Tejada: Wages of privatization

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

3/20/2013

Daily Tribune

In the Philippines, public education funds are channeled to support the finances of private — often religious — schools through the voucher system. That is, students enrolled in public schools, where there are shortages of facilities, are given vouchers to study in the nearest private school instead. How much these vouchers cost has never been explained in detail to the public, even as private schools are clearly making good money from them. Thus, instead of public funds being managed properly to ensure that growing public school needs are met each year, the privatization-oriented government churns out these harebrained ideas fed by the neoliberal "educators" who now control the Department of Education (DepEd).

DLSU Bro. Armin Luistro and Commission on Higher Education boss Patricia Licuanan (sister of a top Ayala executive and ardent Edsa Uno Yellow fanatic, who stonewalled open discussions on Edsa I and II as president of Miriam College) continue to peddle the privatization and corporatist model to the detriment of public education, just as the BS Aquino III government continues the post-Edsa Uno regime of long-term deconstruction of the state-led educational system toward a market-oriented one, in keeping with its reorganization of the nation into a private-corporatist society.

A prime example of this is the schoolhouse building scheme under PeNoy's public-private partnership (PPP) program that will cost P1.2 million (PPP figures) while government construction of the same will cost only P700,000. The Filipino-Chinese business community donates similar schoolhouses and its chamber even reports these as costing only P300,000 per unit (with the same set of specifications).

We can therefore see that with the PPP being privatization in action, costs are raised even higher than in any corrupt-ridden government schoolhouse construction program. And that's not even including what we have yet to calculate as the "change order" to be additionally imposed by the private contractors who will maintain these structures for years.

What a government that is genuinely for the people's welfare will do is either clean up the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) as contractor, instead of under the present system where school authorities have the power to contract these to private builders, or, what I would prefer, engage the Philippine Army Engineering Corps in an emergency campaign (as Roosevelt did in the New Deal) to build schoolhouses and bring costs down massively.
The suicide of the bemedaled 16-year-old UP Manila Behavioral Science scholar Kristel Tejada for failing to cover even the discounted "socialized" UP tuition must be put in the context of the overall neoliberal economic, social and ideological regime. The schoolhouse building crisis is but an illustration of commercialization and privatization raising costs.

Unfortunately, some shoot-from-the-hip quarters are personalizing the Tejada issue against the UP chancellor Manuel Agulto and vice-chancellor Josephine de Luna. It distracts from the main problem and is unjust. Agulto didn't seek the chancellorship but was selected by acclamation.
NUSP, the student group, errs in personalizing the issue but is correct in critiquing the State Universities and Colleges' "socialized tuition" policy as a mask for commercial tuition impositions where it should be free and subsidized.

The seemingly irresolvable dilemma Tejeda faced that led to her sense of hopelessness is a crisis being faced by the countless poor, working, or unemployed class of Filipinos: How to afford the basics of living in a "dog-eat-dog" society of free market economics, where all citizens' former social entitlements are commercialized, monetized and privatized, under a system that has made the poor poorer and the rich richer and fewer where no one seems to care anymore.
Kristel's death seems more senseless than many reported suicides of the poor as Filipino society still has a special place in its heart for young "scholars." Others not so regarded, like ordinary laborers who jump from pedestrian overpasses or kill themselves after losing their jobs and then kill every member of their kin, merit only momentary tabloid attention to draw the curious among readers.

Kristel's father, Christopher, is reportedly a part-time taxi driver who lost his regular job as a warehouse coordinator when his company shut down. We can imagine the real-life narrative of Kristel's parents struggling daily to make ends meet on the irregular income of a part-time taxi driver for the food, water and electricity (that costs the highest in Asia); of filling the taxi with enough highly VAT-laden fuel to keep running the 24-hour shift on alternate days; of buying the cough medicine needed for the asthma from the polluted city air; and of paying rent for the hovel the family calls "home."

Kristel's suicide may not be as senseless as it is today if tomorrow more Filipinos were to join the chorus for change and call for the return of a rebalanced society, where the lower instincts of corporate greed and opportunism are subsumed to the greater good in a social-market economy.

(Tune in to 1098 AM, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; watch GNN's HTL show, GNN Channel 8, Saturdays, 8:15 p.m. to 9 p.m., 11:15 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m., and over at www.gnntv-asia.com, with this week's topic, "Commercialization of RP Education;" also visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com)

‘Hasta Siempre’ — A tribute

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

3/18/2013

Daily Tribune

Last March 14, Thursday, at three in the afternoon, the Science Auditorium of the University of the Philippines-Diliman on Velasquez St. was filled to its rafters. Former UP president Francisco "Dodong" Nemenzo organized a gathering to pay tribute to the recently martyred President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez. I was one of the earliest at the auditorium and saw the crowds streaming in; to my surprise, it filled in no time. Groups came in. The masa were very well-represented and I thought: How encouraging that so many of them have taken the time for Chávez. Maybe there's hope that enlightenment can overtake Willie Revillame and the Sotto brothers."

A diverse stream of ideologues from the political intelligentsia came, too. Not long after Cuban Ambassador Jorge Jimenez arrived and sat at the front row beside Ka Dodong Nemenzo, veteran activist cum theater and TV director Joel Saracho opened the event, followed by the Philippine National Anthem. Ka Dodong was the first to speak and explained that the Venezuelan ambassador could not make it due to a sudden health issue. The Venezuelan flag did arrive later and was installed beside our national flag — though we missed the Venezuelan anthem which the embassy didn't bring.

Ka Dodong gave a comprehensive and humorous account of President Hugo Chávez's struggles, especially toward building his Bolivarian socialist reforms in Venezuela as well as his constant jousts with US imperialism, particularly against Bush Jr. Following Ka Dodong were songs from Noel Cabangon, including the emotional chorus from everyone of "The Internationale" in Filipino. I was seated on the aisles as I lost my seat when I went out of the auditorium a second. That was how crowded it was. I stood to sing "The Internationale" which never fails to well up the emotions from the dreams of my youth, which I suppose was also the case for everyone in the auditorium at that moment. Dr. Ed Tadem, UP Professor of Asian Studies, explained the experience of change and social justice in Venezuela under Chávez's socialist revolution.

Then I was called to speak my piece. In brief, I said: "Hugo Chávez has already done a lot for the Philippines. For one, I notice that personalities identified with the Old CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines, Lava tradition) as well as the New CPP, the "rejectionists" and the "reaffirmists" (pro- and anti-Jose Ma. Sison factions from the National Democratic Movement), the Social Democrat and Democratic Socialist movements, pro-Marcos, pro-Trillanes, anti- and pro-PeNoy elements from the "Left" have been brought together under one roof and in one forum by Hugo Chávez. That is no simple feat. And it is the inspiration of Hugo Chávez that brings us together, we people who have no greed in our soul the way Hugo Chávez represented all people with no greed in the soul."

I went on to narrate the other good deeds Chávez would have done for the Filipino people and the world, like his offer of very cheap petroleum to President Joseph Estrada during his state visit to the Philippines in 1999, which, unfortunately, Venezuela could not work out as this ran counter to the interests of the private US-controlled oil companies that benefited from the privatization of Petron and PNOC (Philippine National Oil Co.).

Estrada and Chávez had many similarities as presidents. Both were extremely popular and populist; they were elected almost at the same time and deposed by coups d'etat backed by US corporatists (Erap in 2001 and Chávez in 2002). Their only difference: Erap's pro-poor and patriotic intentions were framed in a mainly civilian, patrician and paternalist approach while Chávez had a clear socialist-nationalist framework backed by militant socialist and reformist military movements.
I finished my tribute flashing the front page of a newspaper that used an article of mine, which had the word "Poison" boldly emblazoned over a portrait of Chávez. Yes, the late Venezuelan leader was most likely poisoned and murdered, as what had happened to many anti-imperialist, anti-US-Israel political figures, from Gen. Omar Torrijos of Panama to the six current Latin American heads-of-state struggling with cancer, as well as Yasser Arafat a few years back. So half-jokingly, I turned to Ka Dodong and said, "Please be careful."

For now, we offer "Hasta Siempre" (Till Forever), the title of the popular tribute to Che Guevara, which Noel Cabangon sang and is now also aptly dedicated to our "Comandante Eternal" Hugo Chávez:

"Till eternity
"We learned to love you/ From the heights of history
"Where your sun-bright courage/ Laid siege to death
"For us on earth you left behind
"The clear and deep transparency, of your beloved presence
"Comandante Che Guevara (Hugo Chávez)
"Like the revolutionary, who led a new enterprise
"Your liberating strength, awaits and guides us still…
"We will carry on now, as we followed you then."
And with Fidel we say to you: Till eternity, Comandante…

(Tune in to 1098 AM, Tuesday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m.; watch GNN's HTL show, GNN Channel 8, Saturdays, 8:15 to 9 p.m., 11:15 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m., and over at www.gnntv-asia.com, with this week's topic, "Catholic Argentina: The Dark Years;" also visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com)

‘Malaysiagate’

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

3/13/2013

Daily Tribune

At this time when a domestic media war is raging to define the Sabah issue, when hardcore Yellows in the press (and a few in international media) are trying to portray the Sulu sultanate as "opportunist," "irresponsible," and, lately, "deceptive," as opposed to the rest who try to report on historical and current facts objectively, it is very helpful to note that a similar media war is being waged in the United States by the same country Filipinos are up in arms against today — Malaysia.
That country's perfidy and corruption of media to sway global opinion for its interests was the centerpiece of an exposé by Rosie Gray, staff of Internet news magazine BuzzFeed, on March 1 entitled, "Covert Malaysian Campaign Touched a Wide Range of American Media."

The report uncovered how US media outlets "carried pieces financed by the Malaysian government," where payments for such "propaganda for the government of Malaysia" to "conservative American opinion writers — whose work appeared in…the Huffington Post and San Francisco Examiner to the Washington Times to National Review and RedState — emerged in a filing this week to the Department of Justice."
That filing "under the Foreign Agent Registration Act" outlined "a campaign spanning May 2008 to April 2011" led by conservative pundit Joshua Trevino, "who received $389,724.70 under the contract and paid smaller sums to a series of conservative writers" whereby based on "Trevino's belated federal filing, the interests paying (him) were in fact the government of Malaysia, 'its ruling party, or interests closely aligned with either.'"

A follow through in McCain and Smitty's blog reports: "'MalaysiaGate' Day Four: Conspicuous Silence and Convenient Memory Lapses… Questions about the 'MalaysiaGate' controversy — in which American bloggers were paid as part of a foreign government's public-relations campaign — continued to be asked… The Malaysian PR campaign generated online articles in a number of publications including RedState, National Review, Huffington Post and the Washington Times. An October 2010 article Ben Domenech wrote for the San Francisco Examiner ('The search for moderate Muslims')…promoted the Malaysian ruling party's leadership."
We are thankful to our US-based patriot, Ado Paglinawan, for sending us these news reports exposing Kuala Lumpur's insidious ways in molding public opinion. A YouTube video he sent, however, is currently unavailable to RP netizens.

There are countless bloggers and email operators who are sadly paid hacks, many of them focused on the Philippines whom I have come to identify over the decade in the World Filipino Association (WFA) forum that counts among its members many Filipino migrants in the US who still style themselves as "patriots" while already being US citizens, constantly interfering and simply muddling the debates on Philippine issues.
One of the issues that had become their Waterloo was their universal support for Edsa Dos and Gloria Arroyo as the "economist who would save the Philippines," which support vanished when they quickly turned anti-Gloria upon the Hyatt 10's defection in 2005. It pays to have a memory of these things as only in a historical perspective can many truths be revealed.

One very active emailer these days is a former army captain in the Philippine military who now lives and works in the US. This character had been in touch for years, joining one of the blogs that our movement set up in the course of the Edsa Tres struggle. Lately, some of our blog members have noticed an apparent campaign in very well written essays, lambasting the Kirams. I received a complaint from one of our colleagues, asking me the check out this character's mails. I finally caught up with him in a letter published in a column in Malaya writing, "Let us also ask ourselves who is the fool who convinced other fools that 200 armed men could take Sabah from Malaysia. That is sheer stupidity!"

The real fool, in the first place, is the one who could think that anyone sending a 200-man armed force expects to get Sabah from Malaysia just like that. The fool is the one who does not or pretends not to understand that the courageous force of 200 men was a symbolic act and the shedding of blood was a sacrifice embodying the spirit and determination of a nation.

The fact now is, the Sultanate of Sulu and its people's daring, courage, and sacrifice have achieved victory beyond their wildest expectations, as the issue is now again on the agenda of the United Nations and the international community, so much so that the Philippine ruling class has been spurred into a defensive position for its dereliction of duty and into action against the atrocities of Malaysia's coercions — this, as Filipino nationhood and historical sense is rekindled once more.

I don't think there's a Malaysiagate brewing here just yet; but there has long been a continuing Yellowgate in the Philippines that produces such blatantly disingenuous articles as "A pattern of sultanate deception" — which omits historical facts to favor Malacañang and Malaysian-British perfidy — and "Fallout" — which feigns sympathy for Filipinos in Sabah harassed by Malaysian authorities despite their inalienable birthright to live, thrive, and be sovereign in their historical homeland.

(Note: President Estrada will speak at the "Tribute to Pres. Hugo Chávez" this Thursday, March 14, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the UP Diliman College of Science Auditorium, Velasquez Street; tune in to 1098 AM, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; watch GNN's HTL show, GNN Channel 8, Saturdays, 8:15 p.m. to 9 p.m., 11:15 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m., and over at www.gnntv-asia.com, with this week's topic, "Sabah: An Eternal Struggle;" also visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com)