Clash of Civilizations?

Does cartoons like this help?

I was at a farewell street party for my Brazillian friend Joao last Saturday, 4th of March 2006. Booze was flowing freely and music was pumping courtesy of the good DJs of soundsrealgood (Edge, Brian and Ant). Anyway, we were about to leave around 4 AM when suddenly a friend of ours (Iranian Dutch) and another Danish friend was suddenly going at each others throats and the Iranian guy was pounding the Dane in the pavement. The reason? The Dane punched the Iranian because the latter's French was bad. Good thing the fight was broke up as soon it started but without the Iranian guy (who happened to be a Muslim) crying out for blood for that unprovoked assault. I wont mention their names here to avoid inflaming the issue. I exchanged SMS with the Iranian hoping to calm him down, as he was bent on looking for the Dane and give him a nasty thrashing. I've known the Dane for like over a year now and he is quite known in my circles as rude, and abrasive. But on the other hand, his namesake who is also a Dane is a bestfriend of mine and was certainly embarassed with the whole issue.

***These are unedited text messages sent to me by my Iranian Dutch friend.

3/05/06
4:14 AM
Fuck that. I am drop ing my friendi home and I am coming for his soul. Forgiveness is for christians.

3/05/06
4:20 AM
I am not smarter then anyone. however i am stronger then most and he will say the price. I am n my way to optigar*. And after i drop the drunk guys off. I will search for him in embassy**. And beat him to an inch from his life.


3/05/06
4:31 AM
I can not, he will pay for his unprovo Ked crime. And I will have him.However we are lost. So perhaps i will be late. But i swear, i will have him. May i burn in hell for all eternity if not. And i shall be kept to my word him and his threats ur es friend will bleed by my hands, i swear to all that is holy and unholy, i will see them bleed.


* Optigar may mean Ortigas Centre. A business district that straddles the cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig, the Philippines.
** embassy or more popularly known as Embassy Superclub is the latest hangout in Manila where most young expats hang out.

The world reeling from a spate of anti-Danish protests in the wake of the offensive cartoons of Jyllands-Posten, incidents like this only confirm the fact that there is still much to learn from each other.

Rebels Without a (Good) Cause

Finally, like manna from heaven, a day after I "wished" that Proclamation 1017 be rescinded, the President lifted the controversial Proclamation. Yesterday, news reports say that the opposition are planning to send a complaint to the United Nations regarding 1017. Whatever that should result with, I couldn't see the UN even take a second look at it when it had more pressing problems of its own like the recent corruption scandals that racked Kofi Annan's term. At a Columbia School symposium, United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton on Saturday declared the United Nations is hobbled "by bad management, by sex and corruption and by a growing lack of confidence in its ability to carry out missions.'' It also has to grapple with the mess in Iraq, the recent flagrant flaunting of International Atomic Energy Agency's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of the Republic of Iran. There is Darfur, the AIDS crises and the avian influenza pandemic, the Hamas victory in the Palestine Territories, the persistent threat of global terrorism and the frequent unilateral response of the United States amongst others. The UN never did really intervene during the Marcos dictatorship did they? Not even ASEAN can interfere in the internal affairs of its members. How many years did it take ASEAN to finally publicly censure Myanmar's military regime? The generals kept Dame Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for several years now, and never allowed her National League for Democracy party to take power even if it won the elections. It took several years and thousands of deaths in East Timor before UN finally stepped in.

Taking the case to the United Nations is an exercise in futility and as far as I know it it is just another ploy by the opposition to gain media mileage as well as an air of international legitimacy over their much-discredited and scorned cause. What scorn is greater than having the general public, the middle forces, the real taxpayers ignore their political acrobatics? In the end, its the people that must decide. Thankfully (and hopefully) , with 1017 lifted, we can finally move on.

Enemies of the State

At the height of the tensions last weekend, the President placed the whole country under the State of National Emergency (Proclamation 1017). While I feel that the power grabbers and coup conspirators should be arrested, detained and charged, the vague powers that the Proclamation encompasses can be chilling. The raid on the Tribune was a huge mistake. Whoever reads that paper anyway? Whoever suggested that raid to GMA should be sacked. Threatening the Fourth Estate, especially in the Philippines is a deathwish. Information is power, and who wields this power but the most freewheeling of all media in Asia? It controls radio, TV, print and the internet. When Marcos left in 1986, EDSA 1 spawned the freest media in this region and its accompanying scourge- irresponsible and payroll journalism. Recent years saw increasing attacks on the media personnel in the country. Although Filipinos ignored the state of emergency, (I visited Greenbelt 25 Feb. 2006, and found that , it was teeming with the usual crowd, there was even a birthday party in Salcedo Village attended by a diplomat from the US Embassy), the effects abroad was panic. Family members called in to check on my friends who are from the US, Brazil, Denmark.

What follow is the full text of Proclamation 1017 declaring a state of national emergency:

MALACAÑANG PALACE
MANILA


PROCLAMATION NO. 1017

PROCLAMATION DECLARING A STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY

WHEREAS, over these past months, elements in the political opposition have conspired with authoritarians of the extreme Left represented by the NDF-CPP-NPA and the extreme Right, represented by military adventurists--the historical enemies of the democratic Philippine State—who are now in tactical alliance and engaged in a concerted and systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly constituted Government elected in May 2004.

WHEREAS, these conspirators have repeatedly tried to bring down the President;

WHEREAS, the claims of these elements have been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national media;

WHEREAS, this series of actions is hurting the Philippine State--by obstructing governance including hindering the growth of the economy and sabotaging the people’s confidence in government and their faith in the future of this country;

WHEREAS, these actions are adversely affecting the economy;

WHEREAS, these activities give totalitarian forces of both the extreme Left and extreme Right the opening to intensity their avowed aims to bring down the democratic Philippine State;

WHEREAS, Article 2, Section 4 of our Constitution makes the defense and preservation of the democratic institutions and the State the primary duty of Government;

WHEREAS, the activities above-described, their consequences, ramifications and collateral effects constitute a clear and present danger to the safety and the integrity of the Philippine State and of the Filipino people;

NOW, THEREFORE, I Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Republic of the Philippines and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested upon me by Section 18, Article 7 of the Philippine Constitution which states that: “ The President…whenever it becomes necessary,…may call out (the) armed forces to prevent or suppress…rebellion…, “ and in my capacity as their Commander-in-Chief, do hereby command the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to maintain law and order throughout the Philippines, prevent or suppress all forms of lawless violence as well any act of insurrection or rebellion and to enforce obedience to all the laws and to all decrees, orders and regulations promulgated by me personally or upon my direction; and as provided in Section 17, Article 12 of the Constitution do hereby declare a State of National Emergency.

IN WITNESS HEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 24th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, two thousand and six.


GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
President
Republic of the Philippines

Freedom is not always absolute. Freedom comes with a responsibility. The problem with this proclamation is it blurs the definition. Rights can be trampled and for a country who was under a dictatorship for a long time, people will do anything to protect that freedom (sadly, no one raises a howl about responsibility).

As of this writing states of emergency are imposed on the following (from wikipedia):

• Nepal has been in a state of emergency since political parties and the constitution were suspended by King Gyanendra in response to Maoist rebel factions.
• Egypt has been in a state of emergency almost without interruption since the Six-Day War in June 1967.
• Brunei Darussalam has been in a state of emergency since December 12, 1962 in response to a pro-independence rebellion.
• Swaziland has been in a state of emergency since the constitution was suspended by King Sobhuza II on April 12, 1973
• Israel has been in a state of emergency since the 1948 War of Independence (May 19, 1948- )
• Syria has been in a state of emergency since the Baathist coup of March 8, 1963, however it is to be relaxed. [7]
• New Mexico (U.S.) declared a state of emergency on August 12, 2005, in counties bordering Mexico as a result of illegal immigration and border crime.
• Arizona (U.S.) also declared a state of emergency for the same reasons on August 14, 2005, in four southern border counties.
• Louisiana (U.S.) declared a state of emergency on August 27, 2005, due to the imminent threat posed by Hurricane Katrina. [8]
• Mississippi and Alabama (U.S.) also declared a state of emergency on August 28, 2005, in response to Hurricane Katrina.
• Texas and Arkansas (U.S.) declared a state of emergency on September 2, 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
• Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida, West Virginia, North Carolina, Utah, and Colorado (U.S.) declared a state of emergency on September 5, 2005, bringing the total to thirteen states under a state of emergency as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
• France has entered a state of emergency effective midnight, November 8, 2005, in response to civil unrest
• Philippines has entered a state of emergency effective February 24, 2006, in response to coup threats against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's government in the midst of the 20th anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

I am not scared of the proclamation, what I am worried is that it will be abused. The sooner it is lifted, the better for the country.

Brokeback Mountain and Bush

Bush answers a question regarding gay film, "Brokeback Mountain".

The Semiotics of a Revolt

Last 24 February 2006, the communists, the military adventurists and the political opportunist tried to hijack the 20th Anniversary of the first EDSA People Power Uprising. Ayala and EDSA became a virtual river of colors - Reds for the Communist fronts, Yellows for the Coryistas, Blues and Oranges for Estrada loyalists, and of course, unless the Environmentalists would turn into a hissy fit, green (for envy) for political has-beens, turncoats and opportunists. You might as well include the military green camouflage for the military adventurists with delusions as self-appointed messiahs. Include the color of money, the peso and the Philippine Composite headed south after performing very well in the recent weeks after coup rumours swirled around the metropolis. Not enough? Include the black armbands, and the white priestly cassocks of highly meddlesome members of the clergy and this is rainbow coalition that would make Joe De Venecia blush. This is the height of the unholiest alliances ever assembled.

First things first. I would beg to differ with the Communist insinuations that they have had a presence in EDSA 1. They have maligned the first EDSA as a bourgeoise revolution, which it was. They discounted and misread the people. After all, the Communist Party of the Philippines espoused and still believed in an armed revolution. The Philippine left, after years of protracted struggle in forcing their obsolete ideologies down the throats of the Filipino public further alienated the mass that they suppose to protect. Communists steal livelihood and coerce rural folk, they extort revolutionary taxes from legitimate businesses, and they turn to burning mobile phone towers and buses when these businesses refuse to be intimidated. And these are supposed to be the army of the people. And these are the same people now crying for blood in the streets hijacking a celebration they were never a part of, actions tantamount to gatecrashing in someone else's party. Of course, getting beaten by truncheons, arrested and hosed down make great photos in frontpages. Local media would lap it up and jockey positions for the best angles (much to the delight of media outfits like ABS-CBN, who would only be to happy to forget the Ultra stampede tragedy). If social climbers try to get themselves photographed in the Philippine Tatler, this is the photo-op of a lifetime for the Reds.

Reality, they said, is stranger than fiction and what could have been strange bedfellows than having delusional military officers with messianic complexes caught sleeping with the communists they have vowed to wipe out? The highly politicized military didn't start with the defections of Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel Ramos during EDSA 1. It started when Ferdinand Marcos broke military protocol and installed his fellow Ilocanos to sensitive military positions. Bypassed officers became disgruntled. By the time the Ramos-Enrile defections precipitated EDSA 1, the house of cards fell, where defections upon defections bled the Marcos dictatorship. In the case of EDSA 2, the strength of the people was already in the streets and only defections from the top military echelon only hastened the end to Joseph Estrada's regime. It was the coup-de-grace.

If the military adventurists had it their way, we would have had a military junta very much similar to the hated regime in Myanmar. A shift from a democratically elected administration to a military regime would mean curtailment of our freedom (and in no time, erstwhile Red allies being edged out of the power table, would of course troop again to the streets to, what else, but protest.) The reason why coup attempts failed in the past during the Aquino and Arroyo administrations, and will do so in the future, if there would be any, is that like the Reds, the military rebels failed to know the people. Filipinos, being a carefree and freedom-loving people would not take into kindly any violent changes. The Ramos-Enrile defections was in itself a failed coup attempt and if it were not for the people massing around Camps Crame and Aguinaldo, they would have been goners by now. To mount a revolution, one must have a critical mass support and a huge spark enough to propel the people including the fence-sitters to flood the streets once again.

Unfortunately, the people's attention was too divided. The country has not even been finished retrieving the last body and mourning its dead in the So.Leyte killer landslides and then this. The 70-plus dead in Ultra stampede have not even been given justice yet and now this. The peso was its strongest in 3 and a half years. Our economy had favorable reviews from at least two ratings agencies including Fitch and CALPERS. The bourse has been more active than usual. The first casualties of last weekend's fracas? No doubt but the economy. Stocks plummeted. The peso lost ground. And we are back to square one.

Citizen Cory has been busy painting after her retirement from public office. Aside from being a mother to a daughter whose main preoccupation is washing her dirty linens in public, Citizen Cory whose initial claim to fame was a wife to an assassinated leader, was herself a target of repeated coup attempts in August 1987 and another one in December 1989. Growing up privileged and graduated with a degree in French, Cory's regime characterized a return to the oligarchy and the same elitist politics that the Marcos regime discarded. She effectively sat down on land reform, her family being major landholders in Central Luzon (Hacienda Luisita- a sugarcane plantation in Tarlac Province). It was during her term, when protesting farmers were mowed down by bullets in a demonstration in Mendiola, Manila. Owning major stakes in the Hacienda Luisita, the recent rift between Arroyo and Aquino was caused during the recent government investigations in the violent dispersals in the farmer protests in the plantations. It is ironic that Cory who herself faced the same military mutinies and calls for resignation would herself be involved in the same political intramurals. With her, is a coterie of sourgrapes (Bro. Eddie Villanueva- a former Red turned televangelist who ran in the previous elections, and even lost in his own polling precinct in Bulacan), turncoats (Hyatt 10- former DSWD Sec. Dinky Soliman whose traitorous actions was broadcasted to national TV which while stabbing her former boss in the back she serenaded her with flowers and "If We Hold On Together") and opportunists (Senate President Franklin Drilon, who initially even offered his hometown of Iloilo as the new seat of Presidential power should Manila rejected her government only to renounce her a week after during the mounting protests against the "Hello Garci" tapes scandal).

The people have grown tired of the dictatorship of the streets. The rallies last week and the furor at the Marine headquarters only clarified the truth that the opposition is a fragmented bunch with no coherent platforms and alternatives to national leadership and governance. One thing was clear, everyone wants Arroyo out, and install themselves in power. The problem is with the different political persuasions and vested interests, who should be sitting on that seat? A transitional government that would accommodate everyone is a big joke. We have seen that after EDSA 2, and after a few months, disgruntled factions in the civil societies by the likes of Boy Saycon had a very public falling out with the current President. Too many cooks just spoil the soup.

Of course Estrada loyalists are trying to make a comeback. Remember when Marcos loyalists tried to setup a government in Manila Hotel in July of 1986 with Arturo Tolentino as its provisional President? What are the Estradas in power for? Why would you think wife Loi, sons JV and Jinggoy in public office right now? We have yet to know any important legislations emanating from the offices of Senators Loi and Jinggoy Estrada since being elected to power.You have got to give it to Makati Jejomar Binay to hold the Makati Business District hostaged by encouraging demonstrations in Ayala Avenue. Immediate result? Businesses lost money by losing precious man-hours of employment from late workers who have to walk a kilometer or two to get thru their offices. And legitimate Makati residents losing sleep due to noisy protests. Paid crowds from Binay's constituency (with coupons redeemable at the Makati City Hall) molested the well-manicured plants and bushes. I was not surprised when Binay destroyed the MMDA landscaping recently. This mayor has always been aesthetically challenged. Squatting was tolerated by this mayor, after all, this is where he gets his votes during elections. A former activist during the Marcos regime, Binay has been sneered at as traditional politician, having his surname initial plastered all over the city. The Makati success story was never a Binay initiative. It was the Ayalas who made the city the official financial capital of the country, Binay just benefitted from the fallout. While Manila encouraged tourism by investing in beautification projects, Makati with its huge money in its warchest decided to leave it up to the mall developments like Greenbelt, and Powerplant to generate interest in its tourism. By allowing demonstrations in Ayala, Binay just succeded to sabotage the economy. A walk in Greenbelt last Friday night found that most businesses closed after 1 am due to lack of patrons and coup jitters.

Meanwhile, EDSA 2 politicized the Makati Business Club. The questionable participation of some of its members on calls for ousting the President at a time when that same President who gathered enough political will to effect an important business decision for Philippines, Inc. in the form of R-VAT, lowered interest rates, strengthened the local currency and the stock market, leaves one befuddled what exactly does these people want. Its members, not exactly models of business ethics, whose hands are clean enough to call dirt on the President?

This is a country where the government prays and religion runs the government. Although the Church has a moral responsibility to its flock, it has crossed the line several times by influencing (if not coercing) important legislations. It harrangued the bill on reproductive health. It harassed same-sex marriage advocates. It effectively blocked population management initiatives. It meddled in constitutional reform movements. When the leader of the House of Sin called upon the faithful to protect Ramos and Enrile, the people responded. The Church, with its stifling silence and tacit support of the underground movement against Marcos held the moral high ground. Unfortunately, one of the ugly sons of the Marcos dictatorship is also a highly politicized clergy which was even noted and admonished by their Vatican superiors. We have the running priest (Robert Reyes) who took upon himself as the unarmed and modern version of the priest turned communist Balweg (He started a hunger strike, but when media diverted elsewhere, he lost his 15 minutes of fame and casted the hunger strike to oblivion with hardly a notice) and a bishop (Oscar Cruz) who seem to spend most of his time in Senate inquiries rather in the pulpit. The recent Bishops Conference seemed to have learned its lesson by taking a step back from meddling in politics although there are still wayward priests who acted as consorts of these power-hungry maniacs.

Revolutions are a fickle lot, especially with Filipinos who are notoriously historical amnesiacs. It may conjure romanticsm of politics, but in the end, its the country who will pay. How many years did it take after EDSA 1 before a Marcos won a seat in Congress? The novelty of People Power has worn off and the current mass actions only left a bad taste in the mouth. These masses are unwittingly being controlled by the few elites and powerbrokers in this country. A street called EDSA cannot just hold the country hostaged. True and quality change must emanate from the individual, not from any interest groups, not from the government, and certainly not from any street. We are the change. We can effect positive change by being responsible citizens in our daily lives. The color revolutions are over. We already had 20 years of EDSA hangover, it's time to get our act together as a nation, and move forward in one direction as one team.