Malnutrition, politics and revolution

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
4/10/2006



Last April 7 the UNITED Nations Children's Fund raised the alarm at the first National Conference of Nutrition Stakeholder in the Philippine, on malnutrition in the Philippines saying that it has not improved in the last 15 years. Country Representative Dr. Nicholas Alipui said he was concerned that child malnutrition rate in the country had remained at 30 percent for over a decade, and “Damages to children include lower intelligence, reduced physical capacity, and passing on malnutrition to the next generation. These result in reduction in productivity and sluggish economic growth, which perpetuate the cycle of poverty.”

I hope UNICEF’s warning sinks in and people can begin to imagine the horror the future has in store for our country. I have said it before and will say it again, going by the present social trajectory of the country we will be “Africanized” within the decade. Let those warning of Dr. Alipui haunt the dreams of this nation, “…lower intelligence, reduced physical capacity, reduction in productivity, sluggish economic growth, perpetual cycle of poverty…” It was fellow writer Manning Almario who finally agreed to use our catchphrase saying, “I wrote a long time ago that the Philippines will one day be ‘Latin Americanized’ but they seem to be recovering, now you’re right it is correct o say we will be ‘Africanized’.”

The problem creating this horrendous poverty and malnutrition is structural, not just personality problems of political animals like Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – a creature created by the structure of politics in the Philippine too. It is not merely a problem of the Constitution, and no matter how many time we change its words the social power relationship and, therefore, the allocation of national resources away from the poor to the privileged local and foreign few remains the same. The ruling clique a decade ago when this malnutrition monitoring is based remains the same ruling clique and allocates economic resources in the same way - exploitatively.

That same ruling clique helped depose President Joseph E. Estrada who was trying to redirect economic resources for the benefit of the impoverished Filipinos. That same clique helped Gloria ascend to power. Now this same ruling clique is displaying the gall to posture as leading figures in opposition to Gloria, like the Jesuits Bernas and Integan who are junking Gloria only to ensure that they are not dragged down to hell with her and so they may chose again the surrogate they wish to take over. Jesuit Bernas has new pontifications about Cha-cha and the Constitution when it was his distortions and perversion in 2001 that allowed the treacheries against the Sovereign Will of the People.

Intengan targeted Estrada in 2001 and now it is former Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan and the nationalist young officers that he tags as enemies. Mainstream media continues to allow these Jesuit sophists to obfuscate the real issues and bill them as “authorities” and headline them on constitutional, legal and national security issues when they are much part of the clear and present danger to the nation’s security as Gloria and company. While these Jesuits live in the splendor of Jesuit houses at the Ateneo and take retreats at their luxurious Mirador Hill manor the nationalist soldiers are fighting and sacrificing to dream for a better Philippines and solve the problems Bernas and Co. created.

In contrast to Bernas and Intengan’s switik games are the genuine leaders who are making sacrifices and struggling to change the power structure of society. President Estrada is one such leader who, using the legal and democratic revolution, restored the power of the people to have their welfare rule the country. Today, even from detention Estrada has continued to pursue the struggle for the people’s emancipation he began decades ago as San Juan Mayor, and when he could finally liberate all the poor they sabotaged him. Estrada had the honor and integrity, the delicadeza, to sacrifice power for national peace – just as Thaksin in Thailand did recently, let us not forget this parallel (something Raul Gonzalez is too kapal to appreciate).

If Estrada’s legal and democratic revolution is not possible then we must call on the nationalist senior and young officers– for theirs seem to be the only remaining hope. Most politicians have no principal and principled cause aside from ambition which corrupts their every move. Last week Captain Dante Langkit, a member of the elite First Scout Ranger Regiment was arrested for “actively recruiting officers”, so it’s clear the dream and the struggle of idealist officers goes on. To our young military friends who texted us their rage, we are one with you because you are among the primary hopes of this land for genuine and real change.

Why must we ask more sacrifice of these young officers and others who would sally forth against the ensconced powers today? Because we cannot allow the prevailing crises, such as the horrific malnutrition Unicef reported, to continue and worsen; and the military idealists, as much as the social activists and progressive church people, are the only leaders left to offer that hope of change. Take the cure from Latin American, after Col. Hugo Chavez now comes Col. Ollanta Humala who will soon be nationalist president of Peru. Believe me, even my Edsa Dos lawyer friends are now convinced that a revolution is necessary.

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