Autonomy consultations to go on

BAGUIO CITY, March 09 – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said autonomy grassroots consultations is the responsibility of everyone who understands the real essence of self-governance and that it should not be made an excuse to derail the passage of the enabling law in Congress.

“House Bill 5595 which is authored by five Cordillera lawmakers and had hurdled the committee level in the House of Representatives should serve as the basis of grassroots consultations to be conducted in the different parts of the region by responsible local officials and interest groups. Its passage into law should not be derailed by the interest of a few who are obviously against autonomy because of patriarchal concerns,” he stressed, adding that results of consultations could be incorporated in the measure anytime in order to satisfy the wishes of concerned sectors.

According to him, the contents of HB 5595 were culled from the inputs of a series of provincial, city and municipal consultations done region-wide by responsible and dedicated local officials and volunteers who painstakingly participated in numerous sessions conducted by the drafting committee to come out with a consolidated version acceptable to almost all sectors.

Domogan cited the bill will serve as a basis of the consultations to be conducted in the different provinces, municipalities and barangays and the results will also serve as the basis on what are the amendments to be introduced in order to help satisfy the clamor of the greater majority of Cordillerans for autonomy.

The chairman of the Third Autonomy Drafting Committee (TADC) said it is unfair for some officials to allege that there was no proper consultations done before the finalizing the contents of the pending bill considering that there were sufficient consultations done as shown by the records of the TADC and the Regional Development Council (RDC).

“Instead of insisting on our parochial interests, let us continue performing our duties to consult our people on autonomy and not to sabotage our efforts to achieve regional autonomy,” he said, citing active involvement and participation should be mandatory among local officials to avoid sowing confusion among people that will affect the renewed quest for self-governance.

Earlier, the House committee on local governments approved at the committee level HB 5595 which seeks to create the Cordillera Autonomous Region pursuant to the provision of the 1987 Constitution that mandates the creation of autonomous regions in the Cordillera and in Muslim Mindanao.

“If some provinces like Mountain Province, Kalinga, Ifugao and Baguio City were able to conduct consultations relative to the renewed quest for regional autonomy, why can’t other provinces do the same so that their conscience will be clear that they have done their part to listen to the plight of their constituents,” Domogan said, citing that achieving autonomy will not benefit the present generation but instead will benefit of “our children and our children’s children.”

Domogan challenged concerned sectors to emulate the initiatives undertaken by the private sector to do their own consultation with their respective sectors and come out with valid issues and concerns that must be addressed by the autonomy bill.

In a related development, some expressed fear of the possible regionwide rejection of the third attempt to establish an autonomous region for the Cordillera is feared following the recent approval of the third autonomy draft that was approved in toto in “no less than five minutes” by the committee on local government in congress last month.

This recent development caused Benguet leaders led by Rep. Ronald M. Cosalan and Governor Nestor B. Fongwan, together with members of the provincial board, municipal mayors and other concerned citizens to meet last week and strategize massive grassroots consultations to avert possible rejection.

Cosalan said he has written the committee in congress to reconsider its move saying “the committee can not just simply give five minutes to a bill that will affect the future life of hundreds of thousands of Cordillerans.”

A meeting was scheduled in congress where amendments to HB 5595, the Cordillera Autonomy Act, may be inserted by Cosalan and Abra Rep. Joy Bernos before plenary discussions and final approval on the floor.

“Rep. Bernos and I stressed that we are not against autonomy or against the bill but we want to introduce amendments before any plenary discussion,” Cosalan added.

The Benguet Capitol meeting chaired by Vice Governor Crescencio C. Pacalso was attended by autonomy advocates Dr. Gil Bautista, co-chair of the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC), and former Vice Governor Edna C. Tabanda, RDC private sector representative.

Fongwan said he was thinking all along that the bill will be discussed in the committee level but was also surprised why it was approved in toto.

“Just like Congressman Cosalan, I also fear that the bill might be rejected again that is why I agree with him that we should put provisions advantageous to Benguet, consult the grassroots and not only a few, before it is put to a plebiscite,” Fongwan said.

For the provincial board members, they expressed the common observation that two past plebiscites overwhelmingly rejected the autonomy bills simply because the people have not read the provisions.

Some Benguet provincial and municipal officials in the meeting also gave a parallel personal observation that based on their limited survey, if no widespread public consultation will be conducted, the bill will be rejected in Baguio City, Mtn. Province, Abra, and even in Kalinga.

Asked about what would happen to the provinces that would not opt to join an autonomous region, Cosalan said, Section 163b that says the provinces that will vote unfavorably in the plebiscite will revert back to their mother regions, “serves as a threat to Cordillerans more than a uniting force.”

“I will introduce an amendment to that provision so that those who will not opt for autonomy can constitute a regular region. If that provision can not be amended, I will file another bill to that effect to give a choice to Cordillerans,” Cosalan explained.

On the other hand, RDC co-chair Dr. Bautista who agreed that more grassroots consultations should be conducted said, the RDC chose regional autonomy as the more positive move that would boost development in the region because the Cordillera always received the smallest budget share from the national government.

“Budget allocation for the regions was always based on population. In addition, our priorities in the region were not being followed (by the national government),” Bautista informed the body, explaining further that development would be faster in a regional autonomous set up.

He clarified that the budgetary provision for a P10 billion annual budget for the first five years and P5 billion annual budget allocation for the next five years were “not picked out of the blue.”

Cosalan meanwhile said, other regions would be affected and would surely complain if a big chunk of money will be cut from the national budget

But Bautista explained, “these are the same amounts allocated to the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). If Mindanao deserves P10billion annually from the national government, why don’t we deserve it?” **By Dexter See and March Fianza

Fashioning the youth for peace-building

Tabuk City, Kalinga – Driven by the desire to educate the youth and eventually make them partners in peace advocacy, the Kailian Peace-building Institute (KPI) of the St Louis College of Bulanao conducted a three-day seminar on indigenous peace mechanism last May 4-6, 2011. The sessions were held in one of the spacious classrooms of SLCB.

The seminar zeroed-in the Bodong, which is a social institution and a system of governance between and among the Kalingas, established since time immemorial and has evolved through the years. Topics include the history and origin of the bodong; processes, rites and rituals in forging, restoring and as well as in sustaining the bodong; working principles on which the bodong is based; provisions of the Pagta (Law of the Bodong); factors that may have had influences in the bodong such as religion, education, commerce and technology, politics and governance, migration and marriage, peace and order, and the Indigenous Peoples Right Act (IPRA) - however these were presented in a succinct manner. How the bodong itself affected these phenomenon was briefly discussed as well.

This lecture-type seminar was attended initially by 34 youths coming from the different municipalities. An open-forum was allotted after presentation and discussion of each topic to give the participants an opportunity to ask questions and express their views and observations.

The group is composed of 18 males (52.9%) and 16 females (47%). Majority of the participants came from Tabuk, the capital town; although almost of them have Tinglayan origins (38.2%) followed by Balbalan (23.5%), Tanudan (14.7%), Pasil (5.8%), and 2.9% for each of the other municipalities.

Meanwhile, a quick survey was conducted to determine what they feel about regional autonomy for the Cordillera. It is believed that cultures in the Cordilleras will be further preserved and enhanced under the regional autonomy setup. There were three questions asked from the participants. They were asked whether or not they have heard before about Cordillera Regional Autonomy, and will they vote favorably or not if the third organic act will be presented to them for approval in a plebiscite. Lastly, they were asked to indicate their level of knowledge about Cordillera Regional Autonomy. In this instance however only 25 youths participated in the survey of which 44% (11) are males and 52% (13) are females. There was one who did not reveal his/her sex identity.

Of the 25 youths, 76% (19) said they have heard about the regional autonomy while 20% (5) did not. What is interesting to note is that these 20% are all females. For those who heard about it, according to them they got such information from the school, media, and “tsismis” or from acquaintances. Likewise, asked if they will vote favorably for the third organic act, 60% (15) said “Yes” while 4% (1) said “No”, and 36% (9) were undecided.

In terms of the level of knowledge, the respondents generally have a mean knowledge of 5.7 (based on a scale of 10) about the issue of the Cordillera regional autonomy. The 20% (5) youths who said earlier they have not heard about regional autonomy for the Cordillera are the same individuals who indicated they have zero knowledge about it, and these are all females.

Mercury problem in Kalinga

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Two non-government organizations (NGOs) are embarking on a three-year project to wean away the small-scale miners in the towns of Balbalan and Pasil in this province and in Jose Panganiban in Camarines Sur from dependence on mercury.

The local NGO Ban Toxics (Bantox) and Dialogos of Denmark both of which are involved in environmental protection declared that there is an immediate need to stop the usage of mercury in mining areas in the two provinces to avert disaster.

Medical doctors Rasmus Rasmussen and Marie Brasholt of the Dialogos said that it is already an established fact that mercury is being leaked into the Saltan, Pasil and Chico rivers by the small-scale miners operating there.

They said that what needs to be done now is to immediately stop the use of mercury because persisting with the practice not only put to risk the health and lives of the miners but also those of people in the path of the three rivers.

Ramussen told local mediamen who attended the briefing on the project titled “Reducing mercury pollution in small-scale gold mining in the Philippines 2011-2014” here on May 20 said that aside from inhalation during the process of amalgamation, people could also absorb the poisonous element by eating contaminated food and from a contaminated mother to her fetus.

“The symptoms of mercury poisoning can be as subtle as a fever or body ache, and yet it’s long term negative impact is so pronounced such as lower IQ in children, nerve damage, reproductive disorders, etc. that proper diagnosis is critical,” Rasmussen said.

Leoncio Naoy, a small-scale miner and member of the board of the Bantox, said that they included Kalinga after they were alerted of the mercury pollution in the province by a news item in two regional newspapers last March.

Written by Peter Balocnit of the Philippine Information Agency, the news article detailed the results of the water testing conducted by the Environmental Management Bureau and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Chico, Pasil and Saltan rivers.

According to the story, water samples from the three rivers tested positive of mercury contents ranging from .00 contents ranging from .00287 to .1231 microgram per cubic meter which exceeds the allowable limit of .002.

Asked what the findings of the DENR mean, Rasmussen said that it points to the fact that the toxic element is being released to the environment of the province.

Rasmussen said that conducting an independent testing of the mercury pollution in the province is not a part of their project because the findings of the DENR already suffices and furthermore, mercury testing and measurement is costly and difficult.

“What we will test is if the intervention is working,” Rasmussen said.

The objective of the two NGOs is to stop the small scale miners in the province from using mercury in extracting gold within three years.

They said that they will do this by opening the minds of the miners of the harmful effects of mercury and teaching them mercury-less gold processing particularly the application of borax in place of mercury.

Naoy said that one planned activity is to bring the local small-scale miners to Fidelisan, Sagada and other small scale mining areas in the region which have already discarded mercury from their gold mining technology.

Rasmussen, Brasholt and Naoy made it clear to local mediamen that the intent of the project is to eliminate mercury use and not to stop small-scale mining operations. **By Estanislao Albano, Jr., ZZW

Above Photo: STOP MERCURY POLLUTION-- Medical doctors Marie Brasholt and Rasmus Rasmussen brief local media practitioners on the project of the Danish non-government organization Dialogos and Ban Toxics, a local non-government organization, aimed at reducing mercury pollution in small-scale mining areas in the country. The small-scale mining areas in Pasil and Balbalan towns in this province are covered by the project. **Photo by Estanislao Albano, Jr.

Democracy 102

By Prof. Alex Magno
This is a continuation of last Thursday’s discussion on the problems confronting our practice of democratic politics.

Considering all the structural constraints on the full blossoming of democratic practice in the country, how do we proceed?

Time is running short. The 2010 elections is fast approaching. It will be a severe stress test on our institutions and our democratic faith.

If we become path-dependent, continue with politics as usual, the next government will be as tenuous as this one. It will continue to be besieged by hostile political factions trying very hard for the established authority to fail. There will be more political circuses, more scandal-mongering and more unseemly alliances among opportunists.

By 2010, the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo presidency will be the second longest-serving administration in our Republic’s history. The longest one was Ferdinand Marcos’. But that was unduly extended by martial rule and dramatically terminated by means of an uprising.

The fact that this administration survived is a feat by itself.

The constitutional structure within which we operate is designed to doom the presidency. The single-term provision makes the incumbent a lame duck on Day One. The multiparty electoral system condemns every winning candidate to the top post to the status of minority president, vulnerable to being held hostage by every political bloc that could muster votes in the Congress for an impeachment or mount a sustained campaign to diminish the President’s popularity and political capital. Read more...

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Democracy 101

By Prof. Alex Magno

Bear with me.

In preparation for an international meeting on the future of democracy in the Philippines, I have been focusing my thoughts on what works, what doesn’t and what is likely in our democratic practice.

The interest of other nations in our glories — and our follies — is understandable. We are Asia’s oldest democracy. Which is not to say that we are Asia’s most mature.

We know, from observing people around us, that age and maturity are two very different things.

Our practice of democracy has had its ups and downs. The democratic edifice has been accused of concealing oligarchic rule. As a form of government, democracy has not enabled us to be our best. Our spotty economic record attests to that.

Once before, the democratic culture was unable to resist a long period of dictatorship. But then again, the dictatorship was terminated by a flamboyant democratic uprising. A regime armed repression was overthrown by the solidarity of a people daring to mount an unarmed resistance.

The grand hopes sparked by a spectacular uprising were dashed by inept and corrupt government. A facsimile of the first uprising was again launched in 2001. The same grand hopes were sparked and then dashed just as quickly.

Two years from now, we will hold critical elections for a new president using the same antiquated and vulnerable electoral process we have kept that way for decades. There is some potential for the whole process breaking down and the continuity of our democracy put in peril. Read More...

Democracy

Primaries
By Alex Magno

My own students in political science are a little confused about what is going on in American politics at the moment. They could quite grasp the exercise of party caucuses — or what the Americans call “primaries.”

The confusion, I think, begins from using our own electoral practices as reference point. Here, since the death of our party system 35 years ago, candidates simply throw their hats into the ring and expect a faction of loyal followers and a bunch of financiers to gather around presumptive (and often presumptuous) candidacies.

Since the death of the stable party system we once had, there has been no such thing as a candidate-selection process. Aspiring politicians do not have to work themselves up the party hierarchy. There is no systematic filtration process to vet candidates and hold them accountable to some party platform.

Instead of being loyal to their parties, our politicians expect their parties to be loyal to them. They herd in electoral investors, raise a war chest and dispense funds on their own. In exchange for helping finance the campaigns of local candidates aligned with them, “presidentiables” ( as we call them) expect a certain degree of feudal obligation from their barons. Read more...

Pardon/money for nothing?

While I may not have really been blown by the decision of the President to grant executive clemency or pardon to Erap Estrada and his plundering ways, I was shocked though by the rush (or is it rash) by which it was granted. Apparently, there is some political wisdom in pardoning Erap – at least for GMA's shaky perch. However, the very act of giving Erap what he wanted (so desperately, you might add) immediately as soon as Erap's lawyers (not Erap for Chrissake) had asked for it betrays an administration that must deal from a position of weakness of a self-inflicted kind. Still, conventional wisdom suggests that GMA could have held back her decision a few more days and, in the process, earned some respect from Erap and her other detractors. She didn't even wait for any clamor to grant Erap his pardon! If GMA would be treated like a lameduck President after this, it is totally her fault.

What bothers me most about the decision was that the pardon was given without any show of remorse from Erap. When one asks to be forgiven, which is what asking for pardon is, you must first make an admission that you have committed a sin and make a show of SINCERELY being sorry. There was nothing sincere about Erap's request, nay demand for pardon. In fact it was totally hypocritical. Didn't Erap say he was submitting to the wisdom of his lawyers to seek for GMA's pardon because he no longer believed in our country's justice system? I am pretty sure Erap is not that stupid as to not know that pardon is part of the justice system he no longer believed in. Likewise, Erap is still trying to fool people into believing he didn't commit any crime. If you're not guilty, why ask to be pardoned?

Some apologists tried to explain, by way of extolling the decision for some, that granting Erap his pardon demonstrates the magnanimity if not the humanity of the Arroyo administration while taking note of Erap's age (70) and the state of his mother. There are also those who claim that GMA's act is consistent with her call for reconciliation and the timing of the decision's announcement should be a non-issue. It is time to move on, they say.

It is also worth noting that before last Thursday's announcement, Malacañang stoutly proclaimed that there are conditions Erap must accede to before he may be pardoned. Based on the reports, it appears that the Estrada family agreed to recognize the legitimacy of GMA's presidency. Yes, readers, the Estradas' recognition of the legitimacy of Arroyo's leadership is a lot more important than Erap's admission of guilt. If anything, the act is an admission of guilt, not by Erap but by GMA who's not really sure she is the legitimate President of the Republic as suggested by Malacañang's act of requiring Erap to legitimize her presidency.

This development may have a very serious impact on our view of morality. You could almost hear the man on the streets say it: Kung milyun-milyon ang ninakaw mo, bibigyan ka ng pardon. Pero kung barya-barya lang, bubugbugin ka ng buong bayan. And we say street people have a crooked morality?

--oO0Oo--

Despite that shocker of a pardon, Erap is nowhere near as popular as he or other people would like us to believe. I am pretty sure if a poll were conducted to determine the most popular Pinoy right now, Pampanga governor Ed Panlilio and Joey de Venecia would easily be the runaway top two while Erap would be looking up way behind Manny Pacquiao and Kokey.

--oO0Oo--

Following Panlilio's bomb several Arroyo supporters tried to picture Panlilio as a fool but so far have only succeeded at painting their depravity for our viewing (dis)pleasure. Take Environment Sec. Lito Atienza, for instance. When he said that the giving of money to local congressmen and local officials by Malacañang is nothing out of the ordinary (read: normal, a standard practice), I am pretty sure he didn't have the permission of his boss to make such a stunningly revealing statement. An administration not as desperate as the present one would have sacked him right away for such careless pronouncements. When you come to think about it, Raul Gonzales and Ignacio Bunye are still cabinet secretaries despite several faux pas to their names.

What disturbs me about the issue is that the government normally deals with checks, not cash. If, as Atienza claims, receiving money from Malacañang is nothing out of the ordinary, then why give it in cash? And if it is, indeed, true that the money was meant as assistance to the provinces for this week's barangay elections, is it the normal practice to hand the money over to the governors and not to the agencies concerned? Does this also mean that a governor may be summoned to Malacañang (in the guise of a meeting) just for the simple errand of delivering money from Malacañang (or wherever it came from) to his province? Looks to me like Arroyo's allies could do GMA greater service by shutting their yaps since all they have achieved so far is provide more nails to crucify her with.

--oO0Oo--

Baguio City congressman Mauricio Domogan denied receiving money during the controversial meeting in Malacañang. I can believe him. Domogan is a favorite of former president Fidel Ramos who remains an influential figure in Lakas, the party whose support GMA needs to make it through 2007. It would indeed be rather patronizing of GMA to hand Domogan a “paltry sum” considering his importance to the coalition. A project with an eight-digit funding may perhaps be more like it.

—oO0Oo—

This Monday’s barangay elections hold some particular interest especially so that it is being held only five months after the midterm elections. It will be interesting to see how the politicians who lost in the May polls would respond against those re-electionist barangay chairmen who played a key part in their electoral defeat. Will ex-Congressman Laurence Wacnang and his son-in-law James Bejarin lend their resources in bringing down those barangay captains who blindsided them last May? Of course, this is not to say that the incumbents would sit back, relax and amuse themselves. They’ll be working hard to get their own people into position.

The more interesting aspect in the barangay elections though, at least in the case of our very young city, is that running for a post in the remote barangays is more expensive than gunning for a post in the more progressive barangays. The poorer the barangay, the costlier it is to get elected. As one candidate rued, butchering one carabao used to make enough of an impression to the voters but that seems a long, long time ago.

Which makes me wonder how accessible had Mayor Camilo Lammawin Jr. and Vice-Mayor Rainier Sarol been these last few days. The two gentlemen should pay attention to the fact that only eight of the Tabuk City’s 43 barangays are classified as urban while the rest are struggling – an unusual ratio for a city, if we may say so.

—oO0Oo—

In Barangay Bulanao where I live, an interesting contest has shaped up between the incumbent Benny Sugguiyao and Illo Gunnawa, both of whom belonging to the Lubo tribe and related by blood, too. It can easily be argued that Gunnawa is the most feared resident of this fearsome barangay while the incumbent is the most outspoken.

I don’t want to comment on this one as Sugguiyao is my uncle while Gunnawa is my cousin. I can’t help but wonder though if we will finally see the last of jueteng in Tabuk if Manong Illo does get the Bulanao chairmanship? If you’re wondering about that last comment, ask a Tabukeño. **Bani Asbucan

Wanted Joel Melod, prime suspect in the murder of vice gov. Diasen

SO THE PUBLIC MAY KNOW...

"he never, even an inkling in his humble mind, has thought that kind of politics and that ever since he has 'never become a violent individual'."

On April 7, 2007, Black Saturday, Vice Governor Atty. Romel W. Diasen of Kalinga Province, a candidate then for Governor, was gunned down while delivering his speech during a political rally in Barangay Magnao, Tabuk, Kalinga. The prime suspect, Joel Melod, 24, confessed during the interview that the incident was a case of revenge on the murder of his uncle the late RTC Judge Milnar Lammawin two years back. Melod flatly emphasized that no one had ever paid or motivated him to do so, neither the incident was politically motivated; that it was his own personal will and volition to kill the vice governor as a matter of revenge as Diasen did not act on his promise to solve the murder of Judge Lammawin before the May 14, election.

Melod categorically refuted rumors that a known political icon has masterminded the killing of Diasen and that he was the hired killer. “There is no politician involved here ... and that there was no two million money involved; if at all true, with that amount of money, I should have fled to other far places by now.” The interview was conducted by Mr. Jerome Tabanganay of Radyo ng Bayan, Tuguegarao.

The killing of Diasen therefore was a classical example of tribal vendetta.

In the get-together party for all the Wacnang-Bejarin supporters last May 24, 2007, supporters tried to assess what went wrong in Wacnang's gubernatorial bid. The Diasen murder case was among the major factors of Wacnang's debacle. Elders and supporters as a whole decried the allegation of Floydelia Diasen's family and supporters that the killing of the vice governor was politically motivated. There were propaganda also that Wacnang has mansions in Hongkong and in the United States of America

The opponents, in a brazen disregard of and its adverse implications to the Bodong (penal code of the native Kalingas) and being aware that it was a very fertile ground to advance their political interests though, incessantly tried to impute Wacnang in the case during the campaign trails despite their personal knowledge and earlier acceptance that it was indeed in the category of tribal violence. Andres Ngao-i declared during the lunch party that such a malicious innuendo is clear violation of the bodong itself, which has a corresponding penalty, and which should never be bypassed and allowed to ever happen again.

Wacnang in his speech reiterated that he never, even an inkling in his humble mind, has thought that kind of politics and that ever since he has “never become a violent individual”. “It is time to work together towards a more democratic Kalinga and that our elected leaders therefore should really present a real alternative leadership and be able to deliver a meaningful and real change in the development of our beloved province”, Wacnang said as he acknowledged defeat. Wacnang and Bejarin thanked all their supporters and they are hoping for various opportunities for them to work together even they will be ordinary citizens later.

Note: The video is available at YouTube.com.