blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

Talin Bay, Batangas. It is early morning and the shore is quiet for now at least.

In clearest terms in her State of the Nation address to Congress, Philippines President Mrs Gloria Arroyo expressed her wish for a parliamentary system of government for the Philippines. The term parliamentary is not very accurate. What is more accurate is the term "cabinet system". The cabinet is a collective executive of ministers headed by a prime minister and they are all responsible to the legislature. Mrs Arroyo would want a system similar to the Philippines' neighbours as she has indicated. But what kind of cabinet system would we have? We have several choices. 1) Singapore, 2) Malaysia, 3) Thailand 4) Indonesia and if we consider the following as close neighbours, 5) Australia and 6) Japan. Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Japan and Thailand have systems modelled after that of Europe. Singapore, Malaysia, Australia being former British colonies are modelled after the Westminster parliament in London. Although they have introduced modifications to their parliamenta...

Today my students and I planted indigenous Philippine trees on the University of the Philippines common. Why do we have to plant a tree? Martin Luther, the great Reformer was heard to have said "If God revealed to me that the world will end today, I will still plant a little apple tree". The Confucian sages adviced that a man wouldn't had lived a full life if he did not 1) sire a son, 2) plant a tree. For Luther and the sages a tree represents life beyond one's own and we pray that this life will be full of hope. Like your children, trees are likely to survive you. An English saying has it best "When the tree is tall and wide, the planter has long died". The man has joined the elements and the tree remains. The oldest trees are conifers. The Bristlecone pines, cypresses in the Sahara and some southern araucaria pines in Australia, Chile and New Zealand are thousand of years old. The trees have their memory of their environment in their rings. Trees provide ...

President Macapagal-Arroyo is unlikely to resign now that former President Ramos has given his support. Protests are on the streets still led by parties with various agendas. The focus of the protests is on Ayala Avenue, the heart of the Philippines' business district. A cursory chat with a lot of people revealed that many people who support the resignation of the president seem no longer able to trust the constitutional processes. The constitution provides the process by which a sitting president may be removed and the grounds for this to happen. Because of United States influence on our history, the impeachment process is modelled after that of the US Congress process. Nonetheless, in American history impeachment has been few and far between. Andrew Jackson was impeached but remained in office. Richard Nixon resigned before he was impeached. Bill Clinton was impeached and the case went before the senate for trial. He was acquitted. If there was a likely successful impeachment ...

God save our gracious Queen, Long live our Gloria Queen, God save the Queen! Send her victorious, Happy and glorious, Long her FVR to reign over us; God save the Queen! O Lord our God arise, Scatter her enemies And make them fall; Confound their politics, Frustrate their Coryist and MBC tricks, On Thee our hopes we fix, God save us all! Thy choicest EVATs in store On her be pleased to pour; Long may her FVR reign; May she defend our laws, And ever give us cause To sing with heart and voice, God save the Queen! Not in this Manila alone, But be God's mercies known, From shore to shore! Lord make the nations see, That she will not resign be, And form one Parliament to see, The wide world over. From every latent foe, From the Cabinet’s blow, God save the Queen! O'er her thine arm extend, For Philippines ' sake defend, Our taxman, prince, and friend, God save the Queen! Lord grant that her General May by thy mighty aid Victory bring. May he sedition hush, And like a torrent rus...

Caveat lector. Political commentary ahead. Allusions to English History ahead. (Sorry, I am a keen student of English constitutional history!) Now that Mrs Aquino has said her piece three time, what the public likes to know and Mrs Aquino should clearly say so is who advised her to take this “GMA please resign” stand. Obviously Mrs Gloria Arroyo is unlikely to stand down. Now that Mr Fidel V Ramos has literally saved Mrs Arroyo’s presidency, the chances of her resigning is nil. Mr Ramos has emerged as the de facto prime minister or better yet President Protector. Doesn’t this sound like Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell seizing the Crown but not wearing it? As long as Mr Ramos won't put the crown on his head, he is still within the bounds of the law. Our own Ollie Cromwell should say to Mrs Aquino and her fratres in politics to at least shut up and respect the rule of law. Mrs Aquino by demanding Mrs Arroyo’s resignation as in the words of Thomas More himself, is cutting down eve...

From my travel log 17 August 1998 Lizard Island, the Great Barrier Reef, Australia From Cairns airport I took a light plane to Lizard Island, one of the interesting islands on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. I was on an expedition sponsored by the Australian Geographic Society. I was with my skipper Juan Cruz of Venezuela (who is now at PhD student at Sydney University). The plane landed on the sandy airstrip and we disembarked. The sandy beaches are postcard perfect. This is paradise. The island is covered in scrub that tells me about the exposed nature of the island. The task now is to describe the patterns of distribution, of life, the ecological relations of the animals of the shore, all a mystery. The shore as Steinbeck and Ricketts always knew will hold its secrets very well and give it up very slowly, as slow as the motion of the nerite on the rocks. Surprises are in store and at the end a better understanding of nature is inevitable. The question is whether this will make me pl...

Dear Sir The critics are right. There is a decline in English proficiency among Filipinos. However, I disagree that it is not only at UP but also in "exclusive" schools like Ateneo or La Salle. Like what the critics believe, I believe students don't write and speak good English because they don't read. But what should trouble us is our confused language policy that mixes nationalist and globalist orientations. Unfortunately there are still people that believe English must be taught as a foreign language. However, while it was a foreign language imposed by the Americans, it became a medium to express our nationhood. In time, the language became our own. It is now not a foreign language but a second language. By appropriating their language, we both thank and damn our colonisers. According to Frankie Sionil Jose, that may yet be the best revenge! Our confused language policy promotes English language use only as a means of economic advancement. An example: Those who ca...

From my travel log 6 November 2002 Delaware, USA It might be a bit strange that to study the biodiversity of the Philippines, one has to go to America. But we were once a colony and once a colony, always a colony. With political independence we are guaranteed historical dependence. So it is really not strange to for a historian to go to Spain to study the Philippines and a scientist to spend time at an American natural history museum. Our historical ties to Spain and the United States will always be there. The question is whether Filipinos will look with lingering affection at their colonisers the way the Commonwealth countries do at England. The United States was never an imperial power until the war with Spain having spent the last half of the 19th century dealing with the Civil War and westward expansion. So in 1898, the USA ended up winning the Philippines, together with Cuba and Puerto Rico as war indemnity. The first thing the Americans did was to crush the Philippine Republic, i...

From my travel log 31 March 2004 Townsville, Queensland Australia I spent four years in Townsville as a PhD student. These years though at time lonely and difficult were the best in my life. I was lucky and free then. When I was a student and things became too burdensome for me, I went overseas, across the water to Magnetic Island. This island is 8 kilometres from Townsville, a mere 25 minute ride from the mainland. The island became my place apart. I spent long hours on the walking trails and the lonely beaches. The journey starts by boarding a ferry at Ross Creek and stepping onto Picnic Bay jetty. Sometimes I had friends on the journey and we stepped on the island together. At times I see my friends boarding as I disembarked. At all times, there is a wave of a hand and a smile even though the swells were big and storms are about.That was a comforting thought as one sets off to sea. So in my last visit to the island in 2004, the ferry no longer landed at Picnic Bay but at Nelly Bay. ...

Seven things I have done (and so I can die now!) 1) Be a teacher 2) Swim with a whale - Tanon Strait 3) Swim with sharks - Donsol and Mindoro 4) Dive in at least four of the world's oceans - Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Southern (brrrr. The last one was the coolest!) 5) Take long bushwalk in Bartle Frere - Australia 6) See an endangered animal in the wild 7) Stare at the full moon like a lover while on a boat alone. Seven things I need to do before I die 1) Be a good teacher. 2) Get married 3) Be a father and take my son/daughter on a nature walk 4) Climb Mount Pulag 5) Publish a scientific paper in "Nature" 6) Learn a healing art 7) Write a book on natural history

Empathy is defined as Identification with and understanding of another's situation,feelings, and motives. The attribution of one's own feelings to an object. Do we know what empathy really means? And do we really have it? Or we think we have it? In my case If I had not empathy then I would have long burned out as a teacher. Iwould be like a star that has burned out to be a brown dwarf! Ateacher (especially a university teacher) is always on fire andempathy for students is just one of the fuels. And still I burn redhot so my students say.The teacher's job is to stoke the fires for amyriad futures (as myriad as the students I meet every semester). Thisis not an easy job. There are a lot of futures at stake and I realisethat some will not turn out to be good. We stoke the fires for amyriad good futures and pray to God that all will be right. And amyriad expressions of empathy is needed at times. I sometimes end the day extremely drained as a result. Am I developing compassion...

Now that someone wants to learn more about my dating life in my travels, might as well write more about this topic. A man on a journey is likely to meet women at every literal step. There is no destination that I have been that I never been introduced to a lady. Well most of these were purely social and for some, I had remained in touch for a while and then lost touch. Perhaps she moved residence. Some I am still in touch after all these years and mileage miles. I am so elated to learn that she had found a husband and is happily married with kids. As for Ms Sydneysider, she and I are still in touch. She is of Greek and Filipino origin and is now a barrister having been admitted to the New South Wales Bar. She is involved with the rights of immigrants in Australia. She was the one who recemtly updated me about the case of Mrs Vivian Young Alvarez, the Australian national of Filipino origin mistakenly deported by Australian immigration. I told her that I am still interested in Australia...

Only a nomadic people such as the Turks (who were once from Central Asia) would come up with a saying that "Travel is a foretaste or preview of hell". In the time of the ancients, when the known world for the West is the Mediterranean and for the East is China, leaving these regions is like taking an intergalactic trip to places God knows where. Along the Silk Road or the Pearl Way brigands and bandits and pirates abound. It was a real possibility that you won't get to your destination in your physical body. (But of course the soul can get anywhere, right?) The trappings of travel modernity started with the Industrial Revolution with the invention of steam trains, followed by the internal combustion engine that made possible the automobile and the aeroplane. This trend towards fast and safe travel (actuarists know that there is a bigger chance of being hit by lightning and dying than being in a jet and crashing) ended one day in September 2001. 9/11 made jet planes into c...

Pagtatalik The Act of Life ni Jacques Cousteau Isang libog – marikit na kaguluhan Ng alikabok at hangin Lumiit naging pulang lupa Nang tunaw at init Sa mga nakalipas na habagat at amihan Ang mundo ay sadyang bughaw Siya’y isang sapiro Umiiikot sa kalawakan Isang pagkaraos ng libog sa sihay Sa dagat ang bumuhay Siya’y nagromansa ng buhay at libog At buhay, ang dagta ng dagat Ay umapaw sa kalupaan Isang kadyot ng sihay Ay bumuhay sa maraming libog Mga larvae sa karagatan Sa punla at tamod ng mga pusit Sa paglalayag ng salmon Sa pagpapangako ng albatross Isang kadyot sa sihay Ang nagpalipad ng ating pangarap sa buwan Kay Marte, Venus at Jupiter At kinabukasan, didilig ng luha sa ibang mga tala Ang marikit na libog ng ating pag-ibig Na iniyakan ng araw at lupa Buhay- ang milagro ng dagat na ngayo’y ating hawak Buhay – naghihirap at nanganganib sa kanyang huling supling.

Dr Jose Rizal’s Song of the Wanderer Canto del Viajero A dry leaf flies at random Till it’s seized by a wind so strong So lives on earth the wanderer Without a heading, soul, country or love Troubled, he seeks joy everywhere But joy is elusive and flees Like a shadow so vain that mocks his desire And for which he sails the seas so wide Impelled by a hand unseen He shall wander from place to place Only memories shall keep him company Of loves and days happier then Perhaps in the desert he shall find A tomb, a sweet refuge discovered But in his country and the world forgotten Rest in stillness his trials now over Alas they envy the sorrowed wanderer As across the earth he is found Ah! They know not of the emptiness In his soul where love no longer exists The pilgrim shall return to his country To familiar shores perhaps He shall find only ice and ruins Loves that withered, graves and nothing more Go wanderer! In your own country Now a stranger, always alone Let others sing of loving They...

ALL MY ROADS BEFORE ME Down the paths, I tread Amidst the green, eucalyptus boughs Shadows, shafts of light A break in the gloom And wildflowers bloom The road is long and at times rough Traverses through dry and stony ground In coming winter’s Antarctic breath, the flowers break The spell of autumn and her promises of chill I walk the trails through rises and vales And the road before me is mine The sun begins to set and night has come And road leads to places I haven’t seen I tread in sight of the dawn And colours of the wattles amaze and bellbirds ring Where I end, home is there The future is seized in the trails My Master ten paces ahead My past a step behind The walk leads me home 10 April 2004 The Dandenong Mountains Victoria, Australia

In my research I have been all over the Philippines looking for shells. There is one beach in Sorsogon that has a lot of tellins, these are thin shelled pink or yellow clams. I was there in 1999. Now I plan to go back in the third week of May. No one journeys without a reason in mind. For some it is a search for identity, their selves lost in the business of daily life. Some seek spiritual enlightenment and an encounter with the Divine. Some seek better economic pastures. Some seek liberation. Some seek some aspect of truth. John Steinbeck before leaving on the now celebrated "Sea of Cortez" expedition used a fish to illustrate why we need to travel to distant places. He used the Sierra as an example. This mackarel is an important fishery product of the Southern California coast. Steinbeck said you can learn about the fish from a book, see the fish itself in the museum or sold in the market. You can count it's spines and characterise its DNA . You can be sure that indee...

I did date in Sydney but not the “million girls” that bloke in the popular Hotdog song would like us to believe. Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities on earth. As one writer rightly described her, Sydney has the greatest concentration of beautiful women in the Southern Hemisphere. The harbour can easily make you romantic. Even the most jaded hearts can’t avoid that. The Harbour Bridge is utilitarian, lacking in grace and ugly as James Michener correctly observed more than fifty years ago. The harbour by its very romantic nature can change even that. I did arrive in Sydney in the dead of winter after a two-hour flight from more tropical and sunny Townsville. The avro was cloudy and grey, hardly the time for going around town. The night was even worse, freezing cold and windy. But all that can be changed. My Sydneysider Filipino friends introduced me to her. She attends Sydney Uni. and sings heartbreaking Tagalog songs for homesick Pinoys. We went out for tea. A cup of tea at the...

Tranquil Impermanence Ofunato, Japan 08/11/04 Autumn leaves in fire and gold will soon fall on winter ground trees bare with buds asleep await spring in the months to come Sharp rocks covered in mist The sea as calm as temple ground Whatever the eye sees on sandy shores ever does move in changing form Bashõ's words has captured it more In haiku forms the tranquil morn For impermanence is ever here And tranquility and peace that's always still