Nacionalista Party Stand on Cha Cha

August 13, 2008 at 4:29 am (Uncategorized)
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Press Release: Nacionalista Party
From: Office of the Spokesperson
For More Info: Gilbert Remulla, gcremulla@yahoo.com
Date: August 12, 2008

NP Spokesperson Gilbert Remulla: No Amendments to the Constitution Before 2010

The Nacionalista Party, headed by Senate President Manny Villar, reiterates its commitment to policy debates on how to further develop the Constitution. It recognizes that the Constitution, being the mother law that governs the nation, must be responsive to strategic issues of national interest. It supports the initiative of Sen. Aquilino Pimentel to open the doors of debate on federalism as a pro-active course of action in bringing peace to Mindanao.

Having said that, the Party categorically opposes any move to change the Constitution before 2010 as part of peace building in Mindanao. It believes that this will further divide an already polarized society. The immediate task is to build a climate of understanding between and among stakeholders to true peace in Mindanao. And this means getting the pulse of the whole nation, sincerely involving our democratic institutions, and respecting our democratic processes and laws.

The peace in Mindanao must be addressed head on if we are to move forward as a country. We hope that any initiative to bring peace to Mindanao must be done with utmost transparency and accountability. Any move to pursue a political settlement among contending parties in Mindanao under a cloak of secrecy and political maneuverings will not prosper.

This also means a commitment to a peace process that de-escalates the conflict. This starts with the immediate cessation of hostilities and veering away from a climate of fear and armed confrontation. Our ordinary brothers and sisters are the ones suffering. The displaced are already around 160,000 and still increasing. Add to this those who are being brought back to the Philippines from Sabah by Malaysian authorities, and those OFWs going home due to armed conflicts in many parts of the world.

Let us all redirect our energy towards strengthening our republic. At the end of the day, we would like to see a Philippines that is strong politically and economically. Let us strive to be a prosperous and powerful nation, worthy of respect in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. xxx

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Harnessing student power

August 11, 2008 at 12:40 pm (Uncategorized)
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By Leonor Magtolis Briones
The Business of Governance
www.abs-cbnnews.com

The phrase “student power” came into vogue during the sixties. This was the time when thousands of students all over the world marched on their governments, whether in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, Asia or Africa. A common theme was the war in Vietnam . The global call of the students was for the United States to get out of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh, and Che Guevara were the most popular icons. So it was in the Philippines.

The students also found reason to engage their respective governments on other issues as well. American students complained about the activities of the CIA in developing countries. They rebelled against the draft which would have sent them to Vietnam. In England , students criticized their government’s domestic policies. Rallies drew students by the thousands.

In Paris, they tried to recapture the days of the French revolution where the students played a major role. Students stormed Paris a number of times to set up their version of the Paris Commune. In UP the students took over the university and established the Diliman Commune.

In the Philippines, the focus was on American imperialism. The battle cry was “Ibagsak ang Piyudalismo, Pasismo at Imperialismo!” “Maoismo, Marxismo-Leninismo” were frequently uttered by students. Privately, the women would complain about “Machismo-Leninismol”

Teach-ins would last till morning. Those of us who were members of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation would camp in the house of Dodong and Princess Nemenzo. We would cross over to the house of Merlin Magallona and pester him with questions.

And the mammoth rallies! I must say the youth rallies of today can’t match the vast numbers of students who would march from UP Diliman , walk all the way to Tondo and end up in Malacanang—singing, chanting, and shouting all the time.

Student Power and the 2010 elections

Time to “fast forward” to the present. Since the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship, it seemed that student power like Merlin the Magician has faded away.

Globalization is largely to blame. Students spend their time getting ready for jobs here and abroad. During the 60’s, the most powerful lure was radicalism. At present, students have many more choices.They can go abroad. They can get cushy jobs. They can spend long hours in cyber space with their laptops. They can do many things— set up businesses, become chefs, write plays, make movies and even enter show business.

Things have changed, though. The emergence of political, social and economic crises is radicalizing the students. They are aware of the disarray in governance They now attend rallies and assemblies in greater numbers. They are busy organizing forums and symposia. Slowly, the sleeping giant is awakening.

Their elders are beginning to see the potential of student power. Now it is fashionable for young and old personalities to go on campus tours and stir the students into action either for their candidacies or for national reforms.

Two trends are discernable. Students are seduced with offers to be on the staff of 2010 candidates. As early as last year, the bulletin boards of the College of Public Administration and Governance were plastered with ads inviting students to be part of the team of a presidential candidate. Political parties are busily organizing youth organizations. The students are beginning to sense their power.

Another trend is to encourage students to participate in reforming the present system. The “I Am Change” Movement started by Harvey Keh is going on campus tours. “Kaya Natin ‘To” is led by Governors Panlilio and Padaca. From Ateneo, they are crossing over to UP and on to the other schools. The Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) is also going on campus tours.

The Young Turks are themselves politicians. However, they are introducing new politics to the students. Traditional party members usually stick together and spend their waking hours plotting the destruction of the other parties. Atty. Adel A. Tamano, Mayor JV Ejercito, Cong. TG Guingona, Cong. Erin Tanada, former Cong. Gilbert Remulla and Prof. Danton Remoto come from different parties, but they have bonded together in order to reach out to the young. They encourage students to dialogue with them on political, economic, and social issues. Their theme is, “there is hope” in response to the apathy and indifference of the youth to national problems.

To repeat, the decade of the 60’s saw the global rise of student power. Students of that decade proved they were a formidable force. They contributed mightily to the downfall of dictators, fascists, and warmongers all over the world.

Will Filipino students rise and mobilize their power to reform this country, or will they succumb to the siren call of tradpols ? Let us see.

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Young Generation of Politicians Barnstorms Schools, Connects with the “Internet Nation”

August 11, 2008 at 8:12 am (Uncategorized)
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Press Release: August 11,2008
For more info: Eero Brillantes, 09276702831, mindbullet45@gmail.com

Young Generation of Politicians Barnstorms Schools, Connects with the “Internet Nation”

A multipartisan political group called the “Young Turks” led by Genuine Opposition Spokesperson and Pamantasan Lungsod ng Maynila President Atty. Adel Tamano has started to go the rounds of colleges and universities all over the country. Tamano, along with other young political personalities Nacionalista Party spokesperson and former congressman Gilbert Remulla, Ateneo English Professor Danton Remoto, Congressman Erin Tanada, Congressman TG Guingona and San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito are doing the rounds of campuses advocating for youth involvement in governance.

The kick-off started at Silliman University in Dumaguete City last July 10-11, 2008. Tamano described the event. “The bright students of Silliman University asked questions and we tried to answer them with substance and with style, with wit and cheer and laughter intact. It is because their questions seemed to deal with lack of hope, of being betrayed by their leaders, of abandonment. I hope we kept the spark plug of hope alive. We spoke in a chapel, a presentation room for business students, and the great church — all in one day. We hope the Sillimanians had a grand time, the way we did too, in our first campus tour.”

Eero Brillantes, CEO of Mindbullet Marketing and Public Relations, who maintains the young turk’s blog www.oppositeofapathy.wordpress.com, says that the blog has become hyperactive after the Silliman activity. Based on site metering, he noted interest in what the group has to say. “The blog has just recently been put up. Yet it has already been visited almost 10,000 times. It is currently ranked number 13 for politics and government by topblogs.com.ph. Its just one notch lower than the “Mar Roxas for President 2010 blog which is at number 12. The blog definitely has momentum. With the campus tour catching fire, the blog is poised to be a prominent fixture in new politics for the country. The Young Turks and the Internet Nation has become properly introduced.”

For his part, Remoto was upbeat about the launch and how the internet was able to disseminate the event exponentially. “Skycable showed the complete proceedings that night of July 10, and we also had coverage from two radio stations, two newspapers and the Sillimanian college paper as well as its website. Not to mention the many blogs of the bagets from Silliman, which are now being read and re-sent and re-read all over the borderless world of cyberspace. “

Moreover, Congressman Tanada emphasized the need for dialogue between the young batch of political leaders and the youth. He said that it is important for the youth not to lose hope and for them to assert their rights. Remulla asserted that there is still hope and it resides in the youth, and the young generation should not be afraid to stand for what they believe in.

On August 26, 2008, the Young Turks will visit the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance from 1-5 p.m. This will be followed by a tour to University of the Philippines at Los Banos in September. xxx

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Remembering Datu Toto and Ka Tanny

August 11, 2008 at 4:18 am (Uncategorized)
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Datu Toto Paglas (left) with Samuel Labang of the Rotary Club.
Photo from www.paglas.com

Ninoy Aquino is flanked by the three Grand Old Men of the Opposition: Senator Lorenzo Tanada, Senator Jovito Salonga, and Senator Gerry Roxas. Photo taken during the trial of Ninoy.
Photo from www.ninoyaquino.com

By Rina Jimenez-David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
www.inq7.net
First Posted 08/09/2008

THE TIMING IS UNCANNY. DAYS BEFORE the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao elections marred by the threat of violence over the issue of autonomy and ancestral domain, a youthful champion and symbol of the new generation of Filipino Muslim leadership passed away.

Ibrahim Paglas III, better known among his family and people as “Datu Toto,” was just 47 when he died after being confined at the Davao Doctors Hospital due to meningitis.

He is best known as a businessman who showed the way for previously backward, neglected Muslim-dominated areas by turning his town of Datu Paglas in Maguindanao into an agribusiness center. This he did by convincing former MILF rebels to abandon their arms and work alongside ordinary farmers as well as Christians in a banana plantation. He then enticed foreign investors to put up the capital for the processing plants and agribusiness technology (including innovative drip irrigation systems from Israel) that turned “La Frutera,” a joint venture with Saudi, Italian and American companies into a huge success.

I met “Datu Toto” some years back when I joined a media group brought over by the Knowledge Channel for the inauguration of a project employing satellite technology to bring educational TV programs to public schools in Datu Paglas. He proved to be a charismatic, compelling figure, touring us around the banana processing plant and pointing out a mosque he had built in the workers’ compound. “When a man makes time to pray, he has less time to fight,” was his simple explanation for the project.

Last year, Datu Toto’s sister, Bai Norah Paglas, was part of a Filipino group on a study tour of Israel, where I took part, too. Working closely with her brother on their many ventures, Bai Norah was distressed by the twin shocks of rising oil prices and the falling dollar, simultaneously raising production costs and reducing peso earnings, exacerbated by a virus that attacked their banana plants. I don’t know how the Paglas Group is doing now, but with Datu Toto gone, I can only hope that Bai Norah finds the strength to cope with the continuing crisis.

* * *

BUT Datu Toto was aware that economic and social success in a single town or province within the ARMM would not be enough to create lasting peace in Mindanao. The economic and developmental benefits of peace and prosperity would have to be sustained by good governance and social amity.

Datu Toto ran twice for ARMM governor and lost both times, perhaps because he was determined to forge an independent path—independent from the dictates of the ruling administration or of entrenched political interests—for himself and his people.

Samira Gutoc, a freelance journalist from whose article on Datu Toto I picked up some details, wrote that “he represented the youthful dynamism of the region … advocating business development, employment and education in ARMM.”

Perhaps, given his ties to both old-time political elites in Mindanao (his mother is a Pendatun, niece of the late Sen. Salipada Pendatun) and to rebel groups (he is a nephew of MILF founder Hashim Salamat), and his own personal charisma, Datu Toto would have played a decisive role in bridging the gaps of misunderstanding and misperception of the stalled peace talks, especially the controversial Memorandum of Agreement.

But it may not be too late to take up the slack left by the passing of Datu Toto. I am confident emerging Mindanaoan leaders, Muslim, Christian or lumad, will take up where he left off, though he will be sorely missed.

* * *

ALSO sorely missed is the great nationalist and human rights champion, former Sen. Lorenzo M. Tañada, whose 110th birth anniversary we observe today.

Now more than ever we feel the lack of statespersons of “Ka Tanny’s” caliber who let nothing—not threats to his freedom, not ostracism by his colleagues, not even age or impairment—prevent him from doing what he thought was right and fighting for rightness. Or as another (surviving) Grand Old Man of Philippine Politics, former Sen. Jovito Salonga put it: “To Tanny, it is not a case of my government, right or wrong, but rather my government when right, to be kept right and when wrong, to be made right.”

His enduring public image will always be that of an old man with a shock of white hair and leaning on a cane, with his son Bobby behind him lending a supporting presence, taking his place in the front line of many a violently-dispersed rally. I was covering one such rally near the “Welcome” Rotunda in Quezon City, and it took my breath away watching Ka Tanny, along with another old man, Chino Roces, enduring the water cannons directed at them as they steadfastly linked arms with other leaders of the “parliament of the streets.”

* * *

TAKE note that at this time of his life, Tañada had no need for any more public acclaim and/ or popularity. In fact, everyone would have understood if he folded his arms and said: “I’ve done my part, let others take the lead. By the time martial law was declared in 1972, he had retired from the Senate after having served an unprecedented 24 years as a legislator, and even longer as a public servant.

In fact—as a letter to him by Ninoy Aquino pointed out—Ka Tanny was abroad when martial law was declared; but instead of a comfortable retirement in foreign shores, he chose to go back home and pick up the reins of the scattered and incarcerated political opposition.

Blessed with a long, fulfilling life and an enduring marriage, Ka Tanny lived long enough to see democracy restored and the Senate voting out the US bases, a cause he had championed even as a young nationalist. His was a life to be envied, emulated and celebrated, even many years hence.

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Esperon should stay

August 11, 2008 at 3:54 am (Uncategorized)
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By Ellen Tordesillas
Ang Pahayagang Malaya
www.malaya.net.ph

I vehemently oppose the call of Senators Rodolfo Biazon and Mar Roxas and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay for former Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon to resign as presidential adviser for the peace process.

Esperon should stay. He is doing the country a favor by fueling the people’s anger towards Arroyo’s illegitimate presidency. He may yet galvanize the people into action to end Arroyo’s illegitimate presidency, something that “Hello Garci”, NBN/ZTE and other scandals failed to do.

The calls for Esperon’s resignation came after North Cotabato Vice-Governor Manny Piñol related Tuesday night in ANC’s “Strictly Politics” how his text message calling for his constituents to be ready in case of attacks by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front came about.

TV host Pia Hontiveros read the text message that has been going around attributed to him: “My beloved people. Tonight I was told by a top government official that if our opposition to be included in the ARMM will result in MILF attacks, the Armed Forces will not be able to help us all out because that’s the policy of this government. Let us be brave and stand firm. God is with us.”

Piñol confirmed that it was his message to his constituents in North Cotabato following a phone conversation with Esperon about the petition he filed before the Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order on the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the Philippine government and the MILF that was scheduled last Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur.

Before that, they were both interviewed on TV. Piñol said he sensed Esperon’s hostility so he called him up. (The former AFP chief is his kumpadre.) That’s when Esperon uttered the famous words: “Pag na-TRO kami diyan, bahala na kayo sa sarili ninyo. We are not going to sacrifice the lives of the soldiers to defend you.”

Esperon never denied that he said those words to Piñol. He just contextualized it to what happened in 2000 when the military attacked MILF camps.

Piñol gave an additional context. He said Esperon might have been piqued with his “lacking balls” description of his stand with the MILF.

Roxas immediately called for Esperon’s resignation saying instead of working for peace, Arroyo’s peace adviser is fomenting trouble. “Labag ito sa batas. Labag ito sa sinumpaang tungkulin ni General Esperon at tama lamang na sibakin ni Pangulong Arroyo si General Esperon sa kanyang tungkulin.

“Itong kasunduan na ito ay hindi nauunawaan ng ating mga kababayan.

“Nakita natin sa proseso na kulang sa konsultasyon at wala halos ang nakakaalam sa nilalaman nitong kasunduang ito. Ito ay pruweba sa maling stratehiya na ginamit ng pamahalaan sa pag-negotiate dito, isang stratehiya ng pagtatago sa katotohanan, at pamumuwersa o pambabraso ng mga maaapektuhan nito.

“Hindi ito ang pamamaraan para mag-negotiate ng isang peace agreement. Kailangan lahat ay nakakaalam ng nilalaman nito, at sumusuporta rito. Kung hindi, nasa papel lamang itong peace agreement, at yung kaguluhan ang siyang iiral pa rin.”

Makati Mayor and UNO president Jejomar Binay said Esperon’s statement “was irresponsible and very unprofessional, and betrays a mindset that ignores civilian rule.”

“A person who threatens to withhold military support to a civilian population out of spite has no business being the country’s leading peace advocate,” he said.

Binay said Esperon’s statement was “very provocative” and tends to further fuel the tension in Mindanao, generated by the suspended signing of the GRP-MILF MOA.

UNO spokesperson Adel Tamano, a Muslim, said in the same way that he is worried over reports about Piñol’s message, Esperon’s statement is “highly irresponsible and unbecoming for someone of his stature and experience.”

“Knowing that tensions are high in Mindanao because of the MOA on Ancestral Domain between the GRP and the MILF, General Esperon should have exercised statesmanship and acted in an appropriate manner as befits someone who is a member of the government peace panel,” Tamano said.

Biazon, former AFP chief and a veteran of the Mindanao campaign, said he is going beyond Mar Roxas’ call for the sacking of Esperon as peace adviser. He wants the whole peace panel reconstituted.

Biazon said way back in May 19, 2008 he said that by appointing Esperon as peace adviser, “the President might have been junking the peace process with the MILF.”

Of course, Esperon said he is not resigning. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita defends Esperon saying that Arroyo’s peace adviser is doing the right thing. “Sinasabi naman ni Gen. Esperon sa palagay niya ang ginagawa niya ay tama, sa ngayon walang dahilan para consider niyang mag-resign.

I agree. Esperon should not resign.

Borrowing Napoleon Bonaparte’s military dictum, let’s not disturb the enemy while he is in the process of destroying himself.

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Lorenzo Tanada

August 9, 2008 at 12:54 pm (Uncategorized)
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By Randy David
Public Lives
Philippine Daily Inquirer
www.inq7.net

MANILA, Philippines—He lived much longer than his contemporaries. Born a few months after Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence from Spain in 1898, and Lorenzo Tañada was 93 when he died. Had he lived like a Japanese centenarian, he would be 110 on Sunday, Aug. 10.

The martial-law generation referred to him as the “Grand Old Man of the Opposition.” It was a label that suited him well. Tañada was indeed all of that. He belonged to that era of Philippine politics when leaders consciously thought of themselves as noble stewards of the sacred legacy of nationhood and democracy.

He was the contemporary of Claro M. Recto, Jose P. Laurel, Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez, Elpidio Quirino, and, of course, Ramon Magsaysay. He outlived all of them. In the 1960s, he was joined in the upper chamber by a younger generation of bright politicians that included the likes of Ninoy Aquino, Pepe Diokno, Jovito Salonga, Raul Manglapus and, of course, Ferdinand Marcos. First elected senator in 1947, Tañada’s career in politics ended when Marcos declared martial law in 1972. He served in the Senate for 24 years, making him for many years the longest surviving senator of the republic.

But the irrepressible Tañada refused to retire from politics after Marcos padlocked the Senate and jailed some of his colleagues. He swiftly metamorphosed into a “parliamentarian of the streets,” lending his venerable presence and stature to the street protests against the dictatorship. One memorable photograph of the old man during this time shows him braving the high-pressure water from the fire hoses of the Marcos police, defiantly locked in arms with street activists like Lino Brocka, Chino Roces, Ed Garcia and Rene Saguisag, among others.

He was present in almost every forum, always clear-minded, jovial and eloquent. He sat beside young activists like Lean Alejandro, not as a passive relic from a distant past, but as “Ka Tanny,” a living participant in the unfinished project of nationhood. He lived to see the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship, and the restoration of a fragile democracy under Cory Aquino.

His final crusade was the dismantling of the last of the American bases at Clark and Subic—which he waged through the broad Anti-Bases Coalition that he chaired. Tañada was inside the Senate hall in a wheelchair, watching militantly from the gallery, on a rainy day in September 1991, when the Salonga-led Senate rejected a new bases treaty. Immediately after the historic vote was announced, the senators turned in the direction of the old man and gave him a long standing ovation—an extraordinary tribute to a Filipino leader who had served the nation well. It was his final battle, and the grandest of his political victories.

But Tañada was not always the fiery nationalist that he was toward the end of his life. Rather, he was, like his brilliant contemporary, Claro M. Recto, transformed into one by his times—to borrow a concept from Renato Constantino’s political biography of Recto, “The Making of a Filipino.” Not many will remember that Tañada was a member of the Philippine Economic Mission headed by Sen. Jose P. Laurel that negotiated and signed the infamous 1954 Laurel-Langley Agreement, which extended the scope of American parity rights in the Philippines to include nearly all sectors of the economy. Tañada found himself defending a trade agreement that Recto had denounced as an unconscionable act of economic servility. Yet it is worth noting, as an aside, that, according to Constantino, Recto’s life too as a crusading nationalist began only in 1955, in the course of his personal battle with the US-sponsored Magsaysay for the leadership of the Nacionalista Party. Two years later, Recto and Tañada joined forces to offer a nationalist alternative in the 1957 presidential elections, and lost.

To the extent that the generation of Recto and Tañada was consumed by the twin tasks of consolidating the country’s independence and ensuring its long-term economic growth, the reform of the feudal social order itself took a back seat in the consciousness of these great leaders. When Magsaysay, for example, sought to jump-start rural reconstruction through a land tenure bill, Recto shot it down as an “ignoble brainchild” of an American conspiracy to keep the Philippines agricultural.

In this sense, Tañada belonged to that generation of aristocratic Filipino leaders—the legatees of a Filipino “ilustrado” class that imagined itself, in Jose Rizal’s words, “the brains of the country, within a few years … its entire nervous system.” It was in every respect an elitist generation, set apart from the masses by education and wealth, which still had an underdeveloped vision of social equity and, even more, of popular self-determination.

But because Tañada’s life spanned several generations, he saw for himself the transformation of Philippine society and the growth of various forms of social struggles. He, too, was growing in consciousness. His early advocacy of civil liberties matured into a commitment to fundamental social rights, and so, toward the end of his life, Tañada had surpassed Recto’s radicalism. From elite politician, he had become a social activist.

* * *

Comments to public.lives@gmail.com

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Never fear English

August 8, 2008 at 7:55 am (Prof. Danton Remoto)
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By Danton Remoto
Business Mirror Front Page
www.businessmirror.com.ph

This is the third part in the series of columns commissioned by the British insurer Pru-Life for its Planet English project to showcase the importance of English and of English writing in the Philippines.

***

THE Philippines is still the third-largest English-speaking country in the world. But more and more, we have to qualify this statement. Does it mean a deep knowledge of English, or functional English just enough to get by? And what does this statement mean—that there is only one kind of English in the world?

Linguists and language specialists have concluded that there is nothing wrong with code-switching, i.e., using English and Tagalog, when discussing difficult concepts in subjects like science and math. Moreover, they found out that students in their early years (Grades 1 to 2) learn concepts better when they are taught in their native languages. In short, one’s first tongue—or the language one has imbibed like mother’s milk—is best in laying the foundation for learning.

But this doesn’t indicate the uselessness of English. Learning in English can be introduced in Grade 3 for those whose first language is not English, and we are talking here of a majority of Filipinos. The foundations having been prepared, the students can now navigate the shoals of concepts and arrive at insights using another, borrowed tongue. How so? Because they would already have the confidence to form concepts and insights without translating them in their minds three times, i.e., from Ilocano to Tagalog to English.

Dr. Isabel Pefianco Martin, former chair of the Ateneo’s English Department, wrote that in our country, “The language most feared is English. I see this in my students who joke that their noses bleed after they talk in English; in my friends who claim that they speak English only when they’re drunk; and in my doctor who suddenly switches to Tagalog after I tell him I teach English. We see this fear of English in classes where students feel stupid because they mispronounced a word; in contact centers where applicants take accent-neutralization sessions; and in English review centers that continue to mushroom in Metro Manila. Fear of English is also manifested in predictions that the country is approaching an English-deprived future; in House bills that seek to make English the sole medium of instruction in schools; and in courses or training programs that focus only on developing grammatical accuracy.”

How can we banish this fear of English?

As in relationships, we stop fearing somebody when we look at him or her as a friend. Thus, what Stephen Krashen calls “affective filters” should be eliminated. These are the emotional barriers that prevent one from liking, or even loving, a language. And, logically, one can like or love a language when these “affective filters” are gone.

I’ve been teaching English for 22 years at the Ateneo and have taught all kinds of students—from the poor, book-deprived but bright scholar from Malaybalay, Bukidnon, to the cool, casual and book-hating Fil-Am from Queens, New York. There’s also the occasional Cambodian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese who has enrolled for my undergraduate or even graduate classes in English.

What to do with them?

I tell them to be familiar with English. In short, to live in that language, to inhabit it, to embrace it. They should read their texts, watch English-language films, listen to language tapes and love songs, keep a journal or a blog in English. I encourage them to talk to each other in English. So, in my class, Vith the Cambodian talks to Hanh the Vietnamese in English that may be slow now, but we are going there. Maria of Malaybalay begins to string together longer sentences in English, describing the hills of her province. To learn a language is to know its culture. Therefore, I tell them (especially students from other Asian countries) to be more open to other cultures and ways of being. In short, to open the doors and windows of their houses to the call of another language.

Another way to banish this fear is to remember that there are now many varieties of English. Its ownership is now shared by many countries and continents. English is no longer talked about in the singular form. Rather, like the atom, it has split, and like an organism, it has mutated into many forms. When I was studying in the UK, I heard Kenyan English from Peter Okeke and Nigerian English from Orufemi Abodundrin. When I studied later in the US, my conversations with Felicity (from Isle of Skye, Scotland), with Marta (from St. Lucia, Caribbean) and with Bob (from Malta) sounded some kind of rich, varied and musical English to my Filipino ears.

English is important and will always be so. It’s one of the 150 languages we use in the Philippines today. Studies show that Filipinos—a talented lot—speak at least three different languages. Who knows, one of them could even be English!

As the poet and UP professor Jimmy Abad has said, English is no longer a foreign language. It’s already ours, for we have already colonized it. As with a T-shirt or a pair of jeans that you own, you should wear it proudly—and wear it well.

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Young blood and hope

August 6, 2008 at 3:29 am (youth and education)
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I dug up this editorial in the world wide web of the Internet. Our first campus tour at Silliman University was widely covered by tri-media: Skycable showed the complete proceedings that night of July 10, and we also had coverage from two radio stations, two newspapers and the Sillimanian college paper as well as its website. Not to mention the many blogs of the bagets from Silliman, which are now being read and re-sent and re-read all over the borderless world of cyberspace. Next stop: UP National College of Public Administration and Governance, August 26, Tuesday, 1-5 pm. Watch us rock. See you there — Danton

Editorial
Visayan Daily Star
July 26, 2008

It should not be taken against the Filipino people if most of our countrymen remain discontented with the state of our national affairs. While we wait with bated breath for what President Arroyo will say on Monday in her State-of-the-Nation Address, various sectors of society have been playing soothsayers by almost taking the SONA from the President’s mouth and speaking for her.

If we believe what the critics of the administration are saying, it would seem that doomsday is just around the corner. Much of the pessimism stems from the myriad of crises that we are experiencing. To top it all, the latest word from our economists revealed that the Philippines has wrested the top spot as the most corrupt nation in the world.

Thus, the recent visit of the so-called Young Turks to Dumaguete recently, meant to kick off their series of campus tours, was an eye-opener of sorts insofar as their ideologies are concerned. The Young Turks is composed of, among others, Danton Remoto, founding chairman of Ang Ladlad; broadcast journalist and former Congressman Gilbert Remulla; Genuine Opposition spokesperson, lawyer Adel Tamano; and, Congressman Lorenzo Tañada III.

Though they are all members of the opposition and, therefore, are espousing change and reform, the collective message of the Young Turks was one that struck a sensitive chord among the diversified members of the audience. It is that of hope – that, for as long as there is hope, all is not lost for the Filipino people. The Young Turks likewise offered an alternative of injecting young blood into the otherwise humdrum political scenario composed of so-called traditional politicians.

As the saying goes, hope springs eternal. Although we should not remain callous and indifferent to the ills of society, we should not persist in our skeptical attitude either. No one can give us hope except ourselves. If we have even just a tinge of hope in us, then we will survive.*

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Remembering Ka Tanny: Nationalist to the last

August 6, 2008 at 2:44 am (Uncategorized)
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THE BUSINESS OF GOVERNANCE
By LEONOR MAGTOLIS BRIONES
www.abs-cbnnews.com

“Nationalist to the last.” This is how Rene A.V. Saguisag describes the late Sen. Lorenzo “Ka Tanny” Tanada, whose centennial we are celebrating on August 10, 2008.

The first time I met the late Sen. Lorenzo “Ka Tanny” Tanada was in the old Senate Building in Luneta. I went there for the first Council meeting of the Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism (MAN) . He was the first Chairman. I was a then a member of the Kabataang Makabayan and represented the Youth Sector.

In those days, senators were like Olympians, more godlike than human. They towered over mere mortals in their erudition, eloquence and grandeur. They were like the Roman senators of old. For a graduate student in her twenties fresh from the province, the experience of meeting, talking and seeing a senator up close was awesome.

I was a callow and timid promdi taking up graduate studies in the then U.P. Institute of Public Administration. Dodong Nemenzo was my professor. It was he who brought me to Kabataang Makabayan and to Ka Tanny.

Dazzling is the only word which can be used to describe Ka Tanny’s smile. And when he spoke, his listeners were all mesmerized. During assemblies and marches, young people were carried away by his brilliance and eloquence as he expounded nationalist tenets.

The Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism (MAN) was the broadest alliance of different sectors rallying to the cause of nationalism. The first Secretary General was Jose Maria Sison. Leading personalities included intellectual giants like Renato Constantino, Dodong and Princess Nemenzo, Merlin Magallona, and fiery labor leaders like Ignacio Lacsina and Juan Olalia..

As MAN Chairman, Ka Tanny steered the organization at a time when to be a “mere” nationalist was considered dangerous. At times, we would meet in the house of Renato and Letty Constantino

Those were heady days. I felt like a fish thrown into the waters of nationalism. We read and reread, and held DGs (discussion groups) in different houses. Nationalism was the first step on the road to radicalism and the young welcomed it joyously.

My MAN experience was a defining moment in my journey to full development as a nationalist and progressive. It completely changed my life and led me on the path which I have never abandoned. Many young people of that time started with MAN. Now they are national leaders in their own right.

Ka Tanny was part of the MAN experience for many young men and women. In the words of Arlene Babst, “He looked, in fact, like the youngest MAN (Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism, which he spearheaded) I have ever seen in my life.”

From Senator to MAN

When Ka Tanny became senator in 1947, he had already built up a formidable reputation as professional, lawyer and public servant. He held the longest record of continuous service in the Senate, 24 years.

He received his law degree from the University of the Philippines, his Master’s of Law from Harvard University, and his Doctor of Civil Law from the University of Santo Tomas, meritissimus.

His nationalist inclinations were enriched by his experience as running mate of Don Claro M. Recto in the Nationalist People’s Party. His chairmanship of MAN was a result of nationalist positions which he espoused in the Senate, his relentless battles against graft and corruption and his advocacy of civil liberties as founding member of the Civil Liberties Union.

From MAN to nationalist hero

Ka Tanny is best remembered for his leadership role during the dark days of Martial Law.

Along with other luminaries, he fought the dictatorship. He was campaign manager of Lakas ng Bayan, a coalition of anti-dictatorship forces. Ka Tanny later led a protest march against the massive cheating during the 1978 election.

Ka Tanny continued his glorious journey during the Aquino administration with his heroic stand on the military bases. He was among those who headed the series of protests which led to the mothballing of the much maligned Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.

Ka Tanny only stopped when his physical system finally gave up on him. He passed away in 1992.

Remembering Ka Tanny

How easily people forget! Eccelesiastes has said, “There is no rememberance of men of old, and those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.” How soon the country forgets! But those who were enraptured with his oratory in MAN, his courage in the face of Martial Law, and his endurance in the fight against the bases will not forget.

Nationalism was my first step in the journey towards full development. Ka Tanny was part of that journey. I too travelled the same road as his son Wigberto. Now I am with his grandson Erin. Thank you, Ka Tanny.

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Atty. Tamano Statement on Ancestral Domain

August 5, 2008 at 5:36 am (Peace Process)
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STATEMENT OF ATTY. ADEL TAMANO ON SIGNING OF MOA ON ANCESTRAL DOMAIN

There is no one more interested in peace in Mindanao than I. I am a true son of Mindanao and my family, specifically my late father, Mamintal Tamano, has been in the forefront of finding a just settlement to the Mindanao conflict. On a purely personal level, I am very happy that the ancestral rights of the Bangsamoro people are recognized in the MOA on Ancestral Domain. However, the document - and the process undertaken by the Government - are constitutionally flawed and, in the long run, will prove harmful to the peace process.

It is unfortunate for both Muslims and Christians in the Philippines that GMA has polluted the Peace Process by negotiating in bad faith, promising the MILF things she cannot deliver, using the process as a backdoor to amending the Constitution, and, ultimately, setting the conditions for escalating the conflict in Mindanao.

As shown by the MOA on Ancestral Domain between the GMA Administration and the MILF, particularly Section 3 on Concepts and Principles, which states that ancestral domain does not form part of the Philippines’ public domain, GMA has effectively ceded part of the territory of the Philippines to the MILF. Obviously, GMA is not empowered to give up any part of our country to any group, only the Filipino people can do that in their sovereign capacity and only via amending the Constitution.

As others have pointed out, GMA, being a highly unpopular President, does not have the social capital to convince Filipinos to cede their territory, even for something as important as peace in Mindanao. So when the inevitable occurs and the Government fails to deliver the on its promise to the MILF, the rebels will have a clear casus belli or a justification for acts of war.

There will be some who will argue that the MOA is constitutional in light of the Indigenous People Rights Act (IPRA). However, the IPRA underwent vigorous debate both in Congress and, later, in the Supreme Court. For the issue of ancestral domain rights for the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE), there has been no public debate. In fact, the terms of the agreement were kept secret and hidden in the shadows away from public scrutiny.

It is the aspect of transparency and opening this issue to public debate and discussion that is sorely missing in this entire process. While, certainly, we must all seek peace in Mindanao, it should be done in an open manner and with justice to all. In fact, perhaps through the public debates it may be shown that my views on this issue are entirely wrong and that the government has dealt in good faith. I would actually be happy with that result.

However, until the Filipino people are involved in a broad-based discussion on this issue that will have a profound effect on our country’s future, we should approach this agreement - and the government’s motives - with caution.

As a final note, there may be some who will misconstrue my words and say that I am against recognizing the ancestral rights of Moros. That is untrue. Let me be clear – the aspiration for justice and peace for Moros, which includes issues on ancestral domain, integration, and even reparations for Moros, is something that I have always advocated. But we must see things in the long term and find the solutions to the conflict in a manner that is transparent, constitutional, and inclusive.

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