November 22. Cong. Mel and I were now shaking hands with the people from DOJ, International Justice Mission, and other groups after almost three hours of meeting. It was the third, or maybe fourth, technical working group meeting to polish the substitute bill for all bills strengthening the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003. Finally, differences were ironed out. the fruit of our labor is ready to be presented to the mother committee, the appropriations committee after that, and plenary debates. Before separating ways, somebody raised that Cong. Mel, in order to rally support for the Expanded Anti Trafficking in Persons Act, should deliver a privilege speech on the observance of the International Day Against Trafficking. Cong. Mel agreed. The date was December 12, a Monday (privilege day for the House).
The final version of the speech was done morning of December 12. Cong. Mel is listed to be the first privileged speaker during the afternoon’s session. As he was reading the piece in his office around lunch, he told me that the office of the speaker sent a text message Sunday afternoon about the Majority bloc’s caucus today at 2:30pm. I asked what the topic was. “Does Speaker want the RH Bill to be voted before the Christmas break?” I asked after reading reports that PNoy is growing impatient with the pace of deliberations when he talked to the speaker. Cong. Mel said the text message didn’t elaborate.
He added, “but I feel this is about Corona.”
Maybe Corona’s allegations in his speech during the Supreme Court’s flag ceremony that day were true. That an ouster plot was being engineered by a powerful group.
Cong. Mel was already in the Andaya Hall minutes before the clock struck 2:30pm. He has always been earlier than punctual. The group started to group as minutes go by. Being a caucus, not even a chief of staff was allowed to enter the room. So I opted to stay inside the office and finish some administrative tasks.
At 3PM, I got a text message. It was Cong. Mel saying that Rep. Tupas is enumerating and explaining each of the eight grounds why the House should impeach the Chief Justice. So it was true.
I acknowledged receipt of text and didn’t bother him anymore with questions. I know he will be listening intently in order to make a principled stance.
At 4PM, some staff and I went to the plenary hall to hear our boss deliver his privilege speech on human trafficking. He was already seated in his place as the speaker banged his gavel to signal the opening of the session. But not more than 20 congressmen were inside the plenary hall. Most of these present are from the minority.
I was surprised to get a call from boss who was just a few meters in front of me. Ah he doesn’t know we were there.
He said “Nakapila pa yung mga tao sa Andaya to sign the impeachment against CJ. Mga one hundred siguro yun. Pumirma na ako.”
He added, “I am willing to give way if the majority leader wants somebody to speak in plenary about the impeachment”
But the number of congressmen started to grow slowly, by twos and threes coming from the south entrance of the plenary hall. Then I saw the majority leader showing the thumb-up sign to Cong. Mel. This was his cue. He rose, spoke, and was applauded by his colleagues who reached more than a hundred when he concluded his speech.
I had the opportunity to ask him what transpired inside the Andaya after the session that day. He mentioned that Rep. Tupas explained that the impeachment complaint is a non-debatable issue thus after garnering this certain of signatures it can be immediately transmitted to the senate to be tried. Cong. Mel also supposed that other groups would probably broach that pork was dangled to influence the signature. But, according to him, the speaker said nobody is forcing nobody in signing. That signing the complaint entails no reward and sanctions.
Cong. Mel told me that “he has an axe to grind against the Chief Justice”. It was the flip-flopping decisions of the SC on the cityhood of 16 towns that made him sign. I recall that when I was still working with the League of Cities of the Philippines, Cong. Mel was the organization’s Secretary General who cried foul over the SC’s redefinition of “final and executory”. Corona was one of the justices who gave alternating decisions perhaps depending on his mood.
The impeachment against Corona was long overdue, according to Cong. Mel. Cities lost millions because of allowing unqualified towns to become cities. “Now I can sleep well”
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Tags: ceazar ryan aquino, Chief Justice, CJ Corona, House of Representatives, Impeachment, Mel Senen Sarmiento, Renato Corona, Trafficking
(Cong. Mel Senen Sarmiento)
Mr. Speaker, colleagues in this chamber, and guests, in a few days we will be adjourning sessions for the Christmas break. From an environment of meetings and debates, we will be welcomed by Christmas carols, gifts, and greetings. But not all of us will be this merry these holidays.
I rise on a matter of personal and collective interest. I rise for all victims of human trafficking as the world observes today the International Day Against Human Trafficking. I rise for people like Rhea Mae and her sister Ruth (not their real names).
Like many stories we’ve heard when it comes to trafficking, Rhea Mae comes from a very poor family in Samar. The serene and rural scenery in the province can only do so much to hide the equally breathtaking human hardship in the foreground. It is common to a family in Samar that the father is either a farmer or fisherman who earns less than five dollars a day.
What made matters worse for Rhea Mae’s family is that in 2007, his father has to be hospitalized for tuberculosis.
Thus, like many young people in rural areas, Rhea Mae and her sister dreamed of going to Manila: the city full of life as shown on TV, repository of the hopes and dreams of 17 million-plus striving, sweating, scrabbling people.
Rhea Mae and her sister, 15 and 12 at the time, met two boys at the market in June 2007 and were easily persuaded to travel to Manila with them. Being so young, they never considered the possibility of staying in Manila longer than their new friends had told them and did not even pack extra clothes. They also did not know that their new friends were connected to a brothel owner. When the sisters arrived in Manila, the brothel owner and trafficker, Sonny, met them at the bus station and took them to the brothel where they would be sold for sex to male customers.
Their mother was alarmed when her two daughters failed to come home. After asking their friends, she found out that they’d taken a trip to Manila without her consent. She received a call from Ruth and Rhea Mae, but was suspicious because it wasn’t from either of their numbers. The traffickers had seized their phones and forced them to pretend to be okay. Immediately worried, she went to the social welfare office to report her missing children, but they couldn’t promise immediate action. After repeated visits, they gave her the money for bus fare to Manila.
About twenty hours later, she was in Metro Manila, at the home of some missionaries whom she’d worked for previously. With their help, she went to the police station and the DSWD to ask for help. She knew the neighborhood—the Divisoria area of Manila—and they would now have to search for two lonely girls in one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
Meanwhile, the past ten days had become the worst trip of Ruth and Rhea Mae’s lives. They’d been taken to the fifth floor of an apartment building, and locked in a dingy bedroom where eight other girls were already confined. The traffickers confiscated their cell phones, and when they protested and said they wanted to go home, the traffickers told them they owed their transportation fare and had to have sex with customers to pay it back. Crying and pleading, the girls temporarily convinced the perpetrators to let them clean the apartment building to earn money—but it wouldn’t last.
Both girls tried to escape at different times but were unsuccessful. Neither girl wanted to escape without the other sister. Rhea Mae refused her first customer, and got berated by Lani, Sonny’s girlfriend. The second time, Lani made sure that wouldn’t happen. In the hotel room, Rhea Mae had to first watch while the man had sex with another one of the girls, and then after that, Lani pinned her arms, and the other girl her legs, while the customer raped her. She received P2,000 for the loss of her innocence.
While the Manila police assisted Nanay in looking for her daughters, they took a break at a local fast food restaurant. Just then, Ruth and another girl were walking back from a hotel where Ruth had been called to render sexual services. Just then, Ruth happened to walk by the restaurant.
Mother and daughter recognized each other through the window and were joyfully and tearfully reunited. With that the police were ready to raid the apartment, and so with Nanay and Ruth accompanying, they burst in the door, handcuffed the manager, and found the other seven girls huddling in the bedroom. The manager’s girlfriend was able to escape, but they could not find Rhea Mae in the apartment. Nanay frantically called for Rhea Mae until finally, the girl came out from the closet where she was hiding. At last the family was together again.
The sisters are now 19 and 16 respectively—and their case is still plodding through the court system, almost four years later. Four years of not knowing whether the manager will be punished. Four years of knowing that the manager’s girlfriend Lani, accomplice trafficker, and relatives, the local recruiters from the market are still out there. Four years of periodic forty-hour-round-trips to Manila to testify. Four years of waiting on justice—and waiting alone, because all of the other victims’ parents have accepted bribes from the perpetrator’s family to drop the case.
My colleagues, human trafficking is perhaps the gravest human rights challenge of our time. It is almost a universal problem and globally recognized as modern day form of slavery. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world are put into a condition of grave psychological, physical, and sexual abuse due to this inhumane practice.
This illegal trade that turns people into commodities is one of the most profitable industries in the world, next only to guns and drugs. Current estimates of the United States Government put its global profit at 32 billion dollars. Trafficking is a crime that transcends borders and does not care about age, gender, or race. It is a serious crime, a threat to every society. It perpetuates poverty as it preys on the most vulnerable members of society especially the youth like Rhea Mae and her sister.
Our country has one of the largest migrant populations in the world. This prevalent practice of migration is utilized by traffickers to lure them into exploitation. Many Filipinos are increasingly being lured by the promises of a better life in the cities or in other countries. Every year, thousands of Filipino women and children are trapped through the cycle of trafficking into a life of slavery, sexual exploitation and human rights violations. Under the guise of safe migration, thousands of Filipinos end up in the hands of traffickers and in slave-like conditions.
As we observe this day as the International Day Against Human Trafficking, I urge you, my colleagues, to support the Expanded Anti Trafficking in Persons Act which I principally authored. The bill, now pending with the Committee of Appropriations, has undergone tedious TWGs in the Committee on Revision of Laws with survivors of trafficking, NGOs, and concerned government offices. It puts more teeth in our existing Republic Act 9208 by plugging holes in the existing law that defense lawyers feast on.
Some of its salient features include stripping off human traffickers of the privilege of confidentiality, providing stiffer penalties especially to public officials conniving with traffickers, and stipulating the tasks of our government offices in preventing victimization and rescuing and rehabilitating victims.
Let us send a clear message to our people being victimized by traffickers that we are here for them. Let us send a clearer message to the traffickers that we will get them.
Let this be the legacy of this 15th congress.
Thank you.
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Tags: Anti Trafficking in Persons Act, human trafficking, Mel Senen Sarmiento, RA 9208
Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento urged Congress to support the
Expanded Anti Human Trafficking in Person Bill which has been approved
by the Committee on Revision of Laws and is now awaiting endorsement
by the Committee on Appropriations.
Speaking during the observance of the International Day Against Human
Trafficking, Sarmiento, said the meausure has gone through various
public hearing with trafficking survivors, non-government
organizations, and national government offices especially the
Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).
The bill strengthens the government’s campaign against the crime that
victimizes mostly women and children, said Sarmiento, main author of
the bill.
The bill proposes a longer prison term of reclusion from reclusion
temporal with corresponding fines ranging from P50,000 to P5 million.
The measure likewise strips of the accused the privilege of
confidentiality which according to NGOs has been used by traffickers
to harass investigators and prosecutors.
The proposed bill also include penalizing attempt trafficking since
the old law requires trafficking to be proven before prosecution.
Sarmiento’s bill imposes penalties to those indirectly trafficking
through intermediaries and to the accomplices and accessory of the
act.
The bill moreover expressly provides for the appropriations and the
basic structure of the IACAT.
But Sarmiento said that the most important feature of the bill is that
it gives the DSWD automatic protective custody of the victims. In the
old law there exists confusion as to whether or not child victim
should be immediately returned to family or guardian- who may be
uncooperative, or influenced not to pursue the case.
The bill underscores the country’s policy to recognize the inherent
human dignity of men and women as enshrined in the United Nations
Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and the United Nations
convention on the elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against
Women.
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Tags: human trafficking, international day against trafficking, Mel Senen Sarmiento
The Army Transformation Roadmap
A World-class Army by 2028
Think of our soldiers. And weep.
The recent massacre of our soldiers in Mindanao is just one of the things that add to the sorry, if not despicable, state of our army. Just this year, the words pasalubong and pabaon were conveniently attached to the armed forces. You talk of our soldiers and the names Ligot and Garcia will surely pop up. Opposite the extravagance of some filthy rich top brass is the appalling shape of our soldiers guarding our territory. How left out we are in terms of defense was put in the limelight at the height of China’s bullying against its Asian neighbors which likewise claim ownership of the Spratlys. The difference was clear, so clear. China has modern guns, we have vintage ones.
But this will hopefully be just stories in the past. Probably some kind of urban legend when the next generation looks back at history.
Reformation in all layers of the army is the only option. And reformation just came closer with the Army Transformation Roadmap (ATR).
The ATR is an 18-year reformation program anchored on the Performance Governance System (PGS). It highlights the Philippine Army’s commitment to pursue a genuine transformation program founded on good governance and performance excellence. It emphasizes a comprehensive approach in pursuing reforms and covers all facets of the organization: from personnel, to resource management, to internal processes and systems, and to mission accomplishments and outcomes.
I am fortunate to be invited to be part of the nine-man Multi-Sector Advisory Board (MSAB) for the ATR. Other members include Jess Estanislao of the Institute of Solidarity in Asia, Mareng Winnie Monsod, Alex Lacson, and Samilra Tomawis.
The MSAB is tasked to help the army promote and ensure the continuity and sustainability of the ATR and to encourage shared responsibility in the success of the ATR.
As a former local chief executive, I was personally impressed with how the ATR was crafted. It basically followed the way the Cities Development Strategies and the PGS were made and implemented. At its core is the involvement of many people in drawing the vision and mission of the organization.
Instead of just being a typical program that emanates from the top, the ATR was a product of a week-long brainstorming session participated in by 49 officers, enlisted personnel and civilian employees, assisted by 12 staff and facilitators. The sessions, which sometimes lasted until the wee hours of the morning, were described to be stormy, passionate, but always with views that came from committed persons.
What’s good in involving the entire organization in planning is that the plan is owned by the institution. Compare that with a plan single-handedly crafted by someone at the top which might then be discarded when that leader retires.
Another outstanding thing about the ATR is that it sets definite deadlines for the army. By 2013, it intends to become a disciplined and motivated army capable of addressing all internal security threats. By 2016, it expects to become a well-equipped army that has established a respectable image in Southeast Asia. By 2022, it anticipates to become a modern and respected army in Asia. And finally, the Philippine Army is set to become a world-class army that is a source of national pride by 2028.
The targets may be too ambitious. The deadlines too close. But the army has to start somewhere for the overhaul and it needs every help that it can get. In fact, legislators are well aware of the urgency to enhance our army’s capability. With the failure of the AFP Modernization Act to deliver the expected results, various bills have been filed in both houses to extend the effectivity of the Act while ensuring sources of funding. Even President Aquino included the army in his 16-point agenda where he intends to make the whole bureaucracy professional, motivated, and energized.
I remember one junior officer who was actively involved in making the ATR. With all the anomalies hounding the AFP, he admitted to have seriously considered of resigning. But he found hope in the ATR. And so did I.
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Tags: Army Roadmap, Army Transformation Roadmap, Mel Senen Sarmiento, Philippine Army, Soldiers
Ang Sex Life ni Tonye
Si Mang Tonye sa kanyang tahanan.
Ang RH Bill ay hindi para sa mga homeowners ng Ayala Alabang.
Ang RH bill ay para sa mga taong sa halip na ipambili ng pills o condom ang bente singko pesos ay pipila na lang sa bilihan ng NFA rice. Ito ay para sa mga taong ibibili nalang ng 555 ang bente pesos kesa naman mamasahe pa papunta sa health center sa poblacion.
Karaniwang mukha na sa debate ng RH bill ang mga kapita-pitagan at sikat na mga personalidad na animo’y inukit na Dove ang mukha dahil sa kinis. Merong bilyonaryong boksingero na kumukontra rito sa paniniwalang wala sanang nagpabagsak sa mga Mehikano kung may RH bill sa bansa. Sa kabilang banda ang isang mambabatas na kayang makipagsabayan kay Boy Pick-up.
Pero ang RH bill ay para sa mga gaya ni Mang Tonye, isang manlalambanog sa Real, Quezon. Hindi pa rin nakakabisado ni Mang Tonye ang pangalan at ang pagkakasunud-sunod ng walo nyang anak. Namatay ang asawa niya nung isinilang ang bunso nila.
Nakakapagtaka kung paanong nagkakasya ang pamilya ni Mang Tonye sa espasyong sinlaki lang ng kwarto ng isang kongresista sa Mitra Building: Lupa pa ang sahig, hollow blocks lang na hindi pinakintab ang dingding, walang kisame at kinakalawang na ang yero, tarpaulin noong nakalipas na eleksyon ang nagsisilbing bintana at pantabing sa kubeta. Wala ngang trono sa kubeta. May butas lang na kasinlaki ng platito sa sahig at kailangang mapuntirya mo yung butas kung hindi ay siguradong kakalat ang tae mo malapit sa paanan mo.
Ang hapag-kainan nila ang siya na ring tulugan nila sa gabi. Ang hindi kasya sa papag, sa banig natutulog.
Naging interesado ako kung paano sila nakagawa ng ganun karaming anak sa kabila ng kawalan ng privacy. Ang sabi nya, wala silang naging problema nung una hanggang sa pangatlong anak nila. Basta’t napadede na ng asawa nya yung bata at tulog na yung mas malalaking anak, nagsesex na sila. Pero pigil lang ang ungol nila para hindi magising ang mga bata. “Mahirap nang nabibitin” sabi nga ni Mang Tonye sabay kambyo. Sabay dagdag na “lalo na kung umuulan, naku ang sarap”.
Tinanong ko kung paano sila magparaos nung lumaki na ang pamilya nila at tiyak na may malay na yung mas matatandang anak nila. “Kung hindi namin pinapalabas muna yung mga bata, kami nalang ni misis ang lumalabas dyan sa bakuran, sa likod ng manggahan”.
“Paano kung mabosohan kayo?”
“Tatahol naman yung aso namin kung may ibang tao”, sagot nya.
Sabi na nga ba, walang makakapigil sa pagtatalik. Ika nga ni Senator Miriam, abnormal ang taong hindi interesado sa sex.
Madalas daw talaga silang mag-sex. Siguro sa isang tahanan na walang radio at TV at madalas na walang ilaw dahil wala nang karga ang Motolite na nagpapailaw sa nag-iisang bumbilya, sex na talaga ang pagkaka-abalahan nila.
Hindi pa rin makalimutan ni Mang Tonye ang araw na namatay ang asawa. Hindi na nya isinugod sa health center ang asawa nya. Dahilan nya, malayo ito at siguradong walang supply ng gamot doon. Minsan na rin kasi nyang napuntahan ang health center nung isinisilang ang panlima o pang-anim na anak nila. Pinapunta lang sila sa mas malayong center, sa poblacion.
Gaya ng tatlong pinakahuling anak nila, isang hilot nalang ang nagpunta sa bahay nila.
Pero batid ni Mang Tonye na may kakaiba sa huling pagbubuntis ng asawa. Mas mahina ang asawa nya at tila walang lakas para umire. Sa unang pagkakataon nung araw na yun, ibinulong ng asawa nya na huwag pababayaan ang mga anak. Nang narinig na ang unang iyak ng bagong-silang, tuluyan nang nanahimik ang ina.
Narinig na ni Mang Tonye ang Family Planning. Pero baka “mahal” daw ito. Sa kinikita niyang P100 kada araw, ni hindi nga nya mapalitan ang pudpud nyang havanas.
HB 4244
Sec 6. Emergency Obstetric Care.
…people in geographically isolated and depressed areas shall be provided the same level of access.
Sec 12. Integration of Family and Responsible Parenthood Component in Anti-Poverty Programs.
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Tags: ceazar ryan aquino, RH Bill, Sex, Tonye
No Other Woman
I didn’t watch it.
Though almost everyone has been talking about it when it was a trending topic both in the real and virtual world, I never even thought of catching a glimpse of it. Hindi issue na sayang ang pera sa pelikulang ito, it’s more of sayang ang common sense.
After all, what’s seminal about the movie? By the mere title, a five-year old can pretty much guess how the story will start, what the conflict will be, and probably, how it will end. Indeed, the Filipino masses have long been deprived of quality movies. Gone were the days when the films starred by the likes of Vilma Santos or Nora Aunor left the viewers pledging their lives for the protagonists or cursing the antagonists as if they were their personal enemies, too, upon stepping out of the cinema.
What have the contemporary movies offered the people? An overdose of love triangles, of plots based on the story of its theme song, or worse, re-makes of foreign films or recycled movies from the archives.
Our movies, which include several shows on TV, have dumbed down our people. Thank God we don’t see action films concluded by late-responding policemen or comedy films where we expect the cast to be dancing in the beach anymore. But local movies have continued to be predictable, ordinary, and boring- not to mention corny..
So what must be done? If it’s true that the movie industry is an ailing one, then it must be true also that euthanasia is among the options. By continuously, and uncritically, patronizing Filipino movies, we are actually telling those behind the movies that they are doing a good job. They get rich while feeding our people with the same old trash.
By boycotting local movies, we make it clear that we deserve better. We tell those guys in the movie industry that what they give us is destitute of the creative juice which not only entertains but informs.
When I chanced upon a UP literature professor at Sarahs (a pub near UP Diliman), we talked about the fall of Gaddafi and our local movies. I pointed out that despite the battery of national artists and Palanca-awarded playwrights that we have, why do we still hear actors and actresses recite lifeless scripts that don’t invite critical thinking. I told him that our writers, those with sense, can do us a favor by getting involved in movie-making. It is sad, according to the professor, that the movie industry and the popular media have depicted, successfully in fact, local artists nothing but a bunch of weirdos. “Look at Makata Tawanan”, the prof said.
Choosing not to watch Filipino movies is not being anti-Filipino. Dumbing down the Filipino is.
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Tags: anne curtis, corny movies, filipino movies, no other woman, pinoy film
The global appeal of conditional cash transfers as a development tool has been evident based on thee number of developing countries that have implemented or are actively showing interest in them. Despite its popularity, past experiences indicate CCTs like the country’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) encounter substantial implementation challenges from a governance and anti-corruption perspective. Putting accountability mechanisms in key CCT activities are therefore critical- especially when there is a scale-up of implementation- to mitigate the risks associated with CCT, and to effectively implement these programs.
For 2012, the DSWD intends to increase the budget for CCT from P21.9 billion this year to P39.8 billion. Some of the implementation challenges that beset a CCT are:
1. It covers a large number of beneficiaries as well as total volume of individual payments.
2. The program implementation is a shared responsibility among different state institutions that cuts across levels and among multiple departments.
3. There are information asymmetries in the service delivery with regard the beneficiaries accessing information on the benefit package and its access procedures.
4. The risk for fraud and corruption is further heightened because the beneficiaries’ group profile renders them less likely to forward complaints.
5. CCT programs also exhibit consumption and production characteristics of private goods. This implies that service providers can have a degree of monopoly power and may not provide the services in the way that the program intended.
The rapid scale-up of the 4Ps implementation has brought to light implementation issues that could undermine its ability to reach the target population by 2016. Broad public support to 4Ps operations is pivotal to ensure its political and financial sustainability. Hence, putting the necessary accountability mechanisms in key 4Ps activities will mitigate the risks and help maintain the program credibility.
• Increase frequency of re-certification to minimize the risk of inclusion and exclusion errors. • Improve management information system to facilitate flow of reliable and accurate information in all stages of 4Ps implementation.
• Conduct regular spot checks to determine quality, effectiveness and efficiency of the program and detect short-term issues with respect to the program cycle.
• Design effective communication strategy to broaden awareness and sustain public and political support.
In the scale-up of the 4Ps program, there are implementation issues that urgently need government attention so as to mitigate the risks of error, fraud, and corruption. These issues, however, are not insurmountable. The DSWD should therefore ensure the effective implementation of the program by putting in place accountability mechanisms to achieve the expected goals.
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Tags: cct, ceazar ryan aquino, dswd
Three bills which seek to amend the Mactan Cebu International Airport Charter were filed this congress- two of these are bipolar. And we were given the difficult task of reconciling- a euphemism for getting rid of one section in favor of another’s version, the contending provisions of the bills.
Situationer:
The Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) is situated in Lapu-Lapu City. Until the city’s declaration as a highly urbanized city in 2007, the city was not independent from the Province of Cebu. It is thus understandable that the governor of Cebu exercised much power, i.e. recommending several members to sit as members of the MCIA board.
When the city gained autonomy from the provincial government in 2007 nonetheless, it found itself in a better position to come up with whatever legal and innovative measures, especially in raising its revenue, that it deems necessary for its constituents. This included controlling and taxing the MCIA.
Two Salient Points of Conflict:
Cong. Pablo John Garcia (3rd District, Cebu) filed House Bill 2003. Although it gives the mayor of Lapu-Lapu City a seat in the board, HB 2003 apparently retains the power of the provincial governor of Cebu to recommend persons who shall sit in the board. Section 6 of the HB 2003 states:
xxx
…three members from the private sector recommended by the Governor of the province of Cebu…the Governor of the province of Cebu and the Mayor of the City of Lapu-Lapu…shall be the eight and ninth members.
Xxx
Take note that with an eleven-member board, three to four votes are a powerhouse especially if voting in block. Also, this provision gives the governor the power to recommend anybody, even those not from Lapu-Lapu City, to become part of the board.
Cong. Arturo Radaza (Lone District of Lapu-Lapu), on the other hand, filed House Bill 2629 in an attempt to give more muscle to the city government with regard to matters concerning the MCIA. Section 6 of HB 2629 makes the city mayor, not the governor, the recommending authority for the three members of the board to represent the private sector.
Before being stuck in an impasse by a tug-of-war for the authority to recommend- which is virtually appointing, we took cognizance of one of the newest laws- RA 10149 or the GOCC Governance Act of 2011. Section 15 of RA 10149 states that Governance Commission for GOCCs will be responsible in preparing and submitting a list of prospective appointees to the President. One down.
The other issue is whether or not the MCIA must be exempt from paying real property tax to any local government unit. HB 2003 of Garcia categorically exempts it stating that the MCIA, as a corporate entity, must be given due consideration as it is responsible in maintaining facilities for its operations. Also, Garcia said that declaring the MCIA as taxable “might put it in the risk of being sold at public auction for non-payment of real estate tax.” This is basically a reiteration of the existing charter. Moreover, the position of the Department of Justice cited the example of the Manila International Airport which is exempt from paying real property tax to Pasay City.
HB 2629 of Radaza, however, argues that the MCIA does not fall in any distinction that warrants its exemption from the general power of the State to tax. In the position paper of Radaza, it cited the case of MCIAA v. Marcos where the Supreme Court affirmed the realty taxability of the MCIAA in favor of Lapu-Lapu City. In the position paper of the Lapu-Lapu City government, it is claimed that thee MCIA occupies almost 1/5 of the total land area of the city thus creating a big gap in the revenue generation effort of the city when it comes to levying real property taxes. Not to mention the restriction to the city government to construct infrastructures that go beyond the limit imposed in areas near airports.
Fortunately, the parties agreed to make a distinction what in the airport may be taxable and what will be tax-exempt. There was a general agreement that facilities which are directly used in aviation operations, e.g. runway, be exempted while other entities inside the airport, like business establishments etc., be taxed by the city. Two down.
(the other bill is by Cong. Cutie del Mar. It gives the Cebu Chamber of Commerce the responsibility of recommending members to the board)
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Backstabbing the RH Bill
How does one stop something unstoppable? Perhaps putting something immovable in its path.
This may be the subtle game plan of lawmakers opposed to the passage of the RH Bill. Aside from the Act for the Protection of the Unborn Child, which is being debated in the Senate now, HB 3667 or the New Anti-Abortion Act of 2010 has been filed and approved by the House Committee on Revision of Laws this May.
Cong. Amado Bagatsing, the principal author of HB 3667 and the first interpellator in the plenary debates on the RH Bill, explained that his bill seeks to protect fetuses that are “unwanted and uncared for [unborn babies] who have been wantonly murdered to hide the shame of their mothers”. This exactly is what the RH Bill aims to do- to make sure that every pregnancy is safe, wanted, and planned.
During the committee deliberation on HB 3667, however, it was apparent that the bill proposes to establish a blanket ban on all drugs that regulate pregnancy. This means that upon its enactment, the law would put abortifacients and contraceptives in one basket. Not to mention imposing stiffer penalties to persons involved in the use, administration, dispensing, injection, or delivery of substances which will be declared abortifacients. This has been supported by Cong. Pablo Garcia and Cong. Rufus Rodriguez, both vocal midwives trying to abort the RH bill in the lower house.
Quite interesting to note also is that during the committee meeting, resource persons come from the pro-life camp. One speaker, a certain Dr. Aguirre teaching bioethics in Sto. Tomas, concurred that all contraceptives including pills and IUDs that are legally sold in the market cause damage to a woman’s system thus must be classified as abortifacient.
Here’s how the bill defines abortifacients as prohibited drugs (amending Article 259-A of the Revised Penal Code)
(Section 4.)
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Abortifacients refers to any device, drug, formulation, substance, practice or procedure which is intended to or may damage, injure, interfere with the development, endanger or cause the death of the unborn child or otherwise induce abortion and cause the expulsion or death of the unborn child.
xxx
The definition seems to be dovetailed with the position of the resource speakers labeling all contraceptives as abortifacients.
Though the intent of the bill that imposes severe penalties to abortion is laudable, which is echoed by the RH Bill, illegalizing contraceptives will thoroughly dismember present and future reproductive health programs in all levels of government unless an empirical classification of drugs is conducted.
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(Statement of Cong. Mel Senen Sarmiento in support of the Forest Resources Bill delivered at the Crowne Plaza)
The Local Government Code of 1991, otherwise known as RA 7160, set forth the process of redefining and reinventing the course of Philippine local governance. It has paved the way towards local autonomy through decentralization of powers and functions from the national government to the local government units. The existence of the Code for two decades now has unleashed the full potentials of the LGUs and its constituents, long held captive by a centralized administrative system. While LGUs are now reaping the benefits of devolution with unprecedented developments, much work is still needed to be done.
Two decades since the enactment of RA 7160, local government units find themselves in front of challenges ushered in by the modern age. Meeting the Millennium Development Goals, the raging debate on population management, and sustaining our natural resources are just some of these challenges.
The Forest Resources Bill (FRB), or Sustainable Forest Management Bill as consolidated, could not have been presented to the House of Representatives in a more tempestuous juncture. As of this moment, the FRB is currently competing for attention with other all-important legislative measures like the Reproductive Health Bill, the proposed reforms in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, not to mention the trial of the Ombudsman in the upper chamber.
Amidst this raging political whirlpool, it would be far too easy to shelve the debates on FRB until a new Congress picks it up in a fresh session. It is sad to note that it would not take too much effort to relegate the issue of forest management to the backseat.
However, if one is to look beyond the politics and pragmatics of the legislative process involved in the passage of the Forest Resources Bill, one will inevitably discover the obvious: That the non-passage of the FRB at this instance would amount to a negation of all previous efforts of empowering the people in safeguarding the environment.
The FRB is consistent with existing law on the exploitation, development, and utilization of natural resources. The FRB walks the path of sustainable development as its framework. It highlights the importance of the Constitutional policy on the recognition of the rights of the people to a healthful and balanced ecology.
The FRB further adheres to local autonomy as well as maximizes multi-sectoral participation. Its policies and objectives are consistent with the local government code, and has been embodied primarily under thee fisheries code which reserves the utilization and development of fishery resources exclusively to Filipinos. The FRB introduces the watershed continuum as a management unit: where resources are not compartmentalized but rather would be managed as a shared responsibility. The trend therefore is clear, that since natural resources issues are local, benefit, responsibility, and accountability must also be local.
It is imperative that our people become aware of this measure. After all, they are the main beneficiaries of our measure. It is thus a welcome that the SAGIP GUBAT (SAGIPIN UGAT ng BUHAY at TUBIG), a network of several civil society organizations, is formed to primarily inform our people of the urgency of the FRB. With the SAGIP GUBAT, I am confident that we can win the support of those in the grassroots level for the passage of the FRB.
The essence of the FRB comes close to the City Development Strategies employed by many cities in the country where the vision and mission of a city is jointly crafted by its officials and constituents. It is not planning for the people but basically planning with the people. It is earnestly hoped that with the enactment of the Forest Resources Bill, our forests are put back where they truly belong.
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