IPSO FACTO

by Glenn Aringino

    IN these first few weeks, I have learned the truth of an old story.

    It has to do with a couple and their three children. This family had been experiencing hunger for quite a long time. A day came when the father expected a visit from his kumpare. Amidst their unfruitful condition, he still prepared the best that he could offer to his guest. His children were much excited, for, at last, they can have a better meal than they usually have. The father exclaimed, "By the time kumpare arrives, you all go to your room. Wait 'till we are done and what's left would be your lunch." Poor children, they prayed for the visitor to leave. Their awaited moment came, but nothing was left on the table. And the moral lesson of the story is, you can starve your children by trying to please somebody.

    According to Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran, Malacañang spent P50 million to beautify the palace alone and spent another P14.5 million for other grand preparations for Pres. Bush's visit. Its allocation for 2004 for health care services in the national budget totals only P12.9 billion (P1.075 billion monthly nationwide) and the education budget this year will only be P113.9 billion (P1.16 billion monthly nationwide). Certainly, this budget can't suffice the shortages as of 2003.

    I watched Bush's address to a joint session at the Batasan Complex and his bilateral meeting with Pres. Gloria Ma-capagal-Arroyo last October 18, 2003. I guess they have neglected to discuss the urgent need to remove lethal toxic wastes left behind by the American military in Subic and Clark. The People's Task force on Bases (PTFBC) claimed that 780 former base workers have died in recent years due to their exposure to toxic wastes, while 938 others are now ailing. The number of victims include 8,000 Filipinos believed to have been exposed to asbestos at the former US Subic Naval Base and who are now dying of asbestosis, a form of lung cancer, at the rate of two to four per month. PTFBC Chairman Teofilo Juatco said that since the US military left its former Bases at Clark and Subic, Arroyo is the only President who has not raised the issue with the US government. For goodness' sake! These victims are our own people. The government should urgently deal with the problem of toxic wastes in these bases before they kill and maim more Filipinos.

    The US government has pledged a minimum of $365 million in military assistance to the Philippines, including funds earmarked for further joint military training exercises this year. Bound by a 1951-mutual defense treaty and an agreement allowing the conduct of joint large-scale military exercises in Philippine territory, I can say that the toxic waste scenario could be unlikely to happen again.

    This astonishing military assistance to our country is part of Uncle Sam's global war against terrorism and is a big help to eradicate the local terrorists (Abu Sayaff and Jimaah Islamiya). But let us all be reminded that the root behind terrorism is poverty. And poverty can, above all, be prevented through education. If only our present government could be much concerned of such a reality, the clamor of its people would be at least be abated.

    Last semestral break, my two friends and I have been to Sari-sari, Jaro to celebrate the birthday of our good friend Randy. As we arrived there, a public elementary school across their house caught my attention. It only has 2 classrooms. One room was closed. No chairs nor a chalkboard was inside it. On the other room, a teacher holds three classes: Grades 1,2, and 3. I wonder if that teacher can efficiently educate her pupils in 3 different Grades under one classroom.

    Jim-jim, the youngest nephew of Randy, must be lucky. He has a family who can afford to send him to a preparatory school that offers better education. But what about these children who are below the poverty line? When will they get the so-called "Quality Education for All?"

    Our struggle to control our budget deficit has produced a problem more serious than our ill-equipped military. Our inability to properly fund our public school system is forcing us to face our future will ill-equipped minds. That, I think, is a serious national security threat that the Armed Forces can't do anything about. Yet, we don't see the problem in this light.

    Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri of Bukidnon said that our public schools lack 9.9 million textbooks, 4.12 million chairs, 15,060 classrooms, 11,054 teachers, and 20,636 principals.

    One cant just imagine the status of our school system and what it will be like in the coming years.

    Given our limited resources, we have to rank our priorities. Our national security is better served by modernizing our educational system than prioritizing the military. We should make a conscious effort redirect our scarce resources to train our fast-growing population, so that they would have the means to break the vicious cycle of poverty. Otherwise, we may need soldiers to suppress the anger of a population that weary and hopeless in their desperate conditions.

    For me, the choice is clear. Modernizing our minds should take priority over modernizing our guns. We should make that choice now, or a violent revolution would make that choice for us in the near future.