Tibet and Kosovo, but not the Bangsa Moro

The aftermath of the Cold War was a period of broad ideological revolutions, territorial secessions and political separatism; a hemorrhage that could be seen swelling from Chechnya to the Taliban.

As we have seen, new states and governments have been recently formed out of the ashes of demolished powers such as, let us say, the USSR. However, it does not mean that after the fall of Communism did only the enslaved communities begin to awake, but rather, during the time that imperialism was dying, “states within the states” took the opportunity to rise up and culminate the war for independence they had been waging silently for so long.

And when speaking of separations, the Philippines is not above the target.

Finding the Homeland

The Bangsa Moro, or the “Moro Homeland” has been under the same struggles but in different grounds. Being the major cause of hostilities in the archipelago for decades, their persistent drive accounts for the massive rate of terrorism and widespread extremism. Moro history can be traced back into five centuries of successive resistance against foreign intruders. And all except the Japanese had in fact failed to colonize a single area in Mindanao, which further consecrated the ideals of an independent Moro state.

And the question here is for what reason? It is through our respect to the Muslim ownership of Mindanao that is much older than the coming of the Spaniards and the establishment of our first ceremonial government. It is why in 1990 we have given a certain region Muslim autonomy. Fighting for such a cause is needless, because firstly the government and the Christian Filipinos did not commit a single act of racism against our Muslim brethren, and not even did we curtail them of their rights. It saddens me that the people whom you want to unite with in order to build and develop your history-smitten country is trying to break up loose from your national aims.

The Great Wave

During the period of full-blown liberalism and the weakening of suzerainty there is a massive call of separatism in different countries. Perhaps most of them have a humanitarian crisis which prompted their struggle that they resorted into the most desperate means of achieving it, including extortionism and terrorism. I am not against their causes if their manners are far from disrupting peace and evoking worldwide chaos and armed conflicts which, as is apparent today, spreading into our country.

Tibet’s cause is most justified in a way that it experienced the most brutal violations to human rights. Since the 11^th century it has resisted conquerors including the Mongols, yet was always under strain and fear from the giants that beleaguered the little Himalayan territory.

Residents walk past overturned cars and burning shops in Barkhor Square in front of the 1400-years old Jokhand Temple, a world heritage site, in central Lhasa, Tibet March 14, 2008.
(REUTERS/Stringer)

Tibet’s long-drawn struggle began when China asserted its suzerainty in 1904 in reaction to the British occupation of Lhasa, Tibet’s capital. In fact, China had an informal rule in Tibet for over 300 years, and during those times the Buddhist monks and its religious head, the Dalai Lama had been put to miserable odds, irreverence and repeated flights; first to Mongolia, afterwards to Nepal and then to India. Temples and monasteries were burned and the educational system was altered into secularism. The government installed by the Chinese in Lhasa was even restricted to engage to foreign agreements without permission from the latter. These were the grave circumstances which urged the necessity of breaking loose from Chinese intervention.

Also, Kosovo had been over-burdened by western imperialism. Is suffered in the hands of the Ottoman, Serbia and Yugoslavia and has been subject to a myriad of restrictions in human rights, education, mass media and even ethnic culture. This sparked violence within Kosovo and the surrounding regions that in the late 1990s, UN and NATO found it necessary to intervene. The succeeding unrest in Kosovo paved the way into war. By its end on June 10, 1999 it left thousands of Albanian civilians killed and more than 500,000 people displaced. It led to the determination of Kosovo’s final status and after several revisions, a resolution of supervised independence was submitted to the United Nations Security Council.

Yet on February 17 this year, the Parliament of Kosovo declared full independence, a move which is recognized by a few nations at present.

The position in International Politics

The Stimson doctrine of international recognition acknowledges not the existence of “illegal powers,” or those formed by forceful (especially violent) methods. In contrast to this, belligerent states, or those whose desire is to establish their territory as a self-governing nation through hostile means, are somehow equal in rights but not recognized by the international community as sovereign powers. A famous example to this was Britain’s recognition of the Confederate States of America as a belligerent entity during the first phase of the American Civil War. Under this category we can also classify the Bangsa Moro.

In Tibet and Kosovo the drive for independence is pressured by continuing crisis on human rights, state discrimination and suzerainty while in the Moro Homeland it is a relief to say that those did not became the compelling forces to the Bangsa’s separatist tendencies (discrimination, if ever, is minimal and Moro autonomy solved the questions in sovereignty). Although armed conflicts are recurrent the fact is that repeated government correspondence (however frustrated) and avoidance of human rights violations has rendered an effect preventing mass separatism.

Furthermore, despite breaches in negotiations and agreements between the national government and the rebel leadership time and time again, diplomatic relations are generally productive (but still it is not enough to say it is triumphant). Nevertheless, this way national integrity is preserved.

When some needs to be caught in the catcher's interNET

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's sex scandal drove more concerns over the underground pervasion of prostitution rings operating in the open media. The former New York Attorney General (who almost a year ago was swept in early-term scandals and issues including his attempt on legalizing same-sex marriage) was reportedly having VIP access to a prostitution agency called the Emperor's Club, wherein his latest transaction was for a thousand dollar-an-hour NYC singer named Ashley Rae Maika DiPietro (who called herself Ashley Alexandra Dupré).

The facts came as a result of federal efforts in wiretapping Spitzer, who had been under suspicion of investigators for months subsequent to bank reports of unknown money transfers. That's an early inning-closer for him, as Spitzer announced his resignation March 12 and took effect the afternoon of March 17.

A termination ought to be like all others.

According to WebProNews.com, Spitzer's patronization of the Emperor's Club started through an online discovery as the brothel is found to be among thousands of other whore-dealers peddling their poodles on the world wide web. This pollution in the internet has a wide range of potential patronship as keywords relevant to the word "prostitute" for instance may lead to various sites of the same sort in any search engines.

The controversy surrounding New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has shed light (a red light) on a number of underground activities. Besides government corruption and the sex trade in general, Spitzer's use of the Internet to connect with prostitutes is exposing a huge industry with which people may not be familiar.

Or even know exists. (Jason Lee Miller, WebProNews Insider)

The editor's note reads as well:

So it turns out that escorts and/or their agencies have excellent web-marketing skills, a revelation we can thank Gov. Spitzer for. But this little investigation found a staggering number of virtual red-light districts complete with good SEO and paid search advertising campaigns.

This indicates that the internet is the most preferred channel of the underground activity. Likewise, as WebProNews.com also reported such site's online marketing strategy employed a very powerful search engine optimization (SEO) in order to keep it in the upper ranks of the same category in search engines such as Google and Yahoo. This further means that there is a massive number of similar websites contending in search rankings, and although most of the engines contain a safe search mode it is still up to the user to turn it off with full ease.

And right at this moment Filipinos are exposed to this pollution, as the country accounts to a considerable rate of internet subscribers. The fact that several Filipino politicians out there are not infrequent patrons of conventional escort services makes Spitzer's case a common act not different among our TRAditional POliticians. As there were officers whose directories swarmed with suspicious lists of landline contacts, today it is no longer a seven-dial tip but is reduced to a two-second typing ang two to three mouse clicks, with no stains left behind.

Sheer luck led Spitzer's sleuths to track his dealings through wiretap, but not through his established contacts on the internet. Filipinos are more careful to avoid it, and would rather use e-mails for its security and privacy. No doubt there will come a time when a minimal 8% of these political monkeys' monthly expenditures are appropriated to pleasure played safe right on the net if proper response is not sped up.

What about the fallouts of an open web? Perhaps the deregulations in the www puts forward danger far greater than we think. Just as it is so easy to browse on a pornographic site, it is the freedom in the web that makes its contents accessible to everyone of every age. It just takes the big fat liar of a little kid to click that for-18 year- old-and-above hyperlink and pose like a ready man.

Hence it is recommendable for monumental search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN to use their web-crawling devices for the detection, identification and blockage of sites with pornographic content.

It is time for a clean-up before the matter gets blown-up, and although it is quite understandable that a campaign for a truly safe search engine would mean huge loss in revenues, what it takes is the sponsorship of governments who must get involved and produce out of this a multilateral agreement.

But oh, I forgot, most of these governments' officials are patrons themselves.

From corrupt citizenry comes corrupt presidency

From A. d. C. Lopez’s column Young in Yearning, published in the newsletter issue of

Genré – the Central Student Publication of Wesleyan University – Philippines Vol.8, Issue #2, January, 2008

I have already been feeling sick at the present governance of this country, but none nauseates me more than the recent attempts led by opportunists suffering from delusions of grandeur. I cannot see the point why they must take up arms or agitate the entire state and call it change, when their stand does nothing but destabilization, thus bringing twice the burden. If there was change somewhere it was only a change for the worse.

We understand how most Filipinos, who are lovers of hedonism, came to disregard the importance of a virtue called “patience” to maintain at least our peace and order. Unable to wait for two years until GMA’s expiration of tenure, they keep making horrible noises all year round. Despite the fact that we are a country of so many political and social corruptions we should not take it extremely, but rather seriously.

If we examine history we will discover that even great nations have been immersed in corruption many times… In our case the president may have been more of our hardship, but we should not always be vehement in the process of political reform. The Philippines must not undergo what France had come through in its L’Ancien Regime’s termination and its subsequent Reign of Terror.

Corruption cannot be subdued by another EDSA. The key to do so through political reform is ineffective either. Why not change the individual Filipino character? The disregarded fact is that people always complain about the government, without knowing that the character of a country’s government reflects the character of its own people. One morning you will hear Pedro exclaim “Hanep na Gloryang yan inuuna pa paglibot-libot sa Yurop bago ayusin ang problema sa Pelepenas, NAPAKATAMAD ng pu*!#@/?%!” Then by evening you will hear him call his wife “Beybe ko ikaw na magluto jan ng hapunan ha TINATAMAD ako eh.”

A more common depiction is this. Corruption stems from greed isn’t it? Hence logically a corrupt country is an implication to the greedy nature of its people. The more one has the more he is inclined to spend, and the more likely he becomes greedy. This is characterized by one who, after laying his hands on his salary, immediately runs to enjoy on amusements, furniture, extravagant clothing, appliances, and other unimportant expenditures, then as he ran out of money he will turn against the government “Buwiset na gobyerno yan taghirap na naman ako. Napakahirap magtrabaho e hindi man lang magbigay ng bonus!”

Or perhaps we tend to have more expensive tastes. Instead of using locally-cut crystals one may prefer the more luxurious Xilion-cut product of the Swiss Daniel Swarovsky. Juan dela Cruz speaks against GMA’s patronization of foreign investors, but he himself wears foreign-made Guess, Levi’s, Wrangler or Jordache jeans, Chanel glasses, with some spray of David Beckham-endorsed Instinct Perfume underneath a Ralph Lauren polo shirt, when Filipino-made alternatives are around. Do not hate the capriciousness of Imelda Marcos if you are also a collector of shoes, or else truth will backfire on you.

So what does this mean? It simply means that if all of us share the same character then there is no use in changing leaders especially if everybody is like Gloria Arroyo or any other greedy or corrupt president. Most of us dreams of a stately mansion, of our own Porsche in a karetela economy. If we only let go of our “pagiging magasta” and “pagiging engrande” complex right from women’s selection of luxury make-ups to men’s penchant in grandiose properties, then greed and corruption will be erased from the genes of the Filipino. Let us not forget that the same “pagiging magasta” and “pagiging engrande” complex was what prompted Winston Garcia to purchase the controversial Juan Luna artwork, as well as GMA’s overpriced construction of Cebu light posts before the APEC Summit. It is alright to put much blame on their greed, but have we put any blame on ours?

Filipinos are full of materialistic dreams, and if they have the access to more money then they would buy anything they want for its fulfillment. And it so happens that those in the government have access to the treasury that they cannot help but put their hands to money in order to fulfill their own dreams however illegal. How is it when everybody seems to share the similar nerve?ow Imagine someone in place of another in the government; wouldn’t there be more possibility that circumstances are the same?

Hence in order to erase corruption from our future, we… must begin not by marching in street rallies or taking up arms but by casting out all our greed, capriciousness, useless grandiosity, self-indulgence and materialism into the trash pan of history, becoming thus educated men and women bred in discipline, integrity and decency… I fear that I am going too far and lengthy…, but as a conclusion let me refer you to a heroic couplet taken from An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope, one of my favorite poets.

“Know then thyself, presume not God to scan
The proper study of Mankind is Man.”

A solution for tuition fee increases

From A. d. C. Lopez’s article of the same title, published in the magazine issue of

Genré – the Central Student Publication of Wesleyan University – Philippines Vol.8, Issue #1, October, 2007. All rights reserved.

Access to education is one of the primary rights of the people. Yet nowadays poverty is the evil which denies many of such right, that in the end it may seem to be inappropriate to call it a right at all. Learning is snatched away from those who deserve it, and education which is supposedly our country’s only way to redemption has turned into a phantom of progress. Not only does the quality of education deteriorate but also the opportunity of every youth to attain literacy.

I know how my brothers in various government colleges and universities found their way to Mendiola, crying against tuition fee increases which, although not as high as those in private schools, are seen to be the beginning of a greater financial swelling. I, although studying in a private institution immune of such increases (if there could ever be), cannot help but put my sympathy to those disadvantaged youths whose last hopes lie under the graces of government-sponsored institutions. Although the fact still remains that I hate activism, ambivalence within me commands some admirable respect to their aims. Still it is better not to set my foot on their means; I have my own mind, and a wise idea may help to find the key to a peaceful solution.

We all believe that from the youth studying today lies tomorrow’s development. Thus I think it better if all private and public institutions, along with the government, must work together in order to make access to education a lot easier. I partly believe that the government’s allotment of subsidies to its colleges and universities could single-handedly maintain such institutions; in the long run the sourcing of funds will eventually turn into a major problem and therefore will result into a serious budget deficit.

It is not enough if the government would rely solely upon the treasury for the sustenance of public schools, colleges and universities. What these institutions need are not only allocations but also special considerations from the suppliers of its main educational facilities, just like what students benefit from transportation fares. If jeepney drivers could afford giving regulated discounts, why not larger corporations?

The idea is that providers of primary commodities such as water and energy in educational institutions must give at least 1% to 2% discount in monthly consumption charges, and 2% to 5% reduction of the prices of secondary educational materials and facilities (e.g. school landline and internet communications, audio-visual facilities, laboratory equipments, magazines, newspapers, and other materials functional for student development). From this the benefited college or university may save money for other purposes such as bonuses for teachers and professors, development of facilities, or salary increase of other employees (maintenance crew, security guards, etc.). This way the university no longer has to raise the students’ tuition fee, moreover the budget supposed to be allocated by the government could be reduced and extra-funds could go to government employees, nurses, soldiers, policemen, laborers etc. for the improvement of their salaries.

Of course there is the problem whether the suppliers of those primary commodities would cooperate, now that the government has lost an important power company to privatization (thus convincing us that the government truly is a poor businessman). It now becomes a question of sacrifice for major corporations, whether to compromise their part in building the future of the nation. If not they cannot be blamed however, for such markdown would really cost them a great expense, comparing the number of government colleges and universities around the country to the amount of discount provided for each one (the ratio of which is too massive).

Perhaps there is one way to gain their cooperation without losing much in their part. And that is one more task of the government again, to provide these corporations incentives for their own resources, in return of the important services they would make. For example the government may help them improve their production plants and sponsor such companies to improve as well their research for cheaper sources of minerals, copper, oil deposits, iron, steel, etc. (materials needed for energy production). This cooperation of the government and the private corporations can also do much to prevent export deficits by producing such materials internally and not by importation. It can also lessen the effect of inflation.

Such is the strategy that can be used for avoiding any tendencies that might arise to interrupt the operation of schools (because of student uprisings). However I am without strong assurance that such plan would materialize, for I have not yet detected any flaws in this theory or any miscalculations in my part, or that no politician would venture to do us good by carrying this proposal to legislation (which would make an ambitious part in me who is just a student).

Anyway no other method may fit to solve the problem of tuition fee increases. If there is, then what it takes is just an observant eye and an inventive mind, in order to find a way to relax the rising tension, battle the inflation, and save the future of this country groveling in the sticky mud of financial distress; a right struggling to be preserved against the downsides of the economy. The burdens of the country must not be weighed upon the backs of helpless students. Moreover education is the only way we can help lift this country up.

Reinstating the Power of the Mob

Yesterday the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija celebrated a special mass which, for the mean time, was officiated by two reverend fathers from the San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish. The mass was said to be a blessing to other reverend fathers and parishioners who went to Manila to attend the prayer rally. In addition, there is also a banner hanging on the freedom park which calls for a local movement.

According to the priests the rally should be conducted “so that the truth shall be recognized” and the people shall view character as the principal source of change.

I have heard so many prayer rallies done before yet I hope that this time its effectiveness will not result to mob furor (which apparently led to the two previous EDSA revolutions). I fear that many whose chief aim is to spark another revolution utilizes prayer rallies as a first stepping stone in garnering support for an impending people power.

As I have seen there are only a few oppositionists who have attended the recent rallies, and much of them, if not all, are not individuals from the legislative branch. Perhaps the key persons in both Houses realized that despite the urgency of the situation the rule of law and the Constitution must always prevail, and the results of the ZTE probe in the Senate signals the red or green light. I say it is the right thing to do.

Averting due process does not only mean that we are disrespecting the sanctity of the Constitution, but it is also a sign of the surfacing of an ambivalent attitude (i.e. requiring the presence of the law but at the same time repulsive of the enforcement of such law) that threatens the Republic to delving into an anarchic state. France’s unstable republics are the fruit of such ambivalence; she might have been recovered from such state and avoided anarchy, but the Philippines, whose economy relying on foreign investors is the first to be hit by the consequences of any revolution, cannot afford to reinstate the power of the present majority as an executor of justice.

Thus even though the times are beginning to be so rough we should still have faith in the power of the Constitution, for it is the safest entity to turn to in order to prevent the thunderous crash which the economy experienced after the two EDSAs. Although it may look like EDSA is the last resort, it is not the proper time to begin an uprising.

On the eye of the economic storm

During the previous presidential tenures the country's executives always kept an eye focused on that means of lifting our economic status which I call “the easy way,” to wit, sending OFWs abroad so that the Philippine economy would benefit from their money returns.

Last year witnessed a boom on OFW remittances, the value of which climbed to the billionth and pushed our currency into a considerable leap against the dollar. Yet just when we think that the fun starts, we are unaware that turmoil begins to take shape. Doing it the easy way is deceiving the economy into thinking that foreign remittances pouring into our domestic pockets do us good.

Perhaps in a way yes; it does strengthen the peso and alleviate our national debt. But there is a greater problem overlooked in this angle of viewing such issue. I do not have an exact idea on why the President favors the short-term strategy of promoting foreign remittances for the currency's strength, but hypothetically I put it that it is because she wants to get rid of a large part of the debt the country owes the World Bank, so that a better image of her term may be built in front of the international community which is busier on money talks than on poverty alleviation. Or perhaps she may like to boast of a little independence from the World Bank (whose business is not only to lend us money but also to encroach in our internal affairs), when in fact the Philippines is under the stress of insufficiency and deficit.

And what is wrong with it? The grave error which leads to the government's miscalculations in policy-making is its lack of immediate attention, if not utter neglect in addressing our own socio-economic problems before proceeding to dollar diplomacy and other ruminants it can get from treaties with foreign governments. It is like doing a pole vault to hop from one shore to another instead of using a more convenient and safer bridge to cross it. The government ignores the bridge. It failed to emphasize the significance of local enterprises that should be the first stepping stone which, in due course, will equate the standards of our macro-economy to that of international economy through micro-economic improvement.

If we will enjoy the strength of the peso against the dollar then it will precipitate at least two serious problems: first, the peso becomes restricted from rising further because the decline of the greenback against the peso may mean disadvantages to the arteries of today's foreign economic fluxion (OFWs); and second if by chance our currency's continuous improvement threatens to exceed or at least nearly equalize the value of the dollar then there will be a massive wave of OFWs returning to our country along with other immigrants seeking fortune in a blooming economy, especially at a time when domestic business ventures and assistance are not prioritized, the population of job seekers will find it hard to obtain occupation and thereby form a future crisis of large-scale unemployment.

Facts and predictions abovementioned explains why at present the Peso finds it urgent to compete with the currencies but feels it painful whenever it enters into a gain - in short it keeps itself at the near stagnant status as possible.There are two ways for which it is reasonable to blame the government's decision of resorting to the “easy way”:

1. The government was too weak to avoid losing hold of the most important commodities that could have been the key in mitigating the effects of inflation. The privatization of the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) is a massive blunder that further ceded control of the basic needs of citizens to Moguls whose primary interests lie on profits.

2. The government has been for a long time stuck in the policy of promoting the country's resources to foreign investors. Although the concept may seem worthy at face value, it apparently deprives Filipinos of opportunities to utilize our resources and also exploits such resources for their maximum use. Moreover, the revenue does not in reality benefit the GDP but instead fill the hoards of its foreign owners.

THE GREAT GAP

There is a great gap created by the lack of balance in the elevation from poverty by a high number of Filipino families especially those who are provided with foreign remittances from an OFW relative. The problem in the noveau riche class is lack of knowledge regarding the effects of too much spending as a source of inflation. A rise on spending means a rise on demands, which as a response, price index of various basic commodities all go up. And the outcome is a large distance between the middle class and the poor.Hence enters the role of the government. In order to avert the problem the government mus think of any means that will lessen the gap made by a greater population of noveau riche class and a rising statistics of Filipinos still unmoved or fast plunging down the poverty line.

Some other ways that could have lessened the crisis is the government's promotion of domestic investments by Filipinos themselves. Creation of taxes to be levied on foreign companies is also a great help. Likewise are the improvements in regulating imports and exerting a little control on companies who offer commodities like energy, water, communication and transportation. Furthermore, it can be recommended for the Bangko Sentral to commission agencies that will encourage banks to engage in microcredit.Perhaps it is a fallacy in the part of the government to produce affordable commodities and think it a helpful method in alleviating poverty. In many ways "feeding the poor" cannot answer the economy's weaknesses. The means that can render the best effect is to systematically arrange different components from the micro-economic to the macro-economic level. This could be done by:

1. Making a close study on the statistics of the population below the poverty line and observing what percentage of them has access to available resources to be utilized for livelihood.

2. Prioritization of Filipino investors and promoting Filipino ownership.

3. Gradual abolition of foreign business privileges offered esp. in Export Processing Zones. Business colonialism should be curtailed and not well-supported.

4. Establishment of a structural framework for encouraging domestic businesses instead on inviting foreign businessmen to invest in our national market.

If solutions are laid upon the recommendations abovementioned, results should not be expected at a sooner period but instead, let it suffice that those can step by step diminish the distance between the growing number of noveau riche families and the poorest lagging all the way down below. It is also a means on maximizing our best resources for national benefit. Much awareness must be put on such gap instead of furnishing an elaborate masquerade of development before the eyes of other nations.