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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Let Them Eat Statistics
By Antonio C. Abaya Written March 27, 2007 For the Standard Today, March 29 issue It all began with a Social Weather Stations nationwide survey conducted from Feb. 24 to 27 on the question of hunger. As far as I can tell, the question asked was (in Pilipino) �have you and your family experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months.� The percentage of households that experienced �moderate hunger� � defined as �only once� or �few times� in the last three months � moved down to15% in February from 15.1% in November last year, a statistically insignificant development. The percentage of households that experienced �severe hunger� � defined as �often� or �always� in the last three months � increased from 3.9% in November to 4.0% in February, also statistically insignificant. But the unthinking media, the communists and communist sympathizers, and the usual opposition trapos have blown it all out of proportion, combined the two sets of numbers and have trumpeted this �new� findings to claim that 19% of the population are now �starving.� This is clearly an exaggeration but, this being an election season, this exaggeration is being peddled by the usual suspects in order to put the Arroyo government in as worse a light as possible, if that is at all possible, after the (orchestrated) international outcry against �extra-judicial killings� and the judgment that the Philippines is now the most corrupt country in East Asia. And this being an election season, President Arroyo has reacted by ordering various agencies in her government to lower the prices of basic commodities being sold in rolling stores and village pharmacies (Botika ng Bayan), to wipe out hunger �in six months.� She has also ordered the release of P1 billion for feeding programs in school that had been suspended last year by then Senate President (now oppositionist) Franklin Drilon and Sen. Edgardo Angara (now an administration senatorial candidate) as another �scam� being used for election purposes. The unvarnished truth, however, is that hunger did not begin only in the past six years (since Mrs. Arroyo rose to power in a military coup d�etat disguised as people power) and cannot possibly be eradicated in six months. The �severe hunger� experienced by 4% of the population, which may not even be correctly described as �starvation� if Darfur in Sudan were used as the benchmark, is nonetheless an indictment against our society and the governments that have come and gone in the past three decades. Even if only one family were to experience �severe hunger,� it would be an indictment of the whole of society and the government that oversees that society. The core truth boils down to this: there is hunger in our midst because there are not enough jobs in our economy . And there are not enough jobs in our economy because of wrong choices in economic strategies made by our national leaders, going all the way back to President Marcos. Pardon me if I sound like a broken record, but ALL our successful neighbors reached their levels of prosperity (and solved their hunger problems) by gearing their economies towards the export of manufactured goods. This was the start of the industrialization that created their middle classes. Alone among the leaders in East Asia at that time, President Marcos preferred to concentrate on the domestic market, giving his relatives and cronies monopoly positions � coconuts, sugar, air transportation, cigarette paper - in our domestic economy. His attempts at manufacturing-for-export were half-hearted and were deliberately wrecked by the communist militants of the KMU, which he did not bother to suppress, as did the other authoritarian leaders in East Asia at the time.. When I started writing a newspaper column in 1987, I kept hammering on the point that manufacturing-for-export was the key to the success of South Korea , Taiwan , Hong Kong and Singapore , and that their success was being copied by Malaysia , Thailand and Suharto�s Indonesia . President Aquino never paid any attention to my articles, busy as she was trying to fight off the persistent coup attempts by Gringo Honasan. It was President Ramos who deliberately chose to lead the Philippines into manufacturing-for-exports in the 1990s, but by then China had begun to emerge as a manufacturing behemoth and was making the global marketplace over-crowded. Ramos� strategic goal was to make the Philippines a Newly Industrialized Country or NIC by the year 2000 and manufacturing-for-export was correctly one of the methodologies he chose to reach that goal. But on the way to NIChood, he fell under the spell of Opus Dei economists Jesus Estanislao and Bernardo Villegas, who argued instead for the country�s accelerated embrace of free trade and globalization, even ahead of such developed economies as South Korea and Taiwan . Ramos probably did not realize it at the time, but his drive towards NIChood and his early embrace of free trade and globalization, with the help of then Sen. Gloria Arroyo, were at cross-purposes with each other. How can a country develop the industries it needs to create jobs for its people if, at the same time, it opens its gates to the unfettered entry of manufactured goods of other countries? Not surprisingly, hundreds of Philippine producers, both domestic and foreign, were forced to close shop or reduce operations in the face of competition from imported products, resulting in hundreds of thousands of Filipino workers losing their jobs. Those among them with marketable skills have been able to find jobs overseas. Those who couldn�t have had to stay and, given the inadequacy of jobs in the economy, slowly sank into poverty. These would be among the 4% who have suffered �severe hunger� in the past three months. So the problem of poverty and hunger has its roots in the wrong choices in economic strategies that go back to Presidents Marcos, Aquino and Ramos and now Arroyo (the sybaritic Estrada was probably not even aware that the problem existed), exacerbated in no small measure by a galloping population growth rate, for which the anti-birth control Roman Catholic bishops must share the blame. So, what is the solution? In the short term, there is probably none. Distributing one billion pesos worth of free food is only a very temporary stop-gap measure, with the emphasis on �very,� of value only to administration candidates in the current electoral campaign. This recalls an earlier program to distribute P2,000 worth of free food to the 20 neediest families in every barangay nationwide, which I critiqued in my article Garcia�s Millions, Hernando�s Give-away (Nov. 02, 2004 and archived in www.tapatt.org ) when it was first proposed. That program had a proposed budget of P2 billion a month, or P72 billion a year. Mercifully, that plan was abandoned after my critique. If that monthly food give-away worth P2 billion a month and P72 billion a year was not likely to solve the poverty and hunger problem in 2004, even less likely would P1 billion just before the elections in May 2007. However, I can appreciate the desperation of President Arroyo to do something, anything, to address the problem, to prevent the collapse of her government in the face of one major embarrassment after another. But I recall a conversation I had with her in Malacanan in September 2001, the only one-on-one I ever had with her. In that meeting, I proposed the creation of a manufacturing zone in every municipality in the country. I argued that one hectare of agricultural land, planted to rice or corn, could not sustain even one family for one year. But if converted into a manufacturing zone, I argued, each one hectare of land could sustain several hundred families. To me, that was commonsense. But to the President Arroyo, it was not. Her response was: the debate between agriculture and manufacturing was a 19th century issue Meaning, her mind was made up: she was committed to free trade and globalization, under which the Philippines has been scratched out by its own national leaders as a manufacturing center and must fend for itself as an exporter of labor. It is no surprise that manufacturing is/was not even mentioned in her Mid-Term Development Plan, which was explicitly focused on agriculture, tourism and information technology.. (See my article titled GMA � the best there is, but her best may not be good enough, Oct. 03, 2001 and archived in www.tapatt.org , which turned out to be a prophetic title.) So, poverty and hunger are directly traceable to wrong choices in economic strategies by Presidents Marcos, Aquino, Ramos and Arroyo. (Estrada merely sleep-walked through his presidency and had no economic program to speak of, aside from trying to turn the entire country into one giant casino). Traceable as well as to the communist movement (which deliberately sabotaged export-oriented industries), to the Opus Dei economists (who pushed for an accelerated embrace of free trade and globalization) and to the Roman Catholic bishops (who oppose/d any and all artificial methods of birth control.) The 4% of our population who experience �severe hunger� should know whom to blame for their misfortune. Gloria is/was not the only one at fault. ***** Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles in www.tapatt.org and in.acabaya.blogspot.com OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Let Them Eat Statistics� More Reactions to �Most Corrupt Country� Tony, One of your best columns, I must say. Pity there are not more than a handful like you out of the hundreds who daily presume to write columns. What distinguishes your columns, even from the better ones, is the programmatic solutions they invariably recommend after analyzing this country's recurring -- predictably worsening -- problems. With warmest regards. Pepe Miranda, (by email), March 30, 2007 President, Pulse Asia wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, Who is the biggest culprit in this hunger/starvation issue ? I point my fingers at the reactionary Church who allowed the faithful to balloon to 88 million consumers. This deceptive stats will only convince the idiots, who think that a survey/research becomes credible only if it's backed up by statistics. They are so naive to know that stats can be rigged or manipulated to paint the desired scenario. GMA should oblige, and unleash her own set of stats. .Sincerely, Auggie Surtida, (by email), Tigbauan, Iloilo , March 29, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, FROM SAN FRANCISCO ..I wonder what other manufacturing products you speak of? -- China has mastered almost all because of their cheap labor, government incentives, etc... What the Philippines continues to have, is an abundance of talented human resources. Though they do fly elsewhere for better pay, creating havoc in their family lives, etc despite the remittances they send home. Read naman my column, 'OFW NOTES' in CONDO CENTRAL MAGAZINE on different Filipinos in Italy , USA etc. Perhaps we can re-focus on using that talent WITHIN the Philippines- for example, better training and English lessons for call centers, or capture the market for animation -we have so many skilled artists there. Jobs which will use our very talented, creative people. or get outsourcing companies abroad to have their accounting ,architectural, etc work done in the Philippines . or promote the skillful but inexpensive medical work we do in the Philippines . so many ways to explore and 'carpe diem' with those cinderella industries. ALSO, the government needs to address the OVERPOPULATION problem. The Church leaders who fight family planning must realize that a child born in abject poverty usually ends up begging (I've seen this problem even in ritzy Ayala Avenue) or becomes a thief or prostitute (I've also witnessed this at community service groups I�ve joined; I've also talked to our fave he/she prosti on the corner of Ayala Avenue and Fonda Street near Peninsula and Shangri-la hotels.) So, curb runaway population explosion, provide education, and jobs will always be there. and of course, we all, SPECIALLY the government, must return to our old value system of good morals, diligent work and fair play and pay. Kaya naman natin iyon diba? Cita Abad Dinglasan, (by email), March 31, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Who are these survey takers tasked to go out in the field to poll the respondents? Is there a paper trail (or voice clip) to verify if the survey response (or the input that is to be made the basis for the SWS statistical data) really camefrom the respondents? Filipinos do not anymore trust the President, Congress, the Supreme Court, COMELEC and virtually all institutions that cater to the public for that matter. But, inexplicably, Filipinos suddenly trust 100% what these survey takers tell us--that they have religiously wrote down the precise response to the question posed. Sans a confirmatory paper trail (or voice clip), are we placing too much trust on these survey takers? Or are they angels? As regards the blame-game, poverty may also be largely attributable to rampant institutionalized USURY. NSCB (National Statistical Coordinating Board), in fact, does not even maintain data on (and, therefore, does not statistically recognize) the percentage or amount a Filipino family sets aside for INTEREST payments in its Percentage Distribution of Total Family Expenditures data (http://www.nscb.gov.ph/fies/fies-2000/2000fiesex1.asp) That�s as if the huge amount a Filipino family allots for INTEREST PAYMENT (the 5% �?oagencia tanto�? for instance) is non-existent. Domingo T. Arong, (by email), March 31, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww In response to this column, I find it difficult to understand why you are part of a group that includes the Church when you frequently object to one of its basic tenets-sanctity of human life. Everyone with any sense knows that poverty is not caused mainly by population but by government and policies that retard distribution in a country. It's funny because you say yourself that poverty and hunger are directly traceable to wrong choices in economic strategies from Presidents Marcos to Arroyo, including the communist involvement and embrace of free trade and globalization. The Catholic Church does not cause poverty because they ask people to accept the children sent to them by the Creator. In fact, in the Philippines it should be a blessing that the population grows if you want to have a country to develop through these great ideas you are proposing. Europe is dying because of the birth dearth, China and Japan choose to birth boys with their abortion and one child policies. Consequently they havn't enough female children to carry on the population. The US is aborting one out of every four children, over one million every year and you think this would be a good thing? (I have never supported abortion. ACA) Artificial birth control does not succeed and that is why Planned Parenthood and zero population proponents insist on abortion availability, especially in the Third World . You are a beautiful people. Don't let yourself be sucked into the mentality that to cure poverty, limit or kill the poor. It is not the answer. The answers lie in what you are writing about otherwise. I pray some sensible people will begin to heed your sensible words, not your words that do not respect life, especially the life of the poor. Sheilah Hockman, (by email), Michigan , March 31, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Would you not say that before a companies can hope to secure overseas markets they first have to secure strong domestic market, especially those that are under- capitalized and the trick is how to do? Would that be to give purchasing power to ones on population? Just a thought. Regards Doug Adam, (by email), March 31, 2007 MY REPLY. The modern history of the tiger economies of East Asia shows that they went into the global marketplace even before, or at least simultaneously with, the domestic market. Hong Kong and Singapore , for example, have very small (about three million each in the 1970s) domestic markets that could never have sustained the economies of scale needed to lift their people from poverty. The same could be said also of Taiwan and South Korea , both of which had populations of less than 15 and 25 million each, respectively, when they went global in manufacturing in the 1970s. Manufacturing-for-export gave purchasing power to their populations, which they would not have attained if they were producing only for their small domestic markets. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I am not sure why you want export-oriented manufacturing but not free trade/globalization? Isn't the latter a requisite of the former? Isn't it true that in order to find markets for export, you also have to open your market to them? Serafin Dudeo, (by email), March 31, 2007 MY REPLY. No, free trade and globalization were/are not pre-requisites for export-oriented manufacturing. South Korea and Taiwan industrialized in the 1970-1980s under protectionist regimes. As recent as last week, South Korean farmers and workers were protesting against the free-trade agreement with the US because their livelihood would be threatened by the entry of cheaper products from the US . Japan industrialized under protectionist regimes from the 1880s to the present. Even the US had a protectionist economy from 1787 to the 1930s. In the past six years, the US under President Bush put up protectionist barriers against Brazilian and Korean steel, Canadian lumber, Vietnamese prawns and catfish, Chinese garments, to protect US producers and US jobs, while mouthing slogans for free trade and globalization. Why should the Philippines do less? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi, Tony. Three years from now, you'll be eating your words. (You speak with absolute certainty. Was this another personal message from God? ACA) When the tourism (including medical and eco tourism), mining, information technology, agri-business and construction industry hits full gear, then unemployment rate would go down substantially. Already we can see both domestic and foreign investments pouring in the billions of dollars for these industries as a result of the sound economic fundamentals of the country. Cheers! Bobby Tordesillas, (by email), March 31, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, It's mind boggling to me that a seasoned and well-informed journalist like you keep railing against the Catholic Bishops' position against artificial contraception and blaming this for the country poverty woes. Truth is immutable hence the Church's teachings on contraception will never change. And if you're Catholic, I find it even more perplexing that you seem to wink at this doctrine. May I share with you my thoughts on this: http://philippinecrusader.blogspot.com/2005/04/is-it-morally-licit-for-catholic.html Also please find attached a position paper I wrote two years ago which I had submitted to key members of the Senate and House of Representatives. Sincerely, Dr. Jose Maria P. Alcasid, (by email), March 31, 2007 MY REPLY. Mind boggling? Has your mind ever boggled at the fact that hundreds of millions of Roman Catholic couples use artificial methods of birth control, despite the �immutable truth� of the Church�s teachings on contraception? Many predominantly Roman Catholic countries have below-zero, zero or near-zero population growth rates: Hungary (negative 0.34%), Lithuania (neg. 0.22), Croatia (neg 0.19), Italy (neg 0.17), Czech Republic (neg 0.16), Slovenia (neg 0.13), Austria (neg 0.10), Poland (flat zero), Belgium (0.01), Spain 0.03), Slovakia (0.12), Portugal (0.22), France (0.28), Cuba (0.47) and Ireland (0.66). (The Philippines : 1.95%). Data from the 2007 World Almanac and Book of Facts. How do you think did/do these Catholic couples limit the number of their children? By solving crossword puzzles until they fell asleep? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony: I doubt it very much if President Arroyo and her administration will agree to eating their own statistics. They are used to eating cake, as you must know. But I am sure they will cynically continue to dish them out, confident in their belief that the majority of the population, especially those who are experiencing one degree of hunger or another, will somehow place their trust in those statistics, "eat" them if you must, and somehow come to the conclusion that their government is doing something after all to alleviate their hunger. Will President Arroyo and her administration get away with their continued attempts to deceive the people? Of course they will--knowing full well that a gullible and "idiot" nation will accept practically anything and everything their government dishes out to them. Mariano Patalinjug, (by email), Yonkers , NY , March 31, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, I quote from your article "Let Them Eat Statistics�: �So, poverty and hunger are directly traceable to wrong choices in economic strategies by Presidents Marcos, Aquino, Ramos and Arroyo. (Estrada merely sleep-walked through his presidency and had no economic program to speak of, aside from trying to turn the entire country into one giant casino). ... �. In your previous article you suggested requiring qualifying exams for Candidates for Elected office, and I was among not agreeable to the idea, because as I see it in our situation it will be in violation of rights to Equality. Our Strong Party system of Governments where members of the Party nominate or party executives endorse its candidates Eliminates the need for such requirements. But there are many of our Great leaders past and present who have not completed formal education, but intelligent nonetheless, and some leaders who are new immigrants (it takes only 3 years to become citizens) may not even have any formal education at all in their countries of origin. It is never required by our election laws. All you need to be is a legal citizen and of legal voting age and it is up for the voters to decide if you fit to be their leader. Back to your statement I quote, the Presidents above, other than the Erap were all "Educationally Qualified", Graduates of Prestigious Institutions and will pass with distinction any qualifying exams, but just the same they were all failures.. Erap may had been successful if he decided to just stop gambling and womanizing and spent a few moment of his time to even realize that he was the President and there was the business of a nation to govern, instead of just piling up the money for his mistresses and the produce of his loins. Overall, I agree with you for all the solutions you forwarded to alleviate the perpetual social problem of HUNGER and I further suggest that to really come up with a Long Term Strategy, a thorough Inquiry into the problem to be conducted by a commission headed by an Individual who will be mandated to study all the possible angles and given all the power and independence without Political Interference and to report and recommend the Long Term Solutions and its Sources of Funds and be enacted into Law and Be ENFORCE FORCEFULLY without Exemption, (not even the Church, the Elites, or the Warlords). Lastly, we are not different here than most of your countrymen, if we can get away from corruptions, breaking the law, stealing, or even murder, we will gladly do, but most of the time we Can Not, and it�s not Just Worth it. Regards and thanks for the articles, always looking forward for them on my mail.. Victor Sanoy, (by email), Scarborough, Ont. , Canada , March 31, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww . What an Ahhhhh.....for me. If I had never read your column, I would have thought that the report of that well patronized early evening newscast was all true and correct. Indeed you resonate my colleague�s opinion of that newscast as an exaggerated trumpeting of issues for business gain. Allan Presto, (by email), April 01, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Sir, Please tell the leftists and the cause-oriented groups to stick their middle finger up their respective A_ _es. What have they done to alleviate hunger? Have they provided jobs? Have they constructed farm-to-market roads? Have they created livelihood projects? Where were they when St. Bernard in Leyte was buried in the mud? They were all over Manila �s streets, demanding GMA�s ouster. And who helped the Leyte people during those times? The foreigners. Where were they when Milenyo struck? Have they helped out in the reconstruction? Hahaha!!!! You�re right. Stop pointing that accusing finger on somebody, because three fingers are pointing back at you. Thanks a lot and best regards, Bong L. Alba, (by email), April 02, 2007 Corporate Engineering, URC wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, One policy, which is definitely good economics, that would do the most to solve the hunger problem would be to remove the monopoly of NFA on importation of rice. This way Filipinos would benefit from having equal access as Thais and Vietnamese to low-priced rice. The government's legal monopoly on international rice trade, which has gone on for so many decades, has led to massive NFA losses and corruption. Those who worry about rice farmers who cannot produce as competitively as Thai and Vietnamese farmers should put their talents to thinking up programs to alleviate the adjustments that these farmers need to make, rather than let the entire Filipino population of rice consumers be the ones to sacrifice. Mahar Mangahas, (by email), April 02, 2007 President, Social Weather Stations wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reactions to �Most Corrupt Country� To reiterate again, the PERC report (Has anyone seen it? You have to purchase a copy) is based on a perception study of multinational banks and companies on the ease of doing business in the country aka dealing with the government bureaucracy. As the comments below emphasize it is a perception of corruption of government and politicians and not the Filipino people as a whole. It is unfortunate though that this priveleged class (government and politicians), having been elected and/or appointed, are deemed the representatives of the "country". Many good things have been happening in country INSPITE of government and politicians. The strength of the Philippines is its people with their diverse skills, moral courage, compassion, and willingness to give and share. Let no one, neither a foreign consulting group nor a survey mask this truth. It should be a collective initiative of all Filipinos to highlight what we do best to the world. Gawad Kalinga has been mentioned, but no one has emphasized that one vision for the 7,000 communities to be organized is that they would be trading with each other in a way that is transparent and principled. Other people's initiatives exist. Good examples of entreprenurial initiatives in information, communication and technology (ICT) or infopreneurship include the Brain Gain Network and Davao 's Silicon Gulf . The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is spearheading opensource IT solutions for Filipinos through Bayanihan ICT, while entrepreneurs have provided free access to agricultural trading through b2bPricenow. The Foundation for the Philippine Environment is a pioneer in the debt-for-nature swap strategy and has funded many environmental initiatives. Corporate Philippines has worked to be more environmentally friendly through the Philippine Business for the Environment. The OFW movement is strong and diverse with such groups as Tulong Pinoy Movement and other OFW help groups active worldwide. Philippine literature is robust as can be seen in the Panitikan portal. If you want to see how good Filipino graphic artists are, check out Firefly's virtual reality work and services offered. How about the awesome art found in ArtCebu or Canvas? Still other initiatives include RockEd Philippines on popular art and music, Filipino Martial Arts and Martial Arts of the Philippines on the revival of Filipino pride, history, and culture through indigenous martial arts. Members of the Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines have scaled Mt. Everest and are active in environmental work and manufacturing outdoor products. A more mass-based form of football (soccer) is now being promoted nationwide by a new generation of socially aware footballers. Check out Futkal and Pinoy Soccer. Short of a coup d'etat or armed revolution, what are the options of Filipinos in transforming government service and politics? The sampling of groups and movements above show us how. By their actions and by example, in both small and big matters, they are pressuring bureaucrats and politicians to become more transparent and accountable They are tackling poverty and social inequality. They are promoting Filipino pride, history, and culture. They seek to become better stewards of the country's resources. It is servant leadership not tradpol leadership that will develop the country. Their successes will eventually confront bureaucrats and politicians with the choice of: reform or become irrelevant to the Filipino people. So, let us remind the world (and PERC) to be careful with their choice of words. It is not the country that is corrupt. It is the Philippine government and Filipino politicians that are perceived to be corrupt. They are not us and we are not them. Hecky Villanueva, (by email), Tuczon , Arizona , April 03, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Here's my reply: Despite all the empty rhetoric, if we really want things to change there must be leadership by example from not only formal leaders but including informal ones in our society, but of course more so the former. If we ask ordinary citizens to shun corruption, then why do we do it? Why are certain powerful / influential people seemingly exempt from condemnation in committing corrupt practices while these same people condemn others? What shameless hypocrites we have become! We throw stones at sinners while we are bigger sinners! We condemn those who allegedly stole 1 million while look the other way from others who stole 100 times as much! I say "we" because most Filipinos today "tolerate" what is happening and "do nothing". Again Burke's saying that "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing!" When deteriorated values take over while only a few object, then this society of ours is doomed ... The majority of us have become liars, cheaters, thieves, and tolerators of liars, cheaters, and thieves. This indicates that the majority of the population has accepted, wittingly or unwittingly, lying, cheating, stealing, and tolerating these as "national values" instead of their opposite. After all, how can we really expect leaders to exemplify all the rhetoric on moral values we keep on harking about when it is clear they do not practice these! It is not just the fault of our corrupt leaders! It is the Filipinos' collective responsibility too for allowing all these things to happen ... electing corrupt leaders and all, allowing themselves to become tools of corruption, and being corrupt themselves! Yes, of course, we can still change ... But the change we are talking about here is not change via lip service but REAL, GENUINE CHANGE especially that which comes from within. I have a feeling the majority of us Filipinos are not capable of this REAL CHANGE! How do I know this? Because this path does not lead to power, fame, fortune, pleasure, and all worldly trappings! In fact, this path leads to pain and suffering and all the human disappointments possible! Col. Dennis Acop, USMA '83, (by email), April 03, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww How very, very sad. Lydia B. Echauz, (by email), April 03, 2007 President, Far Eastern University wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, I think that whoever is behind these extra-judicial killings should suspend it for awhile and apply it instead to those corrupt people like the Garcia, etc. If they can do these, I believe we could minimize corruption, if not completely eradicate it.. Thanks. Bert Celera, (by email), April 03, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Your good deeds are the best gift you�ve given to us Filipinos. You are the bravest person I know, exposing illegal activities of officials and politician in our country. You are simply the BEST. You deserve to be the president of the Philippines since you have unconditional LOVE for our country .Having your extraordinary unselfish doings is truly God�s gift to you and may you continue your good works...I hope I can meet you in person when I go home to the Philippines. I�m not just proud of you, but having you as my relative is the greatest. May God continue to bless YOU and your family.. Rachel Chavez, (by email), New York City , April 03, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, We are indeed in the pits...Our culture and sense of values are so convoluted... a failure of our schools, of our religions, of our elite, of our leaders in government, of our military, of the whole Filipino race. Some say this is because we are "the chosen people"--chosen to suffer by the "creator". Nonoy Yulo, (by email), April 03, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Corruption is the new atheism. We might be a Christian nation, but our government officials and politicians are atheists. If they believe in God, they would not commit the sin of corruption. Virgilio I. Gonzales, (by email), Danbury , Connecticut , April 03, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I realize that many Filipinos will scream in self-defense, 'But we are not the only country where corruption exists.' They ought to read the following WP news article: "Corruption Case Breaks 'Shanghai Taboo' Fall of City Leader Reflects Chinese President's Drive to Cement His Power, Vision By Edward Cody Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, April 1, 2007; Page A20 SHANGHAI -- Long a proud showcase for economic development, Shanghai has recently become the stage for a high-stakes drama of corruption, vice and political intrigue with far-reaching consequences for the Chinese Communist Party. The scandal, which has brought down one of China 's senior leaders, has its origins in large-scale graft in the local party apparatus. But more broadly, it reflects a political decision by President Hu Jintao to flex his leadership muscles against entrenched party officials known as the Shanghai faction, loosely grouped around former president Jiang Zemin and his proteges from this coastal boomtown. The arrests in Shanghai were part of Hu's cautious but relentless drive to cement his power as party leader and ensure faithfulness to his vision up and down the hierarchy. That effort, foreign and Chinese specialists said, will reach a high point at the 17th Party Congress in the fall, when Hu and his lieutenants are expected to stack the party's ruling bodies, the Politburo and its Standing Committee, with Hu loyalists. "The political aspect here is much more important than the law enforcement aspect," one Chinese corruption expert said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of inner-party politics. "The interesting point here is that before, nobody could touch Shanghai , and now you can. Hu wanted to break the Shanghai taboo." The latest turn in the case came last month when the official New China News Agency announced that Xi Jinping, 53, will be the new party secretary for Shanghai , moving from a similar job in neighboring Zhejiang province. He replaced Chen Liangyu, 60, who was fired and placed under investigation in September for allegedly using a government pension fund to make more than $400 million in loans to a corrupt businessman. Chen's fall was an important marker in Chinese politics. Not only was he secretary of the Shanghai Communist Party -- the most powerful man in China's biggest and richest city -- but he was also a member of the 24-man national Politburo that sets the course for China's 1.3 billion people. Only two other Politburo members have been dismissed and prosecuted for corruption since the party came to power in 1949. Chen Xitong, mayor of Beijing , was jailed in 1995, and Cheng Kejie, deputy chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, was executed in 2000." [snipped] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/31/AR2007033101124.html Bobby Manasan, (by email), Virginia , USA , April 04, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony --- It's always enlightening (and often entertaining) to read the reactions to your fine columns. The one from the retired colonel which ended on a religious note proves yet again that religion is what's kept our country down. [Someone should give him Richard Dawkins' "The God Myth," to open his eyes to the fact that religion has historically done more harm than good on this planet.] There'll be a big hue and cry by the sanctimonious crowd over this remark, I'm sure --- but it's made me think that a country like South Korea, which has a large percentage of practicing Catholics, has successfully tried and jailed former presidents like Chun Do-hwan and Roh Tae-won for corruption and human rights violations. Could this happen in the Philippines ? Only in your dreams! Of course, it may be unfair to compare the stern serious Koreans to the happy-go-lucky bahala-na Pinoys because, as Lee Kuan Yew once said, the "intense" peoples of East Asia are vastly different from the "less intense" Southeast Asians. (Also, it's been hard to see through the religious fog with which the Spanish colonials enmeshed us.) The South Korean example shows that countries can be Christian and exact justice from scoundrels who ruin your country. None of this "forgive and forget" nonsense which is why we have creatures like the Marcoses and Estradas still infesting public office, giving our country a bad name. The general also lamented the fact that past presidents squandered opportunities to put the country on the right track. To my mind, Cory Aquino was the biggest squanderer of all when she simply did not go through with her touted land reform program which she had declared was the centerpiece of her administration. Filipinos would have followed her to the ends of the earth if she had been tough and sidelined the elite, thus removing the main stumbling block to true democracy. I realize this is pie-in- the sky because she herself belonged to the elite and had unfortunately not been educated by Ninoy (the ultimate macho) into the intricacies of politics, which is why it didn't happen. Her famous remark about not needing to take any advice is surely what resulted in the suicide of that sterling man Jimmy Ongpin. What's also painful about all this is that Cory caused the machos in our society to dismiss her as being "just a woman" (the way men today also perceive Gloria Arroyo, of whom there were initially high expectations because she'd had a good education). It's a slur on the countless strong Filipinas who've been demoralized, many of them reduced to toiling abroad as servants. A sad state of affairs, on top of being known as "most corrupt." Isabel Escoda, (by email), Hong Kong , April 04, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Good day Mr. Abaya, Have you written books? Is it available at bookstores? I am going home for my leave this week and I will try to find your books around. Best regards Javier Ailes, (by email), Kazakhstan , April 04, 2007 MY REPLY. I have written only one book, Europe by Scooter, published in 1965. But it has long been out of print. A Fil-Am reader in California , who actually researched it, emailed me that my book is available in the libraries of seven US universities. Another reader found out that it is available in the libraries of De La Salle University on Taft, and Ateneo University in Loyola Heights . But I doubt if you will find a copy in Kazakhstan . I wrote a booklet, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Communism, published in 1985, before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. I still have some copies left If you will give me your mailing address, I will mail you a copy. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Sir, one of your readers wrote: All we have to do is accept that we are sinners, repent, ask for forgiveness, believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from our sins, believe that only God can make us righteous and not through our own efforts, and follow Christ�s teachings. We squandered 21 years but it is not too late to find lasting peace and progress by following Jesus Christ. Lt. Col. Hector Tarrazona (ret), (by email), March 17, 2007 Obviously the last one is where we failed--follow Christ's teachings-- Love God and love your neighbor... We do not love our people enough to care about them--- we are too comfortable with our own affairs and we just decide to mind our own business. Not voting is the last thing we want our electorate to do... use your votes now to start a clean up of the Lord's temple--His church--His body, meaning us and our people. Have a resolve the cleanse ourselves of sin, and cleanse our officials and people of sin that had been the result of GMA and corruption contamination. The only way to really start is use your votes to clean up Malacanang that will in turn allow us to clean the system-- Executive, Legislative, Judiciary, to enable a new system to be in place so we do not continue to support the squander of the Lord's resources that should benefit our starving brothers and sisters. The more we allow this corrupt administration--the more we do the opposite of what Veronica did -- for she did not feel fear of consequences in the hands of the soldiers, did not feel embarrassed about what people would say who were already gossiping about the Lord and the sinner from Magdala, and did not feel lazy, but took action. We are doing lots of things wrong by the examples of our Lord. Go, use your votes to displace Satan who's in the palace. As the electorate decide not to cast their votes, they are in collaboration with this most corrupt regime. Our country is not corrupt, only the officials and those who allow themselves to be corrupted by them through commission or omission, action or inaction. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas-- De Aparri hasta Jolo, las puertas del infierno, no prevaleceran. Aurora Riel, (by email), North Carolina , USA , April 05, 2007 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |