This Midterm Election is depressing me more than any election I have ever participated in – the violence, the mysterious blackouts, the stupid political ads, the fact that I know who to vote for but I’m not too excited about any of the candidates – but I will still go out and vote on Monday. And I know you’d rather go to the mall or stay home with your family – it is too hot, and year after year we wonder what difference it even makes – but we’ve seen what clamor can do. It can overturn a court decision, it can put the spotlight on horrible legislation that gets passed without the public even knowing it. One vote usually doesn’t make a difference, but several hundred votes do. Go out there and be with the crowd, just this once. Please, please cast your vote.
Category Archives: in the news today
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Just sharing some recent reads:
- “Sabah, Merdeka, and Aquino” by Glenda M. Gloria. I actually bought a copy of Under the Crescent Moon: Rebellion in Mindanao, which talks at length about Jabidah and its repercussions, so many years ago, but never finished it. I have to go find it and read it again.
Sabah has been home to thousands of Muslims who once fought for independence under the Marcos dictatorship. It was their refuge when the military continued to pummel them with bombs and bullets in Mindanao. Sabah was always part of their real — and imagined — community. Before colonizers carved out superficial boundaries in that part of the world, the Muslims of Sabah, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu were one community that freely traded goods with each other, paid unhampered visits to one another, and spoke the same language. The imperious Sultanate of Sulu reigned over these islands.
Thus while Manila has consistently put the Sabah claim on the back burner, the reality is that to many Filipinos, Sabah has long been theirs. They grew up on the island, got married there, raised their kids, and put up businesses. An estimated 65,000 Filipinos carry passports as “political refugees” in Sabah. In the capital city of Kota Kinabalu, I once asked a former member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) why he had chosen to live there. “It’s our land. These are my brothers,” he said. They call themselves “Suluks” not Filipinos.
- “Umwelten and the Sabah Dispute” on The Nutbox.
We can also argue all day about the merits of the Sultanate of Sulu’s claim over Sabah, but the following realities will not change:
Firstly, that despite its long history and the Philippine government’s recognition of its importance to the Moro people’s cultural identity, the Sultanate of Sulu is not a juridical entity, much less a sovereign one. It cannot maintain an army, since militias are prohibited under Philippine laws, and it cannot defy the Philippine government and press an international claim by itself.
Secondly, that Sabah is not merely a piece of private property but a territory whose people have been granted the right to self-determination. While the United Nations-sponsored commission that found that the Sabahans desired to federate with Malaysia in 1963 may have been questionable to the Philippine and Indonesian governments then, the fact remains that Sabah has chosen to be part of the Malaya-Singapore-Sarawak federation and that the people of Sabah see themselves today either as Sabahans or Malaysians and not as Filipinos or Sulu subjects.
Thirdly, that historical titles usually mean next to nothing in international law– otherwise, Spain and Portugal should own the world– and that, finally, there is a clear distinction between sovereignty and ownership: the former trumps the latter. And while the Philippines has legislated its sovereignty over Sabah, Malaysia exercises actual sovereignty.
However, despite the inherent weakness of its claim to Sabah, domestic considerations make it extremely difficult, if not in fact impossible, for the Philippines to drop the claim.
- And finally, an article that made me sad, but made me nod as I read: Mahathir Mohamad on the Philippines, and the question of democracy.
“Democracy works only when the people understand the limitations of democracy. When people think only of the freedoms of democracy and know nothing of the implied responsibilities, democracy will not bring the goodness that it promises. Instead it will result only in instability and instability will not permit development to take place and the people to enjoy the benefits of freedom and the rights that democracy promises. No sooner is a Government elected when the losers would hold demonstrations and general strikes accusing the Government of malpractices.”
Enlightening reads. And I hope the Sabah problem gets resolved without any more bloodshed.
weekend in bed
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Company Christmas party on Friday. Two things: 1) Did not win anything 2) There is no end to the humiliations to which employees subject themselves in order to amuse one another.
Photo taken from inside the office, overlooking the preparations.
The weekend was fun, just a handful of My Ghost Story episodes, the first series of Criminal Justice (starring Ben Whishaw), and this:
J and I are thirty-eight months old today!
Meanwhile, on the writing front: Adam David has posted updates about Thursday Never Looking Back. Click here for the “more or less complete” TOC.
And I just received my compli copies of the Labours issue from Room Magazine, containing my poem “Hospital Work”. Thank you!
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I was still awake at 2 AM on Saturday when I checked Twitter and saw the breaking news about the Connecticut school shooting. The Onion’s article about the incident was sad and honest. Everyone, even a humor blog, is reduced to shocked incoherence in the face of such senseless tragedy.
We ask for prayers, a quiet moment, but the people of the United States themselves have to demand action from their government. They need to want change, be it in the form of stricter gun control, or easier and cheaper access to help for the mentally unstable. Or a safer environment for their children. Or an ear to listen to their troubled young men. There are many factors, many problems to focus on. Gun control is not a panacea, but it’s a start. Sure, sure, guns are just tools, but those tools need to be regulated. Reports say the shooter killed all those children in under ten minutes. Because he brought a fucking Bushmaster semi-automatic assault rifle owned by his mother.
Look: If you own a gun, keep them from your fucking children. If you want to own a gun, why the fuck would you buy an assault weapon? Are you at war with your fucking neighbors? Is there a fucking invasion? What the fuck kind of government allows that?
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, was the sole representative of gun rights’ activists on the various Sunday talk shows. In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Gohmert defended the sale of assault weapons and said that the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School, who authorities say died trying to overtake the shooter, should herself have been armed.
What the fuck is wrong with you people?
repeal/replace the cybercrime prevention act of 2012
UPDATE:
SC issues TRO vs cyber law
Oct. 9, 2012
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stopped for 120 days the implementation of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Read more. {Philippine Daily Inquirer}
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The road to the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012
It took 11 years to pass the suspended Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, but it took only days to insert the law’s controversial provisions on online libel, heavier penalties for other online crimes, and the so-called “takedown” clause, which authorizes the Department of Justice to block or restrict access to websites that contain harmful content based on prima facie evidence.
Read more. {Rappler}
Via Rappler.
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PNP FB Admin First to Abuse Cybercrime Law Thank you, PNP, for proving that the Cybercrime Prevention Act (AKA Cyber Martial Law) must indeed be stopped. {Filipino Freethinkers. Read all of the updates.}
THE CYBERCRIME Prevention Act of 2012 is the worst assault on free expression since Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law 40 years ago if only for its potential to affect the 26 to 30 million Filipinos, including journalists, who regularly access the Internet to upload information through personal blogs or news sites, who comment on public issues in chat rooms or social media, or even those who communicate via email. Read more here. {CMFR}
“The cybercrime law needs to be repealed or replaced,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “It violates Filipinos’ rights to free expression and it is wholly incompatible with the Philippine government’s obligations under international law.” Read more here. {Human Rights Watch}
A controversial provision in anti-cybercrime law slipped under the noses of legislators in the Senate. Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero himself admits his oversight when he voted for the approval of Cybercrime Prevention Act. “It was a mistake… I don’t want to give any reason or motive (why some senators inserted that provision),” Escudero explained.
“I will just admit our shortcomings, personally, because I can’t speak for other senators,” he added. Read more here. {Yahoo News}
“Instead of bringing its libel legislation in line with its U.N. treaty obligations, the Philippines has set the stage for further human rights violations by embedding criminal libel in the ‘cybercrime’ law,” said Arradon. Read more here. {Amnesty International}
8 Things I Found Out While Attending the Cybercrime Forum {8list.ph}
“I don’t agree to scrap online libel (in anti-cybercrime law),” Aquino said. Read more here. {SunStar}
Some say that Malacanang’s attitude to both bills reflects a wariness of both established and social media. When I asked him why Malacanang did not make FOI a priority, one Palace official, without invoking confidentiality, told me flat out that the Palace had problems with the bill because “the press already has too much power.” This person might have merited an A+ for frankness but an F on free speech and freedom of information, which are among the pillars of a democracy.
How much of Malacanang’s lack of support for FOI stems from the President himself? And was it the President himself who insisted on standing firm on the libel provision? Or did his stand on both issues come mainly from bad advice? Read more here. {Philippine Daily Inquirer reprinted on Focus on the Global South}
Amazing that a bill that assaults our freedom can be signed into law by “mistake”. Amazing that this law can put more important bills – the reproductive health (RH) bill, the freedom of information (FOI) act – on the back burner. Amazing that this country is still standing!
Do the right thing, Senators.
President Aquino, I voted for you – and now I’m ashamed that I did.
Via Sen. TG Guingona.
cyber-libel?
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Senator Vicente Sotto III inserted the libel clause in the Philippine Cybercrime Law. I knew it. When I read the RA that clause bothered me. I kept wondering why it was even there. Why lump “cyber-libel” with child porn? This post by Raissa Robles is a must-read.
What makes the libel rider interesting is that it is SUCH a clumsy cut-and-paste job, without any attempt to take into account the nature of the Internet.
No congressional public hearing was ever held on libel in the Internet.
This section on libel has grave implications for freedom of speech on the Internet. People who post on Facebook, Twitter and write comments in news websites can be sued for libel in much more insidious ways than those in the traditional news media.
Reactions and write-ups from:
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Image from Creative Manila.
the phil. bureau of customs is out to get you, or how we were asked to pay 982 pesos for a 1,300-peso package
To quote J’s sister, Isn’t the government supposed to have your back? But we all know that is not always rarely the case.
Based on the many, many anecdotes I’ve heard from friends and strangers, the Bureau of Customs needs to be cleaned. We all have an idea of how awfully brutal this department is in collecting arbitrary amounts from citizens receiving gifts and goods from abroad.
Here’s my story: Threadless shirts went on sale for $9.99 each, so I bought three shirts for J and I and paid via PayPal. So that’s 29.97 plus 9 dollars for the shipping charge. I was warned by a friend not to exceed 50 dollars to avoid being taxed by Customs.
You see, Customs is so dirty that citizens dread having their goods pass through it.
The shirts were shipped via DHL, and landed in the Customs office of the Parañaque PO (J lives in Pqe). Listen: I receive books from the US, which often end up in the Makati PO Customs office. I pay a parcel fee of 40 pesos, which I still don’t get. Why can’t my packages just reach me directly instead of going through Customs? Why do I need to pay a parcel fee? I already paid for shipping, why do I need to pay an additional fee once the damn thing enters the Philippines? Why?
So we received a similar notification from Pqe PO that we have a package (yay!) and we need to pick it up there and pay 40 pesos (boo).
I have work so I can’t go there personally, so we asked J’s driver, Kuya B, to pick it up for us.
So he paid the parcel fee.
And then Customs, in its infinite glory, asked for more than 900 pesos in fees. Keep in mind that the shirts cost less than 1,300 in total. Customs is asking us to pay more than half of the total price of the goods we already paid to be shipped to us.
Here’s their breakdown, signed by Collecting Officer Genesia B. Osil:
Calculation for Customs Duty:
Declared/Assessed Value (29.97) x Exchange Rate = Dutiable Value (PhP1,268) x Rate of Duty (15%) = PhP190
Calculation for Expanded Value Added Tax:
Dutiable Value (PhP 1268) + Customs Duty (PhP 190) + Fixed Customs Documentary Stamp (PhP 250) + Import Processing Fee (PhP 250) + BIR Stamps (PhP 15) = EVAT Base (PhP 1973) x EVAT Rate (12%) = PhP237
ALL TOGETHER NOW:
PhP 190 + 237 + Fixed Customs Documentary Stamp (PhP 250) + Import Processing Fee (PhP 250) + BIR Stamps (PhP 15) = PhP 942 + Parcel Fee (40) = PhP 982
Almost a thousand pesos of fees and taxes for a package in a plastic bag that costs less than 1,300 pesos. You see how fucked up this is.
Because of the outrageous calculation, Kuya B spoke with the Customs guy. He haggled. Can you imagine – the fees are so arbitrary that Customs allowed haggling!
The Customs guy said, O sige, 500 na lang. Pero wala nang resibo.
500 na lang daw! Wow. MARAMING SALAMAT. Ang bait mo naman.
To end the conversation and to finally have the package released, Kuya B paid a total of PhP 540. Where did that money go? Did the guy just put that in his pocket?
You might say, You should be glad they asked for only 540 instead of the actual 982 written on the receipt. I’d say, No. Because are you kidding me?!
You might say, You shouldn’t have haggled. I’d say, But Kuya B was just asked to run this errand, and he wanted to get this package. I don’t blame him. I blame Customs.
You might say, If going through Customs is such a hassle, then just avoid receiving packages from abroad. I’d say, Really? That’s your solution?
If I had gone there myself, this Customs dude, and the entire PO, would have gotten an earful. But I didn’t. So we end up with this tale.
Government, I pay my taxes! A LOT OF TAXES! DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE BUREAU OF CUSTOMS!
The End.
And I will close this post with a smile and a Threadless shirt:
Do you have your own Customs horror story? Leave a comment.
UPDATE: Kind friends sent this post’s URL to Ruffy Biazon, Customs Commissioner, via Twitter. He replied. Read from the bottom up.
The Customs Commissioner himself sees no anomaly here, save for the haggling. So this is normal. So that’s that.
Here’s an FAQ on duty/tax imposed on articles.
Tax computation reference. (IPF is the same for all items up to P250,000.)
Tariff rates from the Tariff Commission.
UPDATE 2. Welp, got this message from a friend, which I RT’d.
Same item, same brand, different PO, different fees. And this is not arbitrary, Mr. Biazon? And this is okay?
Enough said. Move on na akech!
some updates
Maybe some books to keep your Nook company today? New Flipside titles are now up at Barnes and Noble, including the Philippine Speculative Fiction series and books by Sarge Lacuesta, Rye Gutierrez, and my own Lower Myths.
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The heavy rains, with rainfall levels that now surpass the infamous Ondoy, have been nonstop over the metro and nearby provinces since Monday night. Still raining here in Makati, though some floods have receded.
Bulacan, my home province, is now under State of Calamity. There has been water inside our house for almost a month now. What are our elected officials doing?
The two days of rain in QC now exceeds the monthly rainfall normally experienced by the entire National Capital Region.
Ten out of 17 cities in NCR are under State of Calamity.
The Cubao underpass is now closed to traffic.
A friend of mine snapped this photo in UP Diliman today. Look at that “lake” in front of the Oblation.
And so on.
MANILA, Philippines – Isagani Yambot, publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, died Friday.
Below is the official statement of the Inquirer:
”It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved publisher Isagani “Gani” Yambot. He will surely be missed but his spirit lives on in the work we do to ensure editorial policies are closely followed.
“We are very grateful for all of his contributions and we applaud his passion and commitment to his work. We request that you join us in prayer for the eternal repose of his soul.”
PDI Publisher Isagani Yambot writes 30
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I was an Inquirer Researcher from 2007 till July of last year, but I first met him in college, while taking the exam for an Inquirer scholarship (which I later won with other classmates).
I remember hearing the news about his health scare, and his subsequent requests for articles about heart surgery, heart bypass, and maybe non-traditional procedures? He was still on leave then, recuperating, and he’d ask me to print out the documents and leave them at the front guard. I’ll have someone pick them up later.
He was looking at his options. He was trying to save his life.
I get sad whenever I think of those Sunday afternoons, him phoning and asking Research to look for articles that could save his life.
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You know what stress and deadlines and the daily grind could do to you. Editors have screamed at me over the phone, but not him.
I could say this: he was never mean.
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I hope you remain jolly wherever you are, sir. Rest in peace.
(Photo from Princess.)
a notice to the public
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donate to help the victims of tropical storm sendong
The death toll from the flash floods on Sunday rose to at least 711 in Mindanao. Hundreds remained missing.
The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) said it was a combination of factors that led to the tragedy.
“It’s unusual for Mindanao; a month’s worth of rainfall fell in only a few hours; people were already asleep; the storm hit pineapple plantations that don’t absorb water; it was high tide and waterways were heavily silted. It was unprecedented and overwhelming,” said PRC secretary general Gwendolyn Pang.
In Cagayan de Oro, the bodies, many bloated and bluish and frozen in grotesque poses, continued to pile up in funeral homes. Senior Supt. Gerardo Rosales, city police chief, said 474 bodies had been recovered. A total of 482 persons remained missing.
Officials said 214 died in Iligan, 15 in Bukidnon, five in Compostela Valley and three in Zamboanga del Norte.
The government and the Red Cross appealed for help to feed, clothe and house more than 35,000 people huddled in evacuation centers as soldiers battled to recover bodies.
Click to donate! I used Paypal. Safe, fast and secure.
According to the Iligan Bloggers, the Paypal Donation ID for Iligan is singcol.inquisitor@gmail.com.
For Cagayan de Oro, send to francis.siason@gmail.com through the Cagayan De Oro Bloggers. “Proceeds will be donated and delivered to Xavier University Cagayan de Oro where the members of CDOBloggers are planning to volunteer. Thank you and God Bless.”
