Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Home Blog Page 11402

Duterte off to Bali in October for ASEAN gathering with IMF, WB

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte is scheduled to fly to Bali, Indonesia, next month to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Leaders’ Gathering (ALG), Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said on Sunday.
According to the Asean Legal Information Portal (LIP), the ALG will be held on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Group (AM IMF-WBG) 2018 on Oct. 11.
Quoting Indonesia’s Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, the country’s national news agency ANTARA News reported that “regional priority issues” will be discussed at the meeting of the ASEAN leaders.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, said: “Through this meeting, Indonesia expect(s) ASEAN to enhance cooperation with the IMF, World Bank and the UN in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and demonstrate the success of ASEAN economic integration and regional financial stability.”
The AM IMF-WBG, according to the IMF Web site, “brings together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.”
This year’s meeting features “seminars, regional briefings, press conferences, and many other events focused on the global economy, international development, and the world’s financial system,” the IMF said.
For its part, the World Bank Group said it “plays a key role in the global effort to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity.” — Arjay L. Balinbin

Rep Calalang, 67

KABAYAN PARTY-LIST Representative Ciriaco S. Calalang passed away on Sunday morning, Sept. 23, due to massive stroke. He was 67.
The announcement was made by fellow Kabayan Rep. Ron P. Salo.
Mr. Calalang had undergone surgery on Sept. 17 at the De Los Santos Medical Center, his executive assistant of 21 years, Bern Fermin-Tica, said.
Mr. Calalang was a law professor and taxation lawyer. He was sworn into the congressional position in place of then representative Harry L. Roque, Jr., who was appointed presidential spokesperson in Oct. 2017.
The solon is survived by his three adopted children, Lawyer Joseph Ivan, Carissa, and Carlo Calalang.
“Rep. Calalang’s public service as a Congressman was brief but it was time and energies well-spent. He was able to author and co-author 47 house measures and helped raise public awareness about Kabayan’s platform and his key advocacies on juvenile justice, education, senior citizens, criminal justice, public transportation, and land use,” Mr. Salo said in a statement. “Rep. Calalang was the good, favorite uncle within Kabayan. We will miss him dearly,” he added.
The Kabayan party-list, for their part, said in a statement on their Facebook page, “It is with a deep sense of loss that our very own Cong. Ciriaco ‘Acoy’ Calalang has just passed away. Certainly, we lost a friend, a good man, a legislator, and a champion of the rights of children. His good deeds though for his fellowmen won’t be forgotten.”
Kabayan has yet to disclose the fourth nominee of the party-list, who will take the seat for the remaining time of the 17th Congress.
The public wake for Mr. Calalang will be at the St. Peter Memorial Chapels along Quezon Avenue in Quezon City starting Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 5 pm. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Bill filed to upgrade, level Comelec workers’ pay

A BILL upgrading the salary grade of employees of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has been filed at the House of Representatives, ahead of the scheduled filing of certificates of candidacy (CoCs) in Oct. for the 2019 mid-term polls.
House Bill 8258, co-authored by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, also seeks to address the “disparity in wages” of workers both in the Commission’s main and field offices.
The measure was also introduced by Representative Francisco G. Datol, Jr. of the Senior Citizen Party-list and Rep. Feliciano R. Belmontev, Jr. of the Quezon City 4th District.
The bill cites that an Election Officer I is under Salary Grade 12, earning P22,149 monthly, while its municipal counterparts, municipal treasurer and municipal local government officers are under Salary Grade 24, or P73,299 monthly.
“This situation moved the employees to organize the Comelec Employees’ Union in 2012 to actively work for substantial and just salary increases,” the solons said in the explanatory note.
If enacted, the Comelec will have a regional and provincial election office; while the National Capital Region (NCR) shall be divided into five administrative districts.
Each Provincial Election Office will be headed by a Provincial Election Director with an SG-24 level, or P73,299 monthly salary. Likewise, the five administrative districts in NCR will be headed by a District Election Director, who will be entitled to the same salary pay grade. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Completed access road to Ucab landslide site to speed up recovery operations

AN ACCESS road to the landslide site in Barangay Ucab, Itogon from the provincial highway has been completed by the rescue team of Philex Mining Corp., intended to speed up search and recovery operations. “Nobody could do it because they don’t believe it could be done,” Philex Mining President and CEO Eulalio B. Austin Jr. said in a statement. “But now we have reached ground zero, so it is possible. We had to do this because we saw how slow the pace of work was because everything was being done manually. With the access road, excavators can now come in to assist the miners and other volunteers in the digging,” Mr. Austin added. This developed as authorities ordered last Friday to limit the number of rescuers at the site following a warning from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) that there is a threat of another landslide in the area. “I was advised by the MGB to implement the reduction of search and rescue personnel who are here at the ground zero,” Office of Civil Defense-Cordillera Regional Director Ruben L. Carandang said in a television interview. As of Friday, 31 bodies have been recovered and more than 50 more are listed as missing. Philex Mining is one of the three local units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the two other being PLDT, Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc. — a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. — maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Typhoon Trami whirls in, to cross northern area until weekend


TROPICAL CYCLONE Trami has intensified into a typhoon and entered the Philippine area in the northeastern part yesterday afternoon, according to weather bureau PAGASA. As of the 11 a.m. Sept. 23 update, PAGASA said Trami, with local name Paeng, was packing sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour (km/h) with gustiness of up to 145 km/h. The typhoon is forecasted to be 1,050 km east of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan by Tuesday morning and move west-northwest towards Batanes. PAGASA said “no significant enhancement” of the southwest monsoon is expected within the week. The Batanes and Babuyan islands could be affected by Friday, Sept. 28.
CAR EVACUATION
Nonetheless, the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) is ready to implement forced evacuation measures in case the typhoon brings heavy rainfall. “We will strictly implement forced evacuation with the local governments, we have learned our lesson,” OCD Regional Director Ruben L. Carandang said on Saturday. Five of the six provinces in CAR — Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Kalinga, and Mountain Province — and the municipalities of Mayoyao and Aguinaldo in Ifugao have been declared under a state of calamity following typhoon Ompong the previous weekend. — with a report from Philstar

Zamboanga CDRRMO recommends creation of TWG for evacuations

THE ZAMBOANGA City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) has recommended the creation of a Technical Working Group (TWG) that will decide on the implementation of preemptive evacuations in disaster-prone areas. “The TWG work together to see how we can fast-track the relocation of communities from hazardous areas.” said Dr. Elmier Jade Apolinario, CDRRMO chief. The hazardous sites, based on input from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, have been classified into three categories: landslide-, flood-, and storm surge-prone areas. The CDRRMO’s recommendation came after the city was affected by typhoon Ompong (international name: Mangkhut), which caused damages of more than P1 million in agricultural crops and P800 million in infrastructure. — Albert F. Arcilla

More than 1,000 families ordered to move out of homes near Cebu landslide site

AT LEAST 1,146 families composed of 3,899 individuals from five barangays near the landslide site in Naga City, Cebu have been ordered to evacuate their homes. The residents come from Barangays Tinaan, Mainit, Naalad, Pangdan, and Cabungahan, which are within the one kilometer radius from the landslides. Some families have reportedly asked to stay but authorities said forced evacuation will be implemented to keep people away from danger. “We are doing all efforts to bring everybody to safety. Though this causes inconvenience (to evacuees), we consider this as necessary to save lives,” said Naga Councilor Carmelino N. Cruz, Jr., head of the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and manager of the emergency operation center. Barangay and city officials, along with the police and the military, have gone house-to-house to bring residents out of the danger zone. The evacuees are currently housed at the Enan Chiong Activity Center, Naga Central Elementary School, Naga National High School, APO gymnasium, Colon Elementary School, and Tuyan Elementary and National School. The city government has already identified a relocation site in Barangay Tinaan and has started to plan for the housing project. — The Freeman

Cassava, corn model farms in Davao City seen to ease local rice demand

MODEL FARMS for cassava and corn are being set up in upland areas of Davao City to increase production for these crops that are considered as alternatives to rice. “These (farm) clusters will help ease the pressure on rice demand,” Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said during last week’s opening of the Davao Agri Trade Expo 2018. The cassava cluster model farm, which will receive interventions from the Department of Agriculture, is located in Marilog District. For corn, four model farms are being organized in the districts of Marilog, Paquibato, Calinan, and Tugbok. “The city’s programs for corn and cassava productions mostly include monthly production monitoring, provision of technical assistance by agricultural technologists assigned in barangays and districts, and pest and disease occurrence monitoring,” Ms. Carpio said. The mayor added that the city aims to achieve self-sufficiency for these crops alongside the promotion of yellow and white corn as staples. — Maya M. Padillo

Thoughts on Goyo

I had an opportunity to watch Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral over the past week. Blending history with some fictional elements, it is director Jerrold Tarog’s follow-up to 2015’s Heneral Luna and centers around the “Boy General,” Gregorio del Pilar, during the Philippine-American War. Being an outspoken millennial and the self-professed cinephile that I am, I’m taking this opportunity to share my thoughts about the film.
Critics have praised the film’s direction, production, and cinematography. Of course, one cannot help but compare it to its predecessor, Luna. While audiences appreciated Luna’s epic feel, charismatic protagonist, and provocative central question of “bayan o sarili,” Goyo presents a slower paced but also more introspective piece.
The narrative deconstructs our notion of the glorious Filipino hero, while also inserting commentaries on various contemporary social issues. The primary roles of narrators-cum-commentators in the story were played by the fictional photographer Joven Hernando and the historical Apolinario Mabini.
Throughout the film, we are confronted with this central question: While our heroes’ bravery and nobleness are certainly admirable, how do we avoid crossing the line into blind idolatry and unquestioning loyalty to our flawed leaders?
At one point in the film, Goyo captures one of Luna’s allies, Manuel Bernal, and becomes accessory to his torture and subsequent murder. After beating him, del Pilar mocks Bernal’s loyalty to his deceased commander and offers him a concession: a position in Aguinaldo’s army in exchange for his allegiance. Bernal rejects this and instead retorts to del Pilar: “While you are loyal to a person, we are loyal to a principle. You are not a soldier; you are nothing more than a dog!”
The film is bookended by Mabini’s scathing criticism of Emilio Aguinaldo. The President was ultimately responsible for the failure of the revolution as he surrounded himself with people who were most willing to align with his personal interests, rather than compromising with and empowering those who were most able to lead and serve for the ideals of the revolution.
That we take the time to question our heroes is incredibly timely. The nature of the battles we fight as a nation are evolving — from securing our sovereignty against foreign colonizers to restoring our institutions in the aftermath of the ruthless Marcos dictatorship, and, now, to defending fundamental democratic values against the rising tide of divisive and hateful populist movements. Thus, we cannot pin all our aspirations on our leaders, lest the ideals and principles which we fight for be obscured or forgotten.
It was Goyo’s utter fealty to Aguinaldo that enabled him to perpetrate heinous acts of violence and human rights violations against the President’s critics and detractors. It was the revolutionary army’s arrogance that blinded its officers to the discrimination and marginalization of their indigenous guides. It was Goyo’s complacency and incompetence that led to a string of tactical mistakes which ultimately cost them several key battles.
Through the film, we destroy the pedestal on which we have placed our leaders, heroes, and idols. Joven ponders why we must venerate our heroes as saviors. Mabini questions whether the Filipino is ready to hear such a truth of the immaturity and immorality of our leaders without feeling resentment. General Alejandrino ultimately gives up on the “generation of cowards and traitors” that has hitched onto the revolution and, instead, puts his hope in the succeeding one.
Nanlumo. This is how I felt immediately after watching the film.
But after much introspection, I found that while it was a deconstruction of our notions of heroes and idols, Goyo was not an indictment of the ideals we fight for.
The film does have a subtitle: “Ang Batang Heneral.” I was certainly annoyed at Goyo’s incompetence and brashness at every turn, but I realized that he was not much older in the film than I am now. With this fact becoming more salient, it was clear to me how our generation of millennials might identify with flawed protagonist.
Mental health is an emerging issue among youths today. In the film, we see glimpses of General del Pilar’s struggles with PTSD. Many young professionals and students are unable to confront their struggles with mental health; and yet, we must keep pushing on to meet the demands of this day and age.
At the young age of 23, Goyo’s attention centered around furthering his career and pursuing a romantic relationship. Surely one can relate to the desire to receive both the affirmation of a mentor and the affection of a lover.
Flawed as he might have been, the Boy General displayed admirable courage at the end of it all. While his love for Remedios had distracted him from the challenges ahead, Goyo eventually learned to truly love the ideals of honor, duty, and sacrifice. While he might have conflated loyalty to his leader with loyalty to his country, he ultimately surrendered his life in defending his country.
Being a millennial puts us in a position of learning from our heroes’ past mistakes and to keep striving for the ideals of our nation. Perhaps if I were in Gregorio del Pilar’s shoes, I likely would not have been able to handle the life-and-death pressures of commanding an army. While the challenges we face might not be as daunting, the work that must be done is certainly just as meaningful. Para sa bayan.
 
AJ Montesa is a young economist and advocate of reforms on fiscal policy and governance.

The truth about the Xiamen Air crash

At four minutes to midnight of Aug. 16, Xiamen Airway’s Boeing 737 landed at NAIA and overshot the runway. Minutes later, the aircraft laid debilitated on a grassy patch adjacent to runway 24.
It was unfortunate that the aircraft was positioned some 80 meters from the center point of the runway, 70 meters short of the minimum distance required by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety guidelines for the continued use of the airstrip. MIAA authorities had no recourse but to close the runway until such time as the aircraft is moved. The runway’s closure caused the cancellation of some 280 flights. Meanwhile, flights scheduled to land at NAIA had to be rerouted to Clark and other nearby airports.
Mayhem spread throughout NAIA’s four terminals as waves upon waves of passengers were stranded. Tensions rose as more than 40,000 marooned passengers tried to make arrangements for alternative flights among just a handful of airline personal. Stress reached fever pitch as the airlines could not tell when normal flights would resume. Exacerbating the stress was the sardine-packed conditions of the airport and its shortage of waiting areas.
Photos of NAIA’s jampacked terminals and horror stories of passengers flooded the internet instantaneously. As expected, public outrage filled the air. Accusations were hurled against Manila International Airport Authority personnel, specifically towards its General Manager Ed V. Monreal.
Among the accusations thrown at MIAA were: 1. That it did not have the safety protocols nor the equipment to deal with emergency situations quickly; 2. That MIAA did not attend to the needs of the stranded passengers; 3. That 34 uncoordinated landings occurred under MIAA’s nose; 4. That MIAA gave false hopes to the passengers by saying that the runway was to be re-opened at 12 noon on the day after the incident, only to extend the re-opening five times.
The dust has finally settled and we can now revisit the incident with objective eyes.
Was NAIA Unprepared?
Let me narrate the succession of events and you, my readers, can judge for yourselves.
First of all, it should be known that ICAO is very specific about the chronological steps an airport authority must take during crash-landing situations. Four steps must be followed in specific order: The first step is to rescue passengers and control imminent fire and explosions. This should be followed by the investigation of the wreckage, the gathering of evidence and retrieval of the black-box.. Only then can the aircraft be moved from the crash site. Cleaning of debris, fragments and rubble follows before the runway can be reopened.
This is how the incident went down:
At 11:56 pm of Aug. 16, the Manila Control Tower lost contact with Xiamen Air flight 8667.
Two minutes later, MIAA’s Safety Patrol reported that the aircraft had landed but veered towards the grassy area of runway 24 with its belly on the ground. Its landing gear had collapsed and its left engine was detached.
Emergency Plan No. 1 was immediately put into effect. MIAA’s Rescue and Firefighting Division (MIAA-RFD) was alerted as was the office of the General Manager, Assistant GM and Action Duty Manager. Within seconds, the MIAA-RFD dispatched all available fire trucks to the crash site.
Twelve minutes later, the MIAA Airport Police arrived to secure the area. They were trailed by the MIAA’s medical team to attend to the injured.
At 12:25 a.m., buses were deployed to evacuate the passengers.
At 12:30 a.m., the Airport Crisis Control Management Group was activated and was temporarily headed by Action Manager on Duty, Manny Rodriguez. General Manager Ed Monreal arrived five minutes later and took over as on-scene commander. His first act was to organize the immediate evacuation of Xiamen Air’s 165 passengers. This was done successfully with all passengers safely transferred to a holding area in terminal 1.
At 2:10 a.m., the investigative team arrived, headed by CAAP Director-General Jim Sydiongco, together with representatives from the Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board. A mobile command post was set up at the scene. Evidence were gathered and the black-box was retrieved. Initial reports point to pilot error being the cause of the crash. Cargo and luggage were also unloaded at this time. Meanwhile, Monreal and his team planned how to extract and transfer the aircraft to a nearby holding bay.
So as not to waste time, MIAA’s aircraft removal team arrived with their equipment even while the investigative team was at work. They were on standby, ready to be deployed as soon as clearance was given.
The investigative team took four hours to gather evidence. It was only at 6:10 a.m. that the aircraft removal operation could commence.
The plan was to jack up the aircraft using airbags, deploy its landing gear and tow the plane to a site where it did not pose a hazard to other aircrafts.
Upon lifting the aircraft one meter from the ground, however, it was found that the landing gear was jammed. The plane could not be rolled out. The only option was to lift it using a telescoping crane.
MIAA does not own a telescoping crane. ICAO rules do not mandate it to own one — having one immediately accessible is good enough. Royal Cargo, a company based in nearby Multinational Village, owns this $10-million equipment. It is from them that MIAA leased the crane.
The removal of the plane took 26 hours. This was due to the time it took to deliver the telescoping crane to the crash scene, install its balancing weights, secure the harnesses on the plane, etc. Making the process more challenging was the muddy terrain, strong rains and lightning alerts.
Save for the crane, MIAA had all the necessary equipment on hand including the air bags, forklifts metal sledges, trailers, turn tables, flood lights and the like. The recovery personnel acted with extreme dedication too, ignoring fatigue and braving the lighting despite having a fuselage filled with fuel. By the way, MIAA was recently graded a 9 out of 10 by ICAO in terms of completeness of rescue and recovery equipment.
It took MIAA some 36 hours to reopen the runway from the time of the crash. For context, a similar incident happened in Thailand and it took them four days to resume normal operations.
All factors considered, I reckon that MIAA acted with extreme professionalization, following ICAO guidelines to a tee. In hindsight, they should be commended for the speed in which they resolved the situation, not persecuted for it.
Did MIAA not attend to the needs of the stranded passengers?
ICAO rules specify that it is the airlines, not the airport administrator, that are responsible for providing complimentary food and lodging to their passengers in case of a cancelled flight. The airlines are also liable for whatever damages may arise.
Records show that the airlines indeed provided food, water and lodgings to some of their passengers. Problem was, not all were given this courtesy. This is where the complaints stem from.
For MIAA’s part, they provided bottled water and blankets to the passengers of the crashed flight despite it being the responsibility of Xiamen Air.
Inside the airport terminal, MIAA set up a special lounge for people with disabilities, senior citizens and those with infants. Unfortunately, the sheer lack of space was the reason why proper waiting areas could not be provided for all.
Thirty four uncoordinated landings occurred under the nose of MIAA.
It is important that we understand the context of this allegation.
The 34 landings were all recovery flights. For those unaware, recovery flights are flights that were re-routed to alternative airports, but now landing in NAIA, its final destination.
As a general rule, all flights need to secure CAB, CAAP and the airport operator’s approval. CAB is the approving party for aircrafts to fly in and across our airspace, CAAP clears them to use the runway and the airport operator allows them to use the airport’s gates, air bridges, baggage carousels, etc.
Records show that the 34 recover flights secured CAB and CAAP approval. However, MIAA did not give them clearance to land since all gates were occupied with parked aircrafts. It did not have the capacity to accommodate them. The recovery flights landed, nonetheless. This is the reason why most of them had to wait several hours on the tarmac before they could be assigned a gate to disembark.
The airlines whose flights landed without MIAA’s approval are in violation here. In which case, corresponding penalties are being contemplated.
Did MIAA give false hopes to the passengers?
A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) advising concerned personnel that the runway was unavailable for use was issued six times between 3:45 a.m. of Aug. 17 to 6:33 a.m. the day after.
Each NOTAM quoted a specific time in which the runway was to reopen, only to be superseded by another NOTAM that pushed back the reopening. Each time a NOTAM was handed down, airlines and passengers had to adjust their schedules, correspondingly. As one could imagine, this was frustrating for all.
Why did NAIA issue several NOTAMs and not just one that gave the real time in which the runway was to reopen? The reason was unforeseen circumstances.
As mentioned earlier, the first NOTAM was based on the plan to simply roll off the plane using its own landing gear. However, the situation proved more complicated than originally foreseen when it was discovered that the landing gear was jammed. The mobilization of the telescoping crane, counter-weights and stabilizers also took time. Further delaying the process was that the team had to work through rain and muddy terrain which caused the crane’s stabilizers to slip. This made it a challenge to lift the aircraft and position it on the flatbed truck.
MIAA worked with the intent to reopen the runway at the soonest time possible. It’s unfortunate that the process took longer than expected since it had to comply with ICAO’s protocols whilst working through unforeseen circumstances.
In the final analysis, MIAA did everything by the book. The fact that no one was seriously injured and that the aircraft was moved within a relatively short span of time is testament to their preparedness, professionalization and dedication.
The inconvenience caused to the thousands of stranded passengers could have been avoided if we had an airport with at least three runways and a terminal with more than sufficient capacity. The Xiamen Air crash proved, yet again, that we need a bigger national gateway, now!
San Miguel Holdings is waiting in the wings to build an airport in Bulacan with four runways and a terminal big enough to accommodate 100 million passengers a year (three times bigger than NAIA). The project has already merited NEDA approval and is now awaiting a Swiss challenge. Problem is, the Department of Finance is obstructing the project, saying it will compromise the viability of Clark. The DoF is being shortsighted in this instance. Truth is, the new terminal being built in Clark is only good for 8 million passengers. It will hardly make a difference in easing the congestion in NAIA. Worse, it will take many years before government can build a mega airport in the former US base. Meanwhile, we will be left to make do with the aging and stressed NAIA.
The Bulacan airport is another saga…. watch out as I tell its story in this corner in the weeks to come.
 
Andrew J. Masigan is an economist

Cheap, stable electricity vs climate alarmism

Most electricity consumers have that single most important concern and “vested interest” — to have cheap, competitively priced and stable electricity supply. Meaning no brownout even for a minute and yet the price is affordable.
The climate alarmism movement — less rain or more rain, less/no flood or more flood, less storms or more storms, less cold or more cold, people should send more money to many climate and environment agencies, local, national and multilateral — wants to defeat this simple desire by many energy consumers.
They want to kill the stable and reliable fossil fuel, coal and oil-based power plants especially, and promote the most unreliable, most intermittent, battery needed and more costly energy sources solar and wind. Which will make our electricity prices higher and more unstable.
Cheap and stable electricity will be among the topics to be discussed this coming September 27, 2018, in a by-invite only forum “Energy Outlook: Supplying Rising Demand at Lower Cost” at Joy-Nostalg Hotel, Ortigas, to be sponsored by Stratbase-Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRi).
Energy Source/Technology, Philippines
The three speakers will be Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy; Mr. Mario C. Marasigan, Director of Electric Power Industry Management Bureau (EPIMB), DoE; and Dr. Raul V. Fabella, Fellow, Energy Policy and Development Program (EPDP).
The three reactors will be Mr. Jose Alejandro, Chairman of Energy and Infrastructure Committee, Philippine Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PCCI); Louie Montemar, Convenor of Bantay Konsyumer, Kuryente, Kalsada (BK3); and yours truly.
Let us review the Philippines’ actual electricity production and generation vs. installed power capacity and potential in 2009 (1st year of implementation of RE law of 2008 or RA 9513), 2013 (1st year of the granting of feed in tariff or FIT provision) and 2017. Power generation is expressed in tera-watt hours (1 TWH = 1 million MWH) while power capacity is expressed in gigawatts (1 GW = 1,000 MW).
If people are thankful that we have no more blackouts despite rising demand, that generation charges on average are declining through time, coal power is the hero. In 2017 for instance, coal constituted only 35% of installed capacity but provided 50% of total electricity production.
If people are wondering why there is a new item in their monthly electricity bill since 2015, the FIT-Allowance and the rate is rising, blame solar-wind. In 2017, they constitute about 6% of installed capacity yet contribute only 2% in actual electricity generation, and the annual subsidies to them keep rising.
Among renewables, geothermal is the most stable and reliable but its cost is high. Hydro is good but it is weather and season-dependent. High water level and capacity factor during the rainy season when electricity demand is generally low, low water level and low capacity factor during the dry season when electricity demand is generally high.
Solar is unreliable, zero output at night, low output at daytime when cloudy and raining, it has high output only when it is totally cloudless. Wind is another intermittent, no output when the wind does not blow.
If government will listen to the climate alarmism movement, solar-wind will be further forced upon us consumers while coal will be further bureaucratized, and we expect more blackouts. The poor will go back to using more candles and there will be more fires, more deaths and destruction of property. The rich will buy more gensets and there will be more air and sound pollution.
 
Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is president of Minimal Government Thinkers, a member institute of Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia.
minimalgovernment@gmail.com.

Please pass the butter

“Name me one person that was arrested because of political or religious belief during that period. None. Name me one person that was arrested simply because he criticized President Marcos. None,” former Senate President Juan “Johnny” Ponce Enrile told former Senator Bongbong Marcos, the only son of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos (philstar.com Sept. 21, 2018)
It was on the eve of the 46th anniversary of Ferdinand Marcos’s declaration of his martial law that Enrile said that, in a YouTube video with the dictator’s son. The two men sat half-buried in huge white wing chairs that faced each other, on a stark stage. In their dark suits they could have been an elder Mafioso reviewing the younger Mafioso on the tricks of the trade, as the Devil’s glee danced in the intense fire glow of the red footlights. How more sinister could Bongbong’s red socks and Johnny’s red tie be, than to stand for the blood spilled in those 14 years of Marcos’s dictatorship, with Ponce-Enrile, his Defense Chief, as his chief implementor of martial law with its wave of killings, tortures and arrests?
“They claimed that we killed a lot of people. That’s why when I was interviewed by someone some time ago, I challenged her: Name me one that we executed other than Lim Seng,” said Enrile (YouTube video: JPE: A Witness to History”). Lim Seng, whom Enrile mentioned in the interview, was executed through firing squad in 1973 because he was a Chinese drug lord. “Enrile was selective about his recollections. He excluded reference to the extrajudicial killings under Martial Law” (Rappler, Sept. 22, 2018). Amnesty International reported at least 3,240 people were killed from 1972 to 1981, while around 70,000 people were imprisoned, and 34,000 were tortured (Ibid.).
Bongbong lacked subtlety, perhaps forgivable in a younger “gangsta,” as he kept letting on as to the motivation for the video, and their target audience. His opening question to elicit Ponce-Enrile’s denials of wrongdoing in martial law was, “What is the biggest fallacy now that young people are being fed about the reasons and actual events of martial law?” Ponce-Enrile says the biggest fallacy or wrong view is that of killings and injustice — there were no killings, Enrile kept repeating, no human rights violations. “All of that seems to be lost in the accounts we are hearing now,” Bongbong provokes, as if even he was misled. (Note that there was no discussion of plunder and unexplained wealth, or of corruption during martial law, in the video.) And Ponce-Enrile promptly replies, “I cannot blame the so-called millennials, they were born in 1980. What they know is what they read or hear about,” Ponce-Enrile says to Bongbong.
It’s really the youth for whom the tug of war is played for — the older generations who experienced martial law should know how history is to be written so that “Never again” will the atrocities sure to come under one-man rule maim and mangle the country and its people. But so pernicious is the attack on Truth that one wonders how reckless consciences can be with their own belief in themselves. Not only the millennials are vulnerable, in their innocence, to distortions of history. How can those in their age and experience blind themselves to what they have seen, or turn deaf to real-life experiences of the unfortunate victims of torture and rape?
Can rape be consensual, the lawyer in the group was asked, as they analyzed, among themselves at some merienda, the forced submission of some victims of martial law, as a compromise to survival? When force is used, that would be the definition of a rape. No is No. But when there is intimidation, as it would come not merely as physical force, but as ascendancy and control, then there is still rape. And someone brought up the painful question: By analogy, are we allowing ourselves to be raped, in this political governance that shows chilling tendencies towards autocracy and dictatorship? Even fate seems to smile on the Marcoses and mock us as we continue to be raped.
Also on the anniversary of Marcos’s martial law, it was announced that the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the acquittal of former First Lady Imelda Marcos in a case of stashing ill-gotten wealth in a Swiss account, saying there was not enough evidence beyond reasonable doubt to show the judge handling it was biased (philstar.com, Sept. 21, 2018). According to an estimate by SC, Marcos had accumulated up to $10 billion while in office (The Guardian, May 7, 2016). So many things the Filipino people allowed to happen.
In the wake of the People Power Revolution that ousted Ferdinand Marcos, his remains waited 23 years in an air-conditioned crypt in his hometown Laoag to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, the Heroes cemetery. It was a tug of war between those who believed him to be a hero and those who did not. On Nov. 18, 2016, newly installed President Rodrigo Duterte authoritatively allowed the clandestinely planned burial of Marcos at the Libingan, with organized theatrical full military honors, 21-gun salute and the honorific taps for a Commander-in-Chief and hero. How can we now even say “Never again” to martial law and dictatorship?
And indeed, martial law has been proclaimed by President Rodrigo Duterte over the entire Mindanao in May 2017, suspending the writ of habeas corpus to allow the military to wipe out the Maute rebels — and raze Marawi City to the ground by an overkill of air and ground attacks. With the original declaration good for 60 days under the Constitution, martial law was extended until December 2017 and before expiry, Pres. Duterte asked, and was granted extension until end of 2018. After the recent (Aug. 28) bombing in Sultan Kudarat, feelers were sent out for another extension of martial law (The Philippine Star, Aug. 30, 2018).
The brazen display of dictatorial power by the democratically elected leadership seems to have hypnotized the people into accepting what is so shockingly divergent from the normal, and the questionably legal or illegal. Did we not allow Senator Leila de Lima to be detained, as she still is — for yet-unproven drug trafficking; Comelec Chair Andres Bautista to be effectively removed (he ultimately resigned) for alleged unexplained wealth; and Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno to be ousted by her peers on the strange and hitherto-unused legal trick called “quo warranto”? And then there is the “alias warrant” served on Sen. Antonio Trillanes, as Pres. Duterte suddenly revoked the amnesty given by predecessor Pres. Benigno Aquino III to him. Trillanes’s co-plotter in the Oakwood mutiny against then-Pres. Gloria Arroyo, 1Lt. Francisco “Ashley” Acedillo, noted how even the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos issued 12 amnesty proclamations during his term and none of these were withdrawn (philstar.com, Sept. 16, 2018).
And amidst persistent high numbers (3,000+) of alleged extrajudicial killings since early in the Duterte drug war (Rappler, Sept 19, 2016), it staggers the mind why the popularity and trust ratings of the President and his Cabinet, and those close to him had stayed up in the Very Good to near-Excellent and only recently dropped to Good — they say because of the economic realities of high food inflation and the weakening peso. The Filipino people — millennials, young, and the old — must like being raped.
It is so grotesquely, graphically violent, this “consensual rape,” or agreeing to be molested and used, that it calls up Marlon Brando’s infamous lines in the iconic 1972 near-porn movie Last Tango in Paris by the daring Bernardo Bertolucci: “Please pass the butter…”
 
Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.
ahcylagan@yahoo.com

1...11,40111,40211,403...13,707Page 11,402 of 13,707
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube