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LINK: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 20 April 2008 Issue

On April 22, many countries around the world would celebrate Earth Day.

Earth Day is apparently observed because of the felt need to rouse environmental consciousness and the protection of the only place human beings can live in.

This very same awareness inspired former US senator of Wisconsin, Gaylord Anton Nelson, to lead teach-ins on the environment in college campuses in the late 1969 following the model of protest actions over the Vietnam War.

The success of Nelson’s campaign led his organizers of environmental teach-ins to declare April 22 as Earth Day. Some say that this date is appropriate because it is the natal day of Oscar-Emmy awards nominated actor, American Edward ‘Eddie’ Albert Heimberger, who worked for environmental causes and groups, of former US Secretary of Agriculture, Julius Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day, a national tree-planting holiday in the United States, and other similar observances.

“Earth Day achieved what I had hoped for. The objective was to get a nationwide demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake the political arena. It was a gamble, but it worked. An estimated 20 million people participated in peaceful demonstrations all across the country. Ten thousand grade schools and high schools, two thousand colleges, and one thousand communities were involved… That was the remarkable thing that became Earth Day”, Nelson said in one press interview.

There is another Earth Day observed yearly on March 21, which was first celebrated in the United States in 1970 and each year after that at the United Nations to bring to public attention its original purpose of “peace, justice and the care of Earth”. This idea of a universal holiday to celebrate the natural wonders of the earth was first proposed by US peace activist, John McConnell, in October 1969.

They say that the March 21 Earth Day is notable because it is on this day that the vernal equinox, or the time of every year when the sun crosses the equator resulting in a twelve hour equal distribution between night and day all over this planet.

Inarguably, there is sense to observe or celebrate Earth Day whether on April 22 or March 21. There is no sense to debate which is the appropriate date. In fact, it would be a better arrangement if people observe it everyday. After all, taking care of this planet, like taking care of one’s home, should be a constant activity and a continuing concern.

In their Internet article “Make This Earth Day Your Last!” Alex Steffen and Sarah Rich shared this view:

“The biggest problem with Earth Day is that it has become a ritual of sympathy for the idea of environmental sanity. Small steps, we’re told, ignoring the fact that most of the steps most frequently promoted (returning your bottles, bringing your own bag, turning off the water while you brush your teeth) are of such minor impact (compared to our ecological footprints) that they are essentially meaningless without larger, systemic action as well. The strategy of recycling as a gateway drug — get them hooked on it and we can move them on to harder stuff — has failed miserably. We can do better.”

“It is, essentially, the politics of gesture, little different than wearing a rubber wrist band or a pink ribbon, and, such a politics is primarily a means of raising money for large NGOs while making regular folks feel a little better about their relationship to a terribly flawed system. It’s a broken model and we can do better.”

Many would indeed find that all the current efforts to save planet earth are tokenistic, and would not change the things as they are because of the short-shortsightedness of human concerns and the lack of will to give up something that gives human comfort and convenience in the present world order.

The only consolation perhaps is that it is better to have all these initiatives at hand, no matter how trivial, to continue to serve as a universal wake-up call.

American astronaut James Arthur ‘Jim’ Lovell Jr. of Apollo 8 and 13, after looking at this planet from the vastness of space, observed:

“It gives you in an instant, just at a position 240,000 miles away from it, (an idea of) how insignificant we are, how fragile we are, and how fortunate we are to have a body that will allow us to enjoy the sky and the trees and the water … It’s something that many people take for granted when they’re born and they grow up within the environment. But they don’t realize what they have. And I didn’t till I left it.”

Hopefully, his fellow earthlings realize it soon too.

LINK: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 6 April 2008 Issue

Oftentimes, it takes death to know how a person lived. 

It was Easter Sunday, March 23, when a major television channel reported that two young ladies met a fatal car accident along C-5 that morning on their way to hear an early morning mass after a day’s work in an airline company.

One of the fatalities is Abigael Encarnacion Parong, a young lass who just earned her degree in Legal Management in Ateneo de Manila University in 2007. Her companion in that tragic accident was Kristine Marie Oroqueta.

Abegael lived a normal life as a child and a young adult except that she exuded creative intelligence, a deep Christian faith, athletic talents and diligence. She was always a source of joy to her parents Lyn and Lito, sibling Paolo, relatives and friends. All those who knew her would remember her for the very distinct sweet smile she always carried on her amiable face that invited enduring friendship even to people who were not personally close to her.

She was one person who simply loves to love people. It is precisely for this reason obviously that she dedicated a good part of her youth working as an active volunteer of Gawad Kalinga to help build poor communities in Nueva Ecija and Payatas, Quezon City because she truly shared the vision of ending slums, violence and poverty in the country in her own modest ways.

During her graduation rites, Jesuit priest and Ateneo president, Bienvenido F. Nebres, who personally took time out from his busy schedule to celebrate a funeral mass for Abegael, was quoted as referring to her as an example of living a happy and a meaningful life as an Atenean who was a friend to all. Like others, Fr. Nebres also remembers her for her distinct sweet smile. 

No wonder Abigael’s friends fondly called her “Angel”. Perhaps, it was no mere coincidence when her late paternal grandfather ordered her parents to use “EL” instead of “IL” as the last two letters of her name. “EL” stands for God in the biblical jargon. Abigael’s lifetime was indeed an epitome of the presence of God every step of the way.

Family, relatives and friends who attended her funeral were surprised with the herd of people who paid their last respects for Abigael, many of whom they do not even know. But apparently with their show of grief, she touched their lives too in simple ways one way or the other.

Her uncle, Danny Dula, even remarked that the internment seems to be her premiere night if it were in the movies. Her aunt, Cora Encarnacion, said that they knew only of the purposeful life Abegail lived with her untimely death. All the attention, respect and the little stories shared about her goodness were surely a source of great consolation to her family that she did not leave this earth in vain even if it was short-lived.

Abegael did not die as a heroine or a public figure or a celebrity. The quality of life that she lived would not even deserve media attention other than the fact that her death was tragic.

There is this philosophical story that when a person is born everyone around is happy and proud to welcome the newly born as the baby cries out loud to his or her lungs content maybe in anticipation of living in a cruel world.  But when a person dies, it should be that mourners cry bereaving the loss of the person who touched their lives as his or her soul looks at them with gladness and peace from somewhere beyond. For sure though, the extent and degree of the grief of the mourners measure the kind of life that the dead lived.

There are countless of Abegaels who lived and passed this world quietly. Their memories would obviously live in the hearts of the people they touched. Abegael’s passing is a reminder that there is a great sense for every human being to live a life of meaning to and for others.

The death of Abegael and all those of her breed defined their lives. Certainly, they were earth’s loss. But come to think of it, human beings like Abegael are heaven’s gain.

LINK: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 30 March 2008 Issue

Congratulations to the hundreds of thousands of Filipino youth who received or will receive their diplomas in various graduation rites this month of March and next month after completing their elementary, secondary or tertiary education for school year 2007-2008.

Special kudos to James Soriano and the rest of the Ateneo High School Batch 2008 as they officially bid farewell to high school life today.

Former US President John F. Kennedy once reminded his countrymen that “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.” 

US educator Horace Mann, the first great American advocate of public education in the mid-nineteenth century put it in this wise: “Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery.”

Everywhere in the world, there is no argument that education is a key element in emancipating individuals, families and nations from the bondage of poverty and misery.  This country in fact even ordained in its Constitution to give the highest budgetary priorities in government spending for education.

But it seems that the world, including the Philippines, is merely paying lip service to the vital role of education in human survival and progress.

Some global reports and statistics say that today, there are still 125 million children who never attend school. At least 150 million children of primary age start school but drop out before they read or write. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals Report 2007 notes that based on enrolment data, approximately 72 million children of primary school age in the developing world, 57 percent of whom were girls, were not in school in 2005.

One out of four adults in the developing world is illiterate. Nearly a billion people entered the twenty first century unable to read a book or sign their names. A child in Mozambique is fortunate to go to school for two to three years while European or American child spends at least seventeen years of formal education.

And yet, according to the magazine, New Internationalist, less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it never happened.

In the Philippines, the enrolment ratio of children going to school seems high. Most of them though are in the public school system presumably because most families are unable to afford the exorbitant costs of private education. In fact, less than 20% of Filipino children are enrolled in private schools. And this aggravates the perennial predicament on the inadequacy of classroom and academic facilities, books, and qualified and competent teachers that necessitate huge public spending allocation every year. Worse, it is perceived, and the perception is most likely true, that there is a great disparity between the quality of education between private schools and public schools. 

The irony of it all is that the country’s educational system graduates hundreds of thousand of students every year many of whom obviously appear undeserving of the diplomas that they hang in the walls of their homes. It is a case of education for diploma’s sake and not for learning’s sake. Thus, it is no coincidence that the country still nurses a high rate of underemployment and unemployment. Filipinos use their diplomas simply as a passport to get a job period. Never mind if their employment is not necessarily what they prepared for after at least fourteen years in school.

Education does not guarantee success, wealth or fame. Education offers only the hope and the preparation for the attainment of human aspirations at the very least. In the scheme of things, getting educated is certainly most important than just having a diploma. 

The poverty of education looms. The world would not afford to have tomorrow’s parents and leaders out of today’s uneducated children and educated derelicts.

LINK: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 23 March 2008 Issue

Sins are acts or omissions regarded by institutions of faith as transgressions of their God’s will.

From the standpoint of the Roman Catholics, sins may be original, referring to the since of disobedience inherited by all the descendants of Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Following this biblical line, no one comes out of the mother’s womb sinless. Sins may also be personal, taking either the form of mortal or venial sins depending on their nature, gravity, and deliberateness.

In the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church, they say that Saint Gregory I, The Great, who introduced the edict of celibacy, listed the original seven deadly sins during his papacy in the 6th century. And this list was made popular by a great Italian poet, Dante Alighieri, in his epic poem and literary masterpiece, “The Divine Comedy” in the 14th century.

The seven deadly sins include: Luxuria (extravagance or lust), Gula (gluttony), Avaritia (greed), Acedia (sloth), Ira (wrath), Invidia (envy), and Superbia (pride).

If there are seven deadly sins, there are also seven holy virtues. They say that the seven virtues were derived from an epic poem written by a Roman Christian Poet, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, entitled “Psychomachia” or the “Contest of the Soul”, which was intensely popular in Europe during the Middle Ages. These seven virtues that include, Chastity, Abstinence, Temperance, Diligence, Patience, Kindness and Humility, are regarded as ‘contrary virtues’ because they are supposed to protect one against each of their counterpart in the order of the seven deadly sins.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, India’s great political and spiritual leader and one of the most influential figures in modern social and political activism, devised his own list of seven sins which he considered to be most spiritually damaging to modern-day humanity.  These include: Wealth without Work, Pleasure without Conscience, Science without Humanity, Knowledge without Character, Politics without Principle, Commerce without Morality, and Worship without Sacrifice.

A week ago, Vatican came up with a list of seven modern-day mortal sins for Roman Catholics, in addition to the traditional seven deadly sins, because of their prevalence in this era of ‘unstoppable globalisation’. Reports say that these new mortal sins were listed by Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti at the end of a week-long training seminar in Rome for priests, aimed at encouraging a revival of the practice of confession or the Sacrament of Penance in the Catholic faith.

The seven modern evils include: environmental pollution, genetic manipulation, accumulating excessive wealth, inflicting poverty, drug trafficking and consumption, morally debatable experiments, and violation of fundamental rights of human nature.

8ins are intrinsically evil because they deliberately offend the sensibilities of human nature. For this reasons, almost all sins, if not all, are also legislated and regarded as crimes against society in the modern world that deserve corporeal punishment. Although, it does not necessarily follow that all state-defined crimes are sins per se. 

The sins committed by human beings have no expiration date. Neither does their basic nature change with the changing world. Sins will be the same throughout the existence of humanity. What the human conscience perceives as evils before are the same evils today, only the form, manner, face or packaging of their commission will change.

As the Christian world celebrates and observes Easter Sunday, people should be reminded that still the best prescription to avoid the temptation and occasion of sins, modern or old, is to conscientiously observe the ethic or reciprocity in their human conduct as expressed in the Golden Rule of “doing unto others what you would like others do unto you”. And certainly, this is in keeping and in accord with God’s will even in today’s world.

LINK: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 9 March 2008 Issue

The month of March is International Women’s Month and in particular March 8 is officially marked around the world as the International Women’s Day.

Theoretically, men and women are created equal. Humanity would not exist without one or the other. The paradigm of both sexes is the ultimate expression that nature works, or should work, in harmony. Absent this symbiotic relationship, the world is bound to fail, if not self-destruct.

While both men and women have their innate attributes, in the scheme of the Divine creation, neither of them enjoy the status of a privileged gender.  The world needs women as much as it needs men.

But for many centuries as far as recorded human history could recall, women were traditionally relegated as a second class gender. They were treated as slaves. They were not accorded equal opportunities in life and their social and political rights were curtailed. They were the usual object of discrimination as well as physical and emotional abuse. Until now perhaps, there is no country in the world that can lay claim that their women are on equal footing with men in all respect.

A website of the United Nations says that the majority of the world’s 1.3 billion absolute poor are women. On the average, women receive between 30 and 40 per cent less pay than men earn for the same work. And everywhere, women continue to be victims of violence, with rape and domestic violence listed as significant causes of disability and death among women of reproductive age worldwide.

The beginning of this yearly international observance especially dedicated for women itself was itself the product of a struggle for political and economic recognition and emancipation.

March 8, 1857, reports say that women workers in garment factories in New York City staged a protest to fight against their low wages and inhumane working conditions that were met with police attacks and dispersals. In the same month, two years later, these garment women workers were able organize their first labor union.

March 8, 1908, another report says that at least fifteen thousand women marched through New York City demanding for shorter working hours, better pay, voting rights and an end to child labor. They adopted the slogan “Bread and Roses”, with bread symbolizing economic security and roses a better quality of life.

They say that the idea to have a women’s day that is international in character was initially proposed by a German socialist, Clara Zetkin, during an international conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1910 of socialist organizations across the globe to mark the strike of women garment workers in the United States.

It might still be inappropriate to celebrate with fondness and merriment this month or day for women because their struggle lives on in many parts of the world. But it is very significant to observe the occasion as a constant reminder to all that women occupy a very lofty position in society. Their struggle should be every human being’s struggle. Their issues transcend gender equality. Their issues are all about man’s own inhumanity to his fellowmen.

Needless to say, procreation takes place because both sexes exist. The only significant difference is that every human being is conceived in a woman’s womb. Women thus provide humanity their first shelter until they are out to confront the harsh realities of life themselves. If only for this women deserve a better and fairer treatment in this world.

They deserve it more than any men do.

LINK: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 24 February 2008 Issue

Tomorrow is the 22nd anniversary of the so-called ‘people power 1’ that toppled the authoritarian regime of former president Ferdinand E. Marcos and brought the country from a brief revolutionary regime to a constitutional democracy. Certainly, it was a fine moment in human history that the country can be proud of.

More than seven years ago, the strong political clamor to remove former president Joseph E. Estrada on charges of corruption gave rise to ‘people power 2’. Following a constitutionally-defined succession in which the Supreme Court gave its stamp of approval, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the post of chief executive.

While both versions of people power are being held in high esteem by the international community for the bloodless takeover of political regimes, there is no dispute that they would have not succeeded without military intervention. People power 1 and 2 were peaceful and bloodless because the top guns of the military hierarchy chose to shift loyalties to a new regime.

The sad reality is that no amount of public expression and demonstration of protest and condemnation even by a majority of the citizenry would topple a political regime without military intervention. Political leaders are naturally driven by the desire to preserve authority and power until all the avenues are closed, which only the armed forces could bring about.

Take the case of the ensuing ‘people power 3’ to restore the Estrada presidency. It failed not because it had no popular support, as in fact, Estrada obtained the most convincing and strongest mandate of the electorate in the country’s history when he got elected to the office. It failed because former president Estrada no longer had the organized support of the military generals.

In the current political controversy hounding the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the shifting of loyalties of the military hierarchy seems close to impossible. The commander-in-chief is astute enough to make the military leadership tow her line. Should the disgruntled junior officers in the military establishment decide to take matters in their hands, ‘people power 4’ would certainly be bloody and does not deserve to be called one. It would either be a rebellion, a mutiny or a coup d’etat.

The only constitutional mechanism to replace a president who betrayed public trust is the process of impeachment. But then again, this political process would not have any chance to even take off because of the president’s political dominance of the House of Representatives.

The church is calling for a ‘communal action’ or for a more meaningful or a new brand of ‘people power’ whatever that means. Certainly, street demonstrations, prayer rallies, and similar expressions of public protests would not bring about a new brand of ‘people power 4’ and make President Arroyo give up her office, even if the cardinals and the bishops are able to physically gather a million Filipinos in Luneta to call for her resignation.  The minions of the president have mastered so well the Machiavellian art of ‘divide and rule’.

For people power 4 to succeed in the same context as people power 1 and 2, but without the usual military interference, there must be some collective political will on the part of Filipinos to show that they are the sovereign authority. This could be done perhaps by momentarily withholding government support in the form of taxes, or by exercising the framework of people’s initiative to constitutionally shorten the term of the incumbent president, or a mass resignation or leave of absence of government servants who still upholds morality in public service. All these would be done only to put pressure to the president to resign and allow the constitutional processes to take shape. But obviously these are arduous paths to take.

In the meantime, a long-drawn-out political deadlock is in the offing. This means some setback in the economy and some political instability and maneuverings here and there. The Filipino people need to sacrifice more in the ensuing tug-of-war because whoever of the opposing camps blinks first loses the game.

If there is still a chance for ‘people power 4’, it should be within the constitutional spirit that sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them. Otherwise, people power 4 could be tragic.

LINK: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 17 February 2008 Issue

In October 1918, former Manila Mayor Justo Lukban, with all the best intentions to rid the city of vices, ordered the segregation of some one hundred seventy women of ill repute and made them board two steamers, without their knowledge and consent, so they could be relocated to Davao.

In a habeas corpus petition, the Supreme Court did not “permit a government of the men instead of a government of laws” to be set up in this country. And this was the gist of the landmark case of Villavicencio vs. Lukban decided almost ninety years ago.

In the present state of political turmoil brought about by accusations of corruption involving high officials in government both the accused and their accusers cry for the rule of law, not trial by publicity and subsequently conviction by public opinion.

As citizens of this Republic, shenanigans in government are also entitled to the mantle of protection of the Bill of Rights. And this is what the rule of law is all about because like any malefactor, they are also presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

In refusing to testify again before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the controversial ZTE-NBN deal, Secretary Romulo Neri publicly invokes the rule of law especially after the Supreme Court granted him a reprieve from arrest. For his part, former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos challenged his accusers to hail him before the courts and prove their accusations. Critics of whistle-blowers and star witnesses, Rodolfo Lozada Jr. and Jose de Venecia III contend that no evidence has been presented thus far sufficient to convict those involved in the anomalous transaction.  Every one knows that a criminal conviction requires proof beyond reasonable doubt. Again, this is what the rule of law is all about.

Obviously, these legal standards have found their way in the country’s Bill of Rights and legal system because they are intended to safeguard individual liberties, particularly of ordinary citizens, from the enormous powers of the State. In the same token, public officials and employees proclaimed as servants of the people are entitled to the same mantle of protection.

The dilemma is ordinary folks are not similarly situated as public functionaries although they enjoy equal protection in the eyes of the law.

The rights of ordinary citizens to the secrecy of bank deposits or against any intrusion on privacy like wire-tapping or to invoke privilege communications in certain cases or not to be bound by certain evidences that are part of the ‘poisonous tree’, so to speak, are part of the processes to guarantee individual freedom, which the government could easily abuse.

But it is in a sense an irony of the rule of law if the same legal standards, system and processes are equally applied to public servants because the chance of getting them caught and convicted of their misdeeds becomes a mere fairy tale depending on the scale of the conspiracy and the level of official position they occupy. Sheer cover up, the ‘old-boys’ club’ attitude, and plain blind loyalties and obedience to powerful and influential men in government would make it almost impossible to convict government felons of grand corruption beyond reasonable doubt. And so they remain scot-free and continue to perpetuate themselves in power.

Thus, the rule of law intended to guarantee the rights of Juan de la Cruz could be the same rule of law that gives unscrupulous public officials the cloak of legal protection, perhaps just a strand short of immunity from legal prosecution.

It is easy to understand why a high position in government is a most coveted job. It is the easiest route to power, fame and wealth without the usual investment, except whom you know coupled with the willingness to cooperate.

In the Villavicencio case, the Supreme Court said that “Law defines power”. It was certainly decreed in 1919 in the context that this country is a government of laws and not of men. But nowadays the same statement could assume another import, in the negative sense.

Is there any other viable alternative to the bar of public opinion in a situation called the misrule of law?

LINK: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 10 February 2008 Issue

In spilling some beans against the government in a privilege speech on February 4 prior to his ouster as Speaker of the House of Representatives engineered by no less than his own party mates, the motive, integrity and credibility of Jose De Venecia Jr. are suspect.

During his testimony in the on-going investigation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the controversial ZTE-NBN deal four days later, Rodolfo Lozada Jr. was grilled by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on what seemed to appear as his illicit activities while acting as head of the government-owned Philippine Forest Corporation.  And this also put his integrity and credibility to test.

In the law profession, impeaching the credibility of a witness is a usual line of defense to defeat the introduction, admissibility, or acceptability of testimonial evidence or simply to dilute its competence. Questions on credibility normally revolve around motive and reputation of the witness.

As it has been in the past, impeaching the credibility of De Venecia and Lozada would obviously be the official government course to defend itself from their expose of corruption. At the end of the day, every accusation should be judged in terms of credibility and motive, not on the basis of what is the truth.

It is as if only saints have the capacity to tell the truth. If this is so, there is surely no chance for truth to ever surface. The reality in today’s world is that no one can claim with all honesty that he or she has lived a clean life through and through. No one is spotless. It is even a big lie for one to even say that he or she has never lied.

But assuming just for the sake of arguments that there are still people who live a life of righteousness who could stand on his or her own credibility and integrity, the problem is for sure they would never be a part or participate in any illicit or immoral acts. And they would never be in the situation where De Venecia, Lozada and other whistle-blowers are in right now in the first place. Apparently, it takes one to know one.

The whole point is that sinners also have the capacity and opportunity for greatness.

Many great men in history had their own share of scandals and ill-reputation but they changed the course of history because at one point in their lives they decided to do the right thing regardless of the risk involved.

De Venecia may have all the evil motives to bring down the current regime of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as a form of political retaliation. Never mind the motive. What is important is for the Filipino people to know the truth and nothing but the truth. 

Lozada may not be exactly clean when as per his admission during the Senate inquiry that as far as he is concerned there is such a thing for him as ‘permissible zone’ of corruption. Never mind if he used to condone malfeasance or used to be a part of it. What is important again is for the Filipino people to know the truth and nothing but the truth.

No one exactly knows where these confessions of De Venecia and Lozada would go.  Perhaps like any other scandals and investigations, they will just remain as news of today in the coming weeks and months, and simply forgotten in the pages of the country’s history.

De Venecia and Lozada, regardless whether their acts and motives are mere acts of personal survival or mere acts of heroism as Senator Gregorio B. Honasan would put it, have the opportunity for greatness.

What is not sure is whether the Filipino people would take the same opportunity for themselves, for their country, and for the next generation.

PUBLISHED: ‘Note Verbale’, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Times) – 3 February 2008 Issue

Employees need to be in the offices by eight in the morning. Many children have to be in school usually earlier than that. Works or assignments have to be delivered or submitted within a given time frame. There are meetings, activities or gatherings here and there where one is expected to be on time, or at least attend. There are obligations like bills, debts and budget that have to be met or some overdue personal differences that have to be settled. There are also personal wants that are time bound like watching a favorite movie or a concert.

In short, every one has to beat a deadline nowadays.  Deadlines are not only imposed by peers, by authorities, by the system, by events or by society itself. Deadlines are also imposed by nature and circumstances, like the cycle of environment where people live or the biological dictates and processes of one’s being. Oftentimes though, these situations are rather postponed to accommodate a myriad of least important human activities until such time that there is a threat or danger to one’s life or property that is clear and present.

There is a race against time because human beings recognize that, one way or the other, things would meet their end. And the usual options are either to extend it or beat it.

What further complicate deadlines is also the fact that human activities are becoming more and more complex as the world gets older. A lot of these activities that satisfy human pleasures impose too much demand on one’s time as if a day could extend beyond twenty hours.

It is easy to blame the unabated progress of, or advancement in, technology and modern science as the culprit. But this is ironic considering that technology and science are meant to make life easier and comfortable. The problem perhaps is that they give everyone broader choices, better facilities, greater access and more freedom which human beings would naturally occupy their limited space of time with.

Racing against time meant having to live in a very stressful environment. Those who do not join the bandwagon are usually typecast or tagged by society as lazy, bums or non-achievers. Those who do usually sacrifice a lot of things that are more significant in life like adequate sleep, healthy lifestyles, friendships, kinship, or for the faithful, even spending just a very brief moment with God.

It is even a source of wonder that even the time that should be spent for leisure, vacations or holidays are also becoming nerve-wracking these days.

Experts suggest that proper time management is the reasonable approach to the race against time. Some suggest to classify human activities in terms of priority, urgency and importance or a combination thereof which would all the more necessitate immediate action above all else. Some recommend a basic action plan of prioritizing, delegating, and learning to say ‘no’. There is a lot of sense in these prescriptions. Getting organized though and doing things systematically in accord with the frame one had set for himself also require a lot of discipline and effort.

Canadian teacher and small business consultant, Susan Ward, is probably right when she said that time management is a myth. “No matter how organized we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn’t change. All we can actually manage is ourselves and what we do with the time that we have.”

There are just too much endeavors in this world that could fill one’s time. It is always a matter of choice which one to take. What is unfortunate is to race against time because the person spent a lot of it on things that do not really matter for his or her personal gratification.

Time is just like money. It has to be spent or even invested wisely.  Otherwise and unlike money though, time would never be earned back because no matter how it was spent it will be lost forever.

LINK: ‘Note Verbale‘, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Section) - 27 January 2008 Issue

The congressional proceedings on the cheaper medicine bill are in the final stages. The deliberations on the measure have been controversial, if not emotional, among the stakeholders since last year. The primary objective of the proposed law is to address the popular clamor for a more affordable health care by bringing down the exorbitant costs or the overpricing of medicines in the market.

Understandably, every time government is confronted with a pressing public demand the usual response is to come up with a law to respond or as a political reaction to the issue. Fortunately for the government, the cacophony would subside momentarily. But unfortunately to the public, the predicament almost always remains unresolved. Ironically, the law in many situations consequently aggravates the issue or becomes the source of a much bigger concern.

One of the promises of the proponents of the Generics Act of 1988 was to accomplish almost the same purpose as the cheaper medicine bill. Two decades after this law, the Filipino people are still suffering from same much higher prices of medicines.

Ten years ago, Congress passed the Downstream Oil Deregulation Act of 1998. The promise is to ensure a truly competitive market under a regime of fair prices, adequate and continuous supply of environmentally-clean and high-quality petroleum products.  Price control of fuel products, which have been blamed by some quarters for higher prices, became deregulated. But still, fuel prices are unreasonably high and worse, oil companies are accused of predatory pricing under a monopolistic arrangements disguising as deregulation.

Overseas Filipino worker Flor R. Contemplacion was executed in Singapore for the murder of another Filipino domestic helper. In response to the weeks of consistent public protests over the issue and the plight of Filipino workers abroad, former President Fidel V. Ramos pushed for the passage of the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. The promise was to reform the overseas employment industry, provide better protection to the overseas workers, and pursue a state policy of deregulation. Twelve years after, another law was passed setting aside the deregulation policy and still the victims of illegal recruitment and exploitation continue to grow in number.

In 1989, the Magna Carta for Countryside and Barangay Business Enterprises (Kalakalan 20) was passed by Congress. In 2002, an almost similar law was also enacted called the Barangay Micro Business Enterprises Act. The promise of both statutes is to promote entrepreneurship outside of urban centers by providing a package of tax and credit incentives, simplifying business regulations, and hopefully, to ease poverty and unemployment. Judging from the almost a million Filipinos seeking employment abroad in last couple of years, it is doubtful whether these programs even got off the ground.

Time and time again, government professes that foreign investments are needed to spur economic growth. But even all the packages of government incentives accorded by various laws to foreign investors did not seem to really attract them. Otherwise, this country would not be talking now about poor economic conditions and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would not be breaking her back campaigning to foreign businessmen that the Philippines is an ideal haven for their investments.

Twenty years ago, landless farmers and farm workers were promised a more equitable distribution and ownership of lands through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988. With the law about to expire in June 30 and Congress talking about its extension, farmers remain poor and locked in a tug-of-war with landowners.

Labor’s demand for higher wages and the turtle pace legislative reaction brought about the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989. But the nagging issue on minimum wage fixing and implementation before the enactment of said law remains.

Other countries should envy the Philippines for having one of the best Government Procurement Reform Act, Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, and Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in the world. But corruption in government is a never-ending story.

And the list of these “false hope statutes” could be never ending.

As in most regimes, government’s stance to public issues is always reactive. Good, if the reaction provides the appropriate and lasting solution. What is worse is if the reaction simply offers a false hope.  

Sometimes it is a source of wonder why government still exists.