We find Kirk, Spock, Bones, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, Scotty et al overcoming the obstacles and the villain that they come across the known universe. The film has its shares of homages and tributes to The Original Series and the films. Enough to satisfy the Trekkies and the Trekkers. The temptation or trap here is for the film makers to simply retell the story, but it does not. And that is why it is still interesting and everything brought in has a use in the story. The tribbles are not a problem with this movie.

The film itself while doing these things does not rely or please the fans alone. Viewers will find that it, the film, can stand on its own legs. A newcomer can come in and watch the film and would not find himself lost in Trekville.

Abour the Villain and Villains

Much has been speculated about this movie, in particular the villain. Is he or is he not from Fantasy Island? Aside from the Tribbles, Harry Mudd and General Chang he must be my favorite character from the movie and the series. I think that is one of the reason a number of people will go to watch Into Darkness.

Well you have to pay the ticket to find out.

Suffice to say this is one of the better Star Trek films I have seen and worth watching again.

Lessons Relearned

First, despite what seemed to be a strong opposition to candidates like Nancy Binay and other candidates in social media and the rest of cyberspace this did not led to her and the others defeat. Netizens just do not comprise the majority of the Philippines and despite a high social network penetration rate of above seventy percent (70%) the disapproval of Nancy Binay nd others did not go beyond the digital fence. This is a repeat of why Joseph Estrada was not even considered a atrong presidential contender in the last election: He ws mocked and made fun off in cyberspace yet he almost made it to the Presidency. His Vice President Jojo Binay, father of Nancy Binay did.

This reinforces the digital divide between the haves and the have-nots in the Philippines.

The divide seems more evident if one viewed the reaction to the election results on Rappler. So far a high percentage ( above 50%) are not happy with election results.

Second, Social media did have a great impact in terms of spreading news but it had its limits and negative impact. It provided a venue for candidates on Ustream, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, forums, chat and email. It also was fast in spreading negative news about the candidates. And in terms of negative news it did have some effect but it only overcame the digital divide if it was carried after into the other media. Of course there were propaganda that broke out that seemed to be designed to alienate a particular and potential digital following of a certain candidate, and often times it worked.

Third, electoral victory was attained through palm pressing, sorties, poltical alliances, advertisements and news on all media, and mobilization of the vote – by any means possible.

Lessons Learned

First, the Senatorial win of Nancy Binay and Grace Poe maybe a foreshadowing of the Presidential Elections in 2016. For sure the Senatorial Victory is the victory for the administration but it also shows the fissures within the Admin, between the Aquinos and the Binays. Nancy Binay won because she was the surrogate of Jojo Binay in this election, while Grace Poe because she was the daughter of the late Fernando Poe Jr. Perhaps somewhere just behind lay the possibility of even Francis Escudero running Vice-President or President.

Second, the Binay-Estrada-Enrile triumvirate will soon be down to two. Enrile will soon assume the role of Crassus and be in the background. In the old Roman Republic the triumvirs were Crassus, Caesar and Pompey. Crassus left to pursue a military conquest and gold only to find himself defeated, having molten gold poured down his throat and his head used as a stage prop. Enrile is to cunning to end like Crassus. He will most likely assume the role of elder and adviser to The Estradas.

Third, It will be sometime till we get beyond the political elite ruling this country. Political Families rule this country. The only new political leader in this election is Grace Poe, the rest come from established political families both old and new. At the local level family members ran against each other; political families ran against other political families; and some againts candidates who are not even known.

Of The Majority and the Minority in this Election

In the Post-Election Environment one notices in certain circles a condemnation of how the majority voted. This stems from their choice in the elections. How could they do this? Allegations of how stupid, subservient and mercenary spew forth from the minority. A number of who seem to come from the middle class and the rich. One of consequences of a divide between the haves and the have-nots is in their choice in the elections. People are going to vote persons they trust and can count on. And in many respects these are people from the Political Elite: the Political Families. And it is not actually a dumb choice but a practical one. And this will not change just by tweeting, posting or clicking a mood meter online. It easy to get angry, feel righteous outrage, and condemn the actions and electoral motivations of the majority. We can do it inside a coffee shop while tweedling with one’s gadget without breaking a sweat. But can we do something to actually change this? Empower them to be free from chains and shackles of dependency on Political Families ?

Money and politics have been siblings from the very start of civilization. Without money Julius Ceasar would not be Dictator nor woukd Octavian be the Emperor Augustus. Hitler would not have become Chancellor without the suppirt of the Industrialists. You can say that in most cases the more well financed campaign wins… well most of the time

One thing to remember these money is rarely given because of charity. It is favor: It is a debt that soiner must be paid.

Here are the two articlws from PCIJ – Political afs aired, booked in 60 days: 1.39B and Money in politics questions split candidates for senator.

Kids of ‘Kings’ and clans top spenders
Political ads aired, booked in 60 days: P1.3B

By Malou Mangahas
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

IN POLITICS as in the movies, it seems like it pays to be the child of the so-called “kings.”

Four children born to veritable political royalty – in other parts called clans or dynasties – are now dominating the air war for votes in the May 2013 elections.

And amid the seemingly changeless picture of poverty in the land, the administration and opposition political parties and most of their candidates for senator are pouring buckets of money on political advertisements on television, radio, and the newspapers. Indeed, the total value of these ads has already gone beyond the P1-billion mark, but will certainly keep on rising.

As of last April 10, P1,320,116,506.81 worth of political ads had already been aired, published, and booked for and by 21 of the 33 senatorial candidates, and 20 political parties and party-list groups.
Reminded
A total of 287 advertising contracts and telecast orders for a total of 41 candidates and political parties had so far been submitted by print and broadcast media agencies, as required by law, to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

By cluster, the ads aired and/or booked for the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) coalition and six of its nine senatorial candidates had reached P587,593,483.02, or nearly P100 million less than the P682,898,916.87 ads that had been procured by administration Team PNoy and its 12 candidates.

Media agencies had been twice required to submit to the Comelec advertising contracts sealed with the candidates and the political parties. The first report covered the first month of the campaign period, Feb. 12 to March 11, 2013; and the second, the second month, March 12 to April 10, 2013.

Not all the advertising contracts submitted to Comelec were clear if the amounts were gross amounts or net of taxes, however. By all indications, too, not all the media agencies have submitted all the advertising contracts that they had signed with all the candidates and the political parties.

For this report, PCIJ encoded the gross amount (“contract cost”) when this appeared in the documents, inclusive of value-added tax and withholding tax. For documents without a breakdown of gross and net costs of the ads, PCIJ encoded the available amount indicated.
The documents showed that the ads were either booked by and for the candidates and the political parties through their advertising agents, or booked by and for them by certain donors.

Big spenders

The top 10 ad buyers account for a hefty P 917,337,764.22 or 69 percent of the total ad buys during the period.

They include the children of UNA’s “Three Kings” – Juan ‘Jack’ C. Ponce Enrile Jr., Joseph Victor ‘JV’ G. Ejercito, and Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay – and the daughter of “Da King” of Philippine movies, Grace Poe-Llamanzares, who is with Team PNoy.

Also on the list are those born to relatively new and old political clans such as Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara Jr., Alan Peter S. Cayetano, Ma. Ana Consuelo ‘Jamby’ A. Madrigal, and Paolo Benigno ‘Bam’ Aquino IV.

The UNA coalition and three of its nine candidates for senator – all children of the opposition’s “Three Kings,” dominated the ad-buys pie for the first two months of the campaign.

The list of 41 ad spenders (candidates, party-list groups, political parties) during the same period ranked Cagayan Representative Jack Ponce Enrile, only son of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, number one with P151.2 million worth of ads aired and booked.

San Juan Representative JV Ejercito, son of deposed President Joseph Ejercito Estrada by re-electionist San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez, landed in No. 2 with P137.1 million.

The opposition coalition UNA came in at No. 3 with P120.3 million in political ads, including TV spots booked for airing until May 11, 2013, the last day of the campaign.

At fifth spot is newbie candidate Nancy Binay, daughter of Vice President Jejomar ‘Jojo’ Binay. Documents showed Nancy Binay as having P82.8 million in ads aired and booked during the period.

Senator Enrile, ex-President Estrada, and Vice President Binay, the supposed three Magi of UNA, had even graced UNA’s political ads that aired for an extended period in the first weeks of the campaign.

No ads for others

In contrast to the record being set by the children of the “Three Kings,” three other UNA candidates for senator did not have any political ads aired or published yet, at least according to the records as of last April 15, in the first two months of the campaign.

The ads have-nots from UNA’s stable are former Tarlac governor Margarita ‘Tingting’ Coajuangco, Zambales Rep. Milagros ‘Mitos’ Magsaysay, and re-electionist senator Gregorio ‘Gringo’ Honasan.

Unlike the “have ads, and have no ads” picture of the UNA candidates, all 12 senatorial aspirants of the Team PNoy coalition led by President Benigno S. Aquino III had ads aired and booked in their favor.

Of Team PNoy’s candidates, Aurora Rep. Sonny Angara is the top spender on political ads, with P85.52 million ads aired and booked, while the bottom spender is re-electionist senator Antonio ‘Sonny’ Trillanes IV, with P12.41 million.

Nonetheless, Trillanes ranked 18th on the list of 41 candidates, party-list groups, and political parties that had aired or booked ads for the first 60 days of the 90-day campaign period for national candidates, according to the documents.

Meanwhile, adopted LP candidate Grace Poe-Llamanzares, daughter of the late Fernando Poe Jr., “Da King” of action movies, came in as the sixth big spender on ads. The records submitted to Comelec by media agencies showed Poe-Llamanzares as having aired and booked ads worth P74.7 million as of April 10, 2013.

President Aquino’s Liberal Party, for its part, aired and booked another P68.43 million of political ads during the period, featuring all its 12 candidates. The amount largely covered the airing of Team PNoy’s ad showing the candidates marching seemingly in place on summons of the President.?
Villar ranks low?

Former Las Piñas representative Cynthia A. Villar, wife of outgoing senator Manuel B. Villar – the biggest spender on political ads in the May 2010 presidential elections and the wealthiest of the 23 incumbent senators – landed in a surprisingly low spot – No. 16 – on the list of 41 ad spenders.

Cynthia Villar’s political ads totaled P32.7 million only, based on the records submitted to the Comelec. It seemed, though, that this modest amount got a supplemental boost from another P32.99 million in ads that the Nacionalista Party purchased during the same period.

Chaired by her husband Senator Villar, the NP aired the “Hanep” ad material that featured Cynthia Villar.

Another NP stalwart, re-electionist senator Alan Peter Cayetano, had aired and booked a hefty P74.49 million of ads for himself, the documents showed.

Completing the Top 10 list of political ad buyers from Feb. 19 to April 15, 2013 are three LP candidates: former senator Jamby Madrigal with P66.7 million of ads aired and booked; the President’s first cousin Bam Aquino, P56.24 million; and re-electionist senator Loren Regina B. Legarda, P46.95 million.

Cash-poor, ads-rich

Curiously, some supposedly cash-poor candidates have outranked some supposedly cash-rich candidates.

Former Akbayan party list representative Ana Theresa ‘Risa’ Hontiveros had P31.80 million worth of ads aired and booked for and in her name during the period, compared with much smaller ad buys by four candidates who had served as senators – Juan Miguel ‘Migs’ Zubiri, P28.43 million; Aquilino Martin ‘Koko’ Pimentel III, P27.49 million; Ernesto M. Maceda, P22.19 million; and Trillanes, P12.41 million.

Even former Bayan Muna representative Teodoro ‘Teddy’ A. Casino, who is literally “running” across the nation on an avowed tight budget, incurred P8.69 million worth of aired and booked ads, or more than double the P3.81-million ad spend of outgoing Palawan governor Edward S. Hagedorn, according to the documents. – With research by Karol Ilagan. Rowena F. Caronan, Charmaine Manay, Rosemarie Corpin, and Edz dela Cruz, PCIJ, April 2013

Polspeak or poltruth?
Money in politics questions split candidates for senator
By Karol Ilagan
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

COMMISSION ON Elections (Comelec) head Sixto S. Brillantes Jr. almost quit in frustration after the Supreme Court recently issued a temporary restraining order against the Comelec’s resolutions that essentially imposed stricter time limits on political ads. But perhaps he may have been less disheartened if he knew there are senatorial candidates who seem to think the way he does.
At least that’s how it appeared when PCIJ caught up with 19 of the 33 senatorial candidates two weeks before the official national campaign period started. Each candidate was asked the same questions on issues regarding money and politics.

Majority of the candidates interviewed share similar stands on most money matters except one: the use of pork-barrel funds. As for campaign finance, only a few divulged specific information on how much they will spend for the campaign or donors who have already made promises to support them. Notably, though, almost all the candidate-interviewees agree to reforms initiated by the Comelec, particularly on airtime limits
.
The lone naysayer, Greco Antonious Beda B. Belgica of the Democratic Party of the Philippines of the Democratic Party of the Philippines (DPP), in fact said that in general, “limiting budget spending is good especially for candidates like us who do not have government money to spend.”

Still, the airtime limits initially imposed by Comelec – 120 minutes total for all broadcast networks and 180 minutes for all radio stations per national candidate – apparently do not sit quite well with Belgica. “How (else) will voters know us?” he asked. “You’re a candidate, that’s what you need. Voters meanwhile need to know whom they will vote for.”

How trust strangers?

In Belgica’s view, voters are electing people whom they “barely know,” particularly at the national level. “How can you trust someone you barely know?” Belgica said.

Last April 16, though, justices of the Supreme Court voted 9-6 in favor of issuing a temporary restraining order against the Commission’s Resolution No. 9615 and Resolution No. 9631, thus stopping Comelec from imposing the “aggregate time limit” rule. Resolution No. 9615 also included materials published on the Internet as political advertising as long as these do not fall within the scope of personal opinion.

With the Court’s TRO, the previous rules apply, allowing senatorial candidates 120 minutes of TV ads per network and 180 minutes of radio ads per station “pending resolution of the consolidated cases by the Court.”

Save for Belgica, it may well be that the candidates interviewed by PCIJ last January 25 ended up commiserating with Brillantes.

After all, Belgica’s own partymate Bal Falcone even said of the Comelec reforms, “That’s good, that’s good… we cannot even afford one TV advertisement, which costs P200,000 per 30 seconds like Hanep Buhay (an ad for Team PNoy senatorial candidate Cynthia Villar) or something like that.”

Poor, can’t afford

Rizalito David of Ang Kapatiran Party also said, “For us poor candidates, it doesn’t really matter. I know it would not sit well (with) many of the networks but I think the political ad ban should be restored.”

“What can you say in 30 seconds?” he also asked. “That is not being true to the people who will be electing you – that they voted for you because your 30-seconder ad got stuck in their minds. That’s not right, that is unjust.”

Interestingly even the likes of Senator Francis Escudero, who is running for a second term in the Upper House, said that the reforms were “okay” since it was unlike that “we would be able to use up all the airtime allowed because it’s so expensive.”

“In fact,” he said, “you can count on the five fingers of one hand the candidates who can afford to spend that much money. The question we have, however, is, on the Internet, it looks like available technology may deter Comelec from being able to fully monitor the use of the Internet (for campaigning) and to limit this.”

Teodoro “Teddy’ A. Casiño, for his part, said Comelec should really be tightening rules to level the playing field. But, he said enforcement of and compliance with these rules is another story.
The former party-list representative suggested that in lieu of advertising limits, Comelec should fill up the vacuum and provide information for voter education. Casiño then proposed that Comelec buy more airtime and devise a way to distribute this equitably to all candidates..

Unfulfilled pledges

Incumbent lawmakers , however, notably provided more specific information on how much they think is needed to win the senatorial race, which donors have made promises to contribute, and how they would manage contributors who ask for favors.

Senator Escudero, for example, estimated that for the upcoming polls, he would spend more or less the same as he did in 2007. Escudero received P64.8 million in donations and spent P64.9 million for his 2007 election bid. At that time, he had the second highest number of votes among senatorial bets.

Asked if anyone had already made promises to contribute to his campaign, Escudero replied, “I am not counting promises. As long as you don’t have it, don’t count on it. Many promises go unfulfilled especially when it has to do with money.”

In 2007, Escudero’s top individual donor was businessman Ramon S. Ang who donated P9 million. Kim S. Jacinto-Henares, who is now Commissioner of Bureau of Internal Revenue, also donated P1 million to his campaign.

Hubby, kids, friends

Former Las Piñas City Representative Cynthia A. Villar, meanwhile, said she expects financial support from her husband, outgoing Senator Manuel B. Villar Jr., and her children. If ever, this will be the first time for Villar to receive campaign contributions. She did not receive any donation in her three previous runs as member of the House of Representatives. Villar spent her own money for her campaigns, as did her husband, when he ran for president in 2010.

Senator Aquilino Martin “Koko” L. Pimentel III said he will raise funds the same way he did in 2007 – from long-time friends who have supported him “through thick or thin.” In the 2007 elections,

Pimentel spent P29.96 million on his campaign; P23.74 million of which came from various donors while the remaining P6.22 million were paid out of his own money.

Pimentel said that he is cautious of “new faces that are all of a sudden so generous to me.” He explained, “If a new face all of a sudden offers P10 million, well, we have to step back a bit there. And of course, let’s say, rumored gambling lord, rumored drug lord – even it’s only rumor, you’re better off not accepting donations from them.”

Asked how he would turn down a donor’s request, Pimentel replied by saying that he was “lucky” and “blessed” that he did not have any “big-time donor” when he ran in 2007. The contribution he received came from his fellow Rotarians and Jaycees whom he says “knows him so they don’t even attempt (to ask for favors).”

“It’s pointless to make an illegal or unusual or immoral request just because you contributed to me,” Pimentel said. “But if it is a legitimate request for a passage of a law, there’s nothing bad about that.”

Betting on bets

In the meantime, first-time senatorial candidate Paolo Benigno “Bam” A. Aquino IV said donors could be said to be “putting their bets on you,” which he said was “humbling” on his part because “people believe in you, enough to share with you their hard-earned resources, ‘no?

Aquino – first cousin of President Benigno Aquino III – also expressed confidence that people who may be involved in illegal activities will not dare and ask favors from him because he is running under the ‘tuwid na daan’ banner of the President.

He asserted, “People helping me are also the same people who are helping PNoy and who believe in the ‘straight path.’ Lawbreakers would probably not help us in our campaign.”

Other candidates who are neither part of the two major political parties (Team PNoy and United Nationalist Alliance) said they would finance their campaign using donations from family and friends and through various fund-raising activities.

Casiño of the Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan, for instance, said his party will conduct fund-raising dinners. But he said he may also receive donations from “individuals who feel that I represent the things that they also believe in.”

Marwil Llasos said that his party, Ang Kapatiran, is banking on “networking, social media, and sectors that we can tap to help us in this campaign.” He said Ang Kapatiran candidates, which includes him, David, and former presidential candidate John Carlos de los Reyes, do not personally solicit funds or accept contributions to avoid any possible conflict of interest. Contributions are coursed through the party and not the candidate, according to Llasos.

Won’t be a hypocrite

David, and former presidential candidate John Carlos G. de los Reyes, do not personally solicit funds or accept contributions to avoid any possible conflict of interest. Contributions are coursed through the party and not the candidate, according to Llasos.

But it was another of President Aquino’s relatives, Margarita “Ting Ting” R. Cojuangco, who had some of the most interesting comments on campaign finance. Cojuangco, who is running under UNA, estimated that her bid for a Senate seat could at least cost some P70 million. She said it would be “well and good” if Comelec set limits on campaign spending “so all the voters will understand that we aren’t banks, you know, whatever budget is set would be the same for all of us.”
“You know, me being a housewife, I like to budget my money, ‘di ba?” said Cojuangco, who is the wife of the President’s uncle, multimillionaire businessman-politician Francisco ‘Peping’ Cojuangco. “You know, it doesn’t make a difference whether you sell in the market or you’re a teacher, everybody has to live on that budget. And you know if I spend too much I don’t know how I will get it back, so it’s really basically very unfair to me and my family…. I want to spend less because I’m here to serve.”

She also said she was “not gonna be a hypocrite” when asked about her opinion on pork-barrel funds. Remarked Cojuangco: “There is nothing wrong with the pork barrel as long as it’s used the way it’s intended to be. In fact, expectations are so great, it’s not only constructing of the bridge or the road, it’s even the money for people, for constituents who come and say, ‘We don’t have money to go home,’ ‘We don’t have any money for the doctor,’ ‘We don’t have any money for the education of our children.’ As long as it’s used wisely, it’s audited properly, then I think it’s necessary.”

Pork-barrel funds or the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) are lump-sum amounts assigned to members of Congress annually: P200 million for each senator, and P70 million for every district and party-list representative.
Cojuangco was among the 11 candidates, including four who have not used the PDAF or have not been elected in Congress, who told PCIJ that they are not categorically against the use of pork because it is “already there” and for as long as its use would be “transparent” and “proper.” Aside from Cojuangco, the others were Samson S. Alcantara, Aquino, David, Escudero, Gregorio “Gringo” B. Honasan II, Pimentel, Grace Poe-Llamanzares, Christian M. Señeres, Villar, and Juan Miguel “Migs” F. Zubiri.

Senator Pimentel noted that the pork barrel is a double-edged sword that can be “used for good” and “abused for bad.” Which is why, he said, he assigned his PDAF for medical assistance programs and scholarships.

Pimentel used up P100 million of his PDAF from June 2011 to June 2012. One in three projects funded by his pork consists of financial assistance to indigent patients (P29.8 million). He also allotted P20.4 million to purchase vehicles, P12.8 million to fund scholarships, and the rest, for various projects such as purchase of medicines and medical equipment, road repair, etc.
Pimentel said that if the pork barrel were removed, that means it would only be the executive who can decide on how that allotment would be spent. “Mabuti na rin siguro ‘yung kinalap na natin so kanya-kanyang priorities sa mga senador at mga congressmen,” he said, “because definitely some of them — I hope almost all of them — will put pork barrel to good use.”

Bad pork, good pork

Aquino, meanwhile, said that he is “fine” with any removal of the pork barrel. But should it be maintained, he said, then it should be maximized and put to good use. “Everything that’s bad in government is with the manner of [how funds] are being used,” he commented. “So if one uses pork barrel for the bad, then that’s really bad.”

Eight of the 19 candidates interviewed, however, called for the abolition of the PDAF primarily because they believe it breeds graft and corruption and patronage politics. The non-pork barrel lovers were composed mainly of party-list and independent candidates, among them Ang Kapatiran’s Llasos.

To Llasos, the reasoning behind the pork-barrel system is inapplicable because a senator’s or a congressman’s main function is legislative, not executive.

“If they want to meddle with government projects then they should apply as DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) secretary, not as senator or congressman,” he said. “Senators and congressmen perform three functions: legislation, investigation, and education. The law does not say anything about being a contractor.” – With interviews by Rowena Caronan, Kia Obang, and Romina Tapire, PCIJ, April 2013

As one observes the present elections there seems to be no difference between those in UNA and the Administration’s Mega-Coalition. Well there is a difference and it lies in loyalty and affiliation. On one hand you have those loyal to Aquino and allies and on the other hand you have those loyal to Binay and Estrada.

By design or by circumstance Nancy Binay has become her father’s surrogate in this phase of the race for Malacanang. If and when Nancy Binay wins a senate seat this will be one of the signs that the father is not far behind in becoming the next President come 2016. How else could Nancy Binay if not for the Binay name?

Binay would then be totally out of the Aquino shadow. From one of Cory Aquino’s most loyal political captain who earned the monicker Rambotito. Binay has established his family as a political power house firmly entrenched in Makati City.

Come 2013 we would probably see Binay against an Aquino surrogate. Only time would reveal who the surrogate would be. Will Binay still be popular then? Will he still have the same set of allies? Will Estrada support him? In a sense Estrada’s run for Manila is also a show and display of political strength. All seems to point to a Binay Presidency … but even despite a Nancy Binay victory things may still go sour.

Fate is a fickle mistress and as they say the best laid plans of mice and men …

Only time will tell.

To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough

By

Robert Burns

Small, crafty, cowering, timorous little beast,
O, what a panic is in your little breast!
You need not start away so hasty
With argumentative chatter!
I would be loath to run and chase you,
With murdering plough-staff.
I’m truly sorry man’s dominion
Has broken Nature’s social union,
And justifies that ill opinion
Which makes you startle
At me, your poor, earth born companion
And fellow mortal!
I doubt not, sometimes, but you may steal;
What then? Poor little beast, you must live!
An odd ear in twenty-four sheaves
Is a small request;
I will get a blessing with what is left,
And never miss it.
Your small house, too, in ruin!
Its feeble walls the winds are scattering!
And nothing now, to build a new one,
Of coarse grass green!
And bleak December’s winds coming,
Both bitter and keen!
You saw the fields laid bare and wasted,
And weary winter coming fast,
And cozy here, beneath the blast,
You thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel plough passed
Out through your cell.
That small bit heap of leaves and stubble,
Has cost you many a weary nibble!
Now you are turned out, for all your trouble,
Without house or holding,
To endure the winter’s sleety dribble,
And hoar-frost cold.
But little Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!
Still you are blessed, compared with me!
The present only touches you:
But oh! I backward cast my eye,
On prospects dreary!
And forward, though I cannot see,
I guess and fear!

One of us who has come to personal realization that something drastic needs to be done. One of us who has found the means to commit mass slaughter through a gun or a home made bomb. One of us who maybe disgusted at a certain facet of our society. One of us who thinks we are better than others. One of us who thinks we are above the rest.

In the film Rope two students fueled by intellectual pride and their mentor’s view and rhetoric kill their friend and hid his body inside a box upon which they served dinner. Their mentor, who was also a guest at the dinner, showed horror and repulsion upon discovering the murder and arranges the capture of his students.

Mass murder and genocide are products of a mind raised in hate, bigotry, and self righteous intellectual pride. It makes us feel better to think that these persons who commit these acts are monsters. Yes they are monsters but they are monsters, a great number crafted by our hate, bigotry, and self righteous intellectual pride.

In the end society can present measures to protect itself – like more security measures at public events and places or better surveillance. Let us not forget though to stamp hate, bigotry, and self righteous intellectual pride. Intolerance.

Why do it?

Mapping an election precinct using the big screen at the Springboard Room at the Smart Jump Center at Mega Mall

Partly because it was fun. We were there with friends. Partly because the Internet speed at the Smart Jump Center was really fast both the LTE and the Pldt Fiber. Partly because there were t-shirts and things from Google. And more importantly because this was one way to help the 2013 National Elections.

And it is easy to do.

1. Just go to the site (http://www.findyourprecinct.ph/).
2. Click to help people go to their precinct.
3. Type in the city or place you know.
4. Check a precinct and pin it on the map.
5. And Save

Here is a set more detailed of instructions () from Aileen Apolo-de Jesus of Google.

And you can do it from the comfort of your home or whatever you can be comfortable.

The Change-makers
By Ed Lingao
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

THEY BELONG to some of the most prominent political clans in central Mindanao, yet they are carving a path far removed from the mold of the traditional roles of their royal families.
Take Mussolini Lidasan, for instance. Much unlike his infamous namesake, Lidasan is a peace advocate, a writer, a community development specialist, and president of Aksyon Mindanaw, a political movement fighting for the rights of Christians, Muslims, and indigenous peoples. Lidasan is also executive director of the Al Qalam Institute, the research arm of the Ateneo de Davao University.

If that were not enough to append to one’s name, Lidasan is also a member of the Iranun royalty. His father is Tahir Lidasan, a direct descendant of the Iranun Bugasan Sultanate, while his mother is a Sinsuat, granddaughter of Datu Sinsuat Balabaran, former Senator of the Republic. When the Maguindanao Massacre occurred in 2009, Lidasan was distraught; he had relatives with both the Ampatuan and Mangudadatu clans.

Lidasan represents a new generation of young Moros, those born with so-called royal blood who are not afraid to appear as if they are working against the interest of their own class. These young Moros break the image of the spoiled young royal born with a silver spoon in his mouth and a chip on the shoulder.

Lidasan himself is critical of the role that the clans continue to play in Maguindanao society, although it is a criticism that he carefully puts into the context of the region’s rich history and heritage.

“The clan mindset will eventually become obsolete, whether we like it or not,” he says. “People tend to move to find a better leader, a better framework, and a better future that will factor in the effects of climate change, disasters, etcetera.”

The same attitude may be said of Zainuddin Malang and Naguib Sinarimbo, of the Mindanao Human Rights Action Center or MinHRac, one of the official observers in the peace talks between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). MinHRac is always one of the first organizations to investigate reports of ceasefire violations by either side, and assists as well in relief efforts in the endless stream of refugees that typically follows an armed encounter.
Malang, the executive director of MinHRac, is related to the Sinsuat clan; his mother is a Balabaran, the mother clan of the Sinsuats. In turn, Sinarimbo, a human-rights lawyer and a former executive secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is married to a member of the Alonto clan.

Malang says part of the job of civil society organizations is to disabuse Maguindanaoans of the idea that they have no power or voice in the way the clans govern their communities. This, Malang says, is the biggest challenge for CSOs today, especially since many Maguindanaoans have become so jaded that they have little expectations from their leaders.

“We have to raise the consciousness of the public to the fact that they can hold their leaders accountable,” he says. “For 30 years, they were given the impression that they had no right to demand from their leaders.”

Sinarimbo meanwhile observes that it was only recently that CSOs became active in Maguindanao. Before that, idealistic clan members had nowhere the channel their energies to.
“The rise of the CSOs in Maguindanao is a new phenomenon,” says Sinarimbo.” Only now, very recently are they rising, and it goes both ways. The CSOs are learning, and the government is learning how to accommodate the CSOs.”

Such changes are seeing the participation of the young members of clans in many parts of Maguindanao. While their forefathers may have built some of their fiefdoms with ruthlessness and cunning, the new generation is now better schooled and trained. Some studied in exclusive schools, and some have even been sent abroad for education and training by parents who may have not even finished primary school. It is part of the inevitable evolution of the clans that elders would want to create more opportunities for their children. The result is a new generation that is, at least potentially, more exposed to new ideas and concepts, and possibly more willing to challenge the old ways that their elders have always held dear.

According to Bobby Taguntong, Maguindanao coordinator for CCARE, the Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reforms, this is a far cry from the turn of the century Maguindanao, when many clan elders resisted the idea of sending their children to Western schools. When the Americans tried to introduce a new educational system, Taguntong says, many clan elders viewed the move with suspicion, an attempt to “capture” the minds of the clans.

“Many of the Moros sent their children fleeing into the fields when the Americans set up an educational system,” he says. “This is because of the thinking that if the children are educated by them, then the children will be theirs.”

These days, there have been significant changes. Says Sinarimbo, “There is more exposure now, both for those who have studied elsewhere, and for those who were shaped by local politics here. There is an evolution. But it is still in the early stages in the formation of this new mindset. How far this can go, I think, will really depend on the resolve of the new Maguindanaoan leaders.”
Taguntong says it is time that Maguindanaoans learn from their past, not just ancient history, but contemporary history as well. The lessons are slowly seeping in, as history and tradition are difficult competitors. The Ampatuan case, he says, is one such lesson that needs to be studied.

“We have to learn from the past, to what happened with the Ampatuans,” he notes.” Secondly, the system of elections, many communities are now aware of their responsibilities in the elections. They have been informed of their right to suffrage, and their right to fight for their ballot.”
Of course the challenges are still there, and at times, the old ways seem to have the upper hand. But Lidasan stresses that not everything from the past has to be discarded.
“My idea is that we need to value our past, live in our present time, and have an inclusive paradigm for development,” he says.

In the end, Taguntong echoes the words of a hero from another era: “We don’t have any more hope in the old generation, the ones we can convince are the youth. They are the ones who have a chance to learn about the right ways, so they should be our priority. As for the older generation, they already have bad habits. If you try to straighten the crooked, you just might break them.” – PCIJ, April 2013

What are we in power for ?

This story of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism was first published on www.pcij.org.

The Clan Politics of ARMM Maguindanao’s misery: Absentee officials, absence of rage, poverty

Second of Three Parts

FOR A PROVINCE that is turning only 40 years old this year, Maguindanao has managed to emerge as “the most governed,” if only by the number of governance structures physically erected for the province. In the last four decades, the provincial capitol has moved a total of six times to five different places in four decades, depending on the whims of the newly elected governor.

When Maguindanao province was spun off from the greater Cotabato empire province in 1973, the first governor, Simeon Datumanong, held office in Limpongo, in what is now Datu Hoffer town. His successor, Zacaria Candao, held office on PC Hill in Cotabato City before resigning in 1977. The replacement governor, Datu Sanggacala Baraguir of Sultan Kudarat town, naturally wanted the capitol in his bailiwick, and had a new capitol built in Sultan Kudarat. The fourth governor, Sandiale Sambolawan, returned the provincial government to Shariff Aguak.

Then Datu Andal Salibo Ampatuan Sr. was elected governor in May 2001. He built a grand columned capitol almost right beside the municipal hall of Shariff Aguak, where he used to hold office as mayor. A few years later, Andal Sr. would build a new and even more opulent provincial capitol, complete with a driveway that rivals a small EDSA flyover and a private toilet that houses a Jacuzzi, a stone’s throw away from the old capitol, on land that is rumored to be his own.

After the 2010 elections, Esmael Mangudadatu, the current governor who succeeded Andal Sr., moved the provincial capitol to his hometown of Buluan, accessible from Maguindanao only if one passes through Sultan Kudarat province first. At first, Mangudadatu referred to the new capitol as the Satellite Office of the Provincial Government. Later, to avoid complications and questions, he renamed the place as the Maguindanao Peace Center.

Capitol on wheels?

“The problem we have observed in Maguindanao is the new Governor always transfers the provincial capitol,” says Bobby Taguntong, Maguindanao spokesman for the Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reform or CCARE, a civil society group pushing for reforms in the election process in Mindanao. “Maybe we can suggest to the national government to make the provincial capitol mobile, perhaps even install tires.”

It is far more than an issue of confusion and inconvenience for those who need to conduct business in the capitol, wherever it may be relocated to next. Rather, the tale of the moving capitol symbolizes a bigger problem seen in places where governance is more personal than political, where families overrule political parties, and where blood trumps ideas and ideologies.

In Maguindanao, as well as in many other places where old families hold sway, governance is defined not by political institutions but by the politics of personality – in this case, personalities whose roots go deep into the bedrock of local history and tradition: the political clans. In these places, the centers of power are not the institutions of governance and democracy such as the local government units; the power instead emanates from the local families that inevitably head these LGUs. As such, a governor or town mayor may see no need or obligation to go to the capitol or the town hall. Rather, the capitol comes to him.

Taguntong sees this replicated in many of the 36 towns of Maguindanao, where local officials no longer bother to report for work. If anything needs to be done, official business is brought to the official at his or her residence. The residence becomes the de facto town hall where the local official holds court.

“Some say there is poor governance here,” remarks Taguntong. “But my conclusion is that governance here is not only poor, it is absent.”

Empty edifices

A cursory check of municipal halls strewn along the Cotabato-Isulan highway seems to confirm this. Some of the municipal halls are impressively built but seem largely empty, except for a skeleton staff of municipal employees who need to punch their timecards.

In Datu Unsay town, the municipal hall is modern and magnificent, yet there is little activity going on inside. The mayor is Reshal Ampatuan, wife of former Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. who is now in detention as a primary suspect in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

The same goes for the capital town of Shariff Aguak, now ruled by Zahara Ampatuan, wife of Anwar Sr., where the offices seem largely empty except for some rank and file employees. The municipal hall of the newly created town of Datu Hoffer, meantime, is even more impressive, standing like a shining white beacon on a hill and clearly so close and visible from nearby Shariff Aguak. But it is practically non-functional, its walls bright and spotless from disuse even though the mayor is Johaira ‘Bongbong’ Ampatuan, wife of former ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan.

In all these town halls, municipal officers such as the mayors and vice mayors seldom come to work, and the town council is practically non-existent.

Absentee execs

“How many municipalities implement the barangay assembly?” asks Taguntong. “Has any municipality here formed a municipal peace and order council?”

“Let us not be hypocrites,” he says. “There are municipal halls here that do not have any offices during office hours. How will a town develop if the public servants do not report for work, or do not govern?”

Taguntong says PCIJ was fortunate to find employees still manning their posts despite the absence of their elective officials. In other municipalities off the beaten path or off the national highway, says Taguntong, even the civil servants do not bother to report for work.

There are more scientific indicators used by the government to gauge the performance of local government units. The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) uses the Good Governance Index or GGI as a way to measure the responsiveness of local governments to the governance needs of constituents on three levels: economic, political, and administrative.

The economic governance index measures how responsive a local government unit is in providing economic opportunities for a constituency to grow and develop economically; political governance index relates to how an LGU effectively empowers a citizen to have a say in the governance of his community; lastly, administrative governance is how an LGU delivers basic public services such as health, education, and peace and order.

Cellar dweller

In the NSCB’s GGI ranking in both 2005 and 2008, Maguindanao placed last among all the 79 provinces then in existence in the country, meaning it performed the worst as far as good governance indicators are concerned. For example, poverty incidence registered at 48.50 percent in 2005, going slightly down to 47.62 percent in 2008, and then 44.6 percent in 2009. This means almost half of the Maguindanaoan population lives below the poverty line, roughly double the national poverty incidence that played between 25-26.5 percent from 2003 to 2009.

The per capita purchasing power of Maguindanaoans also paled in comparison to the rest of the country. Real per capita income in Benguet is the highest at P 80,000, followed by Batanes at P78,300. Maguindanaoans had only a fourth of the purchasing power of people from Benguet, with an annual per capital income of P 23,700. The NSCB says the purchasing power of the top five provinces in the country is almost three times more than the per capita purchasing power of the bottom five provinces, Maguindanao being one of them.

For the administrative governance index, Maguindanao does not fare any better. There were only 59 health personnel on average serving every 1,000 residents in 2005, going down to 38 health personnel per 1,000 Maguindanaoans in 2008. Phone density, or the number of telephones per 1,000 residents, was 9.24 phones in 2005, going up to only 27.98 phones in 2008

Another measure used by government in assessing social development in an area is the human development index or HDI. Unfortunately for Maguindanaoans, they fare no better with this other measurement.

Short life span

According to the 2009 provincial human development index released by the NSCB last year, Maguindanaoans have a life expectancy that was third shortest for all the provinces in the Philippines. Maguindanaoans have a life expectancy of only 58.5 years, just slightly better than Sulu with 56.8 years and Tawi-Tawi with 53.6 years. That means Maguindanaoans on the average die 10 years earlier than the average Filipino, whose life expectancy is 68.7 years. Filipinos from La Union have the longest life expectancy of 76.4 years, or 18 years longer than Maguindanaoans.

Also, adult Maguindanaoans are lucky to have an average of 6.3 years of schooling, the fourth lowest in the country, and three years less than the national average of 8.9 years. This is in contrast to people from Batanes who have 11.5 years of schooling on the average.

Surprisingly, it is in the political governance index where Maguindanao appears to have had some positive indicators, although for reasons that may have little to do with good governance. The crime solution efficiency rate, or the percentage of reported crimes that were solved by the local police, was tagged at 85.27 percent. It is a surprising figure for a province known for violence and the proliferation of firearms, until one realizes that most crimes go unreported in the province.

Even more surprising is the voter turnout rate, which remained steady at 97.66 percent, meaning almost all of Maguindanao’s registered voters eagerly cast their ballots in the 2004 and 2007 elections. It is worth noting that Maguindanao was the center of election controversy, after then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and then Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr. were accused of manipulating election results to deliver swing votes in favor of administration candidates both in 2004 and 2007.

IRA black hole

With its abject poverty, one would think that Maguindanao was one of the least supported provinces in terms of the allocation of resources.

Yet the internal revenue allotments that have poured into the province tell a different tale. In 2011, the national government poured in P 3.87 billion pesos in IRA into Maguindanao: P1.16 billion for the provincial government, P1.9 billion for the 36 municipalities, and P711 million for the barangays. The total dipped to P3.7 billion in 2012 and P3.4 billion in 2013, following findings by the National Statistics Office (NSO) that the previous population figures for Maguindanao appeared to be bloated.

In comparison, provinces that have received similar amounts of IRA seem far developed compared to Maguindanao. Ilocos Norte received P2.7 billion in IRA in 2011; Ilocos Sur got P3.1 billion; Nueva Vizcaya P2 billion; Bataan P2.1 billion; Tarlac P3.7 billion; Zambales P2.5 billion; and Oriental Mindoro P2.9 billion.

In Maguindanao, it is hard not to think that funds were pouring into what appears to be a giant black hole. – With research by Karol Ilagan, Che de Los Reopes.
Indeed, economic and political activities appear to be at a standstill in many Maguindanao towns on regular days. Town centers are often devoid of people, except in the late afternoon when children get off from school and public servants clock out of work. The public market and public utility terminal of Datu Unsay is barely used, and many of the stalls are vacant. In Shariff Aguak, the capitol town, most of the economic activity is centered around the small rotunda across the public square, where a few hardware stores and copra and grain dealers are located.

Only 2 banks

A good indication of economic activity, or the lack of it, would be the number of banks located in Maguindanao itself. In 2009, the NSO reported that the number of banks in Maguindanao had doubled in the past year. This is because Maguindanao only had one bank serving the vast province in 2008; in 2009, the Land Bank of the Philippines, a government bank that handles most government transactions, opened a second branch.

The dire statistics raise a confounding question: If governance in the province is ineffectual, or even non-existent, how then are the ruling political families able to continue to exercise control over the population? Is the lack of development and governance tied to the rule of the political clans in the area? Is the province poor because of the political clans, or are the political clans strong because of the poverty in Maguindanao?

Some things are clear at the outset: in many clan areas, the clan dictates who runs for public office. In these areas, the command vote still reigns supreme. Consequently, the choices open to the voter are limited by the willingness of the clan to expand the field it has traditionally dominated to other entrants in the political arena.

The problem is compounded by the apparent failure of the clans to exercise actual governance of the areas they had fenced off for themselves; the clans, it seems, prefer to lead instead of governing, and command instead of administering.

Clan selects mayors

Several primary grade schoolteachers who hitched a ride with PCIJ along the Cotabato-Isulan highway spoke of how the senior clan members of their town simply select the next town mayor from among themselves. That candidate would then almost certainly run unopposed after the clan has announced his selection.

Generally, the clan gets its way. Conflict arises only when another clan decides to contest the seat, as what happened between the Ampatuan and Mangudadatu families in 2009 that led to the Maguindanao massacre. When a conflict arises, the clan with the support of the biggest patron in Manila often wins.

It is a tragic situation that is made worse by the apparent apathy or sense of submission by their constituents to the interest of the clan. It is the tragedy of missed opportunities and extremely low expectations.

Comments Taguntong: “The mindset of people here is, I will not go anymore to the voting precinct, because even if I do not go, someone will vote for me anyway.”

“They feel that whatever they do, the result will be the same,” says human-rights lawyer lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, who was once the executive secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. “As for others, they sell their votes because at least it is one way of getting cash. That is the only benefit they will ever get from their leaders.”

A recent study on political dynasties by the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center is revealing in that it demonstrates a link between poverty and the prevalence of political dynasties in an area. According to the Center’s director, Ronald Mendoza, the study indicates that higher poverty incidence increases the chance for dynasties “to grow and dominate the political positions” of an area such as Maguindanao.

“There seems to be strong positive evidence that if you have more poverty, the chances are you will have more ‘fat dynasties,’” Mendoza said.

“Fat dynasties,” he explains, refer to political dynasties that expand sideways to occupy multiple elective positions for a certain period of time. This type of dynasty, which Mendoza says is increasing in number, is an evolution of the thinner variety where an elective position is merely handed over from one relative to another.

Fattest dynasty

Mendoza says that in Maguindanao, the Ampatuans are the fattest dynasty of all, holding 16 out of the 54 elective positions held by members of political clans after the 2010 elections. The Ampatuans are followed by the Midtimbangs, with whom they are related by marriage, with seven positions, and then the Ampatuans’ rival, the Mangudadatus with five positions.

In the case of a fat dynasty that is in Maguindanao, Mendoza says that there are potentially two failures: “One is, is the power to choose who should be the leader of a municipality still with the people? If the dynasty is fat, it has a lot of resources in its grip, and there is a lot more power that it can apply to that jurisdiction. So you begin to wonder, where is power residing? Is it still in the electorate, or in the dynasty that has entrenched itself?”

Continues Mendoza: “The second potential failure in terms of governance and democracy is, if you are all related, will you still exert the same checks and balances in the system? If the mayor sees that his dad the governor is doing something wrong, would he be able to tell his father off?”

“The saying is a cliché, that blood is thicker than water,” says Mendoza. “But in many places the party system is so weak that what they replace with the party system is a family-oriented system where family members are invited into power. Some of them are trying to rationalize it by saying they are helping each other out to govern a region. But even if they are the cleanest leaders around, there is an awkwardness to it.”

Voters corrupted?

For all the problems that political clans and dynasties bring up, however, the most alarming is the impact they have in shaping the point of view of the constituency, the people they are supposed to serve. Zainudin Malang, director of the Mindanao Human Rights Action Center based in Cotabato, says that more and more communities now measure their appreciation of their clan leaders in terms of who oppresses them less, instead of who serves them more. It is the ultimate corruption of the concept of the public servant.

“It is so tragic and sad, that our expectations of our leaders are already this low, that we no longer expect them to perform well,” says Malang, himself a member of a political clan. “We just expect them not to do anything really terrible, and that is already fine with us. For us, they may steal the money of the people, and that is still fine, so long as they do not steal my carabao, or grab my farm.”

“The social contract has been distorted and corrupted.” he says. “People now have a different understanding of that social contract. Even the voter has been corrupted.”

Sinarimbo also asserts, “Governance is inefficient because you don’t have accountability. What is the skill you need? You need to be able to drink coffee in Manila and talk to national officials. That is the only skill you need. You do not have to be in conflict areas or flooded areas or know the needs of your constituency. The only skill you need is to be able to drink coffee with the people in Manila, and you are sure that you will be in power.”

In the end, says Sinarimbo, it is the central government that has the burden of providing the avenue for people to express their real desires, whether through elections, through mass media, or any other form, regardless of the interests of the clans who govern them. After all, it was the state, which cloaked the clans with its own brand of legitimacy; it should also be the state, through its institutions of national governance that must return the power of the clans to the people.

Says Sinarimbo: “There is no manifest expression of outrage, even though the people can see the disparity between the huge mansions (of their leaders) and their own tiny shanties. The people know there is something wrong with the setup. But the ability and the willingness to express this manifestly is not there. There is no sense of security that assures me that if I do this, the state will be there to secure my right to express. So long as the state is unable to provide that, we will not see any significant changes in this system in the immediate future.” – PCIJ, April 2013

SIDEBAR, Part 2

By Ed Lingao
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

IN ONE of the many raids conducted by government troops on the Ampatuan properties after the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, investigators came across a black bag containing a bundle of papers. In it were an assortment of official documents, including land titles, credit card statements, and even divorce papers all belonging to former Maguindanao Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr., the patriarch of the Ampatuan clan.

What got the attention of the investigators was a bunch of handwritten notes listing what appeared to be large amounts allocated to senior police and military commanders assigned, not just in Maguindanao, but in the entire Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Among the names were those of prominent generals from army divisions in the region, as well as provincial and regional police officers.

The police and military commanders and units in the list were divided into three: the island provinces of Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi; Maguindanao; and Lanao del Sur and Marawi. The commanders were also broken down by ranks and positions: division commanders, brigade commanders, and battalion commanders; as well, regional and provincial police chiefs, and some city chiefs of police.

The notes indicate that amounts of up to P500,000 were appropriated for each of the division commanders and the head of the military command, P200,000 for regional police chiefs, and P100,000 for provincial police chiefs and army brigade commanders. The list goes all the way down to battalion level, with P50,000 listed for each of the battalions distributed throughout the area.

The grand total listed at the bottom of one of the pages: P4.3 million. Beside that total, also written by hand, is the name Bapa Teng, or Uncle Teng. Another list of allocations for the same commanders, but this time with differing amounts, was written on another set of papers with the note “c/o Jr.” That second list of allocations amounts to more than P2 million.

A source close to the Ampatuan family told PCIJ that Bapa Teng is a member of the Ampatuan clan whom it uses as a “liaison” to the police and military commanders in both Maguindanao and ARMM. The amounts listed are likely to be the monthly disbursements that the family gives out to local commanders as goodwill money, the source added.

It is not clear from the list alone if the amounts were meant to be disbursements for the personal use of the police and military commanders, or for official use by their units in the performance of their official peace and order functions. The military has repeatedly said that it worked closely with the Ampatuans in the past because of the assistance the clan gave military commanders in combating the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the area, both through logistics and manpower support.

The handwritten list recovered from the Ampatuan properties would almost certainly have no probative value in a court of law. It does, however, offer a startling glimpse into how the clans capture and compromise government institutions in areas like these, institutions that are supposed to act as checks and balances against abuse in the first place. Too, these disbursements illustrate that grey area that has largely defined, or more accurately, muddled, the troubled relationship between the national government and the institutions that represent it, and the clans that claim to represent their constituents.

In the case of the Ampatuan clan, the family that rose to preeminence during the long reign of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the clan has shown mastery in wielding its clout on both the national and local level, by “capturing” local military and police commanders into its fold, and by playing on the needs, interests, and insecurities of Manila.

Retired Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, who served as Maguindanao’s martial law administrator after the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, is one of the eight brigade commanders named in the handwritten notes (each brigade commander had an allocation of P100,000). Ferrer was brigade commander for the 103rd army brigade in Basilan before he was appointed commander of the 6th infantry division in Maguindanao in 2007.

Ferrer acknowledges the existence of “Bapa Teng,” saying Teng would introduce himself to ranking officials as a “special liaison” of the Ampatuans to the military and police commanders in the area. “What I know is that he is Sukarno Teng,” says Ferrer. “He claims to be the liaison of the Ampatuans with the military.”

But Ferrer says he does not know if Bapa Teng handed out money to military commanders during the reign of the Ampatuans.

Told he was in the list of brigade commanders who received P 100,000, Ferrer says he never received any cash from the Ampatuans or their aides. Ferrer adds that he is not aware of any other military officer who has accepted cash from the clan. “I suspect this is how they liquidate money from the old man,” he says. “They list down all the military commanders, and then they tell the old man that this is how much we need for them monthly. Some people make money out of it.”

He admits, however, that the military and police units in the area had long been compromised by their association with the clans of Maguindanao. It is an association that was in part reinforced and cemented by the clan’s own relationship with a “higher authority” in faraway Manila.

But the greater impact of the disbursements reflected in the list are more subtle than obvious; regardless of whether the money is a payola or financial assistance for operations, the recipient military commanders are now tethered to the donor in a system that values face-saving and the protection of honor at all costs.

“They subtly call it monthly support, allowance, assistance, etcetera,” says one high-ranking active-duty officer who had also been assigned to the area before. While it would be up to the unit commanders to decide if the money goes to operations or their own pockets, the mere receipt of monthly “support” from the clan would already put the local commanders in an awkward position.

“You are beholden to whomever is your source of support,” the officer says. This practice was also prevalent in Davao during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos, he says. Rich businessmen would give “assistance” to the local Constabulary commanders for “goodwill,” the unspoken agreement being the commanders would come to their assistance if the businessman gets into any kind of trouble.

“As a matter of policy, it is not allowed,” the officer says. “As for ethical standards, it is not allowed. But since it is an unwritten understanding, some take advantage of it.”

“That is why some unit commanders were keeping silent, they did not utter a word because they also benefitted from the Ampatuans,” he says. “The family held them by their nose.”

In addition, the disbursements are unlikely to have come from official sources, since local government units do not have any fund mechanisms to directly support military operations in their areas. Consequently, any debt of gratitude is to be owed, not to the local government unit, but to the politician who provided the funds.

Assuming the unit commanders are honest enough to spend the money for military operations, the fact that the money came from sources outside the military chain leaves too much room for corruption and manipulation. Notes the officer: “There is no accountability or auditing involved with the money, so they can just write it off.”

Interestingly, the list of allocations to military and police officers that was dug up in Maguindanao in 2010 appeared to have been drawn up around the same period when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was said to have counted on the Ampatuan clan and the military to deliver the votes in Maguindanao. A cross referencing of the names of the senior military and police officials in the list against the positions they were holding showed that the list may have been drawn up between 2004 and 2005.

The issue would blow up in the face of both the former President and the Philippine military in 2005 with the emergence of the “Hello, Garci” tapes, where allegedly wiretapped phone conversations had someone who curiously sounded like Arroyo seeking assurances from then Commission on Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano of a minimum lead of one million votes over her Presidential rival, Fernando Poe Jr. In the end, Arroyo won over Poe by a lead of 1.1 million votes.

The military was far from the disinterested observer of local and national politics during this period, as reflected in the number of senior military officers who were implicated in the wiretapped phone conversations. In fact, at least one general mentioned in the “Hello, Garci” recordings also appears in the recently uncovered list as a commander of one of the army divisions in the area.

During the hearings by the military inquiry into the “Hello, Garci” scandal, then Task Force Hope commander and Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said it was clear that AFP personnel had been involved in anomalies in the 2004 elections. “We have to accept it that our officers have been involved in this. Let us not joke (sic) ourselves or try to delude ourselves in the idea na walang nangyayari because in fact things are happening,” Garcia told the inquiry headed by Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga.

The issue came to a head when two marine officers, Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani and Lt. Col. Alexander Balutan disobeyed a direct order from Arroyo and testified before a Senate committee that they had been ordered by higher military command to “slacken” security in the May 2004 elections in Central Mindanao, leaving the door open for massive cheating. In addition, Gudani told the Senate Committee on Defense that he received information that huge cartons of cash had been flown into the region by then First Gentleman Mike Arroyo in order to influence the results of the polls.

In fact, the military’s involvement in alleged cheating in the 2004 presidential race continues to rankle with some officers nine years later. “They think so lowly of us, that they want to turn us into cheats,” says one grizzled combat officer who had been assigned to Mindanao in 2004. “ I cannot forget the faces of my colleagues who had died in the war, yet when election day comes, they just hold us by the neck and try to turn us into cheats.”

The officer says he was aware the ballot counting was purposely delayed in ARMM in 2004 so that officials in Manila could first see the national trend and determine what had to be done to catch up. “They count the ARMM votes last, so they can establish the trend first,” he says. “There are times when they use the military camps and bring the ballot boxes there. The AFP becomes an instrument for cheating.”

He comments with visible disgust: “You fight and die to preserve your honor and dignity, and then they teach you to cheat for them.” – PCIJ, April 2013

The clan politics of ARMM Ampatuans, web of kin warp Maguindanao polls
http://www.pcij.org – PCIJ

By Ed Lingao
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
First of Three Parts

DATU HOFFER, Maguindanao – This municipality is just a kilometer or so from the capitol, but it barely looks like a town. Bereft of any paved roads, it has a scattering of huts around hillsides. There is no town center, no business and commercial establishments, and the municipal hall sits alone on a hilltop – gleaming white cement and grey granite, obviously new, yet seemingly unused. There is no activity that one would associate with the governance of any regular municipality.

That’s because as far as the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is concerned, Datu Hoffer is one of many newly minted towns of Maguindanao in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that should not even be called a town.

Datu Hoffer was created by the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly in 2009 by virtue of Muslim Mindanao Act 220, with a population of 22,000. But DBM has refused to release any internal revenue allotment (IRA) for Datu Hoffer and nine more towns in Maguindanao because their populations fall below the 25,000 residents required by the budget department to qualify for IRA. In the 2010 census, the National Statistics Office further trimmed down the population figure for Datu Hoffer to only 16,295.

In other words, the municipal government of Datu Hoffer gets no revenues from the national government, and has to subsist on whatever taxes or revenues it can raise by itself from the smattering of homes on the hillsides surrounding the town hall.

Yet the upcoming elections will see an all-out battle among members of the Ampatuan clan over Datu Hoffer, which also hosts a significant number of “internally displaced persons” or evacuee.

Read the full article at PCIJ

The ties that bind
By Karol Ilagan
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

A SPIDER couldn’t have spun a more complicated network: the diagram before you shows blood and affinal lines that link the Ampatuans to the Sangkis and Mangudadatus, Midtimbangs, Sinsuats, Dilangalens, Datumanongs and Hatamans, and the Semas. This network of political families is spread all over Maguindanao, and even reaches the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Basilan.

See how the graphic: The Web of Clans in Manguidanao

You can hear it from the street political jingles coming out of vehicles converted into mobile bull horns. Traffic jams caused by motorcades and political rallies. Big and tasteless posters becoming part of the landscape. And even online, digital marketers ad pundits, commissioned or otherwise scream about this or that Politico. It is the time of courtship again when those seeking public ofice will say anything and do anything to get elected.

And the country like old Sysiphus, We push the boulder up the hill and once doing so find ourselves and the boulder at the foot of the hill again.

And this makess me wonder whether there is a need to have a Populist leader like Hugo Chavez. A leader who has politically marginalized the political families of his country and used his country’s petroleum riches to maintain political power and popularity. Becoming a champion of the people. Like Napoleon before him did he not find the crown in the gutter and picked it up with a sword?

The temptation of a strong man solution to the political oligarchy in the Philippines is tempting. The present political system is a alliance of political families rather than that of the party. And this is why one cannot differentiate one candidate from another , it is dictated by personal alliances and not by political belief. There are exceptions but only a few of these parties make it to the cut and if they do they often take on the habits and vices of those they replace.

Oh how tempting it is to think that a Sulla. Julius Caesar, Augustus, Napoleon, Attaturk, or a Chavez could be the solution or a catalyst to this stupor a comatose to the political system.

Then again the dangers of such a solution is also clear. Abuse may happen. Marcos has taught us this. Hitler came with the autobahn, the concentration camps and the destruction of his country.

What then?

To gamble whether someone can be a Benevolent Dictator or a First Citizen of the land seems too much of a risk.

Instead of waiting for Big Brother or our own Commandante to come along we have to push for political reforms – from leveling the playing field for all and defining. This can nly be achieved in degrees. In the mean time voting for someone not based on someone’s look, popularity, or his family name does not seem time wasted.

revolution is the enlightenment of the mind and the improvement of character, the only real emancipation is individual, and the only real revolutionaries are philosophers and saints – Ariel Durant