Subic Bay Freeport was once home to one of the largest overseas naval bases of the Americans. Since the abrogation of the bases agreement in the early 90’s, Subic has been transformed into a premiere freeport with a robust business and investment climate.

Subic attracts hundreds of thousands of local and foreign tourists who flock to the freeport for its duty free shopping, its nature and adventure activities, and its excellent convention facilities. Reports even claim that the freeport received more than two million local and foreign visitors in 2009, making it the top tourist destination for locals and foreigners.

One of Subic’s newest attractions is the Subic Tree Top Adventure in the virgin forests of Subic. Visitors can try out their Superman Ride where one is suspended horizontally along a zip line that transports one from one tree top to another hundreds of meters away in a matter of seconds. Other exhilarating activities include the canopy walk on the wooden trail on top of the forest’s 60-foot trees and rappelling down the canopy. One may also enjoy a trek through the trails of the forest. They also have their own cafe and restaurant where visitors can enjoy their meals amidst towering greens.

Adjacent to Subic Bay Freport is the city of Olongapo, considered to be the commercial hub of the province of Zambales. Despite the departure of the Americans from its former naval base ni Subic from which its economy depended much on, Olongapo has continued to emerge economically in part due to its tourism potential. Olongapo has a long stretch of fine-sand beaches with numerous resorts and hotels along the bay, and bars, restaurants and entertainment establishments in its commercial district.

Tree Top Adventure Subic
JEST Area, Upper Mau
Cubi Point, Subic Bay
(047) 252 9425, (047) 252 9427
http://treetopadventuresubic.com/

It also bothers me how certain personalities and families are depicted as heroes of EDSA 1, when some of them were never part in the build-up to the overthrow. It seems to me, even, that they only hijacked the opportunity when it was ripe. In fact, their only role in aiding the culmination of the people’s desire to oust Marcos were as the oppressors, being the architects and the implementors of martial rule. It’s deplorable that for all the abuses they committed the years before EDSA 1, they are remembered as its heroes simply by their last-minute act of finally riding the wave of the people’s anger. Yes, I’m talking about the military through the leadership of Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel Ramos. Worse, the real heroes who have persisted and died have consistently been sidelined and “airbrushed” out of the credit they deserve more than Enrile, Ramos, Sin or even the Aquinos.

Today some sectors are celebrating in revelry the victory of EDSA 1. But we commemorate the triumph that was at a time when our people languish in poverty and progressive reforms and resistance are suppressed by a tyrannical government. Has EDSA 1 failed? The seeming indifference of many of our people to the commemoration is telling.

I may sound ungrateful for the democratic fruits of the bloodless revolution. But to clam that without EDSA 1 we wouldn’t be enjoying the freedom we now experience is a sham. Even without the military coup, even without Cardinal Sin or Corazon Aquino, a revolution would have erupted, and I’m sure we would still be enjoying the freedoms we enjoy today, I daresay even more.

So, has EDSA 1 failed? No revolutionary triumph will ever last and succeed without the masses at the forefront and without their decisive leadership. There is no genuine triumph in a revolution that does not dismantle the old institutions that have shackled the people for centuries. Revolutions taken advantage of by oppressors posturing as heroes are bound to fail.

Social conditions today are ripe for another uprising. When the next people power revolution comes, we should have learned the glaring lessons.

In between spending the day at the headquarters and meeting with allied candidates, organizations and supporters, I joined some of Kabataan Partylist’s sorties this past week, the first in the official campaign period for the May 2010 national elections.

Our campaign platform for this elections is E 4 ALL: End corruption and tyranny, Education and employment, Environment and national patrimony, and Empowerment and equality.

Our campaign slogan is “Ipagpatuloy ang Magandang Simula,” which is a call to continue advancing the rights and welfare of the youth in Philippine Congress through the representation of Kabataan Partylist. We are proud of what we have accomplished the brief six months we were seated in the House of Representatives and we look forward to continuing our work, with two more Representatives next Congress. We may not have had constructed classrooms nor bridges like other congressmen, because as members of the opposition we are not being given our proper fund allocations, but we have filed countless bills and resolutions aimed at promoting the welfare of the youth, and successfully pushed for various campaigns including the extension of the voters registration and and the suspension of the implementation of various “no permit, no exam” policies in colleges and universities nationwide.

On our first day, we held a motorcade around Manila, starting off at Liwasang Bonifacio, onto Taft, then Espana, Morayta, and Recto through some of Manila’s major universities, distributing campaign flyers to and speaking with students and residents of nearby communities. We also passed through Sampaloc on our way back to Quezon City. Our local chapters in other parts of the country also made their own campaign kick-off activities. Our Quezon City chapter held their own motorcade in the metro’s largest city. In Baguio City, members held ‘Kabataan Fest’ at the Malcolm Square. Meanwhile, Kabataan Partylist in Panay released doves and balloons while Southern Tagalog, Negros, and Davao City chapters held grand caravans to declare the youth’s intent to continue its service to the people.

Online, we started the official campaign period with 10,000 Facebook fans. Right now, after a week of promoting the party’s presence online, we’re up to 12,000. Hopefully by the end of the month, we can reach 15,000, and hopefully many of them will help out in the actual campaign, even offline.

Last Friday, we joined the sorties of Makabayan senatorial candidates Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza, together with the rest of the Nacionalista Party (NP), in a whirlwind whole-day caravan around Cavite.

We started the day with an NP assembly in a resort in Kawit. We motorcaded from Kawit to Rosario in Cavite where NP candidates shook hands and spoke with residents around the town’s fishport. While the politicians were doing their sortie, we were doing our own distribution of campaign flyers on the streets. From Rosario, we went to Julugan in Tanza where a campaign rally was held in the covered courts. It was largely an NP rally, with impassioned speeches from its candidates. Our team went around the community in a house-to-house campaign during the rally. From Tanza, we went to Naic where our team had lunch at an eatery while the rest of NP was meeting with local politicians. We parted ways with the NP caravan when we went to a community in Trece Martires where we went on another house-to-house trail. We did the same when we went to another community in Langkaan, Dasmarinas. Finally, we went to General Mariano Alvarez and held a motorcade together with Anakpawis and other progressive partylists before ending the day at the NP rally and concert near Carmona.

This is the first time I’m actively participating in an election campaign and my first experience at a real national election sortie proved to be a tiring and enlightening one.

During our stay in Clark for the Lakbay Norte 2010 caravan, we were booked at Holiday Inn. Holiday Inn Clark is the only accredited international deluxe hotel in Central Luzon.

Holiday Inn Clark occupies a building that used to be called Chambers Hall, where bachelor officers of the former American airbase and some generals were billeted while on assignment in Clark. In 1996, after renovations, it stood as one of the first landmarks in Clark right after the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. It has again just recently been renovated and refurbished in accord to the Holiday Inn chain’s global re-branding campaign. Like other international deluxe hotels, it features modern amenities and furnishings in all of its rooms and villas. Broadband internet access is also available in the rooms.

It has three restaurants (Mequeni, Rodizio Rooftop Grill, Copa’s Bar) a swimming pool, a recreation and game area, function halls, a spa and fitness area, and since it is located within the Mimosa Leisure Estate, it also has a 36-hole championship golf course.

If you choose to stay in Angeles City right outside Clark, you may stay at the Oasis Hotel, which has been in operation for more than four decades, and is one of the leading business hotels in Angeles City. Unlike the Holiday Inn, Oasis occupies a sprawling complex of 124 rooms in apartment-like single-floor structures.

On our last day in the Lakbay Norte caravan, we had lunch at Oasis Hotel’s Maranao Grill, where we were served with roast lamb and roast beef, together with pasta, baked mussels and roast duck in taco shells. Every Friday, Maranao Grill has an RST Buffet where they serve roast beef, roast lamb, sushi, sahimi and tempura all day.

We arrived in Clark Saturday night, and we had dinner right after checking in at the hotel at Red Crab Seafood and Steaks which is just walking distance from Holiday Inn Clark. We had generous servings of local staple viands and, of course, red crab.

After dinner at Red Crab, we were taken to Camalig Restaurant in downtown Angeles City where we sampled Armando’s Pizza–different kinds of “Kapampangan Pizza,” pizza with all sorts of combinations of local toppings, from salted eggs, to fried crickets. It was a sumptuous after-dinner treat.

Holiday Inn Clark
Mimosa Drive, Mimosa Leisure Estate, Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga
(02) 845 1888, (045) 599 8000
www.holiday-inn.com/clark

Oasis Hotel
Clarkville Compound, CLark Perimeter Road, Angeles City, Pampanga
(045) 893 3301 to 04
www.oasishotel.com.ph

Clark has been a known as a destination for duty free shopping and leisure estate activities from swimming to golfing. The tourism offices in the area, however, have been promoting more activities for visitors to Clark.

For those who want to get to know more about the air base’s history there are tours onboard airconditioned “Jeep ni Juan” jeepneys provided by Castro Travel Solutions (+63 45 6256608) that you may avail. They also have packages for an afternoon at volcanic hot springs, a trek to Mt. Pinatubo and an even aerial tour of the infamous volcano.

Another new activity for visitors to Clark is horseback riding at El Kabayo Riding Stables (+63 09178122106). You can ride the horses around the compound or you can request for a ride around Clark. If you’re up for it, you can even take the horse for a ride along the Sacobia River to see the lahar canyons created by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption.

Across the Sacobia River from Clark is a nature and conservation park called Paradise Ranch which features gardens and zoo animals. The park features one of the largest butterfly gardens in the country and a “millio-dollar” view of the entire Clark Freeport Zone. The place is more suited for kids and educational field trips. Adults, on the other hand, can hold team building seminars, retreats, camping and weddings in the garden.

With the development and expansion of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, Clark is now poised to become one of the country’s major gateways. The master development plan of the freeport zone seeks to transform the former US air base into an airport city and as a globally competitive international service and logistics center in the Asia-Pacific Region.

While that has not fully happened, Clark Airport does serve inbound and outbound flights to and from many local and international destinations. It has flights to and from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, and even the Middle East.

How to get to Clark?

One can drive from Manila by car through the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and reach Clark in an hour and a half. Take the NLEX exit at Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga and make a left turn towards Angeles City and a right turn towards Clark.

Clark may also be reached via the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX). From the NLEX, continue the drive leading to the SCTEX exit. One may use either the Clark North Interchange (Panday Pira access road near Nayong Pilipino) or the Clark South Interchange (near Yokohama and Clark Main Gate) to enter Clark.

One may also take public transportation to Clark. Take a Victory Liner bus bound for Dagupan and alight at the Dau common terminal. Walk a bit towards the highway where jeepneys or tricycles are available that can take you right up to the Clark gate. Philippine Rabbit also has trips to Angeles, Pampanga, via Dau. Partas and Philtranco also has bus trips to Clark.

Why should Land Reform be a major election issue?

A huge part of our population still depends on agriculture for their livelihood. 75%, or three-fourths, in fact are farmers and farmworkers. And for every ten farmers, seven do not own the land they work on.

Farmers who do not have their own land have to work on the haciendas and estates of landlords, and corporate farms of foreign agribusinesses. As a consequence, they do not own the harvest even if they did all the labor. They do not even have a say on how the harvest should be divided and almost all the time, the division is unfair.

Many of our presidents have passed so-called land reform laws, the latest of which is Cory Aquino’s CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program). CARP was supposed to expire in 1998 but was extended. On the eve of CARP’s second expiration in 2008, peasant group KMP released a study which showed that from 1988 to 2008, the figure of 70% of peasants being landless did not change.

According to the KMP, the CARP contained many ‘loopholes’ which allowed landlords to either evade CARP or regain their lands from farmer-beneficiaries. One is the SDO (stock distribution option) of Hacienda Luisita notoriety. Instead of land, peasants are given shares of stock in the corporation owning the land. Land can always be planted with crops, meaning it is a steady source of income, or at least food. Stocks can only be exchanged for cash once, and most of the time, it has little or no value.

Another loophole is that the peasants have to pay for the land. This is unfair considering that in most cases, it is the sweat and blood of the peasants and their ancestors who made the land bloom in the first place. The decades of exploited labor by the farmers are more than enough payment for the land. Additionally, the landlords overvalue their land when it is being covered by CARP. The peasants have no say because only the landlord, DAR (Dept. of Agrarian Reform), and Land Bank get to determine the land value.

The KMP also criticized the CARPER (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms) which is brainchild of Akbayan and its Representative, Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel. The CARPER did not change any of the loopholes. It only added more funds for the CARP. Coincidentally, many NGOs allied with Akbayan receive CARP funds.

Why should Land Reform be an Election Issue?

Livelihood – As mentioned earlier, a huge section of our population are still peasants. Giving that huge section a steady source of livelihood and higher incomes is a huge step towards reducing and eliminating poverty.

Food Security – The 2008 rice crisis exposed our country’s dependency on imported rice. Why is a pre-dominantly agricultural country like ours dependent on an agricultural product, and one as basic and staple as rice?

Over the past decades, landlords have been converting their holdings in two ways: One is land conversion, where they use farmlands for non-agricultural use. Going back to Hacienda Luisita, we have a mall, an industrial park, and golf courses standing where fertile soil used to be. Another is crop conversion, where they plant non-food or non-staple food crops, like sugarcane and bananas.

Land conversion became more rampant during the CARP period because it allowed landlords to exempt their haciendas and farms from being distributed to the peasants.

Industrialization – Many of our local businesses are unable to compete with foreigners due to many factors. One such factor is that they have to import many raw materials, which increases their expenses.

Farmers who own their own land have more incentives to plant crops which are needed by industries for raw materials.

Candidates’ Stand on Land Reform so far

None of the presidentiables so far have promised to push for an alternative law to the CARPER.

Two presidentiables, one former and one current, have promised to push for a review of the CARPER: Chiz Escudero and Manny Villar. Both were at the prodding of the MAKABAYAN coalition.

Gilbert Teodoro, as expected, does not have a clear stand on land reform. This is to be expected from someone who has promised not to change any of Gloria Arroyo’s major policies. This is also expected from someone who is widely perceived as an ‘Amboy’ or someone who blindly follows U.S dictates. In this matter, it is in the interest of the U.S to keep our agriculture unchanged, making us continually dependent on their economy.

Noynoy Aquino neither has a clear stand on land reform, which is likewise to be expected from someone who belongs to the family of Hacienda Luisita’s landlords.

Only two national candidates have a clear and pro-people stance on this issue: Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza, both senatoriables of MAKABAYAN. Both have co-authored House Bill 3059, or Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill, which was the product of countless consultations with the KMP and farmer-groups nationwide. Both have also made the GARB the cornerstone of their platform on land reform.

Additionally, all the partylist groups under MAKABAYAN have endorsed HB 3059: KABATAAN, Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela Women’s Party, Katribu, ACT Teachers Party, Migrante, and Courage Partylist.

I joined the Lakbayan peasant rally at Mendiola in Manila last January 22 in commemoration of the 23rd anniversary of the peasant massacre that transpired in the same spot and the continuing struggle of Filipino farmers for genuine agrarian reform. This entry was lifted from a blog entry by Anton Dulce. I took the photos I posted above.

1,798 kilometers, 26 people, 8 provinces, 7 days, 1 bus.

Over the past week, I went with a group of print and online media representatives in a caravan around northern and central Luzon organized by the North Philippines Visitors Bureau (NPVB), a not for profit organization whose aim is to promote domestic and foreign travel in the region.

Onboard a special bus provided by Victory Liner, we visited the provinces of Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, La Union, Benguet, Pangasinan, Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga. (We also passed through, though without stopping over, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela and Ilocos Sur). Our accommodations, meals and activities were sponsored and hosted by local Convention and Visitors Bureaus and other local tourism stakeholders.

The tour aimed to introduce northern Luzon as a re-emerging destination for tourism and trade. With growing infrastructure in the region and with the improvement of the North Luzon Expressway, travel to the north has been easier over the years and the tour aimed to encourage more people to “Rediscover the North”.

Indeed, it was a rediscovery of the places I’ve been to in northern and central Luzon, and a pleasant revelation of the places I’ve never been to–northern Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, La Union and western Pangasinan.

If there was one word I could summon to give North Philippines, it is “potential”. The trip revealed how much is in store for the provinces of North and Central Luzon in terms of tourism and trade. The richness in he region’s natural wonders, in its culture and heritage, in its people make the north a viable destination for a robust and sustainable tourism industry. Having a rich potential also means that there is a lot that can be done in terms of infrastructure and training in order to fully harness the possibilities and so that the people of the region and the entire country may benefit from the potentials north and central Luzon has to offer.

Over the next few weeks I shall be writing a chronicle of the places we visited and the organizations and establishments that have helped us “Rediscover the North”. I hope one day, you also make the same discovery and rediscovery of northern Philippines, and encourage others to continue and explore the vast potentials of this region north of Manila.

I had never been to Cebu for the Sinulog Festival. Because this year it fell on the day of my parent’s wedding anniversary, I made the pitch of celebrating their day in Cebu. We brought Tisay along, too. It was her first time to ride an airplane.

I wasn’t able to take a lot of pictures during the grand parade since I wasn’t able to acquire a photographer’s pass or a press pass when I went to the organizers’ office the day before. They ran out of ID’s before the deadline, so I had to make do with taking photographs from the sidewalks and sneaking into the parade lane when the marshals weren’t looking.

The day started with a light drizzle, which slowly turned into rain by the middle of the morning. Despite the fact that it was literally “raining on their parade”, the dozens of contingents of street dancers continued dancing to the common beat of the drums and trumpets as they inched their way to the Cebu City Sport Complex, where their performances were to be judged and televised across the Visayas and Mindanao.

Our family friends who live in Cebu remarked that the Sinulog can get pretty boring if you see it every year. After all, the dancers move to the same beats and tunes and the same basic dance steps of the “sinulog” dance year after year. For non-locals, however, the festive and lively atmosphere barely makes for a boring celebration.

The day before the parade, around two million devotees went on the traditional religious procession honoring the child Jesus. One of the things they reportedly prayed for was for the sun to shine on the grand parade, since it had been raining for days prior to the grand culmination.

As if their prayers were answered, the sun peaked out near noon, and warmly wrapped the city with a humid mist. There were probably a million in the streets of Cebu City by noon time. It was festive chaos. By around an hour past noon, I had completely walked the entire route around Cebu City’s midtown and I had gotten back at our hotel. And yet, the parade had barely formally started and the contingents only moved a few meters from their original designated areas. I was too tired to do the route again so I decided to take a nap. By the time I woke up that afternoon, it was drizzling again but the crowd along Osmena Boulevard had multiplied to the hundreds of thousands (the news says as many as three million trooped to the streets), all merry-making with the costumed dancers despite the rain.

Still tired and unwilling to work my way through the crowds again, I watched the rest of the parade on local television from our hotel room along Osmena Boulevard with my family.

Held annually on January in Cebu City, the Sinulog Festival is one of Cebu’s claim-to-fame fiestas, which attracts tens of thousands of tourists from across the country and overseas.

Sinulog is traditionally Cebu’s version of the national day of celebration for pilgrims and devotees of the child Jesus or the Santo Nino which is on the third Sunday of January. As they do in many other parts of the Philippines that celebrate the fiesta, devotees hold religious processions to the church and hold feasts in households and various establishments. In Cebu, they do the “sinulog” dance, characterized by a two-step forward one-step backward dance, that is said to originate from some historical event. In 1980 the city government of Cebu initiated the now famous street dancing parade that attracts participants and tourists from all over.

Although we recognize the need for legislation that will protect individuals and institutions from malicious attacks through electronic means, it must not be addressed by a law that sweeps broadly to cover a myriad of electronic devices and many other legitimate electronic activities exercised by ordinary citizens. H.B. 6974 unfortunately, does not provide clear-cut definitions to “electronic devices” nor to “cybercrimes”. By deliberately providing a vague and catch-all definition of such devices and activities, government institutions and agents mandated to execute the Cybercrime Prevention Act, in case it is implemented, are dangerously empowered to intrude into the privacy of individuals, interfere with ordinary and harmless electronic activities and suppress legitimate forms of expression through electronic means.

The Cybercrime Prevention Act may be used to violate the people’s right to privacy and right against unreasonable searches and seizures

1. The Cybercrime Prevention Act empowers the government to monitor activities and access private accounts of persons suspected of committing “cybercrimes”, even activities and files that are not related to said punishable acts. Even if government is seeking to monitor specific activities of an individual related to “cybercrime”, the technology to distinguish which electronic activities of an individual are indeed related to a “cybercrime” and which are not may not yet be available. All activities in a given time (“real-time” surveillance as stated in the Act) may be monitored. For example, for the government to pin-point an activity which is criminal in nature according to the Act, it has to monitor all other activities of an individual at a given time, and worse may expose the activities of other individuals using the same computer system or server at the same time. For the government to access a malicious file in an individual’s hard drive, it has to confiscate and search through the entire storage device, thus exposing all other personal files and correspondence to government access and intrusion, even those unrelated to the “cybercrime”. This is dangerous because it gives the government an excuse to justify illegal fishing expeditions against ordinary citizens, and allows the wanton violation of strict requirements of criminal procedure. (Sec. 9 – 13, Enforcement & Implementation)

2. The Cybercrime Prevention Act empowers foreign governments to access and monitor the electronic files and activities of Filipinos (Chapter VI)

3. The Cybercrime Prevention Act seeks to create a government agency that is disturbingly government/military/police-centric, with a majority of number of appointees under the control of the Office of the President. Internet users, netizens, mobile phone users and other consumer groups are sorely missing and unrepresented. The Cybercrime Prevention Act also did not go through extensive consultations with sectors that will be greatly affected by the legislation–bloggers, online publishers, internet service providers, ordinary internet users and even mobile phone users. (Chapter VII)

The Cybercrime Prevention Act may be used to stifle freedom of expression, of speech and of the press

4. The recording, distribution and exhibition of recorded “private acts” and “other obscene and indecent acts” are not limited to sexual acts and thus not sufficiently defined. How does this affect the right of citizens to freedom of speech and of expression, especially with regard to issues of public and national concern? Will the scrupulous acts of public officials behind closed doors be considered “private acts”? How will this affect the way media expose and report corrupt practices in government and in some business establishments? (Sec. 4.c.1 (b-e))

The Cybercrime Prevention Act may be used to criminalize harmless, legitimate and ordinary electronic activities, and cover ordinary users of the internet, of mobile phones and other electronic gadgets

5. The bill contests the widespread practice and general convenience that anything uploaded in cyberspace, unless password-protected or requiring registration for access, is somehow automatically available for public consumption. How does this affect the regular cross-posting or re-posting of articles and other internet content, downloading of torrents and other downloadable items such as free software and the use, distribution and reproduction of other materials from the Internet? (Sec. 4.1)

6. The practice of placing online ads, self-promotion of products or websites and/or the use of the Internet to “advertise” events, personalities, causes and such even through emails, personal or private websites and/or free social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter or Multiply may be misconstrued as crimes. (Sec. 4.c.3)

7. The bill covers not only desktop and laptop computers, but all other electronic devices such as mobile phones, mp3 players and other personal electronic gadgets. (Sec. 3.d)

What must we do?

We must demand that the bill be reconsidered for second reading in order to thresh out all vague and controversial provisions. While H.B. 6794 may have the best of intentions, for it to truly benefit the millions of Internet users, mobile phone users and common citizens, it is imperative to consult a significant number of so-called netizens and stakeholders of this sector – including but not limited to online media outfits, bloggers, website owners, social networkers, email account holders and even budding online entrepreneurs.

We also recommend that the bill’s vague pronouncements be laid out more specifically in order to protect legitimate online activities conducted by ordinary citizens that may be unduly endangered by the bill’s broad clout. There are enough proposed legislation and existing laws that address cyber-related crimes such as sex trafficking, child pornography, voyeurism and Internet phishing. The campaign against such activities must not be used to justify the compromise of other legitimate electronic activities.

We also recommend that the government further strengthen its IT network, improve the IT infrastructure in the country and foster the development of IT in the country in order to empower institutions and individuals against malicious technological challenges, instead of compromising the inherent rights and freedoms of citizens in the use of information and communications technology.