroad, not to send back money, but to acquire more knowledge and skills that, upon their return, they could use to speed up their country's development. The Meiji government didn't support individual talents for the sole purpose of improving a person. It emphasized loyalty and service to the nation first, before anything else. It also declared its bureaucracy vacant, so that public service would be peopled by the best and most qualified, thus eliminating nepotism.

It also converted from an agricultural to an industrial state. It aggressively and sincerely supported businesses, whether public or private, from light to heavy industries, so that the Japanese would learn how to build their country through hard work and patience.

In our country, our leaders must realize that remittance money is not the solution to our problems. Building industries here, producing "proudly Pinoy-made" products will entice our highly skilled workers to help rebuild our industries.

Japan also dismantled the feudal system that was the cause of inequality, injustice and divisiveness. The elitist samurai were suddenly treated as the peasants' equal; but they did not resent it because they knew it was good for Japan's future. In our country, we can start with Congress, by abolishing the pork barrel which is the source of all evil.

During the Meiji era, a credible and trustworthy government inspired the Japanese to build a great nation. Which the Japanese did, acquiring world-power status after so many decades of immense self-belief, patience, hard work and sheer determination.

We shouldn't feel powerless in the face of all the things happening around us. We can try the best we can to teach our children the value of patriotism and service to others. We may not see progress in our lifetime; it will take many years for us to become a developed nation. But we must start now by removing all the evils afflicting our society, starting with our leaders who think they are above the law.

(Taken from the Letters to the Editor section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer January 28,2008)

A new model for business people

I found the story "Salay paper founder works hard to push for fair trade" (Inquirer, 11-25-07) very refreshing and inspiring.

Businesswoman Loreta Rafisura and her family personify the true model for all present and would-be businessmen (or women) in our country. She really has lived up to her patriotism, concern for the environment and Christian upbringing, "exemplifying that Filipino concept of bayanihan" by helping her poor constituents in Salay, Misamis Oriental, taking care of the environment (recycling of paper), and practicing and nurturing the values of fair trade in the many years she has been in business.

I hope many people, especially our top government officials, read her story, especially about how she managed to persevere and succeed in her endeavor. While she has slowly becoming a success in the paper industry, she also helped her people in Salay by providing jobs and livelihood for their families. (A stark contrast to most of our famous and wealthy businessmen who managed to get to the top by stepping on other people's toes.)

Our growth as a nation can start with people like the Rasifura family. If our government will sincerely help and support them, slowly but surely our local industries will develop, inspiring most of our countrymen to help in rebuilding our country and to truly move on to a better life.

But for as long as our high officials are preoccupied with political bickering, stealing money from the people, silencing government critics and manipulating justice for their own selfish ends, we will never know what the good life is. The high economic growth trumpeted by our national leaders will remain just a pipe dream.

Taken from the Letters to the Editor, Philippine Daily Inquirer December 11,2007