Politics and Technology Watch

Martial Law: The Mangudadatus are the Government

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:23:00 +0000

Rebellion is a crime committed against the government. It appears that Gloria in the Palace is correct in declaring Martial Law in Maguindanao and considering the acts of the Ampatuans as rebellion and not murder in cold blood... correct if the Mangudadatus is the government. Based on the reports:

In his affidavit submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Kenny Dalandag, a member of the Ampatuans’ private army, narrated that on that day, Andal Sr. met with Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, Sajid Ampatuan, Anwar Ampatuan, Saudi Ampatuan Jr., Ban and Ulo Ampatuan inside his mansion. His alleged order: “Kung dumaan ang mga Mangudadatu, ubusin sila lahat, pati mga bata, walang itirang buhay kahit isa (If the Mangudadatus pass through, wipe them out, including the children, don’t leave anyone alive)." Dalandag’s affidavit was the subject of a report by GMA News’ John Consulta, aired over the “24 Oras" news program.

But if the Mangudadatus is the government, ano pa ba ang ginagawa ni Gloria in the Palace sa Malacanang? she should step down and give way to the Mangudadatus. Di ba ang mga Mangudadatus ang gobyerno dahil malinaw ang alleged command: Kung dumaan ang mga Mangudadatu, ubusin sila lahat, pati mga bata, walang itirang buhay kahit isa?

Is an 'Asian NATO' Really On The US Agenda?

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:21:00 +0000

by José Miguel Alonso Trabanco

There has been some talk concerning American intentions to forge an Asian NATO, i.e. a US led military alliance meant to advance its members' geopolitical interests in the region. During the Cold War, the US created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) which also encompassed France and the UK as well as regional pro-Western States such as Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Pakistan and the Philippines. However, such organization was dissolved in 1977.

Moreover, we also need to take into account the existence of the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty, better known to all as ANZUS. Both American allies fought together during the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and Operation Enduring Freedom (in Afghanistan). Canberra also supported and participated in the 2003 Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. Furthermore, Australia is an important contributor to the National Missile Defense System. Therefore, one can practically take for granted that any potential Asian or Pacific version of NATO will include these two staunch American allies. Japan has become even closer to the US and an increased level of NATO-Japan dialog indicates that both parties have agreed to strengthen its political and military links.

In order to assess if Washington is indeed attempting to establish an alliance in the Asia-Pacific region (more or less analogous to its Atlantic counterpart) one must examine what the American motivation could be. Some top American politicians have been promoting such plans. For example, Rudolph Giuliani proposed that NATO should accept Australia, Israel, India, Japan and Singapore. Perhaps it is also what Senator John McCain had in mind when he recommended the establishment of an American-led League of Democracies, an euphemism which means that non European US allies had to be included in a global military coalition (against whom? One could add).

As we will see, there is plenty of reasons the United States will be interested in creating any such organization. American senior geostrategists must have paid a great of attention to:

North Korea's nuclear program.
The meteoric rise of China as an economic powerhouse. Or, as the US National Intelligence Council terms it, "the unprecedented transfer of wealth from West to East". China has already overtaken Germany as the world's third largest GDP. Beijing possesses the largest foreign currency reserves and the fact that most of them denominated in US dollars gives the People's Republic of China considerable leverage.
Other regional economies have grown impressively, namely South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Kong Kong. This means that Asia has been and will continue playing an increasingly important role in international politics.
The emergence of China has also expanded the 'Middle Kingdom's military, geopolitical, diplomatic and technological power. China is arguably the greatest power in East Asia. Beijing is improving and modernizing its military hardware and it seeks to develop competitive sea power projection capabilities in the long run.
China and Russia have become closer cooperative partners through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Both powers have agreed to share their influence in Central Asia and prevent American influence from reaching further into the Great Turkestan. Moreover, both have carried out joint military exercises.
Beijing has courted several regimes openly hostile to American power. In fact China is the primary destination of Iranian oil exports and the idea of building an oil pipeline connecting both has been explored. Furthermore, Myanmar has become one of closest Chinese allies. The 'Middle Kingdom' is large importer of Myanmarese resources (fossil fuels, gems, timber and so on) and Myanmar's ruling junta has allowed the Chinese to open and operate intelligence facilities there. The PRC, in order to ensure supplies of raw materials has become a key trading partner of many African countries as well.
The resurgence of Russia as a great power is an important. The Kremlin has shown some interest in projects concerning the development of energy resources. For instance, in order to diversify its trading partners, Russia has seriously thought about providing fossil fuels to East Asia's largest economies (China, Japan and South Korea). Additionally, the Russian Federation plans to increase its share in East and Southeast Asia's arms markets.
Even though South Korea still hosts a large number of US military personnel, Seoul (unlike Tokyo) has implemented a foreign policy which has been careful enough not to annoy Beijing.
Although some American masterminded Color Revolutions were first successful in inciting regime change, it seems both the Chinese and the Russians have meticulously studied this Modus Operandi and Beijing was able to counter such methodology in Myanmar's Saffron Revolution and during the 2008 Tibet riots.

NATO: The Limits of Expansion

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:37:00 +0000

By Henrik Larsen
Denmark

The pressure on NATO as a military alliance has increased significantly since the Georgia crisis, which revealed how easily the so-called frozen conflicts in post-Soviet countries could break out into full-scale war between two countries. Within NATO, the Georgia crisis has resulted in an increase of the already existing divisions between member states in favour or in disfavour of eastwards expansion, especially concerning Georgia and Ukraine. At the NATO summit in Bucharest in April, it was concluded that Georgia and Ukraine will have a long-term membership perspective. But unlike the usual procedure for pre-accession to NATO, the countries were not granted MAP (Membership Action Plan) as an expression of the doubts that were set forward, especially by France and Germany.

The exposure of these internal disagreements has now become the source of external weakness for the Alliance. The military confrontation between Georgia and Russia, which followed several months of skirmishes on the de facto borders of the break-away republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia, came as a surprise to most Western political actors and observers. Not since the collapse of the USSR had Russia used military force to exert power in her “sphere of influence” in neighbouring countries. In this way, Russia effectively demonstrated her position as the dominant power in the Caucasian region, which Moscow later underlined by the official recognition of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.

Continue Reading here>>>

Dealing with the budget process problems: Leak-plugging or Re-piping?

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:31:00 +0000

The September 27, 2008 editorial of the Philippine Daily Inquirer entitled “Plugging the Leak” gave us an insight on some of the realities surrounding the budget process of the country. It implied that while the “power of the purse” remains with the Congress, the “power over the contents of the purse”, the way and how much should be spent where, still remains with the President.

As the editorial notes: There is no disputing the President’s complete control of the current budget process. It is one main source of her continuing hold on Malacañang; it explains in large measure her continuing political relevance despite a three-year-long crisis of legitimacy. She has learned to keep most of her political allies happy, through a judicious mix of open budgets (open to congressional insertions, that is) and tight control of fund releases.

The editorial also surmises that “[i]f the proposed 2009 budget is any indication, she has even learned to provide for her political future by padding the proposal with billions of pesos in potential election-spending funds.” This is because “the political class (not just President [Gloria] Arroyo alone) found loopholes in the law, and widened them.” An example is the provision on savings found in Article VI, Section 25 (5) of the Constitution which is being used by the President thus “[leading] us down the road, ultimately, to the wonderland of rolled-over budgets”.

Continue Reading here>>>

Federalizing the Philippines: The Right Track at the Wrong Time

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:28:00 +0000

Despite the deafening concerns on food security, and the increasing prices of fuel and electricity, the issue of making the Philippines a Federal Republic would not die down. Since the day Senator Aquilino Pimentel passed Resolution No. 10 otherwise known as the “Joint Resolution to Convene the Congress into a Constituent Assembly for the Purpose of Revising the Constitution to Establish a Federal System of Government”, a number of activities were held advancing the cause of the system. The reason: Federalism is seen as a solution or a tool in addressing most of the country's woes. But, is it?

Federalism is defined as a system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units. It allows both self-rule on the part of the constituent unit, and a shared rule at the federal level between the central authority and state governments (Montes, 2006). This is as opposed to a unitary system wherein all the powers are vested in the central government and almost all policies and decisions emanate from it.

To date, only 26 of the 196 countries in the world are federal while seven are classified as federacy or the form of government in-between federal and unitary system as some sub-states function like states in a federation and others like states in a unitary state. Others, like Spain, are classified as states in transition from unitary to federal system. These, of course, exclude the Philippines as the country is purely unitarian in nature.

The Case of the Unitary System

In theory, there is no problem with unitary governments. As a matter of fact, using Henri Fayol's frame, unitary systems can facilitate the basic managerial functions such as: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. This could explain why countries with unitary governments like China and Japan became two of the world's economic giants.

But of course, maximization of the system's utility may vary from country to country. Development-wise, for instance, 44 of the 164 countries with unitary system had been classified by the United Nations as least developed countries or LDCs. Only 22 are developed countries while the rest, like the Philippines, are considered as developing.

Culture can best explain why this happened. As unitary systems are highly centralized in structure, they therefore demand credible and responsible leaders. Because the Japanese are known for their sense of responsibility and self-discipline to the point that government officials would tender resignations if something goes wrong with the policy they initiated or implemented, the benefits of the system was therefore maximized. New leaders or officials who are more qualified to handle the posts can easily take over and finish the job. This is as opposed to the Philippines where, despite the obvious facts of mismanagement and maladministration, government officials would still cling to their post until they are ousted or convicted with finality by the Supreme Court.

Another reason is the motivation of officials and the government as a whole. Singaporean officials, for example, utilized the system for the economic advancement of the city while for the generals of Myanmar, it is for their perpetuation in power. Thus, the differences in outcome.

The third and most obvious, of course, is the kind of bureaucracy present in the government. Some unitary governments are very complicated that functions usually overlap. Thus, transactions become slow and the delivery of social services are delayed. In most cases, the overlapping function is due to over-staffing as a result of political accommodation. An example is the Philippine Government wherein based on the study conducted by the Civil Service Commission, sitting president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has hired an excess of 81 undersecretaries and assistant secretaries, 53 presidential advisers and presidential assistants, and an unknown number of consultants. To show off to the appointing authority and prolong their appointments, appointees would take-on whatever task they can find and end up duplicating the efforts of others. Worse, issues of conflicting decisions and pronouncements would arise. This usually happens with the statements of the Press Secretary, the Executive Secretary, the presidential spokesman and the Secretary of Justice who all act as spoke-persons of the president.

Some Drawbacks of Unitary Systems

But while the unitary form can facilitate government administration, its inherent characteristic of centralized authority can lead to a number of problems. First, if government institutions are weak, the tendency for the head of the government is to become dominant. Absent this dominant characteristic, the government will not be able to function effectively and satisfy the demands of its constituents easily and efficiently. This will result to widespread constituency dissatisfaction against the government and its officials. In the case of the Aquino Administration, the effect was rapid turnover of local officials and the presence of military adventurism.

On the other hand, if the head of the government becomes dominant and utilizes the power for his own interests rather than for the benefit of the public, the result would be aggression on the part of the latter. Insurgency and rebellion, along with EDSA I and II, are testaments to this.

Next, if the powers of the central government has become over-concentrated in the hands of a few and thus deteriorating the system of checks and balances, the tendency for unitary governments is to lean towards dictatorship. In this case, the weak institutions are not only usurped but are also transformed to become instruments of domination. Examples of these are the administrations of Presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Gloria Arroyo. Marcos, apart from utilizing the military, went on to merge the legislative and executive departments to speed-up law-making and policy implementation. This affected much the Filipino political psychology that until now many are still adamant in shifting towards parliamentary system or the system where the holders of legislative and executive powers are almost the same.

As opposed to what Marcos did, Arroyo did not directly use the military nor push the actual merger of the executive and legislative departments. Instead, she appointed key military officials to various posts in the civil service. She also used the government resources to buy the loyalty and support of the local and national government officials including the members of the supposedly holders of the power of the purse, the Congress. As a fact, even the pork barrel which the Congressmen have alloted for themselves cannot be released without her approval. As such, all politicians engaged in pork barrel politics have to give way to the desires of the President otherwise, they will receive nothing.

Of course, absent the checks and balances, the tendency for power-holders is to acquire more and more power both politically and economically. This explains why seven in every ten governments with unitary system scored poor in the 2007 Corruption Perception Index – that is, they obtained a rating below 5 where 10 means “highly clean” and 0 means “highly corrupt”. The Philippines, meanwhile, scored 2.5 ranking next to Indonesia and Cambodia in the most corrupt countries in Southeast Asia.

For leaders who started with weak mandates, the tendency is to accommodate everyone who has a potential to help retain the grip of power. Arroyo, for instance, entered into various compromises just to retain her presidency. The costs, however, are lamentable for these included sacrificing the delivery of social services, rampant graft and corruption, and bastardization of democracy. Free press and free speech crumbled with the issuance of the calibrated preemptive response (later declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court) and the promotion of the culture of impunity specially for journalists. Until now, the Philippines is still the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists. Second, the freedom to information was also curtailed particularly with the issuance of Executive Order 464. Hence, investigations are holed up and the scandals do not find closures because key persons considered vital in clearing the issues are not permitted by the president to attend the hearings based on the executive order. These, therefore, create deadlocks particularly in policy-making and stagnate political and economic development. The lack of safety nets and long term policies to avoid the present rice crisis as well as the rising costs of fuel and electricity are just but some examples.

The Promises of Federalism

According to advocates, the drawbacks of the unitary system will be avoided if the government will shift to federal form. Speaking particularly for the Philippines, Pimentel, on his sponsorship of Resolution No. 10 stated that the system will accomplish two major things:

Cause the speedy development of the entire country by unleashing the forces of competitiveness among the States; and,
Dissipate the causes of rebellion in the country and particularly in Mindanao.

Montes (2006: 159-163) adds that a shift to Federalism will also mean:

The provision of an attractive option to solve inter-ethnic/cultural conflict;
The creation of common defense and internal security systems particularly in those areas plagued by internal unrest;
The creation of common market that would permit a free flow of commerce among diverse political communities; and,
The creation of an avenue for decentralization and autonomy that will lead to better governance and democratization.

These are also embodied in the paper of Mazzone (2001:27,28) which summarizes the benefits as follows:

On the economic and public policy: Federalism is expected to (1) produce better policy outcomes as a result of the interplay of the national government and the states; (2) lead to economic efficiency as a result of the competition among the states coupled with the movement of labor and capital; and, (3) pave the way for the enactment of innovative policies and programs resulting from the experimentation at the state level.
On democracy: Federalism is expected to enhance of democracy as decision-making will occur at a more local level. The elected representatives will be forced to become more responsive to the needs of individuals while the political environment will open the opportunities for the citizens to participate more meaningfully in self-governance.
On liberties: The states may be better than the national government at protecting individual liberties either because state laws may provide greater protection for rights than federal law, or because the states may have greater resources or otherwise be more effective than the national government in enforcing federal rights.
On the social aspect: Federalism will lead to the promotion of social relationships that will allow citizens to overcome collective action barriers and to get things done. These, in turn, will promote social capital that can further improve the efficiency of society through coordinated action and effect an environment where greater opportunities for citizen groups to influence politics and for individual citizens to participate in public life are present.

All of these are attainable because inherent in the system are the features of the division of powers, the accommodation of diversity, constitutionalism, and fiscal federalism. In addition, the bicameralist feature will also allow the States to participate at federal decision-making.

Federalism and the Philippines

Despite these promising benefits, why is it that the Philippines has not shifted to federalism?

The idea of federalism is not foreign to the Filipinos. Citing Mojares, Cureg and Matunding (2006: 178,179), argue that federalism is already in the consciousness of the Filipinos as early as 1898 when leaders from the Province of Iloilo initiated the formation of a Federal State of Visayas. However, proposals to make the Philippines a federal country were rejected by the Americans because “deconcentrating powers would make it difficult for them to secure their control over their country.” This is also the observation of Hutchcroft and Rocamorra (2003) in their discussion on the origins and evolution of the democratic deficit in the Philippines.

Even then, the idea of shifting towards federalism persisted. One reason is the ethno-linguistic diversity of the Philippines. According to Cabuang (2008), there are 77 major ethno-linguistic groups in the country 20 of which have population over 700 thousand. In a number of cases, these groupings create inter-cultural conflict and oftentimes, those belonging to the minority are often set aside. Second, the Philippines is an archipelago. The highly centralized government which had been tested for decades was seen to be unresponsive particularly to those in the periphery. Thus, the need for a federal government.

For these reasons, Cureg and Matunding noted that “Filipinos at different critical historical periods have made attempts to do this in various forms: 1) proposals in the constitution/s; 2) political campaign platforms; and 3) advocacy through the formation of an alliance for a federalist movement.” As a transition phase, advocates even pushed for the passage of the Local Government Code of 1991 which provides for the decentralization and more autonomy for the local governments, and the creation of the autonomous regions like the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The creation of autonomous regions and the decentralization efforts as experiments towards Philippine federalism, however, failed. The reason is that most of the basic powers still remain with the central government and basic of this is the power over the purse. The autonomous regions, for instance, still need to beg for their respective budgetary allocations that as an ARMM official put it: Our autonomy is nothing but a paper autonomy.

Second, existing power holders are afraid to part with their powers. This includes Arroyo who, despite her issuance of Executive Order No. 699 aimed at expediting the shift to federalism, is still focused on the acquisition and consolidation of power. This is because power politics in the Philippines is still strong and for Arroyo, it is a must for her survival. To stress, Arroyo started with a weak mandate and for several times, there were a number of people power-like attempts to remove her from the presidential seat along with failed impeachment cases and military mutinies.

Next, there is a problem with information and dissemination. Others would confuse federalism with plain decentralization and devolution both of which are already contained in the Local Government Code. There are those who would also reason out that ARMM and CAR are already proto-states with their respective governments and officials yet both of them failed. Two failures is already enough, so goes the claim. Lately, the arguments have been further messed-up when Pimentel brought out the idea of secession under a federal government just like what Quebec is doing in the Canada. In a sense, the real concept of federalism is not being explained clearly and some points are being raised even outside the context.

This is also the case with advocates who would offer federalism as a packaged – that is, that the system should be adopted along with the parliamentary form of government. Because of the experience with the Marcos-style parliamentary form of government, the tendency for those traumatized is to opposed the concept automatically. This also boils down to a defective information and dissemination campaigns.

Lastly, the only way to effect federalism is through constitutional amendment. The problem, according to surveys, 56% of the Filipinos do not favor constitutional change especially if this will be done under the Arroyo Administration. As a matter of fact, excluding the current proposal of Pimentel, there are already two occasions when moves to amend the constitution surfaced. The first one was spearheaded by Sigaw ng Bayan (Cry of the People) and the Union of Local Authorities in the Philippines in 2005 and the second was spearheaded by Speaker Jose De Venecia in December 2006. Both, however, failed because the people fear that the sitting-president will just use the opportunity to prolong herself in power.

Moving Forward

With the present woes and the problematic set-up under a unitary system of government, it indeed appears that federalism, in the words of Pimentel, “is the final solution within reason”. The problem, however, is that there are a lot of things to be done to effect the system change. The first of these is arriving at a consensus as to what kind or type of federalism is applicable in the country. This should also clarify whether or not the parliamentary form should be included and if so, how should these be communicated to the public.

After the consensus-building, the next steps are strategizing and implementation of information and dissemination campaigns on federalism. The campaigns should be aimed at providing clarity to the concept as well as the resolution of the issues that are sometimes raised to mess up the process.

Ground working should also continue and this include the preparation of the public in case the moves to amend the constitution push through. This include also getting the support of the Church and other groups opposed to constitutional change. The resolution of Pimentel can already serve as a starting point but then again, this should be subject to reviews.

Next, more studies should be undertaken and this should include the search for answers on how the new system will answer the issues of foreign debt and up to what extent the division of powers will be shared. This will facilitate the transition period from unitary to federal.

Lastly, the existing gains for the efforts should not be set aside. These include the consolidation of movements and organizations advocating the system. These gains, no matter how small, can serve as stepping stones towards the goal of a federal Philippines.###

References

Cabuang, Fred S. “Accomodating Ethno-Linguistic Diversity”. Paper presentation on “A Round Table Discussion on the Way Forward for Decentralization and Federalism in the Philippines”, Carmona, Cavite: 23-24 April 2008

Cureg, Elyzabeth F. and Jennifer F. Matunding. “Federalism Initiatives in the Philippines.” Federalism and Multi-Culturalism. Eds. Simeon Agustin Ilago and Raphael Montes, Jr. CLRG: Philippines, 2006. 177-201

Hutchcroft, Paul D. and Joel Rocamorra. “Journal of East Asian Studies 3 (2003): 259- 292

Mazzone, Jason. “The Social Capital Argument for Federalism.” Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal. 11 (2001): 27-62

Montes, Raphael Jr. “Understanding Federalism.” Federalism and Multi-Culturalism. Eds. Simeon Agustin Ilago and Raphael Montes, Jr. CLRG: Philippines, 2006. 155-176

Pimentel, Aquilino. “Federalizing the Philippines: The Final Solution within Reason.” Keynote Address on the Seminar on Federalism in Carmona, Cavite. April 23, 2008.

Senate of the Philippines. Joint Resolution No. 10: Joint Resolution to Convene the Congress Into a Constituent Assembly for the Purpose of Revising the Constitution to Establish a Federal System of Government. April 23, 2008

Air Car: Another Innovation to Solve the Energy Crisis

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:46:00 +0000

India will be launching this August another innovation in response to the energy crisis -- the Air Car.

The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine’s pistons.

More news here>>>>

The Politics of Oil

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:52:00 +0000

Condor Piston Bicol is now poised to stage a massive transport strike to complement the Black Friday Protests being held against the weekly oil price hike. But will these help solve lower the costs of fuel as well as curtail the impending increase in the transportation fares?

Apart from the one or two days gas that will be conserved as a result of the strike, no other benefit will be derived from the planned demonstration. The Arroyo Government is already deaf to hear the public outcry and is already thick-faced to feel shame. Aside from the fact that the orientation of the Government is to be reactive and never pro-active, there are also some troubles that start to boil in the international community.

Well, just like in the case of the ZTE Scandal, the cause of these troubles is greed. The United States, fearing that it will lose the monopoly of nuclear power production, tries to control Iran. The Muslim Republic, however, insists that it only aims to produce nuclear energy – just like the purpose of our failed Nuclear Power Plant in Bataan. The US is unconvinced so it initiated talks with the Czech Republic and Poland for the setting-up of anti-missile outposts in their yards. The Czech Republic agreed and a few days ago, a memorandum of agreement was signed.

In response to the actions of the US, Iran demonstrated its military might by testing missiles near the sea where oil pipelines and oil-carrying cargo ships pass. If war occurs, it is expected that one-fourth of the world's supply of oil will be affected. Not only will the oil passageways be bombed but Iran will also stop producing oil considering that the country is considered as the world's third largest country in terms of oil reserves.

But this is just one side of the story. The action of the United States, particularly the setting-up of alleged anti-missile radar systems in the Czech Republic, has also sparked tensions between the country of George Bush and Russia. The Russian Government thinks the military stations are aimed at the former soviet country and not really at Iran. Russia's accusations are not baseless because the United States still considers it as the strongest rival in nuclear power and military might. Second, the US turned down the offer of former Russian President Vladimir Putin to construct the military bases near the Russian borders, Abkhazia, specifically. And, lastly, Russia benefited nothing when it offered its help immediately after the 9-11 Attack in the United States. Thus, even if there will be no US-Iran War, the US-Russian War may be inevitable. International relations analysts, in fact, are already considering the present US-Russian relations as that of “going back to the Cold War Era”.

Not only this, Russia is also among the top ten countries in terms of oil production as well as oil reserves. If US-Russian war happens – whether that may be in cold or warm blood – oil production will surely be affected. The result will always be towards the increase of prices. As of this writing the price of oil in the international market is already at US$147 per barrel and one of the causes is the boiling tensions. And this is expected to further increase in the next few days as assessments continue with regards the US-Iran and US-Russian relations. The effect? The hastening of the earlier forecast of P100 price per liter of gasoline.

Thus, the question: What is the Philippine Government doing?

The answer: Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Wala. Wara. Uda.

Worse, nobody even knows what is the status of the Philippines' claims to the Spratly Islands as earlier there were reports of a “sell-out” of the claims to China as part of the ZTE Scandal. To note, the Spratlys, particularly the Kalayaan Group which the Philippines own, promises oil reserves which can be used for the local supply thus lessening the need for imports.

In simple terms, under the present leadership, the Philippines is in a hopeless situation. The only palliative the Arroyos can offer is a 20% discount for gasoline purchased by senior citizens – a bill authored by Datu Arroyo, a non-Bicolano Congressman of the First District of Camarines Sur, which was also sponsored by the Mona Liza Senator, Lito Lapid, in the House of the Senate.

Well, the present leadership is just what the Filipinos deserve. It's the price of the P500 worth of votes sold during elections.

* * * * *

Tip: The oil price hike also has complementary effects. Automobiles running on oil fuels will be sold for low prices while the prices of pedal-powered bicycles are expected to increase.###

(This article is also published in Albay Journal as well as in Biklish.)

Study: DVD burning on the rise in UK and USA

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:59:00 +0000

Bernhard Warner/Times Online

Getting a DVD-R version of a film or TV show to play on an ordinary DVD player may seem like it requires a degree in computer engineering, but this doesn't seem to be stopping many of you. According to a new survey by tech consultancy Futuresource Consulting, one in three American and British consumers said they have burned a DVD within the past six months. This tally is up from just over a quarter a year ago.

Not surprisingly, Hollywood blockbusters are a favourite rip-and-burn with copying of rented new releases a regular ploy. The UK stands out too for its copying habits. More Britons are burning TV shows in 2008 than they did in 2007 (a jump from 42 per cent to 61 per cent of respondents admit to as much). No doubt the several-season lag Britons must endure before American series are aired is proving too long a wait. And how are they doing it? The most common form of ripping a title is either to use a DVD player to copy to a DVD recorder, or using a computer software application for burning DVDs.

Walk-the Talk: Gordon Brown, Food Crisis and Alternative Fuels

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:59:00 +0000

In connection with the on-going G-8 Summit, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called on the world particularly the British families to cut back on the wasteful use of food. Based on studies, about one-third of the food supplies bought by Britons and Americans either go to waste or becomes stale. The UK Government even revealed that food wastage in their country totals to 4 tons per annum with each household having at food leftovers pegged at £8.

But after the pronouncement, the prime minister was served 24 different dishes just on his first day of the summit. This, of course, sparked condemnation from different political and civil society groups.

Meanwhile, an alleged World Bank study confirmed the fears that biofuels caused the skyrocketing of food prices as food production slowed down. The study was not released, according to the report, as the same may cause embarrassment to US President George Bush. Earlier, the US government had been claiming that plant-derived fuels contributed to only 3% of the price increases in food products which was debunked by the study that pegged the effect at 75%.

The World Bank study supports the Gallagher report which found out "that the rush to develop biofuels has played a "significant" role in the dramatic rise in global food prices, which has left 100 million more people without enough to eat."

Digital Supremacy

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:15:00 +0000

From being a mere research tool, the Internet is now kicking aside the traditional media in terms of influence. In France, Germany and the UK, Internet influence is twice the influence of television and ten times the influence of printed media.

The Internet also plays a vital role in decision-making. More and more individuals from the aforementioned countries also rely on the Internet in formulating their decisions.

These, and other findings are available here>>>

Book review: Karatzogianni, A. (2006) The Politics of Cyberconflict

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:12:00 +0000

By Andrew Robinson

In The Politics of Cyberconflict, Athina Karatzogianni’s central thesis is that the possibilities offered by internet technologies are used differently by different kinds of social movements, depending on how easily they take to the network form. Socio-political movements such as peace, pro-democracy, anti-capitalist, ecological, and single-issue groups take enthusiastically to the new media, constructing networks of activism which themselves operate rhizomatically. In contrast, ethno-religious movements such as American and Chinese nationalists, political Islamists, and Israeli and Palestinian hackers are trapped within a differential model of identity which precludes the adoption of network forms, and instead end up deploying new technologies in ways compatible with their identity-structure, imitating models of hierarchical political organisation and warfare. They also make use of the new technologies, but are constrained by their ideological structures, and therefore use them in a more instrumental way. As Karatzogianni notes, “The structure of the internet is ideal for network groups … However, in ethnoreligious cyberconflicts … this network form is not always evident. This is why there is a dual modality of cyberconflict: one rhizomatic and one hierarchical” (88). The empirical sections of the book use the distinction to categorise a range of different instances of online activity, effectively demonstrating in practice the importance of the distinction.

More…

A closer look at biofuels and food prices

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Sun, 25 May 2008 09:05:00 +0000

A number of recent news stories have portrayed biofuels, primarily corn ethanol, as a leading cause of global food price increases. As builders and supporters of our renewable energy industry, this is a matter we take very seriously. It’s important to have good information so we can understand the impacts of our energy choices.

According to leading commodity experts and economists, biofuels are receiving undue blame. In fact, the food price increases are the result of many complex factors, mainly increased demand for agricultural products in emerging markets (especially China and India), a weak U.S. dollar relative to other currencies, and the rising costs of fuel for producing and transporting crops. In addition, weather-related production decreases worldwide have resulted in less overall supply.

Read more here>>>

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:00:00 +0000

Philippines: The Rice Crisis and the Politics Behind

FOOD CRISIS: ‘The greatest demonstration of the historical failure of the capitalist model’

By Ian Angus/Socialist Voice

“If the government cannot lower the cost of living it simply has to leave. If the police and UN troops want to shoot at us, that’s OK, because in the end, if we are not killed by bullets, we’ll die of hunger.” — A demonstrator in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

In Haiti, where most people get 22% fewer calories than the minimum needed for good health, some are staving off their hunger pangs by eating “mud biscuits” made by mixing clay and water with a bit of vegetable oil and salt.

Read more here>>>

China Tops US for Internet Population Lead

China has proclaimed itself the world's largest Internet market, with 221 million Internet users, state media reported Thursday.

The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) cited statistics from the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC), a quasi-government organization that reports to the MII. China reached the magic mark at the end of February, English-language newspaper China Daily reported. In March, Beijing-based telecommunications consultancy and research firm BDA China reported that China had overtaken the U.S. in total Internet users.

Read directly here

The Politics of History and LGU Websites

The Price of Rice Protectionism

By V. BRUCE J. TOLENTINO
FROM TODAY'S WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA
April 14, 2008

The global price of rice is soaring, and for the Philippines – the world's largest importer of rice annually – that's bad news. Food queues and fears of riots are real fears. But this is a problem of Manila's own making.

Read more here or go directly here

Philippines: Addressing the Food Security Issue

India most affected by US economic slowdown

IBM denies re-entering PC market with Russian deal

People power transforms the web in next online revolution

Microsoft's Chief Exec says Gates's company is thinking green

Putin to remain as Russian President despite Medvedev's election?

The Queen in Check: Has GMA still a way out?

Medvedev set to win Russia poll

Philippines: The Rice Crisis and the Politics Behind

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:50:00 +0000

Planting rice is never fun. So goes the Filipino folksong describing the hardships a farmer must face in producing the country's staple food. But even with the increasing prices of rice which supposedly will benefit the farmers, planting rice remains as miserable and gloomy economic activity as before. The reason: the poor attention being given by the Philippine Government to the rice industry.

With the issue of food shortage around the world, however, things changed almost instantaneously. The Philippine Government has now given special focus to the rice industry with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo immediately announcing a US$1.17 billion (PhP48.7 billion) farming budget allocation. But is the move a serious response or is it just another Rovian Tactic to shift the attention of the public from the scandals the administration is facing?

The Rice Industry: Some Realities

According to the Department of Agriculture, rice production is consistently growing in the Philippines. In 1990, production was recorded at only 6.1 million metric tons (MT) but after ten years, the figure rose to 8.1 million MT. In the span of 16 years, production almost doubled with a growth recorded at 164-percent or an annual increase of 590 thousand metric tons (MT).

The increase, however, is just superficial as the country has been left behind by its neighboring countries in terms of rice production. In 2003, for instance, while its neighboring countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar produce between 37.1 thousand and 46.3 thousand hectograms of rice per hectare, the Philippines is only staggering to produce 34.3 thousand hectograms for the same land area. This, despite the fact that the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is located in the country and this, despite the claims that the Philippines has been blessed with a fertile soil and a healthy climate. The country's increase in production is just achieved by increasing the planting area – which is not a big deal if large tracts of lands are still available to be tilled. The problem, land conversion is at a fast pace that in just a span of a few years, some two million hectares of rice lands were converted to residential subdivisions. Lost rice lands are only compensated by denuding forests which, according to the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) of the Philippines, is at the rate of 1.4-percent per annum.

But why the poor yield per hectare? According to an Agriculture official who do not wish to be identified, Filipino rice farmers only get $0.24 each as opposed to their Thai and Japanese counterparts who get $0.72 to $0.96, respectively. As a result, a Filipino farmer can only till a maximum of two hectares per planting season as opposed to his Asian counterpart who can till an average of five hectares. With the country's strategy of increasing production by increasing the land area, it is therefore impossible to see the supply side satisfying the demand side. For this, the Philippines had been importing rice uninterruptedly since 1995 that average importation has been recorded at 1.2 million MT. And this will continue as consumption is also on the increase.

In 1990, per capita rice consumption is only 92.53 kilos a year or barely two sacks of rice per person. By the year 2000, the figure rose to 103.16 kilos. Last year, an average Filipino consumes up to 118.70 kilos or nearly two and a half sacks of rice.
One of the factors being blamed for the increasing rice consumption is the country's population growth. According to the National Statistics Office (NSO) the population growth rate is still high at an average rate of 2.04-percent per annum. This remains uncontrolled as the government would not enact tighter policies for fear of the Catholic Church. Ironically, though, the Philippine Constitution clearly states the separation of Church and State. For this failure, an average of 4,725 daily is being added to the population that by last year, the government statistics agency was able to officially record a population of 88.6 million.

Second, the increasing consumption rate is also being blamed at the failure of the economy to trickle down to the grassroots. As Jessica Cantos of the Rice Watch Association Network and Rolando Dy of the University of Asia and the Pacific pointed out, the people's reliance on rice as the staple food should have diminished and shifted to bread and pasta if the economic growth had been distributed equitably. The problem, the Arroyo Government's claim of an increasing gross national product (GNP) does not reflect the real situation among and between income groups. Even the NSCB agrees as the statistics board noted an increase in the country's poverty incidence which was 24.4-percent in 2003 to 26.9-percent in 2006. Lately, the Arroyo Government had been boasting of a 7.3-percent GNP growth for 2007 but unofficial reports have it that poverty statistics soared again to 33-percent level this year.

Because of these, current consumption of rice is at 33,000 MT of rice daily – a figure higher than what is actually produced.

Short-Range Policies Versus Long-Term Interests

According to the Senate Committee Report No. 54 delivered by Senator Ramon Magsaysay during the 13th Congress of the Philippines, the agriculture sector in the country has not received any adequate government support since the 17th century. This is because of the bias towards the idea of industrialization when in fact agriculture is predominantly the basis of the country's economy. Agriculture is seen as "backward" while industry is seen as "modern". Thus, the income earned from the export of agricultural products were diverted for the build up of the national industry.

This policy prevailed from government to government that nobody was surprised to see the Philippines signing the Uruguay Round of the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trades. The problem, no safety nets were prepared for the agriculture sector. Thus, when the local market traditionally reserved for Filipino farmers was opened to foreign players, consumers set aside the local produce as the latter is expensive.

Consistently, this is also the logic of the agriculture policies under the Arroyo Government. For instance, while sitting president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced of a US$1.17 billion farming budget allocation, only a meager portion of the amount is for the technical training of the farmers and none was mentioned for research and development. The largest portion, about US$479 million, was alloted for loans to farmers. The problem with this is that rice farmers are already buried in usury and giving them more loans without the required government support is just strangling them to death. Second, the present government lacks the proper accountability and there is no assurance that amount will indeed go to the target beneficiaries. A case in point is the Grand Swine Scandal wherein the Arroyo Government, through Quedancor, made available US$ 60.1 million (PhP2.5 billion) as loans for farmers. More than half of the fund, though, vanished questionably while the remaining amount was irregularly disbursed to four companies that are not qualified under the law. According to Senator Panfilo Lacson, the money could have been used to finance the 2004 election bids of Mrs. Arroyo and the candidates in her slate – a conjecture which is being strengthened by the continuing inaction of the present administration to investigate and punish the Quedancor officials involved.

Worse, the farmers are not only denied the proper support but the sector is also being used as a milking cow to advance some interests. For instance, there is this US$17.5 million (PhP 728 million) Fertilizer Scandal which involves Agriculture Under-Secretary Jocelyn Bolante, a close friend of the sitting-president's husband, Mike Arroyo. Based on the investigation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Bolante caused the release of the fertilizer fund but channeled it for other use. In short, the money was spent without the intended beneficiaries receiving any centavo nor a droplet of the liquid fertilizer.

The same is true with the rest of the 2004 special fund for agriculture. Prior to the 2004 elections the Department of Agriculture received US$ 67.4 million (P2.806 billion) for the purchase of farm inputs and implements before the May 2004 elections. The amount has been released and spent but when the Commission on Audit conducted an investigation, it was concluded that not a single farmer was able to receive any farm input or implement during the said year. Again, there are speculations that the amount was channeled to finance the election bids of Mrs. Arroyo and her allies.

These being the case, what then can be said of the recent concern of the sitting president to rice farmers in particular and the agricultural sector in general?

Just Another Rovian Tactic

It should be noted that early this year, the Arroyo Government has been assuring the public that there is no rice shortage in the country. Even independent economic analysts have been forecasting the same as the National Food Authority (NFA) had ample stocks to last for months and that the harvest season is yet to come. But when the Lozada expose on the ZTE Scandal became out of control, the government immediately shifted its stand and started carrying the issue of food security. This, in a way, became a clear Rovian tactic aimed at killing the messages thrown at the Arroyo Administration particularly on government mismanagement and rampant corruption.

True, the issue on food security is an issue that affects not only the Philippines but also the rest of the world. Even then, it cannot be said that the Arroyo government is just responding to the fact. First, when Mrs. Arroyo took over the reins of government, she already know that the trade imbalance with regards rice and other agricultural produce is already unfavorable to the country. As a matter of fact, the Philippines is already the largest importer of rice in the world. Still, she did nothing to correct this mess by at least giving special attention to the farmers.

Second, now that the country is already being threatened by food shortage, her policy is still leaning towards food importation. This had been made clear when the NFA's thrust for this year is to buy more rice from other countries rather than directly address the issue of high costs of production. The problem, rice producing countries like Thailand has instituted ban on exports of the staple food. To make the matters worse, other rice exporting countries also decided to form a cartel to regulate rice exports and prices. Thus, to quote Palawan Representative Abraham Mitra: What’s the use of your money if no rice is available at any price overseas? It’s like looking for water in the desert. You may be willing to exchange a bar of gold for a cup of water but it’s totally worthless if there’s not a single drop around.

Third, the sincerity of the government is also lacking as until now, no member of the local rice cartel has been caught and punished. What Arroyo government had been boasting in the last few weeks is the apprehension of the “Mosquito Gang” in Isabela – a loose organization of rice traders who are known for stocking a few hundred sacks of rice. What it failed to catch are the giant rice hoarders some of whom are known to be the members of “Binondo 9” – also a loose organization of rice traders known for hoarding tons of rice.

The sincerity is also lacking as the Arroyo government failed to catch rice smugglers. To note, in addition to the regular anti-smuggling agencies, Mrs. Arroyo has also organized the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG). With the numerous anti-smuggling agencies of the government, how come there is no catch? Whether or not this just validate the rumors that some members of the first family are also involved in rice smuggling, nobody can tell. But one sure thing is that the PASG, one of highly financed agencies to eradicate smuggling, has concentrated its efforts mainly on curbing the smuggling of luxury cars rather than eliminating the smuggling of basic commodities. For this reason, rice smuggling continuous. If reports are to be believed, smuggled rice consists of 15-percent to 21-percent of the total rice imports of the country – a raison d'être of the Organization of Rice Exporting Countries. And this hurts more the local producers as their price becomes more and more uncompetitive due to the influx of smuggled rice.

Lastly, and the clearest evidence why the Arroyo Government is just warding off the issues on mismanagement and corruption, is her US$120 million (P5 billion) aid for the poor program. This she announced a few days ago with the idea of doling out a maximum of US$33 (PhP1,400) per poor family per month as an additional money to buy food for the table. In short, instead of addressing the root cause of the food security issue, Mrs. Arroyo will be issuing a placebo to show that she is a working president and thereby ward off the claims that are haunting her administration.

Will there be a way out of this mess?

At this point in time, one thing is certain: Properly addressing the problems on the local rice industry in the Philippines as well as responding to the threats of food security looks bleak. The primary reason for this is the fact that the Arroyo Government is fighting different battles on several fronts – the accusations being hurled against her with regards government mismanagement and corruption, her diving popularity ratings, and the issues of food security. But if she can win the the battle for her integrity, only then can she unite the nation to address the issue of food security.###

CREDITS:

All photos are courtesy of Global Giving

FOOD CRISIS: ‘The greatest demonstration of the historical failure of the capitalist model’

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:29:00 +0000

By Ian Angus

“If the government cannot lower the cost of living it simply has to leave. If the police and UN troops want to shoot at us, that’s OK, because in the end, if we are not killed by bullets, we’ll die of hunger.” — A demonstrator in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

In Haiti, where most people get 22% fewer calories than the minimum needed for good health, some are staving off their hunger pangs by eating “mud biscuits” made by mixing clay and water with a bit of vegetable oil and salt.[1]

Meanwhile, in Canada, the federal government is currently paying $225 for each pig killed in a mass cull of breeding swine, as part of a plan to reduce hog production. Hog farmers, squeezed by low hog prices and high feed costs, have responded so enthusiastically that the kill will likely use up all the allocated funds before the program ends in September.

Some of the slaughtered hogs may be given to local Food Banks, but most will be destroyed or made into pet food. None will go to Haiti.

This is the brutal world of capitalist agriculture — a world where some people destroy food because prices are too low, and others literally eat dirt because food prices are too high.

Record prices for staple foods

We are in the midst of an unprecedented worldwide food price inflation that has driven prices to their highest levels in decades. The increases affect most kinds of food, but in particular the most important staples — wheat, corn, and rice.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says that between March 2007 and March 2008 prices of cereals increased 88%, oils and fats 106%, and dairy 48%. The FAO food price index as a whole rose 57% in one year — and most of the increase occurred in the past few months.

Another source, the World Bank, says that that in the 36 months ending February 2008, global wheat prices rose 181% and overall global food prices increased by 83%. The Bank expects most food prices to remain well above 2004 levels until at least 2015.

The most popular grade of Thailand rice sold for $198 a tonne five years ago and $323 a tonne a year ago. On April 24, the price hit $1,000.

Increases are even greater on local markets — in Haiti, the market price of a 50 kilo bag of rice doubled in one week at the end of March.

These increases are catastrophic for the 2.6 billion people around the world who live on less than US$2 a day and spend 60% to 80% of their incomes on food. Hundreds of millions cannot afford to eat.

This month, the hungry fought back.

Read more >>>

China Tops US for Internet Population Lead

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:46:00 +0000

Steven Schwankert, IDG News Service

China has proclaimed itself the world's largest Internet market, with 221 million Internet users, state media reported Thursday.

The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) cited statistics from the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC), a quasi-government organization that reports to the MII. China reached the magic mark at the end of February, English-language newspaper China Daily reported. In March, Beijing-based telecommunications consultancy and research firm BDA China reported that China had overtaken the U.S. in total Internet users.

Read more here

The Politics of History and LGU Websites

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:40:00 +0000

While the Bicol Region is rich in culture, it is also poor in written history. The last written account was about some events of the second World War. After which, quoting Norman Owen, “Bikol history virtually came to an end”.

It cannot be said, though, that the Bicol Region became too drowsy during the American occupation until it finally closed its eyes and slept after World War II. As a matter of fact, the Bicolanos were as politically active during the post-Japanese liberation era as they were during the Spanish and American periods. Oral accounts say that from 1945, Bicolanos started to be more cohesive that they were noted to vote as a bloc in the national legislative bodies. This behavior were also seen and felt culturally that Region V was referred to by the Bicolanos not as a region but as a province. For instance, whenever a Bicolano is asked as to his province of origin, his answer would always be “Bicol” and not Camarines Sur, nor Albay, nor Catanduanes, etc. Even today, this remains the most common answer.

But despite this cohesiveness, how come nobody thought of “waking up in the night” and writing some sort of a Bikolano history? Or shall we say: Somebody did wake up, wrote a diary, but a modern day Spanish conquistador took over a political fiefdom called “the local government unit or LGU” and burned his diary to ashes?

Looking at the case of the LGU websites, there is more evidence to believe that nobody slept, afterall. It’s just that politics came to play and erased or buried into oblivion the traces of the accomplishments of the previous politicians. A survey of Bicol-based LGU websites show, for instance, that only the incumbents and their accomplishments are recorded as if they have the exclusive right to the domain name (the name of the site) as well as the host (i.e., the server where the data and everything about the site is housed). This is forgiveable if the site was set-up only during their incumbency or when the new local chief executive caused the purchase of space for hosting thus necessitating the revamp of the site to comply with the hosting requirements. The problem, 90-percent of LGU websites were constructed either in 2001 or 2002 and with the help of the National Computer Center (NCC). This means, if the polity is active in replacing their officials, at least two or three mayors already took over the city or municipal government.

In addition to the fact that almost all websites were constructed with the help of the NCC, the “dot-gov-dot-ph” domain name, as well as the hosting site, were also availed of from the said national computer agency. And these were done through the mayors during the 2001-2002 period. In a sense, there is no reason why records of the mayors during those times should be erased.

Well, Count Galeazzo Ciano may be right in saying that “victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan”. Mayors who lost their posts either through elections or term limits are losers and as such, they deserve what is due. But the problem here is not only the lack of giving credit where credit is due but also the lack of having a sense of history for the immediately preceeding period. For this reason, newly elected politicians tend to re-invent the wheel. Instead of realizing the un-finished agenda of the past administrations, newly elected politicians tend to develop new programs, start with new projects and after three years, finish their terms without having any accomplishments. And then they complain that three years is not enough. If they lost their bids for re-election, the cycle begins again.

Worse, the lack of a sense of history also has an effect to the younger generations. For example, in a mock poll conducted asking who the governor of Albay was prior to Al Francis Bichara, only two out of ten can give the corret answer. And moving backwards from Romeo Salalima, a historical blackhole appears. Even the websites do not contain information regarding this. Not even any data about Jose Maria Penaranda to whom the bust and the Freedom Park in the Albay District is dedicated.

So what then is the use of the LGU websites? Nothing but for the publication of the propaganda materials of the incumbents. And when these incumbents lost his or her grip of political power, so goes the memory regarding his accomplishments. For this reason, it is not impossible to expect that the written history of the Bicol Region will remain as elusive as before.###

(A version of this article will appear in the newspaper, Albay Journal. This article may also be accessed at http://biklish.wordpress.com)

The Price of Rice Protectionism

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:31:00 +0000

The global price of rice is soaring, and for the Philippines – the world's largest importer of rice annually – that's bad news. Food queues and fears of riots are real fears. But this is a problem of Manila's own making.

Alone among World Trade Organization member nations, the Philippines imposes quantitative restrictions on rice imports, implemented by a government monopoly. Since the 1970s, the state-owned and controlled National Food Authority (NFA) has maintained tight controls on rice imports. This policy has stood in sharp contrast to other countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh, which have abolished, privatized or sharply reduced the authority and scale of their food monopolies – and enjoyed more efficient production and cheaper consumer prices.

Read more here >>>

Philippines: Addressing the Food Security Issue

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:57:00 +0000

When Filipino-born Eduardo San Juan developed the design for the lunar rover of Apollo 15, he was the one who got paid. But when the Philippines helped design the technology for producing rice, the Filipinos are the ones who have to pay a larger price. No, the problem is not with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for the organization had been very supportive in helping develop and further improve the varieties of the country's staple food. The problem lies with the Philippine government for it wasted all the opportunities that could have made the lives of millions of Filipinos a lot easier.

Once again, the Philippines is on the brink of a looming crisis: Hunger. Sitting president Gloria Arroyo, however, denies this but food rationing – to the point of using indelible inks just to ensure that rice is distributed or sold fairly – cannot tell a palatable lie. Even one of her agriculture spokesmen admits the reality of the impending food shortage and adds that rice sufficiency will only be at 92% this year.

Or maybe, Mrs. Arroyo would just like to be consistent with her Orwellian talks. While she assures the public that there is no shortage, she exhorts of conserving rice. While she talks of a rice supply that is enough, she discusses with foreign countries the possibility of exporting the staple food to the Philippines. And while she prides with rice stocks, she unveils her plans of lifting the rice import quota as well as opening up of the ports for more and more rice importation. And these she does at the time when the people are already feeling the burden of increased prices of rice due to limited supply.

But worse than the Orwellian talks is Mrs. Arroyo's announcement of a multi-billion-peso plan to improve the agriculture sector to solve the impending food security issue – a plan which raises brows and draws wrinkles in the foreheads as it involves a large amount of money amounting from P36 billion to P49 billion. In the first place, what had happened to the Jocjoc Bolante “liquified” fertilizer scandal? The NBN-ZTE multi-million dollar scandal? And, lately, the Quedancor grand swine scandal? To add the list, rumors are also circulating lately that the Philippine Coconut Authority has misappropriated the salt fertilizer fund supposedly to be distributed to the coconuts farmers. Another billion-peso scandal?

More than the fiscal transparency issues, however, is the issue on the soundness of the multi-billion-peso agriculture plan. Based on the announcements of Mrs. Arroyo, the budget for the agricultural sector development will be mostly spent for fertilizer, irrigation and infrastructure, education and research, credits for farmers, and distribution of higher-yielding seeds. While these items may directly increase agricultural yield, the real problem confronting the agriculture sector, however, will remain un-addressed. And this problem is the lack of clear and concrete government policies protecting the farmlands, uplifting the farmers and improving their welfare. For example, until now there is no law that regulates as well as penalizes excessive conversion of agricultural lots to residential or commercial areas. The once famous Banaue Rice Terraces, for instance, is now rapidly becoming a housing terraces and nobody is doing anything to abate this. The lands along the Maharlika Highway from Daraga, Albay to Naga City, Camarines Sur are now rapidly turning from productive rice fields to commercial and residential areas. Similarly, the agricultural lands in Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite and Laguna are also being developed to accommodate more and more housing projects. These, in addition to a number of others, therefore leads to the questions: Where is the Comprehensive National Land Use Plan? And where are the provisions that will punish the perpetrators of illegal or irregular land conversions?

Second, the Philippines also lacks a law that uplifts the lives and reputation of the farmers. For this reason they seem to remain as lower class citizens – a treatment which is exactly the opposite of the treatment being given to the farmers in the United States and in most parts of Europe. Compared to the farmers, Filipino overseas contract workers or popularly known as OFWs are a little luckier. At least there are a number of agencies that help them: the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Philippine embassies around the world. In addition, whenever OFWs are on the point of death, they have Mrs. Arroyo or Vice President Noli De Castro begging for mercy. In fact, they are even considered as heroes inspite of the fact that they are plain and simple slaves in foreign lands. Is it because OFWs earn dollars while local farmers do not?

Third, there is also lesser attention given to rice smugglers which is one of the biggest dis-incentive for the farmers. The Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), for instance, have even concentrated on running after smuggled cars rather than after rice smugglers. Imported rice, especially if smuggled, is far cheaper than what is locally produced. Hence, when the smuggled rice and that which is locally grown are sold in the market side by side, the buyers would logically prefer the smuggled one being cheaper. If the locally grown is left unsold, the farmers would therefore reconsider planting more in the succeeding planting seasons.

Of course, there is also minimal or no attention given to rice cartels and rice hoarders. Worse, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and the Arroyo Government as a whole, are in complete denial as to the existence of these scrupulous groups and individuals. Hence, the impossibility of addressing the problem. As a principle in the field of medicine goes, a sickness cannot be cured if the physicians do not believe that it really exists.

Addressing the food security should not be a short but a long term concern. Realistically speaking, it cannot even be considered a sole concern of the government as it also involves the people and the whole State as a whole. But since the government is the one in-charged to do the steering, it should open its eyes and accept the realities of the situation. For instance, the problem is not all about money. It also involves transparency in managing the resources; proper discretion and knowledge in the passage and enaction of policies that eliminate, or at least minimize, the roots of the problem; and fair and dedicated implementation of the same. Otherwise, the problem will just be recursive, cyclical and never-ending. If this happens, the efforts undertaken and the resources utilized will again remain nothing but wasted opportunities.

(A version of this article also came out in the April 7, 2008 issue of the Albay Journal.

India most affected by US economic slowdown

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:32:00 +0000

By Swati Prasad, ZDNet Asia

When the United States sneezes, the world catches a cold--so the adage goes. That could prove particularly true for India's IT and IT-enabled services (IT-ITES) industry, where the United States accounts for the largest share--at over 50 percent--of the Indian software and outsourcing market.

"The U.S. slowdown will impact the smaller IT-ITES firms more," Hari Rajagopalachari, executive director at PricewaterhouseCoopers India, told ZDNet Asia in an e-mail interview. In fact, he added, it may lead to increased consolidation in the small and midsize industry segment.

Read more here

IBM denies re-entering PC market with Russian deal

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:26:00 +0000

By Peter Judge/ZDNet UK

IBM has said it is not getting back into the PC market, despite selling "Microsoft-free" PCs running Linux and OpenOffice in Eastern Europe.

"We're not getting back into the PC business," said an IBM spokesman, after the company announced deals with system integrators in two Eastern European countries last week.

It is IBM's intention to sell the so-called "Open Referent" systems, based on Red Hat Linux and the company's own Lotus Symphony software, which uses the open source OpenOffice productivity software, in Eastern Europe.

Read more here>>>

People power transforms the web in next online revolution

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:56:00 +0000

By: Charles Leadbetter/The Observer, March 9 2008

n July 2004, US cinema advertisements for Halo 2, the science fiction computer game, briefly carried the address for a website - ilovebees.com - which appeared to belong to a beekeeper who had mysteriously disappeared. Her honey-based recipes had been replaced by an apparently random list of numbers. Over four months 600,000 people joined in solving the mystery of what the numbers meant. What unfolded was a striking display of 'We Think': structured, mass collaborative creativity and intelligence.

People set up blogs and bulletin boards, websites and instant message groups. One 4,000-strong group, the Beekeepers, became the community's core, and discovered that the numbers were 210 sets of global positioning co-ordinates around the world and at each there was a public payphone.

The game's designers at 42 Entertainment in Los Angeles set the players a series of complex tasks and on the final day started calling 1,000 payphones on the East Coast of America. Whoever answered had to provide five words of intimate information, such as the name of their first girlfriend. The caller would then call another phone within the hour and expect to be told the five words. In the last of 12 challenges that day, the players had just 15 seconds to get the five words. They never once failed.

If ingenious games designers can inspire thousands of people to collaborate to solve a puzzle, could we do something similar to tackle global warming, keep communities safe, provide support for the elderly, help disaster victims, lend and borrow money, conduct political and policy debates, teach and learn, design and make physical products?

Read more>>>

Microsoft's Chief Exec says Gates's company is thinking green

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 05:23:00 +0000

Microsoft has become environment friendly?

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer says it is but a US IT services company, Softchoice, disagrees. In a survey by Softchoice of 113,000 desktops from over 400 US organisations, 50 percent of the machines wouldn't be able to meet the basic Vista requirements. This being the case, Tony Roberts, chief executive of Computer Aid International, warned that Vista could lead to a glut of unwanted PCs entering the waste stream as users are forced to upgrade their hardware.

Roberts continued that as many as 10 million PCs may be discarded in the next two years as they are replaced by Vista-compatible hardware.

Meanwhile, the UK's Green Party has also criticised Vista for requiring "more expensive and energy-hungry hardware, passing the cost on to consumers and the environment".

Speaking for the Green Party, Derek Wall stated that: Vista requires more expensive and energy-hungry hardware, passing the cost on to consumers and the environment... This will also further exclude the poor from the latest technology, and impose burdensome costs on small and medium businesses who will be forced to enter another expensive upgrade cycle.

As earlier stated by the British Computer Society, "PCs contain many toxic components, so if they end up in a landfill we are creating a real problem for the future. It can be really easy to pass on the old machine to be reused, and if it's beyond use, to recycle it."

Putin to remain as Russian President despite Medvedev's election?

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:16:00 +0000

With almost all the presidential votes counted, the Russians now have a new president: Dmitri Medvedev. Observers, however, are unanimous in saying that while Medvedev is the president-elect, out-going president, Vladimir Putin, will still be running country.

When Putin endorsed Medvedev last year, rumors have it that the former will actually be the one who will run Russia. He cannot just compete in this year's presidential elections because of the term limits imposed by the Constitution. The rumors, however, seemed to have been validated when Medvedev said his policies would be "a direct continuation of that path which is being carried out by President Putin".

Further, Medvedev seemed to have returned the favor by categorically stating that Putin will move out from Kremlin but will remain in the White House as a prime minister. And the prime minister, according to Putin himself, "is the highest executive authority in the country."

According to Adi Ignatius of Time:

Medvedev's rise means the presidency is now in the hands of a Putin loyalist. Yet that doesn't mean Medvedev will have broad authority... But now that Putin is moving office, it seems safe to assume that real power will reside with the Prime Minister.

Time's Sergei Guneyev even opines that the presidential election is "a ritual marking a prearranged transfer of power... with [the] formal outcome [is] already generally known, long before voters even enter the balloting booth" while "Medvedev may be less the heir to Putin's throne than its caretaker".

The Russians, meanwhile, have mixed reactions. According to ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, one of the losers in the presidential elections,

It seems that we don't have elections but a procedure of confirming the appointed president...This disgusts not me but the citizens of Russia."

Others, however, accept these without questions on the belief that only a Putin or an administration similar to Putin's can speedup Russia's economic development. Proof is Putin's un-waning popularity of 70%.

Of the 99% ballots counted, Medvedev got 70.22% vote-share followed by Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, with 17.77%. Tailing them are Zhirinovsky with 9.37% and pro-Western Democratic Party leader, Andrey Bogdanov, with 1.29%. According to the Russian Central Election Commission, the voter's turnout is only 69.9% of the total number of voters.###

Photo Credit: www.nytimes.com

The Queen in Check: Has GMA still a way out?

noreply@blogger.com (J. A. Carizo) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:29:00 +0000

Political forecasters predict that Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will not anymore last in power. Despite the absence of the "show of force in EDSA" last February 25 and the solid stand of the Catholic Bishops on her ouster, analysts see that the direction is already towards the Arroyo demise. But will these predictions hold? And if so, has Mrs. Arroyo still a way out?

Speaking in celebration of the First People Power in the Philippines, President Gloria Arroyo stated that the world will not forgive another EDSA uprising. Defying her words, political and independent forces blew the horn signaling the start of another series of protests three days thereafter.

Indeed, the lacking sight at EDSA on February 25 was seen in Makati under the guise of an inter-faith prayer rally. Ousted President Joseph Estrada even shared the stage with one of the key figures that caused his ouster -- former President Cory Aquino -- while Leftists and anti-imperialists brushed elbows with business leaders and capitalists just to air the call for Mrs. Arroyo to resign and give way in the search for truth. Similarly, religious leaders of various denominations also joined hands for the same cause while politicians hungry of media mileage agreed not to steal a moment to keep the people intact and united.

Second, Vice President Noli De Castro, after years of silence, is now talking of his readiness to succeed Mrs. Arroyo in case she resigns or get ousted. And his lips now sings his support for the search for truth. These, along with the mistakes of Mrs. Arroyo and her camp to control the reins of their statements are no doubt pointing to one thing -- the end of the Arroyo Administration.

But, if the end is near, will there still be a way out?

The answer, of course, is on the affirmative. And this can be done by just balancing properly all interests. The only question is: Is Mrs. Arroyo willing to make some sacrifices?

Politics and Technology Watch

Martial Law: The Mangudadatus are the Government

Is an 'Asian NATO' Really On The US Agenda?

NATO: The Limits of Expansion

Dealing with the budget process problems: Leak-plugging or Re-piping?

Federalizing the Philippines: The Right Track at the Wrong Time

Air Car: Another Innovation to Solve the Energy Crisis

The Politics of Oil

Study: DVD burning on the rise in UK and USA

Walk-the Talk: Gordon Brown, Food Crisis and Alternative Fuels

Digital Supremacy

Book review: Karatzogianni, A. (2006) The Politics of Cyberconflict

A closer look at biofuels and food prices

More Articles

Philippines: The Rice Crisis and the Politics Behind

FOOD CRISIS: ‘The greatest demonstration of the historical failure of the capitalist model’

China Tops US for Internet Population Lead

The Politics of History and LGU Websites

The Price of Rice Protectionism

Philippines: Addressing the Food Security Issue

India most affected by US economic slowdown

IBM denies re-entering PC market with Russian deal

People power transforms the web in next online revolution

Microsoft's Chief Exec says Gates's company is thinking green

Putin to remain as Russian President despite Medvedev's election?

The Queen in Check: Has GMA still a way out?