blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

Americans recognize that their Supreme Court (SC) has great influence in their daily lives. Although most would not be able to name a Supreme Court decision that affects daily life, people know that these decisions define the limits and scope of their liberties and that of the Federal and state governments. Americans call the SC justices "supremes". They are members of the only branch of government that is not elected and have no term limits. The Chief Justice can serve for life. I bought a book entitled "Supremes Greatest Hits" by Michael Trachtman which is not about Diana Ross and cabal but the 34 SC decisions that have changed American society. Since the Philippines Supreme Court borrows from US jurisprudence, some of these decisions affect Philippine society too. Filipinos look to their SC as the court of final appeal and guardian of the constitution. The Marbury vs. Madison (1803) decision established that the SC is really supreme in the sense that it has the r...

I have lugged and shipped balikbayan boxes from three different places in the world. In Bermuda, I sent one by sea to the Philippines. My Aussie balibayan boxes had an orange kangaroo on the sides and was shipped via Qantas freight and the one I shipped from Japan had my name in Romaji and Katakana. Looks like I have to start packing one from the USA and fill it with books that the Delaware Museum gave me for free. Nonetheless, I really have a lot of books now and I have to find ways to ship it by mid-March. If you have a utilitarian philosophy, the boxes are mere objects with a function and that is to contain stuff to be sent home. But the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines have imbued the boxes with another meaning. Whereas before balikbayan boxes contained goodies from friends and relatives that can't be had in the import substituted Philippine economy, the Catholic bishops have now made it an icon of survival. Why the change in attributes? In the globalized world economy anyt...

Let the good times roll! I just came from New Orleans with the LSU biochem lab to watch the climax of Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday. In medieval Europe especially in France, fasting began on Ash Wednesday. The day before is the last time people could feast, eat meat especially pork and hence the day is known as Fat Tuesday or in French "Mardi Gras". In England and the Commonwealth, the day is known Shrove Tuesday. In Pre-Reformation England, the English used to "shrive" or go to confession on that day and eat pancakes. Another name for this day is Pancake Tuesday. In the Philippines, we don't have a celebration on this day. Our Mardi Gras are really celebrated for the feast of the Holy Child, so we have Sinulog, Dinagyang and their variants. Iberian Catholicism frowned on excess and emphasized penance unlike its Gallic counterpart. But according to historian Ambeth Ocampo, Manila had a carnival on Mardi Gras and this was controversial at times since some of the activi...

Professor Randy David's latest piece in the Philippine Daily Inquirer looks at the murders of leftist student activists in the Philippines and the apparent lack of response or even at the least indignation among students. Whereas if these killings had happened in the late 1960s or early 1980s, Prof David says that this would have incited a nationwide student revolt. Having come into adulthood in the mid 1980s I can give some observations why there is very little militant response. My generation came to adulthood at the time when Marxist-Leninism had obviously become discredited. At the end of the Cold War we saw in quick succession the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Then in 1989 the Tiananmen student revolt's was crushed by the Chinese army that was supposed to ensure the nation's liberation. Two images come into mind, the lone man who stopped the tank and the socialist-realist "Goddess of Democracy"sculpture What Professor David fa...

Pinoys complain about corruption or "kuarkot" in Filipino; in government and due to desperation some believe that in other countries there is no "kurakot". As a Pinoy who has traveled and lived overseas, I hate to say this but there is kurakot everywhere. The latest National Geographic Magazine (NGM) has a feature on Nigeria's oil and the political unrest it has spawned. This hits home to all Pinoys overseas and homebodies since not a few of our professionals working in that country had been kidnapped. The abductors are part of the insurgency movement that the NGM features. In Nigeria, 50 years of oil revenue has not a bit improved the lives of Nigerians in the oil producing regions. The end result is environmental damage and political unrest. The oil gobbling world would rather look another way. Nigerian light is the world's best. (Shades of beer?) Corruption is also a big issue in Louisiana. Many Americans believe that this US state is the most corrupt in...

In http://www.baratillo.net there is a link to an interesting feature predicting the loss if libraries and books go the way of the dinosaurs. Since many of us are so dependent on the internet for information, we might think libraries and the books that are found in them will be obsolete. The feature writer lists 33 reasons why the library will remain. The 33 reasons appeal to practicality and barely to pleasure. But as early as 1946, Nobel Literature laureate John Steinbeck bravely predicted that the book would prevail. In his essay "Some Random and Randy Thought about Books", Steinbeck lists down the pleasurable reasons why we like books. The erotic analogy was obvious, for the writer actually bares him/herself in his book and the reader has to uncover the writer who exists in the pages through the characters. Perhaps that is why the aphorism "books are alive" is apt. And this is the reason why when someone burns a book, it is like killing a person. Book burn...

While some members of the Pinoy elite lament the decline of English competency among Filipinos, I recently read a feature article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on-line about Asians graduating from Australian universities with bad English! The article does not place Filipinos among the Asians who graduate with poor English skills. Top on the list are South Koreans, followed by the Thais, Nepalese, Taiwanese and Chinese. Japanese students are midway on the list and suprisingly, citizens of former British colonies like India and Singapore (who have aggressive government sponsored promotion of the English language) are also on the list. I suppose Australia's regulators of educational institutions (such as the Vice Chancellors Committee) were rocked by the report. The Education Minister Julia Bishop was very concerned. I did my degree in Australia and I know it for a fact that a month or two before the semester starts, overseas students are required to take English courses. Dependi...

It is no secret that there are a lot of Filipinos working or studying in academe overseas. Many decided to do their graduate or postgraduate degrees in the USA, European Union, Canada, Australia and even in more technologically advanced Asian countries like Japan or Singapore and more recently, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. The reasons for attending colleges and universities in these countries is as varied as the students themselves. Some won scholarships, either government sponsored or private scholarships. Some also won assistanceships or tutorships which provide fee waivers and an allowance although that does not allow a luxurious lifestyle. Those who come from affluent families were able to support their studies through dad or mom's "scholarship". I know of a few people who took out loans to do an MBA in the US or Australia. As this was a loan, they have to pay it back. The only way to do so is to find a job overseas. The investment in studying abroad is so b...

I am reading up on the history of Puerto Rico since I will be visiting that US Commonwealth. I found a recent (2002) paper comparing the histories of Hawaii, Puerto Rico and our own Filipinas under US rule. This was written by a prominent American political historian who teaches at the University of Puerto Rico. The conclusion is that by 1916 "Congress decided that Hawaii will be assimilated, Puerto Rico could be Americanized and the Philippines could never be assimilated [into the Union]" Ninety years after we can ask what country is most Americanized? Hawaii, Puerto Rico or the Philippines? Did the US Congress get it wrong?

Filipinos learned their English from American teachers who came on several ships at the start of the 20th century. The biggest contigent came on the USS Thomas and from then on, American teachers who came to teach were called "Thomasites". While the teachers came from all over the United States, many came from northern or Yankee states such as New York, Massachusetts and some came from California. The teachers had the hard task of establishing a public school system where there was almost none. But some of the teachers were clearly from the South. The Confederacy's defeat was still within living memory then and this probably led one teacher to write that the many of the teachers were ""a regiment of carpetbaggers, come to exploit the country in their small way." It was likely that the father of this teacher or she herself as a child saw what the Union troops did to the South and its aftermath. And probably she was well aware of the "Philippine Insurr...

CNN today reports that a FedEx cargo jet took off from an undisclosed US airport with experimental anti missile lasers. This is the first time in history that a commercial jet was outfitted with weapons systems. This is the logical result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Since passenger jets were used as missiles, they could now be outfitted with anti-missile technology. Experts say that it will take 20 years for the world's airlines to adopt the technology. This would run into the billions of US dollars and perhaps the next generation of aircraft made by Boeing and Airbus will have it. But this leads us to ask, what if a pilot accidentally switches on the laser and hits another jet? Pilots have been known to make serious errors we know. And some errors have resulted in tragic loss of lives. Also if jets can be equipped with laser defenses, then your city bus, tram or taxi could be outfitted with one. Your car can come with that extra feature. We may have road rage star wars on the s...

Every third Monday of January, the US celebrates Martin Luther King Day in honor and remembrance of the civil rights leader and Baptist minister. The Rev. Dr King's activism began when a seamstress, Mrs Rosa Parks (another civil rights icon) refused to give up her bus seat to a white man as required by the Jim Crow laws of southern states such as Alabama. The laws segregated whites from blacks and required separate facilities for each. King's most famous speech is the 1963"I Have a Dream" speech given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC during the March on Washington. The speech is now considered as one of the world's greatest speeches. A masterpiece of rhetoric, King's speech is styled like a sermon and alludes to the Bible, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and the US Constitution. My favourite lines are "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin ...

Life here in Baton Rouge seems to be rather slow. Not being a megapolis, there is still this small town feel. Louisiennes are very friendly people. My first introduction was to make sense over an American football game between Louisiana State University and Notre Dame. Of course our team won and a the star quarterback JaMarcus Russel was crowned MVP. It took me over an hour to get an idea of how American football is played. Football in other realms is what soccer is called here. The next day I watched a soccer game between our team and another college. Soccer seems to be gaining a lot of popularity here with many students from kindergarten to college, playing it. In one high school girls team, Miss 88 a fullback, destroyed the opposing team's defense. Now I am eating gumbo. That must be the national dish of this once French colony. I also have heard how Cajun French is spoken.

Hello from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA I'm now in Baton Rouge where I will do research and teach about the biodiversity of the Philippines at Louisiana State University. There is something about Louisiana that makes me immediately feel at home. It must be the southern hospitality. Louisiana and the Philippines have a shared history too. When the US State was once a French colony, the first Filipino migrants to what is now the USA first stayed here. Called Manilamen, these migrants worked as shrimpers. Louisiana is the only US State where French has official status. Some street signs are still in French. The state is also the only one to have a civil law system as compared to the common law system in the other 49 states. Cajun French is being promoted and conserved. 100 posts and still going! I can't believe I have written that much in a time of less than two years. All that material can make good fodder for a book! Saddam hanged! The papers here have Saddam being hanged. A c...

Finally, we have a fairly balanced orthodox Bible film. While some people may think Mel Gibson's "Passion" was faithful to scripture, the material for the film was taken from a German nun's private revelation. I never planned to see "Nativity", thinking it was one of those hagiographic dishes Hollywood cooks up from time to time. But I saw the traffic yesterday afternoon and I decided to cool off at a mall cinema. I wasn't disappointed. The movie is a new treatment of a traditional theme. OK. The movie producers did not offend traditional Christian (read Catholic and Protestant) sensibilities. The producers did not have to cook up gimmicks like having a scene where Joseph and Mary fulfill their marital duties (offensive to Catholics) or the Holy Couple kissing (offensive to Protestants and Catholics). Instead we see a young couple who are in love. Catholics are reared on an image of the Holy Family, but when I was a kid, I never thought Mary and Joseph...

Three days ago, I had an animated conversation with a former student of mine who now is an mid-level executive of a government agency involved in regulation. He told me that he gets a heaps of Christmas baskets and other presents from contractors and suppliers. His rule is that if the supplier or contactor is involved with a project under his watch, he returns the present. But he finds it increasingly difficult to draw the line. He says that if it is a money envelope, it is easier to deal with it. He told me that bribers know when to sense if the public servant is really in need of money. So I told him "I am in government service too, and we all know that government servants are ALWAYS IN NEED of money. Just look at the paychecks we get!" But contrary to what many in the public think, the overwhelming majority of public servants are honest. The papers report of cab drivers, security guards and other blue collar workers returning thousands if not milions of pesos to their ri...

UP Lantern Parade Cancelled!, Prayer rallies In an unprecedented move, University of the Philippines (UP) Chancellor Professor Sergio Cao and the deans decided to cancel this year's Lantern Parade scheduled for today. They cited as reasons "threat to life and property". This December is turning to be a long hot yuletide and amihan (winter monsoon) season and this is not due to global warming. In the national arena, protests are set to rail against the Arroyo administration's attempt to railroad changing the constitution (cha-cha). The public has noticed the game plan all along. First was the people's initiative (which the Supremes declared unconstitutional), then the undue haste of the House to declare itself a Constitutional Assembly without the Senate's concurrence. Civil societies and the Catholic, Born Again, Mainline Protestant and even the Iglesia ni Cristo churches have decided to hold prayer rallies. The Catholic led one is estimated to gather a few h...

In the Russell Crowe megastarrer "Gladiator" the most famous lines are Proximo: The giraffes you sold me don't mate. They just eat. You sold me queer giraffes. Maximus: Unleash hell! Gracchus:I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they'll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they'll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the senate, it's the sand of the coliseum. Lucilla: The Senate has its uses. In Gladiator, the Senate is pictured as a counterfoil to the Emperor but alas, a scheming one. But Romans wanted it at that. Even then the motto of Rome was, is and will be SPQR Senatus Populasque Romanus. Is there a Senatus Populasque Philippinarum?

Fed up with your president or prime minister?, your congress? your parliament? and constititional change? Then this book may be your liberation. I bought an interesting Lonely Planet guide on micronations. Wikipedia defines " micronation " as "are entities that resemble independent nations or states , but which are unrecognized by them, and for the most part exist only on paper, on the Internet, or in the minds of their creators" These places are real. They each have a geography. Most if not all issue passports, grant citizenship. Their founders claim that their countries fulfill the criteria set by the 1933 Montevideo Convention defining what a state is. These are Permanent population Defined territory Government Capacity to enter relationships with other states The micronations say that if they fulfill these criteria, it matters not whether the UN, EU, or any other state recognizes them or not as a state. So let me take you to some of my favourite micronations F...

The ASEAN Summit was rescheduled due to an approaching typhoon. The storm intensified the winter monsoon that gave Manila a spell of cool weather. And this is the perfect weather for people power. EDSA I and II happened in the "amihan" season. Two Inperial asses were kicked by the people. In contrast, EDSA III happened in the height of the monsoon break (the Pinoy high summer and perfect beach weather). Guess whose ass got kicked? It's not the one who warms the palace chair. So it is no surprise that our Yoda had to call for a consitutional convention instead of con ass. It's amazing how quickly politicians will go to save their asses. Her Imperial Majesty may have started to see the invisible hand writing on the palace wall. She is a survivor par excellence and probably told her retainers to cool it. Nonetheless, this won't stop the alliance from having their Dec 15 rally at the Luneta. This shoud make for an interesting December and January.