John Locke (Wikimedia)

Introduksyon ng nagsalin: Si John Locke ang tanging nagbigay ng pundasyon sa mga prinsipyo na nagtaguyod sa Estados Unidos. Isa siyang Ingles na inspirasyon nila Thomas Jefferson para sa Declaration of Independence at Constitution ng US. Heto ang pangunahing parte ng kanyang “Two Treatises of Government”. Kontra sa patriarchalism o maka-apong pag-iisip ang unang parte, tungkol naman sa gobyernong sibiko ang pangalawa.

Ang orihinal na Ingles ay matatagpuan dito: http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/locke/government.pdf. Iyong mga manunulat noong araw, tulad din ng mga blogger ngayon, nagsasagutan. Sagot ni John Locke itong unang bahagi ng “Tungkol sa Gobyerno” kina Robert Filmer at ang kanyang mga sunud-sunuran na para sa maka-apo (patriarchal) na pag-iisip na kontra sa kalayaan.

Pabor sila Filmer sa mga katulad ni King James II, na naniniwalang may banal siyang karapatang mamuno, kaya siya pinaalis ng mga Ingles. Sila Locke naman ay para kay King William, na ginusto ng mga taongbayan at sumunod kay King James II pagkatapos ng ito’y palayasin.

Pagkabisto at paglansag sa mga maling Prinsipyo at Pundasyon nila Sir Robert Filmer at mga sunud-sunuran niya.

Unang-una: Napakasama at kasuklam-suklam ng pagka-alipin para sa tao, at salungat talaga sa kabaitan at lakas-loob ng bayan natin, na napakahirap isipin na para dito ang isang Ingles, mas lalo pa isang maginoo. Dapat sana’y ang trato ko sa Patriarcha ni Sir Robert Filmer ay parang biro lang, tulad ng lahat ng talakayan na gustong palabasin na alipin lang tayo at ito’y karapat-dapat, at hindi ko sana sineryoso kundi sana napakaseryoso ng kanyang titulo at pagkasulat, pati iyong litrato sa harap ng libro at ang paghanga sa kanya ng marami. Kaya sineryoso ko ang nagsulat at naglimbag.

King James II

Pangalawa: Kung may makaisip man na wala akong galang kung magsulat ng napakalaya tungkol sa isang champion ng kapangyarihang lubos, at idolo ng mga sumasamba rito; nagpapaamo ako ng isang beses man lang na pagbigyan ang isang tao na kahit nabasa na niya ang libro ni Sir Robert ay may sariling isip pa rin, dahil nasa batas na ipinipayagan siyang maging malaya: at wala akong nalalaman na mali sa pagiging ganito, maliban sa may makapagsabi sa akin, gawa ng kanyang mga argumento, na ang kanyang pagtatalakay ay ang tanging tama para sa pulitika magmula ngayon.

Simpleng direksiyon lang ang kanyang pagdadahilan, na ang lahat ng gobyerno ay paghaharing lubos, at ang kanyang pinagtatayuan ay heto lang: “walang taong ipinanganak ng malaya”.

Pangatlo: sa mga nakaraang taon, may henerasyong sumibol na nais sumipsip sa mga matataas, at sinasabi nila sa kanila na may banal na karapatan sila sa kapangyarihang lubos, kahit ano ang mga batas na pundasyon nilang mamuno, at kahit papaano sila mapunta sa puwesto; at marami pa silang mga matimtim na panunumpa at pangako para patibayin na susundan nila ang mga ito.

Para magawa nila itong gusto nila, tinatanggihan nila ang natural na kalayaan ng tao; hindi lang nila nilagay sa sukdulang paghihirap ang kanilang mga mamamayan, kundi tinanggalan din nila ng karapatan ang mga dating mga pinunongbayan (dahil sila rin, maliban sa iisa lang, sa sistema nila, ay ipinanganak bilang alipin, at dapat sumunod sa iisang tagapagmana ni Adam); para bang ninais nilang makipag-gyera sa buong gobyerno, at wasakin ang mismong pundasyon ng lipunan, para makabuti sa kanilang pagiging nasa puwesto.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Kahit laitin ni Sir Robert Filmier sa Patriarchia Parte Tres ang palagay na salungat sa kanya, mahihirapan siyang makahanap ng ibang panahon o bansa, maliban sa kanya, na nagsabing banal na batas ang paghari ng isang tao lamang. Inaamin din niya sa Patriarchia Parte Cuatro na “pinagtibay nila Heyward, Blackwood, Barcly atbp. ang karapatan ng naghahari sa halos lahat ng punto, pero hindi nila ito naisip, gawa ng inaamin nilang natural na malaya at pantay ang tao”.

Panglima: Bahala na ang mga historian kung sino ang nagpauso ng ganitong doktrina dito, at kung ano ang mga masamang epekto nito para sa lahat, o kaya sa mga nakadanas nito. Gusto ko lang talakayin ngayon ang isinulat ni Sir Robert Filmier, dahil siya ang talagang nagbuo ng argumento kung bakit daw tama ito: dahil kahit sinong may pinag-aralan ay aayaw sa ganitong bobong sistema ng pulitika, na nagsasabing “hindi malaya ang tao, kaya hindi sila ang dapat mamili ng kanilang mga pinuno o sistema ng gobyerno”.

Para sa kanya, lubos ang kapangyarihan ng isang hari, at banal na karapatan, dahil walang karapatan ang mga aliping gumawa ng sariling kasunduan o umayaw dito. Lubos daw ang paghahari ni Adam, kaya ang lahat ng hari magmula sa kanya, ganoon din ang karapatan.

Isinalin ni Irineo B. R. Salazar, Munich, November 24, 2015.

PNP training by Bavarian State police (source: Hanns-Seidel foundation)

Maraming humahanga kay Rodrigo Duterte. Sa totoo lang, marami talaga siyang nagawa sa Davao, hindi mapagkakaila ito. Pero maraming gustong siya ang maging Presidente, para lumaki raw ang seguridad sa Pilipinas. Maraming krimen ngayon sa Pilipinas, maraming takot, at maraming sawang-sawa na. Pero siya ba ang solusyon? Tignan natin ng mabuti.

Mga nagawa na ng gobyerno

Tignan muna natin ang nagawa na ng gobyerno. Matagal ng tinutulungan ang Pilipinas ng Hanns-Seidel Stiftung sa München para repormahin ang pulis at hustisya. Ang Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, Pundasyon ng partidong CSU (Christian Social Union) na konserbatibong partido sa Malayang Estado ng Bavaria, isang federal state ng Alemanya.

Hindi lang konserbatibo kundi kanan, kinikilala pagdating sa law and order. Ang mga tulong nila sa Pilipinas na mababasa sa brochure na ito: http://www.hss.de/fileadmin/suedostasien/philippines/downloads/2014/HSF-Philippinen-EN__Oct_2014_.pdf at balita rito: http://www.hss.de/southeastasia/en/philippines/news-events.html.

Naniniwala ako rito dahil dito ako sa Bavaria nakatira, sa München, mula noong 1996. Walang bolahan dito. Mahigpit ang pulis, marunong ang hustisya. Kahit gabi makakalakad akong pauwi na walang takot, kahit babaeng mag-isa rito puwedeng gawin ito. Ano ang itinulong?

1. Sa paggawa ng bagong Codigo Criminal ng DOJ. Natapos ito noong 2014, at narinig ko na baka ipass ito by 2016. Kapag mas simple ang batas, wala nang lusutan.
2. Ang PNP, binibigyan ng mas modernong training sa tulong ng Bavarian State Police since 2008. Merong follow-up ito ng mga Aleman mismo, hindi lang ito pakitang-tao.
3. Binibigyan ng human rights training ang PNP para mas magtiwala sa kanila ang taongbayan. Dito rin ay may follow-up ang mga Aleman since 2008, hindi nagpapabola.

Hindi biro ang Bavarian State Police. Kinikilalang pulis sa Alemanya at sa mundo. Pulis noong panahon pa ng Nazi, kaya natuto rin sila sa human rights after the war, ngayon sila ang mga teacher.

Ang München parang Davao ng Alemanya. Sa Berlin magulo minsan at maraming krimen. Dito sa Munich hindi. Kaya kung sila ang nagtuturo sa PNP, bilib ako. Pero hindi overnight results iyan.

Totoo ba ang lahat tungkol kay Duterte?

Hetong posting ang nagbibigay sa akin ng duda: Duterte is a legend in his own mind! tignan natin ang iilang nilalaman:

Every Davao City resident follows the law and city ordinances to the letter.

Parekoy: ‘Every’ is an exaggeration! My friends (Fil-Chinese) who are close to Duterte keep on violating the city ordinances and even the speed limit and they get away with it dahil malakas sila kay Duterte. Also Davao City has criminals and the record shows that they exist but less compared to other cities.

It is the only city in the country (and perhaps in the world) where criminals fear to tread.

Parekoy: Petty criminals are not welcome for sure but the heavyweights, like the Ampatuans, even have residences there and enjoys the protection of Duterte. NPA commanders even have safe houses there that and the Military can’t touch them for they don’t want Duterte to be offended.

All drivers in the city observe the speed limit of 60 kilometers per hour on the highway and 40 kph in the city proper.

Parekoy: All drivers? Nope. I visited Davao City and my friend who is a friend of Duterte drove faster than 60kph and even saluted by the traffic officer!

An owner of a nationwide retail store chain told me how his application for a business permit breezed through the process without paying a single centavo in bribes to City Hall. That’s the reason many businesses are scrambling to set up their main office in Davao City.

Parekoy: Robredo did it in Naga City for that is what our LGUs are mandated to do but seldom followed. I will give a thumbs-up to Duterte on this regard.

He is also on the prowl for criminals he wants to catch in the act.

Parekoy: Propaganda. Digong is a coward. He makes sure that the petty criminal is caught firs by his goons then his goon calls him and for media mileage he shows how tough he is kuno by slapping the petty criminal when the tipped media is present. Sarah Duterte learned from her father in abusing people in front of the public for they know that the poor guy can’t fight back who is scared shitless surrounded by Digog’s death squad.

His sterling leadership in Davao City will be replicated in the entire country—if he is elected President.

Parekoy: Replicated? More death squads to eradicate petty criminals but coddle bigtime drug lords, smuggling lords, plunderers, oligopolists, etc…

Posting lang ito, pero mukhang may inside sources ang nagpost, matagal ko nang ka-exchange iyan sa Cyber Plaza Miranda ni Raissa Robles.

Siguro dapat alamin kung totoo iyong mga nasa posting na ito, at huwag paniwalaan kaagad ang lahat ng maganda tungkol kay Duterte.

O ano ngayon?

Ano ang mas maganda:

• idevelop ang isang maayos na sistema ng batas, hustisya at pulis tulad ng nasa mga bansang moderno gaya ng Alemanya? o
• umasa sa isang tagapagligtas na inaakalang Superman ng mga tao, pero maaring hindi rin o kaya tipong warlord pala?

Ang isa pa:

• Davao siguro maaring nakaya ni Duterte. Kabisado niya itong lugar niya, baka kaya pa niyang idesisyon kung sino ang nasa listahan niya, kung meron man.
• Pilipinas maraming isla, ang daming tao. Baka hindi na niya mahawakan ang mga taong gagawa para sa kanya. Baka marami pang mga madamay na inosente.

Hindi madaling gawan ng solusyon ang sitwasyon na nasa pangit na. Pero baka mas malaki pa ang side effects ng solusyon na biglaan at hindi kontrolado. Pag-isipan sana ito.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, ika-26 ng Nobyembre, 2015

Philippine’s true size (source: truesize.com)

The focus in the Philippines is always, and too much, on the President. He or she is expected to be a paramount datu, rajah or barangay captain to deal with all problems in the Philippines, a country of nearly 100 million people, in an archipelago of over 7000 islands with the land area of Spain and stretching more or less, from North to South, at a distance going from Oslo to Rome.

This is crazy. The last President able to handle those expectations was Ramon Magsaysay, the mambo-dancing paramount datu of 20 million people whose burial was attended by 2 million. The Philippines in those days was not only smaller, it was simpler. Those who had a voice then thought similarly and spoke similarly. Now, there are many different groups in the country that speak with different voices and think differently. Mindanao is only one of the places struggling to be heard more, nationally. There is nobody who can be everybody’s national barangay captain anymore.

Dr. Mahar Lagmay

Then you have the local governments. Much of what is done well, or is messed up, depends on local governments. Good local governments, such as Albay under Governor Joey Salceda, or Davao under Mayor Duterte, do their jobs in making things progressive, inclusive and safe locally. Who elects good local governments? The people do. Of what use are good performance metrics for LGUs such as the LGPMS which the DILG has put in place if they are not followed by LGUs? Some LGUs allegedly embezzle money or depend on loansharks, how crazy is that?

It is the people who vote their Congressmen, their governors, their mayors. It is also the people who can check them through citizen’s groups like the Citizen Action Network for Accountability or CANA which I mentioned in an older article. It is the people who can press charges against corrupt officials by going to the Ombudsman. It is also the people who are at fault if  all they do is hope for saviors and then complain if they are not saved. Those who hope for miracles from rulers are living in a mindset that belongs to the Middle Ages. The old belief in Germany was that rulers had magical powers, known as Heil. Heil means healing magic or luck in this context. Something akin to the galing attributed to Filipino faith healers. Something like being “Strong with the Force”, to use Star Wars terminology.  Nobody is that strong with the Force to heal (Heil) the country nowadays. Not Duterte, not even Magsaysay. Besides, Star Wars warns us of the dangers of the Dark Side.

General Antonio Luna

And what would Mabini do today? In his Decalogue, he wrote that people should strive for a Republic, not a Monarchy. A Republic means that people take responsibility for whom they vote. This is something that goes at all levels. It also means following the rules the elected representatives have created for everybody. Voting based on popularity is something for beauty or singing contests, voting people (PLURAL!) who can do the job well is the right way to go.

So voting the right Congressmen, the right mayors, the right governors is just as vital as voting the right President. Making sure all do their part in putting together a modern state machinery is also important, making sure more managers and modern leaders like Dr. Lagmay are there to proactively deal with issues. The days of ancient barangays are definitely over, the days of wannabe datus or rajahs should also be.  The days of always playing it by ear are hopefully over as well.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, 5 December 2015, München

The Philippine elections seems to be about personalities all the time. But this is not politics, it is showbiz. What does politics really mean according to Wikipedia:

Politics (from Greek: πολιτικός politikos, definition “of, for, or relating to citizens”) is the practice and theory of influencing other people. Politics involves the making of a common decision for a group of people, that is, a uniform decision applying in the same way to all members of the group. It also involves the use of power by one person to affect the behavior of another person. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance — organized control over a human community, particularly a state. Furthermore, politics is the study or practice of the distribution of power and resources within a given community (a usually hierarchically organized population) as well as the interrelationship(s) between communities.

Agora of Thessaloniki

1. Influencing other people and using power to affect their behavior
2. Achieving and exercising positions of control over people
3. Making a common decision for a group of people

So what is the whole election circus really about at the moment?

• Politicians like Escudero and Duterte are good at 1)
• Most people want to choose who will have 2)
• Very few are looking at 3) for the country

But 3) is the most important, because politikos used to mean “related to citizens” – or the country.

Polis meant city in Greek, and politics was discussed in agoras like the one in Thessaloniki. Now the Greeks of today are loud and passionate like Filipinos, and maybe even more chaotic, it must have been loud there as well before. Today’s social media are the agora of Filipino politics.  Sometimes they even voted on exiling certain people for 10 years or so for causing trouble, the so-called ostracism. Sometimes I wish there were such a thing in the Philippines, for people like Chiz Escudero. Occasionally they voted for a tyrannis, a temporary dictatorship to fix things for a while when democracy did not work. Often tyrants were the ones who were ostracized after ruling the polis for some years.

But back to the topics that could be important for a country as a whole, so that we can dissect the matters at hand, like cooler Northern people do:

• peace and order (police and justice)
• opportunities (economic and educational)
• citizen services (local and nationwide)
• infrastructure (all kinds)
• good governance (corruption-free and efficient)
• economic development (investments and promotion)
• international relations (trade and diplomacy)
• national security (defense and disasters)

I have listed disaster preparedness as a part of national security, because calamities in the country are common and have devastating effects.

Legazpi City, Albay

1. Peace and order: CCTV, Oplan Lambat-Sibat, PNP modernization
2. Opportunities: CCT and Pantawid Pamilya, Negosyo Centers, K-12
3. Citizen services: government webpage for complaints and hotline
4. Infrastructure: roads and ports built, mainly via PPP
5. Good governance: the Ombudsman is acting, LGPMS for LGUs
6. Economic development: more trust in the country by investors, BPO
7. International relations: APEC, ASEAN, ITLOS filing, Vietnam alliance, trust
8. National security: AFP equipment (planes), Project NOAH, Oplan Listo for LGUs

Of course there are negatives, so let us have a look at them, and some I will ask as questions to see what might be missing:

1. Peace and order: drug problems, kidnappings, lawlessness in some areas (Lumad killings, NPAs, death squads).
2. Opportunities: slum areas are still huge especially in Metro Manila, also causing all the crime problems.
3. Citizen services: how reachable the government appears to the people, and how responsive, seems to vary.
4. Infrastructure: the Internet is very slow, Manila is overcrowded and has heavy traffic, what else could be missing?
5. Good governance: where is the Ombudsman not yet doing enough, and which LGUs are not following LGPMS?
6. Economic development: which areas are not yet benefitting enough from growth? Mindanao seems to.
7. International relations: I don’t see any problems here, why should one talk to China at this point?
8. National security: Current BBL has great risks and needs changes I think, cybersecurity must be addressed.

Whether one sees the present government as more or less successful or even as a failure depends on perspective and how one gives points for the good and bad things.

Helmut Kohl 1994

A. How do I evaluate the performance of the present government in Points 1-8. Based on good and bad what are the final scores, and what is the average?

B. What things should stay the way they are, what should be improved a bit, and what should be completely changed compared to today?

C. Look at the candidates and see what they are planning to do, check their programs and see which matches my idea best – then vote that candidate.

Of course it is easy for me. I learned to vote like this in Germany, where most candidates are really boring, especially when I was new here I hated that. During the time of Chancellor Helmut Kohl and President Roman Herzog, one columist wrote something like this: do not expect too much passion in a country run by big fat men wearing glasses. Well, after him came the “media chancellor” Gerhard Schröder. I voted for him too because I found him cool, thinking why should I vote for “the elephant”? Gerhard Schröder cut taxes for my income group and I was happy. But raised taxes in all kinds of places so everything became more expensive in the end. Nice, I had more money in my pocket, but could buy less with it than before. And more things…

I didn’t vote at all in 2005, when boring Angela Merkel won against “Gerd”. Merkel once shot down her former mentor Helmut Kohl in the Christian Democratic Union. Now Kohl as the leader of the CDU was a political player in the same league as Franklin Drilon, inspite of his appearance. But he underestimated “Das Mädchen” (the girl) from East Germany, a Chemistry Ph.D. who used to have very bad haircuts. Everybody underestimated “Angie”.

Enough of people for now. Back to politics. How do you evaluate the present government based on criteria like above, and what changes/improvements do you expect? I don’t see one single newspaper in the Philippines that has truly analyzed this. Nor do I see a summary like this from any single candidate.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, 9. December 2015

Pharaoh Ramses II

1. Bands: Khoisan, Agta
2. Villages: kraal, barangays
3. Warlords: Nebuchadnezar, Ampatuan
4. God-Kings: Pharaoh, Duterte
5. Rebels/Prophets: Moses, Dagohoy
6. Moral lawmakers: St. Paul, Mabini
7. Secular lawmakers: Justinian, Quezon

The different stages

Some explanations on how these different stages looked like:

Stage 1) Bands: hunter-gatherers like many Agta before. Fedor Jagor, German-Russian businessman and amateur ethnologist, wrote that the Agta in Bikol hunted together, and those who were able-bodied but did not join the hunt did not get their share of the food. Fair enough. But anthropologist Jared Diamond noted that this way of life needs a lot of space to be sustainable.

Stage 2) Villages: agriculture is more efficient in sustaining larger groups, but once people have more you need to regulate property. Conflicts were settled by going to the chief, a role the barangay captain has until today. Germanic tribes had primitive versions of today’s American juries – trial by councils, and simple forms of democracy with village assemblies.

Stage 3) Warlords started in places where there were many people around big rivers that made large-scale agriculture possible.  They controlled the people who worked the fields by fear and took their surpluses. Nebuchadnezzar was Babylonian, in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. These often shifted their course, causing fertile areas to change, with numerous conflicts as a result. The epic Gilgamesh and the movie 10000 BC show the shift from villages to warlord-run cities.

Stage 4) Pharaohs and Chinese Emperors were the first God-Kings. Pharaohs maintained control of both the upper areas of the Nile and the lower areas and controlled water and harvest distribution. Cats were holy in ancient Egypt because they guarded the granaries. The novel Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer shows how Pharaoh Ramses was head of the harvest and fertility cult of Egypt. Women adored him. He even shows his erection at a harvest festival. God-Kings also made final decisions, literally over matters of life and death, war and peace, by themselves.

Stage 5) Prophets were rebels. Moses led slaves out of Egypt, the Pharaoh pursuing him. The idea of one God kept people together for a while. But when the Jews were in the desert, they started to worship idols. Moses went up the mountain, and had to come back with the Ten Commandments. Pirates were also rebels. Greek democracies had their origins in mercantile city-states, but it is clear that the Greeks started as pirates. Troy was simply a pirate raid on a rich city run by warlords. Pirates in the Carribean also had some form of democracy. Vikings also did.

Stage 6) Moral lawmakers. Moses became a moral lawmaker with the 10 Commandments. St. Paul of course was a more prolific moral lawmaker, his Letters to different Greek and Roman cities were lectures on how to behave correctly. Common morals are useful to keep large communities together without having to resort to fear which God-Kings and Warlords did, or rely only on faith in God. Bonifacio with his Kartilya and Mabini with his Dekalogo also tried to give Commandments to the Filipino people. One of Bonifacio’s Commandments was to respect women.

Stage 7) Secular lawmakers. Roman Emperor Justinian was one of the first to codify laws. His “Roman law” became the basis for later laws in Europe. The nice thing about secular law is that it is logical and clear, and does not depend on what God you believe in, or what morals you have. Of course it depends on justice and police that are not corrupt, so the foundation of morals is important for it to function as well. Quezon said he would prefer a country run like hell by Filipinos than one run like heaven by Americans. Did he believe too much in Filipinos?

The Philippine situation

Because in the Philippines, you have almost no more people in Stage 1, but many in Stage 2-4. Barangay captains are little datus. Mayors are often little rajas. Mayors and governors are not warlords as often anymore, but in some places they still seem to be. Duterte talks like a God-King who decides who is bad and who is good, just by himself. Let us look at history:

Stage 1) Isolated groups of foragers. Agta, but also remontados or Cimarrones during Spanish times, who wanted to escape forced labor and impunity. There are Agta-Cimarrones in Tiwi, Albay.

Stage 2) Barangays. But the barangay system was coopted by the Spanish and the datus became the principalia. It became the barrio system under the Americans and was revived by Marcos. Aguinaldo started as a cabeza de barangay and even as a President had that mentality.

Stage 3) Warlords. Raja Mangubat of the teleserye Amaya comes to mind.  They consolidated several barangays into areas they controlled. Also most generals of Aguinaldo were de facto warlords. Many postwar Filipino politicians were warlords, until President Marcos became the supreme warlord with an army that was enlarged and recruited many Ilocanos. The NPA and the different Muslim insurrections produced new warlords of different types, masquerading as revolutionaries.

Stage 4) God-Kings. President Marcos was a God-King to some extent, at least to his followers. Legendary figures like Handyong, King of Ibalon or Bikol who may have ruled from near Naga, or proven historical figures like the Kings of Tondo, all ruled economically prosperous regions like parts of the Manila Bay area or the estuary of the Bikol river.

Stage 5) Rebels/prophets. The Colorums or Pulahanes were often rebel prophets. Dagohoy was a rebel and a prophet, restoring native religion in the mountains. Felix Manalo was a prophet in the days after Aguinaldo’s failed Republic. His INC followers use a Tagalog that is remiscent of Bonifacio and Mabini to this day. Corazon Aquino was a bit of a prophet against a God-King, helped by military warlords who made problems for her later. But also a lawmaker and institution-builder: Local Goverment and Family Codes, the Ombudsman and the 1987 Constitution.

Stage 6) Moral lawmakers: Spanish Catholic priests. Bonifacio and Mabini. Noynoy Aquino with Daang Matuwid. Some of his actions in the beginning: Arroyo and Corona – may be seen as arbitrary or not, while the actions of the Ombudsman recently show that the fight against corruption seems to be picking up. President Aquino, both mother and son, have made the mistake of trusting their people too much. Cory the Cojuangcos. Noynoy trusted his sisters too much who supported Binay. He also may have trusted people like Abaya and Purisima way too much.

Stage 7) Secular Lawmakers: 19th-century Spanish administrators. 20th-century American administrators. Filipinos supporting them, including Manuel Quezon, afterwards postwar lawmakers. Mar Roxas has been an institution-builder as DILG Secretary. The modernization of the PNP and the enabling and monitoring of LGUs picked up under him, continuing Jesse Robredo’s work.

The Presidential Candidates

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte (source: Telegraph)

No wonder the Philippines is so disorderly. Many different levels in the evolution of order coexist. Let us look at the presidential candidates:

Jejomar Binay: in the book “Raiding, Trading and Feasting”, Laura Lee Junker shows how datus used to consolidate their power. Those with economic power gave a share of the spoils to allies. Sounds like Binay’s sister cities program. Binay is in Stage 2.

Rodrigo Duterte: he is clearly in Stage 4. He acts like a Pharaoh in the Egyptian fertility cult, with women on his lap on stage, the Mocha Girls endorsing him and followers nearly worshipping him. Davao today is also an economically prosperous area. Duterte’s vice-mayors are from different tribes, like God-King Alexander the Great delegated his regions to satraps. Duterte federalism might be similar.

Grace Poe: she wants to fix the Philippines, but has no idea how to. She is definitely in Stage 5. More than Cory Aquino ever was.

Miriam Santiago represents law, meaning Stage 7. But Miriam Santiago has teamed up with Bongbong and is not healthy. Miriam Santiago is for the law and has implemented it, usually as bombastic micro-management. She may also have been in the Senate too long.

Mar Roxas represents modern order, meaning Stage 7 as well. Mar Roxas has done good work so far, but in some parts in may have been effective, in some not. Parts of the PNP may still be doing things the old corrupt and/or brutal way. Many LGUs are not compliant, the worst example of this may have been Tacloban during Yolanda. The famous video where he says “bahala kayo sa buhay ninyo” is only his reaction to the Tacloban mayor. Filipinos are often non-compliant, “pasaway” and need micro-management, even by motorcycle.

Choices and Consequences

Finally people will vote for the candidate who is at the stage they are themselves. Stage 7 is much better. It is logical and organized. I have seen it work over here. But of course it only works if the people implementing it have internalized Stages 6 and 7. Daang Matuwid had its difficulties in forcing Stage 6, sometimes using people who still were partly in Stage 5 or even below. Those that are modern and compliant would make a Roxas presidency successful. Those that have to be motivated by fear and guided by micromanagement will be looking for a Duterte presidency.

Mayor Duterte is a lawyer. His mind was educated for Stage 7, but his guts act more like Stage 4. Has he understood Stage 6 in his heart? I don’t know. He is popular among those who have not yet fully assimilated Stages 6 and 7 – moral and legal. His satraps who have not understood this will be a danger. And after Alexander the Great died, the satraps formed their own kingdoms. There is a clear danger that the Philippines would Balkanize after Duterte dies, which is likely within the next years.  Unless he is as virile and strong as Pharaoh Ramses II, Shelley’s Ozymandias:

Defaced Marcos bust (Photo: AP)

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Conclusion and Perspectives

Finally, Filipinos will choose the President that they deserve at this stage of their social development.  The difficulties of Daang Matuwid, and of Roxas not being popular, show that the Stages 6 and 7 have not yet reached enough people. Of course the leaders who have been taking the country forward are from richer families. They passed through the other stages earlier and had the possibility to learn things that others did not have. It was like that in all of human history.

The Agta that Fedor Jagor observed near Tiwi in Albay were the 1870s. That is hardly 150 years ago. Europeans and Americans had centuries to go through similar developments. Children learn attitudes from their parents and their environment. Hopefully they improve on their parent’s attitudes. But a rest of old attitudes always remains.

Racism took long to be removed in American attitudes. Democracy took long to take root in Germany. And still you will find people in both countries that have the old attitudes, or make others slide back into them. I really hope the Philippines finds its way. Because today the world is more interconnected, and sliding back means losing to others. Merry Christmas to all readers.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, 11 December 2015, München

P.S. I am taking a break until after Christmas, but will be answering comments for a few more days.

KZ Dachau, Leiche vor Verbrennungsofen

Mang Juan hat ein einziges Kind, Jose. Jose ist neunzehn Jahre alt und wird in einem Semester mit dem College fertig sein. Mang Juan nennt ihn seinen Diamanten. Fleißig. Intelligent. Verantwortungsbewusst.

Es kam dazu, dass Jose bei Einbruch der Nacht durch die Gräser nach Hause lief. Noch einige Augenblicke, und Jose sah, wie ein Mann einen knieenden und um Gnade flehenden Teenager erschoss…

Bis Mitternacht wartete Mang Juan auf Jose bis er einschlief. Am nächsten Morgen wurde er durch den Lärm seiner Nachbarn geweckt. Er ging aus dem Haus heraus und fragte was passiert war. Sie sagten, es wurden welche getötet und in der Nähe des Friedhofs entsorgt. “Dass ist gut! Die Geißeln der Gesellschaft! Geschiet Ihnen Recht,” sagt Mang Juan sofort. Er ging mit den Nachbarn als Schaulustiger mit. Viele Leute standen herum. Sie tuschelten. Geschiet ihnen Recht. Schaut was für Kriminelle das sind. Passt zu ihnen. Mang Juan quetschte sich zwischen die Menschen bis ihm liegend… zwei Leichen erschienen. Eine mit Tätowierungen auf dem ganzen Körper. Die andere war der, auf den er die ganze Nacht gewartet hatte.

Er schaute zum blauen Himmel hinauf, der auf einmal einen Riss zu haben schien… darauf folgte ein spitzer Schrei, wie der eines Hundes, der einen Welpen verloren hat…

Am 19. Dezember 2015 in München von Irineo B. R. Salazar aus dem philippinischen Original übersetzt.

(Anmerkung des Übersetzers: “Mang” ist eine Bezeichnung für Männer des einfachen Volkes auf den Philippinen, Bantaleon ist ein Wortspiel auf banta – Warnung, und Leon – Löwe)

Maganda at may nilabas nang programa ang kandidatong si Mayor Duterte. Nasa ThinkingPinoy ang mga detalye. Mabuti at hindi lang sampalan ang pinag-uusapan ngayon. Mahalagang pag-usapan ang ugali ng isang magiging Presidente, kung mapagkakatiwalaan ito o hindi, kung kaya niya ang pamumuno at iba pa. Mahalaga ring pag-usapan ang kakayahan ng isang kandidato, kung ano ang kanyang nagawa na, para malaman kung kaya niyang gawin ang ibinabalak niya. Mahalaga rin ito para malaman kung tugma ang mga pangako niya sa dati niyang pamamalakad.

Napupunta na sa pagiging mas mature ang politika sa Pilipinas. Hindi na Kindergarten, hindi na Elementary, hindi na rin High School. Sa iilang bagay, Undergraduate pa, ibig sabihin hindi pa naka-graduate para maging Bachelor. Sa iilang bagay, Graduate level na, ibig sabihin papunta ng Master’s. Hindi basta-basta ang magpatakbo ng isang bansa. Lalo na iyong nagiging moderno na, pero hindi pa sanay doon. Lahat ng bansang naging moderno, nagdaan sa gulo at hirap. Pag-aralan ang kasaysayan para malaman ito. Pero balik tayo sa programa ni Atty. Rodrigo Duterte:

1. Corruption: Increase salary of military and police to give them dignity and dissuade them from taking bribes
2. Public Order: Inspire Filipinos to be disciplined so future Filipinos can inspire each other to do the same.
3. Industrialization: Revive the country’s steel industry, arguing that it’s the most important step towards industrialization
4. Economic Policies: Make our economic policies and laws simple and believable, protect the investments that will come in.
5. Foreign Investments:  Creation of Free Zone-type “business islands” to encourage investmentand create jobs.
6. Food Security: Improve logistics to lower food costs; Make GOCC-banks’ credit facilities more accessible to the poor farmers and fishermen
7. Education: Use of technology to address classroom shortage; Use of government and mass media to revive and promote Values Education
8. Education: Implied the return of children’s TV programs, so the question is… ibabalik ba niya ang Batibot?

Pagsusuri sa Programa

Corruption: meron modernisasyon na ang PNP na nabanggit ko sa artikulong Seguridad ni Duterte, sa tulong ng Alemanya mula pa noon 2009. Siyempre hindi kaagad mababago ang isang organisasyon na napakalaki at marami nang nasanay sa maling pamamalakad. Maganda ang magtaas ng suweldo, at itinataas naman ng gobyerno ito. Pero tignan muna kung kayang bayaran. Maraming mga gustong magbaba ang taxes. Hindi maaring isabay ang pagbaba ang taxes at itaas ang suweldo ng mga nasa gobyerno. Sobrang dami na yata ng government employees ngayon. Dapat bawasan ang mga ito sa tagal-tagal, pero dapat may matinong plano sa computerization. Merong proyekto ang DOST na iGovPhil. Malawak na computerization program na para sa gobyerno. Ilang taon na. Computer specialist ako, beterano na talaga. Alam ko kung gaanong katagal ang ganyan. Dapat kasama din dito ang isang database para sa kapulisan. With national ID if possible. Lahat ng bansa sa Continental EU may national ID at lahat ng tao dapat mag-register kung saan nakatira. Sa England at USA lang ito hindi uso. Bakit kasi sa USA lahat ginagaya?

Public Order: kasama sa K-12 ang Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao. Hindi nakukuha sa biglaan ang pagiging displinado. Noong panahon ng Martial Law, bawal ang private firearms, pero iyong mga may hawak ng sandata sa estado, minsan inaabuso ang kapangyarihan nila. Mas maganda ang bagong programa ng PNP, kasama ang taongbayan, community based. Otherwise, iyong mga curfew ng Davao hindi masama. Normal ang ganyan sa Alemanya kung saan ako nakatira. Ang Protection of Young Persons Act halimbawa ay isang Federal Law. Bawal ang magtinda ng alak o sigarilyo sa mga menor de edad, kung bata ka pang tignan hihingan ka ng national ID ng tindahan – kung hindi sila ang magbabayad ng multa. Pero pagdating sa Public Order, mag-ingat sa pagka-close ni Mayor Duterte sa mga NPA. Ayaw na siya ng maraming militar gawa nito, lalo na iyong sitwasyon sa Davao ngayon. Pagkakaisa ang mahalaga para sa Public Order. Nadanas na ng Alemanya ang karahasan para ipilit ang Ordnung. Hindi umobra. Kung sa ngayon lang, lahat ng ibang kampo inaaway na ni Duterte at lalo na iyong mga supporter niya, baka lalong magkawatak-watak lahat.

Industrialization: ang steel industry sa buong mundo ngayon nahihirapan na. Iyong mga murang mag-produce tulad ni Mittal na taga-India, natatalo ang mga European companies. At hindi na lahat nagdedepende sa steel. Iyong mga modernong kumpanya tulad ng Airbus na gumagawa ng eroplano o Daimler-Benz na gumagawa ng Mercedes, composite materials na ang madalas gamitin. Ang Daimler-Benz, gumagamit pa nga ng abaca ngayon – native product ng Davao at Albay ito. Tignan kaya ng mabuti kung anong magagawa rito. Dahil kahit sa metal kailangan ng matinding pananaliksik para makagawa ka ng matibay na produkto. Meron na nito ang DOST: iyong Metals Industry Research and Development Center. Kaya sila nakadevelop ng Roadtrain at AGT na maaring pumalit sa MRT balang araw. Nakita sa MRT na mahirap ang umasa sa parteng galing sa abroad. Lahat ng maunlad na bansa may sariling teknolohiya at pananaliksik. Huwag tanggalin ang Algebra para sa magiging scientist, iyong vocational wala nito sa Grade 11-12. Tignan ang K-12 Plus na tinutulangan din nga Alemanya, may training sa trabahador sa manufacturing.

Economic Policies: tama. Halu-halo at tagpi-tagpi ang mga batas ngayon. Maraming lusutan na pampabagal sa hustisya. Nabanggit ko rin sa artikulong Seguridad ni Duterte na matagal nang may project ang DOJ para gawing mas simple at wala nang lusot ang Criminal Code, sa tulong din ng Alemanya. Natapos na ang Draft nito noong 2014, pero ewan ko kung nasaan. Sa nababasa ko mukhang tamad ang Kongreso, baka hindi nila ito inaasikaso. Pero meron nang nagawa ang Go Negosyo Act, meron nang mga Negosyo Center, halimbawa sa Cebu at Davao. May nakinabang na.

Foreign Investments: meron nang katulad ng sinusuggest ni Mayor Duterte ang PEZA. Para ito halimbawa sa mga gustong magtayo ng BPO company. Ano pa ang kulang sa tingin ni Mayor? Baka parang Hong Kong at Macao style ang gusto niyang gawin, o kaya iyong mga Export Processing Zone (EPZA) ni Marcos? Ang naging problema sa mga EPZA ni Marcos, iyong mga karapatan ng mga trabahador, madalas na natatapakan kaya lumakas ang mga Komunista. Sa bagay, mukhang close si Mayor Duterte sa mga NPA. Baka puro Chinese companies ang ipasok sa Pilipinas. Racist ang mga Chinese, baka alipinin lang nila ang mga Pilipino. Mabuti pa iyong gumawa ng sariling industriya na nakabase sa pananaliksik at engineering. Magandang simula na ang mga proyekto ng DOST at ang K-12 Plus, pati na ang K-12 para tumaas ang antas ng edukasyon na kinakailangan ng Pilipinas para maging tunay na industrial country at hindi lang pagawaan ng iba.

Food Security: mukhang napabayaan ito. Pagdating sa logistics, marami ng mga daang ginawa ang gobyerno ngayon sa pamamagitan ng PPP. Iyong namang distribution logistics, maganda ang nakita ko rito sa Alemanya: iyong BAYWA. Sila ang nag-aarkila ng mga makina sa mga magsasaka, pati harvest storage at building materials may serbisyo sila. Pag-aralan ito dahil may ganyan ding si President Quezon noong araw, Marcos din kaya lang cronies ang nakinabang. Pagdating naman sa financing, meron nang mga microfinancing projects na tinutulungan din ng Alemanya.

Education: nabanggit ko na sa itaas na maganda ang mga lesson plan ng K-12. Meron nang Values Education. Use of technology – meron akong nabasang partnership ng Globe at DepEd para mas gamitin ang Internet. Meron na akong nasulat na artikulo tungkol sa Internet sa Pilipinas – dapat ayusin ito dahil mabagal talaga. May ginagawa ang DOST ASTI pero baka kulang sa suporta. Tungkol naman sa TV, ang problema hindi iyon: maling paggamit ng Internet ang problema. Sobrang Internet nakakasira ng ulo. Dapat magulang ang piliting mag-control sa mga anak nila. Mahigpit talaga rito sa Alemanya pagdating doon. Kapag mga anak mo hindi pumapasok, o kaya laging nahuhuli sa kung anu-ano, puwedeng alisin sa iyo ng Jugendamt o Youth Office ang mga ito at ilagay sa foster family or kaya state facility na parang Boys Town. Bago mangyari ito, may counsellor munang bibisita sa pamilya para tignan kung ano ang kalagayan ng pamamahay, kung pabaya o kaya patapon ang mga magulang. Sa ganyan, maraming natutulungan bago pa mapunta sa krimen o droga iyong mga bata. Hindi kasalanan ng isang bata ang kanyang mga magulang.

Imperial dynasty ng mga Hapon

Mga kulang pa

Metro Manila: pinakamalaking problema ito ng Pilipinas. Bakit?

• overpopulated – pinakamasikip na na lugar sa buong mundo. Tignan ang population density para malaman.
• lumulubog na – gawa ito ng groundwater subsidence. Nauubos ang groundwater, lumulubog ang lupa.
• pataas ang dagat – lumulubog na, tapos pataas pa ang dagat. Puro baha ang mapapala sa ganyan.

Paalisin siguro ang Crame, Aguinaldo at Bilibid sa Maynila, pati na rin ang Wack-Wack, tapos iba pa. Kapag kumonti ang tao sa Maynila, mas madaling solusyonan ang traffic. Siyentipikong napatunayan na mas agresibo ang mga tao at dumadami ang krimen at droga sa mga siyudad, lalo na sa mga megacity na over 10 million na katao. Bawasan!

International relations: nasa gitna ang Pilipinas ng isang malaking conflict ng dalawang superpowers.

• mas kabisado ng Pilipino ang ugaling Amerikano, kaya sa tingin ko mas magandang sila ang kaalyado.
• ang Chinese, mababa ang tingin sa lahat ng Southeast Asian, dapat ba silang kaibiganin tulad ng sabi ni Duterte?
• sa tingin ko, maganda ang ginawa ni Presidente Aquino. Kinasuhan ang China para iwasan muna ang gyera. Anong karugtong nito?

Mga oportunidad: para umasenso ang mga masisipag at matalino, kahit galing sila sa hirap o kamangmangan. Madami akong nakikitang mga anak ng mga migrante na umasenso sa abroad. Tulad ng anak ng dati kong yaya. Siya mismo, pinaaral ng nanay kong Aleman dahil nakita niyang matalino at masipag. Pero nahirapang makakuha ng trabahong katumbas ng pinag-aralan niya dahil ang tingin sa kanya dating katulong pa rin kaya nag-abroad din. Iyong anak niya, maraming wikang isinasalita at nag-aaral na ngayon sa Unibersidad. Ama niya magsasaka at tricycle driver dati sa Pilipinas, nanay niya nagdaan sa pagiging katulong at sekretarya doon. Maraming angking talino at kakayahan ang mga Pilipino na nasasayang gawa ng makalumang lipunan doon, kasi nagdedepende masyado sa level ng magulang mo ang makakamit mo sa buhay. May mga political dynasties – kasama na rin doon ang mga Duterte – pero hindi lang doon. Pati sa UP may mga dynasty ng mga propesor, sa Army may mga dynasty ng mga officer at kung saan saan pa. Kulang ang tunay na kompetisyon. Mga bansang maunlad, meron nito. Kahit iyong meron pang mga hari at reyna, hindi na masyadong binibigyan ito ng importansya kung anak ka na royal. Si Prince Andrew ng Inglatera, pareho lang ang trato sa kanya noong nasa militar siya. Walang favoritism. Kaya kung hindi sana nakipag-alyansa si Senadora Santiago sa mga Marcos na dynasty din, siya ang mas gugustuhin ko sa lahat. Umasenso siya gawa ng pag-aaral at kasipagan. Bihira sa Pilipinas ito.

Pambansang diskusyon

Babaeng Manobo (Wikimedia)

Mabuti at nagsisimula na ang pambansang diskusyon tungkol sa mga dapat gawin para matuloy ang pag-asenso ng Pilipinas. Sa ekonomiya meron na, pero marami pang hindi pa nakinabang kaya maraming hindi kuntento. Kasi ang Pilipino swapang madalas. Noong panahon ng mga Marcos puro mga crony. Noong panahon ni Arroyo puro mga oligarchs. Maski noong panahon ni Cory may mga kamag-anak siyang nakinabang na hindi niya macontrol gawa ng sobra niyang bait at pagiging inosente. Si Noynoy minsan hindi rin makahindi sa kanyang mga KKK. Si Ramos OK sana.

Itong mga pangugulit kong artikulo, ambag lamang ng isang napatagal sa abroad at nakakita na ng magandang pamamalakad. Maaring hindi magagawa ang lahat ng suggestion ko dahil baka hindi pa bagay sa kasalukuyang sitwasyon sa Pilipinas na magulo talaga. Malaki ang mga pagkakaiba ng bawat lugar, pati na ng mga tao pagdating sa ugali, edukasyon at kakayahan. Dapat siguro gawing mas pantay ang pamumuhay sa loob ng bansa – sa Alemanya, requirement pa nga ito sa kanilang Konstitusyon, Article 72 (2) – equivalent living conditions. Mahirap kasi kung may mga naiiwan.

Ang tingin ko kay Duterte, mayabang at pampagulo, pang-mayor lang. Pero maganda rin minsan iyong pampagulo para magising lahat, mapag-usapan, maiplano at maisagawa ang mga dapat gawin. Huwag sana biglaan at baka mahulog pa sa bangin, pero huwag din iyong sobrang bagal. Iba-iba ang mga Pilipino ngayon. Sa iba’t-ibang isla. Sa buong mundo. Pagsama-samahin ang kaalaman at karanasan. Makinig at gumalang sa magkaibang opinyon. Buhayin ang Demokrasya.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, ika-20 ng Disyember 2015

P.S. ano ang mga suggestion NINYO tungkol sa lahat na ito?

Kennon Road construction in 1903 (Wikimedia commons)

The Philippines rides a tiger today. Like a bus going up Kennon road, it is on a narrow path upwards, with the precipice to one side and the mountain to the other. The Philippines is going through multiple developments that Europe and America had decades and centuries for at Internet speed, with some people very much ahead and others way behind – in all respects.

Forces of History

Different tribes on numerous islands were colonized. Islam, Spain and the Americans shaped them. The Spanish co-opted local nobility as the principalia, from barangay to municipal level. Some of the principalia became ilustrados, the first to define the Filipino nation as an idea. The common people had no real idea of a Filipino nation. The nation that Bonifacio referred to was Katagalugan, the Tagalog nation, even if some Filipino nationalists say he meant the Philippines, I doubt he really did.

In early 20^th century Bikol, there were the “Nationalists”, more often principalia and Spanish-speaking, often originally coming from Tagalog or other regions, and “Americanists” who saw their opportunities in the new order, mostly those who were not yet as entrenched. Aguinaldo’s Republic was mainly Tagalog and run by the principalia, with some ilustrados like Heneral Luna and Mabini. Probably Mabini was the only true Filipino nationalist at that time, seeing both nation and people.

Quezon was a Nationalist who completed the Philippine state with Americanist methods, and was instrumental in fighting the more radical Ricartistas, the followers of Heneral Ricarte. Ricarte was anti-American and pro-Japanese, his followers often tough street people. The Jones Law of 1916 temporarily defused the Ricartista movement. Ricarte, “El Vibora” went into Japanese exile to return with the Japanese. The reviled MAKAPILI were a reincarnation of the aggressive Ricartista spirit.

NP and LP continued along old Nationalist and Americanist lines – one more pro-state, the other more pro-business, even if Macapagal tried to outdo the NP in being nationalist. Marcos for all his anti-oligarch rhetoric established his own cronies, and was beholden to certain groups within the United States at that time for all his nationalistic rhetoric. The persecution of intellectuals during his period made many become rebels – both Moro groups and NPA grew during the Marcos regime.

Cory for all her American education was against US bases staying. Ramos eased the return of the Marcos family for all his efficiency, while Erap nearly had Marcos interred in the Heroes Cemetery. Throwing out Erap who seemed for the people but proved corrupt only paved the way for worse in the form of Gloria Arroyo. Noynoy Aquino was voted into power on the hope that he might be able to make things better.

The Philippines Now

He has done well on some fronts, OK on many, and badly on a few. In international matters – dealing with China, multilateral cooperation, APEC and ASEAN, the growing relationship with the EU which has recently started free trade talks with the Philippines, formerly shunned – his record is excellent. In economic matters as well, the Central Bank is now excellent, international credit ratings have gone up, the BPO business continues to buzz. Even tourism is picking up again. In terms of opportunities, it looks like the Go Negosyo Act and Negosyo Centers have already been effective. In social matters, the 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilya) couple assistance for the poor with inculcating better habits, and CCT is coupled with school performance. Both are well monitored from what I gather. K-12 is a good education program, Oplan Lambat-Sibat and LGPMS sound good on the police and local government side. How well implemented and monitored they are is unclear.

Because of colonialism, the Philippines have had the clean and dirty kitchen everywhere. The clean kitchen to be shown to guests, especially foreigners, and the dirty kitchen were the maids cook. Daang Matuwid was theoretically about honesty, about cleaning up the dirty kitchen. The Ombudsman seems to be hyperactive in smoking out corruption; BIR seems to have been cleaned while Customs remains a problem. And yes, charges were pressed in the Tanim-Bala scam. BBL was not handled well, and has failed. The MRT and Manila traffic not handled with enough foresight.

Walls were built to hide squatters from both visitors of the UNCTAD V conference in Manila during Marcos times, and the Pope. Does it sound similar to some things that happened this year? Yes. There are more honest Filipinos now than then in my opinion, but brutal honesty must increase. Not to hit back at “the other side”, but to solve the many problems the country has. The country is in the process of maturing, and maturity means adressing issues without resorting to passive-aggressive sullenness or denial on one side and aggressive blaming on the other.

Confusion and Understanding

Inquirer logo (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Therefore it takes enormous effort to get a clear picture of what is really going on at important fronts, even for the highly interested. Social media is both a force of information and disinformation, especially with the campaign nearing.

Top-level press in developed countries would report about Tanim-Bala like this, to give a recent example:

• Since when has it been reported, how many cases, how many dismissed etc.
• How many cases in relation to number of travelers in a given time frame.
• Timeline – first reports, investigation initiated, charges pressed etc.

I miss accurate and extensive reporting on crime in the Philippines as well. How was it before, what has improved, where are the flashpoints. What are the causes? Has crime “increased” statistically because it is only being reported more now, being monitored better? Is it only because the dirty kitchen has been opened and the cockroaches are finally being counted? My feeling is partly yes, partly no. Whether you look at DILG and PNP, or at Davao, I doubt it is the whole picture.

Clear statistics about poverty, and overview of the places where there are a lot of slums, what is being done about it are needed. I would expect a future President to show a map of the country at every SONA, with problem zones for every important aspect – rebellion, crime, poverty – shown in red, OK areas in blue, and fixed areas in green. And comparisions to the year before. If the President does not do it, I would expect good media to do it. Only hard-nosed realism fixes problems long-term. Not excessive optimism and smugness, not opportunistic negativism.

Shaping the Future

Modern re-creation of Roman SPQR

Real education. Problem-solving skills and not discussing ius sanguinis and residency requirements like medieval monks who discussed how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Equal opportunities. Filipinos often are cake eaters and pettily quarrelsome, based on colonial and postcolonial experience. The cake should be grown for all to have more instead of quarreling about it.

Effective justice. Rules should be clear and simple, and imposed impartially and without delay. Not what they have been so very often – used to favor one’s own group and screw others.

Good Leaders. Don’t ask me who I would prefer for President. What is needed are:

1. A President who can lead a team of Secretaries and supervise the LGUs nationwide,
2. A Vice President who assists the President and is a credible successor just in case,
3. A Senate that not only makes good laws, but blocks and/or modifies bad laws,
4. A Congress that represents the different local groups, but thinks nationwide,
5. Governors and Mayors that effectively implement what is needed locally.

Good citizens. People who both support their leaders, and constructively criticize them as well. Who form citizen groups to help in auditing local governments, like the Citizen Action Network for Accountability. Who check the press, but in order to increase understanding, not confusion. People will have to vote leaders at all levels that can work together, and learn to work together as well. Follow rules by themselves, and help fix rules that are obsolete.

Senatus Populusque Romanus

SPQR meant the Senate and the People of Rome, a force to be reckoned with. Finally it is about cohesion. Albay under Governor Joey Salceda seems to have achieved that at all levels, forged among other things by weathering natural disasters. Nona was handled in an exemplary manner recently. Since Yolanda, improvements like DOST Project NOAH for monitoring risks and Oplan Listo for LGUs have helped, Lando relief was praised even by the UN. But Albay was already ahead even before.

There is not enough cohesion yet at the national level. Political groups try to blame each other for nearly everything while pretending they are saints themselves – some more and some less. Finally there are a few who have realized that it is imperative to address the work to be done instead of getting lost in personal and group quarrels. Like former President Ramos in the slapping issue.

A Happy New Year to the Nation and the People of the Philippines. I once turned my back on the country as a hopeless case. This time I see a real chance for better days to come.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, Munich, 27. December 2015

Principalía of Leganes, Iloilo around 1880

Patrons and clients

From the time of datus and their followers, the prinicipalia which the Spaniards used to rule the country up to Filipino politics now, patron-client relationships determine the country’s economy and politics. Even Antonio de Morga wrote about how datus had their respective followers and shifting rivalries and alliances among each other, and usually exercised much local power. The state and the economy of the Philippines continue to be semi-feudal. Even the Marcos dictatorship, which tried to consolidate the state, continued to play by these old and unwritten rules of the game.

Of course the time after Marcos continued in this pattern, with more attempts to continue creating more formal and effective institutions as well as real economic opportunities. Old structures and the centuries-old way of doing things kept undermining things, each group accusing the other of favoritism, but every administration had some of it. I don’t want to get into who less, who more.

Rebellion and migration

The legend (not verified history) of Datu Puti shows a pattern typical for the Pacific: groups that lost in power struggles left for other places. Much of the Pacific was populated in this manner. Those who were less fortunate in the constant struggles for economic and political ascendancy often resorted to rebellion and migrated if that failed. In the 1920s many Filipino Christian lowlanders moved to Mindanao, possibly there was a connection to failed colorum and pulahan rebellions. In the 1950s peasants were relocated to Mindanao to weaken the Hukbalahap base.

Apart from the migration to the USA which got going during the 1920s and never really stopped, export of workers to other countries on a large scale started in the 1970s. POEA was founded then. This never really abated, there are millions of OFWs now. Migration to large cities especially Manila started after World War 2, resulting in slums which have grown, especially from the 1970s. This may have been connected to the NPA rebellion in the countryside, just like Davao’s progress and growth is also indirectly connected to the unrest in many other parts of Mindanao.

State and islands

Philippine Islands: American Cyclopedia, 1879

Good laws exist on paper, but their implementation up to the very last island is doubtful to say the least. Probably not only in areas where rebel groups hold sway, or the goons of provincial politicians. To what extent recent reforms and initiatives are actually felt by the common man will depend on a lot of things. How much is actually implemented on the ground and how much is just window-dressing reported to headguarters in a regional office or in Manila. How many people still prefer to trust – and serve – their local patron like before, and distrust the state.

Industry and outsourcing

Major industries never really managed to take root in the Philippines. Manufacturing zones for foreign companies started in the 1970s, while the first business process outsourcing companies were founded in the late 1990s and that industry really took off in the 2000s. True industrial development seems to be hampered by a lot of factors. Businesses like malls, utilities, telecoms and more are in the hands of a few groups, they have a captive consumer base. Electricity is expensive, Internet is expensive and slow. State initiatives either lack political will or are stifled by bureacracy.

Stay Firm or Give In?

Zero-sum and Win-Win

Many of the problems of the Philippines seem to stem from a zero-sum-game mentality. The two major Internet players do not peer, even if it could increase overall speed and overall business. Zero-sum games are those where one side wins = 1 and the other loses = -1. Constant fear of the other side cheating is zero-sum mentality. Win-Win thinking is completely different – grow the cake for all instead of quarreling about it.

Central Government for the functions that need economies of scale, and LGUs for what is better done locally is also Win-Win Thinking. More of that is needed. But of course this is hard in a society where the winner take all mentality has always dominated, and where cooperation is the exception not the rule.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, 2. January 2016

Road in Poland

Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow once defined a hierarchy of human needs. These are:

• Physiological. Many people in the Philippines are still very poor, can hardly make ends meet. The hunger that was reported during the time of President Arroyo seems to be gone. There is the Pantawid Pamilya program which is a safety net for many, inspired by similar programs in Latin America. It is not a dole-out, but is connected to developing good habits like medical check-ups, sending children to school and more. What I do not know is if it reaches far enough into the slum areas – because desperation can lead to drugs and crime.
• Safety. In terms of personal safety, there are those who fear crime. There have been some improvements in policing mentioned in previous articles, and attempts to improve the delivery of justice. Fear of crime may be one of the things that make Mayor Duterte popular. Never mind that his radical approach may endanger innocent people, even themselves. In terms of safety in case of illness, there is Philhealth, but the generous benefits Binay has offered in Makati seem to appeal to some. Never mind that they might not be fundable on a national scale.
• Love and belonging. Many families are split up due to migration and work abroad. There are even people working in Metro Manila who leave their families in the provinces because they cannot afford to live with them in the city. Grace Poe with her motherhood statements might appeal to many. Never mind that her program is more like a nice movie, not at all realistic.
• Esteem. Miriam Santiago might fulfill that need for some. Never mind that she has no strategy on how to guard the nation from its enemies. Only nationalistic bluster. And old-school talk.
• Self-actualization. There is a very modern upper and middle class that is confident and now discovering the world, realizing its full potential and possibilities. Mar Roxas could be the symbol for most of these people. Some of them might not realize how far behind them others are. Self-actualization can become self-absorption, seeing the others only as masa or bobotante. Maslow himself saw self-transcendence as the final step. People should help others, explain things, share both opportunities and knowledge. I see Leni Robredo as very strong in this area.

Conflict and Communication

Vintage hydroelectric plant

But PLEASE not about candidates, candidates, candidates again. Just like some young Pinoys who had to eat chicken every day after their father had made too much for a big Filipino party said manok, manok, manok after two weeks. Informing oneself responsibly comes first. Look for a clear picture. Maybe even form groups to gather information and piece things together. Then ask government and politicians what they want to do about pressing matters. Describe problems and possible solutions. Find out who is responsive and who isn’t by communicating with them.

This is better than just yelling out on social media. I am very tired of much of the noise by now. It will not have any effect at all. Just like voting leaders with unproven or questionable capabilities is very dangerous. Or thinking any President can do it all alone or even a President-VP tandem, and voting just any Senators, Congressmen, Governors or Mayors this year. Miracles don’t exist. Successful countries did not happen overnight. Just looking a little at history will show it. Overnight successes like Saudi Arabia and Dubai may still turn out to be like one-day oil millionares.

Getting Stuff Done

Afsluitdijk in Netherlands

• Sustained effort. It took around 150 years to tame the Isar river of Munich, which used to flood the poorer areas of the city, creating canals for water management, hydroelectric plants and a dam whose water is let out BEFORE major rains come in order to be able to accomodate them and protect the city – what are weather forecasts for? But every phase delivered results.
• Foresight. Why was the purchase of the MRT in the 1990s not used to ramp up a local industry for creating own train coaches and rails, to be able to build more lines without spending foreign currency reserves? The DOST AGT system which is already running and might be first used in Baguio considers these criteria. Considering rising sea levels, might it not make sense to build something like an Afsluitdijk for Manila Bay, between Bataan and Batangas? Even create new cities like the Dutch did over there, or double Metro Manila in size?
• Build own expertise. Do not just follow the advice of consultants, adapt it to local needs. Build local expertise so that the role of consultants will be less in subsequent projects.
• Communicate with stakeholders. Make websites for example that truly inform about what plans are and how they are progressing, in a way the can be easily understood by most.
• Monitor success locally. Don’t just believe what is told. Make surprise inspections. Send anonymous testers. Ask people affected for feedback and truly listen and answer them.

Now the Philippines will need more effective managers who get things done, like Dr. Mahar Lagmay of DOST Project Noah. And political leaders who put together effective teams at all levels. Finally, voters will have to think for themselves, put together a very complex picture and decide. Or vote based on their feelings only – which doesn’t help.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, 6 January 2015

General Antonio Luna

The colonial legacy

Of course the higher classes in the Philippines used the foreign language of the respective colonial power to show off in the past. Spanish before and English later on. Native languages thus were neglected. Tagalog in the times of Raja Suleiman was highly sophisticated. Even Tagalog during the time of Mabini. It is a good thing that Tagalog or Filipino has been revived and strengthened.

Even though large parts of the Filipino upper class spoke English – almost exclusively and even among themselves even among schoolchildren – up to the 1980s, there was hardly any news about other parts of the world in Filipino newspapers. So the Filipino elite which thought itself cosmopolitan and was proud of its American-style English was in fact very insular. Preferred shopping trips of Imelda were in New York. Some who did visit Europe were snooty AND ignorant.

Because at least President Quezon did meet both Mussolini and Hitler in Europe. He was quite positive about Mussolini and did not like Hitler at all. Quezon when he defended his decision to have a national language even mentioned the three Swiss national languages but did not see them as a good option for the Philippines. A true cosmopolitan. A Filipino gentleman and leader. But no less Filipino, inspite of his mestizo features and his cooperation with the Americans.

Manifestations of ignorance

Bongbong Marcos

• Filipino expats in Europe trying to talk down to French waiters in American English, and in a hurry to get their food. French food is not fast food.
• Filipino diplomats who preferred to socialize all the time with Americans abroad, instead of concentrating on contacts in their host country more.
• Filipino diplomats who did not even speak the language of their European host country after many years – notable exceptions are highly respectable.

And I have also heard of some things which made me wonder about some Filipinos:

• having a superiority complex towards Indonesians because many do not speak English that well or so often. Well many Indonesians speak Dutch or German.
• Filipinos in the USA making fun of Euro-Disney – probably the only aspect of Paris they knew – in the time it was new and hardly had any visitors.
• A Filipino expat in the 1990s who made fun about how the Vietnamese still used so many bicycles. Well in Manila there are really many cars.

And some Filipinos in Manila, mid-1990s boomtimes, who told me, we have more malls here, more mobile phones, use more Internet than in Germany.

Looking at Today

The Philippines has huge malls, the worlds largest – but in Europe pedestrian zones in city centers are the malls. Makati used fax machines before Germans widely used them. Same with the first usage of Internet in Makati, you could not find it that widely in Germany yet. And yes, it used to be that Hollywood movies came to Germany months later than the Philippines, because they had to be dubbed into German. Now this takes place synchronously, so no delays. But yes, houses in Europe are mostly old – something a few Filipinos did deride.

In fact a referendum in Munich successfully restricted the height of buildings to the height of the towers of the Frauenkirche, the Cathedral. This was after some tall buildings were built and annoyed conservative residents, just like the Torre de Manila now is not liked by some. And of course nice old houses are even protected by law, and must be maintained by their owners.

Finally some people in Manila have started making the Metropolitan Theater look nice again. There is even nostalgia for old pictures of Manila, and how things looked in the time of Heneral Luna.

The Global Filipino

The Internet, and also Filipino professionals working abroad for longer periods, and the Filipino upper middle class being able to travel abroad more unlike before, have noticeably changed things. Nobody would ask Veronica Pedrosa anymore, who works for Al Jazeera now and is the daugher of formerly exiled journalist Carmen Navarro-Pedrosa, why she speaks British English. Seriously, a real snob would know that British is considered better than American English, not that I particularly care what kind of English accent a person has. I like Aussie and Jamaican accents for example.

The times of the pretentious but ignorant Doña Victorina of Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere seem to be over. Rappler, Interaksyon and CNN Philippines regularly feature major international news. There is a Facebook Group by Filipino migrants in Europe, with Tagalog articles that tackle everything from rules and regulations to culture in their host countries. Highly intelligent and well-written. The new batches of Filipino diplomats to Europe, I have observed, are different from those before. More knowledgeable about their host countries, and not acting superior to Filipino migrants.

How this helps

Mechanic/manufacturing trainee, K-12+ (Source: K-12Plus.org)

The new openness of many Filipinos is an advantage. Let us look at how it is useful:

• Call centers in Mindanao are already looking for Chabacano speakers to train Spanish for the Latin American market which is booming. Spanish is easy to learn for Filipinos anyway.
• The ASEAN market will further grow. Reviving Bahasa, which used to be spoken as a lingua franca for traders even in the Philippines, could be an advantage for business as well.
• I wonder how many OFWs in Saudi speak Arabic, which is after all a UN language. There should be more Filipino diplomats speaking Arabic and Chinese – also to observe these areas.

Revive two languages as electives which are part of the Filipino legacy anyway – Bahasa and Spanish. Two other electives – Arabic and Chinese – to observe and know potential enemies better.

And what also helps is being able to compare solutions from different countries. The Philippine system is partly Spanish, partly American in legacy. Not all of it fits, other examples exist. What makes me particularly amazed is that PNP has been intensively helped by the Hanns-Seidel-Foundation of Munich and the Bavarian State Police since 2009.

And the DOJ Criminal Code draft is a Filipinized version of the German Criminal Code, in fact even more modern. Codified law is easier to handle than American and English precedent-based law and would speed delivery of justice. Now it might be that this draft, finished in 2014 by the DOJ, has not yet passed through Congress because it is too strange for them. I really don’t know.

But German Dual Training is presently being adopted in the Philippines via TESDA, especially in the K-12+ project. Vocational training in Germany is better than in the USA because theory and practice are combined – it is one of the keys to German industrial success. Also respect for blue-collar workers here is higher than in both the USA and the Philippines. But that is another topic.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, 9 January 2016

1950s BMW

Outward progress

Some Filipinos tried to tell me how progressive the Philippines – or Makati – was with arguments like this:

• Hollywood movies arrived in Germany months after they were already shown in Manila
• Fax machines were used more extensively in Makati before most German offices used them
• The Internet was used more extensively by the same crowd before it was widely used in Germany

And yes, cell phones were more widely used by Filipinos before Germans used them. The skyline of Makati is definitely more impressive than that of Munich or even Frankfurt. All true, but:

• Hollywood movies used to arrive in Germany later because of dubbing into German done in Berlin. This is done synchronously now, so no more delay.
• What is the use of being first in using the Internet if it is slow? Germans – and Swiss even much more – are typical late adopters who want things done properly.
• Anybody can buy cell phones. But Germany is a country that builds a lot of the equipment used for telecoms networks. Siemens dropped out of cellphones at some point.
• The difference between what someone in a German village and one of the big cities – not only Berlin – can get is not so big. Makati is highly modern, some other places too, but the rest?
• Kudos to the largest malls in the world in the Philippines. But how about the public spaces in the cities? Philippine malls are a replacement for other failings in making public spaces livable.

Some Filipinos with money might buy a BMW first and possibly on credit. A German will probably first see to it that he or she has a proper washing machine – or go on vacation to Spain, after saving money. These is where the two mentalities diverge, even if some among the young generation in Germany tend to be more consumerist and get into debt compared to the older ones.

Attempted progress

MRT-3 Kamuning Station

• Too small coaches, equivalent to smaller subway lines or trams in Europe. Not enough to truly replace buses on EDSA, or absorb most of the people travelling there.
• Maintenance, operation and supplies seem to not have been planned properly planned by contractors. Rails were “borrowed” from LRT1, coaches and engines not there on time.
• Stations are not extendable for bigger coaches, meaning the system cannot grow to accomodate additional needs. And not suited to managing the crowds that use the system.
• Hardly any local capability was built to be able to make own simple spare parts like metal wheels, rails, or even coaches. Inspite of local capabilities in making bus bodies.
• The interfaces to other transport systems and to major buildings are catastrophic to say the least. LRT1 and LRT2 at least have a common station for interchange in Manila.

Practically everything was done wrong here, and the present administration has a mess to sort out. Even if one wants quick wins, it does not mean that one should go quick and dirty. One should always try to make sure that one can upgrade, especially if the upgrades are foreseeable. It just takes some common sense. Bus rapid transit proposals were ignored, even if they could have been quick wins, and cities worldwide show their success.

Real progress

DOST AGT, Bicutan (source: DOST)

There are examples for real progress that have taken place recently: the DOST AGT, the DOST Roadtrain, the Diwata satellite completely constructed by DOST to be launched by the USA. All of these examples work by the following principles that have made real progress possible, and made developed countries successful:

• Don’t live beyond your means. DOST AGT uses concrete elevated rails, not metal rails, because these are as yet still hard to manufacture in the Philippines. It uses rubber tires, because they are easy to procure in the Philippines. It uses existing capabilities from local bus body manufacturing.
• Develop own capabilities. DOST AGT and DOST Roadtrain use metal working capabilities developed by the Metals Industry Research and Development Center. Only buying other people’s stuff means you are dependent forever, while own local capabilities can be built upon. You will always have to buy some stuff elsewhere – even Germany does. But have enough of your own.
• Don’t rely too much on the private sector. They are good when it comes to bringing prototypes to production, putting up running systems and of course also making money out them. Of course large industrial companies have research and development, but in a newly industrializing country like the Philippines, one cannot expect too much in terms of their investment.

Japanese cars in the 1950s did not amount to much, neither did BMWs from the 1950s. But unlike the Filipino jeepney, they were developed into more. Building the capabilities needed for a truly modern country – which include mindsets such as thinking of maintenance, operation and supplies – takes time. Filipinos can be fast learners. If they want to be – and are not hard-headed.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, 10 January 2016

Bus rapid transit in Istanbul

• The MRT-3 is in disrepair. It cannot operate at full capacity.
• Its designed capacity is insufficient to absorb people using EDSA.
• Taking it down for repair is not feasible – traffic would get even worse.

A quick solution must also think of the future. This is where I had this idea today which I am now outlining.

Solution Proposal Summary

The solution that I consider the most sensible for the MRT-3 conundrum and EDSA traffic would have three phases:

1. Build a BRT system similar to that in Istanbul.
2. Shut down the MRT3 for overhaul.
3. Operate both after the overhaul.

This sounds crazy but it is in my opinion feasible and helpful. Why do I think it is:

1. BRT systems can be up and running very quickly.
2. The MRT needs a total overhaul to run properly again.
3. Both systems together would absorb a lot of people using EDSA.

One would need some experts to help a local core team run from DOTC and controlled there:

• Experienced BRT people from cities that have it. Istanbul, Bogota, Curitiba or Brisbane, it doesn’t matter. To build and enable a local Filipino team.
• Experienced subway/tram people from cities that have it. Munich, Prague, I don’t care. To build and enable a local Filipino operation/maintenance team.

IMHO the local teams should all be from DOTC. Build own capabilities to be competent in supervising subcontractors. Make sure real lessons are learned from past glitches.

Building the BRT

1924 train coach from Germany

• Built bus rapid transit lanes by fencing off one EDSA lane on each side. Simple barriers are I think enough.
• Build provisional stops where the MRT-3 stops and stairs are at present. This should not be too hard either.
• Have bus operators drive on the left-hand side in the BRT lanes. So that boarding is alway on the right of the bus.

The following could be the way to deal with the BRT system set-up:

• BRT experts have a look at the roads to see whether there are any problems with setting up barriers and building stations.
• Where barriers or stations cannot be built that easily, have the buses cross to the normal road and use it for a while.
• Get the work on the barriers and stations done and make sure the bus contractors are all on board and use them on Day X.

The BRT would replace the buses chaotically blocking EDSA on the sides. So no loss by getting it running quickly.

Buses in the BRT system would go on as normal buses to wherever the bulk of people live. I think this can be found out.

Divide the concessions based on different lines – Makati-Fairview, Makati-Pasig, whatever. Let old normal concessions expire.

Overhauling the MRT-3

As for overhauling the MRT-3, look at what needs to be done in the following areas and make sure the current state of the system is meticulously documented to avoid conflict:

• Overhead lines and rail tracks
• Stations and access to them
• Coaches and engines

Find local contractors for each area. Agree on technology transfer within what is possible if foreign partners are involved. Contracts should have strict delivery and quality clauses.

BRT and MRT

MRT-3 near Ayala

1. make the MRT fare more expensive than that of the BRT – to get back the cost of overhauling the system.
2. Built new lines using the team that overhauled the MRT-3 and their subcontractors to use their capabilities.
3. The same team should become fully local after a while, and take care of maintenance and operation of all lines.

This is to avoid the same problems from occuring once again after a few years.

Is this crazy?

Yes it is. But it is much crazier to let the system continue to rot. It is both a quick fix and a long-term solution.

Having two systems also means having a fallback option. Ideas to enhance this proposal are very welcome.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, 12. January 2016

Siguro heto rin ang makikita ng bagong satellite ng Pilipinas – sa pangalang Diwata.

Kahit sino ang manalo sa darating na eleksiyon, malamang na hanggang 35% lang ng boto ang makukuha niya. Iyong iilang mga talo at supporter nila malamang na aangal at kakalabanin ang Presidenteng inihalal, kahit masira pa ang pag-unlad ng Pilipinas. Masasabi bang para sila sa Pilipinas? Ano ngang “Pilipinas” ang nasa isip nila? Mga mayayaman lang? Mga maykaya lang? Mga mahihirap lang? Mga kayumanggi lang? Mga may pinag-aralan lang? Ewan ko ba. Baka maraming magsasabi, kung maging tapat sila, na “kapakananan o kapangyarihan NAMIN” ang mahalaga.

Tignan natin ng mabuti kung ano talaga ang maaring nasa isip ng iilan – pasalamat tayo sa bawat hindi ganyan at nag-iisip para sa buong bansa:

• Iilang mga Dutertista: di baleng maghirap ang mga squatter, basta kumikita ako. Bahala na si Digong pumatay sa mga puwedeng maging problema ko, may kasalanan man o hindi.
• Iilang mga maka-Binay: di baleng maubos ang pera ng bayan, basta kuntento ako. Bahala na si Jojong gumawa ng paraan para malibre ako sa cake, sa wifi, sa medical care.
• Iilang mga maka-Roxas: di baleng maghintay ang mga wala pang oportunidad, basta ako meron. Kahit hindi madanas ng mga walang gaanong pinag-aralan sa talambuhay nila ang pagbabago.
• Iilang mga maka-Poe: di baleng hindi alam ni Grace kung paano niya aayusin ang Pilipinas, basta maaliw niya ako sa magandang pangarap na itinatanghal niya.
• Iilang mga maka-Miriam: di baleng makaluma ang pamamalakad niya at hindi epektibo, basta maramdaman ko na siya ang pinuno at mahigpit magsalita.

Ano ngayon ang mararating ng Pilipinas sa bandang huli? Wala. Kulelat pa rin. Hindi aasenso. Tuluyang maiiwan ng mga ibang bansang mas may pagkakaisa at isip.

Ipagpalagay nang may kapalpakan si Presidente Aquino. Kaunti o marami depende sa paghusga. Pero kahit ganoon huwag din ipagkaila ang mga halimbawa ng nagawa na:

• Gawa ng Pantawid Pamilya, maraming mahihirap na natutulungan. Hindi lang iyon, mas maganda ang mga nakakasanayan nila, at mga anak nila nakakapag-aral.
• Gawa ng K-12, tumataas ang antas ng pag-iisip ng Pilipino. Natignan ko ito at mahusay. Hindi tulad ng dating sistema, madalas na walang silbi para sa tunay na buhay.
• Gawa ng Go Negosyo Act at Negosyo Center, napapadaling magtayo ng negosyo ang ordinaryong tao. Hanapbuhay ang pinaguusapan dito, hindi pamumulubi o pagka-api.
• Gawa ng Oplan Lambat Sibat at pag-aayos sa PNP, maaring maging mas tahimik at sigurado ang pamumuhay ng ordinaryong tao. Hindi ko alam kung may epekto na ngayon.
• Gawa ng pagtaas ng ekonomiya, maraming nagkakaroon ng hanapbuhay. Sa turismo at iba pang negosyo. Ewan ko lang kung mas mabilis pa rin ang pagdami ng mga Pilipino.

Hindi ko sinasabing perpekto ang gobyerno. Baka kulang pa ang ginawa nila. Hindi ko rin tiyak na masasabi kung paano mapapaganda pa ang mga nasimulan at maiwasan ang mga kapalpakan.

Pero heto ang masasabi ko: hindi tulong ang gumiba sa nasimulan na, kahit kulang pa o hindi pa ganyang kaganda ang nasimulan. Parang nagtayo ka ng bahay, tapos sinunog mo para magtayo ng mas maganda. Dahil sa wakas, nasa iisang bansa ang mga Pilipino. Walang ibang titirahan kapag binagyo. Hindi puwedeng mag-migrante o mag-OFW lahat sa dami. Pilipinas ang siyang kawawa.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, 19 January 2016

Friedrich der Große

The root cause of much Filipino failure is lack of objectivity and dispassionate analysis – Sachlichkeit in German. Sachlichkeit means concentrating on the matter at hand. Not on showing off like Marcos. Not on who is at fault like President Benigno Aquino III sometimes does, with all due respect. Not on whether someone is a former Marcos man or a proper Liberal Party member.  Because Binay was anti-Marcos and pro-Cory, now what has he become? Erap, for all his mistakes, seems to have mellowed into someone who does care for his own country more than ever.

Sure, Germany has had its witch-hunts. Real witch burnings in the Middle Ages. An old German friend of mine says – he hates the Church – that priests burned mostly redheads because they probably refused to sleep with them. Summary courts – the Femegerichte – were feared even after the Middle Ages. The trial and execution of Milady in The Three Musketeers is an example of how these kind of courts used to work. The Nazis persecuted nearly everyone. So did the Stasi in East Germany. Seeing only your own side as right, without objectivity, is a trap that can lead to this.

Law and Order

There is from old Prussia – which became the core of the German Reich in 1871, but was abolished by the Allies in 1947 – the legend of the Miller Arnold, and the real story behind it.

The legend goes that Frederick the Great was being disturbed by the clatter of the mill sails and offered to buy the mill from its miller, Johann William Grävenitz. When he refused, the king is supposed to have threatened: “Does he not know that I can take the mill away from him by virtue of my royal power without paying one groschen for it?” Whereupon the miller is supposed to have replied: “Of course, your majesty, your majesty could easily do that, if – begging your pardon – it were not for the Supreme Court in Berlin.”

The real story was that in 1768 there was a legal dispute at another location over water rights and the remaining lease between Christian Arnold, the tenant of a mill in Pommerzig in the Neumark, and his landlord, the Count of Schmettau. After the miller was found guilty on two accounts, he appealed to Frederick the Great, who intervened in the ongoing proceedings in favour of the miller. Wrongly, as it turned out later. The king referred the case to the Berlin Court of Appeal, who once again ruled against the miller. Frederick the Great, then demanded a condemnation of the judges and their imprisonment in Spandau Citadel for their unjust judgments and thus precipitated an abuse of his name. This legal battle and the story of the Sanssouci miller were woven together in the legend and were intended to emphasize the king’s justice towards all his subjects. After the death of Frederick the Great, the case was reopened.

The legend therefore was that even then, royal power was superseded by the objectivity of the law. The reality was that royal power then was not always objective (sachlich) with regards to the law. Now how this applies to President Benigno Aquino III and his objectivity may depend on the observer. Joe America will say one thing, GRP another. I tend to agree 2/3 with JoeAm on this matter, 1/3 with GRP, and fully with myself of course. I think he has been a bit partial in some cases (Purisima), objective on others (Corona) and wishy-washy in some like holding on to Secretary Abaya.

A distanced look at the evidence regarding Frederick the Great of Prussia points to his having very possibly been gay. Now that did not impact on his leadership, which was excellent in its results. Now I don’t care about Aquino’s sex life. Nor do I care about that of Senate President Franklin Drilon, or that of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Or that of former German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who is admittedly gay and even took his partner with him on trips. Aquino’s performance counts. Here I might agree 80% with JoeAm, 20% with GRP. My final judgement isn’t out.

Mehr Sein als Schein

Lee Kuan Yew

Now contrast that with Marcos, whom Lee Kuan Yew looked down upon for lacking true substance: “In Bali in 1976.. I was to discover that for him, the communiqué was the accomplishment itself; its implementation was secondary”. Marcos’ projects were often “built on sand” and rushed, his heavy borrowing and printing money finally impoverished the country: “He [Marcos] sent his minister for trade and industry, Bobby Ongpin, to ask me for a loan of $300-500 million to meet the interest payments. I looked him straight in the eye and said, ‘We will never see that money back.’  The MRT3 seems to have been a typical Marcos-style project started in Ramos’ time – rushed and done too cheaply, and the price is being paid now. The Philippines lived beyond its means under Marcos, not just Marcos and Imelda. I have mentioned that living beyond one’s means never leads to true modernity. Just white elephants, like the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.

In a country that still can’t run a 17 kilometer elevated tram system properly, a nuclear power plant in an earthquake zone. Imagine Pinatubo in 1991 and Marcos still in power, BNPP running…

Predictability and Reliability

Recent Joe America articles criticize Peter Wallace. I criticize Peter Wallace too, for putting all the blame for the perceived unreliability of the Philippine government on President Aquino, while singing the praises of some other politicians. But what I do share with Peter Wallace is his criticism of the Philippines as having been (still being?) an unpredictable and unreliable partner.

Possibly Aquino is trying to fix things. Not always in the right way. Not always successfully I can see. But for example the debacle on NAIA3 really escalated during President Arroyo’s times. Secretary Abaya letting Vitangcol recommend a company that turned out to be owned by the latter’s uncle was definitely a blunder. In most countries, he would have to “fall on his sword” – resign. What I would not do is what some are doing and insinuating Abaya was in on the deal, or even Aquino. One cannot accuse people without a shred of proof, or even indications like with Binay.

Peter Wallace on his head (source: Joe America)

Where I agree with Peter Wallace is that foreign direct investment is lacking. The true reasons may be better outlined than by him in this article by the Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung, a paper read by many bankers for its extreme objectivity. It says that most Philippine stocks are political papers, vulnerable to who is in power and connections. It also states that foreign direct investments are hampered, according to ADB, by three reasons: insufficient infrastructure compared to other countries in the region, lack of trust in the government and a relatively narrow industrial base. Now I hardly think that it was better in the Marcos era. There are rumors that Marcos often raised the bribes for potential contractors. The NZZ does see the progress made by Aquino. Now I prefer an honest government with a learning curve in terms of competence to a corrupt government. The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines has been publishing a weekly report on the Philippines since 2011. I still have to evaluate this source. European sources, especially Swiss ones except maybe FIFA’s Sepp Binay, ahem Blatter, are usually more objective than Filipino ones.

Legal certainty is a principle in national and international law which holds that the law must provide those subject to it with the ability to regulate their conduct. Legal certainty is internationally recognised as a central requirement for the rule of law. Now is legal certainty something that exists in the Philippines? Recent debates with regard to the Condonation Doctrine, as to be applied or not applied to the Binays, as well as whether Grace Poe is to be disqualified or not, make the Philippines look more like a country of legal uncertainty – sometimes it may even be a country where legal impunity is applied, meaning that those on the wrong side of power, less educated or poorer can lose a case. No need for impunity in the form of guns and goons if the law can be used. Now I do not subscribe to the point of view that Binays and Poe are victims of legal impunity. But it is easy for them to play that role in a country where the law was often a farce to conceal raw power. President Arroyo allegedly threatened Fraport boss Wilhelm Bender with arrest if he landed in Manila. Who does she think she is, and who he is?

Aquino is mainly seen as trustworthy, so other countries are giving him a chance I think. The Philippines is out on parole I would say, but not yet exonerated. The next years shall be crucial.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, 21 January 2016

Past Philippine Presidents

I have been looking at the Presidential candidates for a while now. I have taken time to evaluate things. There are six candidates for President:

• Manuel Roxas II
• Roy Señeres
• Grace Poe
• Rodrigo Duterte
• Miriam Santiago
• Jejomar Binay

The order is not by chance. It is my ranking of candidates. I will not get into Senators and Congressmen. These are decisions for those back home anyway. This opinion will be my last election-related article.

Mar Roxas

Roxas has by far the most experience in national government. He has held several positions as secretary of different departments, and has been Senator and Congressman. He knows how the complex jungle of Philippine government works. He also has shown the capability to find analytical solutions and implement them in organizations, such as Oplan Lambat-Sibat and Oplan Listo within the DILG. He may at times get impatient or annoyed, and sometimes may have lacked the feeling for “on the ground” situations. Yolanda and other matters were lessons learned for him as well.

But programs like Bottom-Up-Budgeting show that he understands the basic issues of LGUs when it comes to planning their expenditures and managing their funds. Some Philippine LGUs, I have been told, rely on loansharks for financing. BUB is like Pantawid Pamilya, but for local government units – it helps and teaches good habits. It gives money, but attached to responsible planning.

And hopefully liquidation. As for some unliquidated Yolanda funds, connecting them to Mar Roxas like some do is a big stretch and sound like pure malice to me. But I do hope he listens to Leni Robredo, when it comes to the people. He should know how to appoint the right Secretaries for a good Cabinet, having done similar jobs before. This will be his main job, coordinating a Cabinet. Another of his jobs will be convincing the Senate and the Congress pass the right laws, he was in both and knows the political game well. Hope he makes good use of LEDAC so that priorities are set and kept in lawmaking.

Roy Señeres

The dark horse in the race has good ideas. He has been an ambassador. He is non-dynastic. He understands the common people. But his ideas are too focused only on taking care of OFWs. This is not enough to run a nation. He should have tried to be a Senator first. He might be a good person to consider for a Cabinet position, taking care of OFWs after Binay. To gain more experience in national government. Candidates outside old political families are still rare. More of them next time I hope.

Grace Poe

She might have good intentions. Her ideas of how to get things done are pure fantasy. Her way of dealing with some situations does not show depth of character – some might see it as treachery, maybe she is naive and misled by Chiz Escudero. Well, if she is naive, she is not ready. If she is too weak to deal straight, she has to learn to be stronger. She might be OK in 2022 – if natural-born or if the requirements have been changed by then. She does know how to talk to the people, and most probably feels for them. But that is not enough to be able to become Philippine President.

Rodrigo Duterte

He does not in my opinion understand what it takes to be President. One recent example: his stance on “feeding rich ambassadors“. Anyone who has any curiosity on diplomatic practice – and even basic Filipino hospitality – will know that it is normal to treat one’s guests well. Ambassadors represent other countries one has relationships with. Besides, most diplomatic receptions are not sit-down dinners, they are standing receptions with canapes. And not all Ambassadors are rich. Some may even come from poor families and made it to the top by being excellent in their job.

His ideas about shutting down infrastructure projects are nonsense as well. A country has contracts and obligations. One can suspend contracts to scrutinize them. But a country that is not predictable and reliable in its international dealings loses trust. Trust is a very important capital. Germany’s trust in the Philippines I think was damaged by NAIA3. This has gotten better now.

What I did like about him is his hands-on mentality, and how he talks to ordinary people. But it is too much of the saloon cowboy mentality. A big ship, a country, cannot be driven like a banca.

Miriam Santiago

Too old school and inflexible. Her legalistic approach is outdated, she would just throw out EDCA and jeopardize Philippine national security. Even assuming she is healthy.

Jejomar Binay

Not trustworthy in any way. Boo! A man who shows subservience to the Pope, but expects subservience from others “below him” is suspect. I like people who are treat everybody the same way, no matter what rank they have. Respect people (Mayor Duterte, the Pope must be respected, Mar Roxas watch your tone with common people at times) but don’t bow to them – Leni is perfect in this.

Leni Robredo

Leni Robredo is my preference for Vice-President. She combines growing competence with a totally new approach to dealing with common people, so far unknown in Filipino national politics. Could be a good President come 2022, the first after Magsaysay outside the usual political families. Exposure would help her gain the necessary national government experience.

Joey Salceda

At the provincial level, there is Governor Joey Salceda of Albay who is like Robredo in approach. But he is staying in Albay. Most probably because he cares and does not want to leave his people. Maybe because he also knows that the Filipino people do not yet have the same unity as Albayanos. They would be much more difficult to lead. I do not envy any honest Filipino President.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, 23 January 2016

Christ in Ravenna (Source: Wikimedia)

Dios mio perdon!

Our generations were taught by our teachers and elders that one of our misguided beliefs is that we entrust our fate so much in faith of God. We disappoint and fail to listen to them though.

Our culture has these wrong comparisons on looking at life. One of them goes this way:

Kung ang ibon ay di pinababayaan ng Diyos tao pa kaya?

The oversimplification that God takes care of a simple bird creature poisons the mindset of our kababayans. They are misled that God takes care of everything and miraculously provides the poor bird his food on a silver platter! The reality is that the poor bird does not believe in any god but relies on his instinct and whatever intelligence it could harness from its tiny brain. Early in the morning it toils, flies, and searches for its food and sustenance.

But most of our unfortunate brothers and sisters, though literate, are not equip with skills that will help them progress beyond survival. They cling to God and the wrong belief that He provides even if they remain seated like a granite monument. Once they experienced hunger and realized that God does not provide, they are pounded by a wrecking ball of reality that indeed they better learn the ways of the bird and start to rely on themselves. For most of our kababayans, it is too late for them and it will take a generation and great odds to hurdle for their kids to climb the walls of poverty and reach a ledge of survival and able to eat three meals a day!

Philippine slum, Obando (source: Wikimedia)

One thing that we need to put in the dustbin is our pwede na attitude. Why settle for less if by a little bit more effort and trying we could achieve the norm and if we give our best we achieve the best results.

Another is we are forgiving people to a fault. There is nothing wrong being magnanimous and forgive those who wronged us, but the wrongdoers should be punished first accordingly and do their time and pay for their misdeeds, then we can talk about forgiveness. Our plunderers and politicians take advantage of this abnormality in our psyche and konting paawa and pa-effect na luha, eh pusong mamon na ang karamihang Pilipino at madaling mauto. Marcoses are a living proof on this regard and Erap as well.

But one of the hindrances and biggest culprits is our lack of discipline in our culture! It starts with a simple house cleaning and taking care of our trash. Instead of placing our trash in a proper container and disposal, we throw it to our neighbor’s property or any place but our place. We are even drawn to piss on the wall that has written warnings, Bawal ang umihi dito. We don’t follow simple rules like pumila and be considerate to others who are ahead of us in line. Instead of using the pedestrian lane, we cross our streets and treat them as our oversized patintero playground. Instead of using the overpass walkways, we endanger ourselves by betting with our lives in crossing the busy highways for gaining five minutes of crossing and reaching our destinations. Most of us got our driver’s license by cheating and paid padulas to do away with the actual driving test. Most of us treat our traffic lights as suggestion and not a command to follow. Bending the rules and getting away of not following them is our norm! We justify our little infractions by pointing to our lawmakers who are themselves the breakers of the laws they create! We are really good critics and aware of our politicians’ shenanigans and their customary use of our public money as their private accounts, yet we are proud to get them as our Ninongs and Ninangs in our Kasal o binyag of our kids and wishing that by having these relationships will pave our ways to benefit us in some ways of getting better jobs or ease of doing business.

Filipino migrant workers (source: Wikimedia)

Our OFWs and immigrants can attest that we have the ability to change for the better. We have proven that we are capable of following simple rules and be a good citizen of other countries. We became a different person and awakened our other personality, who is much better than who we were back in our country. We are not only in our spectator capacity but as active participants and contributors to the progress of other nations through the use of our skills and talents. We know our potentials and our capabilities as OFWs and Migrants for we are living proof of our contributions and achievements.

Our challenge is how do we impart to our kababayans our better attitudes and mindsets that are beneficial to our country’s well-being and progress?

Without discipline, we are our own worst enemies!

Parekoy
01-28-2016

Mahalaga ang pagkakaisa ng taongbayan at gobyerno para sa kaunlaran. Sa ngayon puro siraan pa rin ang nangyayari sa Pilipinas, imbes na pag-usapan kung ano ang dapat ayusin at pagandahin. Kung may pagkakamali, dapat matuto rito at huwag magturuan, tulad ng mga nangyari tungkol sa Mamasapano. Bakit kaya ganito ang Pilipinas? Napag-isipan ko. Punta tayong Switzerland.

Ang sambayanang Swiss

Swiss 1291 Constitution

SA NGALAN NG DIYOS – AMEN. Naitataguyod ang karangalan at pangkalahatang kaligayahan kapag may mga naitatayong mga liga upang itatag sa tamang paraan ang katahimikan at kapayapaan.

Kaya dapat malaman ng lahat ng tao na nakita ng mga taongbayan ng valley ng Uri, ng demokrasya ng valley ng Schwyz, at ng komunidad ng mababang valley ng Unterwalden, ang karahasan ng panahon na ito. Upang maipagtanggol nila ang mga bayan at taongbayan nila ng mas maganda, at manatili sila sa magandang kondisyon, nangako silang may kagandahang loob na sila’y magtutulangan sa pamamagitan ng bawat payo at pabor, tao at gamit, sa loob at labas ng valley, sa lahat ng puwersa at tauhang kaya nila, laban sa lahat ng maaring makadulot sa kanila ng karahasan, pagkamolesta o pananakit, o tumangka ng masama sa mga tao o pag-aari nila. At sa bawat pagkakataon, ipinangako ng bawat komunidad na tulungan ang kapwa komunidad kapag kinakailangan, sa sariling gastos, habang kinakailangan upang mapaglabanan ang mga atake ng mga masasama, at gumanti sa pinsala; para rito ay nanumpa sila ng panatang tapat na itupad ito na walang lalang, at ipanibago sa paglathalang ito ang lumang anyo ng liga, na nakatayo din sa isang panata.

1. Ngunit sa paraan na ang bawat tao, depende sa kanyang ranggo, ay magsisilbi pa rin sa among nararapat sa kanya.
2. Isinumpa at itinakda rin namin sa pangkalahatang konsehal at nagkakaisang pagpapahintulot na hindi namin tatanggapin ang anumang husgado sa mga valley na nabanggit na napunta sa puwesto na may binayaran o may kapalit para makuha ito, o hindi taga-amin. Ngunit kung magkaroon ng anumang hindi pagsang-ayon sa pagitan ng mga kasama sa panata, lalabas ang pinakamasinop sa mga kasama sa panata upang ayusin ang problema ng dalawang grupo sa nakikita niyang nararapat; at kung hindi tanggapin ng isang grupo ang kanyang desisyon, ituturing silang kalaban ng ibang mga kasama sa panata.
3. Naitakda na kung sino ang pumatay sa iba ng sinasadya at walang pagpapagalit ay papatayin kapag nahuli, pagkat ito ang nararapat sa kanyang malaking kasalanan, maliban kung maprueba niyang hindi niya nagawa ang krimen na iyon; at kung makatakas siya’y huwag siyang pabalikin. Kung sinong magtago at tumulong sa ganyan na kriminal ay palalayasin sa valley, hanggang sa sila’y sadyang pabalikin ng mga kasama sa panata.
4. Pero kung sadyang saktan ng isang kasama sa panata sa araw o gabi ang ibang tao sa pamamagitan ng apoy, hindi na siya ituturing bilang kapwa taongbayan. Kung may tumulong o magtanggol sa nasabing kriminal, siya ang magaayos ng nagawang pananakit sa nasaktan.
5. Kung sirain ng kahit sinong kasama sa panata ang pag-aari ng iba, o saktan siya sa anumang paraan, kukunin ang mga pag-aari ng gumawa, kung makuha ang mga ito sa valley, para bayaran ng makatarungan ang nanakawan o nasaktan.
6. Walang taong aagaw ng pag-aari ng iba dahil sa utang, maliban na siya’y maliwanag na nagpautang o bilang deposito, at sa pahintulot lamang ng kanyang husgado.
7. Susunod sa kanyang husgado ang bawat tao, at magpapakita kung kinakailangan sa husgado na nakatakda para sa kanya. At kung may magrebelde kontra sa isang sentensya, at may masaktan gawa ng kanyang katigasan ng ulo, dapat pilitin ng lahat ng kasama sa panata ang may kasalanan upang bawiin o ayusin ang nagawang pananakit.
8. Kung magkaroon ng gyera o labanan sa loob mga kasama sa panata at ayaw tanggapin ng isang pangkat ang sentensya ng husgado o ayusin ang nagawang pananakit, dapat ipagtanggol ng mga kasama sa panata ang kabilang pangkat.

Mga nakasulat na kasunduan na ito, na itinakda para sa pangkalahatang kapakanan at kabutihan, ay mananatili magpakailanman, awa ng Diyos. Bilang katunayan nito, sa kahilingan ng mga nabanggit na pangkat, isinulat ang kasunduan na ito at binigyan ng katunayan sa pamamagitan ng mga selyo ng nasabing tatlong komunidad at valley.

Isinagawa sa taong 1291 sa simula ng buwan ng Agosto.

Natural na gumawa sila ng iilang mga iba pang konstitusyon na mas mahaba at detalyado. Mas moderno. Pero iyong mga prinsipyo na napagkasunduan sa simula, hindi gaanong nagbago. Hindi panay ang Cha-Cha. Mabagal magdesisyon ang mga Swiss. Pero may maayos na pundasyon ang lahat ng ginagawa nila. Heto ang Konstitusyon ng mga Swiss sa ngayon para sa mga interesado.

Namatay si Rudolf I ng Habsburg noong 15 ng Hulyo 1291. Kaya rin nila minadali ito para makalaya sila sa pinakamatagal na political dynasty sa Europe. Isa ring Habsburg si Felipe II na siyang nagbigay ng pangalan sa Pilipinas. Kontrabida siya sa dramang Don Carlos ni Friedrich Schiller, na naging inspirasyon daw para sa Star Wars. Papel ni Felipe II, napunta kay Darth Vader. Iyong angkan na nagpadusa sa mga taga-LuzViMinda, na nagbigay pa ng pangalan sa bansa, pinalayas na ng mga Swiss bago pa mapapadpad si Magellan sa Pilipinas. Nauna silang maging malaya.

Tagpi-tagping sambayanang Pilipino

Maganda sana ang 1987 Constitution. Kung totoo sanang isinasagawa ang lahat ng nakalagay rito, halos perpektong bansa na sana ang Pilipinas, daig pa ang Switzerland, Japan o Korea. Ngunit hindi natutupad ang mga hangarin niya sa aktuwal, kahit simulan natin sa Preamble. Saan naging “just and humane society” ang Pilipinas? Ang daming naghihirap, ang daming mga lugar na magulo at nakakatakot pa rin hanggang ngayon. Ano ang silbi ng isang Saligang Batas na simula pa lang hindi nasusundan? Tapos iyong mga batas na ang dami at paiba-iba, hindi maintindihan.

Iyong mga edukado at mayaman, napakamoderno ng pag-iisip, ang gaganda ng mga lugar nila. Iyong mga mangmang at mahirap, mas mangmang at mahirap pa siguro kaysa mga nakatira sa LuzViMinda bago itinawag itong Pilipinas ng mga mananakop na Kastila. Masyadong malaki ang agwat – sa pera, sa edukasyon, sa nakasanayang ugali, kaya mahirap pamunuan ang Pilipinas.

Kung gaanong kawatak-watak tignan ang mga isla ng Pilipinas, ganyan ding kawatak-watak ang kanyang mga tribo, mga partido, mga taga-siyudad at promdi, mga Kristiyano at Muslim.

Ano ang solusyon?

Walang madaling solusyon. Kailangan munang pag-usapan ng mga taongbayan, o kaya iyong mga kumakatawan sa kanila, kung ano ba talaga ang ninanais na sambayanan. Ang nandiyan na, huwag gibain. Kahit patong-patong at tagpi-tagpi. Batas na Kastila, Amerikano at Pilipino na madalas na hindi tugma sa isa’t-isa. Konstitusyon na hindi ibinuhay ng husto. Sana naman maiwasan ang ganito:

1. Iyong kung anu-anong mga plano na gumawa agad ng federal o parliamentary. Iyong nandiyan na paandarin muna ng mabuti bago isipin kung paano na naman babaguhin.
2. Iyong kung anu-anong mga inutil na diskusyon ng mga pulitikong para sa kanilang kapakanan lang kahit para sa bayan kuno. Sa Kongreso man, sa Senado o kung saan.
3. Iyong pag-iisip na masyadong makitid. Agawan ng pera, di baling mapunta sa hirap ang buong bansa basta OK ang sariling grupo. Paunlarin muna ang buong bansa.

Pag-usapan muna sana sa matinong paraan kung ano ang mga tamang prinsipyo para sa magandang pakikisama sa loob ng LuzViMinda. Para gumanda ang buhay ng taongbayan. Masuwerte ang mga Swiss dahil noong nagsimula ang kanilang bansa noong 1291, sila mismo ang nag-usap-usap kung ano ba talaga ang mga prinsipyong pagkakasunduan nila. Konstitusyon ang tawag sa ganoon. Sa Pilipinas naman, mga sumakop ang nagdesisyon, pagkatapos nito mga matataas ang nag-usap-usap, hindi gaanong naisali ang mga normal na tao. Pero hindi pa huli ang lahat kung ito ang gawin:

1. Huwag na sanang maliitin ng mga edukado ang mga hindi gaanong edukado. Iyong mga walang gaanong edukasyon, makinig muna sa paliwanag huwag husga kaagad kung maari.
2. Makinig din sana ang mga edukado sa mga paliwanag ng mga hindi gaanong edukado. Baka mas alam nila ang mga nangyayari sa aktuwal, sa mundo nila, na hindi ganyang kaperpekto.
3. Iwasan ang sisihan. Kung may nagnakaw o gumawa ng dahas, husgaan sana ng mabilis at parusahan agad, pero sa makatarungan na paraan. Ang kapalpakan o mali lang, gawing aral.

Meron na ngayong social media. Mas madaling pag-aralan ang dapat malaman. Mas madaling makipagkonekta sa ibang tao kung gugustuhin. Malaking trabaho talaga. Magkaisang hatak sana.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, ika-29 ng Enero 2016

P.S. Ang majority ng Pilipino ngayon, mga millenials. Ewan ko kung ilan sa kanila ang naguguluhan sa mga ginagawa ng mga namumuno. Sila ang mag-isip sana, para sa kinabukasan din nila.

P.P.S. kinorek ko iyong Artikulo 4, dinagdag ko iyong “sa pamamagitan ng apoy” dahil nakalimutan ko sa pagsasalin. Mahalaga itong parte dahil diyan nakikita kung gaano sigurong kagulo ang lugar na iyon noong itinaguyod ang Konstitusyon ng mga Swiss. Malamang na karahasan, nakawan at away ng mga iba’t-ibang grupo ang laging nangyayari. ika-30 ng Enero 2016, 9:30 a.m.

are Grace Poe’s priorities mentioned in an Inquirer article, plus two I added. The Inquirer headline is very unfair: Poe admits she has her own ‘KKK’. In the age of social media, many people only read the headline. Or they are in a hurry, and the bad impression stays. This is why – even though I did not want to write about the elections anymore – have decided to tackle the content of Poe’s ideas. I have already mentioned my preferences in a previous article. They are still the same. But still the good points of all candidates must be considered. It is about improving the country.

What I like are the three points, because they are Kabuhayan (Livelihood), Kaligtasan (Safety) and Karunungan (Knowledge). In my article about The Road Ahead, I looked at the Maslow hierarchy of needs. All three points address the basics people need in order to have minimum opportunities. From Poe’s suggestions, let us see what possibilities there are to enhance them.

Kabuhayan

From the Inquirer article: On livelihood, Poe said inclusive growth could not be achieved without jobs that would empower people, and jobs could not be created without the proper economic climate. “You can’t have investors if you don’t recalibrate your tax bracket, if you don’t reconsider foreign ownership,” she said.

I think that the major driver of jobs are SMEs – Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. The percentage of jobs in SMEs is very high in prosperous countries like Japan, Korea and Switzerland. Southern Germany has a lot of SMEs – from high-quality specialized machine tool factories, lens manufacturers, suppliers of automotive parts etc. that give jobs to people in the countryside, and the butchers, bakers, car repair jobs etc. that provide goods and services to the local people. Traditionally the focus was too much on big multinationals in the Philippines. The thing is, big multinationals are fine, but they can also leave. There are so many own industries the Philippines could have. One could start with native capabilities. Lambanog is starting to be a in drink in Germany, because it is being marketed like Bacardi rum. Filipino handicrafts, if done well, are beautiful and could find markets in Europe where people like original and cultured artifacts. Years ago Indonesian classic furniture, very similar to what Filipino native carpenters produce, was the craze in Germany. Trying to be too “modern” all the time is not always the right way to go.

Good thing there are now Negosyo Centers in the Philippines, thanks to the Go Negosyo Act. And a Philippine Competition Commision to prevent the oligarchs from crushing the less powerful. Because this is not what Adam Smith had in mind when he wrote about the Wealth of Nations. It is I think more like the prosperous world of Southern Germany or Switzerland, where people have opportunities if they do their work well – as engineers, as technicians, as butchers, as bakers, as mechanics. All businesses there are taxed locally also – so LGUs compete to get businesses.

Kaligtasan

Grace Poe said she would hire private survey firms to determine which barangays have drug and crime problems and she would provide incentives to barangay officials who could handle these problems. She would keep in touch with these officials about those problems, she said. I wonder if delegating things to the barangay is enough. Incentives could lead to covering things up. The reputation of barangay officials is not exactly the best, even if I do not want to do those who are earnest injustice. But the idea with survey firms is good. Undercover work might be even better.

There is Oplan Lambat-Sibat which tries to address the drug problem by going for what would be called “High Value Targets” in another context. The big fishes. Just addressing drugs at the local level is not enough if one does not do what is necessary to cut of the supply. PNP initiatives for community policing that are already starting would help at the local level. It might even make sense to give witness protection and relocation to local drug dealers if they help catch the big fish – or even make the most savvy of them resident experts, like the FBI does with hackers, or did with the famous swindler Frank Abagnale.

Poe also said Kaligtasan.. refers not only to security but also to health. Regional and provincial hospitals, especially in the 20 poorest provinces, must get the proper equipment and the necessary number of doctors to attend to the medical needs of people in their areas, she said. Good. I don’t know what the DOH has been doing, so I cannot compare to her programs.

Justice is not mentioned in Poe’s programs. The only candidate who has mentioned simplification of laws so far is Rodrigo Duterte, as I mentioned in my article about his program. Filipino laws are a tangle of Spanish laws, American laws, and laws from different Republics. The principle of legal certainty is probably often violated. Clear laws make it less easy for attorneys to discuss endlessly about which law is to be applied, and for court proceedings to concentrate on whether guilt can be proven beyond reasonable doubt. It would speed up justice, increasing confidence in it.

Rizal himself said in The Philippines, A Century Hence: The thing that makes the English most respected in their possessions is their strict and speedy justice, so that the inhabitants repose entire confidence in the judges. The DOJ Criminal Code Draft of 2014 intends to replace the old Penal Code, which although revised in based on the one from 1884 that Rizal already criticized.

Karunungan

Poe also mentioned that the government’s scholarship program therefore must be fully funded, and a standard lunch program for children in public elementary school. The lunch program is nice, because there have been stories about how the otherwise excellent Pantawid Pamilya or 4Ps program has been misused by parents. Lunch is an incentive for the kids to really go to school.

I disagree with having to send all students to college, and tend to agree with the K-12 program which makes good professionals of people without having to give them a college degree. There is the TVET track which teaches vocational skills and integrates with TESDA. The K-12+ program which is German-sponsored is about Dual Training, the successful German model for creating highly skilled workers which are the backbone of its industrial economy and its many industrial SMEs. The academic track has the Accounting, Business and Management (ABM) strand, which can replace the overrated “commerce” bachelors from the usual diploma mills and create truly capable office workers instead. There is the Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS) strand, which is for those who may later want to take college subjects in that area, and the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Strand (STEM) which is for future engineers and scientists.

And the teaching in local language in the beginning has its reasons – because modern science has found out that the capability to connect theory and practice, to use language effectively to model reality and form concepts based on reality, is built in the first years, and learning immediately in a foreign language impairs this skills. After these skills are learned, they can be transferred to another language – in this case Filipino and English. This addresses a problem in much Filipino thinking – either very complex but divorced from reality, or very concrete but without any system.

Putting things together

Which brings us back to Grace Poe. She has some very modern thinking. Much Filipino thinking is convoluted. Much is either too pragmatic (Duterte) or too theoretical (Santiago) while Poe’s thinking does have two aspects I consider important: top-down and bottom-up. Top-down: she has identified the three major needs of people in a country. Bottom-up: she has identified that certain issues need to be addressed on the ground in a practical way so that theory is not only that, but also works in practice.

What is missing is the middle. I would break down the three points further as follows:

• Kabuhayan (Livelihood) – business and jobs, social welfare (4Ps for example), entepreneurship (Go Negosyo)
• Kaligtasan (Safety) – policing, justice, and I think DILG might want to have a place were citizens can complain about LGUs
• Karunungan (Education) – school lunches, K-12, adult education (maybe even something like the Volkshochschule?)
• Kakayahan (Capabilities) – infrastructure (internet, transport, facilities), industry, agriculture
• Kaunlaran (Progress) – science (DOST programs are already excellent), thinking (think tanks for foreign policy, defense etc.), universities (strengthen provincial colleges for example)

I have added two further points because it is not enough just to think of the basics. They must be secured, otherwise the foundation of progress is unstable. But the Philippines has great potential, and it must be harnessed. The subpoints are suggestions, and policies can be developed for each of them. There are 15 subpoints all in all in this suggestion, and 5 main points.

This structure could be used as a way for a President to report on progress using the Internet, with details for the curious. Even with maps of the Philippines to show how these points and subpoints are progressing in every LGU, in every barangay even. Shine a very bright light on everything. Because people still don’t trust the government. Which I understand from history.

Poe and Duterte – also Señeres – are addressing some weaknesses of the government. A good future government should listen. But be competent to be able to deal with it. This is why I am placing my hopes on a Roxas-Robredo tandem – Roxas for competence, Robredo for the people and common sense. If they really work together well, they can do much. But that I have already written.

Further possibilities

I am not a friend of FOI. But I do believe – just like Grace Poe – that the Executive should commit to giving transparent and well-summarized information. Like the Internet progress report and the progress map of the country i suggested. Because FOI would lead to people nitpicking and looking for errors without seeing the big picture. Like a lot of what is happening now on social media.

There could however be a simple version of FOI within LGUs. Give every LGU citizen a logon account to access summarized data about budget, projects and their status. There are already projects like DOST iGovPhil which this could be made a part of – and help build the local software industry beyond just BPO to develop true products to sell internationally. Have a citizen service office in every LGU – run by DILG – that is there to explain things and to register questions and complaints. Take the steam out of the anger that many Filipinos now still feel about their government.

Empower the Filipino. But help understand things better. Filipinos were made ignorant, by colonial masters first, then by the elite. Raise people up. Build confidence for a better future.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, 31. January 2016

Duterte said that algebra is useless. Filipinos should learn business math. I think he is wrong. King Mongkut of Siam, of the famous “The King and I” starring Yul Brynner, was a dictatorial man in real life and on screen. But there is a scene where the English teacher tells him of the importance of algebra and he orders everybody to learn it. Could that be the reason why Thailand is quite prosperous?

But Duterte also has a point somehow. Maybe we – and I include myself as a Pinoy – don’t know how to use what we learned properly. I have done advanced mathematics in school, but often failed to manage my money properly, until I learned by doing. So I did not REALLY learn my business math – which in the end is just addition, subtraction, multiplication and division – and occasionally percentages. Because there are five steps to learning:

1. understanding how something is supposed to work
2. understanding how to be able to do it
3. actually being able to do it
4. applying it in reality
5. mastering it

Mastering something means you apply it well. During a bad phase in my business I had to juggle my money, and first started by making notes, then a simple excel sheet and finally a cashflow sheet with expenses and income forecasts. Now I really know why I am doing it and how to avoid the danger zone. The classic Filipino educational system is a lot about theory and not about applicability and effects. The BBL draft I think shows this weakness. Back to money.

Talking about Money

“Mukhang pera” is a bad word in Filipino. It means money-faced. Some Filipinos say “pera lang iyan”. It’s just money. In the original abundance of the islands I guess it may not have mattered. But now where many people do not live in the barrio anymore, it does. Many Filipinos have debt issues. Some are gamblers. Many LGUs are in debt. There often have been budgeting issues.

It has dawned on me that many discussions in Philippine politics nowadays are about money. Here are some interesting articles from Joe America’s blog:

• On a clear day you can see MRT is about the MRT, its contracts and the flow of money related to them
• The SSS in the Philippines is about the SSS, its funding and the reason why many things went wrong
• Banking in the Philippines Part I and Part II are about banks in the Philippines, strengths and weaknesses
• National Budget as cake is an amusing introduction to budgeting – the first time I looked at any national budget
• On Monetary Sovereignty and Government Spending is a very interesting take on the basics of the people’s money

Money for Nothing

What surprises me is how many people believe that Jejomar Binay can give everybody in the Philippines the benefits he has given to Makati residents. It is clear that Makati is rich. The Philippines probably would go broke if he did what he plans to do. OK the national budget is 3 trillion pesos. Sounds like a lot of money. But divide 3 trillion by around 100 million Filipinos – keep things simple. Makes around 30 thousand pesos per Filipino a year.  That is around 600 Euro only. According to statistics government spending is around 16% of GDP. Not really much.

If one looks at other countries, the USA spends around 25% of its GDP for government, Australia around 35%, Switzerland around 30%. So you need to have the money first to be able to spend it. Common sense. There is I think a lot to be learned in these matters. There are those who think the government can print money. But it can only do so, very generally speaking, in proportion to the goods and services produced locally.

Otherwise you have inflation and your money loses value against other currencies. That is bad if you are importing a lot and/or have a lot of debt to other countries. Common sense I would say makes it logical that countries that produce more goods and services by themselves are more stable. One just has to look at prosperous countries like Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Australia, Canada to see that they have a lot of their own internal economy.

Collection and Distribution

Moving to another topic. It is well known that it can be hard to collect debts from some Filipinos. That many who earn salaries are dependent on loansharks for one reason or the other. But this is quite astounding:

• That the BIR had a steep uphill fight in the last few years to improve collection efficiency
• That the SSS has a lot of money uncollected according to the SSS article and others
• That the money from the sale of Fort Bonifacio allegedly just vanished in thin air

On the distribution side, Pantawid Pamilya gives families ATM cards so that they can get their benefits from what I have gathered. But recently someone with 4Ps money was robbed in Albay – obviously it is paid out in cash also. Cash is of course always dangerous. It is not always traceable.

Important Questions

So there are a number of things that should be looked at to understand the money and the numbers better when it comes to the Philippines:

• how much money is coming in (collections), being spent internally (costs) and being distributed like SSS and 4Ps?
• how many taxpayers, how many SSS and GSIS members, how many beneficiaries of SSS, GSIS, 4Ps?
• how much money is uncollected? BIR and SSS? How much money is not disbursed or liquidated?

In case of real freedom of information or FOI, these could be the first questions to be looked at. The details derive from the broader questions.

Some Observations

Just some observations as food for further thought:

• In Germany, a lot is done via bank transfer. Tax offices demand quarterly advance payments, one fourth of expected annual income tax, from businesses. Businesses with employees have to submit electronic lists, I think to tax and social security offices – I am self-employed so I am not sure about this. As a former employee, I know that social security, health insurance and withholding tax are deducted from the gross monthly income, only the net income is paid out. Employers must transfer these contributions very quickly to the right institutions or risk a fine.
• As for social security, unemployment pay or pension payments, everybody has a bank account and gets his money via bank transfer and then ATM card. There is a law that forces banks to give even poor people at least a basic bank account. Usually the very poor have a postal bank account or one at the local savings bank or rural bank. No cash and no cheques as far as I know.
• One the personal money side, the Hanns-Seidel Foundation of Munich is helping the Philippines in the area of micro-finance and micro-enterprise development. This is good to make people depend less on loansharks and build their own existence, hopefully getting them out of poverty. Very many sari-sari stores close quickly because money is not properly managed from what I have heard so far. How financial literacy can generally be improved is a very significant question, especially among adults. Are there any DSWD programs for this? Does K-12 address it?

There is in my opinion not only much potential for leakage and inefficiency in the present Philippine system. But obviously a lot more for fraud and corruption, and persistent poverty.

Irineo B. R. Salazar, München, 1. February 2016