September 2010 - Launch of the maiden issue of the Focus on the Global South Policy Review
September 19 - In Malaysia will be held the forum called "Regional
Strategy Meeting on Emerging Social and Cultural Concerns in ASEAN: Climate
Change, South East Asian Peoples’ Right to Information, Labor Migration and
Domestic Work and Platforms for Civil Society Engagement with the ASEAN." Focus Philippines will make a presentation on "Building
a Case for an ASEAN Protocol on Freedom of Information"
September 23 - 26 - Asean People's Forum in Hanoi, Vietnam. Fore more information, please send inquiries to the following: <apfhanoi-pc@aseanpeoplesforum.net>, <apfhanoi-ws@aseanpeoplesforum.net>. Ms Dorothy Guerrero, who is in the Bangkok office of Focus, seats in the Program Committee.
September 27 - October 1 - Freedom of Information Advocacy Week
September 23 - FOI Forum
September 27 - R2KRN will visit the Senate to renew the FOI campaign
September 28 - R2KRN will meet with Representatives of the Lower House
On July 26, a nation awaits the address of its new leader. It might have been understandable for many of us that the inaugural speech was merely a montage of issues that the new government would prioritize and promises to keep that were anchored on the anti-corruption, anti- poverty campaign advocacy “Kung walang korap, walang mahirap”. The crowd applauded to the speech spoken mostly in Filipino that tugged at the people’s hearts.
But the State of the Nation Address (SONA), the first one for President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, is much anticipated for the vision to which the new president can rally the people and the legislature; for the policies and programs he will spell out that may spell a genuine and radical difference for this country. The past presidents had made a big show of the SONA—President Fidel Ramos had Mang Pandoy to symbolize Ramos’ vision of economic progress and President GMA had her “bangkang papel” (paper boat) boys from the urban poor community in Payatas.
President Noynoy Aquino may not need such symbols—‘props’ would probably be the more appropriate term. What is important is for the hope he had inspired to be finally anchored on substantial policy articulations and clearly outlined programs. In this July issue, FOP News Analysis and Features tackles the areas/sectors that had lagged behind in terms of much needed transformation; where a strong political will engendering profound change is needed: education, agrarian reform, conflict in Mindanao and freedom of information. Like the rest of the nation that will be glued on television and radios, we are hoping these issues will be addressed on July 26.
In this June issue of the FOP newsletter, now called FOP News Analysis and Features, yours truly is taking on the role of editor, as Aya Fabros begins her Asian Public Intellectuals (API) Fellowship. Aya will be on leave for a year starting July to do research on the political agency—perceptions and practice—of global workers in Malaysia and Japan.
A brief note about our June issue: we say farewell to the legacy of GMA and her government, but not without, as Aya says in her opinion piece, confronting, threshing out and addressing this legacy, lest we again conveniently and collectively forget what the nine-year regime is about—regression. We have to remember in order to make this regime accountable; this is the way to begin looking forward to what’s ahead under the Aquino administration. Amid the euphoria brought about by the victory of a popular president—perceived to be the total opposite of the exiting head of state—and in an automated election that speeded up the vote counting in ways we haven’t imagined before, we believe there is need for a moment to settle, take a deep breath, look at the electoral process and its results more closely and critically (without belittling the voters’ euphoric feelings), and see what we’ve really got in terms of the newly-elected government, including and especially in the legislature and local governments. We’ve seen how Congress can act as deterrent to reforms, much more so to far-reaching change, when those occupying the seats of power in that branch of government represent self-serving political and economic interests. Who will be in this “new” government? What or whose interests will they represent and work for? What can we expect from Noynoy Aquino’s presidency?—are just a few of the questions that our news analysis pieces attempt to address, while our feature articles provide observer’s point of view of the goings-on during election day.
We encourage you to use our articles as reference in your school discussions, organizational publications, blogs, and for our friends in media, to reprint/re-post in your newspapers and internet-based news platforms. Just remember to acknowledge Focus on Global South Philippines.
Clarissa V. Militante
Contents:
OPINION PIECE
Farewell to the Legacy of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
By Aya Fabros
The parade is all set. The floats are primed, each one signifying feats
of an outgoing president intent on basting up some last-minute legacy.
The spectacle is ready to swagger before mob and madness. Remember me
well, says the spectacle to the crowd, bidding farewell to a thinning
public methodically marshaled onto the sidelines. Pompous pageantry, an
allusion to significance and substance, marks the final moments of a
regime that defined the last nine years of our life as a nation.
View from the Left: The Meaning of the Noynoy Aquino Presidency
By Reihana Mohideen
On June 9 Senator Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party (or Noynoy
Aquino), the son of former President Cory Aquino, was proclaimed
President by the Philippine Congress. Paradoxically, with the
restoration of the Aquinos to the presidency, the elections have also
resulted in the restoration of the Marcoses to national politics with
the former dictator’s son Bongbong Marcos winning as senator, Imelda
Marcos winning a seat in Congress and her daughter Imee Marcos taking
the governorship in their political bailiwick, the province of Ilocos
Norte.
Family Matters: Delving into the 2010 Winning Political Clans
By Carmina Flores-Obanil
If Jesus truly invented dynasties as pointed out by Ramon Durano Sr.,
of the formidable Durano clan in Cebu and former member of the Lower
House representing Danao City, then Jesus must be very happy with the
way the May 2010 elections turned out. If the results were any
indicator, the Filipinos would not be seeing the decline of political
clans or dynasties in the Philippines anytime soon. In fact, the last
elections saw the victory or the re-election of political families in
both national and local positions in their respective bailiwicks.
GMA's Cabinet Members; Eurogenerals: 2010 Election's Big Losers
By Clarissa V. Militante
President Arroyo has often been described as master of the art of
patronage politics; that she sustained her hold on power for nine years
due to her ability to cultivate, use and exploit local politics as her
power base, thus the army of local officials, including congressional
representatives, loyal to her. But her cabinet members and former
military men known to be loyal to her seemed to have missed out on this
very important lesson.
Party-list Winners: Whose Interests are Represented?
By Mary Ann Manahan
Five years after it was set-up to address the gaps of representational
democracy in the country, has the party-list system broken the monopoly
of big traditional politics and decreased the tendency for personality
politics?
Been There, Done That--Observations on the 2010 Philippine Elections
By Fang Chih-Yung*
Even before the polling day, doubts about the first nation-wide
automated elections were strong and people’s confidence in a clean and
peaceful election was low. The malfunction of several Precinct Count
Optical Scan (PCOS) machines during the mock election held by
Commission on Elections (Comelec) just a few days before polling day
didn’t ease worries about a possible failure of elections. But even
under these circumstances, there was a general sense by the public that
the voter turnout would be high, since after nine years of rule by a
government tainted with corruption, scandals, rent-seeking, plunder,
cheatings, and overall lack of legitimacy, the Filipino people were
crying for change. And change they hoped to have on the May 10
elections.
Between National Automaton and Sub-national Authoritarianisms: Diatribes of an Election Observer
By Jerik Cruz*
As the dust of the first nationwide automated elections in Southeast
Asia settles, several questions continue to brew above the heads of the
Filipino public. One of them is: have the 2010 elections been peaceful
and democratic? If one toes the line of most, it may seem as if the
events of May 10 have somehow been less deadly and less insidious than
other polls before it.
Monday, May 10, 2010, can be
considered the beginning of the rest of our Gloria-less lives, the end of our
days in the ghetto of manual elections, the mark of a defining moment in our
history as a people. Yes, dearly beloved readers, contrary to the disgust and
frustration that news reports have been stirring up in all of us, there’s
always the half-full part of the glass, which prods us to suspend our sarcasm
and disbelief, to roll with the flaws of a system we are trying to transform,
and to recognize the openings provided by this monumental occasion. At the end
of the day, we should take comfort in the fact that our intervention does not
need to be confined to a single day or restricted to a specific act.
This month’s FOP tackles some of
these different dimensions and issues related to the elections. In this issue,
Joy Chavez looks beyond May 10 and discusses why candidates’ stance on
prosecuting GMA should be seen as an important criteria this elections, in Prosecuting GMA as Platform. Walden
Bello looks back and shares with us his review of the year that was,
contemplating the question Is Congress
Worth Running For? Carmina Flores-Obanil reviews Villar’s political ads and
propaganda blitz.This month’s FOP
also includes key analysis and recommendations pertaining to the 2010 Automated
Elections put forward by the civil society elections-monitor formation, HALALANG MARANGAL; as well as a copy of
COMELEC’s resolution on approved contingency measures. As HALAL reminds us,
there won’t be any shortage of ‘contingencies’, so it’s important that we read
up and pass on.
Focus on the Global South is also
very pleased to welcome Clarissa ‘Clark’ Militante, our new media and
communications associate. Clark is a writer and a knowledge management expert.
She will be on top of all Philippines programme publications and products.
Starting June, she will be taking over as editor of Focus on the Philippines.
Here, Clark shares with us her first FOP article, What’s their story?, which gives us a broadstrokes look at back
stories and side narratives associated with the top three presidentiables.
As always, and precisely because
elections isn’t just their story, we would love to hear yours. Please share
your insights, comments and suggestions by writing us at
This April, FOP looks at water, essential services and climate issues. Mary Ann Manahan shares with us news from the 10th anniversary of the Feria del Agua (Water Wars) in Bolivia, commemorating the inspiring popular movement struggle waged to reclaim the Cochabamba water system from a private consortium, Aguas del Tunari, a subsidiary of Bechtel. Many water struggles epitomize the struggle for fundamental rights. Such struggles underscore our resistance to privatization, to corporate encroachment into our commons, to the tresspasses of transnational enterprises and the relentless pursuit of profit at the expense of communities and people. Back home, electricity is also another essential service that demonstrates the pitfalls of privatization and profit-driven service provision. While the recent MERALCO price hike triggered a virtual critical mass of angry consumers, it also shows how industry decisions, processes and related policies tend to skew in favor of corporate interest, hardly reflecting the interest and concerns of consumers. Similarly, debates and discussions surrounding climate change have been restricted to a few, leaving out the voices of sectors and communities, most of whom are most affected by the consequences of extreme weather conditions. Joseph Purugganan writes about the themes surrounding ‘Make-shift for Climate Justice,” a parallel, ‘solidarity’ activity to the World’s Peoples Conference on Climate Change and Mother Earth’s Rights, which hopes to amplify grassroots voices that have been muted in high level discussions such as the COPs or even national processes that tackle climate issues.
These events and developments highlight the need for more meaningful spaces for effective consumer and citizen intervention in affairs that affect them. The struggle to democratize these arenas still has a long way to go, but the discussion on the commons and essential services, and the debates on climate justice continue, paving the way, shaping our vision and realization of an alternative future, where the fundamental and the essential—water, electricity, justice and beyond-- are accessible to all.
The March issue of FOP focuses on women. As we celebrate women’s month, we share with you a snapshot of the state of marginalized women amidst the multiple crisis, as well as some statistics on the gender gap and International Women’s Day statements. Focus on the Philippines hopes to contribute to analysis and disseminate materials geared toward enhancing the work and engagements of poor and marginalized women; not only this March but the whole year round.
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