Misquoting Spiderman's Uncle Redux

It wasn't that long ago when the issue that occupied bloggers who counted themselves as part of the Oppostion was the threat of government repression. Around the time of PP1017, CPR, EO464 and all that, it was Mike Defensor who was admonishing us that freedom comes with great responsibility to which journalist Carlos Conde penned a magnificent rebuttal. I am reposting his essay since i feel the time is right to revisit its message:

With great power…*

By Carlos H. Conde

I find it extremely ironic that this administration, which exploited the sins of the press to justify a campaign of harassment and intimidation against its members, itself committed what would amount to a journalistic infraction: it misquoted the uncle of Spider-Man.

We hear them much too often these days, all the president’s men pontificating on television, on the radio and in print about how we, Filipinos, particularly journalists, should exercise more responsibility given the tremendous freedom we have.

Freedom of the press is not absolute, says the always smug secretary of justice. It comes with it a great amount of responsibility, chimes in Arroyo’s chief of staff, he who is so young and so…

But Uncle Ben never said, “With great freedom comes great responsibility.” What he told Spider-Man was: “With great POWER comes great responsibility.”

Please ponder for a moment this difference in the quotes. And while you do that, let me tell you a thing or two about my opinion of freedom.

I think there is no such thing as a partial freedom. Either you have it or you don’t. In an ideal world, people should be free to do whatever they want. It goes without saying that they know the consequences of that freedom.

In the context of the press, journalists expect unbridled freedom. If they abuse this freedom, freedom itself – in this case, the freedom by consumers to switch channels or subscribe to another paper — will check them. Freedom has a way, you see, of punishing those who abuse it.

I am willing to concede, however, that the State may be justified in its desire to sometimes attempt to curtail our freedoms. We see that in countries in which contending forces, if not checked, could end up destroying themselves, their people and their nation.

But for this regime to invoke the importance of responsibility vis-à-vis freedom in order to supposedly keep the peace is an arrogant and self-righteous notion. Self-serving, too, because, as we all know, this regime’s motives in declaring a state of national emergency was not the protection of the State. It was for the protection of its president.

This brings us to Uncle Ben’s quote about responsibility being a corollary of great power. Guess who acted irresponsibly in using its great power?

Guess who, according to various testimonies and allegations, used great power to subvert the results of the 2004 elections?

Guess who used great power to compromise the armed forces, which today is more politicized than ever before?

Guess who used great power to promote the same military officials implicated in the 2004 election cheating, thus assuring that nothing would come out of whatever investigation that was going to happen?
Guess who used great power to sow discontent within the military?

Guess who used great power to quash the ideals and dreams of these young men and women in the service?

Guess who used great power to arrest constitutionally elected members of the House of Representatives?

Guess who used great power to murder dozens of activists and journalists, constrict the democratic space and stifle dissent?

Guess who used great power to send troops storming the office of a puny but noisy newspaper?

Guess who used great power to intimidate and harass the press, threatening media companies of actual takeovers if they don’t toe the regime’s line?

This regime has had great, great power, and never had any compunction to use it – irresponsibly, if needed — in order to survive.

*Posted March 14, 2006 in Davao Today

Today, the calls for freedom with responsibility in support of the issue of the day comes from fellow Oppositionist Bloggers.

It's been said before that the measure of free speech is the degree to which our society can accommodate opposing (and even offensive) views. Asking someone to shut up is a sign that we fear not being able to win the argument fair and square. More importantly, what is being lost is the all important element of consistency. We can be sure that the government and other interested parties are just waiting for the right moment to turn our arguments (which used to be their arguments) against us. Compelling a person's (or a group's) silence will only come at the expense of the common space of freedom that we all share and need.

BoA The Live - The Love Bug ft M-flo

A catchy, upbeat number from BoA and rap group M-Flo.

Languages Used and the Perception of Intelligence

Thanks to educator-activist Antonio Calipjo Go, the errors found in Philippine school textbooks are now well publicized and discussed. The focus has rightly been on how the Department of Education (DECS) can allow obviously poor quality textbooks to be distributed for use. Apart from this issue however, i believe that another aspect needs to be looked at. In an earlier post by Jessica Zafra, she listed ten examples of errors found in these textbooks:

1. “Walang ulap kung umaga. Nasinghot na ng lumalaking populasyon.”
   
2. “Many Filipino men and women have brains.”
   
3. “He seemed to be waiting for someone, not a blood relation, much less a bad blood.”
   
4. “People are not made to float like a bird.”
   
5. “Seeing a rainbow in the sky is like a dream that disappears that’s why a child wants it painted permanently in the sky.”
   
6. “As the campers trek through the trail at the rainboat they’ll stop now and then. They had huffs and puffs.”
   
7. “The chicken was dressed. They stripped off her feathers, served her quite bare and everyone poked at her breast.”
   
8. “God’s footsteps bulged the mountains up. God like morning bending over her baby kneeled down in the dust.”
   
9. “On Basilio’s skull, fire nicked. The tiny fire had a blow, huge and quick. He touched the fire on his skull. Past all that is beyond, he runs.”
   
10. “Si Pres. Garcia ay kumita ng unang liwanag sa Talibon, Bohol.”

Assuming the sample list is representative of the population of errors, we can see above that a majority are errors that can be attributed to the author's inability to express himself/herself in English.

A switch to Filipino language would eliminate these kinds of mistakes. What is true of the textbook authors all the more applies to the majority of Filipinos. As an example, the humor from this post at Expectorants is derived largely from the same sort of mistakes (intentional or otherwise).

Mistakes in the use of English encourage the impression that the speakers are less intelligent that they actually are. Since English is widely used in the Philippines, mistakes occur quite frequently and the impression of lack of intelligence is reinforced. Our more prosperous neighbors, Japan and China also have their share of well publicized English mistakes but these do not have a widespread negative affect on the perception of intelligence of the ordinary Japanese and Chinese because they largely express themselves in their local tounge.

I believe textbook authors and most Filipinos will be able to express themselves more intelligently if allowed to use the language they are more comfortable with.

Malu Fernandez' Apology

Via Slap Happy, Malu Fernandez resigns from the two publications and issues the following apology:

"I am humbled by the vehement and heated response provoked by my article entitled 'From Boracay to Greece!' which came out in the June 2007 issue of People Asia. To say that this article was not meant to malign, hurt or express prejudice against the OFWs now sounds hollow after reading through all the blogs from Filipinos all over the world. I am deeply apologetic for my insensitivity and the offensive manner in which this article was written, I hear you all and I am properly rebuked. It was truly not my intention to malign hurt or express prejudice against OFWs.

As the recent recipient and target of death threats, hate blogs, and deeply personal insults, I now truly understand the insidiousness of discrimination and prejudice disguised as humor. Our society is bound together by human chains of kindness and decency. I have failed to observe this and I am now reaping the consequences of my actions. It is my fervent hope that the lessons that Ive learned are not lost on all those who through anonymous blogs, engaged in bigotry, discrimination, and hatred ( against overweight individuals , for example )

I take full responsibility for my actions and my friends and family have nothing to do with this. To date I have submitted my resignation letters to both the Manila Standard and People Asia, on that note may this matter be laid to rest."

I do hope she is sincere with the above apology which i think is as good as any that i've come across. A clear victory for OFW's, for bloggers (who did not need the help of Old Media in this campaign) and against elitism. However, i think the attacks directed at her weight will be historically viewed in a negative light. I also believe that the campaign to fire her is a setback for free speech and sets a potentially dangerous precedent as explained by Jego.

Update Aug-24-2007 10:15PM: Despite its being, in my view, a setback for free speech, it can also be considered a victory for a form of direct democracy that blogger Sparks calls the Cyber Counterculture Movement. I believe that at least some of the credit for this phenomenon goes to this individual.

Update Aug-24-2007 10:21PM: Via Manolo, Jove Francisco posts one of the most moving tributes to the OFW that i've read (particularly because it does not go over the top).

Update Aug-26-2007 3:27PM: Blogger Dominique compares the recent blogstorm to a Lynch Mob. While there are similarities with real life lynch mobs, i think that the analogy can be stretched too far. After all, what makes lynch mobs unnacceptable is the element of physical violence which is not possible in a virtual environment. For example, in the Blogosphere, Malu Fernandez can always put up her own blog where the worst thing that can happen to her is to be ignored.

Update Aug-27-2007 11:03PM: Blogger Smoke points to an interesting twist a-la Poltergeist II.

Summer Scent - Zuo You Wei Nan Song

Excuse the cheesy music video, but i have been looking for this song from way back. I have no idea what it's about but i like the melody.

Elitist Mindset in Action

Via Schumey, it is clear that whatever school this lady came from did not teach history properly. It is also unfortunate that her parents failed to teach her the right values. As expected, she and like-minded individuals would rationalize that they are just 'being real'. Of course, such an excuse is self-serving because facing reality in its fullness would require admitting to themselves that they are grotesque specimens of humanity.

Either that or she's just channeling Simoun and trying to manufacture another EDSA Tres moment, in which case all i can say is congratulations and keep up the good work.

Update (August 17, 12:25pm): It turns out that the columnist is Migz Zubiri's aunt.





It figures.

Update (August 18, 2:33PM): I'm not in favor of having her fired for the same reasons given by John Marzan. It was really only a matter of time before the inevitable Tu Quoque would be brought up, which as has been discussed before, is logically flawed but may be morally compelling depending on the context. I've been in enough conversations (with both fellow OFW's and home-based Pinoys) where we have criticized other nationals for the very same reasons that Malu Fernandez has so i would have to toss aside the stone on this one.

Update (August 18, 8:29PM): As a response to those who are not in favor of getting Fernandez fired, blogger Sparks stresses the importance of distinguising between private communication (e.g. among a circle of friends) and writing for public consumption. I still have to digest the significance of this line of argument. My ambivalence towards firing is that i don't want this line of thinking to go underground. Here in Singapore, the government has legislated 'Out of Bounds' (OB) markers, i.e. matters that cannot be talked about. I wouldn't want our own version of that. If the Manila Standard wants to build itself up as the newspaper for the elitist mindset, then that's their lookout. It's better if the elitists and racists are where we can see them so that we can put them up as negative examples. For one thing, Malu Fernandez' name dropping could be useful for the purposes of a future transitional spring cleaning.

EDSA Tres and the Filipino Majority

Ten days ago over at Manolo's, i made the following comment...

grd, to me mlq3’s blog site roughly* represents the sensibilities of the EDSA Dos crowd which has fragmented to different camps because of Gloria’s illegitimacy. ellen’s site roughly* represents EDSA Tres and therefore the Filipino majority. Our nation can only move forward if both sections of our society engage in an honest dialogue, but that can only be built on an atmosphere of mutual respect. As it is, i see that many over here still subscribe to your (and Benign0’s) attitude of refusing to empathize and understand and instead assuming an air of unwarranted superiority. Just as One Voice is supposed to reunite the EDSA Dos crowd, there should be an equivalent attempt to do so between EDSA Dos and EDSA Tres camps. As it is, post election dynamics seems to be going the opposite direction.

* Please note emphasis on the ‘roughly’.

...to which Rom reacted:

"cvj:just a minor quibble - edsa tres cannot represent the majority of the nation, whether numerically or ideologically."

I promised an explanation so i did some research. I got hold of this book that Manolo recommended two weeks back and this in turn led me to the Pulse Asia’s October 2005 Ulat ng Bayan Survey Report: Media Release on People Power. The survey reports on the in EDSA, EDSA Dos and EDSA Tres. As shown in the table below, for the latter, it was at around 2 percent nationwide:
Source: Pulse Asia
Two percent of the adult (over 18) population is around 1 million, clearly not a majority but we already knew that. The real question is, how much support did the crowd have? This is answered by the survey question on the level of support for such a mass action which according to the table below is eight percent nationwide:

Source: Pulse Asia
Eight percent is about eight million, again clearly not a majority. To cross-validate this data, we can use the votes given to Loi Ejercito Estrada during the May 2001 elections as proxy for support of EDSA Tres which is at 10.5 million.

Therefore**, linking the EDSA Tres crowd to the majority does not stand up to scrutiny. On this assertion, I stand corrected. Whatever electoral majority that the Opposition achieved in the recent elections has sources other than (or in addition to) that particular People Power event.

** Assuming the above survey results are representative of the general population and subject to the margin of error.

Civil War as Psychotherapy

I am disturbed at how often i hear Civil War being proposed by the very people who would most likely be its victims. Just the other day, commenter BrianB over at mlq3 sounded like a true Jacobin when he declared:

"Pare, France is a great place to live in because of the Terror. Besides, we have smarter people than Danton and Robespierre. People who know how to blog and look at their email."

Naturally, I was heartened when another commenter Devilsadvc8 responded:

"You’ll be surprised at how many “smart” people revert back to being barbaric when surrounded by evil. I believe Winnie Monsod called it Lucifer Effect (or something) That’s what happened to the French revolution. anger got out of hand, and fellow revolutionaries who showed a hint of sympathy with the enemies, were hanged along with them. it’s like the NPA purges. anything less than blind obedience (or great acting) would be branded as a betrayal of the cause... and btw, if this were to happen (an Bastille-like event), you think those who blog and email will be the ones leading it or the ones being dragged out into the streets? use your imagination man."

Nicely said, i thought to myself, which is why i was taken aback when on the very next day, the same Devilsadvc8 pretty much endorsed BrianB's idea from the day before:

"I believe civil war can do what everyone has failed to do. unite the survivors of that war in a common goal of correcting our past’s terrible effect on our psyche, and forging a new history for the Filipino people. spilling blood and fighting for a cause are what Filipinos need."

I have since had further exchanges with him over at that thread on the merits of this option. What i find specially curious is the commonly held belief in the supposed benefits of such an event on the Philippine national psyche. Back in 2005, another mlq3 commenter 'X' made a similar suggestion:

"you know ive been thinking about something similar to what the automechanic said. Perhaps is lies in the fact that the price we pay for our democracy is too cheap. assemble a few thousand people in Edsa, convince a few influential people to be there too and convince the military to join. it’s too easy.

unlike with bloodshed. it something that nobody wants to experience, and if we as a people carry some sort of baggage in our psyche about not wanting to have bloodshed again, perhaps FIlipinos would be more protective of TRUE democracy."

I really don't understand how they can assume that those are precisely the lessons that will be learned.

Update 08-11-2007: Devilsadvc8 provides a background on the circumstances that has led him to reach his above recommendation. [Devils, thanks for explaining your side.]

Climate Change and Salt

I just finished watching the 'Mega Disasters: Mega Freeze' documentary in The History Channel which explains how global warming can disrupt the Thermohaline Circulation (THC)* causing an abrupt drop in temperatures in Europe and North America similar to what happened during the Younger Dryas** (12700 to 11500 years Before Present) setting off a chain of disasters that will reduce the estimated carrying capacity of the planet from the current 8 billion people to 2 billion.

If the THC is as important to maintaining the present climate as that documentary says it is, a simple (and perhaps simplistic) solution would be to throw more salt into the Ocean to maintain present levels of salinity. How much more salt and how to do this would be the challenge facing the world's scientists and engineers.

Update 08-11-2007: Via bookforum.com, a pointer to Mad scientists vs. global warming.

Update 01-01-2008: Via bookforum.com, a pointer to The Year's 10 Craziest Ways to Hack the Earth.

*For those who watched The Day After Tomorrow, the disruption of the Thermohaline Circulation is what triggered the Ice Age in that movie.
**Al Gore also talked about this in his movie, An Inconvenient Truth.

This Is Beach

Tag Response: Eight Random Facts About Me

I've been tagged by Sparks. Here are the rules for “8 facts”:

• In the 8 facts about [name], you share 8 things that your readers don’t know about you. At the end, you tag 8 other bloggers to keep the fun going. Each blogger must post these rules first.
• Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• At the end of the post, a blogger needs to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here is mine (in chronological order):

Fact #1: I've had trouble sleeping early (and waking up early) since i was a kid. (Early in my career, i almost got fired because of this.)
Fact #2: I do not follow sporting events.
Fact #3: I hate shopping (except for books or music cd's). It drains me of my life force.
Fact #4: I took up Accounting in College, but i've worked in Information Technology all throughout my working life. I did so in part because i wanted to be were the action is and not just be a scorekeeper. Only later did i realize that scorekeeping is the game and in the business world at least, IT professionals exist mainly to serve Accountants.
Fact #5: I once accidentally deleted the payroll file of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Fact #6: I read only non-fiction books. I estimate that it will take me at least twenty years to go through my collection (more than 800 so far).
Fact #7: I don't mind eating with other people, but on normal days, i prefer eating alone.
Fact #8: I sleep with the lights and tv on, even if the tv is outside my room.

I'm tagging the following eight bloggers:

Jaxius
Torn and Frayed
Village Idiot Savant
Tingog
Manila Bay Watch
Arbet
Schumey
Peryodistang Pinay

Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs (personal nominees)

Via Manolo Quezon, Janette Toral's Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2007. My three (3) nominees are:

1. Tingog
2. Smoke
3. Jaxius

As far as i know, all the above have started blogging after August 2006 and have in one way or the other influenced my thinking through their blog entries and comments.

Four Years Ago Today

Four years ago today, i wanted these guys to be bombed to oblivion. I thought to myself then, how dare they disrupt our peaceful, democratic way of life and bring us back to the bad old days of attempted coups. I never expected that i would be voting for one of them in the last election. I still would not condone the way they risked the lives of the Oakwood residents but i do appreciate the logic behind their widthrawal of support. As they have warned us, all is not well and subsequent events have revealed the true nature of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Administration and the Military Generals who prop her up. We are a nation that is fast running out of selfless and wise elders, not that they were in abundant supply in the first place. Our hope as a people rests on enabling young leaders like Captain Faeldon and Senator Trillanes to put their ideals into action, as they have done so since July 27, 2003.

Philippine Elections: What (and What Not) to Automate

Halalang Marangal (HALAL) has released its Audit Report Number 4 on the May 2007 mid-term elections. It details the areas in which the COMELEC and NAMFREL fell short during the past exercise (refer to the PCIJ's blog entry for a summary) and derives lessons on how future elections can be improved. Of particular interest are its recommendations on what part of the process to automate, and more importantly, what not to automate. The current manual system can be divided into three stages:

1. Voting
2. Precinct-level counting
3. Canvass (which takes place at the Municipal, Provincial & National levels)

HALAL recommends that the precinct tally not be automated. The Audit Report states:

"The manual counting of votes at the precinct level is superior to automated counting in terms of openness, transparency, and providing an invaluable lesson in civics to all participants and witnesses. Because it is non-automated and open, it is slow enough that any citizen can actually audit in real-time the counting process. But because of its massively parallel approach of simultaneous tallies in all the two hundred thousand plus precincts in the country, is also fast enough that results are usually in within 6-12 hours."[emphasis mine]

HALAL makes a good point about the social value of the precinct level tally which will be lost if we implemented a system like the one from Mega-Pacific that was junked by the Supreme Court. Instead, it recommends automation to start at the Municipal level canvassing:

"HALAL recommends that ERs be encoded into computers as soon as they are brought to a municipal canvassing center. HALAL recommends, once the ERs are encoded, that original printouts be made available at cost to any interested party, during the municipal canvassing and afterwards, as certified true copies of these ERs...once ERs are encoded, that all subsequent consolidations, additions of row and column totals, computations of indicators like voter turnouts and ballot fill-up rates, and the printing of certified true copies of SOVs/COCs be done with computers."

We can better follow the logic of this recommendation if we look at a timeline of the recently concluded canvassing process:

Timeline of COMELEC Canvass by Region
(click on image to enlarge)

The above timeline shows that canvassing takes much longer than the average precinct tally (which was completed within 6 to 12 hours according to HALAL as quoted above), taking almost sixty days for the entire process to complete. It also reveals a weak relationship between the number of votes and the time taken to canvass those votes. For Region 4A, 36 million aggregate votes for Senators were canvassed in three days. By contrast, the much fewer 8.5 million votes of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) took forty six days for the same process. This means that for the recently concluded election, in terms of percentage of votes canvassed, we found ourselves in a situation where it took as long for the COMELEC to certify the remaining three percent of the Senatorial votes as it did the preceding ninety-seven percent. (Refer to diagram below showing the percentage of Senatorial votes canvassed over time.)

Percentage of Senatorial Votes Canvassed Over Time
(click on image to enlarge)

Entering the results at the initial stage of the canvassing process i.e. the municipal level, would help shorten the duration by taking advantage of the near simultaneous data entry that takes place among the country's hundreds of municipalities. More importantly, it would also make it harder to massage the data further down the line especially if as HALAL advises, it is immediately made available online:

"All ERs, SOVs and COCs should be put online or at least be made available to any interested party, together with their file checksums, at no additional cost, making the entire tabulation process completely transparent."

The attributes of transparency and auditability are emphasized because the last thing we need is an automated system that operates like a black-box. With these in mind, i believe that such an automated system must be built as Open Source software.

Automation that does not lend itself to inspection will just bring forth a younger breed of technology savvy Bedol-types. We can get a flavor of such a 'black box' type system in the results of the local absentee votes. As can be seen in the first diagram above, the canvassing of the local absentee ballots was completed relatively quickly and early (by May 20). Within these local absentee votes, Zubiri emerged as the topnotcher. Was the result fair? Who knows?

Update Aug-24-2007: Via Manolo, it's a hopeful sign that the media is giving some attention to Verzola's advocacy.

Rice and Chips: Replicating the Silicon Valley Model

In his book, Rice and Chips: Technopreneurship and Innovation in Asia, Dennis Posadas, IT industry veteran and BusinessWorld I.T. Matters columnist, identifies what he sees as the distinguishing elements (e.g. geographic clustering, universities and research institutes as catalysts, the availability of venture capital etc.) that made Silicon Valley the exemplar for high technology entrepreneurship and innovation. He then provides a survey on how these elements are being replicated across Asia (including the Philippines) as well as some pointers on how the model is (or can be) adapted to suit the local context. In this area, he touches upon the importance of an institutional framework, the role of returnee Asians from the West as well as the need to promote a culture that tolerates failure.

Much of the value of the book comes from his interviews with Asian entrepreneurs such as Deepak Amin of Covelix and Peter Valdes, Fil-Am co-founder of Tivoli Systems, a systems management software company that was eventually acquired by IBM.

Of particular interest to me is his discussion of the role of industrial policy in developing the Information and High Technology industries which he labels Techno-nationalism and defines as:

"a desire to free their economies from an over reliance on Western technologies, and to be recognized internationally for the ability to develop their own cutting-edge technologies. Most Asian economies drive innovation through national programs rather than market-driven research and development"

This observation squares with what i have previously written about concerning industrial development. The role of the State has been a contentious issue (for example in the comments section here). Nevertheless, i believe that the author remains relatively agnostic about this matter and acknowledges the useful role that multinationals play in driving innovation.

More about matters concerning the book here.

Cebu Prison Inmates Perform Michael Jackson's Thriller

Saw this featured at boingboing.net. With almost 400K hits in 6 days, looks like it's on its way to the Youtube record books.

Rodrik on Kinds of Growth Spurts

Dani Rodrik compares Asian vs. African growth accelerations with respect to over- and under-valuation of the exchange rate. He explains:

"In Asia, growth is typically engineered by increasing the profitability in manufacturing and other tradables. But in Africa the typical growth spurt is preceded by aid inflows and other transfers, which appreciate the exchange rate, and render future growth less sustainable."

Read the whole thing here.

Substitute "remittances" for "aid" and it would appear that we are once again in the wrong continent.

Mama Mary vs. Musa

Manolo Quezon was right. There has been "a last minute miracle of the sinister sort". Of course, Migz Zubiri was also right when he said that "Quezon was not aware of all the strategies, both new and time-tested, employed by my team." Now we know. After today, no one can deny that a mere mortal like Musa Dimasidsing was indeed no match to Mama Mary. This is obvious once we compare their respective track records in driving voter turnout in Maguindanao.Voter Turnout*
(click on image to enlarge)

The diagram above shows that in the municipalities under her control, Mama Mary achieved a voter participation rate in the high 90's, well beyond the 68% national average. Next to this, Musa's anemic 23% voter turnout rate in Pagalungan is hard not to notice.

Encouraging voter participation is one thing, but that's only the start. What really matters is the ability to compel these voters to write 'Zubiri' on the ballot. As shown in the diagram below, while Musa can only manage a 42% success rate, Mama Mary was able to convince no less than 96% of the voters in the Maguindanao Precincts under her responsibility to do so, again much better than the 72% achieved in Zubiri's home province of Bukidnon.

Percentage of Votes Cast for Zubiri**

(click on image to enlarge)
Just to leave no room for doubt that Zubiri's victory is not of this world, Mama Mary left miraculous signs reminiscent of her Son's miracle of the loaves and fishes as manifested through the ballot fill-up rate.
Ballot Fill-Up Rate***
(Click on image to enlarge)
As the diagram above shows, not only were the electorate of one of our poorest province able to achieve ballot fill-up rates beyond that of the members of the A, B & C Classes, with the help of Mama Mary, they even managed to break through the math barrier and fill up more names than the form would allow. The fact that there was a maximum of twelve blanks to be filled up was not an issue when it came to the municipalities of Ampatuan, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Paglat, South Upi and Sultan sa Barongis. By contrast, Musa can barely manage to fill in an average of three names per form in Pagalungan.

All this means that Zubiri is correct when he says that he owes his victory to Mama Mary. In the Maguindanao municipalities where Mama Mary was present, Migz was ranked Number 1. It was only in Pagalungan where Migz ended up in a respectable but nevertheless unspectacular 7th place. While as the PCIJ states, it is true that "the Pagalungan voting results also more closely reflect the outcome of elections in the five other provinces of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao", this can also be taken as proof that Pagalungan's results reflect its total lack of supernatural origins.

The above facts speak for themselves and as Wittgenstein would say, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent".

*Source: Why You Should Doubt The Maguindanao Election Results, Avigail Olarte, July 3, 2007. Voter turnout percentages in the diagram is computed by dividing NO. OF REGISTERED VOTERS WHO ACTUALLY VOTED by NO. OF REGISTERED VOTERS (Comelec May 3 Memo). National Voter Turnout computed from National Tally Sheet SENATORIAL CANVASS REPORT No. 30.
**Source: Why You Should Doubt The Maguindanao Election Results - 5, Avigail Olarte, July 12, 2007.
***Source: Why You Should Doubt The Maguindanao Election Results - 4, Isa Lorenzo, July 12, 2007. The Ballot fill-up rates as shown in the diagram for Nationwide-ABC, Nationwide-D and Nationwide-E Classes is from The educational and class vote for Senator, Social Weather Stations (SWS), May 12, 2007. Lady of Manaoag image from http://www.chabelle.com.

Ricky Gervais and The Long Tail

This is probably old news to some of you, but I only came to know about two surprising pieces of information just now:

1. Ricky Gervais of The Office fame was the singer of my favorite new wave song; and
   
2. More To Lose (as performed by his band Seona Dancing) did not do well in the UK Charts or anywhere else. It became a hit only in the Philippines two years after it was released. (It looks like the rest of the world suffered from a failure of taste.)
   

I think that the way this song did poorly in the beginning and eventually became a hit once it reached our shores would qualify as an early example of The Long Tail.

Pirate Governance and Self-Dealing

I learned a new word today - "self dealing" which is an apt term to characterize Manny Villar's recent actions. In his New Yorker article, James Surowiecki introduces this word and describes how Pirates (as in 'Pirates of the Carribean') adopted a system of governance to discourage such behavior. Towards the end of the article, he reaches the following conclusion:

"pirate governance, peculiar as it may sound, offers an intriguing example of how limits on executive power can actually make an enterprise more successful and, because workers are convinced they’re being treated fairly, can deepen their commitment."

Read the rest here.

(Hat tip to Marginal Revolution.)

Update (12:06pm): Just occurred to me, we have seen how mutiny can come about as a result of the leadership's self-dealing.

Privacy without Anonymity*

Yesterday, Manolo remarked that the two Senate bills to require registration of SIM cards might "irk the public". It probably will, but such a step is necessary in these times. Registration of SIM cards is essential for law enforcement especially now that cell phones are used as triggering devices for car bombs.

Maybe the public will be less irked if they are assured that sacrificing anonymity does not necessarily mean giving up privacy. The lawmakers who would take away the phone user’s anonymity are also responsible for putting more safeguards to that same phone user’s privacy.

In addition to requiring SIM card registration, the Telco's (e.g. Globe, SMART and Sun) should also be required to log the coordinates of every called number (gps coordinates if possible) as part of the call data record as an aid to subsequent investigation(s). However, such records should be kept confidential under normal circumstances.

As i told fellow commenter Baycas last year, society has to find a way to accept the loss of anonymity while strengthening safeguards to privacy.

One example of eliminating anonymity is the requirement to clearly identify a person as well as centralize personal information for easy access (via Identity Cards and a corresponding online database) which is in itself is a very useful for security and administrative purposes. However, this will only be acceptable if such information is treated with the same level of sanctity as a Swiss Bank Account accessible only by the person himself or through a valid court order. Making a person carry around his/her Identity Card and demanding it to be shown at will, opens the system to abuse resulting in further discontent and/or loss of freedom.

While we're on the subject, over at Crookedtimber, there is an informative entry on a form of information theft called phishing. It narrates specific cases of possible phishing incidents in the photo sharing website flickr.

Update (July 11, 2007 12:16pm): In the comments section, blogger Manila Baywatch gives a detailed explanation of how such a system of privacy without anonymity works in France through the various stages of a French citizen's existence.

*First three paragraphs was also submitted as a comment in mlq3's blog.

Sellout

A lot has already been said about the reported alliance between the supposedly Genuine Opposition(GO) Senators Villar, Cayetano, Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada with their pro-Administration counterparts in the battle for the Senate Presidency. The Black and White Movement has issued its Urgent Appeal. Other bloggers (here and here) have done so as well. Manolo Quezon while gallantly trying to put things into context, likewise criticized the actions of the Senators as the wrong kind of addition. Ellen Tordesillas who has supported the GO candidates through thick and thin likewise expressed her disappointment especially with Alan Peter Cayetano. In a series of comments, i believe blogger (and Ellenville regular) Yuko Takei, best reflects the sentiment of the majority who voted for the opposition:

"...Villar, et al should not forget that the reason why the Filipinos voted for them was to oppose the creeps from succeeding in abolishing the Senate with the creeps bent on establishing a unicameral legislative under a monarchy with the criminal promising her supporters most probably this and that title if they help her fulfill her ambition to be queen...

...Let’s face it. Malacanang had Plan B, and it has succeeded with its plan to break up the Opposition because Binay had not been wiser NOT to include the likes of Villar, with or wiithout the consent of Erap. I had a feeling something like this would happen and why I was reluctant to accept Villar, Pangilinan and even Legarda as a matter of fact, but pakikisama, I promoted GO in Japan with emphasis on Trillanes.

Doon lang nga nakatimbog si Binay kay Trillanes, who has proven to be the only genuine opposition. Thanks to the 11M enlightened Filipinos who voted for him and proved what they could in fact do and achieve. They will surely remember that. By 2010, their number will not just double but triple, etc...

...I felt betrayed especially regarding Cayetano, but it’s OK. Maaga mas mabuti! You should not feel confused and defeated, too. We can fight as a matter of fact to avenge ourselves!!!"

By failing to demonstrate purity of intent, the crisis of representation continues. The actions of our newly elected Opposition Senators' is one more blow to representative democracy in the Philippines, another failure of the principal-agent relationship between the voters and the elected. Starting at least with Erap's election in 1998, the faith of the people in our restored democracy has taken a beating and the recent shortsighted actions of these young and once promising new breed of Senators is one more step in this continuing loss of credibility.

Update 6:40PM: Over at Ellen's, commenter Sampot voices out a sentiment that i believe will be increasingly popular in the wake of this fiasco:

"The last election is my last.

In fact i was hesitant then to participate because politics in this country seems like a roller coaster ride.

Yesterday, it’s the Filipino Voter who doesn’t seem to know how to choose a candidate. Today, it’s the winning candidate who doesn’t seem to know how to choose between the interests of the people against his own.

These people are not only offered Committee Chairmanships but Cabinet Positions.

I can hardly remember who once said this, “My loyalty to the party ends, where my loyalty to the people begins.”

Why can’t we accept the fact that the solution is beyond routine flock to the precincts? We need to dismantle the whole system and establish a Caretaker Government.

The only reason why i did participate in the last elections was Trillanes."

It's interesting that the credibility of our democracy is now in the hands of an alleged coup plotter. Personally, i don't believe a 'caretaker' government is a step in the right direction since Filipino leaders get too easily drunk with power, but such desperation is understandable.

＊Ask Lucy＊ -Part2- ①

Update July 10, 2007: Embedding has been disallowed so you can watch the video here.

Part One is here.

Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths (TED 2006) and Insights on Poverty (TED 2007)

I just came across an impressive twenty minute presentation at TED 2006 by Hans Rosling, co-founder of the GapMinder Foundation.

He deftly uses his Trendalyzer software (recently acquired by Google) to present basic truths about the state of health, inequality, gdp per capita between and within countries over the past decades. Viewed from that time span, conditions do seem to be getting better.

For the more recent TED 2007, Rosling returns with an equally enlightening nineteen minute presentation, using longer timescales and ends with an impressive demo. (The Philippines gets special mention at 5:01.)

If you want to get the big picture when it comes to economic and human development, the videos are worth watching.

(Via boingboing.net)

Philippine Quarterly GDP Growth Dashboard: 1Q 2004 to 1Q 2007

Putting the NSCB's time series data in a graph can help give a clearer picture of the sources of GDP growth during the past thirteen quarters. Using the Expenditure approach, GDP is computed as the sum of Personal Consumption Expenditure (pce), Government Consumption (gc), capital formation (cf) and exports (x) less imports(m). Using the following color codes to assign the quality of growth as follows...


...we can more readily see where the sources of gdp growth for a given quarter is coming from:
GDP Growth: Expenditure Approach (click on image to enlarge)
The above shows that the exceptional (by Philippine standards) growth for the first and second quarters of 2004 was a result of doing well on all categories (especially personal consumption). In comparison, the recently reported 6.9 percent growth is due mostly to government expenditure and a drop in imports (which resulted in a better trade balance). Since government cannot go on spending beyond its means and since imports cannot drop without affecting over-all economic activity (unless replaced with local substitutes), it is clear that we have to do better in the other categories if we are to sustain the pace of economic growth.

Here's another perspective, i.e. in terms of growth per sector...


We can only hope that the 9.1 percent services growth is not a one off spike due to election-related spending and that industry growth will not slow down due to the drop in imports.

Update July-02-07 11:00pm: Yesterday's edition of the Inquirer.net has former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary & National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General citing the analysis of his fellow former NEDA Director-General Felipe Medalla that...

" puts to question the very claim that the economy's recent growth has never been better in the last 17 years".

Medalla's analysis, while similar to mine, goes further. He also picks up on the observed slow down in imports that i mentioned above. Specifically, Habito states that...

"In essence, Medalla observes that the recent growth rates of GDP and GNP are made higher by the fact that import growth rates have been much slower than they had been before."

The two candidate factors being considered to account for this lack of import growth are (1) a greater degree of import substitution during the Arroyo years compared to FVR's time, and (2) "the increased dominance of the Services Sector" (which is not as dependent on imports) in the Economy. To clarify this matter, Habito says that the concerned statistical agencies have to go ahead with their...

"planned and long-overdue comprehensive review of their methodologies."

A third possibility which Boo Chanco points out is Peter Wallace's claim that...

"maybe the numbers are mistaking smuggled inputs and goods as domestic...[which] sounds plausible given that there has been no marked increase in domestic productive capacity in recent years."

Of the three possibilities, the third one seems to be in keeping with what we know about the present state of our society so if i were a betting person, i'd place my money on increased smuggling distorting the GDP statistics. Of course, definite conclusions have to await the arrival of credible data which in turn awaits the departure of Gloria Arroyo's confidence-men.

Update Sep-03-2007: Here is an updated dashboard which includes the 2nd Quarter 2007 figures.

*Very Good means that growth rate for a given period is greater than the median growth rate for the periods considered by equal or more than one standard deviation.
**Good means that the growth rate for a given period is equal or greater than the median growth rate for the periods considered.
***Poor means that the growth rate for a given period is less than the median growth rate for the periods considered.
****Very Poor means that growth rate for a given period is less than or equal to one standard deviation below the median growth rate for the periods considered.
*****x-m is exports 'x' less imports 'm' which gives the trade balance for the given quarter.

69 (The Sweet Escape)

Three reasons for embedding the above video:
1. It seems in line with my previous post concerning the 6.9 percent GDP growth rate for the first quarter.
2. The accompanying background music is something i kept hearing on the radio while i was in Europe a few weeks back.
3. It serves as a good lead-in to one of my youtube favorites who posted this funny response to the above.

First Quarter 2007 GDP Growth: Why so Special?

I find the excitement accompanying the recently reported 6.9% year on year GDP growth (for example in blog entries here and here and in this comment here) a bit puzzling. Yes i know it's good news, but what i find odd is the claim that such growth is unprecedented, for example, as reported in the Financial Times article linked above:

"Government economists said the country’s gross domestic product rose by 6.9 per cent from the same quarter last year, the highest rate since 1990 [emphasis mine]..."

One look at the NSCB Statistics (i.e. the 'Time Series' data) shows that we've had better performance as recently as three years ago, i.e. the first and second quarters of 2004 with 7.15% and 7.1% GDP growth respectively (as visualized in the bar graph below).
Year on Year GDP Growth Rate[Source: NSCB]
Unless my understanding is wrong, the above quote should then read:

...the country’s gross domestic product rose by 6.9 per cent from the same quarter last year, the highest rate since 2004...

Any clarifications (from government economists or otherwise) would be greatly appreciated.

Update 1:30pm: Dave Llorito pointed out that the First Quarter GDP growth rate is 6.4% and Second Quarter GDP growth rate is 6.2% for the period 2003 to 2004. This is as reported in the NSCB's press releases here and here. Taking the underlying values from the press releases for First and Second Quarters of 2004 and comparing them to the GDP data populating the Time Series referred to above, the discrepancy can be traced to the difference in reported GDP values as follows:


It would seem that at some point after the original 6.4 and 6.2 percent GDP growth figures were published, a revision to the GDP figures for these quarters was made. By contrast, there is as yet no discrepancy between the GDP figures in the NSCB Press Release and the time series data for both the First Quarter 2006 and 2007. If this is the case, it's still odd that the government economists still use the old data for purposes of comparison. Perhaps i'm still missing something so any explanations on this practice are most welcome.

Update 01-15-2008: Over at Dani Rodrik, economist Arvind Subramanian raises similar questions concerning revisions in GDP Data of other countries.

Lakbayan

My Lakbayan grade is C-

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Musa Dimasidsing: Political Involvement, Maguindanao and the Human Development Index

Kudos to Nick for his efforts in making sure we remember Musa Dimasidsing and his sacrifice. Back in 2005, in a discussion over at mlq3's, i commented that apathy is not exactly a bad thing:

As stated in [Albert] Hirschman’s Exit, Voice & Loyalty on the finding that “citizens do not normally use more than a fraction of their political resources…a degree of apathy was found to have some compensating advantages in as much as it contributes to the stability and flexibility of a political system and provides for ‘reserves’ of political resources which can be thrown into battle in crisis situations.”

It’s of course an ongoing debate whether Filipinos are taking this political slack too far in one direction, but we as a people have shown ourselves to be instinctively pragmatic. That we don’t take it upon ourselves to send even those who are deemed deserving to hell may be good or bad depending a given situation but it’s certainly not a national trait to be ashamed of [emphasis added].

Where i find middle class apathy inexcusable and shortsighted is in its acceptance of inequality. Whatever empathy we manage to express could be better put to use in trying to figure out how Maguindanao HDI’s (which is about 50 ‘countries’* down in ranking compared to Manila) can be improved.

Since writing the above, subsequent events have led me to the conclusion that we Filipinos *do* allow for too much political slack (i.e. apathy) whether it's because of too much stoicism or because we simply don't care enough to get involved. We have to leave it to a resident of our poorest province to step up to the plate. Next to Musa Dimasidsing's example, i guess we really do need to be ashamed.

*In that thread, Manolo Quezon pointed out that among the Philippine provinces, Maguindanao is the lowest ranked in terms of the Human Development Indicators (HDI), with a score comparable to Zimbabwe's.

Senator Trillanes

Congratulations to Senator-elect Antonio Trillanes. The people have invested a lot of hope in you so i'm also hoping that you do not disappoint. (Time to <--retire this pic.) If the headline below is true, then you're off to a good start:

Source:inquirer.net

Norah Jones - Those Sweet Words

Steve Gilliard Jr. 1964-2007

I'm saddened to find out that Steve Gilliard, one of the bloggers whose site i used to visit frequently has passed away. Prior to his hospital confinement, his blogsite was one of those i frequently visited especially for his military and historical analysis related to the US invasion of Iraq (his old blogspot entries can still be accessed here). He was also a proud liberal (in the American context) and one of his legacies is this piece (via Main St. USA):


I Am A Fighting Liberal by Steve Gilliard Jr

You know, I've studied history, I've read about America and you know something, if it weren't for liberals, we'd be living in a dark, evil country, far worse than anything Bush could conjure up. A world where children were told to piss on the side of the road because they weren't fit to pee in a white outhouse, where women had to get back alley abortions and where rape was a joke, unless the alleged criminal was black, whereupon he was hung from a tree and castrated.

What has conservatism given America? A stable social order? A peaceful homelife? Respect for law and order? No. Hell, no. It hasn't given us anything we didn't have and it wants to take away our freedoms.

The Founding Fathers, as flawed as they were, slaveowners and pornographers, smugglers and terrorists, understood one thing, a man's path to God needed no help from the state. Is the religion of these conservatives so fragile that they need the state to prop it up, to tell us how to pray and think? Is that what they stand for? Is that their America?

Conservatism plays on fear and thrives on lies and dishonesty. I grew up with honest, decent conservatives and those people have been replaced by the party of greed. It is one thing to want less government interference and smaller, fiscally responsible government. It is another thing entirely to be a corporate whore, selling out to the highest bidder because the CEO fattens your campaign chest. They are building an America which cannot be sustained. One based on the benefit of the few at the cost of the many. The indifferent boss who hires too few people and works them to death or until they break down sick. Cheap labor capitalism has replaced common sense. "Globalism" which is really guise for exploitation, replaced fair trade, which is nothing like fair for the trapped semi-slaves of the maquliadoras. In the Texas border towns, hundreds of these women have been used as sex slaves and then apparently killed,the FBI powerless to do anything as the criminals sit in Mexico untouched by law.

For the better part of a decade, the conservatives made liberal a dirty word. Well, it isn't. It represents the best and most noble nature of what America stands for: equitable government services, old age pensions, health care, education, fair trials and humane imprisonment. It is the heart and soul of what made American different and better than other countries. Not only an escape from oppression, but the opportunity to thrive in land free of tradition and the repression that can bring. We offered a democracy which didn't enshrine the rich and made them feel they had an obligation to their workers.

Bush and the people around him disdain that. They think, by accident of birth and circumstance, they were meant to rule the world and those who did not agree would suffer.

Liberal does not and has not meant weak until the conservatives said it did. Was Martin Luther King weak? Bobby Kennedy? Gene McCarthy? It was the liberals who remade this country and ended legal segregation and legal sexism. Not the conservatives, who wanted to hold on to the old ways.

It's time to regain the sprit of FDR and Truman and the people around them. People who believed in the public good over private gain. It is time to stop apologizing for being a liberal and be proud to fight for your beliefs. No more shying away or being defined by other people. Liberals believe in a strong defense and punishment for crime. But not preemption and pointless jail sentences. We believe no American should be turned away from a hospital because they are too poor or lack a proper legal defense. We believe that people should make enough from one job to live on, to spend time on raising their family. We believe that individuals and not the state should dictate who gets married and why. The best way to defend marriage is to expand, not restrict it.

It was the liberals who opposed the Nazis while the conservatives were plotting to get their brown shirts or fund Hitler. It was the liberals who warned about Spain and fought there, who joined the RAF to fight the Germans, who brought democracy to Germany and Japan. Let us not forget it was the conservatives who opposed defending America until the Germans sank our ships. They would have done nothing as Britain came under Nazi control. It was they who supported Joe McCarthy and his baseless, drink fueled claims.

Without liberals, there would be no modern America, just a Nazi sattlelite state. Liberals weak on defense? Liberals created America's defense. The conservatives only need vets at election time.

It is time to stop looking for an accomodation with the right. They want none for us. They want to win, at any price. So, you have a choice: be a fighting liberal or sit quietly. I know what I am, what are you?

To Jen and Steve's family, my condolences. - Chuck

Political CompassTM: Economic -3.25, Social -3.13

During my recent visit to Anna de Brux, one of the questions she asked me was whether i was a Socialist. Although anyone who has read my comments or blog posts would immediately understand that i'm left of center, i honestly did not think my set of beliefs would qualify me as one. (Others have labeled me a Stealth Communist, which has a nice ring to it but is nevertheless an inaccurate characterization.)

Fortunately, Dani Rodrik has a timely pointer to the Political Compass^TM site which has a test that helps to locate your ideological coordinates. The x-axis (left/right) shows where you are in the economic spectrum while the y-axis (authoritarian/libertarian) represents your place in the social dimension. My scores are -3.25 (x-axis) and -3.13 (y-axis) respectively which, as shown in the graph, brings me in the neighborhood of Gandhi.*

Of course, this wasn't always the case. Although, i have always been anti-Fascist, i started out in my teens as a free-market capitalist (from watching Milton Friedman's Free to Choose TV show back in the 80's) and then became a Reaganite supply sider (from reading George Gilder's Wealth and Poverty). My ideological journey leftward has taken decades and is something that i did not plan or expect. Who knows what will happen in the future?

Update 06-25-07: Just stumbled upon Torn's Political Compass score (from way back August 2004).

Update 11-21-07: As a response to Anna's invitation, i took the test again and this time my score was -4.25 (for the left/right economic spectrum) & -3.03 (for the authoritarian/libertarian political spectrum). After 5 months, it appears i've become a little more socialist and a tiny bit less democratic.

*Since i did not have the raw scores of the above historical figures, i had to manually scale the graph so my location relative to Gandhi may not be that precise.

Xenophobia in the Land of OFW's?

Also making a comeback in the local blogosphere is the topic of foreigner access to local professions courtesy of Torn & Frayed's post. When i blogged about this topic a few months back, it was in the context of admitting foreign doctors to support our local healthcare needs. At that time, my discussion over at mlq3's blog was mostly with fellow commenter Justice League. It was clear that his initial reaction at that time was from the gut, and is worth quoting in full:

"Regarding Cuban doctors for the Philippines; I can’t put my finger on it but it reads so bad.

I watched the movie “Milan”. I read a comment about the movie somewhere in the net that Filipinos were working as domestic helpers in Italy so the Italians can leave their country to work as domestic helpers elsewhere. I don’t know if that’s true but I’m reminded of that in this issue.

There are actually more than a hundred Indian and Pakistani physicians waiting in the wings for acceptance to practice Medicine here in the Philippines. One of the problems (and I guess there are many) is that there is no reciprocity. If it is to be allowed for one profession (without reciprocity as in not allowing our professionals to work the same in their country) shouldn’t it be allowed for all?

The government is currently thrusting the program of “Medical Tourism” wherein a package of “health” and recreation are being offered to “rich” foreigners.

It is a joint project of at least 2 government departments and aims to get a “slice” of the pie being enjoyed by other SEA countries. It is sold on the idea that it is still cheaper to have medical/surgical workups/management done overseas than in their own countries. In many instances, the foreigners health coverage covers their hospitalization. There is also the benefit of not being on a long queue in their own country. With a recreation tour to boot.

So in a sense the Filipino government is gearing a health care system to be delivered by Filipino doctors to “rich foreigners” while the government is being advocated/or advocates foreign doctors to treat the “non-rich Filipino patients”.

It seems embarassing for Filipino doctors and unfair to both Foreign doctors (esp. if we will ask Cuba for humanitarian assistance for their doctors) and non-rich Filipino patients.

Like I stated, I can’t definitely put my finger on it but it reads so bad!" - Justice League March 5th, 2007, 9:26 pm

Unfortunately, the subsequent discussion was sidelined by matters of law so the topic shifted away from the merits/demerits of the idea itself. It's a pity because it would have been good to get to the bottom of his visceral and (imho) illogical reaction. The emotional part of the reaction is in itself not bad as it could be a sign of some deeper logic but at the moment it remains unexplained.

This type of reaction is not an isolated case since i got more or less the same from Resty Odon last year in his Expectorants blog, although in a post one year later, he eventually acknowledged that hiring Indian doctors may indeed be an inspired (though still ridiculous-sounding) idea.

One valid objection is that inward foreign labor will take jobs away from the locals which is the line of reasoning that fellow commenter Fencesitter told me last year.

"cvj, with all due respect, how can we possibly encourage inward labor from neighboring countries if this country is bereft of respectable job opportunities, which is the reason why most of our countrymen are going abroad." - Fencesitter at January 26th, 2006, 12:38 pm

I responded that the matching of jobs should be at the sectoral level and is a decision that should be made by individual organizations and not at the level of legislation.

"fencesitter, the countries where Filipino OFW’s work in do not have zero unemployment but we are still hired because we are needed. Back home, there is unemployment, but there are also labor shortages in specific sectors. It’s a matter of matching required experience and skills versus available supply, and in this case, the relevant unit for making decisions is at the institutional level, be it a for-profit businesses, quasi-public or public sector organizations.

With India, a real case can be made for synergy between IT talents of both countries. In my work, we’ve brought in specialists from India and in turn i’ve also been assigned to India to do work there as well. In case of China, we can benefit from the infusion of entrepreneurial spirit and closer commercial links with China. We know form our own experience that those who uproot themselves usually do so to actively seek a better life. Having more motivated people working in our islands will have a beneficial knock on effect to the entire system. In the near future, when we become a stable democracy, we will be a destination of choice by the Chinese and other Asian nationals who would seek to escape the restrictions of the mainland.

Among the qualities that the Filipino should cultivate, i hope that xenophobia won’t be one of them. Considering 10% of us are living as guests in some other host country, that would be way too ironic."- cvj at January 26th, 2006, 10:39 pm

As i stated in my last paragraph above, i hope that objections to foreign labor has more to do with a simple misunderstanding of what is truly in our interest as far as matters concerning supply of labor is concerned, rather than an underlying xenophobia among us Pinoys. As Torn has commented along the same lines:

"the world’s largest exporter of labor might want to consider practicing a little reciprocity—for reasons of self interest, if nothing else" - Torn at June 5th, 2007, 8:10 am

Update 06-06-2007 6:19pm: Justice League has posted his response in the comments section as well as over at mlq3's. I accept that his position is indeed logical if his conception of fairness would be used as a framework. However, fairness at the expense of availability of medical care still seems too high a price to pay.

Manolo Quezon's Language Wars (Part 2)

Over at mlq3's, the ongoing debate between English vs. Pilipino as a medium of instruction has resumed. It's interesting to hear the points put forward by both sides, especially DJB (who seems to have backed off a bit from his "We are not Asians the way the ASEAN nations are. We are Little Brown Americans!" declaration and has reclassified us Filipinos to the less disgusting sounding "We are already English-speaking Asiatics. Our culture is Chinese-Malay-Spanish-American. "), Inidoro ni Emille (who i wish would take on a less derivative and more respectable handle worthy of his stature in the blogging world) and especially freewheel, who as a Cebuano (well versed in Sugbuaunon, Hiligaynon at Dabawenyo variants of the Visayan language), makes a compelling anecdotal case for the use of Pilipino.

Aside from the discussions, this thread is worth linking to for its pointers to various studies like the one Baycas referred to i.e.,

"Evaluation of the effects of medium of instruction on the science learning of Hong Kong secondary students: Performance on the science achievement test, Bilingual Research Journal, Summer 2003 by Yip, Din Yan, Tsang, Wing Kwong, Cheung, Sin Pui."

and the one cited by Inidoro i.e.,

"Mathematical Thinking and Learning
2001, Vol. 3, No. 2&3, Pages 201-220
(doi:10.1207/S15327833MTL0302&3_04)".

Another article worth mentioning is the one linked to by Manolo in his subsequent post i.e., Master English–but don’t neglect local languages article by the Business Mirror which cites a 1998 study by the ADB which concludes that:

"The research by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (WB-ADB) in 1998 showed that the use of the mother tongue in the first years of school provides the necessary “bridge” for a child to learn a second language.

The WB-ADB study verified that children are less likely to drop out of school when classes are conducted in the home language. Pupils are active, not passive, in class recitation—and conceptualization, especially in mathematics, begins almost from the first day of school."

Brussels, 2007

Took a break from posting last week because of work and my travel to Europe. Last Saturday, i met up with fellow blogger Hillblogger and her husband. After a delicious and filling dinner featuring her husband's roasted lamb and potatoes, we went around the city and saw the Grand Place, which i consider one of the most spectacular looking town squares in Europe and is on the list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

The picture above shows the reclining statue of Everard 't Serclaes, an honored citizen of Brussels from the late Middle Ages. (Rubbing the statue is supposed to bring good luck which accounts for my hand on the statue.)

A few meters from the main square is the world famous Manneken Pis and i was surprised to find that the statue is smaller than it looks from the standard photos.

Among the Brussels (and Belgium)-related facts i learned from Anna and her husband are:

• Belgium is the most heavily wooded among the Western European states, with 40 percent of the area covered by trees.
  
• Thirty percent of Brussel's population is made up of expats working for (and with) the European Union.
  
• Belgium as a State came into existence in the early 19th century as a neutral buffer state between the French and the Germans. History shows that, unlike in the case of the Swiss, this arrangement has not worked in their favor.
  
• Throughout its existence, much of Brussels has been periodically flattened by war (the latest being World War II) which accounts for the relatively young age of its structures as compared with the rest of Europe.
  
• A lot of the older structures have nevertheless been torn down to make way for the EU offices in a manner that would make our Manila mayors happy.
  
• Near the center of Brussels, you can find a statue of Spanish literary characters Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, which may not be all that suprising considering that the area was once under the Spanish Crown. Anna also believes that these characters reflect the disposition of the Belgian people.
  
• The Members of the European Parliament keep their papers in boxes ready for shipping to and from Strasbourg in France, which is the other place where they hold sessions. This less than optimal arrangement is a concession to EU politics.
  

I'm glad to have had the chance to finally meet Anna in person after two years of exchanges in the Blogosphere.