Category Archive for: pulitika

komentaryo

why free Ericson Acosta

Ninoy Aquino and Ericson Acosta might seem light years away from each other, and yet i’d like to think that more than what makes them different, what carries weight here is what makes them the same.

illegal detention, trumped up charges, a military blinded by getting some “big fish” and not getting enough of the red scare, being forced to face your accusers everyday, being removed from and having limited access to the outside world, being treated like some dangerous criminal, in the process making you feel less and less like yourself.

look at the timeline of Ninoy’s detention here and here, and the timeline of Ericson’s detention here.

now the hunger strike.

in April 1975, Ninoy went on a hunger strike, and in a letter addressed to Cory, his mother, his children, his sisters and supporters, explained why. Ninoy’s said:

<…> “when the Military Commission suddenly made a complete turn-about and forced me, against my will, to be present in proceedings which are not only clearly illegal but unjust, I said I shall have no other alternative but to go on a hunger strike in protest against a procedure that is intended to humiliate and dehumanize me, considering that all they wanted was for me to be identified as a common criminal, and not only for myself but on behalf of the many other victims of today’s oppression and injustices.”

on December 3 2011, Ericson began his hunger strike. detained artist since February 13 2011, Ericson was arrested without a warrant by the military in San Jorge Samar, at 10AM. he has been kept in the Calbayog Jail since then, on the false charge of illegal possession of explosive – a hand grenade which was planted on him and which the military says he attempted to take out of his pocket (in broad daylight?!?) during his arrest.

From February 13 to February 16, Ericson was not allowed to contact his family or his lawyers, and in those four days, he was not only illegally detained, he was also moved from military detachment to PNP headquarters to the hospital to the Calbayog Hall of Justice. for four days no one knew what was going on with Ericson.

for the past 10 months he’s been in jail. Ericson says:

<…> “it is utterly baseless to undergo a full-blown trial for this trumped-up charge <…> instead, i should have the right to charge the state elements responsible for violating my human rights.”

his hunger strike is also a demand for the

<…> “pull out of the highly irregular if not illegal presence of a squad of military men near Ericson’s place of detention. A platoon of soldiers from the 87th IB were first deployed in the nearby barrio in July on the pretext of military operations, but it has become apparent that the soldiers are there to “guard” Acosta.”

it goes without saying that Ericson’s hunger strike is also his demand for immediate release.

and lest you think I am dreaming here, what PNoy said last year resonates for Ericson’s case:

“We recognize that their right to due process was denied them. As a government that is committed to the rule of law and the rights of man, this cannot stand. Therefore, I have ordered the DOJ to withdraw the informations filed before the court.”

his then Executive Secretary Paquito “Jojo” Ochoa Jr. also said “questions raised on the legality of their arrest justify their release.”

PNoy was talking about the Morong 43. also illegally detained, also with trumped up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives, also denied due process. last year, PNoy ordered all of them released in time for Christmas. he also said:

“Let this be a concrete example of how our administration is working in the broad light of day to build a country where the law protects us equally. The culture of silence, injustice and impunity that once reigned is now a thing of the past.”

and lest this isn’t enough to justify the release of Ericson, the voice of Ninoy might help. he was after all also political detainee, turned gaunt and sick by a hunger strike that was not just a demand for his release, but the release of so many others like him, as it was about shining a light on the system of warrantless arrests and impunity.

“But peace and order without freedom is nothing more than slavery. Discipline without justice is merely another name for oppression. I believe we can have lasting peace and prosperity only if we build a social order based on freedom and justice.” – Ninoy’s letter to the military commission, August 1975, in Ninoy Letters.

“I believe that freedom of the individual is all-important and ranks above everything else.” – Ninoy, “A Christian Democratic Vision” in Testament from a Prison Cell.

i cannot claim to be friends with Ericson, but i can claim to be a fan: in my undergrad years in U.P., his was a voice that was always loud and clear, but also very human and grounded, intelligent and creative. i never thought about his freedom because i presumed he would always have it. when he lost it, i found that his illegal detention meant a palpable silence to me, no matter that he’s been blogging and singing (here and here), no matter that i had lost touch anyway with the work he was doing after U.P.

now on his hunger strike, Ericson’s struggle as cultural worker turned political prisoner shines a light on the fact that all this time, since his detention, what was always on the line was not just his life. it’s also always been our freedoms — as writers and journalists, as cultural worker of any kind.

it seems to me really, that we owe it to freedom to demand for Ericson’s release.

komentaryo

because you still wrongly think that Cobonpue-Layug-Pineda were not given this project by govt

Guillermo Luz Statement on the NAIA 1 Project

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this briefing on the NAIA project.

This is really about a dream, a vision, for creating a better image of the country through a series of projects, within which people could participate and relive the spirit of Bayanihan. One of these projects was the rehabilitation of the NAIA.

People were invited to participate in this project and work alongside government, and today we will talk about the results of the work that’s been done so far. In this briefing we will touch on the chronology of events and circumstances leading up to this point. It needs to be reiterated that we have only drawn up a plan: a plan that still needs other pieces to complete, that needs to be bid out, and which needs to be implemented.

We undertook this project under the auspices of the National Competitiveness Council or NCC, of which I am co-chairman for the private sector. The NCC, reorganized in April of this year, is a public-private sector advisory council set up to address the improvement of the country’s competitiveness from the bottom third of competitiveness rankings to the top third by 2016. The public sector members of the NCC are the Secretary of Trade and Industry (who serves as co-chairman), Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Tourism, Secretary of Education, and NEDA Secretary.

Sometime in mid-March of this year, I was asked by some members of the Economic Cluster of the Cabinet to host a meeting to brainstorm for ideas we could pursue to project a new image for the country. That meeting took place on March 20, a Sunday, with some members of the Cabinet – Secretary Cesar Purisima, Secretary Greg Domingo, Secretary Butch Abad, Secretary Alberto Lim, and Secretary Ricky Carandang – and people from the private sector, among them Josie Natori, Emily Abrera, Fernando Zobel, Kenneth Cobonpue, Budji Layug, Royal Pineda, Brian Tenorio, Junie del Mundo, and Jeannie Javelosa.

At that meeting we talked about the qualities of the country that we could emphasize and project to the world, such as the warmth and hospitality of our people, the creativity of Filipinos, and the natural beauty of the Philippines. We also discussed how we had to convey this message visually and experientially, with a unified voice, and through different channels and venues where people gather or congregate.

Among the ideas we discussed, two projects were identified: (1) the creation of a new country brand and (2) the renovation of the NAIA and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. Both were seen as a means of conveying a new message about the country – one that would capture our attributes and qualities, at the same time that it would symbolize progress and development. It would also respond to a specific need while becoming a symbol of change. This, the Country Brand was supposed to communicate visually. The NAIA-Mactan airport project was supposed to communicate it experientially.

We closed that March 20 meeting with an agreement to meet one week later to continue the discussion. We met again on March 25 to discuss both projects, during which we also decided to create two groups – one for the Country Brand and one for the NAIA and Mactan Airport project.

Budji, Royal, and Kenneth were invited to join the NAIA and Mactan Airport group while others were invited to the Country Brand group. Both groups worked on a pro-bono basis for months to help the country. I was assigned to head both groups. Each group started work in early April and I am happy to announce that both groups achieved important milestones.

On April 6, our first meeting at the NAIA, the team of Budji, Royal and Kenneth began research and design work on the NAIA, in partnership with its staff. We learned that the four terminals that make up the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) were running at near full capacity, with NAIA running at over its rated capacity. From our discussions, we concluded that all terminals needed to remain in operations even as the government was studying ways to fully operate Terminal 3 and exploring the feasibility of making Clark a new international gateway.

Concurrently, we started exploring the needs of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. The team travelled to Cebu on several occasions at its own expense to meet with the airport’s General Manager who walked us through the airport and explained to us their plans. Following a few exploratory trips, it was decided that we needed to first concentrate on NAIA before embarking on the Mactan-Cebu Airport project.

Since NAIA would need to continue its operations, it was important to introduce improvements in the flow of operations and services to enhance passenger or customer experience. However, because the building is 30 years old, it was necessary to move carefully so as not to adversely affect the structural integrity of the building. We were informed that MIAA had contracted an engineering firm, P-Square, to undertake this structural integrity check. Its findings have been submitted to NAIA.

In the meantime, discussions on design were started based on NAIA’s own plan to renovate the airport section by section. A decision was made to hold off on any renovation until a full plan could be drawn up. Even the redesign and renovation of Duty Free Philippines, to be done on its own expense, was timed to coincide with NAIA’s overall plan, making sure it would fit into the larger design. A review of office structures, procedures and flows, including the locations of conveyor systems, terminal fee booths, passport control, security screening, immigration booths, and baggage claim areas was also undertaken. As the design process progressed, discussions also included lighting systems, air conditioning requirements, and even the retail mix and locations for specific types of concessionaires.

Another decision made was to differentiate the services available within the airport system, so a review of the staff’s service delivery was also started. For this purpose, the hotel staff of the AIM Conference Center was invited to design a training program for the service staff. They held their own meetings separate from the design group. Plans for inviting Filipino designers to create new uniform designs for the different staff positions, as well as getting curators to manage art installations within the airport terminal were also discussed.

As all these discussions inevitably led to the question of budget limitations, we also talked about possible funding sources that MIAA could tap into to finance the project.

In all of this, the design team fully engaged in discussions with the NAIA staff. Presentations of the design concept were made to the MIAA Management Committee on May 24 and the Economic Cluster on May 25. The team also made a presentation to the MIAA Board on May 26, which adopted the project subject to the availability of funds and formally created a Project Management Office (PMO) and an organizational structure for the project.

During the entire design process, the NAIA PMO and its own team of in-house architects and engineers prepared the detailed architectural drawings under the guidance  of the Budji Layug + Royal Pineda firm as the pro-bono consultants.  In this way, all technical drawings would automatically be owned and be kept in the possession of NAIA for its own implementation. All the plans and material specifications were used by the PMO for cost estimates as it prepared the bid documents and Invitations to Bid, all of which would be needed for any work to proceed. All architectural perspectives, floor plans, and detailed technical drawings remain with NAIA for its own use.

The concept design went through a long process of discussions, taking into account the need for the structural integrity review. From the beginning, the goal was always one of  functionality and ease of use for the airport’s customers and passengers; it was about a melding of both form and function. It was ultimately a plan for a NAIA 1 that we could all take pride in, not just because of how it looks, but more importantly because of how it serves us and the world better.

In the last eight months, I personally witnessed the dedication of this design team and the NAIA PMO, as I chaired almost every major meeting that took place with regards this project. In light of this, I can only be thankful to the designers, the NAIA PMO, all the volunteers who work on the 10 other Working Groups of the NCC, and the Country Brand group. They all give their professionalism, time and effort to unselfishly help the country in our goal to become globally competitive. This Bayanihan spirit, which I see and experience on a daily basis, is what keeps me hopeful and optimistic about our ability as a nation to move forward.

komentaryo

bad vibes for NAIA 1 rehab

for a PNoy government that talks about the matuwid na daan, which is to say doing things correctly and properly and justly, they sure know how to reveal themselves to be on some dirt road.

so yes, NAIA 1 is the worst airport in the world, i know that, and i will not pretend otherwise. but of course it will take international disgust over the airport for some change to happen, and in October a world-renowned team composed of Cobonpue-Layug-Pineda unveils a plan, one that’s aesthetic yes, but also real and concrete, i couldn’t even imagine that they thought this up and ignored completely the structural and electricomechanical (!) needs of the renovation.

but this is what the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Mar Roxas wants us to believe, as he defends the decision to go with an architectural team from the Leandro V. Locsin and Associates (LVLA) for the NAIA 1 renovation, unceremoniously dropping the Cobonpue team. Roxas says:

“They <the LVLA> are in possession of the ‘as designed’ and ‘as built’ plans and blueprints of the airport. LVL’s firm has insights that will be of valuable help in minimizing disruption to operations, as well as shorten the time the rehabilitation will take,” Roxas explained in a text message.

In particular, Roxas said LVL knows the exact location of the duct works, risers, pipes, water drainages and other electro-mechanical configurations of the facility.

according to the DOTC (it’s unclear if Roxas himself said this), the LVLA also “had a distinct advantage over any other architectural or engineering firm in the country because its founder, the late Locsin, was Terminal 1’s original designer.”

so hold on. LVLA had the advantage because its founder, National Artist for Architecture Leandro V. Locsin, dead since 1994, designed the original NAIA 1? the LVLA is being unilaterally chosen — with no plan revealed to the public as of yet — because they have the blueprints of the airport and therefore know where the pipes are? because they know where the pipes are? 

por dios y por santo.

where has common sense gone? the current LVLA, as with any other architectural and design team, would only be looking at NAIA 1’s blueprints, yes? and let’s say members of the Locsin team that put together the NAIA 1 in 1973-1974 were still alive (of course in their 80s now), even they would only be looking at blueprints and old plans, too, yes? pray tell, how would LVLA be any different from other design teams wanting to renovate the NAIA 1?

there’s obviously so much more to the DOTC’s decision to let go of the Cobonpue-Layug-Pineda team, and it reeks of kamag-anak / kaibigan / ka-barilan possibilities if you ask me. lucky for the DOTC, the LVLA website’s down and there’s no existing list online of who its architects are. it would’ve made for a fascinating task of connecting the dots straight to Malacanang Roxas office (i hear the connection between him and the Locsins are legendary).

but also there’s this. for a PNoy government that demands our support and understanding, they sure know how to put an end to any form of volunteerism from willing citizens. Cobonpue-Layug-Pineda had been working on the NAIA 1 rehabilitation and renovation plan for the past eight (8!) months. and they find out they’re not part of the project only upon the the announcement that the LVLA was the DOTC’s chosen firm.

and as if that isn’t bad enough, the Cobonpue-Layug-Pineda team are made to suffer soundbites from Roxas, who says that function was higher in their list of priorities than having the airport look nice; and from MIAA General Manager Jose Angel Hornedo who says they didn’t sign a contract with the Cobonpue team.

aba mga ser. the Cobonpue-Layug-Pineda team put together that plan because they were asked by the members of PNoy’s Cabinet. puro katrabaho ninyo ang mga ito diba? Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, Budget and Management Secretary Butch Abad, former Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang? these four requested that the Cobonpue-Layug-Pineda team work on the NAIA 1 redesign. the government asked them to work on that redesign. and this team agreed to work on it, for free.

kaya po walang kontrata mga ser.

and just because something looks nice doesn’t mean it isn’t functional. why do you even look down on the Cobonpue-Layug-Pineda team in this way, Sec. Roxas?

in the end this also reeks of an utter lack of professionalism in the halls of Malacanang. it also reveals how little this PNoy government values creativity and hard work, how little it values the time and energy spent by its own citizens wanting to help out for free. that they can even do this to the Cobonpues and Layugs and Pinedas of this country, few as they are na nga, is beyond me.

by the way, this team was also working within a P1B-peso budget for the complete interior and exterior renovation of the NAIA 1 — way cheaper than the government plan that would cost P1.6B P1.16B (!!) pesos to renovate only the airport’s interiors.

PNoy invokes matuwid na daan. let’s begin with admitting the real reasons behind the decision to go with the LVLA, shall we? otherwise, Roxas the DOTC and Malacanang just prove they’re on a dark dreary road, that’s as dirty as we can imagine.

komentaryo

on PNoy’s 1% of Hacienda Luisita

when Malacanang (via Lacierda) invokes the fact that PNoy’s family only has 1% of Hacienda Luisita, what does that mean? 

1% of 6443 hectares = 64.43 hectares of land.

what is 64.43 hectares of land?

Intramuros is 64 hectares.
SM Mall of Asia is only 42 hectares
The La Mesa Eco Park is 33 hectares (extraneous to the watershed and forest)
The Heritage Park in Taguig (we’re talking the cemetery) is 76 hectares
Ateneo de Manila University is 83 hectares

1%? STOP USING IT TO EXPLAIN AWAY FEUDALISM.

PS: according to the Supreme Court decision, the Cojuangcos earned a total amount of PhP 1,330,511,500 from selling land.

1% of that is 13,305,115. that’s 13 MILLION, 305 THOUSAND, 115 PESOS. let us not kid ourselves about that 1%.

komentaryo

machismo according to Malacanang

this comes a wee bit late in the day — as i write this the early morning shows are talking about what can happen today to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. and i’m with you when you think: karma’s a bitch ain’t it.

stuartsantiago‘s got us all covered on the whys and wherefores and gone wrongs in the unfolding of GMA’s arrest. but lest no one else points it out, there is something tragic in the undercurrent of kamachohan, of good ol’ Pinoy machismo, that’s in the soundbites that came from Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda with regards Atty. Ferdinand Topacio swearing on his balls that the Arroyos would return if they are allowed to leave.

i mean Topacio living off of soundbites is expected, that the mababaw-ang-kaligayahan media will lap it up even more so. but for the Presidential Spokesperson to fall into the same trap? for someone like Lacierda to even justify what Topacio swears on, even talking about his wife! and her needs, is not just irresponsible, it also reeks of how petty kamachohan lives in the halls of Malacanang.

and it comes to a head at that press briefing on November 18, where after a good 27 minutes or so of Sec. de Lima seriously talking about the warrant of arrest for GMA, and about where PNoy stood on the matter, Lacierda goes up to the podium only to say:

“I think the decision of the Pasay RTC will allow Atty. Topacio to keep his family jewels.”

and walks off to the tune of male laughter — male laughter! — which ends the press con. it is beyond me why Lacierda even thought it correct to throw in that punchline, at a press briefing that’s so serious, no jokes or puns or soundbites no matter how difficult to ignore, should’ve been on anyone’s mind.

good job Lacierda. you’ve just revealed that in the halls of Malacanang shallow petty macho thinking lives. i hope you know a sense of humor doesn’t mean any more balls than the next Pinoy man.

i wonder what jokes are being said about the RH Bill.