Over reacting

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COMMONSENSE - Marichu A. Villanueva (The Philippine Star) - July 15, 2019 - 12:00am
For the first time perhaps, many Filipinos became aware there is a country named
Iceland. Its existence came to high public awareness in our country when Iceland
sponsored last week the approval of a controversial resolution calling to attention
allegedly more than 20,000 cases of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the Philippines.

Acting on the endorsement of Iceland, the 47-member states of the United Nations
Human Rights Council (UNHRC) approved the resolution that calls for a
“comprehensive report” on the human rights situation in the Philippines, including
alleged EJKs related to the Philippine government’s anti-drug war. Specifically, the
UNHRC resolution referred to the anti-drug war that was first launched in June 2016
when former Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was installed President of the
Philippines.

The UNHRC resolution also calls upon the Philippine government to work with the UN
rights body’s High Commissioner, including facilitating country visits and refraining from
intimidation or retaliation. Likewise, they expressed concern over alleged threats,
intimidation and attacks against UN special rapporteur Agnes Callamard.

The resolution – the first ever addressed to the Philippines – requires UN human rights chief Michelle
Bachelet to prepare the “comprehensive” report on her findings to the council’s 44th session set in June
2020.

Immediately after the Resolution was passed last Thursday in the Geneva-based UNHRC, the Philippine
government denigrated the approval that had only 18 member states, led by Iceland, along with mostly
European nations voting for it. A total of 14 UNHRC member states, including China, voted “No” while 15 others
abstained.

Human rights activists claimed that the UNHRC resolution has been watered down as it
only sought a report instead of an inquiry.

But presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo noted the resolution did not even muster a
“simple majority” of at least 24 votes, adding that the “No” votes and abstentions
outnumbered it. Nonetheless, Panelo disclosed over the weekend that the President
has an open mind to allow UNHRC representatives to come here in our country for a
visit.
Panelo quoted the President as saying that he would welcome their visit “if their
purpose is legitimate.” Panelo echoed the President’s laments in the past, especially on
Callamard who surreptitiously flew into the country last year. Panelo described her as
“so biased and believes in false news” about the 20,000 alleged EJKs by the police in
the conduct of their anti-illegal drugs operations.

Naturally, it raised the hackles of President Duterte to go into high drive in mocking
Iceland in particular for the UNHRC resolution. The Chief Executive bashed Iceland for
blindly endorsing the UNHRC resolution without benefit of checking the true situation of
the illegal drug problem in the Philippines.

“Anong problema ng Iceland? Ice lang,” the President facetiously quipped. (What’s the
problem of Iceland? Ice only.)

“That’s your problem, you have too much ice and there is no clear day or night there. So
you can understand, there is no crime, there is no policeman,” he rued.

Before we get lost in the President’s diatribe against Iceland, it caught my interest to
look for a map or globe to locate where Iceland is. A Nordic island country, Iceland is
located in the North Atlantic. The capital and largest city of Iceland is Reykjavík, home
to over two-thirds of its population of 358,780 as of latest data. Google.com says
Iceland is the world’s 18th largest island, and Europe’s second-largest island after the
United Kingdom.

Aside from being a member of the EU, Iceland now has a special place in the “hate list”
of President Duterte.

The EU has been in the recent past at the receiving end of the public tirades of
President Duterte when its official development assistance and loans were tied to
human rights issues against the Philippines.

But the people and government of Iceland could not care less if they got on the wrong
side of the Philippine President. Iceland is ranked as the sixth most developed country
in the world by the UN’s Human Development Index in 2018. For the same year, Iceland
also was ranked first on the Global Peace Index (GPI). Iceland remains the most
peaceful country in the world – a position it has held since 2008. The Philippines ranked
134th out of 163 countries, up three places from 137th in the previous year’s GPI.

Released by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the GPI ranks
countries according to their level of peacefulness based on three domains: level of
safety and security, extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict and degree of
militarization. At least, the noted improvement in the peace and order situation in the
Philippines got validation from this Australian think-tank.

On their official record, Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Oscar
Albayalde cited the continuing decline in the country’s crime index, which could be a
result of the unrelenting campaign against illegal drugs. On the alleged EJKs, Albayalde
cited only 6,600 drug-related killings and more than 257,000 arrests. He pointed out that
policemen implicated in alleged EJKs are going through administrative proceedings and
some are charged in courts.

In fact, three Caloocan policemen were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment
for the murder in November last year of teenager Kian delos Santos.

Actually, there should be no issue or quarrel at all if only our Philippine government
authorities would be more open and welcoming to prove its detractors wrong. Ex-PNP
chief and now Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who led the “Tokhang” anti-drug
campaign again dramatically reacted in saying he would have his head cut off if the
alleged EJKs are proven to be state-sponsored. Sadly, this does not address the issue
directly.

Whenever facts and figures are challenged, there is so much overreaction when a
simple gesture of transparency could kill it, metaphorically speaking.

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EDITORIAL - The benefits of ecotourism
69SHARES21
(The Philippine Star) - July 15, 2019 - 12:00am
Once again, Palawan has earned recognition from travelers. Readers of Travel+Leisure
magazine ranked Palawan second among the world’s best 15 island destinations – an
improvement from last year’s sixth place.

Earlier this year, Palawan’s El Nido together with Boracay were also named among the
best beaches in Asia by TripAdvisor’s 2019 Traveler’s Choice Awards.

The accolades are well deserved. Palawan is home to two UNESCO World Heritage
Sites: the Subterranean River National Park in Puerto Princesa and Tubbataha Reefs
Natural Park in Sulu Sea. El Nido and Coron have world-class snorkeling and diving
sites. Limestone formations that dot Palawan waters provide spectacular sceneries.

The challenge is to prevent the province from becoming a victim of its own success. Following the
rehabilitation of Boracay Island, a similar effort is underway notably in El Nido, to clean up the beach,
modernize the sewerage system and enforce coastal easement rules. Access to the top destinations in the
province is being regulated, but there are lesser known destinations that also need to be protected from
overdevelopment. Uncooperative local government officials must face sanctions.
Sustainability is always a challenge. This year’s second place ranking is down from Palawan’s top spot in the
same magazine in 2013 and 2017. The slide may be due to the emergence of other attractive destinations, but
the goal must always be to hold on to the top spot.

Apart from protecting the environment, ecotourism should include promoting the welfare
of indigenous communities. They should be given opportunities to participate in tourism
programs and to reap the benefits of a highly profitable industry. Preserving their culture
should be part of any tourism development program in the province.

Palawan residents are also custodians of rich biodiversity. With ecotourism as the
lifeblood of the province, residents can understand that their livelihoods depend on
protecting their natural blessings, from the extensive coral networks to the lush forests
and mangrove areas. There are threatened wildlife that need nurturing, such as
pangolins, the bear cat and hornbill. Those who are tempted to maximize commercial
profits should realize that the long-term viability of their business depends on the health
of the environment.

ECOTOURISMPALAWAN

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Why plant a tree

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HINDSIGHT - F. Sionil Jose (The Philippine Star) - July 8, 2019 - 12:00am

Ah, those venerable Chinese sages, their standards are so high and they are so
demanding. They say one is not a man until he has achieved three goals – sired a son,
written a book, and planted a tree.

But as that poet Joyce Kilmer said, “Only God can make a tree.”

Whatever, I think these perilous times demand that each of us plant a tree.

I read in the papers the other day that the denudation of the mountains forming the watershed of the Angat
Dam, Manila’s main source of water, has caused the water shortage in Manila. Again, this illustrates the
wanton nature of Filipinos, how we have become our worst enemy. A national effort now to plant trees not
only in the Angat area but elsewhere is perhaps a little too late. Alternative sources of water must either be
found or constructed immediately and will, of course, be very expensive.

Trees, water – they are so vital in life. Now and all through history, agrarian societies instinctively know why
trees are important. The Ilokanos almost always surround their houses with marunggay or fruit trees. Legend
has it that one of the first Ilokano immigrants to Hawaii brought with him a marunggay stick, claiming it was a
cane. He planted it, and that explains the abundance of marunggay trees in those islands.

Marunggay leaves are now established as one of the best sources of the minerals that the body needs. Way
back in the 1950s, when I was traveling all over Mindanao, much of that island was forested. I went up the
Agusan River to see huge forest trees had been cut down and floated down the river as logs, for direct export
to Japan. Some Filipinos got rich despoiling our natural resources without replanting the barren land. It was
the same in Northern Luzon. And so today, our forest cover is a mere 20 percent.

The Japanese, a very disciplined people, take good care of their forests and trees. For centuries, they have
always used wood for their houses and their magnificent temples. In fact, the use of wood defines and gives
character to their architecture. Very old trees, some several hundred years old, still stand in that country,
the object of much love and veneration.

In contrast, we have very few old trees. Three of them – all acacias – were in Padre Faura, in Ermita, Manila.
During the liberation of Manila, they were blasted by cannon fire. A couple of them simply rotted with age and
neglect, and fell last year.

Sometime back, the agriculture champion and guru, Zacarias Sarian, gifted me with a macopa sapling from
Malaysia. The tamarind and jackfruit trees I had planted in my yard had to be cut down when my wife enlarged
the house to fit our seven children. I planted the sapling in a hole about more than a foot deep.

It grew quickly, and when it reached five years old and still had not borne any fruit, I told it: If this year you
still have no fruit, I’ll cut you down. Sure enough, it did bear fruit, and with such abundance that there was
more than enough to give to neighbors and friends. The fruit, greenish-maroon and as big as an apple, is
sweeter than the native variety.

In the village where I grew up, the tallest tree was the Dalipawen. It had a trunk three times thicker than that
of a coconut, and it was much taller, too, than the coconut, with short branches at the very top. Its flowers
have a strong scent. Martins made their nests at the top and, at night, fireflies ignited it.

Spirits were supposed to live in the tree and, every so often, when someone got sick in the vicinity, prayers
and offerings were made to it. The atang or offering was usually a plate of gelatinous rice cooked in coconut
oil, and topped with a hard-boiled egg, betel nut, and a hand-rolled cigar. After the devotee had left we kids
feasted on the atang, daring the spirit of the tree to make us ill. It never did.

Way back in the 1950s, as the Baguio visitor climbed up Kennon Road, they were greeted with the scent of pine
perfuming the air. Baguio then had so many pine trees, which have since been felled but not replaced. The
Baguio government is now engaged in replanting. But it’s not Baguio only that needs replanting but also the
entire Cordillera range.
The preservation of our forests is the responsibility of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources. It is hampered by corruption and incompetence, its forest guards often threatened and killed. The
present DENR Secretary, retired General Roy Cimatu, needs assistance and more champions like Gina Lopez.
Espousing tree planting brings neither votes nor money.

The Balete is an unusual tropical tree native to Southeast Asia. Its scientific name is Ficus Benjamina Linn. I
used it as a motif and symbol in my novel, Tree. A story of growing up in a small Filipino town, Tree is the
second novel in terms of chronology of the five-novel Rosales saga.

The Balete Tree grows as a slender sapling. I don’t know where they come from but soon vines surround the
sapling. They grow big, close in on the sapling, eventually suffocating it. The vines then become the trunk of
the tree itself, for which reason the Balete is often called the strangler tree. It is an apt and fitting symbol for
people and for institutions, even for nations, that are strangled to death by impoverishment and decay.

The Balete Tree is indeed an object metaphor for so many of us, and particularly for our leaders who, when
elected, start green with promise and noble intentions. But within a few years, they are surrounded by
panderers, by hypocrisies, and by grasping, greedy friends and relatives. They are then strangled, never
realizing they had betrayed not just themselves but also their country.

EDITORIAL - The arrogance of power

71SHARES101
(The Philippine Star) - July 14, 2019 - 12:00am
At a time when people are starting to see the party-list system as a failed experiment in
marginalized representation, here comes Alfred delos Santos to reinforce that
perception.

Delos Santos represents Ang Probinsyano party list. Which marginalized group the
party represents exactly is unclear; there is another party called Probinsyano Ako.
Maybe one is representing the popular TV series and the other is representing people
from the provinces, making its constituency larger than a district congressman and
equivalent to that of a senator.

Thanks to the Supreme Court, however, such questions have been rendered irrelevant
by a ruling that allowed party-list groups to represent anything and everything, with no
requirements on the qualifications of the party nominee.

In that environment, it isn’t entirely surprising that some party-list congressmen might think the sky’s the
limit as well in their imagined entitlements. In Legazpi City, Albay on July 7, closed-circuit television video
footage in a diner showed waiter Christian Karl Alejo approaching a table where Delos Santos was seated.
Suddenly, Delos Santos stood up and threw a punch at Alejo.
What got Delos Santos into a punching mood? According to speculative reports, he thought Alejo had looked at
him the wrong way. It’s not clear if Delos Santos developed his attitude because he was born to wealth or
because being a neophyte congressman, he now feels entitled to exemption from being looked at directly by
the hoi polloi – never mind if the waiter belongs to the group that Ang Probinsyano is supposed to represent.

Amid the public condemnation, Delos Santos has said he is neither a bully nor a troublemaker, and has
apologized to Alejo. If the CCTV footage had not been made public, would Delos Santos have been chastened?
Ang Probinsiyano has reportedly launched an investigation. Will Delos Santos be censured by his own party?
The nasty speculation is that his congressional colleagues may even give him a medal for passionately
defending the entitlements of a congressman.

Why are taxpayers burdened with the party list?

EDITORIAL - Dishonoring heroes

81SHARES40
(The Philippine Star) - July 13, 2019 - 12:00am
What good are shrines honoring the country’s heroes if these are turned into dumps?
The police commander in charge of Lawton, site of the Bonifacio Shrine just a stone’s
throw from the Manila city hall, has been sacked by the new mayor of the city. Isko
Moreno ordered the relief of Lt. Rowel Robles last Wednesday after the mayor
accidentally stepped on human excrement during a visit to the shrine named after
revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio.

The area around the shrine as well as Liwasang Bonifacio in front of the Central Post
Office have long been favorite spots for street dwellers, vagrants and rugby sniffers.
Muggings have been reported in the unlit area under the overpass beside the shrine.
Lights were installed in Liwasang Bonifacio by the previous city administration, but the
park continued to cry out for a cleanup.

The other day, the public saw what a good hosing down could do. Andres Bonifacio
must be smiling in his grave.

The shrine built in his honor no longer looked like “the biggest toilet” as described by Moreno. The challenge is
to sustain the cleanliness and to keep the shrine and the adjacent Liwasang Bonifacio looking like a park, in
one of the busiest areas in one of the most crowded cities in the country.

A bigger challenge is to maintain that level of cleanliness and safety in other shrines across the country
dedicated to heroes. Shrines and parks contribute to livability in a community. These must be maintained as
areas of relaxation and recreation. In crowded urban centers, they serve as patches of greenery, helping city
dwellers breathe easier.
Proper maintenance is all the more important when the shrine or park is dedicated to a hero. Regular park
maintenance also creates jobs for the poor. Andres Bonifacio was from the ranks of the working class. If the
cleanup of his shrine could be maintained, he would be immensely pleased.

EDITORIAL- Informed choice

92SHARES32
(The Philippine Star) - July 11, 2019 - 12:00am
Thirty-two years ago today, the global population hit five billion. Today, with 7.4 billion
people on the planet, and 83 million added every year, the United Nations estimates
that by 2030, the world population will hit 8.6 billion.

That’s a lot of people competing for limited resources. Meanwhile, the United Nations
estimates that every day, about 800 women around the world die of complications
related to pregnancies.

In 1989, two years after the so-called Day of Five billion, the UN began observing World
Population Day on July 11. In 1994, Egyptian capital Cairo hosted the International
Conference on Population and Development, during which 179 governments
recognized that reproductive health and gender equality are critical in attaining
sustainable development. Achieving the unmet goals of the Cairo conference is the
message in this year’s observance of World Population Day.

With the Philippine population approaching 105 million, President Duterte has made
implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012
part of his socioeconomic agenda. Legal obstacles, however, derailed his program,
even with his signing of an executive order to push for its implementation.

With those legal obstacles now out of the way, and with those in charge of family
planning coordinating not just with RH advocates but also with the Catholic Church, the
only question is how efficiently the government can implement the program.

Contraceptives have been around for decades in this country and the information is available for spacing
childbirths. But the right to reproductive health and the ability to make an informed choice on family size are
limited to women with financial means and sufficient education. The RH law seeks to empower all women to
make that choice and to enjoy reproductive health.

At the same time, the government must give more attention to the role of men in planning family size and
promoting women’s reproductive health. If population growth is to be tamed, women must not bear the entire
burden. A stronger push is needed to achieve the population goals set in Cairo 25 years ago.