Global Voices » Filipino

Philippines: Demolition of Urban Poor Village Sparks Indignation

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:45:14 +0000

At least one person was killed and scores were injured after police forces fired on protesting residents of Silverio Compound in Paranaque City defending their homes from being demolished.

(A young resident who was gunned down during the demolition. Photo from Tudla)

The Silverio Compound is home to at least 28,000 urban poor families. The residents contend that a total of 4 individuals were killed. The violent demolition has sparked a wave of indignation online.

Billionaire Henry Sy's SM Development Corporation (SMDC) owns the 9.7 hectare lot which it plans to clear for the construction of condominiums and commercial establishments.

This is not the first time that Henry Sy's SM shopping mall entered into controversy. Protests against SMDC also erupted against the planned removal of pine trees for one of its mall expansion program.

(Residents prepare to defend their homes in Silverio Compund. Photo from Tudla)

The police confirmed the killing of Arnel Leonor, 21 years old. Residents said that Bodging Isaias, 16 years old, Rodman Ortega, 16 years old and Raymond Aquino, 36 years old were also killed by police gunfire.

Youth activist leader and blogger Vencer Crisostomo shares a comprehensive narrative account of the bloody incident:

News video footages and documentation by citizen media groups showed members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) armed with M16 rifles firing indiscriminately as they dipersed residents who formed a human barricade to try to stop police and demolition teams. Also shown were scores being arrested, bloodied and beaten up even as they were already in the custody of the police.

After several rounds of volley gunfire, Arnel Leonor Tolentino, 21 was confirmed dead by gunshot on the head and several others also shot in vital areas are in critical condition. Not a few residents have gunshot wounds in their arms and legs, some as young as 15-16 years old.

SMDC has repeatedly denied any connection with the brutal demolition. But government documents obtained by residents indicate the company as a “housing development partner.”

Parañaque Mayor Florencio Bernabe have confirmed plans to use the lot for commercial purposes for the city government. There is also a plan to build a medium-rise housing project but this will only occupy a small portion of the property as shown by the project's master plan.

The violent demolition reminded Like a Rolling Stone of the 2004 Hacienda Luisita massacre where striking farm workers were shot by military and police forces.

I feared that a whitewash would take place given the statements of the Mayor. In the Luisita massacre, the authorities claimed that farmers were armed, that violence started from the ranks of the farmers and that the farmers were infiltrated by “outsiders” who were agitating them.

The same storyline is now being repeated by the authorities even before an investigation into the incident has taken place. Authorities are saying that residents were armed too, that they started the violence and that they were infiltrated by “outsiders”. The idea here is simple. Blame the victims and problem goes away.

Citizen media writer Kenneth Roland Guda believes that the Noynoy Aquino government should also be held accountable for the massacre in Silverio Compound.

Hindi lamang usapin ito ng command responsibility. May direktang pananagutan ang administrasyong Aquino sa paggamit ng dahas sa mga sibilyang tumututol sa demolisyon. Kinalinga ng administrasyong ito ang patuloy na pagsasanay at pag-aarmas sa malulupit at brutal na mga yunit ng militar at pulisya na may masasamang rekord ng paglabag sa karapatang pantao.

This is not just a matter of command responsibility. The Aquino administration is directly accountable for the use of violence against civilians opposing the demolition. This administration nurtured the continued training and arming of vicious and brutal military and police units that have a bad record of human rights violations.

The official statement and appeal of the residents of silverio compound, Paranaque was also posted online.

The policemen are supposed to serve and protect the people but why send more than 300 policemen and demolition teams to destroy our ranks and the whole community and kill us?

We strongly oppose the massive demolition of our community. The demolition of our public market is only part of the continued plan to demolish the whole 9.7 hectares of Silverio Compound to give way to the business center of Henry Sy and to wipe out all small vendors in favour of the HYPERMARKET of the Sy family.

A Radical's Nut is encouraging support for what he calls a “fight for the right to live.”

While the residents of Silverio Compound remain undaunted by oppression and brutality, they need all the support that they can muster to ensure that justice will be served. At the same time, they also need assistance – medical, legal, etc. – to help them cope with the tragedy inflicted on them by institutions that are supposed to uphold their rights and promote their interests.

Some reactions on Twitter:

@ellacolmenares: SM: Silverio Massacre http://fb.me/1AJQ26eas

@Ralpipay: @piabisikleta Re-watched the footage of Silverio massacre and Red some articles eto ba ang tinatawag nating #PinoyPride #ItsMoreFuninPH

@Ralpipay: @piabisikleta Re-watched the footage of Silverio massacre and read some articles is this what we call #PinoyPride #ItsMoreFuninPH

@mobilemaui: Massacre: “To kill people in numbers, especially brutally and indiscriminately” Yun ang ginawa sa #Silverio compound. #justice

@YourConnoisseur: OMG! Silverio compound massacre! And it happened under the administration of #PNoy.

@jaellao: Today was a bloody hell day for residents of Silverio Compound. It's also the 29th month since the Ampatuan Massacre.

A video documentation of the resident's barricades and the bloody dispersal:

Photos and video via Tudla Productions. Some rights reserved.

Philippine Education Prior and During Spanish Colonization

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:23:05 +0000

Red-ayglasses blogs about the state of Philippine education during pre-colonial times and under Spanish colonial rule.

Philippines: Counterinsurgency Primer

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:22:11 +0000

Karapatan, an alliance working for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines, uploaded a PDF copy of its comic book entitled Oplan Bayanihan for Beginners. The book is an introduction to Oplan Bayanihan, the government's counterinsurgency campaign which is being linked by human rights advocates to the continuing spate of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations in the country.

Philippines: Students Prevented from Graduating Over Facebook Bikini Photos

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:28:54 +0000

The Saint Theresa's College, an exclusive all-girls Catholic school managed by nuns in the central Philippine island of Cebu, sparked public outrage when it barred five high school students from joining the graduation ceremony because of photos posted on their Facebook accounts showing them wearing bikinis.

This despite a ruling issued by the Cebu Regional Trial Court ordering the school to allow the students to join the graduation ceremony. The affected students and their parents complained against the lack of due process and the arbitrary imposition of harsh sanctions. The school simply claimed that the court order was deficient.

St Theresa's College logo

The students decried the the school administration's alleged verbal assault on their persons with accusations of having “loose morals,” of being “sluts,” “drunks,” and “drug addicts.” They said that the photos were private and that the school accessed the student's Facebook account without permission.

Administrators said that the photos violated the student handbook by being “obscene, sexually provocative, and revolting to the sense of any decent person.” While the five students were barred from joining the ceremonies, the school has officially declared them as graduates.

Some “loyal” alumni of the school have stepped into the fray to protect what they perceive to be “biased” attacks against the reputation of their alma mater:

Contrary to what the complainant has stated, the school said to have given due process to these five young ladies. First step was that they asked the five to write, in their own words and penmanship, what had conspired in the said photos. These written accounts were then read and assessed. The school then called the parents to tell them what had happened; they explain the violations made by their children and the corresponding consequences of their misconduct. The parents, after the explanation, were then asked to sign if they were to conform to the said sanctions, to which they did.

But Momblogger, also a STC graduate, said that while her alma mater has the right to prescribe its own proper behavioral requirements, she said this standards should consider recent developments like the rise of social media:

In this age of social media, this will not be the last instance of STC students posting comments , pictures in Facebook or other social media sites. It might be time for STC Cebu to accept certain realities and adjust to them in a positive and constructive way. Why call them out with abusive language as “easy, drunks and addicts”? Name calling will not result in constructive engagement.

attyatwork.com shares the summary of the school's defense of its actions in a press conference called for immediately after the controversial graduation:

STC did not hack the facebook accounts of the girls, contrary to the insinuations of many news articles. Some STC students who didn’t like the photos reported the matter to the school admin. The school has always reminded the girls to uphold responsible use of social networking sites for their own protection and security. To ensure the students’ adherence to this, the student handbook prohibits “posing and uploading pictures on the internet that entail body exposure.”

The student press alliance College Editors Guild of the Philippines condemned the school for barring the students from joining the ceremony, saying this constituted a violation of students rights:

We commend the court ruling of Judge Wilfredo Fiel Navarro of the Cebu Regional Trial Court (RTC) for giving justice to the case of the students. The judge, more than the mentors in the school, saw that the concerned were still minors and the rash judgement and punishment would do more harm than good.

We condemn STC’s defiance to the court order. Adding to the unjust treatment to the students, they also did not allow them to go inside the school gates during the graduation day. They were treated like personae non gratae, they were denied even an entrance to the school they have been studying in since elementary school.

Raul Pangalangan, former College of Law Dean at the University of the Philippines, pointed out that the school may have intruded into the privacy of the students:

The photograph was apparently posted on the girl’s Facebook account whose privacy settings allowed access only to her friends. The school officials were not her Facebook friends, and were kibitzers into the child’s zone of privacy. Indeed, if indeed the girl’s privacy settings gave access only to her friends, the girl’s Facebook posts are technically hearsay vis-à-vis the school officials because they were not privy to her posts.

In a Blog Watch piece, youth leader Vencer Crisostomo said that the incident is indicative of the generally repressive and reactionary character of the Philippine educational system:

These incidents show only the tip of the iceberg. Repressive and fascist-like acts of the same nature are being implemented in most schools in the country. There are numbers of reports of students being punished and even expelled from schools due to exercise of freedom to expression, organization and association, and are being punished for their political advocacies or religious beliefs.

There should be a thorough review of the state of campus and student rights in the country. Basic rights and civil liberties are not waived nor nullified once a student enrolls or enters a school. In the same light, “academic freedom” or “autonomy” could never mean that a school is exempted from respecting human rights.

Twitter reactions

Reactions on social networking site Twitter were aghast at the “harsh” treatment of the girls:

@vincecinches: Hail the STC Bikini 5! #wth

@Tito_Ces: Admonish the girl for breaking the rules but beyond that is being morally hypocritical when bishops keep quiet abt pedos.

@TheDoraism: Unreasonably strict, conservative nuns.

@francesdoplon: On the STC bikini incident: Religious school or secular, admin should limit their jurisdiction to campus and leave parenting to parents.

@janram49: St. Theresa's College, let the punishment fit the crime. #STC

But there were also some, especially loyal alumni of the school, that expressed sympathy for the besieged school officials:

@bonjustin8: I wonder why many people are bent on lynching the admins of St. Theresa's College - Cebu. Is it wrong for a school to uphold its standards?

@ohyesitsTIFF: St. Theresa's College is a HIGHLY CONSERVATIVE EXCLUSIVE SCHOOL. There's a reason why parents and students are given student handbooks.

@ArianneJuanillo: St Theresa's College is a Catholic school governed by the teachings of the Catholic Church.They are expected to form the values of children.

A similar incident also happened in another Catholic high school in a city in the country's capital wherein six students were not allowed to graduate and receive their diplomas after they uploaded photos of themselves simulating a kissing scene.

Philippines: Government Fails to Stop ‘Noynoying'

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:18:28 +0000

What started as a substitute to the now banned planking protests is now the latest hit sensation in the Philippines. As a protest pose, ‘Noynoying' simply involves sitting around, lying on the ground, or staring on empty space, and doing nothing.

Activists first coined ‘Noynoying' to describe Philippine President Noynoy Aquino's inaction on the soaring prices of oil, tuition and other school fees, and other basic goods and services, rising inequality, and poverty, among others.

Government fails to stop Noynoying

Government efforts to stop the growing popularity of ‘Noynoying' have all failed miserably. The term became even more popular after the Palace released several photos showing the president supposedly “at work” to counteract the charges of ‘Noynoying'. These were quickly photoshopped and uploaded online as Internet memes.

The latest ‘Noynoying' images showed the president together with Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials who also became notorious last year after they edited photos of themselves to make it appear that they were “working” on a Manila Bay wall destroyed by a typhoon.

Here are some samples of noynoying memes now circulating on the Internet:

‘Noynoying' now has its own entry in Wikipedia, which has expanded from a simple one short paragraph description to a lengthy treatise on the origin of the term.

On Noynoying's growing popularity

Taken from the president's nickname Noynoy, ‘Noynoying' has been widely embraced by the public to mean doing nothing in the face of pressing matters that need action. Filipino netizens have been discussing why ‘Noynoying' gained its present popularity.

A member of the Aquino regime's cabinet called Noynoying an “annoying” publicity gimmick by government critics:

It is a sub-plot to a more prolonged campaign against the government by its political enemies. Because these people are having a hard time attacking government policies, they resort to ad hominem attacks on PNoy, stooping so low as to question his mental condition.

Blogger Teo Marasigan replies that the rise of Noynoying is not just the work of a few activists:

Pumatok ang Noynoying dahil sapul nito ang sentimyento sa pangulo ng mga mamamayan. Sa likod ng masasayang ngiti at masasarap na pangako ng pangulo, ramdam ang pagtindi ng hirap at gutom ng mga tao.

Noynoying became popular because it summed up the sentiments of the people about the president. Behind the happy smiles and sweet promises of the president, the worsening poverty and hunger are felt by the people.

John Marcel Ragaza meanwhile blogs that Noynoying, annoying as it maybe for the president and his officials, is not just an attack on the president's person.

Noynoying is a symbolic protest that goes beyond criticism of the president's character. The public and even Malacanang should not misconstrue Noynoying, and any act of creative protest for that matter, as a plain assault to person of Aquino. Rather, it is an insult directed at the kind of governance that is being espoused not only by Aquino but even by his predecessors, to the elite rule that has long dominated the country, to a leadership that sadly contributes to the suffering of marginalized Filipinos through the protection of elite interests. Noynoying is just a catchy verb, but it nevertheless pierces and offends because it is truthful.

The bottom line for the endurance of Noynoying, Like a Rolling Stone observes, is the Aquino government's willful disregard for people's issues:

It is Aquino and his officials who appear to be living in a different world, a place where there are only happy mall-goers, rosy stock market indices and busy construction sites that point to economic growth. In this world, oil prices are not a problem no matter how high they get. Poverty is just a state of mind and unemployment is fiction.

Be thankful Mr. President that today’s protests are still tinged with humor. There might come a time when there will only be anger over your government’s inaction.

Lastly, youth activist leader Vencer Crisostomo lists down some concrete steps that the Aquino regime can do, instead of mere photo releases and denials, to stop accusations of Noynoying:

Stopping oil price hikes, implementing genuine land reform, significantly raising wages, imposing a moratorium on tuition and other school fee increases, ending impunity and human rights abuses, standing up against US intervention, and ending foreign plunder and mining of the country's natural resources, among many others.

Philippines: Noynoying is the New Planking

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 10:51:40 +0000

Once fashionable and popular, planking has been eclipsed by a new sensation that has gripped many Filipinos around the globe. Planking was last year’s standard pose in youth and student protests against education budget cuts. Noynoying is the new planking in the Philippines.

Introduced in response to the President Noynoy Aquino regime’s inaction on oil price hikes, Noynoying is derived from the root word Noynoy, the nickname of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. It is described as “doing nothing when in fact you have something to do.”

The pose first hit the public in last Thursday's (15 March) anti-oil price hike protest after government officials threatened to arrest those who will do planking during the protest actions. Despite efforts by the Palace to shrug off noynoying by saying it won’t have any effect on the public, it has in fact now gone viral online.

Noynoying Twitter Trends

It has inspired a Facebook fan page which gained over 800 likes in a day and various internet memes. The hashtag #noynoying, Chantal’s Doodle points out, was top nine in the Philippines trends in Twitter the day the pose came out in public.

To counter the notion that the President is not doing anything on people’s concerns, the Philippine government Official Gazette released a photo of the President supposedly busy at work:

But netizens like the Momblogger has pointed out discrepancies, like the presence of TV and DVD remote controls, in one of the photos supposedly showing the president at “work.”

Freedomwall.net user Ian points out that President Noynoy has no one to blame for the growing popularity of noynoying but himself:

Portrayal of Noynoying made me remember the not so distant past. Partying while half of the nation is being ravaged by Sendong and reacted only when the public noticed of such inaction was making him the push-button president. He is the man who had written or worked the least while he was still in the Congress or the Senate. Being a chain smoker is not a good example and making a promise to stop when he’ll win the presidency but then finally broke it is a worst one.

Blogger Pat Mangubat of the New Philippine Revolution describes noynoying as the new form of governance:

What better way to describe what this government is doing than parody the very popular photo of Noynoy in a pensive mood? That photo, which was used during the 2010 elections, became somewhat a symbol, an attraction if you wish, to convince the middle classes that Pnoy is the “one”, a some sort of Pinoy Obama, who has the skills and the wherewithal to push this country into progress. Now, two years and a half into office, and nothing seems to move at all, except perhaps the cash registers of Big Business who is now cashing in on the somewhat catatonic state of this government.

Some tweet reactions on noynoying:

@ang_mungo: A word for not responding until after 10 days from a disaster or crisis, e.g. a super typhoon or a hostage crisis. What is…?

@vhongcrimson: lacierda: #noynoying di bebenta~ ~hellow? bentang benta kya ang #noynoying hahaha~ mura lng ksi to eh, at di pa nag tataas ng presyo~ ^^v

@vhongcrimson: [Presidential Spokesperson] Lacierda: #noynoying will not sell–hello? #noynoying really sells hahaha — its cheap, and does not yet increase its price

@chriscahilig: In fairness, “noynoying” is a self-explanatory word. The first time I read “noynoying” in a sentence, I knew right away what it meant.

@momblogger: Indeed @PresidentNoy is a working president. Question: for whom? Whose interest is this President interested on fulfilling? Big Oil firms?

@gangbadoy: That's funny, yung “Noynoying” sa amin, verb din na ang ibig sabihin ay “date ng date ng date, pero hindi nagpapakasal.” #VocabHomework

@gangbadoy: That's funny, with us “Noynoying is a verb that means “always dating but not proceeding with marriage”

@MangPandoy: That's a good idea. Today, I will go #noynoying! May hostage crisis ba kamo? Kakain lang ako. May bagyo? Pa-party ako! [There's a hostage crisis? I'll just eat. There's a storm? I'll party!]

@dee_knees05: It is not just “noynoying” that young Filipinos are adopting from President Benigno Aquino III's known habit. More young Filipinos smoking.

@dudeinterrupted: Just like Imeldific, the word #Noynoying will soon find its way to the LEXICON.

The youth activist group Anakbayan has released a guide on “How to Do the NOYNOYING” and called for more pressure on the Aquino government to act on people’s issues like the oil price hike.

How to do The NOYNOYING:
1. Get a group of people
2. Find a busy public space
3. Sit down/lie on the floor and act like you're doing nothing, lazy, stupid, and like Noynoy
4. Take a picture or video and post in Twiter using #noynoying, or upload and post at facebook.com/Noynoying2012

Here's one of the noynoying memes making the rounds online:

” />

All pictures are from Facebook page of Noynoying and from youth group Anakbayan.

Philippines: Mass Movement and Pop Songs

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:18:42 +0000

Vencer Crisostomo looks at last year's mass movement high points in the Philippines through the lens of western pop songs.

Philippines: Revolutionary heritage

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:57:29 +0000

The Museo de Santisima Trinidad curator reviews Angela Stuart-Santiago’s Revolutionary Routes: Five Stories of Incarceration, Exile, Murder and Betrayal in Tayabas Province, 1891-1980. The book is a history of her family and the revolutionary struggles against the Spanish, American, and Japanese colonizers up to the early years of the Philippine republic. It is based on the memoir of her grandmother originally written in Spanish.

Philippines: Malong and Typhoon Sendong Evacuees

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:55:01 +0000

Journalist Keith Bacongco writes about how Typhoon Sendong evacuees in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao uses the malong, a traditional Muslim blanket, to cope with the disaster.

Philippines: Davao Tagalog

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:17:22 +0000

RM Bulesco blogs about what he calls “Davao Tagalog,” a mongrel language combing Cebuano, Tagalog, and other Filipino languages that is spoken in the southern Philippine city of Davao.

Philippines: Environment Disasters Linked to Mining, Logging Operations

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:06:33 +0000

While Typhoon Sendong (international name: Washi) flood victims were trying to cope with the massive scale of the death and destruction brought by the calamity, another series of flash floods and landslides ripped through the Philippines in the past three weeks.

Days after Sendong killed 1,257 people last December and left thousands missing and homeless, more floods hit many provinces including Cebu, Davao, Bukidnon, Maguindanao, Compostela Valley, Negros, Leyte and Aklan in the southern Philippines. A deadly landslide meanwhile hit the mining town of Pantukan in Mindanano island last week, leaving 31 dead and over a hundred missing.

As relief operations continue to pour in to flash flood and landslide victims, Filipino netizens also began to ask some questions. The country's tropical climate makes it no stranger to floods and landslides, but the extent of the recent devastation have left many pondering: What are the causes, especially with the increasing scale and frequency of such disasters? What can be done to prevent them or prepare for them in the future?

Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ, the Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro, said that logging and mining is one of the culprits behind the disaster:

Last January 2009, the city had already experienced severe flooding. Some old-time residents recalled that this phenomenon happens every forty years. But barely three years after that, Typhoon Sendong came with greater vengeance.

Illegal logging and irresponsible mining activities have contributed to the degradation of the environment and the siltation of the river bed. The erection of man-made structures may have also impeded the natural flow of the waters.

Cagayan De Oro City Flood Damage Map

Ateneo Physics Laboratories posts the flood damage map of Cagayan de Oro City.

Dugo at Panulat holds [fil] the Aquino government accountable for allowing big business to hold destructive logging and mining operations in the country:

Pinahihintulutan ng gobyerno ang pagmimina at pagtrotroso ng mga naghaharing korporasyon at ng kapatid nitong gahamang dayuhan. Pinahihintulutan ng gobyerno na gahasain ng magkapatid ang ating likas na yaman kapalit ng konting kita at pamumuhunan ng mga ito.

The government permits the mining and logging operations of the ruling corporations and their greedy foreign partners. The government permits the two to rape our natural resources in exchange for a little profit and investment.

Lisa Ito also points [fil] to the conversion of forests by transnational corporations into plantations for export crops:

Laganap din ang kumbersiyon ng kagubatan upang gawing plantasyon ng pinya, jatropha, saging, at iba pang export crops, ayon sa maka-kalikasang grupo na Panalipdan Mindanao. Ayon sa mga pag-aaral mula sa National Institute of Geological Sciences, ang CdO ay lalong nagiging bulnerable sa baha dahil sa kumbersyon ng 2,000 ektarya ng kagubatan sa Upper Pulangi Watershed upang gawing taniman ng pinya ng Del Monte Philippines—isa sa pinakamamaking exporter ng pinya sa buong mundo.

The conversion of forests into plantations for pineapples, jatropha (for biofuel), banana, and other export crops is also widespread, said the environmentalist group Panalipdan Mindanao. According to studies from the National Institute of Geological Sciences, Cagayan de Oro became more vulnerable to flooding because of the conversion of 2,000 hectares of forests in Upper Pulangi Watershed for the pineapple farms of Del Monte Philippines-one of the largest pineapple exporters in the whole world.

Environmentalists have pointed out that a geo-hazard analysis conducted by the University of the Philippines confirmed the role of state neglect in the Sendong tragedy. Youth activists have been very vocal about President Noynoy Aquino's veto of a P5 billion disaster preparedness allocation in the past year that could have helped lessened the impact of the floods:

We reiterate that it is the Aquino regime which is a man-made disaster, turning the unavoidable reality of heavy rains into a tragedy: First, because Noynoy himself removed the funding for disaster preparedness in the 2011 national budget. Not a single centavo in the P5 billion ‘Calamity Fund’ went to preparing Northern Mindanao, or any other part of the country for that matter, for natural disasters. Second, because he continues to allow massive, ‘legal’ logging by mining, agricultural, timber, and real estate corporations.

A MindaNews photo shows the logs brought down by the floods to Iligan City from logging sites.

Politika 2013 meanwhile exposes the efforts by big business publicists to confuse the issue and steer the discussion away from the linking of large-scale mining and logging to the calamities:

Aside from sweepingly labeling all critics as leftists, the pro-mining and logging publicity offensive likewise attempts to confuse and dishes out lies:

“The Mines and Geosciences Bureau has confirmed that there are no large-scale mining operations in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan…,” CMP President Philip Romualdez said in a statement.

Of course, the mining operations are located in the very wide watersheds beyond the boundaries of both Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

Meanwhile, Philippine Wood Producers Association (PWPA) deputy executive director Maila R. Vasquez denied the presence of commercial logging operations in northern Mindanao…

So where did the thousands of cut logs that destroyed houses and now littering the coastline and clogging the rivers come from?

Dr. Giovanni Tapang listed 7 ways to reduce disaster risks in the country, including adequate disaster preparations. One of his recommendations is the emulation of socialist Cuba's storm preparations.

Various groups called on the Aquino government to punish those accountable for the disaster. Photo Credits: Karlos Manlupig

Dean Tony La Viña suggests 10 things that should be done after Sendong. He counsels against distractions and blame games, but at the same time calls for holding those responsible accountable:

Although this is certainly not the time for blame games, accountability must be exacted. In other countries, notably in Japan, officials take themselves out of the equation by resigning and taking responsibility. Unfortunately, we do not have that tradition here. And so I welcome the task forces created by the President to investigate what happened, although I would have preferred an independent commission to do this job to have more objective findings. Nevertheless when they finish, I hope they will file the appropriate criminal, civil and administrative cases against accountable officials. I would especially want charged those officials who abetted the activities that exacerbated the disaster, or those which had the information and the power to prevent it (but negligently did not do so).

Philippines: Manhunt for ‘Human Rights Violator' Goes Online

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:51:26 +0000

The efforts to catch Major General Jovito Palparan have gone online after an arrest warrant was finally issued against the alleged human rights violator in the Philippines. Human rights victims, witnesses, families, and their supporters have called for a public manhunt of Palparan after his failed attempt to escape the country and subsequent hiding from the authorities.

Notorious as the “The Butcher,” Palparan has been charged with the kidnapping and serious illegal detention of University of the Philippines student activists Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno.

Palparan is also infamous for the rise of cases of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and other human rights abuses in every province where he was assigned under the regime of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Human rights groups have documented at least 1,206 extrajudicial killings, 206 enforced disappearances, and 2,059 illegal arrests and detention under the past administration.

Netizens have been encouraged to help the mothers of the two missing activists attain justice by posting the “Wanted: Palparan” poster released by the human rights groups Karapatan, Desaparecidos, and Hustisya on blogs, Facebook pages, and other social media. Here is a video that the same groups have uploaded online:

The mothers of Cadapan and Empeno said that the arrest order of Palparan signals a new beginning in the quest to hold human rights violators accountable and ending impunity in the country, which continues to hold sway under the new administration of Noynoy Aquino.

Such impunity is wrought by the brazen commission of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other forms of human rights violations under the Macapagal-Arroyo regime. Such violations continue with impunity to this date under the Aquino administration, which has been remiss in pursuing justice for the victims and has sustained the same kind of counter-insurgency measure which terrorizes and wantonly violates human rights.

Mindanao-based journalist Karlos Manlupig remembers his own encounters with Palparan and the fear the latter roused during the May 2010 elections in Davao, Southern Mindanao.

Student activists, as a joke, refer to Palparan as Tito Palpy and usually use it to scare some kasamas [fellow activists] when they go home late, “Hala ka, naa baya si Tito Palpy diha sa gawas sa gate. Ginahulat ka [Beware, Tito Palpy is just there outside the gate. Waiting for you].”

University of the Philippines Student Regent Krissy Conti notes that the arrest of Palparan would bring peace to the minds of many UP students engaged in social work.

Palparan et al’s arrest and detention in ordinary jails would give us a little peace of mind as we continue to conduct field work, immerse in communities, and serve the people where we can find them – the same way Karen and Sherlyn did. We have no bounty to offer, but to those who can bring in the men who terrorized the countryside have our deepest gratitude.

Ellen Torsedillas meanwhile recalls in her blog how former President Arroyo awarded Palparan despite the controversies surrounding the figure.

In her sixth State-of-the-Nation address on July 24, 2006, Gloria Arroyo, amidst cries of parents of University of the Philippines Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño and relatives of Manuel Merino, a farmer, Gloria Arroyo lavished praises on one of the most feared and hated generals – then Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, commander of the 7th Infantry Division in central Luzon, where many of the extra-judicial killings happened.

Philippines: Happy Rizal Day Twitter Trend Draws Criticism

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:34:16 +0000

#Happy Rizal Day became a trending topic on Twitter on December 30, 2011, a holiday commemorating the death anniversary of the Philippines' national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. While this could be taken positively that many still remember Rizal, some have criticized the use of the saying “Happy Rizal Day” to commemorate the day of his death.

Inday Kayla laments how some Filipino social media users have mistaken Rizal Day as the national hero's birthday. She posts a portion of her Twitter timeline to underscore her frustration:

The worst, those were just a few. Seeing their tweets makes me faint, it breaks my heart. I’m pretty sure, your AP/PH teacher feels the same thing, too. And Rizal feels a lot more pain than we do. Truth be told, many Filipinos have disregarded the true meaning of this day, the martyrdom of Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

In Between Columns finds it ironic that Filipinos would greet each other “Happy Rizal Day” on the day he was shot to death by the Spanish colonizers:

To me, saying “#Happy Rizal Day” only means the present Twitter generation vaguely remembers Rizal as a Philippine hero. They don’t anymore recall that December 30, 1896 was the day the Guardia Civil shot him to death…

It seems Filipino during the time of Twitter and other forms of social media are more content with mere exchanges of “Happy Rizal Day” to commemorate our country’s historic turning points.

El Lobo Filipino also shares the same sentiment:

Several of these “greeters” told me that they are celebrating his heroism and what he’s done for the country. I told them that if that’s the case, then the greetings would have been more appropriate on Rizal’s birth date - June 19. And this year, the country did celebrate the hero’s 150th birthday.

Daniel de la Rosa meanwhile calls for the shifting of Rizal Day from December 30 to the national hero’s birthday on June 19:

Well, one could argue December 30 is the day of his martyrdom, which inspired the revolution to greater fervor and was a fitting climax to his life. I would think June 19 would serve that too and affirm the greatness of a Filipino who rose to such heights. On a practical note, June 19 is the start of the school year in the Philippines, and you can weave all sorts of classroom projects around Rizal’s life.

Philippines: Typhoon Sendong and Social Media

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:35:30 +0000

Typhoon Sendong (international name: Washi) victims, their families, and friends, in the Philippines are using social media to look for missing victims, coordinate and document relief efforts, and record image and accounts of the destruction.

The flash floods caused by the typhoon in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in Northern Mindanao and Negros Oriental caused the deaths of 1,257 people, according to government data. Over 45,000 homes have been damaged, leaving thousands homeless.

Flood victims have utilized Facebook to help search for their missing loved ones. Photos and profiles of missing relatives and friends continue to be posted in the Facebook pages Sendong Missing Persons and Missing Persons of CDO and Iligan.

The Sendong Missing Persons page has since gathered 1,787 likes and 5,341 conversations as of this writing. The administrators, however, have advised the users of the page to coordinate with authorities and not rely on Facebook alone in finding their loved ones.

As noted earlier in Global Voices Online, blogs and social media networks have also been used to mobilize assistance for relief operations for the victims of Typhoon Sendong. Accounts of these efforts are also beginning to be posted online:

@mindanaoan @IamPinkEm my husband told me a story while they were distributing food at canitoan earlier today,wen evacuees receive food they would say “salamat au sir ha [thank you very much, sir], merry christmas” my husband said its heart warming for them to be greeted merry christmas by ppl hu lost everything

Various images and accounts of the destruction have continuously found their way online. In Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Foundation University video manager Mark Anthony Besario was able to capture the devastation brought by rampaging flood waters and posted this online in YouTube.

Pinoy Dog-Lover shares stories of how dogs saved humans during the disaster. One account is set in Iligan City:

Before the furious flood waters swept through their village, [the dogs] Aspins Loloy and Jackie immediately woke up their humans — scratching the door and barking loudly. Because of the dogs’ warning, Marrietta and her family were able to get to safety. They lost their home, but unlike most families affected by the flood, their family is still complete.

Ryan Chua uploads a photo of the devastation in Brgy. (village) Macasandig, Cagayan de Oro:

LiaAndanarYu comments on a photo of the same community: “There once was a home here. Kennedy Pacana of Tibasak, CDO owned that home. Then came Sendong”

Philippines: “Occupy” Protests Overcome Police Brutality

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:41:20 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage #Occupy Worldwide.

Protesters in the Philippines have attempted to ‘occupy' the historic Mendiola Bridge near the Presidential Palace by staging a campout protest against budget cuts and poverty. Police used batons and water from fire trucks to violently disperse the assembly yet thousands continue to gather around Mendiola day after day to make a strong statement in front of President Noynoy Aquino's own doorsteps.

Six students were arrested but subsequently released after the flimsy charges filed against them by the police were dismissed by the prosecutor's office. Scores of other protesters have been critically injured by the brutal dispersals.

Prevented by the police from camping near the Palace, protesters put up tents in Plaza Miranda in Quiapo the first night, subsequently in Bustillos Church a block away from Mendiola, and most recently in the Liwasang Bonifacio shrine. Today, December 10, International Human Rights Day, is the last day of the campout protest.

The call for those who are “fed up with the status quo and united in a common hope for a better present and future” to “take action” and occupy Mendiola by more than 100 groups was first posted online on www.campoutph.com:

We can no longer stand a twisted social set-up that robs the majority of our people of a decent life and basic social services. We can no longer stand a social system that produces immense wealth for foreign interests and a few as the people, who toil all their lives, are increasingly pushed deeper into hunger, poverty and injustice.

Highlighting the theme “sawang-sawa na tayo (we are fed up),” the campout protest tackled a broad range of issues from the Aquino administration's budget cuts for education and social services, nonstop oil and basic commodities price hikes, land reform, migrant issues, urban poor demolitions, and persistent human rights violations.

'Campout' march blocked by police. Photo from @androzarate

Videos by student and youth leaders, academics, artists, activists, and other campout supporters expressing their disenchantment with the system and enjoining others to join the protest have also circulated online:

The people are fed up with poverty. All sectors of society have a responsibility to end this. I am Axel Pinpin as an activist of the peasant movement and a poet. Each one of us has a responsibility to continue to awaken the people about their real conditions. Everyone is invited to the people's campout which will start on December 6.

Hundreds of students from various state universities held various protest actions in the islands of Panay and Guimaras while almost a thousand students in Iloilo City braved the rain for a march-rally in solidarity with the Occupy Mendiola protests.

Iloilo City students brave the rain in solidarity with Occupy Mendiola. Image by author.

The Occupy Mendiola campout protest is inspired by the “Arab Spring” popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, the General Strikes in Europe, and the now global “Occupy” protest movement.

Updates on the continuing ‘occupations' can also be checked on Facebook or through the hashtags #sawangsawa and #campoutph on Twitter.

Fed up with the system

Student Regent Krissy Conti of the country's national university, the University of the Philippines, explains the historic significance of Mendiola as the campout site:

Mendiola, at the foot of the seat of political and economic power in the Philippines, has historically been a protest area. A campout in Mendiola against the prevailing system of government, like the Occupy movement in Wall Street against corporate greed, has the “power of place”. We were there last September, last May and the year before, in December. Why has President Aquino closed down the area to activists this time, permit or no permit?

Politika2013 pointed out the irony of the brutal dispersals a few days before human rights day:

But the police, in the name of security of the present Palace occupant, do not want protesters to exercise their democratic rights in Mendiola. So they blocked the marchers before they could even approach this symbol of the Filipino people‘s struggle for democracy.

This scene evoked memories of the dispersal of protest actions participated by the colleagues and supporters of Noynoy’s parents during the dark Marcos years from the early 70s to the 80s.

New Philippine Revolution criticized the violent dispersal as an expression of the Aquino administration's paranoia and total disregard of democratic precepts:

I don't see anything wrong with allowing students to encamp at Mendiola, spend their Christmas there or just literally make the entire bridge their home. Malacanang is several meters away. An encampment at Mendiola will not even affect security at the palace.

IN the UNited States, hundreds of thousand of people have been allowed to express themselves, hence, this creeping movement called Occupy Wall Street. In times like these, where people are hungry and millions more are jobless, suppressing these democratically protected actions are downright stupid.

Blogger Terry Ridon cites “5 reasons why you should join #campoutph”:

5. Your school budget has been cut. AGAIN. AND AGAIN… 4. You love riding the MRT and LRT… 3. Your father was a farmer. And your lolo was a farmer… 2. You/Mom/Dad/Bro/Sis/Everyone is an OFW… and 1. You feel that there is truly something wrong with the system.

A Radical's Nut counters the dismissals by the Aquino administration of the growing “Occupy” movement in the country:

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in October that there is no basis for a similar movement as the administration is “siding with the poorest of the poor”. Government, he said, strives for “inclusive growth”.

Nothing can be farther from the truth. In its December 6 editorial, the Philippine Daily Inquirer noted that the combined income of the richest 1% of the families (185,000) is equivalent to the poorest 30% (5.5 million). Aquino, like Arroyo, belongs to this 1% that monopolizes the country’s wealth.

Economic policies favor the ruling elite to which both Aquino and Arroyo belong. They use political power to prevent the redistribution of social wealth and accumulate more. The most glaring example is the Hacienda Luisita, which has been controlled by the family of the landlord President for more than half a century through deception and violence. Today, Aquino wants compensation from farmers his family has exploited to the hilt for decades before they can get the lands they have always owned.

This post is part of our special coverage #Occupy Worldwide.