Paano Natin Pauunlarin ang Buhay ng mga Magsasaka?
With students from Ateneo de Naga
Second of two parts. (Link to Part 1)
by Wilfredo G. Villanueva
Will: So, paubos ang farmers? Samantalang kailangan natin ang farmers for food security?
Erin: We have to break that mindset. Why are farmers in other countries well off? Pa’no natin papaunlarin ang buhay ng magsasaka? Walang mapag-utangan. Walang support service. Walang pambili ng binhi.
Are we going Singapore where we do not need agriculture to survive? If farmers are earning, then they spend, ‘di ba? Hindi ko alam kung bakit hanggang ngayon ganito pa rin tayo.
Robotics na lahat, there will be even more people out of jobs because of Artificial Intelligence. You have to offer possibilities for farmers.
So, let’s incentivize the farmers: you plant you get cash, you get a bonus if you do what is required of you.
Ayaw pag-isipan.
(Pause) Ito ang vision na kailangan natin puntahan… food security. Nagiging mall na kasi ang agricultural lands. Kailangan bang bawat bayan may mall?
Will: ‘Di ba bawat city dapat may percentage of forest park? Halimbawa, sa Las Piñas tuwing may bakanteng lote, mall ang itatayo.
Erin: Ang father ko (Sen. Wigberto Tañada) pinaglaban ang land use policy noon, pero walang suporta. Dapat defined ang agricultural, residential, commercial lands. I tried during my nine years in the House of Representatives but it also didn’t pass. Pumasa ang bill sa lower house noong 2013-2016, pero namatay sa senate, kasi may mga interes dun…
Will: Do you plan to live here all your life?
Erin: Because of work, I live here, but when we retire, it can be somewhere cooler, like Tagaytay, Baguio, Tagkawayan; pero bago ang retirement ko, kailangan maging maliwanag na tayo, for example, relevancy of wage structure, bakit hindi ito hindi pinaguusapan, security of tenure bill (certified as urgent ni Pangulo, to address contractualization).
Usapin ng labor, it’s about employer-employee relationship. Andyan ang mistrust, industrial problems, palaging may middle ground naman. Honestly, Will, I think, contractualization is a tool to keep people poor; after five months, they’re still on minimum wage, palipat-lipat ng trabaho,
The system we have perpetuates poverty, for people to remain poor.
Will: Why do they want workers to remain poor?
Erin: I don’t think they want workers to remain poor. Employers fear that if they regularize workers, magkakaroon ng union, which is protected by constitution but may be detrimental to capital… There are many things that can be done…
Will: Para kang batang aktibista…
Erin: Hehehe…hindi naman. Sundan lang ang batas.
With Vice President Leni Robredo
Elsa Tolentino: Given a chance in the senate, what will be your move regarding WPS (West Philippine Sea)?
Erin: In the senate, we should explore ways in building alliances with other countries who support the arbitral decision. Without our asking, western countries are doing their Freedom of Navigation Operations. Kailangan may statement tayo to support; what they’re doing is for us.
Will: What legislative victories in the past prepared you for the senate?
Erin: Repeal of the death penalty; I was one of the principal authors. Also anti-torture, renewable energy, kasama ako dun.
Will: Why did you stay in Liberal Party?
Erin: Because I’m not a person who looks at parties for my self-interest.
Will: Pero wala kang allocation…
Erin: Wala rin akong allocation noon, yet I won re-election. Of course, you can be imaginative, you can approach civic organizations, they have their outreach programs.
Will: Just like what VP Leni is doing…
Erin: Yes. You can have programs. Sabi nga nung mga kalaban ko, bumoto kayo kay Erin, wala kayong proyekto…
Will: Pero nanalo ka pa rin?
Erin: Yes.
Will: Religion? Rosary?
Erin: In my bag always wherever I go.
Will: Praying in the morning or evening?
Erin: More in the morning, thanking God that I woke up. Hahaha!
W: Ang lolo mo?
Erin: Mas madasalin ang lolo ko, rosary at misa!
Will: Pula ba siya?
Erin: Yun ang problema, hindi pinaguusapan ang problema kaya ganito tayo. Just because he took up causes for the poor… It doesn’t mean that when a person shouts for land reform he’s a communist. Ang trabaho lang namin, eh makahanap ng solusyon sa mga problemang hinaharap natin.
Will: Can we get back on the saddle?
Erin: It will depend on what will happen…
Will: The fire is still there?
Erin: Still there. Tingin ko, it was the Liberal Party lang who stood up to issues. Ang PDP dati left of center, wala na… Old guards and organizers nawala na rin. At least ang LP, historically, in important junctures of history, tumayo ‘yan.
Will: So you are with us?
Erin: Yes.
Will: A young man from a genetic pool of great men… Naniniwala ka bang corrupt sila PNoy?
Erin: Kung meron, kasuhan nila. May kaso na sila Sec. Jun Abaya, nasa Ombudsman. A complaint is filed, you are given time to answer, so it takes field work and everything…
Will: Are you simon pure?
Erin: I’m sure there will be cases that may be filed against me in campaign, I have no ghost projects and all my projects were implemented. Hinihintay ko lang kung ano ang ikakaso sa akin…
Will: Kasama ka ba sa DAP?
Erin: DBM (Department of Budget and Management) tells us to nominate projects. So we don’t anymore ask where the money is coming from. Dati ang nangyayari, tama ang Supreme Court, after GAA (General Appropriatins Act), dapat hands-off ang congressmen, dapat itemized na.
Will: May pork barrel pa ba ngayon?
Erin: Meron, hindi nga lang makikialam ang congressman, hindi dumadaan sa congressman. DBM will issue SARO (Special Allotment Release Order), send the SARO to implementing agency…
Will: Exercise? Health?
Erin: Ngayon once a week na lang, dati thrice a week. I have very low hypertension; 120-80 is already hypertensive, so 10 mg. of Vasalat. Cholesterol-lowering meds meron, blood sugar wala.
Will: Talk to the voters in Gumaca…
Erin: Sa aking mga kababayan, tumatakbo ako bilang senador sa ilalim ng Oposisyon Koalisyon. Humihingi na sana sa Mayo ay suportahan ninyo ako. Matagal nang walang kinatawan ang Quezon, si Sen. Bobby Tañada pa ang huling naupo. Para ang mga mahahalagang issue ay mapag-usapan, gaya ng mababang presyo ng copra. Alam naman natin na public funds na ang cocolevy. Nakalulungkot nga lang, inadjust ang profarmer provisions. Hindi ibig sabihin na tapos na ang problema ng magsasaka sa niyugan. Makapag-isip tayo kung paano tayo makikinabang sa tree of life. Kung ako ang pagbibigyan, sisikapain kong mapag-usapan ang mga isyu, isa na dyan ang kabuhayan ng magsasaka.
Will: Nagtitina ka ba? Baka sa tapos ng term mo puti na ‘yan.
Erin: Baka… (Sigh) I still have that idealism.
Will: ‘Yan ang masarap mapakinggan! Wala na kasi halos idealist ngayon.
Erin: Tayo ba ang nagkamali on why 16 million Filipinos voted for Duterte? Tingin ko, oo, pwedeng sabihin tayo ang nagkamali.
Will: Si Obama magaling sa social media…
Erin: Napasukan talaga tayo ng revisionism…
Will: Nalason ang tao…
Erin: Pero may cycle, may protest vote, that’s why Erap won. So subukan natin si Erap. FPJ (Fernando Poe, Jr.) almost made it, nagkaroon ng dayaan, but was it enough to make him win?
Will: We’ll never know.
Erin: Cyclical, after intellectuals as head, nontraditional naman, we don’t know what the people will look for…
Will: So balik sa uncouth.
Erin: Kaya nga, hindi naman ako part ng cabinet ni PNoy, syempre happy si PNoy sa GDP (Gross Domestic Product), pero nag-alala siya, mataas ang self-rated poverty, pinatawag ang cabinet, bakit ganito? Explanation: yan ang trickle down economy, but is there a quicker way? Kailangang pag-isipan, it may help to incentivize the farmers, we should consider incentivizing them through conditional cash transfer.
Will: Di magbayad ka naman sa nagtratrabaho…
Erin: ‘Di ba?
Will: Program mo sa environment?
Erin: I’m not anti-mining, it will play an important role; ang problema, is it creating additional jobs outside of digging; downstream, dapat magawa ang processing, you want to mine here, let’s process this, more jobs, if not, you don’t mine. Kailangan seryoso ang usapan sa mga komunidad, kailangan may fixed term. I don’t blame mining companies, for example, pro-mining ang mayor, after three years, anti-mining mayor naman. So once a decision has been made, regardless of politics, dapat may continuity, let’s put a time frame, once a decision has been made, if community accepts it.
Will: Regardless of turnovers…
Erin: Oo. ‘Yun ang accusation, pag may bagong gobyerno, iba naman.
On energy, we have to find a good energy mix, not just putting up coal plants, there is the argument that we need coal, because renewable energy is unreliable as a base load, nuclear is cheaper than coal, but is there a community that will accept it? Ako hindi.
Will: Fukushima?
Erin: Hanggang ngayon problema pa ‘yan. Maraming problema ang energy sector; if IPIRA did not meet its promise, maybe it’s now time to have that conversation, sinisisi ang electric cooperatives, gustong lamunin ng electric companies. Nakikita nila na ito’y isang avenue para lalong kumita. Slowly kinakain ang electric cooperatives.
Will: Kailan kaya tayo magiging parang South Korea?
Erin: It might not happen immediately, but as long as we put the right people in government, we have a chance. In 20 years, I think, we can make it.
Will: Pardon my asking, but aren’t you upper-middle class?
Erin: I am a lawyer by profession before I entered poltics. I can send my children to Ateneo. My father worked hard as a lawyer before he became a public servant.
Will: Is it President Duterte or the people who is the problem?
Erin: I don’t know. But outside of his thinking that federalism is the solution, kung ikaw eh policy person, may iba’t iba kang plano. Mukhang isa lang solusyon. Dapat may Plan A, Plan B, Plan C.
Kaya nga ang Train 1 nagkaproblema; studies didn’t go that far.
Will: Teka, maiba ako, ano ang ginagawa mo nung nabaril si Ninoy?
Erin: I was 20. Lolo was close to Ninoy; he always communicated with Ninoy. As the grandchildren and children friends of Soc Rodrigo, Doy Laurel, Eva Estrada-Kalaw, Rene Espina, we were asked to organize the youth for a welcoming party, so we did streamers, posters, distributed leaflets. We were in Greenhills, some of us, including the nieces and nephews of Ninoy were distributing leaflets sa loob ng Virra Mall, nahuli kami, narelease din.
We were in the airport, we were supposed to go to Baclaran, then Times st. We didn’t know he was shot, we just heard about it in Baclaran church, so we all went home. The following day, since Ateneo knew I was actively organizing, they all gravitated towards me to get news; they did their own planning.
We organized the lines in Times st., para maging systematic. Then Upsilon Sigma Phi came in to take over from us, how can we help daw. Upsilon took over marshalling duties, tumulong din sila sa Sto. Domingo church.
In Ateneo, we formed Task Force Ninoy.
Will: Andun kayo sa Ayala avenue when it rained confetti?
Erin: Yes. Also as far back as 1978, in the Laban campaign, I was 15 years old then, attending the rallies in Tondo, syempre, dahil si Lolo ang campaign manager nandun kami.
Will: How much do you need in campaign?
Erin: P50-70 million, but to make sure, P150 million, because that will be eaten up by tv ads.
Will: Anong sakit ng bayan natin?
Erin: Brain ang problema. Okay ang heart, okay ang arms and legs. It’s the brain, ayaw mag-isip ng tao.
Will: Dahil sa education, poverty? Instant gratification? Ninoy (P500 bill)?
Erin: Easy way, ayaw magisip.
Will: Pati love?
Erin: Hindi naman.
Will: Hindi mahal ang bayan.
Erin: Mahal ang sarili. Mas mahal ang sarili kaysa bayan.
Will: One word to describe our problem?
Erin: Poverty.
Will: All presidents…
Erin: Except this one. EJK. Eh di yun yun, di bumababa ang poverty, it’s eradicated…
Will: Poverty of the spirit; puro corrupt naman yan.
Erin: Ang sagot ko dyan, eh di pababayaan natin sila, lalo silang magiging masaya, dahil wala nang gustong lumaban.
Will: Yung matatalino, ayaw mag-invest sa politics.
Erin: Kaya nga. What’s sad, you see people who are intelligent, I won’t mention names, then they create dynasties in their areas, hard to understand why they have to do that. Sila lang ba talaga ang may solusyon sa lahat ng problema?
Will: Hindi ba nila alam na crime does not pay?
Erin: Ewan ko…
Will: Nakakatuwa ka na nakakaawa…
Erin: Hahaha! Sabi nga sa town hall, kayo nila Bam, Chel, Florin, mga masokista kayo.
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[…] (Link to Part 2) […]
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
I wonder how will the kill the poor to eradicate poverty will be tempered, now that it is exacerbated by this admin.
I say exacerbated because it is a pre-existing illness.
Incentives to farmers will make the lives of farmers easier, hopefully it can convince the youth to pursue agriculture.
I remember where prostitutes and tax drivers would eat around 2 to 3am over there , those eateries could’ve been Michelin Star rated, why not also focus on Filipino street foods/vendors and get them to the same level as Singapore’s,
Have you watched “Crazy Rich Asians“, karl,
I think every Filipino should watch it. I’m sure LKY didn’t intend to Michelin rate Singaporean street food, but conditions just created the rise of street cuisine in Singapore.
I remember prostitutes and taxi drivers were the main patrons back in mid-2000s, I’m sure call centers have elevated street food over there, karl. Copy Singapore’s system, kinda like EDSA Entertainment Center but for street food.
Taiwanese, South Korean street food vendors are dressed like medical interns, or Ayala Avenue regulars. Somebody out there, please consider Lance’s germ of an idea.
VERY CLEAR, Will; THANKS! POVERTY — no. 1 problem (e.g., farmers, fishermen); SOLUTION: authentic public servants (politicians; civic organizations): our present government inefficient, occupied with self-interest (tutas, balimbing), distracts the public with false issues (e.g., drugs), with bravado for entertainment (threats, allegations, harassment, sexism); no critical judgment (e.g., subservience to China). OBSTACLES: our people, in general, have poor, if any, sense of country; maka-sarili, no critical thinking, for which quality education is needed — we are not a reading public: clear thinking starts with reading from childhood (we should have more public libraries; our teachers, like our farmers, should be our state’s principal concern, since with our children’s education, they shape our future, too: they also are public servants!). Another OBSTACLE: capitalist greed! We have lived through Marcosian times (yet now REVISIONISM is being forged; A COUNTRY IS ONLY AS STRONG AS HER PEOPLE’S MEMORY! we are now living through Dutertismo (where SELF-INTEREST rules, and therefore, at the core, CORRUPT!!)
You’re welcome, Brod Jimmy!
Corruption is the fire that’s burning the house down. Poverty is the gasoline that starts and sustains the flames. Nepotism and greed the spark. Elections the vehicle that makes the fire a spectacular event, like a fiesta, that makes the poor come closer until they themselves are fed to the fire. Repeat, from spark.
All that you’ve pointed out are true and relevant. They are all externalities. Sadly, you missed the most important part – introspection. In my dialect we have a term ‘bo charp’ and there is a Malay equivalent ‘tidak-apa’. This is a destructive attitude of disinterrest, in this case, in politics. Fascists win because the supporters are passionate and they jump in and do something whilst the majority of peace loving people tend to be bystanders and do nothing. Many Filipinos I came across are like this.
The German poet Bertolt Brecht put it eloquently.
*******
It’s there… but expressed in a different way?
“OBSTACLES: our people, in general, have poor, if any, sense of country; maka-sarili, no critical thinking…”
The “sense of country” may be as a result of introspection or of conditioning. Introspection will enable one to see the connections (the prostitute, the abandoned child, the robber, etc.) while conditioning may just be reactive.
*****
Expanding the idea to ‘sense of country’ and ‘no critical thinking’ to me seems to imply an acceptance of the excuse from a lack of acuity.
My feeling, as expressed in Bertolt’s quote, is that people understands, but they are disinterested for various reasons. I suspect one main reason is resignation to their lot . The thinking is — “Well we know what politicians are like, there is nothing I can do about it. If not this politician, another one will still be the same. I just get on with my life. They are dramas in my life’s background”.
*******
Ahhh, apathy.
“Tidak-apa” means nevermind, doesn’t matter.
So it’s beyond a poor sense of country.
*****
There are many things at work in the cultural character of Filipinos that render them oblivious and uncaring of their country’s fate. As Brecht points out and as chemrock and edgar explain, it’s not so much lack of intellectual awareness but the wanting and the willingness to turn a blind eye to anything other than what concerns him, his clan, or his immediate community. Not all Filipinos are unthinking or uncaring carabaos but it will take much more than introspection and education to install a sense and love of country to change that cultural character.
‘Insan ito ang kumati sa kokote ko habang binabasa itong pangalawang yugto ng obra maestro mo kay Erin. Medio mahaba ito kasi mas mahaba at marami naman ang naranasan ko na sa mundong ito.
1) Ang senado SAAN MAN ay MAARING isang bayong ng sari-saring prutas meron a) bulok na namamasa, nangangamoy na, b) merong hilaw at bansot nangingitim na, k) meron bubot pa ang lasa kahit matanda na, d) meron wastong gulang pero nadadaganan napapailalim sa masamang prutas, e) meron pinahinog sa kalburo, g) meron may malaking pasa dahil napulot lang sa lupa, h) meron matamis at makatas, i) meron mapakla kailangan isawsaw sa asukal, l) meron pekeng plastik na akala mo ay tunay na prutas, m) meron din prutas na nakaka diarrhea.
2) Ang Kongreso o Mababang kapulungan SAAN MAN ay MAARING isang sako punong-puno ng mga daga: a) dagang kosta, b) dagang bahay, k) dagang palay tubigan, e) dagang imburnal, g) dagang may susi sa pwet, h) dagang tahimik, i) dagang maingay, l) dagang bubuwit, m) dagang kalbo ang likod puno ng kalyo.
Ang isang kandidato para sa senado o kongreso kung may malasakit sa magsasaka at sakahan sa bansa ay dapat meron kahit kaunting kaalaman sa mga prutas (pomology) kasama na ang mga peste (Entomology) at salot (ratus-ratus Linn.)
Meron pang kwento este komentong susunod dito.
Huwag na ang kongreso, senado na lang sa ngayon, ipa drawing lahat ng miembro sa national artist na pintor ang mga prutas na binanggit sa itaas, lagyan ng pangalan tulad ng . . . .
Sa kongreso sino bang ang nabubuhay sa palayan, lumalangoy sa baha?
Ang magsasaka at mangingisda ang litid (Achilles heel) ng bawat bansa na siyang unang nginangatnat ng komunismo. Yan ang gamundong mali ni Karl Marx, akala niya ang ugat ng problema ng kahirapan ay nasa mga pabrika wala sa kanayunan at dalampasigan (coastal villages) ng karagatan. Maginhawa ang buhay ng karamihan sa mahihirap kung ayos ang pagsasaka. Maraming bansa Malaki at maliit (India, China, etc) meron din maraming namamatay sa gutom.
Sa mga gumagapang na mga bansa pamilya lang hindi kaya PAKANIN ng isang magsasaka at mangingisda. Noong katatapos lang ng WWII ang isang lang magsasaka sa Amerika kayang pakainin dalawampu’t siyam (29) na tao (paki check naman, baka peke ang numero). Ang Russia naman kayang pakanin labing anim (16) lang. Kaya Seguro sa giyerang malamig (cold war) ang naglalaban Merika at Rassya.
Sa mga nagiisip, naitanong ba nila kung bakit ang mga komunista sa Pinas, galit na galit, isinisuka ang Amerika? Maraming parang tamang dahilan pero eche bucheche lang kung ang titignan ay pamamaraan laban sa kahirapan.
Depende sa kalikasan at katangian ng bawa bansa, Malaki man o maliit ang INDUSTRIA at PAGSASAKA ang KAMBAL (magkadidkit pang Siamese Twins) na problema ng sambayanan. Kalimitan hindi puedeng paghiwalayin at gawin banko ng dugo (blood bank) ng mga uhaw at gutom na vampira ng politika.
Napakalaki ang magagawa (halos ikatlong parte) ng isang bayong na tunay na prutas at isang sako na walang namahay na daga.para malutas ang problema ng kahirapan ng sambayanan.
Let me say it in English:
Farmers and fishermen are Achilles heels
Of all nations, rich or poor. Weak and helpless
They therefore are the lifeblood of communism.
They too if I may hypothesize
Constitute the Marxian monumental mistake
Postulating that causes of poverty lies and grow
In factories not in farms and fishing the seas.
(singit: buti pa yun mangagawa meron
Kahit na katiting na sweldo.)
Poor nations have farmers and fishermen
Who can’t feed their families while US
And Russia fed 29 and 16 others, respectively
That’s why may be both countries
To this day heat and warm the Cold War
Those who think may have asked WHY
Filipino Communist so hate and despise
America and there may be valid reasons
Why, but could be mere eche bucheche
Of ways and means to solve poverty.
With natural resources and capability regardless,
Big or small countries have industry and agriculture
Like Siamese Twins can’t be parted and made
Each a blood bank of ravenous political vampires.
Magnum will be results and benefits expected
From a single governance branch of
A basket of real fruits and from
A sack empty of political rats.
popoy, I thought about these old school drawings while reading you poem,
chemp,
I just looked up voter turn-out for 2016 presidential election over there and it says 80%+ of those who could vote, did vote ; compare that to 60% and declining every year over here, that’s a big diff. So there is participation. I understand the landslide was towards DU30 in a 5 person race, but regardless of the outcome,
I think it’s safe to say that democracy in the Philippines is vibrant, people are participating.
Personally, I think what happened was very similar to over here, Obama bored everyone to death here (with his hopey&changey and human rights in the ME), ergo Trump won the next cycle; PNoy bored everyone over there (what? with economic policy and a winning personality ), ergo DU30 won.
So the voter turnout I don’t think is indicative of apathy, it’s the opposite.
Participation is there, Filipinos are participating, its just that the political field is populated by a whole lot of folks who haven’t really done anything of worth for the people there. Like this Erin dude, I still don’t really know what he’s truly accomplished for people there, since being a lawyer , a congressman, and now as a lawyer again I assume (current 5 years).
You can’t blame Filipinos for picking results over idealism, chemp. Or the loudest over the least charismatic. Election by definition is a popularity contest.
It’s comparative, so if Erin’s competition is as unqualified (or without proper resume), then hopefully he’ll win. Again, name recognition , connections, will play their role in all this.
Bam Aquino was only a kid when Ninoy Aquino was shot, Erin was 20 then and according to Wil‘s article already being a politician in college, so why does Bam’s wiki look waaaay longer than Erin’s.
Again, what exactly has he done?
Will fascists or military adventurists win in the Philippines? Spain, 333 years. America, 33 years, Japan 3 years, Marcos, 21 (2+1=3) years, Duterte, 3 years? Sorry for the irresistible numerology.
But setting that aside, we are introspective, Chem. We’re just on slow burn.
JOKE FOR THE DAY
What do Paul Desiderio (UP’s team captain) and XI Jinping (China’s President for life) have in common?
When they see certain things, they say ” ATIN TO” (This is ours.)
(a won game for Paul and a map of the Phil and West Phi Sea for Xi) 🙂 🙂 🙂
So the Land Use Bill (which Sotto and BBM shelved to go to dinner, I remember we talked about that here) was his. One of the most essential aspects of running a country with tight spaces well.
If LCPL_X says he is hardly known, is it because the country wasn’t mentally ready for him yet?
Was Land use one of his bills?
Since Honasaan failed to defend the bill, time and again, maybe he can do it together with his main advocacy, FOI.
IN 1960, from orientation and in-service training I learned and simplified two major functions, namely: LAND USE and SOIL RESEARCH with sub functions of classification, conservation, and fertility all under the umbrella of soil physics, soil chemistry and soil biology.
In agriculture at the time soilsmen (I told my Director) are science nuts instead of being extension men or bureaucrats as the reason why we can’t be big like the other bureaus in the department (DANR).
Land use then was more in theory and blah, blah, blah but the bureau then had several Experiment stations spread in the regions. There was one created by law (R.A. 4806) established in the Tanay, Rizal side of the Sierra Madre thru the efforts of Rep Frisco San Juan. Last time (long ago) I checked R.A. 4806 (I wrote the draft of the Bill) was no more as it became only part of the Annual General Appropriations Act and was receiving funding from SOKOR government. The history of the Bureau of Soils, what it became later could be reflective of the land use saga in the Philippines.
I hope nobody mentions here the Bureau of Forestry and the watershed of the big Pantabangan dam in Nueva Ecija where an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) was implemented through what they call Record of Discussions of a bilateral committee instead of MOAs (Memorandum of Agreement).
Do I read here sieving of the MOU between Red China and the Philippines?
More OOT?
Any disease or illness resulting from or accompanying any abnormal birth or event is called a SYNDROME; in international diplomacy or foreign relations STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP between one or more countries if not properly defined and accepted by other nations could well be a SYNDROME.
OOT Nostalgia of may be of more than 58 years in a place where in 1958 I had my farm practice; to experience slash and burn (kaingin) farming; where side by side I cleaned the bush with Dumagats, where I had to walk a mile for a pack of Lucky Strike where with a 20 gauge shotgun I brought down what Sampaloc folks said to be the biggest and oldest balud; where it took us a full days work to bring up from the nearest brook enough water for cooking and washing the dishes, where we took our baths under a waterfall where all the soap are cleaned up from the body by only one pass, and etc, etcetera of bygone memories of integrity.
so I googled the wrong name of the office of my first job.
https://conservationist.wordpress.com/2007/08/02/potential-of-conservation-agriculture-in-the-sloping-lands-of-tanay-rizal-philippines/#comments
Ireneo,
Since Baclaran was mentioned in the blog, I’m wondering if you know of Erin or Erin’s circle. I know you were UP, but Ateneo is only a hop and a skip. But you realize my point about lightweight , no? This guy just doesn’t seem to have done a lot.
You are trolling the blog on this point, it seems to me. Just draw your conclusion, for yourself, and stop demanding other people prove a point you are determined not to accept.
Sorry, Joe, but I’m just really curious about this Erin Tanada. Will stop asking for his qualifications, though hopefully others would research him further.
If credentials are intelligence, skill, character, and accomplishment, sufficient data exist to compare him to other candidates on the senatorial slate. Information will never be perfect, nor will candidates.
If I may LCpl, old heavyweights don’t make judgment of young lightweights. Young MLQ, Pnoy, and others were lightweights before and didn’t care about weights. When you were young you were skin and bones ’till you got your chance to put on weight. What was your weight for your country and people when you were Erin’s age? In science there’s a formula: Weight over volume equals Density; two known values is needed to know one unknown. Beauty queens look undernourished before they become obese mothers. And what did the bible say about judging? I know, I know this eche bucheche is inappropriate and uncalled for and should be deleted on the spot since I am also guilty of what it purports to accomplish.
Erin’s not young is my point, popoy, he should have more to show this late in the game. But I digress, I’ve already promised Joe not to continue.
yeah okay, I am just making hills out of flat space; people can be young at heart though old senior in chronological age or middle age in public service. yeah right, I must shut up now.
The anti-Land use lobby by the real estate developers.
Click to access TheProposedNLUAACritiqueandCounterProposal1.pdf
“If LCPL_X says he is hardly known, is it because the country wasn’t mentally ready for him yet?”
Ireneo,
No I didn’t say he was hardly known, I’ve only just heard of him after reading Wil’s Part 1. So I don’t know how popular he is over there, but my point was that his resume just seems really on the light side. Hence, my lightweight comment in Part 1— which i will repeat here.
Again, I asked about what he did as…
1) a lawyer
2) a congressman
3) a lawyer again? (5 years-current)
This whole FOI seems to me just politicians trying to ding each other, doesn’t quite translate to the common folk.
Now this Land Use stuff I’d like to hear more about with Erin, but this too isn’t something original, I met a bunch of Huks (actually the progeny) of Huks in Mindanao, who were transplanted there… again I don’t see anything original with this dude, like for example Bam Aquino he’s got a brand and a list of results befitting his brand, young future of the Philippines,
if Erin’s for the poor, did he represent the poor as a lawyer? what other pro-poor stuff did he legislate? Now, 5 years since getting out of politics, did he work for the poor? It’s a strange brand when there’s nothing to show for it. Just really strange, this is the lightweight-ness I’m speaking about.
Mar Roxas is a pro-bidness guy, that’s his brand, and he’s got Call Centers, etc. This Erin guy, I can’t pin-point his brand, what exactly is he fighting for? Here’s chemp’s advice to me a few blogs back:
https://joeam.com/2018/11/21/a-troll-by-any-other-name-is-a-sad-sad-case-of-wasted-filipino/#comment-263660
chemp: “Leni lives the advocacy of helping the very poor with many outreach programs to places where no politicians go. I suggest you do a google search “leni robredo in the slum images” and compare that to say “imee marcos in the slums images”. You see the stark difference. “
Thanks to chemp, I also tried it with Erin:
“Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada in the slums images” — zip, zero , none, tidak
“Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada in the farms images” — again, nothing, zillow, just images of him with powerpoint presentations.
So what gives?
there’s this, but this is campaigning stuff,
The intellectuals will strike back, words to that effect, by Erin.
IT is Not disinterest. The Majority is drowmed by the common individual feeling of helplessness, aloneness in the social situation and the pathetic attitude of leaving everyday political issues to the selfish public officials. IT is Not poverty that is the problem. IT is the absence of a LEE Quan Yew, an absconded Nelson Mandela in our political social spectrum that is the root problem. Too many moral, modest,intelligent leaders in our midst WHO refuse to immerse and commit themselves COMPLETEY and AUTHENTICALLY to save our country. Just look at ourselves. We Salve our Consciences with self satisfying, grammatically correct, politically pure thoughts ON social virtues of our surroundings……and let the grossly insane Duterte run around with his muck.
Bernard… you are describing exactly the disinterest that is a major cause of the problem.
Allow me another paste another Bertolt Brecht quote :
“Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes”
Being unhappy is not always ENOUGH.
chemp,
I just watched “Crazy Rich Asians” on DVD, and I can’t help but think, maybe the farmers and poor aren’t where Filipinos need to focus on, focus on business people and entrepreneurs , they’ll create conditions where poor and no-talents can still thrive, ie. numbers 3 and 4 below,
https://www.boell.de/sites/default/files/styles/980x/public/uploads/2017/05/ocean_atlas_infographic_aquaculture-closed-nutrition-cycle-cutout.jpg?itok=0I0ceG1m
(I’m sure Princess Intan would agree, right chemp 😉 )
ooooops, jpg didn’t show, here’s 3 and 4.
The thought struck me as wifey and I were exiting a mall after the last full show of the movie Pangarap Kong Holdap. (Go watch! Filipino movies for the world! Subtitles are not literal translations but conversational, modern English. And the wit!): the Philippines is a first world country! The malls, restrooms—flush that works, tabo, of course, toilet paper to be had—carparks, traffic enforcement although spotty, water on the tap, internet, office spaces and atmosphere, shopping galore, restaurants!, English-speaking populace, JoeAm-style expressiveness, Jimmy Abad poetic optimism, socmed intellect, Mocha retreating, Magic 8 of the Oposisyon Koalisyon, worship access, brand new cars. It’s just that we have the 40 per cent poor which seems impenetrable to economic growth. Just a fine tuning, the OK senatoriables say. Just a fine tuning. Twenty years, Erin said. Philippines will shine because it is inherently silver. Just needs fire to burnish. Duterte fire.
My point: why were the Reds successful in stemming the tide against Marcos? Because they were a party of the organized and committed through and through ..and risk everything even with their lives. IT is the same social situation Now . What about us, the great commentators of the socety of honor, Justice, compassion etc.
How to help the farmers? Give them realistic access to inputs for farming; major input is irrigation. Also easy access to market. See following example, which if realized will be “the game-changer”:
*******
The link points to one’s personal mailbox. This should be corrected.
*****
These inputs to farming have always been provided and given to farmers; these inputs are donuts; the farmers received the holes while the real bread had been gobbled by thieves honored as politicians and high bureaucrats.
People if they are interested should know where to apply the insecticides and fungicides to control and eliminate the REAL pests and diseases in Philippine agriculture.
We need an Erin for that. Lift the farmers, lift the country.
Thanks. I’ve removed the link.
Comparative advantage.
the Philippines use to run the best rice research center at one point, they squandered it; so instead of focusing on farmers, why not encourage fishing (sell the fish for rice, instead of growing rice). Fish farms.
Forget Land Use, how about Sea Use!
Reminders:
Fish pens in Laguna are already an eyesore and it is only for big time fishermen.
WPS issues where you can’t fish on your own waters.