blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

The Philippine Navy deployed its fastest and most modern warship the BRP Gregorio del Pilar to interdict Chinese boats allegedly illegally fishing on Scarborough Shoals which is within Philippine territory. Sailors from the warship boarded one of the boats and found a catch of endangered giant clams and sharks. However Chinese civilian surveillance ships prevented the del Pilar to apprehend the Chinese resulting in a tense standoff . China claims the shoal as part of its territory. As of this writing the warship was ordered withdrawn by the naval command and replaced by a civilian coast guard cutter. This proves that the Philippines can project its naval power as a blue water navy even with limited assets. President Noynoy Aquino has put much priority in upgrading the naval and air assets of the armed forces and in decisively standing up to Beijing sent a message that China cannot treat its so called "China Sea" as its own lake . China will have to think twice. Another ...

The Roman Catholic Church has found it the hard way on the RH bill. Mass prayer rallies do not work on the Aquino administration! The politcally astute, potential papabile , and de facto Primate of all the Philippines, Archbishop of Manila, the Most Rev Dr Chito Tagle has said that the only option for the most numerous Church is the negotiating table. Tomorrow the Iglesia ni Cristo will find it the hard way too if Rappler.com is right . If Catholic liturgies won't work on Noynoy, neither will Grand Evangelical Missions (GEMs) will. For one thing in some political matters, Aquino is beyond evangelizing! This is a result of the increasing secular nature of Philippine society. Aquino doesn't find any value on debts of gratitude to any religious organization . This means that for the Aquino administration, religion has been largely disestablished.  Aquino doesn't care for de facto religious establishment which the INCs doctrine of command votes tries to secure.  Aquino'...

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Noynoy Aquino continue to inflict their insidious kind of karma on the Filipino nation. In what can be described as a tragicomedy in the making we read that Mrs Arroyo wants to be given the go ahead to seek medical treatment abroad. Since she is a member of the House (and an employee of the civil service like yours truly), she had to apply for the requisite travel authority (TA) from the administrator of that government agency, no other than the Speaker, Sonny Belmonte. This was given and like in any travel authority, it spells out the itinerary and the reason of travel. The TA is a public document and has to been by the immigration officer at the airport. A government officer may demand to see it and one must present it. Mrs Arroyo unlike most government employees on  official business travel, faces suits that haven't been lodged in court (whatever that means, since without them being lodged, they aren't suits but possibly malicious accusation...

The blurbs have it that President Noynoy Aquino sold his Porsche . He says it puts undue "risk" to his security detail. It's about time that the President develops a sense about the office he was elected into. Besides he wasn't elected against his will! The Porsche ended up as a PR disaster and caused the President's approval ratings to crash and burn. The Juana Change spoof tells it all But despite the Palace apologists saying that he used his own money to buy, the question is what on earth will he use it for? This is the same question is now thrown at the "Pajero bishops" of the Catholic Church! He was reported to need it for "stress release" and the rumor mill started to grind. The "tsismis" mill said that he releases stress and the accelerator on deserted Hacienda Luisita roads. Any idiot would know that it would be easy to make the Porsche crash by 1) putting a roadblock without reflectors, 2) put a pipe laying type of dig...

The death of General Angelo Reyes should be viewed within the context of the EDSA phenomenon which spawned the current political system we have. This system is showing the inherent decay of this system. General Reyes has been truly eaten by EDSA II. The moment he stepped on the platform of the EDSA shrine and guaranteed the ascendancy of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, he sealed his destiny. But I wonder if he had foreseen that the EDSA II 'revolution" will eventually digest him? The Macapagal-Arroyo years while it brought improvements in Philippine society has sealed its place in history as probably the most corrupt government Filipinos ever had. The tragedy is that a then promising young and competent officer like Angelo Reyes was eventually digested by the corrupting  and digestive acids of the EDSA constitutional system. Thus it is a about time we cease celebrating EDSA and work for a revolutionary arrangement in which we have a new constitution and a new political settleme...

The now famous  Porsche spiel had me laughing and wincing at the same time. But that was before former UP Law dean Raul Pangalangan dissected the whole issue in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. I agree with many of the points raised by Dean Pangalangan especially that the Noynoy presidency for all intents and purposes is a "symbol presidency". The Porsche spiel is a cruise missile that is targeted with smart accuracy at the center of the Noynoy symbol. And I have no one to blame but the bachelor president himself. The fact is that there are several nations that are headed by symbols. For example, Queen Elizabeth II reigns as a symbol of unity over Great Britain. And like Noynoy, she has lots of untainted money and can afford to buy what her heart desires. But to the surprise of non-Britons, in the 1970s she was reported to have gone around Buckingham Palace, switching off the lights. She wanted to save on electric bills. And her kids spent their babyhood days in nurseries...

The Palace announced that the President bought a 3rd hand Porsche by trading in his old BMW. The Palace carefully notes that the President used his own money and not that of the public coffers. This is quite refreshing to learn. However the whole buy and sell affair has become the butt of jokes. Wags have posted the following Better to have a 3rd hand car than a 3rd hand wife! Shalani can afford a brand new car and a brand new man! Would a nice girl want to get into a 3rd hand car?    But let the man have his car! I'd say. Defenders of the President say that if he used his own money then it is none of our business. True.... But Mr Aquino told all of us that we have to live simply. I wish I could afford a Porsche but I can only amortize for a Toyota! And for that I have to live simply and with increasing gas prices, even more simply! Some observers say that Mr Aquino is sending a wrong signal. I would agree since his mother faced also  an almost bankrupt tre...

For the first time, Congress (Senate and House), Civil Society and the Church have agreed that it is now opportune to amend the 1987 Constitution now. This I call the EDSA Constitutional system for it was born of a revolt on a highway and its creation announced on a military parade ground a stone's throw from that highway.  I was witness to both events.  The main reason why all agree to amend it is that the incumbent Chief Executive is simply not interested in prolonging his stay in the Palace. But the President is nor thrilled about the whole enterprise which is puzzling since his problems in reforming governance is really stymied by how the Constitution is interpreted and applied. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno in his address to the University of the Philippines upon his receiving the Dr of Laws degree says that Philippine democracy is in a "stretcher". I don't think it is in a stretcher yet but I think Philippine democracy has an autoimmune di...

The Philippine Daily Inquirer writes an op ed Sodden welcome about the La Nina enhanced Easterlies that have been wrecking havoc on the eastern seaboards of the region even into Australia. Queensland, Australia is now experiencing floods which its non-believer Prime Minister Julia Gillard described as of "biblical proportions" Gillard has personally seen the disaster which now has shut down Brisbane. While the Sydneysiders and Melburnians are hundreds of kilometres from the flood zone, all my mates from those cities don't think they won't get flooded. They are concerned. The PDI complains that the Manila-centric Noynoy administration has not shown the requisite urgency in dealing with the matter. Mr Noynoy Aquino has yet to set foot or fly over flood stricken Southern Leyte or even in nearer Albay. If he had, the press didn't get wind of it and neither have we seen the press photos. Mrs Arroyo steps into a disaster zone, I think it is Malacanang P...

The Philippines joins the list of human rights friendly countries such as Iran,Serbia and Russia in boycotting the Nobel Peace prize conferment on an Chinese pro-democracy dissident. Apparently the Noynoy administration has caved in to Beijing's pressure. The Philippines has had significant Chinese investment but many of these have been clouded by corruption allegations. And to shaft Ricky Carandang, the Philippines is no small country. It just has a small minded government! Noynoy Aquino is  a beneficiary of a democratic restoration. He seems not to realize the heat involved in defending liberty now that he is President! Dear old  mom and dad knew what the heat meant, but he sure has fallen short of living up to what his parents had to go through.

The unpleasant reality of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III's 1.39 billion peso budget cut for next year has finally dawned on faculty, staff and students of the University of the Philippines , the Philippines' national university as defined by law. Administration officials have warned university constituents that the university will likely not hire anyone for next academic year. This includes non-academic staff (clerks, records examiners, department secretaries etc), research staff and faculty. This also means that professors who will retire at the end of this year won't be replaced by young assistant professors, research projects and programs can't hire new graduate students to work in the labs, and no new clerical staff will be hired. And we haven't even touched upon the subject of salary adjustments and promotions, which are even more likely to be cut or put on hold! This bodes ill for the university (and a "baptism of fire" for the new...

Then Russian President (now Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian Special Forces to use a top secret nerve gas to resolve the Moscow October 2002 Nord Ost theatre hostage crisis. Thrity-nine Chechen Islamist separatists (some of them women with strapped on bombs on their bodies) took hostage more than 700 theatre goers and performers during act 2 of the hit musical "Nord Ost". The separatists demanded that Russia withdraw its armed forces from Chechnya, if not the separatists would start killing hostages. The Russian government sent in negotiators and even allowed the media to interview the chief hostage taker so that his demands will be known. However the media was not allowed to spin the story. The Russians jammed broadcast signals near the theatre. As the demands were unacceptable to the Russians and the separatists refused concessions as being allowed to fly to a third country, President Putin ordered the storming of the theatre at dawn of October 26. The ...

The Philippine Daily Inquirer should be commended for reprinting Senator Benigno Aquino's essay "What's Wrong with the Philippines" for Ninoy Aquino's martyrdom anniversary today. Aquino must be tossin an turnin' in his Manila Memorial Park tomb. For the Presidency of his wife, Corazon is also one answer to his question. The barest summary of Ninoy's question is this. There is an acute need for redistribution and access to education is the major peaceful way this can happen. The Americans may have wanted to mold the Filipinos in their own image and thus their institution of public education which is now remotely being seen as a liberating force, having fallen for crass profiteering. This is also extremely true for the Roman Catholic Church and the schools it operates. Holy Mother Church cannot escape blame here. She must be put in the dock too for the ills of Philippine society and not hide forever from the separation of church and state curtain for which ...

SIYENTISTA NG MASA ! This is the what friends from the media and communication departments of some colleges told me. Thanks to the media, unassuming and inoffensive weatherman Dr Prisco Nilo has become not just a government scientist but the scientist of the masses! Now the tibak profs of the UP College of Science could only dream of this "canonization" on their heads. :-) We have nothing to thank but P-Noy for sacking him and making him a "martyr"! It all started when ABS CBN described his dwelling as "payak" or poor and humble. This is quite archaic Tagalog and is rarely used outside the context of priestly sermons and the St Luke's Gospel narrative during the Christmas Eve Mass. Ang sabsaban ni Jesus ay payak! Remember? Cardinal Dency Rosales of Manila is fond of using the word. My Mom who is a true blue Tagala says that the word means more than poor but downtrodden and oppressed like how Joseph and Mary were by Herod and the Romans. And since s...

The Philippine science community is surely pissed off by the decision of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino's decision to relieve Dr Prisco Nilo of his directorship of PAGASA. Mr Aquino axed Dr Nilo for wrongly forecasting tropical storm Basyang's path. However, Mother Nature cannot be made to obey the bureaucracy nor political whim. She has no accountability! This is something that Mr Aquino [or at least his science advisors] never got the wind about. [Pun intended!] Weather forecasting is simply that a forecast. It is subject to uncertainty. Weather and climate information are provided by weather stations and the hundreds of ships and planes that ply the world's trade routes. The information is included in forecast models and synoptic models. The book shown in the photo is written in English that is geared for grade 6 -7 students and tell how meteorologists do their science. It was written in the days before global warming and yet the authors hinted then it WILL...

As expected, President Benigno S Aquino III delivered his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) before Congress yesterday. The Constitution requires him to do so. The President has the right to appear before Congress in other times he sees fit. But that doesn't happen often. It usually happens if there is a national crisis. So for people who ask, why he had to deliver a SONA barely a month into his term, the answer is that the Constitution requires him to do so. A president's first SONA in all respects puts down the Presidential platform of government for the next 6 years. This is unlike the British Queen's Speech at Westminster where the government of the day writes a speech outlining the program of government . The government is always at the pleasure of Parliament and if the government loses a vote of confidence, it has to resign and the Prime Minister has to go to Buckingham Palace and ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament and call for new elections. One of the first...

President Benigno Aquino III plans to tell the truth about the corruption of the previous administration. He expects the electorate to be shocked. But I believe they won't be. The truth shall set you free, the Gospels tell us. This is true but the truth isn't enough. The success and failure of the Noynoy presidency lies on one thing. And this is sending Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her cabal behind bars. The people will not like a pardon, so he better forget entertaining that possibility. Mr Aquino can use the vast powers and persuasive or otherwise of his office to see justice is done. And perhaps this is the last chance for the Rule of Law to eliminate corruption. The other options have been tried and initially found successful until a new crop of corrupt politicians take over. History calls this the executioner's block. But that never does any good!

Ngayon na narinig ko unawit sa Presidente Noy sa Kyusi Circle kagabi. Ito ang handog ko sa kanya at humihingi po ako ng paumanhin kay Ka Freddie Aguilar Presidente Blues Ako ang nakikita Ako ang nasisisi Ako ang laging may kasalanan Pagising sa umaga Batikos ang almusal Bako pumasok sa Palasyo Kapag nanganatwiran Ako'y pagagalitan ng mga periodistang walang alam gawin Ako'y sunudsunuran Ayaw man lang pakinggan Nasasaktan ang damdamin REFRAIN Ako'y walang kalayaan Sunod sa SWS lamang! II. Pagpunta sa Batasan Diretso na sa SONA Wala namang akong aabutan! Wala na dun si Nanay Wala na rin si Tatay Si Jojo ang naghihintay! Tatawag si Obama Gusto niyang sumama Lagot na naman paglarga! At 'pag nangangatwiran Ako'y titirahin Ng Kaliwang walang alam gawin! [Ulitin ang Refrain] [Ulitin ang I] [Ulitin ang Refrain] Si Marcos ang nakikita Si Erap nasisisi Si Gloria ang laging may kasalanan!

Benigno S Aquino III was inaugurated as the 15th President of the Philippines today under cloudy but rainless skies in Manila's Quirino Grandstand. Police estimate 500,000 people attended the simple but dignified ceremonies. I am glad that effort was made to recover some Presidential inaugural traditions which have been discarded by previous Presidents. First is the venue. The grandstand or its predecessor has been the venue of Philippine presidential inaugurations after World War II. Previously all inaugurations were held at the steps of the Legislative Building (now National Museum). This was borrowed from American tradition (which has its origin from the English) since it means that while the Executive is co-equal to the Congress, it has to work with it (note the prefix "co"). The Chief Justice administers the Oath to the President as a sign that the Judiciary is also co-equal to the Executive. The whole unsaid idea here is that none of the three branches of government...