shio’s windows

Maya Angelou Poems

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:50:00 +0000

"Phenomenal Woman"

Pretty woman wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to fit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
They swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's the arch of my back
The sun in my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
I ought to make you proud
I say,
It's the click of my heals,
The bend of my hair,
The need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

"Caged Bird"
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hills
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through singing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

"Son to Mother"
I start no
wars, raining poison
on cathedrals,
melting Stars of David
into golden faucets
to be lit by lamps
shaded by human skin.

I set no
store on the strange lands,
send no
missionaries beyond my
borders,
to plunder secrets
and barter souls.

They
say you took my manhood,
Momma.
Come sit on my lap
and tell me,
what do you want me to say
to them, just
before I annihilate
their ignorance?

"Africa"

Thus she had lain
sugercane sweet
deserts her hair
golden her feet
mountains her breasts
two Niles her tears.
Thus she has lain
Black through the years.

Over the white seas
rime white and cold
brigands ungentled
icicle bold
took her young daughters
sold her strong sons
churched her with Jesus
bled her with guns.
Thus she has lain.

Now she is rising
remember her pain
remember the losses
her screams loud and vain
remember her riches
her history slain
now she is striding
although she has lain.
"A Brave and Startling Truth"

We, this people on a small and lonely planet Traveling through causal space Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns To a destination where all signs tell us It is possible and imperative that we discover A brave and startling truth And when we come to it To the day of peacemaking When we release our fingers From fists of hostility And allow the pure air to cool our palms When we come to it When the curtain falls on the minstrel show of hate And faces sooted with scorn are scrubbed clean When battlefields and coliseum No longer rake our unique and particular sons and daughters Up with the bruised and bloody grass To lie in identical plots in foreign lands When the rapacious storming of churches The screaming racket in the temples have ceased When the pennants are waving gaily When the banners of the world tremble Stoutly in the good, clean breeze When we come to it When we let the rifles fall from our shoulders And children dress their dolls in flags of truce When land mines of death have been removed And the aged may walk into evenings of peace When religious ritual is not perfumed By the incense of burning flesh And childhood dreams are not kicked awake By nightmares of abuse When we come to it Then we will confess that not the Pyramids With their stones set in mysterious perfection Not the Garden of Babylon Hanging as eternal beauty In our collective memory Not the Grand Canyon Kindled in delicious color By Western sunsets Not the Danube flowing in its blue soul into Europe Not the sacred peak of Mount Fuji Stretching to the rising sun Neither Father Amazon nor Mother Mississippi who, without favor, Nurture all creatures in the depths and on the shores These are not the only wonders of the world When we come to it We, this people, on this miniscule and kithless globe Who reach daily for the bomb, the blade, the dagger Yet who petition in the dark for tokens of peace We, this people on this mote of matter In whose mouths abide cantankerous words Which challenge our existence Yet out of those same mouths Can come songs of such exquisite sweetness That the heart falters in its labor And the body is quieted into awe We, this people, on this small and drifting planet Whose hands can strike with such abandon That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness That the haughty neck is happy to bow And the proud back is glad to bend Out of such chaos, of such contradiction We learn that we are neither devils or divines When we come to it We, this people, on this wayward, floating body Created on this earth, of this earth Have the power to fashion for this earth A climate where every man and every woman Can live freely without sanctimonious piety And without crippling fear When we come to it We must confess that we are the possible We are the miraculous, the true wonders of this world That is when, and only when We come to it.
On The Pulse of Morning by Maya Angelou
A Rock, A River, A Tree Hosts to species long since departed, Marked the mastodon. The dinosaur, who left dry tokens Of their sojourn here On our planet floor, Any broad alarm of their hastening doom Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.
But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully, Come, you may stand upon my Back and face your distant destiny, But seek no haven in my shadow I will give you no hiding place down here.
You, created only a little lower than The angels, have crouched too long in The bruising darkness, Have lain too long Face down in ignorance Your mouths spilling words
Armed for slaughter. The Rock cries out to us today, you stand on me, But do not hide your face.
Across the wall of the world, A River sings a beautiful song, It says, come rest here by my side.
Each of you a bordered country, Delicate and strangely made proud, Yet thrusting perpetually under siege Your armed struggles for profit Have left collars of waste upon My shore, currents of debris upon my breast. Yet, today I call you to my riverside, If you will study war no more. Come, Clad in peace and I will sing the songs The Creator gave to me when I and the Tree and the Rock were one. Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your Brow and when you yet knew you still Knew nothing. The River sings and sings on.
There is a true yearning to respond to The singing River and the wise Rock. So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew The African, the Native American, the Sioux, The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheik, The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher, The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher. They all hear The speaking of the Tree.
They hear the first and last of every Tree Speak to humankind today. Come to me, here beside the River. Plant yourself beside me, here beside the River.
Each of you, descendant of some passed On traveler, has been paid for. You, who gave me my first name, you Pawnee, Apache, Seneca, you Cherokee Nation, who rested with me, then Forced on bloody feet, left me to the employment of Other seekers--desperate for gain, Starving for gold. You, the Turk, the Arab, the Swede, the German, the Eskimo, the Scot, You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru, bought Sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare Praying for a dream. Here, root yourselves beside me. I am that Tree planted by the River, Which will not be moved I, the Rock, I the River, I the Tree I am yours--your Passages have been paid Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need For this bright morning dawning for you. History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, but if faced With courage, need not be lived again.
Lift up your eyes upon This day breaking for you. Give birth again To the dream.
Women, children, men, Take it into the palms of your hands. Mold it into the shape of your most Private need. Sculpt it into The image of your most public self. Lift up your hearts Each new hour holds new chances For new beginnings. Do not be wedded forever To fear, yoked eternally To brutishness.
The horizon leans forward, Offering you space to place new steps of change. Here, on the pulse of this fine day You may have the courage To look up and out and upon me, the Rock, the River, the Tree, your country. No less to Midas than the mendicant. No less to you now than the mastodon then.
Here on the pulse of this new day You may have the grace to look up and out And into your sister's eyes, and into Your brother's face, your country And say simply Very simply With hope Good morning.

"These yet to be the United States"

Tremors of your network
cause kings to disappear.
Your open mouth in anger
makes nations bow in fear.
Your bombs can change the seasons,
obliterate the spring.
What more do you long for?
Why are you suffering?
You control the human lives
in Rome and Timbuktu.
Lonely nomads wandering
owe Telstar to you.
Seas shift at your bidding
your mushrooms fill the sky
Why are you unhappy?
Why do your children cry?
They kneel alone in terror
with dread in every glance.
Their rights are threatened daily
by a grim inheritance.
You dwell in whitened castles
with deep and poisoned moats
and cannot hear the curses
which fill your children's throats.

"Alone"

Well I was lying, thinking, last night,
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty,
and bread loaf is not stone
Well, I came up with one thing,
and I don't believe that I'm wrong:

Alone, all alone,
Nobody can make it out here alone
Nobody can make it out here alone

Well, there are some millionaires
With money they can't use,
Their wives run around like banshees,
And their children, they're singing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure they're hearts of stone,
But nobody, no nobody, can make it alone

Alone, all alone,
Nobody can make it out here alone
Nobody can make it out here alone

Now if you listen closely, I'll tell you what I know,
Storm clouds are gathering,the wind is gonna blow.
The race of man is suffering, and I can hear the moan,
But nobody, no nobody, can make it alone.

Alone, all alone,
Nobody can make it out here alone
Nobody can make it out here alone

"Still I Rise"

You may write me down in historyWith your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?Why are you beset with gloom?'Cause I walk like I've got oil wellsPumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just like hopes springing high,Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered eyes?Shoulders falling down like teardrops.Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?Don't you take it awful hard'Cause I laugh like I've got gold minesDiggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,You may cut me with your eyes,You may kill me with your hatefulness,But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?Does it come as a surpriseThat I dance like I've got diamondsAt the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shameI riseUp from a past that's rooted in painI riseI'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that's wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI riseI rise.

"Men"

When I was young, I used to Watch behind the curtains As men walked up and down the street. Wino men, old men. Young men sharp as mustard. See them. Men are always Going somewhere. They knew I was there. Fifteen Years old and starving for them. Under my window, they would pauses, Their shoulders high like the Breasts of a young girl, Jacket tails slapping over Those behinds, Men.
One day they hold you in the Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you Were the last raw egg in the world. Then They tighten up. Just a little. The First squeeze is nice. A quick hug. Soft into your defenselessness. A little More. The hurt begins. Wrench out a Smile that slides around the fear. When the Air disappears, Your mind pops, exploding fiercely, briefly, Like the head of a kitchen match. Shattered. It is your juice That runs down their legs. Staining their shoes. When the earth rights itself again, And taste tries to return to the tongue, Your body has slammed shut. Forever. No keys exist.
Then the window draws full upon Your mind. There, just beyond The sway of curtains, men walk. Knowing something. Going someplace. But this time, I will simply Stand and watch.
Maybe.

"Remembrance"

Your hands easyweight, teasing the beeshived in my hair, your smile at theslope of my cheek. On the occasion, you pressabove me, glowing, spoutingreadiness, mystery rapesmy reason
When you have withdrawnyour self and the magic, whenonly the smell of yourlove lingers betweenmy breasts, then, onlythen, can I greedily consumeyour presence.

"A Conceit"

Give me your hand
Make room for meto lead and followyoubeyond this rage of poetry.
Let others havethe privacy oftouching wordsand love of lossof love.
For meGive me your hand.

"Touched by An Angel"

We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight live coiled in shells of loneliness until love leaves its high holy temple and comes into our sight to liberate us into life.
Love arrives and in its train come ecstasies old memories of pleasure ancient histories of pain. Yet if we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity In the flush of love's light we dare be brave And suddenly we see that love costs all we are and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free.

"Passing Time"

Your skin like dawnMine like musk
One paints the beginningof a certain end.
The other, the end of a sure beginning.

"When You Come"

When you come to me, unbidden,Beckoning meTo long-ago rooms,Where memories lie.
Offering me, as to a child, an attic,Gatherings of days too few.Baubles of stolen kisses.Trinkets of borrowed loves.Trunks of secret words,
I CRY.

"Million Man March Poem"

The night has been long,The wound has been deep,The pit has been dark,And the walls have been steep.
Under a dead blue sky on a distant beach,I was dragged by my braids just beyond your reach.Your hands were tied, your mouth was bound,You couldn't even call out my name.You were helpless and so was I,But unfortunately throughout historyYou've worn a badge of shame.
I say, the night has been long,The wound has been deep,The pit has been darkAnd the walls have been steep.
But today, voices of old spirit soundSpeak to us in words profound,Across the years, across the centuries,Across the oceans, and across the seas.They say, draw near to one another,Save your race.You have been paid for in a distant place,The old ones remind us that slavery's chainsHave paid for our freedom again and again.
The night has been long,The pit has been deep,The night has been dark,And the walls have been steep.
The hells we have lived through and live through still,Have sharpened our senses and toughened our will.The night has been long.This morning I look through your anguishRight down to your soul.I know that with each other we can make ourselves whole.I look through the posture and past your disguise,And see your love for family in your big brown eyes.
I say, clap hands and let's come together in this meeting ground,I say, clap hands and let's deal with each other with love,I say, clap hands and let us get from the low road of indifference,Clap hands, let us come together and reveal our hearts,Let us come together and revise our spirits,Let us come together and cleanse our souls,Clap hands, let's leave the preeningAnd stop impostering our own history.Clap hands, call the spirits back from the ledge,Clap hands, let us invite joy into our conversation,Courtesy into our bedrooms,Gentleness into our kitchen,Care into our nursery.
The ancestors remind us, despite the history of painWe are a going-on people who will rise again.
And still we rise.

"Refusal"

Beloved, In what other lives or landsHave I known your lipsYour HandsYour Laughter braveIrreverent.Those sweet excesses thatI do adore.What surety is thereThat we will meet again,On other worlds someFuture time undated.I defy my body's haste.Without the promiseOf one more sweet encounterI will not deign to die

"The Lesson"

I keep on dying again.Veins collapse, opening like the Small fists of sleepingChildren.Memory of old tombs,Rotting flesh and worms doNot convince me againstThe challenge. The yearsAnd cold defeat live deep inLines along my face.They dull my eyes, yetI keep on dying,Because I love to live.

THE BLACK FAMILY PLEDGE

BECAUSE we have forgotten our ancestors,our children no longer give us honor.
BECAUSE we have lost the path our ancestors clearedkneeling in perilous undergrowth,our children cannot find their way.
BECAUSE we have banished the God of our ancestors,our children cannot pray.
BECAUSE the old wails of our ancestors have faded beyond our hearing,our children cannot hear us crying.
BECAUSE we have abandoned our wisdom of mothering and fathering,our befuddled children give birth to childrenthey neither want nor understand.
BECAUSE we have forgotten how to love, the adversary is within ourgates, an holds us up to the mirror of the world shouting,"Regard the loveless"
Therefore we pledge to bind ourselves to one another, to embrace ourlowliest, to keep company with our loneliest, to educate our illiterate,to feed our starving, to clothe our ragged, to do all good things,knowing that we are more than keepers of our brothers and sisters.
We ARE our brothers and sisters.
IN HONOR of those who toiled and implored God with golden tongues,and in gratitude to the same God who brought us out of hopeless desolation, wemake this pledge.

Johari/Nohari Quadrants

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:12:00 +0000

diksyunaryo

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:36:00 +0000

Ilokano:
Antique - kabsat ni nanang
Decipher - saan nga dobotones
ravine - imneken jay init
begotten - panagimukat manen
who - panagkakantsaw
a one - wala
ham man - saanak nga agululbod
about - nauneg nga banag
stone - agsardeng kan
show - agbugaw manok

Modern English:
school - a place where papa pays and child plays
life insurance - a contract that keeps you poor all your life so that you can die rich
nurse - a person who wakes you up to give you sleeping pills
marrieage - it's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor degree and a woman gains her masters
divorce - future tense of marriage
father - banker provided by nature
criminal - a person no different from the rest except he gets caught

Gay:
TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
“Girl!”, “Lolah!”, “Ateh!”, “Mamah!”, “Titah!”, “Sister!”, “Mother!”, “Bakla!”

PROPER NOUNS
Ace Sanchez - a top
Aglipay - ugly Pinay ( jowang pokpok na chaka ng mayaman na foreigner )
Ana, Anaconda - ahas, traidor
Anita Linda, Aida - A.I.D.S.
Ate Vangie - gamot pampatulog (Ativan Gang)
Ate Vi - atrebida
Backstreet Boys - cute guys sa likuran mo
Bayombong, Nueva Viscaya - masturbate
Bebang, Mayta - maid
Blusang Itim - mga bakla na gumanda nang maayusan sa parlor
Cathy Santillan, Kate Gomez, Cathy Mora, Cathy Dennis - makati, malibog
Chabelita - chubby
Chanda Romero - tummy (ang laki ng Chanda Romero nung pulis) / an old woman
Chiquito - maliit
Churchill - sosyal
Crayola Khomeni - iyak
Dakota Harrison P! laza - malaki tite
Debbie Gibson - give
Duty Free - maliit ang nota
Ella Mae (Saeson), Ella Fitzgerald, Ella Luansing - state of feeling horny
Eva Kalaw - evak
Felix Bakat - bakat ang tite (sa brief or pants)
Girlie Rodis - babae
Givenchy - give, pahingi
Halls - tsupa
Indiana Jones - hindi sumipot
Janjalani, Pocahontas - bakla na palaging late o indyanera
Jennilyn (Mercado) - cheap, chaka
Joana Paras - asawa
Julanis Morisette, Reyna Elena - umuulan
Julie Andrews - mahuli
Kelvinator, Kelvina - babaeng mataba, sinlaki ng refrigirator
Leticia Ramos Shahani - shabu
Lilet - bading na bagets
Lucita Soriano - loss na, sorry pa
Lucrecia Kasilag - baliw
Luz Clarita, Luz Clarita, Luz Valdez - talo, loss ang beauty
Maharlika, Mahalia Jackson - mahal
Manilyn Reynes - malibog
Miss Nigeria - negra
Murriah Carey, Morayta - mura
Nora Daza - magluto
Oprah Winfrey, O.P.M. - oh, promise me, pangako, utang
Phil Collins - Philcoa
Purita Kalaw Ledesma, Purita Kashiwara, Pureta Malaviga - poor, dukha
Rica Paralejo, Nina Ricci - mayaman
Rita Gomez - naiirita
Ruffa - laklak
Siete Pecados - tsismosa
Thunder Cats - gurang
Tom Jones, Tommy Lee Jones - gutom
Uranus - puwet
Washington D.C. - wala
X-Men - mga dating lalaki
Yayo Aguila - dyahe
Zsa Zsa Padilla - o siya, sige!

ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS
48 years - sobrang tagal
antibiotic - antipatika
balaj, valaj - balahura
bella - boba
bigalou - big
biway, chopopo, guash - gwapo
bongga, bonggakea - super to the max
borta - malaki katawan
boyband - lalaking sintaba ng baboy
buya - nakakahiya
chaka, chuckie, shonget, ma-kyonget, chapter, jupang-pang - ugly
cheapangga, chipipay - cheap, ka-cheapan
chipipay - cheap
chopopo - gwapo
conalei - baklush
daki - dako
dites - dito
doonek - doon
effem - halatang bakla
emena gushung - malanding semenarista
fayatollah kumenis - payat
ganda lang - for free
ganders - maganda
intonses - sira, wasak
jongoloids - bobo
jowa, jowabelles, jowabella - karelasyon, boyfriend o girlfriend
jutay, juts - maliit
kabog, loss - talo!
katagalugan - matagal
katol - mukhang katulong
kirara - pangit / maitim
klapeypey-klapeypey - pumalakpak
krang-krang - hungry (same as Tom Jones)
krung-krung - sira ulo, baliw
lulu, tungril, tetetet - lesbian
mahogany, mashumers, ugmas - mabaho
majubis - mataba / gusgusin
matod - magnanakaw
nakakalurky - nakaka-shock, nakaka-takot
neuro - napaisip bigla, mind-boggler
oblation - walang saplot
otoko - lalakeng lalaki
pamin, paminta, pamentos, pamenthol - discreet gay guy
pinkalou - pink
pranella - praning
quality control - maganda ang quality
sangkatuts - marami, isang katutak
shala - sosyal
shogal - matagal
shokot, bokot - takot
shonga, shongaers, planggana - tanga
shonga-shonga - tanga-tanga
shonget, makyonget - ugly
shontis - buntis
sudems - never
tamalis - tamad
urky - nakakaloka
warla - loka-loka, nawawala sa sarili, nababaliw
wasok - contraction ng “wasak pag pasok”
wiz, waz - wala!
wrangler, thunder(s), tanders, majonders – matanda

NOUNS, PRONOUNS AND PREPOSITIONS
adez, andabelz, adesa, anda, ka-andahan, andalucia - pera
akesh, akembang - ako
badet, dinga, dingalou - bading
berru - beer
borlog - tulog, power nap
bottomesa, bottones - a bottom
bufra - boyfriend
carrou, carosa - car
cheese - chismis
chimi, chimini, chimi-aa, chimini-aa - maid
constru - construction workerdaot - ahas, traitor
ditey, ditich, ditraks - dito
feelanga - crush
fiampey - singit, etits, flower
garapata - vaklush na punggok na majubis
gardini - security guardoishi - shabu
gulay, pechay, bilatch, tahong - babae
hada - oral gay sex
hammer - pakonyo effect sa mga prosti or callboy, “pokpok”
havana - mahabang mukha
hipon - maganda ang katawan pero panget
itich, itechlavu - ito
itich-me-how - etits, penis
jipamy - jeep
jowa, jowawis - lover, boy/girlfriend
jubelita - vaklita, batang bading
kat-kat - sosyal na tawag sa katulong
katol, chimay - katulong
kyota - bata
kyotatalet - sanggol
likil, mentos, future - lalaki
merlat, melat, bilat, mujer - babae
nota, notes - penis
pa-uring - a bottom
performance artist - mahilig mag-inarte
potato queen - chink for chinks
red alert - menstruation
rice queen - chink folks who go for white guys (?)
colbam, sholbam - callboy
shulupi - pulubi
shumod, shumodity - tamod
suba, bugarou - cigarette
success story - babae/lalaki na mukhang katulong na may lover na foreigner na masalapikaturay - baklang mukhang katulong na mataray
tayelz - tayo
variables - barya, coins
wigwam - wig

VERBS
bacstroke - bugbugin
bet, fillet - gusto
bionic, bayas, bayis - magjakol
bona, kimbash, uring - tirahin sa pwet
bongkang, shongkang, tsuplukan - kumantot
booking - to hook up with someone
borlog, tulogsi - matulog
dramamin - umaastang lalaki
entourage, enter the dragon - pumasok
getluck - kuhanin
gora, godelya - go
hada, koflang, kops - suck
jeverly, kalaw, erna - dudumi
krompal - sampal, but with an attitude (kasi may kasamang kuko)
lafez, lafang, lafour - kain
nomo-nomo, normok - inom
payola - pay
rampage - rampa
rendez-vous - takbo
shonggal - tanggal
sight - look
strungga - nenok, nakaw
*************************************************
lou
pinkalou - pinkcarou - carchuvalou - common __expressionchiva-lou - hada or bjorangalou - anal sex from the rootword orangapagurlalou - pa-girlchufalou - hada
china
payolachina - paypangitchina - pangitchupachina - blow jobmukachina - face
ra/delya
pagodora, pagodelya - tiredbongadera, bongadelya - ang ganda mo day
grabedora, grabedelya - grabe
*************************************************
one pokels - pisoone hammer - P 100one kiaw - P 1,000
P 1,553 - one kiaw, five hammer, at nyifti three pokels
*************************************************
Spanish - Filipino GaylingoChorizo de Bilbao - penisGrande - malaki
Granada de Espaï¿½a - grabe
*************************************************
ANO ANG BAGONG TAW! AG SA JOWA IN THE NEW MILLENIUM?
It depends.
Pag one-time hada lang: STUDIO CONTESTANT.Pag more than once at frequent ang encounter: MONTHLY FINALIST.Pag nagkaka-develop-an na: GRAND FINALIST.Pag nagsasama na at ibina-bahay: LUCKY HOME PARTNER.Pag call-in callboy: LUCKY TEXT PARTNER lang.
*************************************************
Chorvah has its etymology from the Greek word cheorvamus meaning “for lack of the right word to say”, or “in place of anything you want to express but cannot verbalize”. Ibig sabihin pala, siya ay parang “aloha” sa wikang Hawaiiano, which can mean many, many things. “Chorvah” can be used as:
1. Noun: “ano” / “kwan” / “or something”
- “Ate Glow, kelan yung birthday chorvah ni Big Mike?”
- “Hoy, Vicky ‘to, whatcha gonna wear ba? The sporty or the chinese chorvah mo?
2. Adjective: used if you want to be polite.
- “Ang chorvah naman niyan!”
( So, ano ba? Pangit ba o maganda? Baduy ba or ang arte?)
They will never know what you really mean. How polite!
3. Verb: can replace any verb
- “Chorvah lang ng chorvah!”
Chorvah is such an amazing word, it lets you choose your own adventure. At least you will never be accused of putting words in somebody else’s mouth. If you don’t have anything to say, or you can’t find the right word to say, or you want to say something but you don’t know how to say it, just say CHORVAH!
Variations: Chuvah, Chenes, Chenelyn

Nursing Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 09:14:00 +0000

NurseReview.Org Common Laboratory Procedures

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Therapeutic Procedures

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NurseReview.Org Emergency Nursing & Critical Care

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http://www.slideshare.net/nclexvideos/cancer-nursing-149800?src=embed

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Maternity and Pediatric Nursing

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Cardiovascular & Hematologic System

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NurseReview.Org Pharmacology Cardiovascular Drugs

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Pharmacology Hematologic Drugs

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NurseReview.Org Respiratory System

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Pharmacology Respiratory Drugs

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NurseReview.Org Gastrointestinal System

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NurseReview.Org - Pharmacology Git Drugs

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NurseReview.Org Musculoskeletal System

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Genito Urinary System

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NurseReview.Org Pharmacology - Kidney Drugs

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http://www.slideshare.net/nclexvideos/integumentary-system?src=embed

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Wound Care

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:55:00 +0000

General considerations

The injury: The mechanism of injury is important in assessing the degree of risk of complications of a given wound. For example, the farmer who pierces his foot with a manure-laden pitchfork is at high risk for gas gangrene and sepsis. Management would include extensive local wound care and possible admission to hospital for intravenous antibiotics. Mammalian bites present another risk situation for infection. Is there likely to be a foreign body present in the wound? Does the force of injury suggest there is likely to be extensive trauma to deeper tissues?

The patient: Consider complicating medical conditions such as diabetes, other immunosuppressed states including diabetes or other major organ dysfunction (such as renal or hepatic failure) and peripheral vascular disease. These all may affect both resistance to infection and wound healing itself.

Time of injury: The age of the wound is important in deciding the timing of closure, if at all.

Laceration	Age / Condition	Treatment
Extremity	< 12 hours and “clean”	suture primarily
Extremity	>12 hours older or “dirty”	Older or obviously contaminated or infected lacerations are best left alone for healing by secondary intention or tertiary intention (closure a few days later). Saline soaks and antibiotics usually will be required. If cosmetic or other functional considerations apply, then referral to a plastic surgeon is necessary.
Face	< 24 hours	suture primarily unless obviously infected (rare)

These times are based on common medical practice in Canada. A study of forearm and hand lacerations found that closure within 4 hours had a lower infection rate than more than 6 hours from injury.¹

Consultation: Emergency physicians may consider early referral of certain lacerations to an appropriate surgeon. Indications for referral could include:

Deep lacerations that involve nerve, tendon (often flexor tendon injuries of the fingers) or bone,
Complex or extensive lacerations that may be challenging to repair or are located in difficult anatomical areas.

Assessment of function and the importance of wound exploration

Assess wounds under optimal lighting with minimal bleeding. Important structures underlying any laceration or contusion should be assumed divided until proven otherwise. Motor, sensory and vascular function must always be assessed.

The physician, however, cannot rely only on tests of motor or sensory function to rule out injuries to tendon or nerve. Only a small portion of a tendon in the finger, for example, needs to remain intact to maintain function. However, if the patient is sent home with such a partial tendon injury, total rupture may occur when the tendon is stressed.

Note that there is no reliable test for isolating a particular wrist flexor or extensor, because more than one muscle performs the same function.

Therefore, wounds in the vicinity of important structures should be gently explored. If visualisation is difficult or the anatomy complex, then an appropriate surgeon should be consulted.

Tendon, nerve or vascular injuries are all too easy to miss unless due care is taken.

Finger Injuries

Injuries to the fingers and hands account for the majority of such cases. Tendon and nerve injuries of the fingers will now be reviewed, followed by a brief discussion of vascular injuries.

Tendon, nerve or vascular injuries are all too easy to miss unless due care is taken. In addition for testing function, these wounds should be gently explored. Injuries to the fingers and hands account for the majority of such cases.

A tendon is visualized through the open wound margin of this wound of the hand.

Finger Injuries

Tendon and nerve injuries of the fingers will now be reviewed, followed by a brief discussion of vascular injuries.

Extensor Tendon Injuries of Fingers: The anatomy of the extensor aponeurosis is depicted in the diagram below. Extension is accomplished through the action of the extrinsic digital extensors, and the interosseous and lumbrical muscles.

Transection or avulsion of the central extensor slip from the base of the middle phalanx may allow the lateral band to slip in a volar direction and assume a PIP flexor action. This produces the classical “boutonniere deformity”. The patient may initially exhibit a full range of motion, including extension.

Flexor tendon injuries of fingers: A missed flexor injury of the finger may result in long term disability. The anatomy is depicted in the accompanying diagram. The profundus runs the entire length of the finger and inserts into the distal phalanx. If intact, the finger can move normally, even if the superficialis is divided.

Profundus tendon testing of
long finger D3
Superficialis tendon testing of
long finger D3

The testing of these tendons – both the profundus and the superficialis is shown
above. The test of the superfialis tendon can only be accomplished with all of the other digits being restrained in extension. Moreover, it is not reliable for the index finger. These tests do NOT replace exploration and visualization of the tendons in the wound.

Digital nerve injuries: The digital nerves exit the hand in the region of the volar web spaces, tracking along the medial or lateral aspects of the fingers.

The digital nerves run immediately adjacent to the flexor tendons.

Numbness or complete loss of feeling is not necessarily noted by the patient immediately even if there is complete transection of the nerve. A peculiar or unusual sensation in the territory of the nerve may be the only subjective description.

If there is digital arterial bleeding, then the digital nerve is likely to be injured.

Sensory testing is best done using two-point discrimination.

If the history or physical findings suggest the possibility of a digital nerve injury, then exploration to visualise the digital nerve is necessary. A referral to a plastic surgeon is necessary. However, digital nerve injuries beyond the level of the DIP joint are not repaired and do not require referral.

Vascular Injuries
Most arterial and venous injuries occur within the traumatised limbs. Early diagnosis is important.

Consider the proximity of the wound to arterial structures. A history of bright red blood spurting from a wound indicates an arterial injury. Often, by the time of evaluation within the Emergency Department, this bleeding has stopped because of vasospasm (or uncommonly because of hypovolemic shock).

The presence of a bruit or thrill frequently indicates a significant vascular lesion. Look for the classic six “P’s” in the distal extremity:
pain
pallor
pulselessness
paresthesia
paresis
poikilothermia
Pulses may or may not be absent depending on the degree of injury.

Venous injuries that are significant may be difficult to diagnose. These usually co-exist with arterial or nerve injuries. Arteriovenous fistula may occur.

Compartment syndrome: Look out for
1. Passive stretch pain of the muscles within the compartment
2. Compartment swelling

The involved compartment needs to be released immediately.

Local anesthetics

There are two major groups of local anaesthetics: esters and amines.

Esters : procaine (Novocaine), and tetracaine (Pontocaine)
Amines: lidocaine (Xylocaine) and bupivacaine (Marcaine).

If a past allergy is reported, an anesthetic from another class can be used. Most often, however, the allergy is to the preservative used in the lidocaine multidose vials. Therefore, one option is to use a single-dose lidocaine preparation that does not contain preservatives.

For routine Emergency room use, a mixture of lidocaine 1%, with or without epinephrine 1/100,000 parts, is recommended. For regional nerve blocks, a 2% solution is used. The lidocaine 2% solution can be combined with equal parts of the Marcaine 0.25% solution to obtain relatively quick, yet longer lasting anaesthesia. The anaesthetic effect of lidocaine lasts less than an hour, but as long as two hours if the epinephrine containing preparation is used. Marcaine’s effect lasts from 12-24 hours. This would be important, for example, in the case of a distal digit amputation, where longer-term anaesthesia is desired. Some patients continue to experience considerable pain even after simple suturing, and Marcaine could significantly reduce such pain.

Epinephrine is commonly used as an adjuvant to reduce bleeding and slow anaesthetic absorption systemically. A noticeable decrease in wound bleeding will be noted in about seven minutes. Epinephrine should be avoided in those patients with vasospastic disorders, those with crush or circumferential extremity injuries, or those on beta-blockers. The use of epinephrine in the fingers, toes or penis has classically been contraindicated, because of its supposed propensity to cause vasospasm in these areas.

A toxic dose of Xylocaine (lidocaine) is 3 mg per kg intravenously; 5 mg per kg when injected without epinephrine into the wound margin, and 7 mg per kg when injected with epinephrine into the wound margin. There is evidence that the toxic dose may actually be much higher than usually quoted. The toxicity of Marcaine is one-quarter that of lidocaine, on a weight to weight basis.

Prior to the administration of local anaesthetics, check the sensory and motor nerve response, and for allergy (very rare). The pediatric literature supports the use of a topical anesthetic such as LET (a combination of lidocaine, epinephrine and tetracaine) prior to needle infiltration to reduce the pain. Slow injection by a small needle (such as a 25, 27 or 30 Gauge) will reduce the pain of infiltration.

Adverse reactions to local anaesthetics may take several forms.

Adverse Reactions to Local Anaesthetics
Type	Incidence	Mechanism	Symptoms
Vasovagal	Common		nausea, light-headedness bradycardia vasodilatation hypotension syncope
Epinephrine related	Common		“ rash” tremor, headache palpitations abdominal and uterine cramps
Toxic (>3mg /kg IV, >5 mg/kg without epinephrine, > 7 mg/kg with epinephrine)	relatively common	IV leak (? From regional blocks?)	tachycardia arrhythmia CNS excitation, depression seizure, coma
Allergic	rare to amides uncommon to esters	IgE mediated ? methylparaben preservative ? antioxidants (sulphites)	angioedema bronchospasm tachycardia hypotension

If there is doubt about allergy, in minor cases, plain normal saline can be injected into the wound margin to stretch the skin, thereby affording some degree of anaesthesia.

Malignant hyperthermia is now considered NOT to be precipitated by the use of lidocaine. Traditionally, in this setting, an ester has been utilised.

Tetanus prophylaxis - Tetanus vaccination
The tetanus disease itself is a serious one but relatively rare in Canada.

An identifiable acute injury occurs in the majority of cases (70%). Puncture wounds and lacerations account for most cases. Interestingly, approximately one-half of these injuries occurred indoors. Only a small percentage of cases occur in previously properly “immunised” patients. The incubation period is from two days to two months.

Tetanus vaccines must be administered intramuscularly. The anterolateral thigh is recommended in infants and the deltoid muscle in older children and adults. These adsorbed vaccines should not be administered subcutaneously as sterile abscess can form.

Since 1982, all school children in Ontario are required by law to be immunised. As of 1987, it is the law in Ontario that physicians inform their patients of the risks and benefits of immunisation. Adverse reactions to primary immunisation with tetanus toxoid are rare. The booster dose, however, can cause local erythema and swelling. Overuse of tetanus vaccines can lead to Arthus type reactions, urticarial reactions, and angioneurotic edema , and rarely, peripheral neuropathy and anaphylaxis.

Tetanus immune globulin (human) is a passive immunising agent containing preformed antibodies. Serum sickness can occasionally occur especially in the past when the globulin was derived from horse sera.

The decision to administer tetanus prophylaxis in the Emergency room depends on the current immunisation status of the patient and the liability of tetanus contamination in a given wound. In this Emergency Department, the order for a “tetanus booster” usually means that tetanus polio (Salk type) inactivated vaccine is administered.

Several protocols for the administration of tetanus prophylaxis are available.
The Canadian Immunization Guide – 6^th Edition – 2002 is available at

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pphb-dgspsp/publicat/cig-gci/.

Prophylactic oral, IM or IV antibiotics in wound care of routine lacerations
There is NO evidence (based on many clinical studies and a meta-analysis) to support the routine use of prophylactic oral, IM or IV antibiotics to prevent wound infections after closure of routine lacerations. Antibiotics do NOT substitute for proper wound cleansing.
Prophylactic antibiotic treatment is, however, proven to be of value in the treatment of animal and human bites in particular. See D. Special Situations in Wound Care / Mammalian bites
``Use of antibiotics should be individualized based on the degree of bacterial contamination, the presence of infection-potentiating factors, such as soil, the mechanism of injury, and the presence or absence of host predisposition to infection. In general, decontamination is far more important than antibiotics. Prophylactic antibiotics should be used in most human, dog, and cat bites, intraoral lacerations, open fractures, and exposed joints or tendons.`` From Management of lacerations in the emergency department. O. Capellan and J. Hollander Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America. Volume 21, Number 1, February 2003

Suctioning a Tracheostomy

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:41:00 +0000

Suctioning a Tracheostomy
The upper airway warms, cleans and moistens the air we breath. The trach tube bypasses these mechanisms, so that the air via the tube is cooler, dryer and not as clean. In response to these changes, the body produces more mucus. The trach tube is suctioned to remove mucus from the tube and trachea to allow for easier breathing. Generally, the child should be suctioned every 4 to 6 hours and as needed. There may be large amounts of mucus with a new tracheostomy. This is a normal reaction to an irritant (the tube) in the airway. The heavy secretions should decrease in a few weeks. While a child is in the hospital, suctioning is done using sterile technique, however a clean technique is usually sufficient for most children at home. If your child has frequent respiratory infections, trach care and suctioning techniques may need to be addressed. Frequency of suctioning will vary from child to child and will increase with respiratory tract infections. Try to avoid suctioning too frequently. The more you suction, the more secretions can be produced.

Care Techniques
Sterile Technique: sterile catheters and sterile gloves
Modified Sterile Technique: sterile catheters and clean gloves
Clean Technique: clean catheter and clean hands
The size of the suction catheter depends on the size of the tracheostomy tube. Size 6, 8 or 10 French are typical sizes for neonatal and pediatric trach tubes. The larger the number, the larger the diameter of the suction catheter. Use a catheter with an outer diameter that is about half the inner diameter of the artificial airway this will allow air to enter around it during suctioning. You can also compute the catheter size with this formula: Multiply the artificial airways diameter in millimeters by two. For example, 8 mm X 2 = 16, so a 16 French catheter. Also see Tracheostomy Sizing Chart for recommended catheter sizes for specific Bivona and Shiley pediatric tracheostomy tubes.
Older children may be taught to suction themselves.

Suction Depths
Shallow Suctioning: Suction secretions at the opening of the trach tube that the child has coughed up.
Pre-measured Suctioning: Suction the length of the trach tube. Suction depth varies depending on the size of the trach tube. The obturator can be used as a measuring guide.
Deep Suctioning: Insert the catheter until resistance is felt. (Deep suctioning is usually not necessary. Be careful to avoid vigorous suctioning, as this may injure the lining of the airway).

Signs That a Child Needs Suctioning
Rattling mucus sounds from the trach
Fast breathing
Bubbles of mucus in trach opening
Dry raspy breathing or a whistling noise from trach
Older children may vocalize or signal a need to be suctioned.
Signs of respiratory distress under Tracheostomy Complications

Equipment
Suction machine
Suction connecting tubing
Suction catheters
Normal saline
Sterile or clean cup
3cc saline ampules (“bullets”)
Ambu bag
Tissues
Gloves (optional for home care, use powder-free gloves)

Procedure

Explain procedure in a way appropriate for child's age and understanding.

Wash hands.

Set up equipment and connect suction catheter to machine tubing.

Pour normal saline into cup.

Put on gloves (optional).

Turn on suction machine (suction machine pressure for small children 50-100mm Hg, for older children/adults 100-120mm Hg)

Place tip of catheter into saline cup to moisten and test to see that suction is working.

Instill sterile normal saline with plastic squeeze ampule into the trach tube if needed for thick or dry secretions. Excessive use of saline is not recommended. Use saline only if the mucus is very thick, hard to cough up or difficult to suction. Saline may also be instilled via a syringe or eye dropper, which is less expensive than single dose units. Recommended amount per instillation is approximately 1cc.

Gently insert catheter into the trach tube without applying suction. (Suction only length of trach tube - premeasured suctioning. Deeper insertion may be needed if the child has an ineffective cough.)

Put thumb over opening in catheter to create suction and use a circular motion (twirl catheter between thumb and index finger) while withdrawing the catheter so that the mucus is removed well from all areas. Avoid suctioning longer than 10 seconds because of oxygen loss. Note: Some research has shown that by applying suction both going in and then out of the tube takes less time and therefore results there is less hypoxia. Also, there are now holes on all sides of the suction catheters, so twirling is not necessary.

Draw saline from cup through catheter to clear catheter.

For trach tubes with cuffs, it may be necessary to deflate the cuff periodically for suctioning to prevent pooling of secretions above trach cuff.

Let child rest and breathe, then repeat suction if needed until clear (allow at least 30 seconds between suctioning).

Oxygenate as ordered (extra oxygen may be given before and after suction to prevent hypoxia).

Some children need extra breaths with an Ambu bag (approximately 3 - 5 breaths). Purposes of bagging: hyperoxygenation, hyperinflation, and hyperventilation of the lungs. However, this is usually not needed for stable children with no additional respiratory problems.

The child's mouth or nose may also be suctioned, if needed after suctioning the trach, then dispose of that catheter (do not put same catheter back into trach).

Dispose of suction catheter, saline and gloves, turn off machine. In home care, catheters may sometimes be used more than once before disposal or cleaning if child need frequent suctioning. Keep tip of catheter sterile, and store into original package.

A bulb syringe may be used between suctioning if the child is able to cough up some secretions on his/her own.

Be aware of color, odor, amount and consistency of the secretions and notify doctor of changes in secretions.

Pulmonary Concepts In Critical Care

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:26:00 +0000

Airway Management

AIRWAY MANAGEMENT

HUMIDIFICATION – heated cascade
provides 100% humidification of inhaled gases. Ensure
systemic hydration is monitored to help keep secretions
thin.

AEROSOL THERAPY – nebulizers
delivering aerosols increase secretion clearance and
liquefy mucus; nebulizers may become a source of
bacterial contamination.

CUFF MANAGEMENT – essential for
prevention of necrosis and aspiration. Two different cuff-inflation
techniques are currently used:

Minimal leak technique (ML) – inject
air into cuff until no leak is heard and then withdrawing
the air until a small leak is heard on inspiration. (Problems
are related to maintaining PEEP, aspiration around the
cuff, and increased movement of the tube.)

Minimal occlusive volume technique (MOV)
– inject air into cuff until no leak is heard, then
withdrawing the air until a small leak is heard on
inspiration, and then adding more air until no leak is
heard on inspiration. (Problems are related to higher
cuff pressures than ML technique.) Use only if patient
needs a seal to provide adequate ventilation and/or is at
high risk for aspiration.

Monitor cuff pressures at least q. 8 h.
Maintain pressure 18 to 22 mm Hg (25 to 30 cm H2O.
Greater pressures decrease capillary blood flow in
tracheal wall and lesser pressures increase risk of
aspiration. Do not routinely deflate cuff.

POSTURAL DRAINAGE & POSITIONING (see
respiratory references).

Key Point: Pneumonia = "Good lung
down position"

ARDS = prone positioning for improved
oxygenation

SUCTIONING – perform as sterile
procedure only when patient needs it and not on a routine
schedule. Observe for hypoxemia, atelectasis,
bronchospasms, cardiac dysrhythmias, hemodynamic
alterations, increased intracranial pressure, and airway trauma.

ENDOTRACHEAL/ TRACHEAL SUCTIONING PROCEDURE

OBJECTIVES:

The nurse performs endotracheal and tracheostomy suctioning to:

Maintain a patent airway.

To improve oxygenation and reduce the work of
breathing.

To remove accumulated tracheobronchial secretions
using sterile technique.

Stimulate the cough reflex.

Prevent pulmonary aspiration of blood and gastric
fluids.

Prevent infection and atelectasis.

EQUIPMENT:
Sterile normal saline

Suction source

Ambu bag connected to 100% O2

Clear protective goggles/mask or face shield

Sterile gloves for open suction

Clean gloves for (in-line) closed suction

Sterile catheter with intermittent suction control port or In-line
suction catheter

PROCEDURE:

1. Wash hands. Reduces transmission of
microorganisms.
2. Assess patient’s need for
suctioning. Since endotracheal suctioning can be hazardous
and causes discomfort, it is not recommended in the absence
of apparent need.

Coarse breath sounds

Coughing; increased respirations

Increased PIP on ventilator

3. Don goggles and mask or face shield.
Potential for contamination
4. Turn on suction apparatus and set vacuum
regulator to appropriate negative pressure. Recommend 80-120
mmHg; adjust lower for children and the elderly. Significant
hypoxia and damage to tracheal mucosa can result from
excessive negative pressure.
5. Prepares suction apparatus. Secure one
end of connecting tube to suction machine, and place other
end in a convenient location within reach.
6. Use in-line suction catheter or open
sterile package (catheter size not exceeding one-half the
inner diameter of the airway) on a clean surface, using the
inside of the wrapping as a sterile field.
7. Prepares catheter and prevents
transmission of microorganisms. Catheter exceeding one-half
the diameter increases possibility of suction-induced hypoxia
and atelectasis.
8. Prepare catheter flush solution.With in-line
catheter use sterile saline bullets to flush catheter. With
regular suctioning set up sterile solution container and
being careful not to touch the inside of the container, fill
with enough sterile saline or water to flush catheter.
9. With in-line suction catheter use clean
gloves. With regular suctioning, done sterile gloves.
Maintain sterility. Universal precautions. In regular
suctioning the dominant hand must remain sterile throughout
the procedure.
10. Pick up suction catheter, being careful
to avoid touching nonsterile surfaces. With nondominant hand,
pick up connecting tubing. Secure suction catheter to
connecting tubing. Maintains catheter sterility. Connects
suction catheter and connecting tubing
11. Ensures equipment function. Check
equipment for proper functioning by suctioning a small amount
of sterile saline from the container. (skip this step in in-line
suctioning)
12. Remove or open oxygen or humidity
device to the patient with nondominant hand. (skip this step
with in-line suctioning). Opens artificial airway for
catheter entrance. Have second person assist when indicated
to avoid unintentional extubation.
13. Replace O2 delivery device or reconnect
patient to the ventilator. Hyperoxygenate and hyperventilate
via 3 breaths by giving patient additional manual breaths on
the ventilator before suctioning. Hyperoxygenation with 100%
O2 is used to offset hypoxemia during interrupted oxygenation
and ventilation. Preoxygenation offsets volume and O2 loss
with suctioning. Patients with PEEP should be suctioned
through an adapter on the closed suction system.
14. Without applying suction, gently but
quickly insert catheter with dominant hand during inspiration
until resistance is met; then pull back 1-2 cm. Catheter is
now in tracheobronchial tree. Application of suction pressure
upon insertion increases hypoxia and results in damage to the
tracheal mucosa.
15. Apply intermittent suction by placing
and releasing dominant thumb over the control vent of the
catheter. Rotate the catheter between the dominant thumb and
forefinger as you slowly withdraw the catheter. With in-line
suction, apply continuous suction by depressing suction valve
and pull catheter straight back. Time should not exceed 10-15
seconds. Intermittent suction and catheter rotation prevent
tracheal mucosa when using regular suctioning methods. Unable
to rotate with closed- suction method.
16. Replace oxygen delivery device.
Hyperoxygenate between passes of catheter and following
suctioning procedure. Replenishes O2. Recovery to base PaO2
takes 1 to 5 minutes. Reduces incidence of hypoxemia and
atelectasis.
17. Rinse catheter and connecting tubing
with normal saline until clear. Removes catheter secretions.
18. Monitor patient’s cardiopulmonary
status during and between suction passes. Observe for signs
of hypoxemia, e.g. dysrhythmias, cyanosis, anxiety,
bronchospasms, and changes in mental status.
19. Once the lower airway has been
adequately cleared of secretions, perform nasal and oral
pharyngeal or upper airway suctioning. Removes upper airway
secretions. The catheter is contaminated after nasal and oral
pharyngeal suctioning and should not be reinserted into the
endotracheal or tracheostomy tube.
20. Upon completion of upper airway
suctioning, wrap catheter around dominant hand. Pull glove
off inside out. Catheter will remain in glove. Pull off other
glove in same fashion and discard. Turn off suction device.
Reduces transmission of microorganisms.
21. Reposition patient. Supports
ventilatory effort; promotes comfort; communicates caring
attitude.
22. Reassess patient’s respiratory
status. Indicates patient’s response to suctioning
23. Dispose of suction liners and
connecting tubing, sterile saline solution every 24 hours and
set up new system. Decreases incidence of organism
colonization and subsequent pulmonary contamination.
Universal precautions.

PRECAUTIONS:

1. Minimize suctioned-induced atelectasis and hypoxemia:
a. Avoid using catheters larger than one-half the
diameter of the airway.
b. Administer one or more postsuctioning
hyperinflations, using manual or sigh breaths on the
ventilator or ambu bag if not ventilated.
2. Maintain rigorous sterile technique when suctioning the
intubated patient. Impaired pulmonary defense systems and
invasive instrumentation of the pulmonary tract predisposes
these patients to colonization and infection. Never use same
catheter to suction the trachea after it has been used in the
nose or the mouth.
3. Limit the frequency of suctioning and avoid, as much as
possible, catheter impaction in the bronchial tree when the
patient is anticoagulated or when hemorrhage from suction-induced
trauma is evident.
4. Minimize the frequency and duration of suctioning when
patient is on positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) greater
than 5 cm or continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).
Small suctioning-induced changes may have profound effects on
these marginally oxygenated patients.
5. Maintain awareness of the limitations of ET/tracheal
suctioning. Maneuvers and catheter design have been proposed
to increase the likelihood of passage into the left bronchus;
however, these have been shown to be of limited success.
Because the left main stem bronchus emerges from the trachea
at the 45-degree angle from the vertical, suction catheters
are almost inevitable passed into the right bronchus (when
they pass the carina) despite head-turning, etc.
6. The use of saline installations for loosening
secretions has been controversial and recent research shows
that in fact it is detrimental and poses a greater risk of
pneumonia for the patient.

RELATED CARE:

1. Include strategies to move secretions through
peripheral airways. These measures are: appropriate hydration
and adequate humidification of inspired gases (to keep
secretions thin); coughing and deep breathing; frequent
position changes (may need rotation bed); chest
physiotherapy; and bronchodilating agents as ordered.
2. Monitor the patient carefully during ET/tracheal
suctioning for ectopic dysrhythmias aggravated by suction-induced
hypoxemia and other dysrhythmias, particularly conduction
disturbances, related to catheter irritation of vagal
receptors within the respiratory tract (requires immediate
cessation of suctioning and hyperoxygenation).

POTENTIAL COMPLICATIONS

Hypoxemia
Atelectasis
Dysrhythmias
Nosocomial pulmonary tract infection
Sepsis
Mucosal trauma with increase secretions
Cardiac arrest

Verification of ET Tube Placement

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:19:00 +0000

The American College of Emergency Physicians endorses the following principles regarding the confirmation of endotracheal tube placement in the emergency department or in the out-of-hospital setting.

During intubation, direct visualization of the endotracheal tube passing through the vocal cords into the trachea constitutes firm evidence of correct tube placement, but should be verified with additional techniques.
Verification of endotracheal tube placement should be completed in all intubated patients, and reconfirmation of endotracheal tube position should be done in all patients when their clinical status changes, or when there is any concern about proper tube placement.
Standard physical examination methods, such as auscultation of lungs and epigastrium, visualization of chest movement, and fogging in the tube, are not sufficiently reliable to exclude esophageal intubation in all situations.
Verification techniques include capnometry, esophageal detection devices, and revisualization with direct laryngoscopy.
End-tidal CO2 detection, either qualitative, quantitative, or continuous, is the most accurate and easily available method to monitor correct endotracheal tube position in patients who have adequate tissue perfusion.
Pulse oximetry and esophageal detector devices are not as reliable as end-tidal CO2 determinations in patients who have adequate tissue perfusion.
For patients in cardiac arrest, and for those with markedly decreased perfusion, when end-tidal CO2 does not confirm tracheal intubation, other methods of confirmation, such as direct visualization, should be done.

Casting and Splinting

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:12:00 +0000

General Casting Techniques
The general principles of cast application are demonstrated in this video showing the application of a short arm cast.

Casts and splints for various injuries or regions of the body

Click on the thumbnails to view movies.
Note: Due to size, some movies may take a few minutes to load.

	Vietnam Sling How to apply a Vietnam sling for shoulder injuries.
	Sugar tong splint How to apply a sugar tong splint for a fracture of the humerus.
	Posterior slab for the elbow How to apply a long arm posterior slab splint.
	Ulnar gutter splint How to apply an ulnar gutter splint.
	Colles’ wrist fracture cast How to apply a cast for a reduced Colles’ fracture.
	Short arm cast How to apply a short arm cast.
	Volar slab How to apply a volar slab splint to the forearm.
	Thumb spica cast How to apply a thumb spica cast.
	Boxer’s cast How to apply a cast for a boxer’s fracture.
	Thumb gutter splint How to apply a thumb spica gutter splint.
	Long leg cast How to apply a long leg cast.
	Cylinder cast how to apply a long leg cylinder cast for fractures of the patella.
	Short leg cast How to apply a below knee non-weight bearing cast
	Posterior slab for the ankle How to apply a below knee posterior slab splint
	Short leg walker cast How to apply a below knee walking cast
	Walking heel application How to apply a walking heel to a below knee cast.

Cast removal
How to use a cast saw to safely remove a cast.

Urinary Catheter Insertion

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 07:53:00 +0000

Introduction
The ability to insert a urinary catheter is an essential skill in medicine.
Catheters are sized in units called French, where one French equals 1/3 of 1 mm. Catheters vary from 12 (small) FR to 48 (large) FR (3-16mm) in size.
They also come in different varieties including ones without a bladder balloon, and ones with different sized balloons - you should check how much the balloon is made to hold when inflating the balloon with water!

Universal precautions
The potential for contact with a patient's blood/body fluids while starting a catheter is present and increases with the inexperience of the operator. Gloves must be worn while starting the Foley, not only to protect the user, but also to prevent infection in the patient. Trauma protocol calls for all team members to wear gloves, face and eye protection and gowns.

Indications
By inserting a Foley catheter, you are gaining access to the bladder and its contents. Thus enabling you to drain bladder contents, decompress the bladder, obtain a specimen, and introduce a passage into the GU tract. This will allow you to treat urinary retention, and bladder outlet obstruction.
Urinary output is also a sensitive indicator of volume status and renal perfusion (and thus tissue perfusion also).
In the emergency department, catheters can be used to aid in the diagnosis of GU bleeding.
In some cases, as in urethral stricture or prostatic hypertrophy, insertion will be difficult and early consultation with urology is essential.

Contraindications
Foley catheters are contraindicated in the presence of urethral trauma. Urethral injuries may occur in patients with multisystem injuries and pelvic factures, as well as straddle impacts. If this is suspected, one must perform a genital and rectal exam first. If one finds blood at the meatus of the urethra, a scrotal hematoma, a pelvic fracture, or a high riding prostate then a high suspicion of urethral tear is present. One must then perform retrograde urethrography (injecting 20 cc of contrast into the urethra).

Equipment
Sterile gloves - consider Universal Precautions Sterile drapesCleansing solution e.g. SavlonCotton swabs ForcepsSterile water (usually 10 cc)Foley catheter (usually 16-18 French)Syringe (usually 10 cc)Lubricant (water based jelly or xylocaine jelly)Collection bag and tubing

Procedure
Insertion of an urinary catheter in a female

Insertion of an urinary catheter in a male

Review the female anatomy in more detail
Review the male anatomy in more detail

1. Gather equipment.
2. Explain procedure to the patient
3. Assist patient into supine position with legs spread and feet together
4. Open catheterization kit and catheter
5. Prepare sterile field, apply sterile gloves
6. Check balloon for patency.
7. Generously coat the distal portion (2-5 cm) of the catheter with lubricant

8. Apply sterile drape
9. If female, separate labia using non-dominant hand. If male, hold the penis with the non-dominant hand. Maintain hand position until preparing to inflate balloon.
10. Using dominant hand to handle forceps, cleanse peri-urethral mucosa with cleansing solution. Cleanse anterior to posterior, inner to outer, one swipe per swab, discard swab away from sterile field.
11. Pick up catheter with gloved (and still sterile) dominant hand. Hold end of catheter loosely coiled in palm of dominant hand.
12. In the male, lift the penis to a position perpendicular to patient's body and apply light upward traction (with non-dominant hand)
13. Identify the urinary meatus and gently insert until 1 to 2 inches beyond where urine is noted
14. Inflate balloon, using correct amount of sterile liquid (usually 10 cc but check actual balloon size)
15. Gently pull catheter until inflation balloon is snug against bladder neck
16. Connect catheter to drainage system
17. Secure catheter to abdomen or thigh, without tension on tubing
18. Place drainage bag below level of bladder
19. Evaluate catheter function and amount, color, odor, and quality of urine
20. Remove gloves, dispose of equipment appropriately, wash hands
21. Document size of catheter inserted, amount of water in balloon, patient's response to procedure, and assessment of urine

Complications
The main complications are tissue trauma and infection. After 48 hours of catheterization, most catheters are colonized with bacteria, thus leading to possible bacteruria and its complications. Catheters can also cause renal inflammation, nephro-cysto-lithiasis, and pyelonephritis if left in for prolonged periods.
The most common short term complications are inability to insert catheter, and causation of tissue trauma during the insertion.
The alternatives to urethral catheterization include suprapubic catheterization and external condom catheters for longer durations.

Nasogastric Tube Insertion

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 07:24:00 +0000

Indications
By inserting a nasogastric tube, you are gaining access to the stomach and its contents. This enables you to drain gastric contents, decompress the stomach, obtain a specimen of the gastric contents, or introduce a passage into the GI tract. This will allow you to treat gastric immobility, and bowel obstruction. It will also allow for drainage and/or lavage in drug overdosage or poisoning. In trauma settings, NG tubes can be used to aid in the prevention of vomiting and aspiration, as well as for assessment of GI bleeding. NG tubes can also be used for enteral feeding initially.

Contraindications
Nasogastric tubes are contraindicated in the presence of severe facial trauma (cribriform plate disruption), due to the possibility of inserting the tube intracranially. In this instance, an orogastric tube may be inserted.

Complications
The main complications of NG tube insertion include aspiration and tissue trauma. Placement of the catheter can induce gagging or vomiting, therefore suction should always be ready to use in the case of this happening.

Universal precautions:
The potential for contact with a patient's blood/body fluids while starting an NG is present and increases with the inexperience of the operator. Gloves must be worn while starting an NG; and if the risk of vomiting is high, the operator should consider face and eye protection as well as a gown. Trauma protocol calls for all team members to wear gloves, face and eye protection and gowns.

Equipment:
All necessary equipment should be prepared, assembled and available at the bedside prior to starting the NG tube. Basic equipment includes:
Personal protective equipmentNG/OG tubeCatheter tip irrigation 60ml syringeWater-soluble lubricant, preferably 2% Xylocaine jellyAdhesive tapeLow powered suction device OR Drainage bagStethoscope Cup of water (if necessary)/ ice chipsEmesis basinpH indicator strips

Procedures:

Gather equipment

Don non-sterile gloves

Explain the procedure to the patient and show equipment

If possible, sit patient upright for optimal neck/stomach alignment

Examine nostrils for deformity/obstructions to determine best side for insertion

Measure tubing from bridge of nose to earlobe, then to the point halfway between the end of the sternum and the navel

Mark measured length with a marker or note the distance

Lubricate 2-4 inches of tube with lubricant (preferably 2% Xylocaine). This procedure is very uncomfortable for many patients, so a squirt of Xylocaine jelly in the nostril, and a spray of Xylocaine to the back of the throat will help alleviate the discomfort.

Pass tube via either nare posteriorly, past the pharynx into the esophagus and then the stomach.Instruct the patient to swallow (you may offer ice chips/water) and advance the tube as the patient swallows. Swallowing of small sips of water may enhance passage of tube into esophagus.If resistance is met, rotate tube slowly with downward advancement toward closes ear. Do not force.

Withdraw tube immediately if changes occur in patient's respiratory status, if tube coils in mouth, if the patient begins to cough or turns pretty colours

Advance tube until mark is reached

Check for placement by attaching syringe to free end of the tube, aspirate sample of gastric contents. Do not inject an air bolus, as the best practice is to test the pH of the aspirated contents to ensure that the contents are acidic. The pH should be below 6. Obtain an x-ray to verify placement before instilling any feedings/medications or if you have concerns about the placement of the tube.

Secure tube with tape or commercially prepared tube holder

If for suction, remove syringe from free end of tube; connect to suction; set machine on type of suction and pressure as prescribed.

Document the reason for the tube insertion, type & size of tube, the nature and amount of aspirate, the type of suction and pressure setting if for suction, the nature and amount of drainage, and the effectiveness of the intervention.

- Partially pre-freezing the tube can ease its passage.
- Infants can suck on a pacifier during the procedure.
- Don’t rely on a cuffed endotracheal tube to prevent passage into the trachea – be sure and confirm placement using the above methods.

Ana Physio Summary

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:35:00 +0000

Lecture Note Index

Lecture Number	Topic
0	The Game of Science
1	Chemical Background: Atoms and Molecules
2	Solutions, Ions and pH
3	Biological Macromolecules
4	Enzymes and Metabolism
5	Cells: Structure and Function
6	Cell Division
7	DNA, RNA and Heredity: Genetic Code
8	DNA and Heredity: Transcription and Translation
9	Membrane Structure & Function
10	Membrane Electricity
11	The Action Potential: Nerves
12	Synapses and Neuromuscular Junctions
13	Muscle Contraction: the Sarcomere
14	Muscle Contraction: Mechanics
15	Cardiovascular System: Circulation
16	Cardiovascular System: the Heart as a Pump
17	Cardiovascular System: Electrical Activity and EKG
18	Respiration: Anatomy and Mechanics
19	Respiration: Gas Exchange in Alveoli
20	Oxygen Carriage in Blood
21	Control of Physiological Functions: Homeostasis
22	Physiological Adjustment to Exercise
23	The Skin and Temperature Control
24	Central Nervous System: Anatomy and Organization
25	CNS: Special Centers
26	Autonomic Nervous System
27	CNS: Learning and Memory
28	Cranial Nerves
29	Sensory Physiology
30	Eye and Vision
31	Ear and Hearing
32	Endocrines: Survey and General Principles
33	Endocrines: Pituitary Gland & Hypothalamus
34	Endocrines: Control of Ca and Phosphate
35	Endocrines: Control of Blood Glucose
36	Endocrine Disorders
37	Kidney: Filtration, Secretion, Reabsorption
38	Kidney: Regulation of Salt & Water
39	Regulation of Blood pH: Kidney & Lungs
40	How the Body Handles Drugs: Kidney and Liver
41	Digestion: Basic Processes
42	Digestion: Protein, Carbohydrates, Fats & Other Nutrients
43	Immune System
44	Reproduction: Why Sex?
45	Reproduction: Female System
46	Reproduction: Male System
47	Reproduction: Fertilization & Development

75%

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:58:00 +0000

Earlier this morning, the medical ward head nurse, who i shall name sir mike, visited the unit where i am currenly assigned to, the surgical unit. He said he was bored and his ward was in a state of utter 'benign' so he thought, what better way to spend precious time than visit the next to the most boring unit, which is a connecting bridge and two floors away?

Now, i'm not usually sociable, but since i am supposed to be happy, welcoming and warm to certain 'people' are around, i summoned my alter-ego within and acted in a manner that even the blind could 'see' a good soul in me.

Everything was going smoothly. I mean, why not, it was so boring afterall. I went home earlier than expected, which i thought was ok. Then my co-trainee texted me and asked if i was going to be rotated in the medical unit.

I said no.

Then she shared an incident about a complaint from a staff regarding my documentation.

I asked about the specifics of the complain.

She said, "Nasabon ako kanina sa charting mu. Sobrang ikli kasi... nevermind... Ay d mo alam? Itinawag pa nga ng staff sa staff ng surge eh. Sobrang iksi daw kasi ng charting mu. Hehe. Kasi wala magawa si sir mike kanina, tinignan nya yung chart na inendorse mu, nakita charting mu... oo, mejo nagalit sya. kukwento ko nalang sau bukas.”

On my defense, my duty started with the usual enorsement from the previous shift. A receiving staff at surgery, who i shall call sir Sarsi, complained about the admission of a patient with a medical complaint in the surgical unit. He then requested for the patient to be transferred to the medical unit. After the rounds, the institutional worker on duty came in the Surgical unit to transport the patient with medical case to the medical ward. The staff nurse, who is in charge of the patient asked my help in completing the paper works. She asked me to give the due meds and to complete the chart for her. I did what I was asked to, but I only documented by brief assessment and the only interventions which I was able to perform, given the matter-of-minutes-span of time. I then got all the patient’s stuff and endorsed the patient to the medical ward.

I don’t know whether sir mike plainly is evil and mistake-finder or just outright inconsiderate and unthinking. Is a nurse’s capacity to care for the patient measured in the number of words she writes on the chart? I only wrote pertinent assessment findings and interventions relative to solving of the problem. Given the amount of time, which was roughly 15 minutes, how could I perform the actions necessary so I could have a 1-page-charting which he seems to want? Andami talagang hindi nag-iisip sa mundo minsan. Hayz. Buti sana kung kinausap ako regarding dun, eh umakyat lang ata sa ward namin para mag-chismiss ang ginawa nya. Kung may problema sya sakin, he should have called my attention. Headnurse pa man ding naturingan. Hay talaga ever.

taken from: http://knightstemplar.blogs.friendster.com/the_knights_templar/2008/07/abode_ng_banzai.html

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:39:00 +0000

This was posted by one of my favorite authors, melay-junior bob ong..
nakakaiyak tol..

ABODE NG BANZAI

ABODE ng Banzai

-para sa Ikatlong Taon

By: Armely Joyce P. Obungen

SIGMA BETAN, SLU 05-S

Ang pinaka nakakaiyak gawin ngayon eh yung kumain ka mag-isa,na kahit na ka price pa ng Burgoo eh hindi mo talaga ma-aappreciate dahil walang nakikipag agawan sayong mga batchka mo. Di gaya ng dating Buguias Fries lang ng Balconaje eh nag uumapaw na kayo sa kasiyahan, kahit na ang iba nama’y nag mamasimpleng pumapapak nalang ng coffeemate at brown sugar.

Mag t-tatlong taon na kami, madaming nawala, nawalay, humiwalay at kung anu pa mang panlapi ang idugtong sa root word ng HIWALAY.. may babalik, babalik-balikan, nagbabalak bumalik, bumabalik. Alam kasing pag dating doon, may babalikan..

Saan??...... hmmmm... Doon..

Nagkaroon na nga rin kami ng Batch- Cat . Si banzai na laging present sa mga importanteng pangyayari, laging nag hihintay kahit ang habol lang naman talaga niya eh ang masarap na pagkain. Naisip ko tuloy, para nga yata kaming mga pusa ng batchmates ko kung tutuusin. Si banzai kasi, minsan Umaalis, babalik man siya, nagdadalang pusa na. Ganun din siguro kami, umaalis man, bumabalik pa din dala dala ang mga masasayang alaala at lubos na pagpapasalamat dahil kamiy napag-buklod buklod ng SIGMA BETA SORORI TY

Yung kwarto ni Ching na masahol pa sa payatas, nagkakasya ang 12 na tao, yung mga panahong may tinatago kaming kadeteng AYER sa kuwarto kasi part kami ng welcoming committee, bilang residente.. yung pag bumabagyo eh wala talagang liguan at pag brown-out eh nagtatakutan pa sa haunted Mansion sa Gibraltar. Yung mga panahong yosi at alak at ang pag patak sa jug ang tanging kinatatakutan.. Mga panahong inakala mo’y ordinaryong araw lang nun, pero lahat ng yun, part nalang ng nakaraan.

Madalas din akong mag-day trip pag galing akong Baguio. Mamarapatin ko talagang mag- day trip nalang. Nahihirapan kasi ako pag paalis ako ng Baguio tapos nakikita ko yung mga ilaw ng siyudad na nawawala ng tuluyan hanggang hindi mo na talaga makita sa kapal ng fog..zero visibility pa. Hindi mo alam kung san ka pupulutin.

Bawat ilaw na nakikita mo, ay may naipapaalala sayo na minsan, isa sa mga ilaw na yon ay naging liwanag sa buhay residente mo:

Habang nag-hihintay ka ng taxi pagkatapos ng Jug sa Nevada, sa tavern ,pagtapos ng FR, habang pauwi ka ng new Lucban, Aurora Hill, Bonifacio, Irisan, Trancoville at kung saan pa man. Nagpapaalala din ito ng mga posteng nasipa mo sa pag- aakalang voice command with kick and mga street lights ng Session road. Mga ilaw na nag bigay liwanag sa mga panahong madidilim at hinihiling mong mag dilim nalang. Nagpapaalala din ito ng mga Amuyang days naming lahat. Ito yung mga panahong nag-s-service kami kina Lovell Mars para makalibre ng dinner at umuwi ng late dahil madami kaming nakain, minsan ayaw pang umuwi dahil hours parin naman yun.

Sa may baba nila dun sa may poste at ilaw, dun kami nag hihintay. Dun Madalas mangyari ang self-evaluation bilang amuyang, kung nakasagot ba sa mga tanong ng lovell, sinong pumalya, sinong nakakatawa, kaninong mata yung nakita...

Ang mga amuyang na sandali din na gusto mong maging gallon ng tubig.. bakit? Kasi didiligin mo ang sorority.. gusto mong maging walis tingting dahil wawalisin daw ang sorority. Gustong maging yosi, kasi ang usok eh nagiging clouds, at ang clouds eh malapit sa langit:, at gustong maging martilyo.. kasi “i’ll be the one to pull you up when you are down”..

Ang mga amuyang na sandali din na nalaman mo kung bakit bawal i-rap ang LUPANG HINIRANG at mag –ala gloc-9. Duty to country nga pala..

Ang mga sandaling naging ka close namin ang tissue paper, at kahit kailan hinding hindi mkakalimutan..

Doon..

Doon, isang text mo lang pag gusto mong mag- kape.. aasahan mong may dadamay sa iyo. Gaano man kapait, katamis, ka creamy ng kape, Starbucks man ito o Balconaje brew, may kasamang kwento bawat hithit, sipsip at sawsaw ng fries mo.

Doon, pag mga oras na gusto mo lang ng makakasama dahil wala ka lang talagang magawa sa buong araw, in the end of the day, meron at meron kang makakamayan.. mayayakap at mkakakwentuhan.

Doon, sa panahong may problema ka, asahan mong may mag-mumura para sa yo, may makikipag away at may magtatanggol sa paniniwala mo.

Sa mga panahong ang tangi nalang nag-sasalba sa kumakalam mong sikmura eh noodles, asahan mo paring may kaagaw ka dahil lahat masarap, maging ang tuna with sky flakes masarap, kasi alam mo ding pag gising mo sa umaga eh hindi sila mawawala, hindi ka nila iiwan, lagi kang may Batchka.

Gaano ko na ka-miss? Pucha..Sobra...

Doon.. sa Baguio..

Tricks

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:53:00 +0000

Some make-life-easier stunts I've picked in my playground:

fluimucil increases metabolism of diazepam. in case of diazepam toxicity, have some fluimucil available
lidocaine, may it be in spray or solution form, can be very helpful during simple insertions. mix a little of lidocaine to the ky jelly during NGT and IFC insertions and *spoof!* a swabe and discomfort free insertion process results. The patient might even request to see you again for being unable to thank you enough for the unbelievably comfortable experience.
request for an autograph. i.e. referral slips given to interns, denied medications, in-case-of arrest-please-withhold-all-life-saving-interventions-as-per-relative-request, controlled drugs yellow prescription, errors...etc..
always suction before feeding. position patient on modified semi-fowler's before NGT feeding
ways of assessing NGT patency: inspect the placement of the NGT - the first visible calibration should appear about an inch away from the nose and the second should be visibl as well, auscultate for bowel sounds, feel for the rise of abdomen upon introduction of air, make sure that the rubber of the asepto syringe that you press for the introduction of air returns to its unpressed form briskly-if not, suspect kinking.
don't mix trental and calcium drugs with feedings
oral anti-ulcer drugs can be powdered and used simultaneously with bactroban in treating bed sores

...more lessons soon..

adding a search tab on your blog

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:46:00 +0000

don't have a search box?

don't worry, i'm going to assist you on how to add a search box in your blog.

you don't have to install anything. just include this code somewhere in your blog template to create the search box. This code is edited for my blog so you'll have to edit the texts which describe the URL of my blog and replace it with the URL of your own blog.

Here's another way of adding a search tab on your site, a trick i got from live search. Just copy and paste the html code somewhere on your blog template.

To let your visitors search your site, add the following code to your page(s):

To let your visitors search your site, add the following code to your page(s):

when the stars go blue

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:40:00 +0000

rather nice song..

Adams Ryan Lyrics

Coincidences

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:29:00 +0000

It's just funny how certain things happen with almost certain identical features with what happens to other people. Take for instance my siblings. We were in different places yesterday, like miles away from each other, but we all felt similar food poisoning-like symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea, pain) just after lunch.
Every time my older sister and her boyfriend argues, i am also at war with my so called bf.
When my brothers sings a song, that song usually became something of relevance to my earlier experience that day.
When my sister grows a pimple, i'll have a pimple on the same spot a few days after.
When my sister dreamt of an accident involving my family sustaining injuries and me, almost dying, i fell down a flight of stairs earlier and my brother almost got his finger grinded of in a machine accident during his class.
Oh, what funny link we have.

Makichicka: Join This Conversation

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:28:00 +0000

United States Suffering Import Disadvantages.. Karma! Karma! Karma! Hahahahahahaha

"People will say it's repugnant to sell citizenship ... My answer is that we have tremendous restrictions now."
~ Gary S. Becker ~

Relationships: The Art of Teasing

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:42:00 +0000

When was your first.... (click on the survey below)

After answering the survey above, find out more about S.K. Smith's suggestions in sizzling your sex life, if you do have one. Well, it's just a suggestion. There are more ways but, hey, maybe this expert will tell us more about which of the ways are the most effective.

While the act of sex itself gets a lot of (well-deserved) hype, sometimes it's the prelude to the actual deed that's most exciting… And as the most highly skilled lovers will tell you, that prelude begins way before foreplay. A steamy, satisfying and surprise-filled sex life is all about the art of the tease.

Think about it. Unlike sex itself, teasing can begin in public or at home, at any time of day and with (or without) anyone else even knowing about it. It's the power of a glance, a touch or even a well-timed text message. A little exchange that may seem like nothing to an outsider, but gets your lover's imagination working and their blood boiling, which enhances the experience for both of you when the time to get down to business comes.

And the best part is, if you want to drive your lover wild with desire, it may be easier than you think. Remember, the key is not to be lascivious or test your boundaries (though of course, if you're feeling adventurous, those things don't usually hurt), it's simply to get your lover's wheels turning. Let's face it, there's nothing sexier than thinking about sex. And it doesn't take much for most of us to go there.

So let's get down to business with these three quick ways to turn your lover on - without even seeming like you're trying.

Reverse striptease
While the striptease may be time's most tested version of teasing, getting dressed can be just as sexy - and doesn't require any rhythmic skills or a seductive setting. In fact, it's one of the easiest - and most effective ways to make your morning count (and send your mate's mind reeling all day)!

Whether you start fresh out of the shower or in any stage of undress, be sure to let your lover see you before your morning outfit is complete. Whether you iron in your underwear or simply pass by as you button your shirt take a moment to make eye contact… after all, the eyes are the mirror to the soul… and if your soul is feeling sexy in that moment, they won't miss it - or forget it easily!

Acknowledge their assets
Everyone enjoys a compliment, and giving one of a sexual nature (however directly or indirectly) is a surefire way to spark up some chemistry with your mate. Let them know you like the way their (fill in the blank) looks in that dress/those jeans/their birthday suit. You can be nonchalant about it, or make a point of letting them know what seeing them that way does to you. Either way, they'll either inquire further (prompting you to give more detail or actually demonstrate). Or they can simply take that information with them, for use at a later time.

Let there be silence
When things are quiet, oftentimes the easiest thing to do is to start chatting. But some of the most profoundly sexy and intimate moments can be found between words. Whether you're at dinner, on the beach or in the car, resist your urge to fill the space and let the silence linger. Touch your lover gently (a hand on their hand or leg, a head on their shoulder), or look in their eyes for a moment and smile softly. No need to hold the gaze (unless it just feels right), it's the mere acknowledgment that you're both present in the moment that fans the flames. And while it may not lead to sex right then and there, you will likely find your next romp (the one that will very probably be that night) will be a close and connected one.

Remember that sometimes the best way to seduce your lover is to take a simple, thoughtful course without too much effort. Then let the heat between you do all the talking.

Computer security

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:59:00 +0000

What Really Have Kept Filipinos Poor?

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:10:00 +0000

here guys, listen to the music i placed above (just click the play button) as you read my Philippine Independence Day - 110 years of independence essay.

I am fully convinced that certain forms of modern imperialism, which appear to be inspired by economic or politics, are in fact real forms of idolatry: the worchip of money, ideology, class or technology.
- Pope John Paul II, Imperialism Blamed for Havenot's Plight, Philippine Journal, June 9, 1989

I have to say that though the Filipino people have to be celebrating what Rizal, Bonifacio and what out other national heroes fought and died for, I couldn't help but think that Pope John Paul's speech way back is still evident and illustrative by Philippine example.

And so I celebrate Independence day, rumbling about modern imperialism and the history of the struggle for Philippine industrialization, to show contempt to those who have no respect for freedom and to those who gladly take part in a slave society. I offer this gift to my beloved country, not the negativity and inability to see the little progress that Philippines made since the end of WW2, but the acknowledgment that Philippines is suffering and that it needs help. Let this be my show of loyalty to every thinker who did and who continue to strive and advocate for REAL independence. To Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Miguel Malvar, Ricarte, Elpidio Quirino, Renato Constantino and Fernando Poe Jr. To Gen Danilo Lim, Atty Tiu, and Alejandro Lichauco. To my college history instructor who introduced the spirit of nationalism by encouraging me to read more accurate and detailed events of our history (including certain passages from American history books, Time magazine, and a variety of journals) which lead to the scenario Philippines finds itself in today; to him who saved me a bunch by not merely requiring to memorize birth and death dates of popular people in Philippine History. I then start the main topic of my essay by educating the dumb populace the name and the meaning of the true evil that plagues our nation. That is - Neocolonialism or Modern Imperialism.

How is Neocolonialism and Modern Imperialism defined?

Modern Imperialism is the policy and method by which strong powers acquire colonies and dependencies by means other than outright conquest and physical annexation.

It is the policy of a strong nation seeking political and economic leadership over an independent nation, or extended geographical area, without necessarily reducing the subordinate nation or or area to the legal status of a colony.
it is the use of economic, political or other means to retain influence over former colonies.

Neocolony: the nation reduced to dependency by the dominant power. It is a nation, independent in legal status, but which in fact is the effective colony of another.

Examples of Neocolonialism and Neocolonies:

U.S is to Latin America
U.S and Great Britain is to Egypt before Nasser, Iran during the time of the Shah, China before the communists took over and Libya before Khadaffy

Purpose and Objective of Neocolonialism:
It's primary purpose is the plunder and pillage of nations and people. Imperialism destroys the jobs and livelihood in underdeveloped countries.

How?
It plunders primarily by forcing the economies of its victims to foreign goods and foreign investors.EFFECT: Markets of third world countries compelled to open to unlimited imports and become dumping ground of foreign goods. EFFECT: Local industries and domestic sources of income and employment are undermined. EFFECT: third world countries are kept in a state of dependence because they are unable to support industries of their own.

The Foreign Investors, Transnational Corporations and their Role in keeping a Neocolony Poor:
Remember: the primary objective of foreign investors is not to develop the the productive powers of the country where they operate. Their responsibility is primarily to themselves, to make profit for themselves as quickly and as much as they can, in whatever way they can, even if they destroy local competitors in the process. They can go to the factory, mining pit, forest, or country where they can do the most for the least money and do so quickly and do so on a scale that makes it very difficult for smaller companies to compete.

How exactly? Step 1. Foreign investors, like a parasite, enter host country. Step 2. Remember that money in the bank doesn't have eternal supply. And you know what foreign investors do to exhaust the measly resources of their host country? Foreign investors don't bring in money in their host countries, they merely borrow from the local banks and the money market. Now how bad is that? Money that is supposed to be lent to local industries to start their own businesses go instead to these big foreign capitalists. Bankers naturally would gladly lend money to the foreigners because they have higher capability of paying the money back. What happens to local businessmen? No capital because capital all wound out to foreign shores. Step 3. Foreign investors - through transnational corporations - engage in a wide variety of exploitative practices that drain the host of resources. Capital, whether it be natural capital in the form of resources, or human capital, in the form of low-wage workers, or local capital in the form of functional and healthy local economies, is being extracted. That is why our countrymen do not have access to our vast resources because it is these foreign investors who are in control of them. Step 4. Foreign investors then set up plants that actually function as conduits through which overseas factories export goods. They don't use the plants in the production of their goods. They use the host country's laborers in the production of raw materials (i.e sugar) necessary for the production of industrial items (i.e. candy). When raw materials are produced, they send these to their countries so that they can use their advance machineries to produce an industrial product. The industrial product is then exported to the host country in surplus. Now what is essentially wrong with that? Foreign Investors have no plans of transferring their technology in their host countries. What they want is to keep the local laborers good at planting but dumb at modern technology necessary for mass production. Why? So that consumers, or people, will depend on what the foreigners produce. And so as to ensure that no local competitor will emerge, they keep the knowledge of technology all to themselves. Step 5. Foreign investors, knowing that the host country is dependent on what they produce, sell their goods at severely overpriced levels. In that case, they get back the money they spent at the fastest possible rate. Step 6. Foreign Investors send 100 percent of their gains back to their country so that they could borrow capital money at the host country's local bank once again. And so the cycle goes on. Step 7. Foreign Investors then become the richer people amongst in the host country's population. What do they do next? They use their power to keep the people poor, dumb, and acquiescent to their suggestions. They use religion to influence people to go forth and multiply (more people, more buyers of their product). They sponsor the candidacy of the politicians who will ratify laws that will prioritize their rights over the host country's people's rights. They will dictate how education should be carried out so that the children of the host country's people will remain dumb to their motives just like their parents. They force the brightest and smartest minds to get out of the country just so they would live a decent life resulting in a massive brain drain in the host country. They will keep the host country's militia men poor and laughable. They will support crimes. They will support corruption so that they can put the blame of mass poverty on it instead of themselves. They will ensue the creation of rebel groups and label them as terrorists that need banishing so that they can justify bringing in the host country foreign military bases that claims to function as a help to the local militia men in protecting the nation but actually functions to show off their power and scare the leaders of the host country who dare go against their rule. In addition, since most of the money in the host country are held by the foreign investors, the host country, with no funds to support it's people, then borrows money from international banks. These international banks will lend money, yes. But not only that, they will also support the vicious actions of the foreign investors. Oh yes, cause you see, my dear readers, the poorer the country is, the less power it will have. And that's exactly how they make one easy to rule.

If you're a Filipino, I then ask you, Doesn't the situation above seem familiar?

Well my dear countrymen, It should. Because Philippines is the perfect example of a true to life host country running under the rule of none other than the powerful hands of the greatest Imperialist in the world, which is UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Need proof? I would be more than glad to discuss.

IMF (International Monetary Fund) and WB (World Bank) are the Prime Agents of Neocolonialism.
(Remember guys that IMF are controlled by the powerful nations, led by the U.S., the U.K., Japan, Germany, France, Canada, and Italy. These are all rich countries where most foreign investors in third world nation comes from.)
The IMF and WB are based on a mortal combination of 5 deadly policies:
a.) constant devaluation of the currency. (pagbagsak ng halaga ng piso)
-- devaluation means inflation, a rise in the cost of production and the cost of living as well as social services. It also translates into an increase in peso cost of the nations huge foreign debt.

b.) import liberalization. (kawalan ng limit sa pag-import)
--undermines domestic industries, both manufacturing and agricultural, squanders our limited foreign exchange reserves and leads to an over rising trade deficit and foreign debt.

c.) fiscal and monetary austerity.
--restricted money supply and high interest rates. These in turn constrict economic activity. Any effort on the part of the government to meet social demands for public works and services translates into an IMF - WB requirement for higher taxes.

d.) minimal role for government in the economy.
--withdrawal of programs, subsidy for farmers, price control of basic commodities, and subsidized rates for water and electricity, intended to assist those sections of the population whoa re unable to defend themselves against the impoverishing consequences of inflation and constricted economic activity.

e.) maximum role of foreign investments in the economy.
--tolerance of exploitative practices, including political intervention to secure laws and policies favorable to foreign investors.

Must know: Philippines was first submitted to the IMF-WB supervision in 1962 through the Decontrol Programme of Diosdado Macapagal Administration.

The Real Root of Philippine Poverty Explained

A pre-industrial economy
where wealth is concentrated

The immediate explanation for mass poverty is to be found in the inherent limitations of a pre-industrial economy. This condition is made worse by the concentration of wealth. These two factors acoount for the co-existence of massive unemployment in one hand, on the other, of monopolies whose unchecked market power enables them to exploit the underprivileged mass of consumers.

Deprived of a solid and extensive manufacturing base similar to those of industrialized societies, sources of employment and income in the Philippines are largely confined to the land and the commercial and service sectors where ownership concentration prevails.

An economy without an extensive manufacturing base is an economy with an extremely limited capacity to produce goods and services. Which means, in turn, an extremely limited capacity to generate jobs.

Since jobs are the primary, if not the only, source of income for those who have no business or capital of their own, you can see why a job is all-important to the very survival of the greater number of our people. They have no capital and so they rely on their muscle and skills to earn and survive. But since the opportunity to make use of their muscle and skills is extremely limited in a non-industrial society, they must seek life abroad, as many increasingly do, or suffer in poverty at home.

To grasp the magnitude of the poverty problem in this country, consider that Taiwan, which has to provide for a population of only 20 million people, and Singapore, which has to provide for only 3 million, are already fully industrialized states. The Philippines, on the other hand, which has to provide for 80 million, still remains in the pre-industrial age. This explains the desolation of our rural areas and the filth and squalor in our cities, and why millions of our countrymen have been forced to abandon home and country to seek employment abroad.

That is the tragedy of a people whose economy has yet to undergo an industrial revolution.

The severe and acute absence of job opportunities in a non-industrial society is sharpened by the monopoly power which the few who posses capital and own the means of production are able to exercise power over the mass of the population. You can see that power displayed and held arbitrarily in such cartelized industries as rice trading, food processing, banking, cement, public utilities (telephone, power, transportation), construction, insurance, and the like. Monopoly and oligopoly power automatically flows from a situation where wealth is held by a few.

The one central message conveyed by the Asian Newly Industrialized Countries is that the only way out of backwardness and poverty is through an Industrial Revolution. Poverty cannot be rolled back by agriculture and commerce. It can only be rolled back by the force of industry and power of machines.

What sets off rich nations from poor nations, developed from underdeveloped, is industrialization. The former are powered by industrialized economics; the latter remain in the pre-industrial age.

Why has the Philippines Fail to Industrialize: Because of U.S Colonialism and Neocolonialism.

To understand how American colonialism and, subsequently, neocolonialism suppressed the industrialization of the Philippines, we must recall the motives which impelled the U.S government to annex the Philippines at the turn of the century. Those motives stemmed from the rise of the U.S as an industrial power and its need for markets abroad on which American industries can dump their surplus production. A small but powerful circle in America, driven by imperialist ambitions, had long coveted the huge market of China, and they saw in the Philippines a piece of territory which serve not only as a market for the surpluses of American industries but, even more important than that, as a launching pad of the mainland China.

And so that circle maneuvered the US senate into passing a resolution which committed the US government to a policy of imperialism in the Philippines. Their spokesman in the senate into passing a resolution which committed the US government to a policy of imperialism in the Philippines. Their spokesman in the senate was Albert J. Beveridge, a senator from the state of Indiana, who sponsored the resolution of annexation.

In his speech sponsoring the joint congressional resolution authorizing the annexation of the Philipines, Beverage argued:

The Philippines are ours forever... And just beyond the Philippines are China's illimitable markets. We will not retreat from either. We will not repudiate our duty in the archipelago. We will not abandon our opportunity in the Orient.

Our largest trade henceforth must be with Asia. The Pacific is our ocean. More and more Europe will manufacture the most it needs, secure from its colonies the most it consumes. Where shall me turn consumers of our surplus? Geography answers the question. China is our natural customer... the Philippines give us a base at the door of all the East.

Prior to that resolution, Beveridge delivered a famous speech on September 16, 1898, titled March of the Flag which extensively laid the rationale for annexation and was intended to move American public opinion into supporting the position of the imperialists. Annexation faced considerable opposition from the enlightened sections of the American public who saw it a policy which squarely defied the American democratic tradition.

But Beveridge argued:

The Riches of the Philippines have heavily been touched by the fingertips of modern methods. And they produce what we consume, and consume what we produce... They sell hemp, sugar, coconuts, fruits of the tropics, timber or price like mahogany; they buy flour, clothing, tools, implements, machinery, and all that we raise and make. Their trade will be ours in time... The Philippines is larger than all New England, New York, New Jersey and Delaware combined. Together they are larger than the British isles, larger isles, larger than France, larger than Germany, larger than Japan.

Today, more than a hundred years after that historic resolution on annexation, America policy in Asia remains as obsessed with the market of China, the Philippines, Iraq, Vietnam, and all of Asia.

Going back to the story, Manuel Luis Quezon, then, and the law-making body in the Philippine Assembly strenuously objected to the free trade between an agricultural country and an industrial country on the ground that an industrial country would inhibit the economic diversification and industrialization of the agricultural country. But since we were but a colony, we were powerless to enforce our arguments. The pleas of Philippine assembly and Manuel Luis Quezon were simply ignored.

In 1909, the US government enacted a law which compelled the Philippines to accept American exports to it without limit and duty-free. In exchange, our products were allowed entry into the American market also duty-free, although certain items were subjected to quotas.

That arrangement lead us to concentrate on production of agricultural items which had a market in the US, such as sugar, copra, coconut and mineral products, and to become completely dependent on the US for our supply of both industrial and finished goods.

The free free trade automatically resulted in a flood of imports from US which our government was powerless to restrain, either directly through import quotas and outright bans, or even indirectly through tariffs. That situation ensured that our economy never flourished to a more advanced state. America kept our nation an agriculture country.

Proof of the backwardness that America kept us is was when World War II broke out in 1941. In that year, 32 years after free trade, the Philippines was invaded by an Asian country, Japan. Japan, who didn't have to suffer the presence of United States control in their economy, could produce the vast range of industrial products needed to support a conquering army, from boots to guns, from tanks and ships to bombs and airplanes.

While the Philippines, which was an extensive producer of sugar, could not even produce a toy gun. You see guys, even though we had vast sugar plantations, we, then, only dependent to final products, didn't even know how a cotton candy machine looked like. We had iron mines all over the Philippines, but we could not produce a single nail.

Restoration of Philippine independence in 1946.

On the eve of our independence, the US Congress enacted two related laws which reflected American post-war policy objectives in the Philippines. One was the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946, which stipulated for much needed war damage compensation and financial assistance for the Philippines. That law explicitly conditioned the promised compensation and assistance on the condition that we accept the Bell Trade Act.

Briefly, the Bell Trade Act states the following:
a.) extension of the free trade relation beyond independence

b.) an amendment to the Philippine Constitution which would place American Nationals on a parity with Filipino citizens insofar as the right to exploit the nation's natural resources and operate public utilities were concerned (otherwise known as the Parity Amendment)

c.) the asking for a consent of the U.S president before the Philippine government can take any action on subjecting transactions involving the use of foreign currency (such as imports, foreign travel, remittance of profits by American corporations) to government control, or what is known as foreign exchange controls.

Senator Millard Tydings, author of the Philippine Independence Law in the 1930's, strongly opposed the Bell Trade Act. These was his words to the people lobbying for the Bell bill:

I have no right to quote the Governor but I think that fundamentally he is opposed to Philippine Independence, and if you would ask him he would tell you so. The truth of the matter is that most of the people who favor this bill are fundamentally opposed to Philippine Independence. I don not like to mention names but their whole philosophy is to keep the Philippines economically even though we lost them politically. (see Jenkins, American Economic Policy Towards the Philippines, p.56, citing hearings before the Committee on Ways and Means, U.S House of Representatives, 79th Congress, First Session).

Considering the Philippine experience with free trade, the national reaction to Bell Trade Act was extremely bitter. The Nacionalista Party, the ruling party then, denounced the Bell Act, and charged that it would condemn the Filipino people to slavery. Among the organizations that opposed the Bell Act were the Democratic Alliance, the Civil Liberties Union, the Philippine Lawyer's League, the Commission of Labor Organizations, the Philippine Student Union, the National Peasant Unions and the Philippine Newspaper Guild (Jenkins, op.cit. 87-88).

On the free trade provision of the Act, it was the voice of Salvador Araneta, the foremost political economist of his time, which towered above all others in warning the nation of the provision's dire consequences: "Accept the Bell Act," he warned, "and all efforts to industrialize our country are bound to fail, as they failed in the past."

As he argued:

Diosdado Macapagal and the Decontrol Programme of 1962

Macapagal, prodded by a $300 million dollar stabilization loan from Washington, dismantled FOREX controls overnight upon being seated President. Within 24 hours of the lifting of controls, everyone was free to buy dollars from the Central Bank for just about any purpose whatsoever, and send dollars out of the country. Exception was made for certain agricultural items whose importation remained banned.

Impact of the Decontrol Programme on the Economy:

First, it returned us essentially to free trade.

Second, devaluation automatically doubled the cost of industrialization, and led to indefinite deferment of the integrated steel mills. Peso was devaluated to Php4:$1.

Third, local industries went bankrupt.

Fourth, steep rise in the cost of living, which eventually led to social unrest.

Sixth, extensive capital flight which amounted to the decapitalization of the Philippines.

Seventh, areas of investment from which foreign capital was discouraged by the FOREX control program suddenly opened up to foreign investors.

Eight, most fatal of all, debt trap.
-- The Macapagal Administration had an arrangement with the IMF-WB: The government would continue receiving loans from the IMF-WB to cover budget deficits brought about by the Decontrol Programme, while Macaagal ensures that the Decontrol Programme stays and that FOREX controls remain dismantled.

--Decontrol Programme borrowed to finance capital flight, unnecessary imports and overseas investments which could otherwise be prevented.

In the Decontrol programme and how it was induced, one seas a basic strategy of neocolonialism: prod and pressure its victims into profligate spending into opening its economy through the bait of foreign loans. As profligate spending sinks the victim deeper into debt, it is necessarilly driven deeper into the embrace of the neocolonialist forces. The victim becomes addicted to loans as the drug addict gets addicted to drugs. That is how loan purchasers eventually capture the body and soul of their victims. That was what happened to us.

In 1962, the deal between the Philippines and the IMF was fairly simple. The IMF extends loans in exchange for which we devalue the peso and pledge to do away with FOREX controls.

Today, as you know, conditions imposed by the IMF-WB cover virtually every area of policy and national life. Our debt has soared to unrepayable trillions. That is a cheap price to pay for the control and domination of a country situated in a strategic geographical location, still comparatively rich in natural resources, and representing a sizable market of approximately 85 million people oriented to foreign goods. Any more we make of economic significance must have approval of the IMF-WB.

Accomplishments of Diosdado Macapagal as President:

The Decontrol Programme of 1962 established the basic pattern of future economic behavior. From that programme was shaped the development strategy that all administrators pursued after Macapagal: Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo. It was the Decontrol Programme that brought the IMF-WB into the management of our economic affairs. And that involvement became deeper with time as we got deeper into debt. By the end of Macapagal's term, the foreign debt had risen from $150 million in 1961, to $600 million in 1965. By the end of the Marcos's first term, in 1969, the foreign debt stood close to $1 Billion. When he declared Martial Law in 1972, the debt stood at nearly $2 Billion. When Marcos was put to flight in 1986, the debt stood at $26 Billion. When Aquino stepped down from office, it was $27 Billion. By the end of Ramos term it was more than $30 billion. And today, Gloria Arroyo added 2.44 Trillion to the previous lone. Gloria Arroyo also borrowed money not only in IMF-WB but in powerful Asian countries such as China and Japan in exchange of control over Philippine claims in Spratlys and more.
Main elements of the neocolonial strategy for suppressing economic nationalism and industrialization in the Philippines was established byDiosdado Macapagal.
The Rise of the Technocrats was also his brainchild. The technocrats are the people who share the ideology of IMF-WB and the American Chamber of Commerce. They are captives of the free market thinking and took a hostile view of government involvement in the economy. These are the people more committed to free trade than Macapagal himself. These technocrats was recruited and placed in high public offices. They eventually came to hold high and sensitive policy positions and in time came to influence strongly, if not dominate policy formation. Prominent among these are Virata, Sicat, Paterno, Ople, and Melchor.
Macapagal became the progenitor of the greatest evil, more evil than him, that struck Philippines: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The Rise of Anti-Americanism in 1960's.

The rise of Anti-americanism due to the hardship caused by the Decontrol, which everyone knew had been instigated by the US government and IMF.

Another was due to the rise of people in high places which blatantly fought against US government.

By the latter part of the Macapagal administration, in 1964-65, a fundamental contradiction between two vital economic agencies developed and surfaced in the open. These were Presidential Economic Staff, then headed by Armando Fabella and Alejandro Melchor, Macapagal's principal technocrats, and the National Economic Council, then headed by the nationalist Hilarion M. Honares Jr. NEC is a long standing government agency whose composition included members of the Senate, the House and the Private sector. It was the citadel of economic nationalism. While PES is the personal economic arm of Macapagal and U.S.

The Issue of Vested Rights.
The American community, knowing that Macapagal had been elected to a large extent because of Washington's support, behaved arrogantly and insisted on infuriating demands. Anticipating the end of the Parity Amendment by early 1970's, American started agitating for an indefinite extension of Parity, and to have the parity extended not only to Americans but to all foreign nations as well. They also pressed that all rights and privileges acquired under parity become permanent on the grounds that those rights have become "vested", fixed, settled, absolute. This had been known as the theory of vested rights. The PES supported the theory of vested rights.

While NEC opposed it. That demand was considered by the nationalists as the height of arrogance and revived all the bitter memories associated with the Bell Act of 1946. Nationalists argued that the moment Parity expired, all American corporations would have to comply with the citizenship requirement of the Constitution if they were to retain the interests and rights they had acquired under the Parity amendment. That means that, by the end of the Parity ammendment, a 100% Amrican - owned corporation would have to divest and transfer a 60% of its capital stock to Filipinos. The Americans didn't want that.

Issue on Retail Trade Nationalization Law.
PES, acting on the demand of foreign nationals, was demanding to dilute the provisions of the Retail Trade Nationalization Law by excluding from it certain transactions considered retail in character by the Department of Justice. PES drafted a bill that would have given foreign investors more incentives than Filipino investors. The PES attempted to have congress remove a long standing preference enjoyable by the Filipino contractors over foreign competitors in bidding for government projects. The NEC opposed all that.

Series of even more stupid acts by Diosdado Macapagal
During the latter part of the Macapagal governemnt, it's economic staff approved a lease of invaluable and extensive public land to United Fruit, an American corporation. The lease covered more than the permissible area by the Constitution and was so generous in its terms that it was tantamount to a give away. This act naturally increased the anti-americanism of the people.

It was also during the latter part of Macapagal term when the U.S government was exerting pressure on Macapagal to dispatch Filipino combat troops to Vietnam. Macapagal committed his administration to Vietnam war, a very unpopular decision that led to a series of demonstrations before the U.S embassy.

1965 Presidential Elections.

Marcos made an issue of Vietnam. He pledged that if elected he wouldn;t send Filipino soldiers to Vietnam. Then he pledged to follow nationalistic policies, with insinuations that he would restore FOREX controls. This led him to a landslide victory.

However, within 24 hours following election, he held a press conference announcing that he was changing his mind on Vietnam. To his credit however, he resisted U.S pressure for combat troops. The troops he dispatched confined themselves to civic action and humanitarian work. Wshington asked for ten combat batallions. Marcos dispatched two non-combat batallions and pressed Washington for a substantial sum of money in return.

Second, he announced that he wouldn't resort to FOREX controls and that he would continue free enterprise, meaning the Decontrol Programme. As he intoned in his first state of the nation message:

Let this message go forth to businessmen: our faith in free enterprise demands that we accept the consequences of this bold adventure.

First term of Marcos: 1966 - 1969
Within 3 years, the country found itself in a crisis far deeper than the crisis which had brought Marcos in power in 1965.

The business sector, led by the Philippine Chamber of Industries, started agitating for the reinstitution of the FOREX control system.

Economic Crisis and the Rebellion of Congress Against the IMF-WB: the Magna Carta of Social Justice and Economic Freedom (Magna Carta)

The crisis was so pervasive that congress was jolted into action. Under the initiative of the House Speaker, Jose B. Laurel Jr., both chambers convened in session formulated Congress' own blueprint of policies for the nation. That blueprint
a.) explicitly repudiated theIMF based program of government.

b.) called for the reinstitution of FOREX controls

c.) directed the Executive to implement programme of heavy industrialization

d.) called for the Filipinization of credit (which would bar the foreign investments from borrowing their capital here in the Philippines) as well as vital areas of the economy.

The congressional blueprint was passed as House Resolution No.2, otherwise known as the Magna Carta of Social Justice and Economic Freedom.

Because of the outburst of popular support for the Magna Carta, which was unanimously approved by the Congress, Marcos was compelled to sign it into law. That was just about the time when he was getting ready for the 1969 elections. Prior to the elections, Marcos pledged that he would implement the Magna Carta and that he would never devaluate the peso. He even hinted at seceding the IMF if that agency hinted on devaluation.

Marcos was then re-elected President.

Marcos second term: Devaluation and the Floating Rate

Immediately after re-election, he adopted what is known as the floating rate, which immediately devalued the peso by 50%.

Through a floating rate government allows the dollar value to be determined by market forces; that is to say, by the demand for and supply of dollars. Before Marcos put the country in the floating rate, the peso had been pegged to a peso dollar exchange rate of Php3.90:$1. Meaning to say, the government purchased dollars and sold dllars at a fixed, official rate, no more and no less. The floating rate changed that. The peso dollar rate was allowed to fluctuate on the basis of supply and demand for dollars.

What is the reason for adopting the floating rate and abandoning the fixed exchange rate system?

The floating rate was a way of avoiding the re-institution of FOREX controls, as directed by the Magna Carta of Congress, and of continuing with the free-wheeling import policy that came with decontrol in 1962.

That was the IMF demanded as a condition to further loans. By the end of Marcos' first term in 1969, the country was again bankrupt in spite of the loans Marcos had obtained from the IMF in obvious agreement he made in 1966 to continue with free enterprise through Macapagal's decontrol programme.

Evaluation by the Congressional Economic Planning Office (CEPO)

In 1971, one year after the peso had been floated and devalued, the economic staff of Congress made an independent evaluation of the event, and it found as follows:

The floating rate system is replete with weakness, principal among which is its inherent uncertainty. An admittedly high inflationary situation prior to the upegging of the peso should not have been combined with basically laissez-faire approach in determining the exchange rate. Combination of these elements had made unavoidable the adoption of anti-inflationary meaures which, however, have not averted the dislocation of many manufacturing industries. Hence, the approach taken by the government has been to achieve external balance at the expense of internal stability, production and employment.

Since the start of the floating rate system, the local manufacturing sector has not been able to prosecute plans for expansion. In not a few cases, industries could not even maintain their old production levels.

That the floating rate system is inconsistent with effective industrial planning is demonstrated in the current Four - Year Development Program. Capital requirements have been projected under the assumption that no further deterioration in the exchange rate shall take place during the period of implementation of the program.

It cannot be overemphasized that an exchange rate which subject to day-to-day fluctuation does not augur well for industrial advancement. In order to have a concrete basis for future planning, the exchange rate must be fixed. Then and only then can our industries embark on well-planned operations. (Laurel, Report on the National Economy. pp. 29-30)

CEPO was the technical staff that drafted the Magna Carta. It was organized by Dr. Emanuel Q. Yap. Shortly after passage of that document, Speaker Laurel was toppled from his post as Speaker, and Yap was removed from CEPO.

1972 Constitutional Convention
The devaluation of the peso by almost 50% led to social turmoil because of the inflation that came with it.For example, in two months, the price of imported essentials soared by approximately 150%. The social restiveness that began with economic crisis of 1964-65, and which had provoked Congress into an extraordinary session in 1969 to produce the Magna Carta, was brought to raging point, and by early 1970 public clamor mounted for a new constitution as the only possible way of accomplishing urgently needed changes of a fundamental nature.

Popular sentiment had lost faith in the political system, and wanted to create a new one through a new constitution.

Congress could not resist the popular clamor for a new constitution and so it enacted a law calling for a constitutional convention and for the election of delagtes to that body, which convened in 1972.

But the more important point was this: To make sure that delegates elected to the convention were not stained by the political system, the law outlawed the involvement of political parties in the election of delegates. Political parties were prohibited from fielding their candidates, or even endorsing candidates. This showed that as far back as 1970, even Congress was compelled to acknowledge that the political system was so discredited that something as historic as a new constitution should be written by delegates who were not part of the system.

The election of delegates, which was held in 1971, was unprecedented in the nation's political history. It was only electoral exercise where political parties were explicitly barred from participating.

Carlos P. Garcia, whose name and administration were identified with industrialization, economic nationalism and Filipino First Policy, became the leader of the said convention.

Under his leadership, recommendations made surpassed the Magna Carta of Congress in the strength of economic nationalism. Industrialization, protectionism, economic nationalism as vital areas of the economy. It even struck at imperialism openly.

On the portion establishing the "Directive Principles of State Policy", the following section, mandating not only industrialization, but rapid industrialization, appears:

The state shall undertake to achieve maximum economic growth... through an integrated and socially oriented economic plan that shall efficiently promote rapid industrialization... and ensure that Filipinos control the national economy. (Sec.6)

Section 11 of the proposed Directive Principles took the issue of colonialism and imperialism head-on and proposed that:

The Philippines opposes colonialism and imperialism in any form of their manifestations, upholds the right of every nation to self-government, and the principle of non-interference in the affairs of another state.

Section 12 followed up with the following:

The defense of the State is the prime duty of government and of the people. It shall also be part of such duty to repel any form of imperialism from whatever source.

Then, on the role of the state in industrialization, a proposal mandated that:

The state shall undertake the development of basic industries. It shall:

a.) assume direct pioneering role in areas of priority promulgated by the Central Economic Planning Authority;

b.) acquire control of existing private enterprises in basic industries.

In the case of the Committee on the National Economy a provision explicitly directing the development of the capital goods (machine) industry, appears in its reports as follows:

The state shall promote... the establishment of capital goods industries. (General Economic Policies, Sec 1.)

The same committee report increased the citizenship requirement for the natural resource industry from 60 - 70%.

A separate subsection in the report of that committee specifically dealing with industrialization directed government not only to accelerate industrialization but also to "contro; the use of the country's international reserves to assure that the same is not diverted to uses inconsistent with the country's program of basic industrialization.

This meant the constitutionalization of FOREX controls. It read as follows:

Sec 1. It shall be the prime duty of the government to directly promote the accelerated and integrated industrialization of the economy as a means of providing full employment, amximum national self-reliance and productivity.

Sec 2. The accelerated industrialization of the economy shall be undertaken within the framework of a nationalistic and socially oriented economic plan.. The government shall at all times...control the use of the country's international reserves to assure that the same is not diverted to uses inconsistent with the country's program of basis industrialization.

In a subsequent dealing with commerce and industry, the Committee on National Economy recommended that:

Sec 2. The state shall fully Filipinize the retail, indent, whole sale and import business and shall promote Filipinization of banking, financing and insure industries.

These proposals deeply unsettled the foreign community and its most prestigious lobby group, the Philippine Association attacked the trend in the convention as "ultranationalistic" and "socialist". The attack caused public furor because it was deemed an act of undue intervention on the part of foreign community.

The Asian News, in an article written by its correspondent, described the trend as follows:

A strong wave of nationalism - definitely extremist in many cases - is sweeping the Constitutional Convention and the foreigners may just find themselves outside looking in, their noses hard pressed against the glasses (Issue of 7-13 May 1972).

The Supreme Court: the Quasha case
Two months before martial law was declared, in the famous Quasha Case, the High Court, through the pen of former Justice J.B.L. Reyes, ruled that theory of vested rights was unacceptable constitutionally and that, therefore, American corporations had acquired properties and privileges on the strength of Parity amendment (such as mining concessions and franchise to operate public utilities) would have to comply with the citizenship requirement of the constitution if they were to retain those rights and privileges.

But the more lethal blow was the ruling that parity did not go so far as to confer rights on American nationals to acquire real estate.

Since 1946, on the strength of a Department of Justice opinion that the Parity Amendment empowered American nationals to acquire real estate on the same footing as Filipinos, American individuals as well as corporations had availed of that opinion and amassed real estate holdings both for residential and commercial purposes. The Quasha case in effect meant that those acquisitions were illegal and therefore subject to escheat and confiscation.

To sum it up, by 1972, neocolonialism was under siege from all fronts: from Congress (through the Magna Carta of 1969), from the Constitutional Convention, from the Supreme Court, and from the tidal wave of nationalism sweeping the country.

That situation led to a convergence of interest: the interest of Marcos to remain in power, and the interest of American neocolonialism to be saved from the nationalist onslaught.

The solution?

Martial Law.

Through Martial Law, the nationalist drafts in the 1972 Convention were all aborted, the anti-imperialist movements were all shut down, and the American interests were all protected by the dictator.

As the Far Eastern Economic Review scathingly pointed out in its editorial of October 21, 1972, commenting on Washington's response to martial law, "the U.S condoned the death of democracy in Manila to protect American investments."

The LIEO Strategy: The Economic Strategy During Martial Law
LIEO stands for Labor-Intensive, Export-Oriented strategy engineered by Dr. Gerardo Sicat of the U.P School of Economics. This strategy is based on the premise that:
a.) protectionist of any form is unsound economics
b.) the policy of import substitution, designed to stimulate the economy to produce goods that it was importing is equally unsound.
c.) heavy industrialization is not suited to a country like Philippines
d.) the proper industrialization strategy for the Philippines would be one that avoided heavy industries like steel and petrochemicals, because these required extensive amounts of capital. The appropriate industries would be those that didn't require much capital but absorbed an extensive amount of human labor (labor-intensive), and had an export market like furniture, toys, shoes.

Gustav Ranis, an American economist from Yale University also floated a view that Third Wold nations should be dissuaded from the pursuit of self-reliance and heavy industries, such as steel. He said that developing nations instead concentrate on the type of industrialization that would make use of their abundant labor and natural resources, meaning labor intensive. He also said that they should refrain from protectionism. He also proposed the system of floating rates and suggested that U.S should withhold assistance from Third World countries which did not adopt it.
IMW-WB eventually made it known that their loans would be granted only to those who adopted Ranis strategy.

Both theories speak of the same thing but Sicat, being a pro-imperialist theorist for the Philippines, was then seated as the head of NEDA (previously known as NEC).

The technocrats during the martial law:
Sicat, as mentioned above.
Ceasar Virata - proponent of free trade headed Finance
Vicente T. Paterno - assiduous anti-industrialist headed Bureau of Industries
Blas Ople - agressive supporter of the LIEO and Ranis strategy headed the Labor Department.

Membership in GATT: toward absolute free trade.
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is an organization of states pledged to eliminate tariffs from their statute books. This in turn would result to flood of import goods. Virata, Paterno and other technocrats pushed the Philippines toward membership in GATT.

After Philippines joined GATT, the technocrats pressed for lowering the tariff rate of the Philippines to a maximum of 50%. That was shit compared to the rates maintained by other countries that are also members of GATT. Australia, for example, was enforcing a tariff rate of as high as 150%.

It was criminal indeed.

The impact of the LIEO strategy on the economy:
Seven years after the declaration of martial law, Marcos woke up to the fact that the Philippines was already lagging behind South Korea and Taiwan. We were absolutely bereft of any heavy industry while S. Korea and Taiwan already had fully functioning steel mills, a budding car industry, a shipbuilding industry, an electronic industry, and virtually all the varieties of capital-intensive industries that went into the making of an NIC. By 1979, in fact, South Korea and Taiwan had all intents and purposes reached NIC status. Taiwan was already producing missiles and sophisticated weaponry.

Marcos' decision to industrialize through major industrial projects
Marcos then immediately ordered the implementation of 11 major industrial projects, or heavy, capital-intensive industries, led by integrated steel, petrochemical complex, manufacture of diesel engines, aluminum smelter, heavy engineering industries, the expansion of cement industry, the industrialization of coconut industry, Alcogas, and integrated pulp and paper mill, copper smelter; and Phosphate fertilizer.

As Asiaweek noted, the projects were designed to become he focal point of the country's industrialization efforts during the decade.

However, the industrialization projects were blocked by the martial law technocrats, the Center for Research and Communication, and IMF-WB. They even coined the catch drama: "You can't eat steel."

Even if Marcos was the dictator at that time, he couldn't dictate upon the forgoing of the projects. IMF-WB withheld funding and insisted on endless feasibility studies.

Marcos, in his frustration, publicly accused his enemies as "all part of a plot to ensure that the country remains under the industrialized countries." ("Marcos Hits Critics of Major Projects", Times Journal, May 24, 1982)

It was an explosive accusation that kept the Philippines talking for a time being. Until Ninoy Aquino, harassed by Washington into returning to the Philippines, was shot on touching Philippine soil.

This eventually led to EDSA revolution, snap elections, and the end of the Marcos regime. Let it be said that NAMFREL is U.S IMF-WB personified.

Today, years after Marcos had announced his plan for industrialization, and more than 30 years after Garcia had announced the project for an integrated steel mill, the Philippines remains without any basic industry, it's economy pinned to the pre-industrial state, lagging behind neighbors who, only a few decades ago, had looked up to us with the same envy with which we now look up to them.

After EDSA: Aquino Government
Aquino, nothing but a housewife too unknowing for the job of a President, placed the economic controls on same the anti-industrialization technocrats who were prominent during the Marcos Regime. Add to that the U.P economists led by Solita Monsod and Cayetano Paderanga, and Center for Research and Communication (CRC) headed by the Makati Business Men, told the President Aquino that the reason why the Marcos government failed in developing the country was because Marcos didn't liberate importations enough.

President Aquino, not knowing anything about economics and all that, then framed and economic programme based on what the U.P economists and CRC suggested. That is, No protectionism, Miimal involvement of the state in the economy, No programme for NIC status, Privatization, More devaluation, All-out support for foreign investments.

You see, under Marcos, imports of agricultural commodities were restricted. Marcos also maintained restrictions over non-essential and even on some essential items. Under the Aquino government, the market was flooded with all sorts of products, agriculture, and even none agriculture items.

Aside from that, she even Constitutionalized the LIEO and the Ranis strategy. How else could you describe anti-Filipinoism? (Yes, Gloria is even worse, but we will come to that).

You see, this is what the Aquino government is about: A tool and play thing of forces representing the drive, and the greed and the interests of Modern Imperialism.

She even pledged to honor all the debts incurred by the dictatorship when United States could have granted all those as null and void. She played to the international gallery at the manifest expense of the Filipino people.

She ended her tenure by marching the streets on behalf of the U.S Bases.

Ramos Government. The Vision of Philippines 2000: Agriculture First Policy
If you think Ramos made a difference, that's just about it - a thought. Ramos' Philippines 200 is the best proof of his government bent on maintaining th Philippines as a free-trading economy, with a strategy hostile to indutrial protectionism, consistent with the line pursued by the Macapagal up to the Aquino terms.

Oh, but why should one even wonder when the authors of the Philippines 2000 are Virata, Sicat, Monsod and Villegas, all IMF-WB personified?

We were importing virtually everything. Toothpicks, basketball players, including grass for agriculture.

By the end of Ramos term, even agriculture was an industry which is too hard to maintain.

Estrada Administration
His economic managers, which happen to be the same technocrats advocating for IMF-WB policies, have the strong determination and professional competence to continue on the path of deregulation, privatization, and liberalization.

In the meeting of economic leaders of the 21 countries belonging to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held in Kuala Lumpur November 15, 1998, Estrada, president elect then, declared in no uncertain terms that he has no intention of following the example of Prime Minister Mahathir of Malaysia who imposed capital controls on his country. The Philippines continues to be strongly committed to WTO, AFTA, and APEC goals toward trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

Gloria Arroyo, who assumed Presidency when Estrada was toppled, continued with the no back-bone-pro IMF-WB policies that her father started.

Why I prefer the Panday over the pandak:

Such show of help through dole outs hardly compensates for the criminal mistake of free market which GMA is very much committed to. Her supporters question the intellectual capacity of FPJ, but look guys, in the name of plain intelligence and common sense, FPJ took a position against globalization and advocated withdrawal from WTO.

That is the kind of intelligence which GMA should have displayed on the very day that she assumed the presidency. If GMA had done that she would easily have rallied the entire nation behind her. But she didn’t. She stayed on the fatal course to which she and FVR had committed the nation since 1994 and showed no disposition to re-examine the fundamentals of her suicidal philosophy until the crisis started getting deeper and deeper during her watch.

You can mention the many little things which you think she has done right, but that’s what they are -- little things compared to the giant idiocies that she has committed ever since she steered the Senate into a hasty ratification of GATT. And GATT is only one of them. There's JPEPA. We haven’t yet spoken of Mindanao, but of that in subsequent pieces.

Gloria Arroyo's stupidity: inside that small structure is a brain even smaller

1) Arroyo are inviting foreign nationals to exploit are resources more than what the Americans did and are already doing by forcing the hasty ratification of the JPEPA, renewal of membership to GATT, ZTE deals and other treaties and economic policies that not only add up to our loans world wide but also removes our own control in our economy.

1) Arroyo was responsible in the country’s ballooning debt. Gloria Arroyo, in just a period of 4 years (2001-2005), borrowed P2.44 Trillion, which is more than the combined borrowings of the Aquino, Ramos and Estrada administrations. Don't forget, she also borrowed billions from China and is digging the country's grave even deeper by giving away the islands of the Philippines on a measly sum of money. Arroyo in just a short period was able to bury the country in deeper debt!

2) Arroyo was the bright mind behind the introduction of an efficient solution to the country’s classroom shortage. Can you still remember last year, when Gloria was able to lick the problem of classroom shortage in the country? All she did was change the ideal classroom-to-student ratio from 1 classroom for every 50 students to 1 classroom for every 100 students!

4) The strengthening of the peso against the dollar was also the brainchild of Arroyo. By not investing enough in economic services, the government was able to force more Filipinos, including physicians who became nurses, to work abroad. So the more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the more dollar and other foreign currency remittances.

These OFW remittances are the reason why our economy is kept afloat. Isn’t that a very clever economic strategy? Push your population to hunger and they will find food somewhere else and even send more food back home.

Thanks to Gloria Arroyo, thousands of Filipinos abroad are selling their bodies and souls just to ensure that their family lives a decent life while Gloria Arroyo continues to strangulate them through her deadly policies.

What she lacked in height, she made up with evil horns:

1.) To make sure she won the previous presidential election, Arroyo utilized hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money to finance her campaign by distributing (read: bribing) local officials. Also she employed the infamous Joc-joc Bolante to distribute bribes pretending as fertilizers. And let us not forget our all-time favorite, Virgilio “Hello Garci” Garcillano who was tasked to make sure that Arroyo leads by 1 million votes in Mindanao at all cost.

2) Arroyo is swamped with anomalies and scandals which prompted calls for her to be impeached. Impeachment proceeding should be initiated in the Lower House and under the House rules, only one impeachment case can be filed against her within a year. Now, by simply having one of her cohorts file a weak case against her she manages to give herself another year of getting away with mounting crimes against the nation. By abusing technicalities, Arroyo makes a mockery of the constitution and our laws.

3) To appease a section of the opposition and a section of poor Filipinos, Arroyo pardoned Erap after he was found guilty of plunder. Disguised as a humanitarian act, a plunderer who was toppled by the people was freed just to ensure her stay in power.

4) Arroyo employed different tactics to suppress dissent and opposition to her fake and corrupt government. We can still remember the violent Calibrated Preemptive Response or CPR that met street demonstrations last year. Also, E.O. 464 which was issued to block the appearance of government officials and military officers in Congressional hearings that investigate her administration’s anomalies.

Meanwhile activists and journalists are being assassinated in such blatant fashion as the Arroyo government pays lip service to the protection of human rights.

How many more years does Philippines have to endure under the rule of Presidents who serve as puppets to foreign interests? Maybe until I rise to the position. You see, I have this big ambition of wanting to be the President ever since when i was young. But i now realize that it's a stupid ambition. It simply isn't for me. You see, the presidents that Filipinos have been electing are those who have been primarily for the foreigners. They wouldn't say or do anything that would bring on them the displeasure of Washington and international capital. Therefore, that position is not for a person who is for independence and progress such as myself. The people who have been putting leaders such as Macapagal, Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo are those who never truly scrutinize the policies of the running political leaders before they give those the power to represent their aims as a Filipino. The people who have been putting leaders such as Macapagal, Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo are not the people who are pro-progress and could then never select one who actually thinks. How could the Filipino people be so mindless as to seat as the head of state a spineless push-over? I could only wonder how and how long will they remain to be that way.

I do not wish to insult the minds of the pro-Arroyo Filipinos.

I wish to offer Alejandro Lichauco much thanks and acknowledgment. Do read his books, as his ideals are very good. I appreciate his ideas very much.

Relevant Articles:

Treason by Ricky Carandang

Allow me to expound a little on a story I did for The Correspondents on February 19th.

Seven countries claim ownership of the disputed Spratly Islands, just off of Palawan. China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malsysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines all claim to own part or all of the Spratlys. These overlapping claims have been a source of tension over the years since the Spratlys (we Filipinos call them the Kalayaan Islands) are believed to contain significant reserves of oil and natural gas. China was the most aggressive in pursuiung its claim. In 1999, the Philippines–under President Joseph Estrada– led an effort to prevent tensions by getting all the claimants to agree not to take actions to provoke other claimants.

But in 2003, the Philippines–now under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo– rocked the boat that it previously steadied when it signed an agreement with China to jointly undertake seismic studies of the Spratlys and explore for oil and natural gas. Naturally, the other claimants were angry. After getting them to agree not to rock the boat, the Philippines sucker-punched them with the China deal. China’s traditional ally, Vietnam was so angry they it had to be let in to the deal to appease them.

Aside from angering our neighbors and potentially undermining regional stability, Arroyo’s action may also be illegal. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez–who was then acting justice secretary–told former Senator Frank Drilon, who was then allied with the administration, that she believed that the deal violated the constitution, because while it was a deal between the state owned oil firms (PNOC of the Philippines and CNOOC of China) of the two countries, it implicitly gave China access to our oil reserves. Officers of the Foreign Affairs Department were also upset because the deal effectively strengthened China and Vietnam’s claim to the Spratlys.

What would compel Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to sign a deal that potentially undermines regional stability, possibly grants China parity rights to oil reserves in the Spratlys that we claim to be ours, and likely violates our constitution?

How about $2 billion a year? After the Spratly deal was signed, the Chinese government committed $2 billion in official development assistance a year to the Philippines until 2010, when Arroyo is supposed to step down from office. My sources tell me that the Spratly deal was an explicit precondition to the loans.

A sizable amount to be sure, but for the Arroyo administration the China loans are particularly appealing. Not so much because the interest rates are so low and the repayment terms so lenient, but because Chinese loans do not have the cumbersome requirements that loans from the US, Japan, the EU, and big multilateral lenders have. Requirements for documentation, bidding, transparency and other details that make it very difficult for corrupt public officials to commit graft. In fact, in November of last year, those cumbersome requirements made it impossible for some government officials and private individuals with sticky fingers to avail themselves of the World Bank’s generosity.

It had gotten to the point where a corrupt government could no longer make a dishonest buck. That is until China’s generous offer came along. Given China’s laxity with certain conditions, its no wonder why almost every big ticket government project funded by Chinese ODA has been the subject of allegations of graft and corruption. There’s Northrail, Cyber Education, the Fuhua agricultural projects, Southrail, and of course the ZTE National Broadband project.

Until the ZTE National Broadband scandal, the Chinese government has had little official reaction to any of these allegations. Why should they? The $8 billion is a loan, not a grant. It enhances their influence in the region, strengthens their claim to the Spratlys, and expands their influence in the Philippines. The best part is, regardless of what Philippine officials do with the money–whether they put it to good use or steal it–it still has to be paid back. Its no wonder that anytime some midlevel Chinese official comes to the country, congressmen and adminstration officials literally trip over themselves to roll out the red carpet.

For corrupt Adminstration officials and their cronies, $8 billion represents unprecedented opportunities for graft on a scale that would shock ordinary Filipinos.

And at the end of the day, that $8 billion is going to be paid back. Not by the grafters in and out of government; not by the Chinese citizens; but by the millions of ordinary middle class Filipinos who go to work everyday, pay their taxes, struggle and to keep their small and medium businesses afloat. The price will also be paid indirectly by tens of millions of poor Filipinos who will not have access to health care, quality education, and a functioning court system because those resources are not going where they should be going.

There’s a word for that. Its called Treason.

Senate checks legal flaws in Jpepa

By Butch Fernandez

Reporter

SENATE President Manuel Villar indicated on Tuesday that alleged “constitutional infirmities” in the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) will likely derail early ratification of the controversial accord, despite last-minute assurances from Tokyo that the Jpepa would not be misused to dump toxic waste here.

At the same time, an independent think tank asserted that Philippine trade deals with Japan and China, which President Arroyo recently urged members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to act on, will weaken the country’s “already damaged domestic economy.”

According to IBON research head Sonny Africa, benefits to the Philippines from a pact with these economies are doubtful, while more liberalization will weaken the local agriculture and industry sectors.

On the Jpepa’s legal flaws, Villar was reacting to a position, aired at a Senate roundtable forum by former dean Merlin Magallona of the University of the Philippines College of Law, that the Jpepa, among others, may represent a constitutional breach in the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches, as well as in provisions allowing the entry of Japanese investments in supposedly exclusive economic zones and the exploitation of marine resources reserved exclusively for Filipinos.

For instance, Magallona cited Malacañang’s commitments in the Jpepa to eliminate tariff on all imports from Japan, saying this “usurped” congressional authority granted by the Constitution which provides that all tax laws must originate from the House of Representatives.

“This will suffice to show . . . a breach in the separation of powers,” Magallona said, pointing out that “powers of Congress were included in the treaty-making powers of the President.”

Sought for comment, Senate President Villar hinted to reporters that such infirmities could make it easier for members of the treaty-ratifying Senate to come to a decision rejecting ratification of the accord. But he added that Sen. Miriam Santiago, who chairs the foreign relations committee, has already asked Malacañang to resubmit the Jpepa so the Senate could start ratification hearings soon.

“That will give us additional reasons to consider rejecting the Jpepa,” Villar said in Filipino, referring to the constitutional infirmities cited by Magallona. “Of course, [if there are] constitutional infirmities, we cannot approve or ratify that. Or, that could be a gray area. That’s where we’ll have problems,” he said.

At the same time, Sen. Pia Cayetano-Sebastian, who sponsored the roundtable forum, said the country could survive with or without the Jpepa.

She conceded, however, that the Philippines may be hobbled by economic setbacks if the Senate rejects the accord.

In separate interviews, Villar, Santiago and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. agreed that the ratification hearings cannot cure the legal defects in the accord signed by Manila and Tokyo last year and that senators would simply vote to ratify or reject the agreement.

Sen. Joker Arroyo added that there was no way the Senate could ratify the treaty if it suffers from legal infirmities as pointed out by Dean Magallona. “We cannot amend the Jpepa anymore. If it contains provisions contrary to our laws, it could not be enforced here,” Senator Arroyo told BusinessMirror.

Still, Villar said the Senate ratification hearings will review and verify all the legal, as well as environmental, concerns raised about the Jpepa before it is put to a floor vote that will require two-thirds, or 16 senators voting in favor, to ratify.

“Let’s look at it first, but if it’s a violation of the Constitution, how can that be cured?” Villar told Senate reporters, adding, “unless the treaty is amended—but then again, Japan is not willing to do that.”

Villar also noted reports that some Palace officials are now floating the position that the Jpepa is an executive agreement that does not need to be ratified by the Senate, warning that senators will not take this sitting down. “I have been reading newspaper reports of people floating the possibility that the Jpepa won’t be sent to the Senate because [supposedly] it’s just an executive agreement. That’s unacceptable to us.”

Villar said the senators will challenge this if Malacañang insists there is no need to submit the Jpepa for ratification. “Of course, we will consult Sen. Miriam Santiago, but we are ready to go to the Supreme Court on this issue because we see this as a treaty, and not an executive agreement.”

Meanwhile, the private think-tank IBON asserted that Philippine trade deals with Japan and China, which President Arroyo recently urged members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to act on, will weaken the country’s already damaged domestic economy.

According to IBON research head Sonny Africa, any benefits the Philippines may gain from a pact with these economies are doubtful while more liberalization will further weaken the local agriculture and industry sectors.

Taking alone the Asean Free Trade Agreement’s Common Effective Preferential Treatment (CEPT) scheme as an example, the Philippines’ average applied preferential tariff rate as of 2001 is only 3.87 percent, lower than the 6.7-percent average applied tariff rate under the World Trade Organization. Roughly 99 percent of the country’s tariff lines are already included in the CEPT scheme.

Tariff reduction under the CEPT scheme allowed cheap imported vegetables from the US, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Singapore and China to flood the Philippine market, growing from 42,000 metric tons in 1995 to 115,000 MT in 2000. More liberal import policies also resulted in thousands of metric tons more smuggled into the country.

The petrochemical, cement, steel, garments/textile, footwear and ceramics/tiles industries have also felt the adverse effects of liberalization. For example, many footwear manufacturers, overwhelmed by cheap imports from China, have now become mere assemblers of imported shoe parts or shifted to trading. Shoe industry workers have thus been laid off or forced to go on rotation status, IBON said.

Meanwhile, Africa pointed out, the country’s attempts to penetrate the markets of these major economies are uncertain. The government is banking on electronics, considered one of the economy’s “strengths” due to export revenues from this sector. Electronics products are also the country’s top exports to China and Japan, which on the other hand are among the Philippines’ top 10 trading partners.

But, IBON noted, electronics components are also among the country’s top imports from these countries, reflecting the inherent lack of technology to support production and the assembly-type nature of the industry.

According to Africa, China and Japan are pushing for regional free-trade initiatives because of their rivalry for economic leadership in the region.

Philippine Law Enforcement: OXYMORON

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:01:00 +0000

What headline would shock you the most?
state your ideas here:

As for my case, Philippine Police Unending Dumbness never ceases to amaze me. Let's toast to the countless proofs, from violent dispersals of peaceful protesters, detaining people without due process, freeing convicted druglords, white washing instead of thorough investigation, extreme lack of concern for human rights up to countless others, that Philippine Police Men, just like President Arroyo and the people who are loyal to her Government, are nothing but animals hiding under the pretense of being human. I wonder why these beings are even allowed to get out of their house?

I don't think those people are fit to carry out their supposed functions. Anyway, please do answer the following survey about fitness and post questions related to fitness while i saturate this post more about Philippine police dumbness.

Here's a set of reports from www.article2.org elaborating the utter incompetence of those who are supposed to reinforce the law:

The criminal justice system of the Philippines is rotten

Philippines desk, Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong

Why do victims and witnesses do not come forward to file charges or support cases in court after shootings, assaults and other serious crimes in the Philippines today? Their unwillingness to lodge complaints, support prosecutions or otherwise act to obtain justice speaks to the total lack of confidence in the country's rotten criminal justice system.

Impunity is written large across the face of criminal justice in the Philippines: perpetrators of killings, torture, abductions and other gross abuses have easy assurances that they will get away with whatever they have done. And where these persons are themselves a part of the police, military or armed groups working on their behalf, impunity is all but guaranteed. Little wonder that attacks are carried out in broad daylight and in public places-a crowded market, the front of the victim's home, during a church service-by men who don't even bother to conceal their faces or identities. They know full well that they will never be arrested; the victim's family may even be too terrified to admit seeing the perpetrators' faces. Where they do, some innocent persons can easily be found to take the place of the actual offenders. Either way, the lack of witnesses and other evidence together with disinterested and primitive investigating mean that few cases ever reach full trial in the courts.

Flawed and misguided criminal investigations
The police are the first and biggest obstacle to victims and their families obtaining justice in the Philippines. Where family members and witnesses come forward, they often find that police investigations contradict their versions of incidents. Police investigators sometimes make premature pronouncements about the motive for a killing and its cause, flatly rejecting alternative suggestions, particularly where state officers or persons allegedly connected to them are among the possible suspects.

Take Enrico Cabanit (story 46), who was killed on 24 April 2006. The police did not submit the victim's body for postmortem examination; police investigators later insisted that the failure to conduct an autopsy did not violate police procedures. And although they conducted a crime scene investigation, the police failed to collect and secure several pieces of physical evidence-including empty bullet casings. There are no photographs of the fresh crime scene as the camera used was later found to have been broken. After the victim's family complained to the National Bureau of Investigation attached to the Department of Justice, Cabanit's body was exhumed and it was found that "two fatal wounds found in the head were caused by penetrations of a .45 caliber ammunition", not 9mm as the police had reported. Despite this conclusion, Police Intelligence Chief Wilfredo Puerto has stated that the case is already closed as the gunman whom the police maintain shot Cabanit was himself killed a month later. Despite the NBI's findings having contradicted their own conclusions, the police have not moved to reinvestigate or charge any other persons with the killing.

A police crime scene investigator walks by the body of a slain congressman in Manila.
[Photos: REUTERS/STR News]

When Alberto Yadan (story 12) was murdered on 6 December 2006 in Batangas, municipal police gathered empty casings and hauled his dead body into their vehicle, to hand it back to his relatives. Neither a proper crime scene investigation nor postmortem was conducted. They arrested Melchor Bataller in the same day, reportedly without any warrant, as he was said to have threatened Yadan and his family prior to the killing. The absence of evidence upon which to make the arrest and the wrong procedure of arrest both undermine the credibility of the case. Not only is it possible that Bataller is innocent and the charges against him are unwarranted, but even if he is the actual perpetrator, the case could be dismissed by the court on grounds of the irregularities in investigation and arrest.

The arrest and torture of ordinary persons in order to have them confess to crimes they did not commit is common in the Philippines. This is what happened to 11 teenagers in Buguias, Benguet on 14 February 2006 (story 105)-two of whom were minors. Police arrested them without any warrants or witnesses to their alleged crime: attacking a military camp and killing a soldier. They were not told why they were being arrested or given access to lawyers. While under police custody, they were beaten on the genitals and electrocuted. While at the provincial jail, one was almost stabbed in an attempt on his life by a fellow inmate; jail guards who had been informed of threats against them had made no special arrangements for their protection. No effective investigation has ever been conducted into the attack to determine who was behind it: the victims suspect that it was in retaliation to their filing of criminal charges against the police and military. The victims were released by a court on December 20 for lack of evidence. They are now uncertain as to whether or not to pursue their complaints against the police and soldiers; they fear for their lives if they proceed, are under pressure from the accused to withdraw the case, lack confidence in the country¡¦s rotten criminal justice system, and have little money for litigation.

Whereas effective investigation in an ordinary criminal case is difficult to obtain, it is all but impossible where policemen are themselves among the accused. After Gerardo Cristobal survived an ambush allegedly by policemen attached to the Imus police station in Cavite (story 44), colleagues of the suspected perpetrators investigated the case and instead accused Cristobal of attacking the police. They filed charges against him in court despite complaints of bias from the victim, whose testimony was not investigated. The charges were thrown out, but no further inquiries were conducted. The police suspected of the attempted killing have never been investigated or charged.

Since Cristobal's colleague Jesus Servida was subsequently shot dead in the same municipality, his family has had little faith in the possibility that they will ever obtain justice. The police did not bother to cooperate with them during investigations and have not kept them informed of their work. The family found out through the media that the police had produced a sketch of the alleged killer.

Police invariably fail to involve the family of a victim in their inquiries, often to the detriment of a case. After concluding their investigation into the murder of husband and wife George and Maricel Vigo (story 34), they filed charges against unidentified members of an illegal armed group. Relatives of the victims accused the police of working haphazardly and failing to interview key witnesses, who had gone into hiding. Requests for new investigations were ignored as the case was ¡§closed¡¨ by virtue of it being in the court, despite the fact that the actual identities of the gunman and his accomplice had not been established.

The failure of police to work with victims' families is most glaring in cases of enforced disappearance. In practice the police do little or nothing to assist persons searching for abducted and missing relatives. Only where a body is recovered do investigators go through the routine of making inquiries and completing paperwork for the purpose of identifying the deceased, if not the killers. Complaints of disappearances go no further than the daily logbook, again particularly if the police are themselves the accused, such as when they detained five persons on 28 April 2006 (story 89). Relatives of the five who went from one police station or army camp to the next were repeatedly told that they were not in custody there. Days later it was revealed that they had been in police custody, and allegedly tortured, all along.

Criminal investigation in the Philippines is also mocked by way of the establishment of ineffectual and biased special "task force" units for specific crimes. In August 2006 the president of the Philippines reportedly instructed the police task force established to investigate cases of alleged extrajudicial killings (Usig) to resolve at least ten within the following ten weeks. This was never done. Had it been, it would still take 14 years to resolve all the cases of killings known at the time of the instruction. Evidently, the statement was intended as little more than a publicity stunt, as indeed the task force to which it was directed appears to be. Working on a monthly budget of around 300,000 Philippine Pesos (USD 6000) with limited personnel and resources, the task force has at no point been capable of investigating the hundreds of alleged killings and attempted killings had it the inclination to do so, which successive statements by its personnel have made clear it does not. The Melo Commission report made public in February 2007 notes that out of some 111 cases of killings acknowledged by the Philippine police, most of which are under the responsibility of Task Force Usig, only 37 have been forwarded to the prosecutor (see appendix II).

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
PHILIPPINES: Police "solve" cases but killings continue
AS-171-2006, July 21, 2006

The Philippine National Police have a unique definition of the word "solved". According to them, once a charge is filed against a suspect with the Office of the Prosecutor it is solved. Suspects not arrested? No matter, it is solved. Investigation flawed? No matter, it is solved. Requests of victim's family for more inquiries unanswered? No matter, it is solved. Witnesses got no protection? No matter... Once the case is with the prosecutor, they reason, their job is done. What happens after that is someone else¡¦s business.

This approach has serious implications for victims of the relentless extrajudicial killings and other grave abuses of human rights going on in the Philippines. Take the case of slain activists George and Maricel Vigo, a husband and wife who were killed this June 19 in Kidapawan City. A special unit was set up to probe the killings and it promptly identified and filed criminal charges against the alleged perpetrators. Despite deep dissatisfaction with its findings among the victims¡¦ relatives, the unit is reportedly refusing to make further inquiries. It also apparently could not care less about the grave security threats to witnesses and family members. Case solved.

When labour leader Gerardo Cristobal survived an attack on April 28--allegedly by policemen attached to Imus Police Station, Cavite--he was himself charged with frustrated murder by police investigators on that same day. Those who filed charges against him are the subordinates of those who have been accused of attacking him. There has been no impartial investigation to look into the alleged attempt on Cristobal's life. He has been charged; case solved.

The killing of a soldier during a February 10 raid at a military detachment in Cabiten, Mankayan, Benguet led to the filing of robbery with homicide charges against 11 persons whom the police illegally arrested and allegedly tortured in Buguias two days later. Although the court ruled that the arrest was illegal, still the police have insisted on filing the case. Again, there has been no impartial and independent investigation into the torture allegations in this "solved" case.

Solving cases is all about performance efficiency. No doubt it suits the purposes of the PNP to lower the bar for what qualifies as a solved case because it gives a better impression of its supposed efficiency. Unfortunately, the reality is the opposite. While it is true that police authority is limited to conducting investigations and filing charges in court, efficiency rest on the outcomes of those cases: whether or not the real perpetrators are charged; whether or not the investigation has been done properly; whether or not the case stands up in court; whether or not the witnesses and relatives of a victim are free from threats and attacks. By any of these measures, the work of the Philippine police is a dismal failure and "solved" cases are few. The effect of encouraging police to "solve" cases simply by getting them into court is in fact to encourage them to rush inquiries, torture innocent persons, neglect the needs and protests of concerned persons and ignore all the consequences.

The duty of the police does not end with the filing of a case with a prosecutor. It ends only when justice has been duly served. It involves sincerity in dealings with the victims and their families. The filing of charges is merely one step in the lengthy criminal justice process: a process that is established in order to safely determine guilt and measure punishment. Unfortunately, in the Philippines today this is a little-understood notion among the country's police.

The Asian Human Rights Commission calls upon the Philippine National Police to cease with the absurd notion that cases are solved when they are filed in court and calls upon the police to recognise the responsibilities incumbent upon them throughout the entire justice process. It calls upon the police to recognise their special responsibilities to witnesses and families of the victims of extrajudicial killings. And it calls upon the government of the Philippines to dispense with petty and meaningless notions of efficiency and get serious about the relentless murders of community and peasant leaders, journalists, human rights defenders, clergy and others that are going on with its tacit approval. Ending the killings is a matter of policy. If the government decides to act, if the police decide to play their role responsibly rather than fraudulently, then it can be done. If not it will be subject to growing international censure over its inaction, and growing suspicions that it has no interest in protecting the lives of its citizens.

Non-existent victim and witness protection
Most victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines have had threats on their lives beforehand; some already having survived earlier attacks. Those who seek protection are frustrated by the unresponsiveness of state agencies that supposedly have obligations to assist in such instances. Many end up dead. Human rights lawyer Norman Bocar was killed in Eastern Visayas on 1 September 2005 (story 69), after seeking protection from the local police because of threats on his life. The police did nothing to assist; nor were they ever held responsible for their inaction.

Section 3 of the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act (RA 6981) provides that any person who has "witnessed or has knowledge or information on the commission of a crime" can be admitted for witness protection provided that,

(c) He or any member of his family [has been] subjected to threats to his life or bodily injury or there is a likelihood that he will be killed, forced, intimidated, harassed or corrupted to prevent him from testifying, or to testify falsely, or evasively, because or on account of his testimony.

To the extent that a system of police protection exists under this provision, it works for the rich and powerful with police contacts needing security against persons other than the police themselves. Policemen stationed on protection duty expect to be fed and perhaps housed or transported by the person they are protecting: easy enough for the wealthy, but often impossible for ordinary victims. Their commanders need to be convinced that the threats against the person are real: easy enough for influential persons, but again often impossible for ordinary victims. And police are no protection against other police, as the family of Hernan Baria knows (story 19). They have been living in fear of both the armed men working for a local landowner and the policemen who killed Baria after he was made the target of a "legitimate police operation" in July 2005, apparently for having led a local land reform struggle.

Officials acknowledge the importance of protecting witnesses but fail to do anything about it. In a letter to the Asian Human Rights Commission dated 25 July 2006, Police Director General Oscar Calderon, the national police chief, admitted that police investigating the murder of Porferio Maglasang Sr. on 22 April 2006 (story 47) were having difficulties "in the filing of charges against the assailants due to the non-cooperation of the witnesses and families of the victim, out of fear for their lives". The alleged perpetrators are suspected to have links with military intelligence. Despite recognising the need to protect the victim's family, Calderon did not mention what action had been taken, if any, to recommend witness protection under the act, which is the responsibility of the National Bureau of Investigation once approved by the justice department itself.

Letters from other senior police offer the same excuse for failed investigation, without suggesting any intention to do anything about it. One dated 31 May 2005 from Marcelo Ele Jr., former Police Director of the Philippine National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM), stated that "no witnesses had come out in the open for fear of reprisal" over the killings of Ernesto Bang and Joel Reyes on 10 and 16 March 2005 respectively (story 77). He added that in Bang¡¦s case supposedly even ¡§relatives of the victim, when interviewed revealed that they are no longer interested in filing the case due to the absence of a witness who could identify the suspect¡¨. Another dated 29 July 2005 from Chief Superintendent Charlegne Alejandrino, deputy director for DIDM, added that the police could do nothing unless the witnesses "come out in the open and willingly support the prosecution of these cases". Again there was no mention of what action could or would be taken towards this end by way of witness protection or otherwise.

While the police fail to offer any guarantees to protect witnesses, the perpetrators offer ample proof of what they will do to anyone who threatens to expose them. The lone witness who came forward in Reyes¡¦ case, Dario Oresca, was also killed within days of Reyes. Despite the threats against him, he had no security; nor was there even an attempt to arrange any for him. His case too has not gone to court: both his death and the subsequent repeat failure of justice make an utter mockery of the complaints of senior police officers that witnesses have failed to come forward in this and other similar cases.

Not only the police but officials of other agencies, including the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, have admitted to the failure of the witness protection act. The commission's special investigator in Naga City, Raymundo de Silva, has concluded that the programme is "not yet thoroughly understood by the populace". Although the commission has rightly pointed to the need to give the public more information on the programme, it is obvious that this will be pointless if the police and justice department persistently fail in their obligations. The police, including senior officers, fail to give immediate security to at-risk witnesses and get them admitted to witness protection arranged by the department. They call for witnesses to come forward but fail to guarantee protection and then blame them for failed cases.

The failure of the witness protection programme must be attributed squarely to the rotten condition of its implementing agency, the Department of Justice. Public prosecutors, who are its officers, have also failed in their duty to refer witnesses for inclusion in the protection programme. Even in the most serious cases of extrajudicial killing, torture and disappearance, they are not known to have made recommendations and applications for protection. This failure is all the more glaring since October 2006, when Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales ordered public prosecutors and witness protection agents "to proactively search, secure and protect material witnesses" in a bombing incident in Mindanao. While the department went out of its way to see the bombing witnesses brought into the programme, it has made no such effort for the witnesses to the hundreds of extrajudicial killings and other serious crimes in recent times.

The justice secretary is directly responsible for the witness protection programme, as recommendations on protection must obtain his endorsement, and as the programme operates under his oversight. Yet instead of ensuring that his department works effectively for all witnesses in need of protection, Justice Secretary Gonzales has on several occasions blamed witnesses and families of the dead for not cooperating. On 3 August 2006 Gonzales was quoted by an online newsgroup People¡¦s Journal as saying that the failure to prosecute cases was the fault of victims¡¦ relatives, adding that, "They want us to solve the cases. But they did not cooperate. They are hypocrites." Needless to say, the making of such remarks by the senior bureaucrat responsible both for witness protection and prosecutions does little to raise confidence in his rotten department among the persons whom he has admonished. Rather, he has succeeded only in further isolating them from the offices of the state.

Attempts by the Asian Human Rights Commission and others to have Secretary Gonzales acknowledge his department's responsibility in these cases have been unsuccessful. He and his department have in reply offered only generic assurances that they have "given safe havens to scores of witnesses who fears reprisals", without any evidence of the same or explanations as to why persons such as Norman Bocar and Dario Oresca, or the families of Joel Reyes, Ernesto Bang and Porferio Maglasang Sr. have never received such services. The fact that extrajudicial killings and abductions are going on unabated and unaddressed in the Philippines speaks to the abject failure of the justice department to offer witness protection as it is mandated, despite its claims to the contrary.

In his 21 February 2007 comments on his visit to the Philippines (see appendix I), UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Professor Philip Alston, stressed the link between impunity and the absence of witness protection in the Philippines:

The vital flaw which undermines the utility of much of the judicial system is the problem of virtual impunity that prevails. This, in turn, is built upon the rampant problem of witness vulnerability. The present message is that if you want to preserve your life expectancy, don't act as a witness in a criminal prosecution for killing. Witnesses are systematically intimidated and harassed. In a relatively poor society, in which there is heavy dependence on community and very limited real geographical mobility, witnesses are uniquely vulnerable when the forces accused of killings are all too often those, or are linked to those, who are charged with ensuring their security. The WPP is impressive-on paper. In practice, however, it is deeply flawed and would seem only to be truly effective in a very limited number of cases. The result, as one expert suggested to me, is that 8 out of 10 strong cases, or 80 per cent fail to move from the initial investigation to the actual prosecution stage.

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
PHILIPPINES: Task force on killings must start with witness protection
AS-120-2006, May 26, 2006

On May 12, the Department of Interior and Local Government formed "Task Force Usig", a police-led investigative unit to probe the unrelenting killings of activists and family members in the Philippines. The task force has publicly admitted that the two big difficulties it has are that witnesses cannot be located or are unwilling to cooperate; and, that victims' families and local support groups are sceptical about the task force and reluctant to get involved.

The reluctance of witnesses and victims' families to cooperate with police investigators comes as no surprise. The police have themselves been implicated in the abductions and killings. For instance, one of the three hooded men who attempted to take the life of labour leader Gerardo Cristobal in Imus, Cavite on April 28 was allegedly police intelligence officer SPO1 Romeo Lara. In many other cases too state agents are suspected of involvement.

Although Task Force Usig has publicly recognised that it has a problem with cooperation by witnesses and relatives of victims, it has not yet recognised that the reason for this is the lack of effective witness protection in the Philippines. In fact the failing undermines the country¡¦s entire judicial system. The government and Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines too have publicly accepted that these killings are a "gross violation of rights" and a "failure of the justice system" without making this connection, and taking steps to remedy the situation by legislative and judicial means.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) recalls the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee in its concluding observations on the Philippines' compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in December 2003. The Committee clearly stipulated that, "The State party [Philippines] should adopt legislative and other measures to prevent... violations, in keeping with articles 2, 6 and 9 of the Covenant, and ensure effective enforcement of the legislation" (para. 8a). This means giving witness protection as stipulated under the existing law, and through constant application of the law, improvements in procedures and measures as necessary.

Without witness protection there can be no fight against impunity. A legal system that promotes justice but does not set in place the means to protect witnesses is a fraud. When victims of human rights abuses understand this, naturally they do not come forward to assert their rights against the perpetrators. No attempt is even begun to make complaints and assert rights. The victims remain silent, inert and fearful. If fear prevails, evidence cannot be collected. When evidence is not collected, the courts either do not take up cases or dismiss the charges against the accused, as the judge can only consider what is brought before the court. In this manner, the perpetrators of torture, extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances routinely escape justice.

Just as the outcome of a case depends upon the quality of evidence presented to the court, the quality of evidence depends upon the investigation, from its earliest stages. If a complainant is unafraid and comes forward shortly after a crime, describes in detail what happened, points to other persons and materials that substantiate this account, is supported by other witnesses and does not change the account, the case will probably be a success. By contrast, if a complainant is fearful and has low expectations of the courts, coming forward only much later if at all, reluctantly giving details of what happened and who else may be able to substantiate the story, and under pressure changes the account, the case is unlikely to succeed. In human rights cases especially, the determining factor between one outcome and the other is protection.

Protecting witnesses is a duty of the state. This is a fundamental and globally-established principle. Where the state declines to protect witnesses, it denies justice to society. The state must find the people, money and means to do this. A state that talks about witness protection but does not allocate funds and resources for that purpose fails in its duty. But the real problem in setting up a witness protection programme is not money; it is about the place of witness protection in state policy. Where the importance of protecting witnesses to obtain justice is understood and articulated, an authority to give effect to this policy can be quickly established and developed. There are many available resources for such work these days. Where witness protection is limited or non-existent it is primarily a question of understanding and official will. This is the real problem that now faces Task Force Usig.

Task Force Usig must begin its work by recognising that witness protection the overriding concern. It must work with the Department of Justice to make Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act (RA 6981) reality. The success of Task Force Usig¡¦s investigations, and any subsequent trials, depends on this, as does its reputation and that of the justice department.

Forming a task force is one thing, going to the root problem is another. While Task Force Usig is a welcome initiative, it will be meaningless unless accompanied by a firm effort to provide witness protection. Task forces come and go, but the unsolved killings continue. The task force set up to look into the murder of human rights lawyer Norman Bocar on 1 September 2005, for instance, has not made any progress for the same reason that no other cases have been resolved: the failure to recognise witness protection as the precondition to effective investigations and fair trial. The credibility of Task Force Usig depends upon it starting by recognising and addressing this primary obstacle to justice for the victims of killings in the Philippines. The task force has an opportunity to build a model for future work aimed at stopping these killings by placing protection of witnesses and relatives before everything else. The AHRC calls on all concerned persons and organisations in the Philippines to demand of the task force that it set this example, and earn, rather than simply expect, the cooperation of victims¡¦ families and witnesses.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez presents a high-profile witness under protection of the National Bureau of Investigation
[Photo: REUTERS/Joe Chan]

Ineffectual and biased prosecutors
Public prosecutors in the Philippines depend upon police investigators to do their jobs. They do not have a role in the investigation process itself, and lack the capacity to evaluate reliably all facts submitted by the police. Investigators give credence to police findings without due considerations of other factors, such as allegations of torture or irregularities in investigation by the accused, as in the case of the 11 teenagers arrested and tortured in Benguet: despite their insistence that they were forced to confess under torture to crimes that they did not commit, and that the evidence against them was fabricated, the prosecutor persisted with recommending that the case go to court. The victims¡¦ claims were not taken seriously by the prosecutor. The court first ruled that the police had arrested the victims illegally, and stopped short of a judgment on the charges themselves. The defence then filed a petition for reinvestigation, which the court approved, and subsequently dismissed the case for lack of evidence. In the meantime, the lives of the victims had been put at grave risk while they were kept in jail awaiting trial. Similarly, when police allegedly attempted to kill Gerardo Cristobal and then filed frustrated murder and attempted murder charges against him the same day of the incident the prosecutor indicted Cristobal in court, knowing full well that the case was based upon a report prepared and filed by colleagues of the police he had accused of attacking him. The prosecutor did not inquire into Cristobal's claim.

In practice, the burden to disprove fabricated or sloppy police investigation reports rests upon the accused. Victims of abuse are treated with cynicism and hostility, as shown by one state prosecutor in May 2006 who told a newspaper that it is "normal for accused people to claim torture". Even in cases where allegations of torture are given credence, there is no law prohibiting and penalising the use of torture in the Philippines, or means for such complaints to be properly investigated and the victims rehabilitated. Section 6 of Rule 110 of the Rules of Court requires that a complaint can only be sufficient if it "designate an offense by the statute". Without a law the prosecutor cannot act on allegations of torture, even in the rare instance where one may be interested to do so.

Prosecutors make little or no attempt to conceal bias in their handling of criminal complaints. For instance, eight workers were arrested and illegally detained in Rosario, Cavite on 28 September 2006 (story 99); while being taken to the police station, an arresting officer allegedly threatened one of the victims. The prosecutor indicted the group for trespassing but reportedly refused to register complaints against the police, saying that the workers filed them just to get even with the arresting officers. In another case, the decision by a prosecutor to exonerate a military sergeant and his men for the killing of Talib Japalali and his wife Carmen in Tagum City (story 81) was reversed by the Office of the Ombudsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement Office based on forensic evidence suggesting grounds upon which to lay charges. Even though the prosecutor had showed either partiality towards the accused or a lack of understanding of forensic evidence, he was still appointed to handle the case in court. Appeals for his replacement by the victims' relatives have not yet been acted upon.

Once a prosecutor has brought a case into court it is extremely difficult to get it withdrawn. One example is the arrest and subsequent prosecution of Haron Abubakar Buisan in General Santos City (story 108). The police who arrested him insisted that he was Ariel Bansalao, a person wanted for robbery and homicide, and that he had been using various aliases. They allegedly tortured him into making a confession. However, he and his relatives have insisted that he is not the same person, and have produced schools records, village certification, and testimonies from persons known to him to support their claims. But the prosecutor proceeded to file a case against him as Ariel Bansalao. Buisan appealed and obtained a reinvestigation; however, the reinvestigation only reaffirmed earlier conclusions that he was not arrested on mistaken identity: there was no actual reinvestigation. Nor have the victim¡¦s allegations of torture ever been investigated, or other irregularities been addressed.

The extent of bias is again best illustrated by the head of the Department of Justice himself. Secretary Gonzales has gone out of his way to defend the government by flatly rejecting legitimate grievances about the inability of the authorities to stop extrajudicial killings, referring to them as "black propaganda". He has adopted the language of the military and insinuated that unseen forces have taken advantage of the situation as "one way to destabilize the government" by way of creating lawlessness within the country, thereby putting the government into shame in the international community: as if the government was not sufficiently adept at creating lawlessness and putting itself to shame. In a letter to the Asian Human Rights Commission of 18 October 2006 he stated that while his department too is "anxious to put a stop to this situation" he went on to make baseless and profoundly disturbing comments to the effect that complainants "may themselves be guilty of such extra-judicial killings" and for this purpose "are promptly pointing their fingers and eagerly complaining the loudest against the government". At the end of his letter, Gonzales could not help but take a stab at the commission directly:

It appears from your letter that you know a lot more of our country than other non-Filipinos and feel comfortable in ¡¥urging¡¦ us to do your bidding. Interference from foreign nationals are things [sic] we can do without.

That Secretary Gonzales to feel safe in making open presumptions about the guilt or innocence of persons lodging criminal complaints and indicating that the extent of assistance given by his department depends upon what conclusions are drawn by its officers as to the merits of the complainant rather than the complaint speaks volumes about the rot at all levels of the criminal justice system of the Philippines. The making of veiled threats against groups abroad expressing legitimate and serious concern about the inability of his department to do anything to address grave abuses of human rights is also remarkable, not least of all in view of the country¡¦s membership on the UN Human Rights Council, a seat which it sought on the basis of supposed compliance with international standards and cooperation with international bodies. As the secretary is also chairman of the Presidential Committee on Human Rights, which has among its responsibilities to ensure that the government policy is in keeping with human rights principles-a job that he also seems to be doing particularly badly-the secretary must be aware of the government's treaty obligations, yet he appears to hold them in very low regard.

Labelling "enemies"
In April 2005 the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines produced a PowerPoint presentation entitled "Knowing the Enemy: Are we missing the point?", which included a list of organisations and persons-among them human rights and labour groups, religious organisations, media institutions, political parties and persons critical of the government-who are "influenced by communists". The presentation was distributed on compact disc and was shown to villagers and otherwise used in communities where the military was conducting so-called civilian-military operations.

The "Knowing the Enemy" presentation followed the release of a book by the former chief of Northern Luzon Command, Lieutenant General Romeo Dominguez (retired) entitled, The Trinity of War, in which he also identified specific individuals and organizations as sympathizers, supporters, if not outright members, of the Communist Party of the Philippines or the New People¡¦s Army. Some of the individuals named in that book were subsequently killed by persons using very similar methods: usually riding motorcycles with ski masks or other face covers, and using vehicles with no number plates.

At the time that the "Knowing the Enemy" CD was distributed, Brigadier General Jose Angel Honrado, chief of the army Civil Relation Services, denied that it contained a "hit list"; however, there was subsequently a dramatic increase in the number of victims, in particular those attached to the organisations listed, extrajudicially killed, tortured or disappeared. Affiliated groups or individuals have also become targets.

For instance, Marilou Sanchez and her brother Virgilio Rubio, both members of the legally-registered Bayan Muna party, were allegedly killed by troops on 22 April 2006 (story 48). The military has tagged Bayan Muna as "aligned with the CPP/NPA". Soldiers entered the victims¡¦ house to capture Marilou¡¦s husband, Hilario, whom they accused of being a communist rebel. Hilario, a village chief, denied this; however, the soldiers allegedly started beating him, and subsequently tied his wife and brother-in-law to separate posts before shooting them dead; Hilario broke loose and escaped into the surrounding area. There has been no information available as to what investigation, if any has been conducted into the incident.

Under section 14(2) of the Constitution of the Philippines "the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved". In practice the public labelling of accused persons or victims as "communist fronts", "destabilizers", "enemies of the state", or "terrorists" negates this presumption and allows officials to do away with due process. The double standards in implementation of laws are most obvious in cases where such labels are applied. The use of labels also exposes victims, their families and colleagues to the possibility of further violence, and denies them any hope of protection. Once a person or organisation has been labelled "leftist" or "enemy" then there is no possibility of safety. Whatever they may or may not have done, they are in a special category of persons and groups guilty by suspicion, for who the ordinary laws and procedures, to the limited extent they operate for everyone else, are suspended.

Anybody extrajudicially killed in the Philippines is likely to be labelled a leftist by virtue of the police having made a blanket assessment that these killings are the result of an "internal purge" within the communist movement. In a letter to the Asian Human Rights Commission of 26 July 2006 Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza, deputy director for the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management, stated that,

The document entitled "Cleansing Bushfire" specifically disclosed the order by the National CPP/NPA [Communist Party of the Philippines/New People¡¦s Army] leadership of launching special operations by special teams targeting enemy agents which had penetrated the ranks of CPP/NPA, referring to the enemy spies and counter revolutionaries working against the movement and other legal organisation [sic].

In his letter, Chief Superintendent Mendoza implies that communist rebels have perpetrated most of the killings. His opinions were reflected in the 18 October 2006 letter from the Secretary of the Department of Justice, Raul Gonzales, who while acknowledging that ¡§suspicions alone do not give the police authorities the green light to make arrests¡¨,

We strongly deny, as evidence in the possession of the authorities will support this, that such killings are government-inspired. [The] majority of these killings were done by elements of Communists, the NPA, who pass themselves off as peasants but who are in practice and in reality, no more than bandits.

While Secretary Gonzales claims that the killings are not government-inspired, public statements by military officials and the consistent pattern of police and official inaction towards killings, particularly those that have followed labelling of individuals or groups, speaks to the opposite. For instance, retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr., former head of the 7th Infantry Division, was quoted by the Philippine Inquirer on 22 August 2006 as saying that,

We are encouraging people to fight this problem. If the people, who have been victimized by insurgents, decide to take it upon themselves to get even with the enemy, that is their individual responsibility. They know who were responsible for these killings before we came in. I have encouraged the people to take the law into their own hands.

These remarks were made the subject of a Herald Tribune editorial of the following day, August 23:

The mindset and the blatant disregard of constitutional rights of a people by the Armed Forces of the Philippines were made clear by an Army officer, who, even in disclosing this, didn¡¦t seem to find anything illegal and unconstitutional about soldiers violating the rights of citizens...The fact that Palparan and his ilk believe that they can disregard-and with impunity-these constitutional guarantees of a people, and even encourage "those victimized" to take the law into their own hands, already shows that they do not believe in the rule of law. And to think they are mandated to protect the people and defend the Constitution.

Despite the weight of national and international opinion against him, Palparan was not sanctioned for making such statements, instead enjoying support from government officials, including President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who had lauded him for his anti-insurgency campaign during her State of the Nation Address in July 2006. In October Secretary Gonzales even offered Major General Palparan a consultancy with his department. When challenged about the alleged gross abuses of human rights committed by Palparan and his subordinates, Gonzales replied that these have "not yet been proven". Presumably with his oversight of the "justice" department they are unlikely to be.

However, military and official denials of responsibility have become irrelevant since the findings of the presidentially-appointed Melo Commission-announced at the end of January 2007-that the killings are linked to the armed forces and that the police and justice department had failed to address them effectively (see appendix II). On Palparan specifically the commission noted that:

General Palparan's statements and cavalier attitude towards the killings inevitably reveals that he has no qualms about the killing of those whom he considers his enemies, whether by his order or done by his men independently. He mentions that if his men kill civilians suspected of [communist] connections, "it is their call," obviously meaning that it is up to them to do so. This gives the impression that he may not order the killings, but neither will he order his men to desist from doing so. Under the doctrine of command responsibility, General Palparan admitted his guilt of the said crimes when he made this statement. Worse, he admittedly offers encouragement and "inspiration" to those who may have been responsible for the killings.

According to the Philippine Inquirer of January 30, these findings led to recognition by the armed forces chief, General Hermogenes Esperon, that "some members of the AFP have been involved in the deaths of some members of militant organizations". Additionally, before the Melo Commission he "refused to categorically state that the AFP has absolutely nothing to do with the killings of activists, as such [a] statement might be too presumptuous".

Notwithstanding, the police investigate such incidents with an eye on proving that the killings are perpetrated by rebels, or are the result of "legitimate operations", rather than to gather evidence with which to identify and prosecute the perpetrators. In Palo, Leyte, eight villagers died-including a seven-month-pregnant woman-when soldiers opened fire at a house that they claimed was used by rebels (story 66). The incident was described as a legitimate encounter with armed groups, rather than a massacre.

Police in Palo conducted investigations on the basis of the military's account, and filed fabricated charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunitions against surviving victims, who were described in the police report as "captured enemies". In November 2006 the court dismissed the case as "the prosecution failed to establish the ownership or possession of any of the guns by the accused"; i.e., they had been planted. Although the victims were exonerated, none of the actual perpetrators has ever been held to account. Notwithstanding, multiple murder charges were lodged against the soldiers on 21 November 2006, one year after the incident. The police involved in producing false investigation reports have not been held accountable.

The investigation function is thus completely perverted, directed towards justifying and explaining away killings rather than punishing and stopping them. And under any circumstances, if indeed the police and justice department had proof that the killings have been perpetrated by rebels, still they cannot excuse themselves of their failures to protect the lives of victims, bring cases to court, and prevent further incidents from occurring.

Among those commonly labelled and targeted are labour rights defenders and union organisers. Labour leader Enrico Estarez was forced into hiding after the military accused him of involvement with the communist movement and soldiers started harassing him and his colleagues, three of whom were arrested and tortured after being invited for questioning (story 107). The three claim that they were forced to provide information on persons unknown to them and sign fabricated statements implicating such persons who were labelled by the military as "communist rebels". Similarly, Private First Class Rommel Felipe Santiago admitted under police questioning on 5 October 2006 that he had been assigned to tail labour leaders on their way to a law office that provides legal services for workers, and that he was on duty at the time. He was released after a short time and no further effort is known to have been made to identify who had ordered him to conduct surveillance or for what purpose.

Church workers also are often the subject of attacks and baseless allegations. The United Methodist Church has reported that Librado Gallardo and his wife Martina of Nueva Ecija committed suicide in November 2006 after being tortured by the military over their alleged support for communist rebels. Gallardo was chair of the local church council. The church has claimed that the couple took their lives because of continued intimidation by the personnel of the 48th Infantry Battalion stationed in Barangay Conversion, Pantabangan. The couple¡¦s nine children are now orphaned and traumatised, and have also been forced to separate because of continuing threats.

One of the human rights groups on the army's list of those "influenced by communists" was Karapatan. On 22 August 2006 eight Karapatan volunteers were arrested and allegedly tortured and falsely charged because of assistance they rendered to the family of Raquel Aumentado, who was reportedly killed in an encounter between the military and insurgents in Mulanay, Quezon (story 100). The military charged them with rebellion but the prosecutor proceeded with a case of obstructing justice. It was reported that one of the grounds for suspicion that they were rebels was that they had mud on their legs. In other cases, Karapatan volunteers have been refused assistance in inquiries by soldiers because they are supposedly communists.

Also in August 2006 Major General Palparan, after being identified by Amnesty International as connected with extrajudicial killings, was quoted as saying that, "I cannot blame the people [of Amnesty] because they are invited here and the invitation comes from the enemies of the state"; i.e., the local rights groups that may have helped Amnesty gather information. An association of retired and active senior army officers proposed that Amnesty be barred from the country. It is not known as to whether or not the proposal has been followed, but in December a member of the International Labour Rights Fund was refused entry to the Philippines; he had earlier joined a mission on labour rights and extrajudicial killings of labour leaders in the Philippines during May 2006, and had been actively working with local groups that have been labelled as "enemies of the state".

Others have been taken away for no more than non-cooperation. Brothers Reynaldo and Raymond Manalo were arrested and allegedly forcibly disappeared by armed men identifying themselves as soldiers who entered their house in February 2006, after they had refused to cooperate with troops trying to locate their neighbour and for not participating in a meeting called by the military on their anti-insurgency campaign (story 95).

Whereas the highest levels of government should be issuing explicit orders to prohibit the use of public labelling by soldiers and law-enforcement officers, the practice is becoming increasingly widespread, and is now virtually a de facto policy. National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales has pushed for official labelling of party list political organisations with supposed links to the communist movement in the forthcoming May 2007 elections. Gonzales has not named specific parties himself, but five alone were listed in the army's "Knowing the Enemy" presentation, and unsurprisingly the proposal is known to be popular among the military. The effect of such tagging of registered political parties would be just short of declaring them illegal, and would imply that any persons voting for them are also "influenced by communists". And in case anybody is as yet in any doubt about the implications of that tag, Major Michael Samson, the military Civil Relations Service group commander, said in an interview of 18 January 2007 that, "In the Armed Forces¡¦ continued campaign against communism, those that were either supportive or sympathetic to the communist movement were considered as enemies of the state."

The wider consequences on the Philippines' electoral system and democracy would be profound and far-reaching. Tagging not only exposes individual political organisations and persons to violence and persecution, but undermines the entire exercise of government and challenges the rights of all citizens to participate in legitimate political activities.

The persistent official tolerance of public labelling of persons and organisations as "communist fronts" by military and other security officers speaks to the complicity of the government in the unremitting killings and violence throughout the Philippines. For this reason the killings are-contrary to the conclusion of the Melo Commission-certainly attributable to the military organisation and the state itself. Official tolerance excuses policing and prosecuting agencies from their abject failure to successfully identify and prosecute perpetrators. It is contradictory to accept, as the commission has done, that there exists a pattern of killings that can be linked to the military while denying that it is a systemic problem that goes to the heart of the rot in the Philippine criminal justice system.

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
PHILIPPINES: Concerted attack on human rights groups must be strongly resisted
AS-286-2006, November 17, 2006

In what appears to be a concerted attack on the entire human rights movement in the Philippines, army, civilian and police officials have all made scathing statements describing the work of rights groups there as "propaganda".

On November 15, a group of retired and active senior army officers in the Philippines declared that Amnesty International members should be barred from the country for accusing the military of being behind extrajudicial killings. The influential Association of Generals and Flag Officers said in a resolution that the human rights group had documented incidents based upon the testimonies of militants, and that its allegations were biased. The declaration against Amnesty has reportedly been endorsed by the armed forces.

Meanwhile, in another report, a senior official accused rights groups of spreading "propaganda" about the killings for political purposes. The aggressive defence of the government by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye followed an unprecedented appeal by the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in the Philippines, warning that the ongoing violent attacks could affect investment. The press secretary also specifically named local group Karapatan as being responsible for spreading untruths, and said that his government would "sit down with foreign investors to give the facts".

In a further report, Philippine National Police (PNP) Deputy Director General Avelino Razon Jr. also claimed that Karapatan had greatly inflated the number of killings, and incredibly, compared the work of the group to that of Nazi Germany: "The group is adhering to the Nazi propaganda lines of consistent lies, distortion of objective facts, continuous lies and half-truths made popular by Hitler's propagandist Goebbels during World War II." Ironically, the deputy director general is the head of Task Force Usig, the main unit inside the police force investigating the killings.

Although ridiculous, these statements by the army and government should not come as a surprise. The worldwide campaigning on extrajudicial killings in the Philippines is growing rapidly and creating a very negative impression of the country and its administration in the minds of millions both at home and abroad. It will be special cause for alarm that businesspeople have now joined the chorus of voices against what is happening there.

The attacks are clearly aimed at intimidating all human rights groups working in the Philippines. In fact, they constitute a threat to the entire human rights movement. In targeting Amnesty, a large and internationally-renowned group, the military generals have made clear that anyone else could be next, if they too attempt to document and report on the incidence of killings and other gross abuses.

Ultimately, these are much more than simple reactions to the latest reports of domestic and international rights bodies. They are manifestations of an extreme, deep-rooted bias against human rights defenders. This resistance to human rights standards, and bias against persons who work to achieve them, is also manifest in the persistent denial about the extent and nature of the killings that the government is being called upon to address. That denial is most obvious in the fact that there has been no real political will--only pretences, under growing pressure--to end the killings through explicit public commands to police and military authorities.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) calls upon the government of the Philippines to unequivocally denounce the resolution passed by the Association of Generals and Flag Officers against Amnesty International, require the police to justify its outrageous statement comparing a local rights group to the Nazi regime, and publicly retract the remarks of its press officer. It again calls for the government to place as its highest priority the ending of extrajudicial killings, and to order all policing and military agencies to do the same.

The AHRC demands effective investigations of the hundreds of killings, attempted killings and abductions that are known to have occurred in recent years, including those since the start of October that have already been reported to the authorities: Dr. Rodrigo Catayong, chairperson Karapatan in Eastern Samar (killed); Reverend Billy Austin, head of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance) in Ilocos Sur (attempted killing); Eduardo Millares, member of the urban poor group, Samahan ng Magkakapitbahay sa Tabing-Riles (Association of Neighbours along the Railroad) (killed) and his companion (attempted killing); Father Dionisio Ging-Ging, Philippine Independent Church (killed); and, Bishop Alberto Ramento, Philippine Independent Church (killed).

The struggle for the victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines is no less than the struggle for the survival of democracy and some notion of the rule of law there. The country is at a critical juncture. The people of the Philippines deserve full international support and attention to ensure that their struggle obtains the support it needs in order to overcome the forces of violence, militarism and authoritarianism.

Command irresponsibility
Even though the Melo Commission concluded that Palparan and other military commanders are liable for killings under the principle of command responsibility, there is as yet no clear indication of how the government intends to deal with senior officers found to be complicit in grave human rights violations.

The doctrine of command responsibility in the Armed Forces of the Philippines is stipulated in its Circular No. 28, Series of 1956, which holds that for military commander to have criminal and civil liability in abuses committed by his subordinates, three elements must be proven: that those committing the atrocities were under his command; that the commander knew or should have known that the subordinates were engaging in impermissible conduct; and, that the commander failed to prevent or punish those responsible.

In its findings (see appendix II), the Melo Commission discusses the principle of command responsibility at length, and-while reaching dubious conclusions-notes clearly that:

Contrary to the apparently inaccurate notion of command responsibility entertained by some officers in the [Armed Forces of the Philippines], command responsibility in the modern international law sense is also an omission mode of individual criminal liability wherein the superior officer is responsible for crimes committed by his subordinates for failing to prevent or punish them (as opposed to crimes he ordered).

To establish the three elements requires careful collection of evidence and use of witness testimony; yet in the Philippines prosecutions in even ordinary criminal cases fail due to inadequate evidence and frightened witnesses. To collect sufficient evidence and obtain witness testimonies upon which to hold powerful senior officers accountable will be a task far beyond the country's rotten criminal justice system unless it is subjected to serious reform. So far the government has shown no commitment to taking any steps that may lead to the notion of command responsibility being made real. Despite persistent serious allegations against Palparan and his men in particular, there has never been any attempt to have them investigated or sanctioned by a binding authority.

The sheer impunity enjoyed by soldiers and their commanders is apparent in the case of Bacar Japalali and his wife Carmen, who were killed in Tagum City during September 2004. Even though prosecutors and the court established probable cause upon which to arrest and charge a military sergeant and 31 of his men with the killings, the court broke with practice and insisted upon all of the accused being named before the issuing of warrants for arrest. The superior officers of the accused refused to name their subordinates; they themselves have not been held responsible for this denial of information to the court, or for the killing. The court order remained pending and arrest warrants not issued for some two years; although the warrants were finally issued, the local police were reportedly too afraid to serve them; the respondents have meantime been transferred to another tour of duty and are no longer in the locality.

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
PHILIPPINES: Publish report, protect witnesses & prosecute Palparan
AS-023-2007, February 2, 2007

The Asian Human Rights Commission cautiously welcomes the findings of the Melo Commission that retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. and other military officers could be held liable for the unabated extrajudicial killings of human rights defenders, social campaigners, priests, political organisers and others in the Philippines. The final report of the commission, which was headed by former Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo, handed to the president this week, reportedly points to the complicity of military officers in the killings and suggests that Palparan and others had command responsibility for the deaths.

The inquiry¡¦s conclusion puts to rest police and military claims that the allegations against Palparan and his men are unsubstantiated. That the army is culpable for extrajudicial killings is no longer a matter of doubt: so what happens next?

The police and military predictably sprang to the defence of Palparan and his subordinates. In separate media interviews on January 30, Deputy Director General Avelino Razon and General Hermogenes Esperon Jr., chiefs of Task Force Usig and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) respectively, made remarks that there were no evidence against Palparan and he is no longer under military¡¦s jurisdiction, since he retired in September 2006. The comments from Razon are all the more remarkable given that his task force was established to hunt for the persons responsible for killings, not defend the accused. They are also in direct contradiction to the Melo Commission, which based its findings largely upon police documents, as most complainants and witnesses refused to cooperate because of distrust and fear. The commission has admitted that its work was hampered by the lack of cooperation; notwithstanding, it was still able to obtain sufficient evidence to establish that the military could be held accountable.

The enormous threats facing witnesses and families of dead victims or those who have survived attacks are the biggest obstacles to obtaining justice and redress in cases of extrajudicial killing in the Philippines. The Asian Human Rights Commission has repeatedly drawn attention to the absence of protection for these persons as the primary reason that investigations there fail. For the police agency given the task of investigating persons alleged to have been involved in the killings to reject the findings of a presidential commission off-hand, instead of reviewing and building evidence against those identified as responsible, is completely unacceptable.

The police are duty-bound to recommend complainants and witnesses be given protection through the justice department, under the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act (RA 6981). If they have not done this promptly they are either negligent or ignorant. The result in either case is that it is much easier to reach the convenient conclusion that there is a ¡§lack of evidence¡¨.

It is also ridiculous for the military to excuse itself from responsibility. The obligations of any armed forces for the actions of its personnel do not expire when someone retires from service. Esperon¡¦s acknowledgement that army personnel may have been involved in killings must be more deeply probed. Have any of the implicated persons ever been sanctioned, disarmed or punished? What action, if any, has been taken against them? These questions remain altogether unanswered.

The killings will only end when there are prosecutions. There will only be prosecutions when witnesses and victims are protected, rather than threatened and killed themselves, and the perpetrators are investigated, rather than defended. The Melo Commission has no power upon which to initiate these things itself. The responsibility instead rests on the person who ordered the inquiry: President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She is now obliged to see that its findings are given meaning, and the responsible state agencies, notably Task Force Usig and the justice department, do their jobs and the accused, including Major General Jovito Palparan Jr., are brought before courts of justice. She must also have the report made public without delay, in order that there is complete disclosure of its findings. Withholding of the report will only deepen public distrust in her administration, and raise further doubts about the assurances of her government that it is acting in the interests of the victims and their families.

Conclusion
When the Philippines became a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1987 it signified the birth of a new era for the protection and promotion of human rights in the country. But the significance of this and other steps to uphold human rights must be measured in terms of implementation. Article 2 of the Covenant stipulates that where persons' rights are violated, they must be afforded remedies. This means investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators, and compensating and rehabilitating victims. In his annual 2005 report to the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings spelt out what this means where a pattern of killings occurs:

In most situations, the isolated killing of individuals will constitute a simple crime and not give rise to any governmental responsibility. But once a pattern becomes clear in which the response of the Government is clearly inadequate, its responsibility under international human rights law becomes applicable. Through its inaction the Government confers a degree of impunity upon the killers.

The Philippines is now faced with a very serious threat to its fragile democracy and institutions for the rule of law. So far the government response has been characterised by inaction and a lack of proper direction over the police, justice department and army, which acting in interests other than those of the public have invariably made the situation worse. The government must now counteract these steps in the wrong direction and demonstrate that it has the will and is willing to make the reforms necessary to dig the rot out of its criminal justice system and erase the name of impunity from its face.

Do It Like David

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:39:00 +0000

Do sing with me, will yah..?

Always be my baby - David Cook

We were as one babe
For a moment in time
And it seemed everlasting
That you would always be mine

Now you want to be free
So I'm letting you fly
Cause I know in my heart babe
Our love will never die
No!

You'll always be a part of me
I'm a part of you indefinitely
Girl don't you know you can't escape me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby
And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're never gonna shake me
Ooh darling cause you'll always be my baby

I ain't gonna cry no
And I won't beg you to stay
If you're determined to leave girl
I will not stand in your way
But inevitably you'll be back again
Cause ya know in your heart babe
Our love will never end no

I know that you'll be back girl
When your days and your nights get a little bit colder oooohhh
I know that, you'll be right back, babe
Ooooh! baby believe me it's only a matter of time

perthnow's fun games

noreply@blogger.com (xhio) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:56:00 +0000

Coordination test

This game takes lots of concentration. Spin the maze to lead the ball to the portal. The best time we got in level one was 12 seconds. Can you beat that?

Are you logical?

Can you logically figure out how to turn off all of the lights. If you click a light on the state of adjacent lights will be reversed. Can you logically figure out how to turn out all the lights?

Can you figure out this brainteaser?

Count the men and then count them again. Where does the extra person come from?

Wait for the animation to start. Then tell me how this works!!!

Doggy Do

Type in a command and see what happens. Try sit, beg, roll over, down, stand, sing, dance, lick, shake, fetch, play dead, kiss...

The games above are just a few of my favorites. Click http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/perthwow/games/ for more games


Profundus tendon testing of long finger D3	Superficialis tendon testing of long finger D3