The Falling Ax in the Mind

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno of the judiciary department of the Republic was axed, Out.

 Is the President that scared that the ax may next fall on him that he has to secure the assurance and support of Communist China’s  president Xi Jinping?

 But who is really after the President’s head? Is there a group with enough power and capacity to do it?

However he talks, there’s no denying that PRRD is an accomplished strategist. He has packed Congress with his lapping dogs. The Supreme Court has started wagging its tail, too. He has secured the loyalty of the armed security forces of the State by raising their salaries and other emoluments heaven high beyond  anybody’s expectation.

Meanwhile, the political opposition looks emaciated and has  not shown any meaningful activity to prove its worth. Indeed, it’s rightly called yellow. The Bangsamoro rebels have been quieted by an assurance of self-rule via federalism. The NPA can only afford a mosquito-like disturbance here and there.

The CIA won’t dare any external adventure to remove him with his good-vibes Trump around. Unless, of course, the intervention will greatly advance  the interest of the USA. It will not under present circumstances when China is flexing its muscles in West Philippine Sea.

 The  International Criminal Court (ICC)  can’t even step a foot in Philippine soil to conduct on-site investigation on EJK; the minion of trolls will surely chase its investigators  away.

 There is nothing around to fear then. So what is the Time’s strongman afraid of? 

 Nothing but fear itself, the fear  in his mind – the fear of fear.

And this is the worst kind of fear, the fear without shape or form, with no material existence. This fear is a malevolent ghost, the resident evil in the mind. This fear becomes pain that turns a strongman into a weakling. The only way to overcome this worst enemy is to take Fentanyl and be in cloud nine as he once claimed (joke or no joke).

Of course, to quell the disquieting backlash,   the assurance of friend Xi about Tay Digong's continuous stay in the Palace by the murky Pasig may soon be declared as a joke.

Declaring an unthinkable as a joke has been proven by the regime as the best way out of a quagmire.

But mind you, he that started the joke that started the whole world crying would soon find that the joke would be on him. Here’s the Bee Gees to be exact:

I started a joke which started the whole world crying
But I didn't see that the joke was on me oh no
I started to cry which started the whole world laughing
Oh If I'd only seen that the joke was on me

I looked at the skies running my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed hurting my head from things that I said
'Till I finally died which started the whole world living
Oh if I'd only seen that the joke was on me

I looked at the skies running my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed hurting my head from things that I said
'Till I finally died which started the whole world living
Oh if I'd only seen that the joke was on me
Oh no that the joke was on me

A Coup d'etat in May

May 11, 2018 will go down in history as a day of infamy in the country’s judiciary.

 On this day, the Supreme Court decided 8-6 to remove its own Chief Justice on a quo warranto petition filed by the Solicitor General of the government of the Republic of the Philippines.

We may recall that 9 out of the 14 sitting justices of the Supreme Court joined last March the detractors of CJ Sereno in demanding her resignation. Thus, in deciding on 11 May 2018, to remove the Chief Magistrate from her post, the SC cannot be said to be impartial and objective, a basic requirement in dispensing justice.          

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A judge should not only be presumed independent, impartial and objective to decide on a case but in actual behavior must be, so as not to derail due process. If from the start the majority of the justices were already after her removal by resignation, and the quo warranto petition before them was about her removal, too, then their independence, impartiality and objectivity were tainted if not compromised. This notwithstanding, they tried and decided to remove her. Due process was, thus,  blatantly trampled upon by the very authority that is supposed to protect and uphold it. It was a historic miscarriage of justice.

                                                  

The said justices could have volunteered to inhibit themselves so that the integrity of the court could not be held suspect.   Considering the power politic preceding the event, it should have been the best thing to do.

It is everybody’s knowledge that the President was mad at the Chief Magistrate when she insinuated that the Palace was behind  SG Calida’s filing of the quo warranto petition against her. The  furious President  thereupon declared  war  on the Chief Magistrate and vowed to take steps to remove her .

PRRD minced no words in expressing his anger sayings: “Ikaw Sereno, sinabi ko na sa ‘yo hindi ako nakialam (I’m telling you, Sereno, that I didn’t meddle). If you are insisting, then count me in. Count me in and I will egg Calida to do his best. Ako na mismo ang maglakad, [ka]kalaban sa’yo (I will be the one to do it, I’ll fight you,)”

What was really the beef of the President with Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno?

We may be reminded that during the witch hunting that accompanied the bloody  campaign against illegal drugs, the President pinpointed  some judges implicated in the commerce of illegal drugs.

CJ Sereno was quick to react and declared, in behalf of the Supreme Court, that the Court is independent from the other branches of government and ought to be left alone, following its procedures, in determining the guilt or innocence of any accused judges. This belligerent stand in an attempt to protect the independence of the judiciary infuriated the ball-wrecking CEO of the land and everything went downhill thereafter.

The battles were waged and raged in all fronts. The impeachment proceeding against the Chief Justice was initiated thereupon. Before it can be completed, the Solicitor General  filled the quo warranto petition against her. Along the way, some group within and outside the court worked to force her resignation.

                                 

Valid or not the grounds for her impeachment, her accusers can proceed in pursuing it because it is the constitutional remedy to remove her from office. The Impeachment Court decides her guilt or innocence. The quo warranto proceeding, other hand, came in like a coup initiated by the Executive Department. It’s foul, a blow below the belt, a no - no in a constitutional democracy. It’s violative of the fundamental law of the land.

Come to think also of it, the Solicitor General, who is under the command of the President, is the principal law officer and legal defender of the Republic of the Philippines. His primary duty is to represent the government, its agencies and instrumentalities, its officials and agents in any litigation, proceeding and investigation before the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals.

Why then would the legal defender of the government launch the offensive of filing a petition to remove the government’s very own Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?

Whatever, the President got what he wanted; his archenemy was booted out from the highest justice tribunal of the land.

The Supreme Court will never be the same again.

Reforming SK

The  Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) election which is supposed to be held every 3 years since December 4, 1992, was last held on  May 9, 2010. The succeeding elections were postponed several times and were never held on the appointed dates until Monday, 14 May 2018.

Among others, the several postponements were apparently made by lawmakers to develop corrective counter measures to observations that the SK failed as a training ground for future leaders but has become instead a breeding ground for political dynasty and corrupt politicians.

Consider this. The youth in many communities were observed to disappear in the eve of SK  elections. The young voters were herded by politicians or their leaders into resorts and other secluded areas, and were fed, wined and given allowances to secure their votes for the candidates of the  politicians’  choice, often their kids or close of kin.

Moreover, the SKs developed a poor reputation. A 2007 study by UNICEF and the Department of Interior and Local Government reported that  “The SK’s performance for the past ten years has been generally weak. This is especially true in terms of coming up with legislations, promoting the development of young people, submitting reports and holding consultations with their constituents.” It goes without saying that the 10 percent of Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from barangay funds set aside for SK activities were not meaningfully spent or were used instead by the barangay government for other purposes.

After legislating to postpone the SK elections three or four times, Congress finally passed the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Law (RA No.14742) on January 15, 2016. The law addresses the issues that had hounded the SK, particularly of its becoming a breeding ground for corrupt political dynasty and the ineptness of the youth council to manage the affairs and concerns for young people. The law changed the age of council members from 15 -17 to 18 -30 years old and forbids individuals from seeking an SK post who are related to any incumbent elected official, either local or national, to within the second degree of consanguinity (blood relations- covering siblings and grandparents-grandchildren). RA 14742 is the first Philippine law with an anti-political dynasty restriction for elected positions, as mandated by the 1987 Constitution.

The SK  functions much like the barangay council, albeit focusing on everything that’s related to the barangay’s youth or members of the Katipunan ng mga Kabataan [KK], barangay residents aged 18-30. Under the SK Reform law, elected SK members are required to go through training programs before they can assume office. SK officials are also allowed to sign government contracts, which presupposes this time their capacity to use responsibly funds allotted to them.

 How the law improves the performance and the image of SKs is something to watch within three years.

 Suffice it to say that the anti-political dynasty restriction in the SK election may only work if COMELEC is serious and truly diligent in examining the bloodline of each candidate on the possibility of being related to any incumbent elected official in the government. But on this Monday elections, was the COMELEC prepared for the demanding task when the filling for candidacy was so close to election day?  Failure to do the bloodline examination may force the body to yield to a messy post-election remedy, that is, to petitions for disqualifications from defeated candidates. Expect quo warranto cases to rise later in more informed and capable urban areas.

On the other hand, raising the SK age qualification to 18-24 is premised on the assumption that the individual in this age range, already in the age of majority, is now mature and responsible enough to make public-affecting decisions. Thus elected SK officials can now enter into contract in the exercise of their functions. This new capacity is expected to improve performance and advance the interest of the young people of the community.

While this development is promising, it makes SK officials vulnerable to corrupt practices. Contracting for government projects are a rich avenue of corruption. This exposure will make or unmake SK officials.  This hands-on training in management  may deliver either a good or a corrupt leader. 

My Spiritual Journey

On Being Spiritual

Spirituality is often associated with religion. It need not be. I believe one can be spiritual without being stuck in religious beliefs or dogmas.

To be spiritual is to journey beyond the self, to step out from one’s comfort zone to become part of something great, noble and uplifting.

It is the passion of having, acting and being faithful to a cause, a vision, a dream to live and to cherish.

It is dwelling in the beautiful, the loveliness and the inspiring side of things.

It is being good, compassionate and caring.

It is understanding and respect for all things living in the planet.

It is about love: thinking, feeling and sharing its abundance to others to make this world a better place to live for everyone.

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       I love to learn so much such that studying for me became a passion, a cause, a pleasurable enterprise to pursue. My life, thus, as a student from college to graduate school was all fun and joy. The voluminous reading and writing assignments and examinations did not intimidate but gave me certain pleasures. Hence, I succeeded in everything I wanted to do as a learner.

I believe in change: I have spent my life working for change to happen beginning with myself and those around me.

I believe that man is basically good. It is the responsibility of those who have been enlightened to help him discover and manifest his goodness.

I was passionate as a political activist because I believe in the cause I was fighting for. I always believe that a better life is for all not just for a segment of society.

I became a practitioner in conflict resolution, in healing broken relationships: I believe that the pursuit for peace begins at home, in organizations, in the immediate community where we belong and must be secured, maintained and expanded from there to the larger society.

I gave the best of my life to teaching and to research and community work because I knew that what I was doing contributed to the fulfilment of the cause I’ve been fighting for life.

I have shared what I have, my life to others because of what I believe and was enriched not diminished by the act. God favours those who favour themselves in the side of compassion.

I was hounded by obstacles and severe difficulties in my journey. Wounded, and hurt, my enemies, nevertheless, had not defeated me.

I made the difference. I am the difference.

Life and Bike

Life is like riding a bicycle

You may lose your balance and

May fall to the ground

 If you stop moving

No matter how careful you may be

You will still one day crash and fall.

Be ready.

No biker worth his salt has not

Scraped his knees and bruised his arms

At one time or another.

Be careful.

The speed that thrills is the speed that kills.

If the downhill run scares,

Walk.

Succumbing to a Scam

If someone offers to double your money in three months’ time or increase it by 200 percent in six months, would you hand him your years of saving to take advantage of the rare opportunity? You are unlikely to do it if you are a sensible person with a critical mind. The offer is too good to be true. No economic or business venture has ever accomplished that feat. Otherwise, banks would not have existed because no one will put their money there.  The claim is experientially and legally impossible to happen. The investment scheme is definitely fraudulent.

 

But not very long ago many in Mindanao and in some other parts of the country had succumbed to this quick money scam  and lost almost everything they had. Government employees lost their big loaned money. Pensioners, their lump sum pensions, farmers their farm lots or farm animals, because they uncritically took the bait. And who would not when the stratagem is so convincing and tempting.  Some distinguished personalities in the community, no less than the chief of police or the mayor who accordingly belonged to the first batch of investors, materialized and testified in the gathering  waving their checks, the returns of their investment, after a period of 3 months , and who are now enthusiastic to reinvest the capital and interest in full. To cap it all they and the new converts were handed outright postdated checks equivalent to the value of their money plus the returns cashable after 90 days. Huge returns-of-investment were advanced to the investors in that manner. Everyone was jubilant but at the end of the day all was holding an empty bag.  Many families were destroyed. As a consequence, many children had to stop their schooling.  The pensioners start begging for food and medicines from their relations or neighbors. Some had died of heart attack or were reported to have committed suicide, unable to bear the devastating weight of the tragedy

 

Now, how is the quick money scheme  different from the claim of a presidential aspirant that he could stop corruption,the drug menace  end criminality  in 3-6 month’s time in this country of 110 mjllion people dispersed across a porous archipelago of  1700 islands ?Hardly. Both are empty promises used as a  lure to advance some  covert selfish interest. The latter, of course is a scam of graver magnitude currently surging forward and may yet engulf the country like an unstoppable tsunami wrecking in its wake everything on its path- faith in God or in something noble, trust, friendship, respect for one another, guiding ideals and values  we have held dear since childhood, and the blessings we are enjoying from our fledgling democracy. The  demolition is accelerating thanks to the messianic ambition  of a despotic  provincial warlord feeding on the grievances, impatience and desperation of the people  over a democratic culture that is flawed and a government t accused to be wanting in delivery.

 

Our flirtation with democracy is only half a century old. And we seem to forget that democracy is an organic institution that grows in consideration of the history, culture and tradition of a nation. It is not  something transplanted from one clime to another and immediately grows and bears fruits in the new location nor something  shipped like a pre-fab structure whose components can readily be assembled upon arrival on site and may become functional at once. In operation, democracy is  a participatory work in progress. The US version of democracy which serves as our rough model has been in existence for over three centuries. Yet the Americans continue to struggle to this day streamlining   and correcting its conceptual flaws and  operational glitzes. The entire system is far from complete. At our end, we are apparently becoming a nation of instant coffee.  We just cannot wait and in the process sacrifice quality in favor of something cheap, actually disgusting but in tempting attractive package.

 

Now comes the foul-mouthed change-maker from Davao City.

.

 

The Mayor has never been less transparent about his ambition and intention to change the country according to his own mold through a bloody revolution with himself at the helm.  Even before he officially proclaimed his bid for the presidency he already threw mouthful of hints along the way of what would be expected of him in time to come.

 

If one looks deeper into it, his participation in the current electoral exercise under a system he vehemently condemns as rotten and unreliable is part of the grand strategy to gain more supporters and followers.  If he won the presidential race and got himself installed as president, he would declare Martial Law and establish a revolutionary government   to make true to his promises. That would be revolution from within the system using the resources of the government with some air of legitimacy at that to accomplish his aims. If he lost his bid he would make it appear that he was cheated of victory by his opponents or by the government itself and tap the grievances  of his followers to wage the revolution from the outside.   To prepare for this his camp has been saying he could never lose this election unless cheated by the COMELEC. In this context, his followers would feel they are on moral ground to rise against the Republic. His armed elements are ready for a bloody takeover of government. On line for support are the communists or the NPAs who he allowed  a modus vivendi in Davao,  tolerating, in fact encouraging them  to collect “revolutionary taxes” from businessmen and of which he promised of late key positions in his government, and the Moro secessionists, an attractive local governance package via federalism of which he assured he could easily deliver to them  by abolishing Congress and the Supreme Court and thus preclude delaying legal obstruction..  But, of course, the Armed Forces and the people who still love democracy will not allow this happening sitting down. Hence, there would be civil war - Filipinos killing Filipinos.   Thus, not just 1000 or 100,000 but maybe millions will perish in the establishment of the Duterte regime of peace and security.

All around the country, the pied piper of Hamelin is playing his instrument to the hilt where droves and waves of enchanted victims are responding to his sound like rats driven to the precipice.

It is sad and tragic to be a Filipino nowadays.       

Lake Lanao and the Mindanao Power Crisis

On February 27, 2014, at around 3 a.m., the whole island of Mindanao was swept by a massive unannounced brownout that lasted for hours.

The circuit breaker of Agus I hydroelectric power plant in Baloi, Lanao del Norte, accordingly, tripped, causing power outage that cascaded to Agus 2 and to the other four power plants along the Agus River.  The other power generators in the National Power Corporation (NPC) Network, to include that of the Pulangi River hydropower plant in Maramag, Bukidnon, and the German coal-fired Steag State Power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, subsequently tripped, too, and went offline. The tripping phenomenon damaged a number of power generators and depleted to very low level the supply of energy.

From then on, the power situation of the entire island has not returned to normal. To date, many of the power generators within the NPC power complex are still undergoing repairs and thus are unable to operate fully. This accounts for the deficit of some 300 MW of electric supply in the entire island. Thus, a punishing rotational brownout that lasts from 7 – 10 hours a day is now experienced everywhere. Needless to say, the power outage has inconvenienced everyone. It is hurting business most, causing a loss estimated at P30M/hour.

But as to what really caused the mother of all brownouts on February 27, 2014, no one until now has a categorical explanation.

Some old theories in previous years’ brownouts were again circulating to explain things. One explanation that has angered many is that the current power situation is artificially designed to spike the power privatization plan of government. Related to this is the nagging suspicion that the long power outage is a machination to advance the interest and profits of private power players. 

There was also this claim that the Mindanao-wide brownout resulted from the toppling of a tower of a major power distribution line in Abaga, Baloi, Lanao del Norte.  The military shrugged this off. The NPC asserted, on the other hand,  that there was no sabotage of any kind; what happened was just, accordingly, a technical glitch and that everything will return to normal in due time. 

But even a technical problem could be triggered by something. And what is normal for years in the Mindanao power situation is the endless recurring brownout.

Indeed, the yearly recurring brownouts have already become a part of our life in Mindanao. These brownouts are predictably occurring in the summer season, a fact which apparently escapes the attention, or is taken for granted by critics.  It is obvious that the hot blistering weather has something to do with it, particularly to the physical condition of Lake Lanao, the main source of water that runs the power generators of the Agus Hydropower Plant Complex, the primary power producer in Mindanao. 

The Agus Hydropower Plant Complex has six cascading power plants that snake from the mouth of Lake Lanao in Marawi City down to Maria Cristina Falls in Iligan City. The cascading design for this power complex was intended to make an efficient use of the water resource from the Lake. In this set-up, water used by the upstream power plants is reused by those downstream.

The six hydroelectric power plants along Agus River have a total power-generating capacity of 700 MW supplying 40.31 percent of the current power needs in Mindanao. However, most of the power plants are already antiquated.  The oldest plant, Agus VI, with an aggregate installed capacity of 200 MW, was built in 1953 during the time of President Quirino. It is now 61 years old, a way past its 30 productive years. The newest plant in the complex began operation in 1992.

Given its generally antiquated infrastructure, the Agus power plant complex is susceptible to technical glitches and is presumed to generate power far below its generating potential. It was reported that the NPC will rehabilitate the two aged generators of Agus VI. It would accordingly take 30 months to do it at a cost of P2.6B. The repair may yet worsen the power supply in Mindanao if no compensatory move is made to cover the curtailed supply.

It does not help that the Pulangi Hydropower Plant in the NPC power network in Maramag, Bukidnon, could only deliver electricity at 60 MW out of its installed 255 MW generating capacity after the 27 February 2014 power fiasco. Moreover, the Pulangi River is also drying up, thanks to the unabated illegal logging in its watershed.

Meanwhile, the sorry technical condition of the Agus power plants is aggravated by the diminished supply of water from Lake Lanao. This gets worse in the summer months, and the prospect of el niῆo just frightens everyone. Some power plants are forced to shut down every time the water in the lake drops to critical low level to avoid damage to their hydroelectric turbines. The advent of climate change and global warming may yet worsen the lake situation not just in summer but year round.

Indeed, many observers have noted the declining water level and discharge capacity of the lake over the years. This disturbing phenomenon is attributed to uncontrolled timber poaching and the encroachment of farming activities in the lake watershed. The illegal activities cause soil erosion and corresponding siltation of the lake, affecting not just the operation of the hydroelectric plants but the agriculture and other livelihoods along the lake as well, and the way of life of the Meranao community.

Lake Lanao was declared by then President Corazon Aquino as a watershed reservation in 26 February 1992 through Presidential Proclamation 871 to ensure protection of forest cover and water yield for the hydropower plants, irrigation and domestic use. 

The proclamation was followed by Memorandum Order 412 dated 25 March 1992 creating the Lake Lanao Watershed Protection and Development Council to implement the proclamation, headed no less than the DENR Secretary and with such members as the NPC President, MSU President, ARMM Governor, and the Chair of the NGO, Save Lake Lanao Movement (SALAM), among others. The only accomplishment, however, of the Council was in coming up with the Lake Lanao Development Integrated Plan in 2003. It failed its mandate and has not arrested the degradation of the Lake and its environs.

Lake Lanao faces a dry future. If nothing is aggressively done to save and seriously protect the lake, Mindanao will continue to grope in the dark in years to come.