CESAR VIRATA IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

By Ba Ipe

DISCUSSIONS of the Marcos dictatorship would be incomplete without mention of Cesar Virata, who served as its prime minister, chief financial officer, and economic guru. Virata raised state funds by borrowing heavily from official, bilateral, and commercial sources and charted the economic policies of the Marcos dictatorship, which relied heavily on foreign investments to create an export-oriented Philippine economy.

Virata reputedly facilitated the cultivation of the Philippines as a laboratory of the IMF-WB neoliberal classicist economic doctrines to create an economic miracle and convert the Philippines into a export oriented powerhouse like Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore. The much ballyhooed economic experiment, nevertheless, had failed dismally as the Philippine had never developed its export sector into competitive levels.

Virata built his network of technocrats within the Marcos dictatorship and created his own indispensability and importance to the extent that without him and his faction, the dictatorship would collapse. In fact, the Marcos dictatorship depended on Virata and his network because of their unparalleled ability to raise the funds for the dictatorship.

But Virata, who was often viewed as apolitical and less ambitious, knew his politics well. He set himself different from the other factions within the dictatorship– the faction of politicians led by Imelda Marcos, or the other half of the maligned “conjugal dictatorship,” and the military faction led by Gen. Fabian Ver, the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

His unquestioned integrity, professionalism and dedication for work at the height of the Marcos dictatorship was noticed by the foreign financial institutions, endearing Virata to them. The International Monetary (IMF), World Bank, bilateral financial institutions, and commercial banks trusted him and his faction. In brief, Virata cultivated an enviable role as the vital cog in the Marcos dictatorship.

According to Teresa Encarnacion-Tadem of the University of the Philippines’s Department of Political Science, the technocratic influence in the country had centered in Virata, as Ferdinand Marcos used his links with the United States and the IMF-WB networks to gains ODA funds to prop up his regime. Marcos invariably exploited Virata’s close links to social, academic, US, and business community networks to gain a semblance of acceptability for his martial law regime, which was but a dictatorship, or a one-man rule.

Virata and Marcos shared the same belief in the economic doctrines to attract foreign investments to build an export-oriented economy. According to Tadem, Marcos put Virata in charged to obtain IMF and World Bank loans, enjoining Virata’s network to Marcos as the “principal political hub.”

But Virata contended with the networks of Imelda and Marcos “chief cronies” like businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., who controlled the coconut industry,  and then Ambassador Roberto Benedicto, who had control of the sugar industry. “While IMF and World Bank support offered Virata some leverage, his network could not control Imelda Marcos’s profligacy or the cronies’ sugar and coconut monopolies.” Tadem said. Citing Virata’s own assessment, Tadem said his network was weakened considerably when Marcos’s health failed during an economic crisis in 1981 and after opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. ’s assassination in 1983.

In those crisis situations, Imelda’s faction and AFP chief of staff Gen. Fabian Ver’s military network took power amid the rise of a nationwide anti-dictatorship movement. The US switch of support from Marcos to then opposition leader Corazon Aquino, Ninoy Aquino’s widow,  sealed the demise of Virata’s network until the fateful EDSA People Power uprising in 1986. It was a downhill slide for Virata during those fateful years after 1981.

Virata’ education

Born in Cavite, Cesar Virata has turned 92 last December 12. He is a grandnephew of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, the president of the stillborn First Philippine Republic, or the “Malolos Republic,” and a nephew of Leonidas Virata,  who served as trade and industry secretary and chair of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). Virata earned an engineering degree at the University of the Philippines and went to the U.S., where he earned an MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is married to stage actress Joy Gamboa. They have three children.

Since his father was a mathematics teacher there, Virata got an education at UP, where he taught at its College of Business Administration. Henceforth, it was an uphill climb for Virata in his professional career. Virata gained access to the university network of academics, enabling him to link to another important network of US government fellowships. He had a fellowship from the Mutual Security Administration, a forerunner of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which sent him to pursue a master’s degree in business administration, majoring in industrial management at the Wharton School. This opened up another vital network for Virata, which was the US academe, according to Tadem.

When he returned, Virata added another important network to his social, academic, and US networks. He was recruited into SGV, which brought him into the business community network, according to Tadem. He worked full time in SGV until he was called back to teach at UP in December, 1965. He went on to become a professor and a dean at the UP College of Business Administration. Virata then combined two networks that complemented each other, academe and the business community, Tadem said. His experience at SGV allowed him to go to different nations, enabling him to observe their development models. He saw how Japan and Taiwan have become export powerhouses in the 1960s, posting unprecedented economic growths. He had become their staunchest believer of their developmental models, according to Tadem.

Virata in government service

It was Virata’s academic network that ushered his recruitment in public service. Rafael Salas, vice president of  then UP president Carlos P. Romulo, recruited Virata in December, 1965 to join the finance transition committee and the agriculture transition committee after Marcos defeated incumbent Diosdado Macapagal in a bitterly fought presidential elections. Soon, Virata became a member of the Presidential Economic Staff (PES), which gave inputs for Marcos.

At that point, Salas was reputed to have become a point man, or a major influence on Marcos when it came to the  recruitment of technocrats, or persons, who had special education and skills when it came to governance and public service.  Virata initially worked at the PES, but when Salas left the Marcos government to join the United Nations to become a key official, Virata became an undersecretary of the Department of Finance, who handled liaison with members of Congress to work for the enactment of the pivotal Investment Incentive Act of 1967. 

His liaison works in Congress pushed Virata to learn the nationalists’ bloc in both government and private sectors, which believed in economic protectionism to propel economic growth and development. The bloc, led by Hilarion Henares, former chair of the National Economic Council, predecessor of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), rejected the entry of foreign investments and batted for the policy of import substitution to propel the country’s industrialization. Virata had clashes with Henares and other nationalist economist like Alejandro Lichauco. Besides, he had to deal with senators who adhered to economic protectionism – Jose Diokno, Lorenzo  Tanada, and Gil Puyat, all members of the Nacionalista Party, the same party of Marcos. But Virata had his way as he was non-confrontational. Marcos helped him to weather the economic storm.

Virata in martial law years

Virata claimed Marcos did not consult him or any of those technocrats in his group about the declaration of martial law on September 21, 1972, a decision that led him to extend his stay in power beyond the constitutionally mandated end of his term on December 30, 1973. Marcos did not see fit to ask their inputs, as he chose to keep his political cards closed to his chest and limited the consultation process to the so-called “Rolex 12,” composed of military generals and civilian components in the defense sphere. They had  such name, as Marcos allegedly gave them each a Rolex watch for their role in the planning and implementation of the martial law regime. This was not true but Marcos gave them watches of another brand.

The Rolex 12 group was composed of Juan Ponce Enrile, Marcos defense secretary; Gen. Romeo Espino, AFP chief of staff; Gen. Fabian Ver, chief of National Intelligence Security Authority (NISA); Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., governor of Tarlac; Fidel Ramos, chief of the Philippine Constabulary; Gen. Rafael Zagala, chief of the Philippine Army. Others were Gen. Jose Rancudo, chief of the Philippine Air Force; Gen. Hilario Ruiz; flag-in-command of the Philippine Navy; Brig. Gen. Tomas Diaz, vice chief of the Philippine Constabulary; Brig. Gen. Romeo Gatan, PC chief in Rizal; Brig. Gen. Alfredo Montoya, chief of the PC Metrocom; and Brig. Gen. Ignacio Paz, chief of the Intelligence Services of the AFP (ISAPF).

Had Marcos consulted Virata and his network of technocrats, they would have opposed the martial law declaration because they felt Marcos got what he wanted from Congress, as the technocrats aptly argued the Executive Department’s position in economic policies. According to Tadem in her interview of Virata for her study on the technocrats’ roles during the martial law years, Virata was quoted as saying: “Nobody among us said we wanted martial law... I had not heard any of my colleagues say that they wanted martial law.” Nevertheless, Tadem asserted, the  U.S. supported it and it gave the go-signal to the IMF and World Bank to continue giving loans to the Philippines through Virata.

Virata and Marcos dictatorship

Virata and his faction of technocrats had thrived in the Marcos-led authoritarian environment, where they pushed and pursued without much obstacles state policies on trade and investment liberalization in an essentially free market regime. With Marcos unilaterally getting support from the factions of politicians led by Imelda Marcos, top military officials led by Gen. Ver, and technocrats headed by Virata, and the ensuing dissolution of Congress, the IMF and World Bank freely pushed their economic doctrines and gave enormous loans to the Marcos dictatorship. This led to the decline of the nationalist bloc in Congress, as they were eased out of power.

Virata and his faction did not raise howls about the political maneuvers by Marcos to convert his martial law regime to an eventual dictatorship, or one-man rule. They got what he wanted and Marcos did not raise qualms about the economic policies they pushed him to sign, adopt, and pursue. Virata and his faction conveniently used the lawmaking powers of Marcos, as many proposed economic measures that earlier got stalled in Congress became economic realities by mere signature of Marcos.

The amendments of the Tariff Code was a case. By amending the Code during the early months of the martial law regime, the Philippines joined the 1974 Tokyo Round of negotiations for a new global trade order. Marcos, through Virata and the technocrats’ initiatives, pursued throughout the 1970s economic policies that ensured the entry of foreign investors into the country. These included the establishment of export economic zones, where relocating foreign investors were ensured infrastructure support, cheaper rates to operate here, among others.

It was a nagging question why Marcos had kept Virata and the network of technocrats in his dictatorship. For Marcos, Virata and the technocrats served him a major purpose. Marcos used them as his leverage in dealing with the other major factions in the coalition that comprised and propped up his dictatorship. They were most useful, as Marcos pitted these factions against each others. Marcos kept them like prized possessions.

Virata and other technocrats

As an astute political manipulator, Marcos was never happy with a single faction in his martial law coalition. Virata’e network of technocrats had the likes of Gerardo Sicat, Vicente Paterno, Placido Mapa Jr., Manuel Laya, and eventually Jaime Laya. Since they controlled the major levers of power in the dictatorship, Marcos had his other groups of technocrats, notably the groups of Roberto Ongpin and Geronimo Velasco.

Hence, it  was not always a bed of roses for Virata and his ilk. Marcos was politically adroit to keep him away from Ongpin and Velasco. In 1979, Marcos launched the 11 Major Industrial Projects (MIPs), which had a combined cost of $6 billion. It was Marcos’s own version of nationalist industrialization. Virata earlier opposed the MIPs because he and his network felt they were not subjected to sufficient vetting. But Marcos proceeded mainly on Ongpin’s support and push, who felt that his dictatorship would be perceived positively by the launching and implementation of these projects.

The projects included the projects on integrated steel mill, copper smelter, expanded cement industry, heavy machinery, diesel engine plant, phosphate fertilizer plant, alcogas, coconut chemical plant, integrated pulp and paper mill, and petrochemical. As later events showed, none of these projects were successfully completed and launched. They were among the major sources of Marcos ill-gotten wealth, which were placed at between $5- $10 billion by political leaders who ruled the country after the fateful 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that toppled the Marcos dictatorship.

Virata and Marcos cronies

There is sufficient basis to accuse Marcos of crony capitalism. His dictatorship nurtured cronies, whom Virata and his network could hardly contain. Marcos became increasingly dependent on his stable of friends to develop a vibrant Philippine economy. By creating agricultural monopolies, he thought the country would take off. But as later events proved, his cronies did not help him to push the national economy.

The coconut monopoly under crony Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. and the sugar monopoly under then Ambassador Roberto Benedicto hardly lifted the Philippine economy. They only created other problems, which Marcos himself did not anticipate. Virata could hardly take moves to lessen the crony capitalism despite pressures from the credit institutions and the US.

Neither Virata could contain the profligacy of Imelda Marcos and the wildness of the alleged technocrats under Imelda’s wings like Conrado Benitez Jr., nicknamed “Jolly,” younger brother Benjamin “Cocoy” Romualdez, and Roman Cruz Jr., GSIS president. These guys provided inputs to enable Imelda to spread her wings in the dictatorship.

Virata and his network of technocrats definitely exerted enormous influence to the Marcos dictatorship. But it did not succeed Marcos from his world class corruption. Neither did they stop the cronies from their raid of the national economy. It did not stop Imelda from her damaging profligacy. Virata and his allies of technocrities provided the veneer of honest and rightful leadership, but they still failed and could in any way influence the fateful people’s revolution to dismantled the Marcos dictatorship.

1973 CONSTITUTION DRAFTED UNDER DURESS

 By Ba Ipe

The 1973 Constitution, which replaced the colonial 1935 Constitution, served as blueprint of the Marcos dictatorial regime. Dictator Ferdinand Marcos oversaw its enactment and series of amendments to serve as the constitutional basis of his dictatorship. This was the primary basis why Marcos euphemistically called his dictatorship as “constitutional authoritarianism.” Without the 1973 Constitution, his dictatorship would not flourish for 13 years.

But the 1973 Constitution was made in a tense and difficult political situation. When the constitutional convention that was drafting it was about to finish its work, Marcos declared martial law ostensibly “to save the Republic” from the outlawed Communist Party of the the Philippines and its military arm, the New People’s Army. His basis was long questioned by scholars because the communist movement was not strong and communist guerillas were few holding outmoded guns.

When Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, the convention did not meet. Hence, it failed to finish the draft of the 1973 Constitution. What took place between September 23 and November 28, 1972 could not be ascertained with finality. Until now, it has been the object of conjectures. On November 29, 1972, Macapagal met Marcos in Malacanang, where the former gave the latter the copy of the draft constitution that was never completed nor signed by the more than 300 members of the convention. It could be said that the draft constitution which Diosdado Macapagal presented to Marcos was made under questionable circumstance.

Until now, it is not clear how the Convention completed its works. Its official records were reported to have been transferred and stored in the old building of the state-owned National Shipyards and Steel Corporation (NASSCO), which was later absorbed by the National Development Company (NDC), in the Manila district of Sta. Mesa. A fire of suspicious origin and circumstances gutted the building and the Convention records. Arturo Pacificador, who was identified as the man who had Evelio Javier killed in 1986, was the Marcos functionary who handled the official records and their transfer to the old NDC building that was gutted by fired.

But what was notable in the draft constitution, which Macapagal submitted to Marcos, was the presence, or presumably insertions, of what could be regarded as objectionable provisions. It could be said the 1973 Constitution was a charter completed under duress. Pimentel said certain provisions could have been inserted by Macapagal himself. In what could be regarded as an act of opportunism, Macapagal urged a number of delegates to sign the draft constitution to generate an overwhelming majority before he submitted it to Marcos. Pimentel said in his book that no less than Delegate Manuel Concordia admitted to him he got paid P20,000 “to invent” the minutes of the meeting to reflect the objectionable provisions.

Students of constitutional law complained it was difficult to study the 1935 Constitution because its minutes were largely in Spanish. The deliberations were in Spanish because English was not yet the official language of the legal system. During those days, Filipino political leaders were very proficient in Spanish, learning the language from the previous colonial power that ruled us. Translating those deliberations into English was not easy.

But students complained the 1973 Constitution did not have official records. It did not have minutes. Hence, they could not see the evolution of Philippine jurisprudence from the American colonial rule into the Marcos dictatorship. The wide gap is a difficulty to many students of law. Shall we blame Marcos and Macapagal for conspiring against the Filipino people. Yes, but it should be said that Marcos was the wily tactician, who had Macapagal at the palm of his hand. Macapagal was so naive to fall into Marcos’s trap and machinations. Please surmise...

'IN THE HEAT OF COMPETITION’

By Ba Ipe

This is the operative phrase in the world of sports. Players of opposing sports team could exchange hard words in the course of the game. Or they could push, elbow, and bodily position themselves to gain advantage. Or they could trade punches, kicks, and scuffles in some extreme cases. But in most instances, everything is forgiven and forgotten after the game. This is all in the spirit of sportsmanship.

An untoward incident happens in a game because it is “in the heat of competition,”sportsmen argue. When competition heightens, an intense interplay of emotions follows. There is an temporary insanity on either team. Hence, verbal and physical conflicts happen Athletes, who have the desirable level of emotional intelligence (EQ), would argue that it is just a game, which does not deserve the loss of civility, rationality, and sense of equanimity.

Athletes, especially the professional ones, normally discipline themselves and believe that physical contacts are just part of the game. They are trained to forgive and forget after the game, leaving all those feelings of animosity in the playing field. That is why opposing players, after the game, exchange handshakes in the spirit of sportsmanship.

But there are exceptions. Jose Offerman, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Major Baseball League (MLB) during his prime, faced a lawsuit. Playing in an independent baseballs league, Offerman experienced an emotional blackout when he attacked the pitcher and the catcher of the opposing team with his bat, hurting them.

Using a bat in an altercation is a big no-no among baseball players. They usually leave their bats and confront the players in the other team. They are disciplined to engage in a fight using their fists. Absolutely no bats. They are trained to guarantee a fair fight.

Offerman is now defending himself from the lawsuits. I am not sure what happened but the issue has been brought for court litigation, as the opposing players, who were struck by his bat when he went into a rampage, suffered head contusions and broken arms and loss of income as a result of the disability.

Will Jon Amores of Jose Rizal University suffer lawsuit as a result of his one-man amok against the opposing players of the College of Saint Benilde? Athletes are trained to think that many things happen in the heat of competition. Thery abhor court litigation because it is a messy process. Most likely, the opposing teams and school authorities will just talk it over. A suspension or fine will do. But Armas will have to mend his ways. School authorities will make sure that he would be aptly punished and he won't repeat the same mistake .

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WHAT IS 'BANGUNGOT'?

 By Ba Ipe

THE middleman named by the alleged gunman of Percy Lapid was said to have died of “bangungot” in the afternoon of Oct. 18 (or Oct. 13?). Bangungot is officially called “sudden unexplained nocturnal death,” or SUNDs. As its name implies, the deaths happen in the evening. It is unexplained because it could not be ascribed to specific causes. In 1992, I went to the U.S. to attend a conference in one of the islands that composed the state of Hawaii. It was a tiring trip and conference, but the positive side was that I happened to read a scientific paper of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu that explained SUNDs.

According to the paper, SUNDs happen to the young people in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Victims are usually male, aged 15-30 years, and they die while sleeping. According to the paper, the study further delved into the reasons why SUNDs happened to certain cases. It found out that the common denominator was the victims’ diet comprising of heavy intake of salt and fats. It found out that fish sauce, or “patis,” was the culprit. Patis has certain enzymes that cause the short circuiting of the heart’s impulses leading to heart attacks among its victims. In countries that heavily consume soy sauce instead of fish sauce like Japan, Korea, and China, SUNDs hardly happen.

By inference, the middleman, Crisanto Villamor, 42, could not have died of SUNDs because his death happened in 2 or 3 pm. There could be another reason for his sudden death but certainly not bangungot, which happens in the deep of the night. This is a case worth investigating and top PNP officials involved in the case should look carefully into the case. Incoming Bucor chief Greg Catapang can provide the healthy environment for the proper probe. Outgoing Bucor chief Gerald Bantag and his men deserve inclusion in the probe to explain their side why the sudden death of the middleman occurred while they were in office.

MIDDLE CLASS VALUES

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

WHEN I was a sociology major in the mid-1970s, one of our teachers, a young UP graduate and batchmate of Randy David, a prominent sociology teacher who later has ventured into opinion writing, introduced us to the concept of “middle class values.” In her assertion, our young teacher told us that the middle class is a distinct economic class that has its own value system, which is different from the rest of society. By her definition, the middle class is in between the elite and lower classes. It is neither rich nor poor, but it’s qualify of life is definitely better than the struggles for life and death of the lower classes.

Take the issue of reputation. Somebody who belongs to the elite class, or those people who are awashed with cash and wealth, would say: “What's reputation? We can buy it. Call the society page editor of that publication and ask him to write about our lifestyle.” Everything or anything can be denominated in cash or its symbol - the peso sign. Reputation is something that can be bought or acquired using the affluence and opulence of his family and affiliations.

People in the lower class, or whose daily survival depends on the available cash, which is difficult to come to their side, would view differently the issue of reputation: “What reputation are you talking about? We don’t have money to buy food.” They would ask the most beautiful girl in their family of four of five to go to Japan and work as a GRO there. Or work as an pole dancer in a nightclub. "Reputation will not give you food on the table.” Their sense of values is highly dependent on their survival. It is survival, which is a main factor in their value system.

Those people who consider themselves part of the middle class – or those who are educated - would have a different take on the issue of reputation. “We're not rich. We hardly have worldly possessions. But we have our values intact. We value our reputation better. That’s the only thing we have.” This would be what a middle class guy would say. He values integrity, fairness, and honesty. He lives a kind of life anchored on those fundamental values. Neither the rich or the abjectly poor would understand him but the middle class cherishes those values.

No wonder, the rich and poor would not - and would would never - appreciate PNoy. But those people in the middle class miss PNoy so much as shown by the statements of adulation and respect in social media. PNoy stands for middle class values of hard work, dedication, integrity, and honesty in public service.

I once talked to a woman, who obviously belongs to the lower class. She misses dictator Ferdinand Marcos because during his dictatorship, Filipino entertainers were allowed to go to Japan. Her sister married a Japanese gangster there and had a different quality of life than hers. See the perverted value system. (Wrote this missive shortly before the 2022 elections.)

ECONOMIC RECOVERY REMAINS DISTANT BECAUSE OF LACK OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT

By Ba Ipe 

“MOBILITY is not a human need. It is a basic right.” Nikki Coseteng, a former senator and street parliamentarian, uttered these words in her opening statement in a recent media forum to stress the constitutional right to travel for every person.

Coseteng could not help but feel indignant at the current transport mess that springs from the abject lack of public transport. The public transport sector appears to have collapsed due to public policies that prohibit legitimate bus firms from fielding their bus fleets.

Economic recovery is a function of mobility. The freer movement of goods and services (people) ensures and hastens economic recovery. With lessened mobility, recovery is inconceivable. Mobility requires public transport services, which should be made available in the spirit of competition, where the most efficient is obtained at the least cost.

The Covid-19 pandemic is the convenient excuse for the government to stop legitimate bus firms from fielding their buses in the routes between Metro Manila and provinces, triggering the rise of illegal vehicles and limiting the movements of most citizens.

The erratic public policies on public transport have contributed to the slowdown, enabling the national economy to post the sharpest postwar economic decline in 2020 and 2021. While recovery is on sight, it has been dismally slow because of lack of public transport.

Coseteng was quick to lay the blame squarely on the Duterte government, which has come out with policies that effectively deprive the people of legitimate public transport. According to her, the government legitimate bus firms to use the government-sponsored central bus terminals for buses traversing between Metro Manila and the provinces.

But the central terminals in Bocaue, Bulacan and Sta. Rosa, Laguna have been inaccessible for passengers, who want to go to the provinces in Luzon. They do not have the facilities for waiting passengers and for tired bus drivers, who want to rest in between their trips.

Going from any point in Metro Manila to the central bus terminals has been most inconvenient for provincial bus passengers. They have to travel first for 30 kilometers to the bus terminals just to catch a bus that goes to Pampanga, Laguna, or elsewhere.

This is simply insane, according to Coseteng. It does not make sense, she said with an air of condescension on the quality of public policies the Department of Transportation has been coming out. Moreover, this situation is being compounded by the subsequent arrests of provincial buses that do not use the central terminals. According to Coseteng, the owner of each provincial bus is being asked to pay a fine of P1 million for entering Metro Manila.

She has put a P2 million bet on Arturo Tugade and other transport officials to take daily public transport for 30 days to see for themselves the current public transport woes. Tugade has remained silent.

The emergence of illegal vehicles, or the so-called “colorums,” has been a bane. Illegal vans and cars have replaced the public provincial buses on the streets. Since they are unregulated and form part of the underground economy, the colorums charge as much as triple the usual regulated of the provincial buses.

They do not register and ergo do not pay taxes and other state fees, do not issue receipts in their operations, and are not totally known to the government. They are said to be owned by local officials, their relatives, and their dummies. Military and police generals were said to be owners of those illegal vans.

The people have to rely on public transport because 90 percent of all households nationwide do not own cars or any other vehicles. Transport specialists argued on the necessity to enhance the public, rich or poor, to take public transport. But this is easier than done.

For her part, Coseteng, an advocate of a more liberal approach on public transport, argued that economic recovery would remain difficult because of lack of public transport. “We have not learned our lessons. We have remained difficult,” she said with an air of frustration.

THEY DON'T WRITE, DO THEY?

 By Ba Ipe

FAMOUS American broadcast journalists like Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Tom Brokaw, Barbara Walters, Dan Rather, and a host of others wrote books during the span of their careers, and even in their retirement. Their books contain interesting details, enabling them to preserve them in their written works. In brief, they have respect for writing. Incidentally, many broadcast journalist were writers before they made the transition to broadcast journalism, which is more lucrative than working and writing as reporters in newspapers or news agencies.

Walter Cronkite, a revered name in U.S. journalism since he was once proclaimed “the most trusted man” in the U.S., wrote three books. I have a copy of his book, which I bought for a song in a sidewalk book sale some years ago. His book “A Reporter’s Life” contains interesting details, which included his transition to a broadcast journalist from a wire service reporter stationed in the old Soviet Union. Later, he established a venerated name in CBS and the whole U.S. broadcast journalism. He made a successful transition when television was a nascent technology.

Cronkite’s book contain some sidelights of his major coverage including the 1945 Nuremberg Trials, Vietnam War, Apollo 11’s landing on the moon, among others. He witnessed how Chief Prosecutor Robert Jackson fumbled in his cross-examination of Hermann Goehring, the second highest German Nazi official, during the Nuremberg Trials.

I also bought a copy of Brinkley’s book “Beat: People, Places, and Events That Shaped My Time,” which contains his memoirs of the major events he covered in his career in NBC and ABC. His humor was wry and dry but profound and poignant to a large extent. Brinkley interviewed Ferdinand Marcos during his dictatorial years. He was a tough interviewer, who was never afraid of raising the most intimidating questions to the late dictator.

Brokaw’s book” Boom: Voices in the 1960s,” likewise brings memories of the major events that took place in the tumultuous decade. They included the Vietnam War, the rise of the Hippie culture, the Civil Rights Movement, the emergence of SDS, among others. I have noticed the profundity of many Brokaw’s views on these episodes of American history.

Barbara Walters’s book “Audition” details her competition with other broadcast titans like Cronkite, among others, to bring out the best in the coverage of many world events. I found it most interesting and profound to read because she even wrote how she lost her virginity and how Cuban dictator Fidel Castro took a liking on her, putting her ahead in the competition. Her narrative on her daughter’s rebellious ways and reformation to become an NGO leader is also most telling.

Maria Ressa, a Filipino journalist and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, wrote two interesting books on the rise of terrorism in Southeast Asia: “Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda's Newest Center (2003) and From Bin Laden to Facebook: 10 Days of Abduction, 10 Years of Terrorism (2013).” She worked for CNN for two decades before forming rappler.com.

But Maria Ressa is an exception of the host of Filipino broadcast journalists, who hardly have the appreciation, much less the passion to write and leave something to posterity and history. Knowing that Filipinos are not a reading people, they too have developed the abhorrence to put their thoughts into writing.

The late Rafael Yabut, Johnny de Leon, and Rod Navarro once dominated the airwaves for three or four decades, but are now half-forgotten because they have left no memoirs. This is not good for journalism and the country as well. I could not stand those pseudo-journalists like Boy Abunda, who are all talk but no ideas. I wonder if he reads, or writes. Well, that's too much to ask for a semi-literate guy, who specializes in gossips. 

SARA DUTERTE'S IGNORANCE

 BY BA IPE

SARA Duterte's proposal to require mandatory military service for every Filipino citizen of training age is laudable but not feasible. She favors the creation of a huge standing army, which is unsustainable given the current fiscal position. The outstanding debt of the national government could reach between P13 to P14 trillion, when his father ends his term on June 30. The heavy borrowings will trigger economic issues, which make her suggestion unrealistic to pursue.

Since current fiscal policy favors debt repayment over delivery of services to our people, thanks to Presidential Decree 1177, a marcosian creation, the priority is pay the huge public debt of the national government, lessening the public funds for mandatory social services like education, public health, and disaster mitigation. This situation further lessens additional services like mandatory military service. Where will Sara get the money to finance the mandatory military service? That is the question.

The Philippines is rich in guerilla traditions. Since the Spanish colonial era, those recalcitrant leaders used guerilla tactics to face the Spanish armed brigades. The likes of Sumuroy, Tamblot, Dagohoy, Silang, among others resorted to form guerilla groups, which used guerilla tactics against the Spanish forces..

Even the millenarian groups of Apo Ipe, Papa Isio, the Colorums, or even the Sakdalistas, had guerilla groups to harass the American colonial forces and the paramilitary Philippine Constabulary. When the Japanese invading forces came, we had the various guerilla groups – HMB, Marking Guerillas, among others, which cleaned the country to the Japanese forces when the American forces led Gen. Douglas McArthur arrived in 1944.

Now, we have the NPA, which employs guerilla tactics to face AFP. They have been unconquered since its creation in 1969.

We had standing armies during Emilio Aguinaldo's time and when the Japanese invaded us in 1941, but they lost miserably to enemies. Aguinaldo's army lost to invading American forces, while the USAFFE forces surrendered in Bataan in 1942.

Because of the richness of our guerilla traditions, then Defense Secretary Renato de Villa, in an interview I had for the Philippines Free Press in 1991 (it was our cover story during those days), said the country’s defense strategy has to be recast to acknowledge the use of guerilla tactics to fight potential enemy.

I remember de Villa telling me that the standing army does not have to be very big because we don’t have enough resources to support a big army. It should approximate the size that it could deliver lethal blows to the enemy when they attack us and come over to our country.

But we should have strong militia fores that could be used automatically to become guerilla units that would use guerilla tactics, de Villa said. Our terrain favors this approach, he said.

Although Sara is listed to have obtained some courses and training at the National Defense College and she is registered as a reserve officer, she hardly knows our defense requirements.

Apparently, her statement is her way to ingratiate herself to the defense and military establishment. Its election time and she needs their support by hook or by crook, even by half-truths and lies.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT POLICY UNDER QUESTION

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

DURING the pre-pandemic days, it was normal for a passenger to pay less than P500 for a ride from Quezon City to the idyllic town of San Felipe in Zambales, a distance of 175 kilometers. He took the ride in a bus belonging to Victory Liner, a 70-year old legitimate bus firm whose bus fleet traverses almost the whole expanse of northern and central Luzon. Victory Liner is reputedly a progressive firm that issued insurance for passengers to cover accidents and unforeseen incidents, while riding in its buses.

Nowadays, passengers have to take private vans, cars and other modes of land transport and pay at least triple the pre-pandemic fares of pubic transport. This is simply because public buses are not easily accessible. These private owned vans and cars have taken over the provincial routes. But they are not registered as public transport firms. Ergo, they do not pay taxes to the government or issue receipts to passengers.

Since they are part of the so-called “underground economy,” owners of these private vehicles do not assume responsibility if ever accidents happen along the road. Moreover, they hardly follow health protocols. In case of contamination of the dreaded Covid-19 virus, their owners could not be forced or counted to be responsible to their passengers.

The bus industry providing public transport now suffers the worst crisis since the postwar era. Most public buses literally came to a complete halt, when the government imposed what could be regarded one of the worst lockdown in the community of nations at the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

When it was time to revive the economy after months of complete lockdown, the government did not immediately order the bus firms to resume their operations put their buses on the road. Instead, it ordered the use of face shields, which was not even necessary.

It also formed the Inter-Agency Task Force Against Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), whose members were mostly retired military generals, who have no medical training, and other public officials, who have established a notoriety for official incompetence and lack of sensitivity to public demands.

The IATF responded to the public clamor for a revived public transport, when on February 26, 2021, it has issued Resolution 101 , requiring provincial buses to load and unload passengers on designated ITXs. This resolution has named three terminals: Sta Rosa Integrated Terminal (SRIT) in Sta. Rosa, Laguna; Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) in Paranaque City; and the North Luzon Exchange Terminal (NLET) in Bocaue, Bulacan adjacent the Iglesia ni Kristo’s Philippine Arena compound.

The SRIT and PITX have been chosen and required to serve as the hub of the provincial buses traversing the south and southwest of Luzon. The NLET has been assigned to serve buses traveling northern Luzon. But going to these terminals is inconvenient for passengers. They are far from passengers, who have to go first to the towns of Sta. Rosa in Laguna and Bocaue in Bulacan, take tricycles rides from there to go to the two terminals, and get a bus to go the provinces. The terminal in Paranaque City is in a location, which requires passengers to walk great distance, an inconvenient situation for them. 

Moreover,  all buses bound for provinces would be required under the IATF resolution to use the integrated terminal exchanges as the central hubs for public transport. No bus company or public transport would be allowed use of their private terminals.

The resolution has unintended unfavorable consequences, as it has promoted the use of the so-called “colorum” vehicles, which  taken advantage of problems of legitimate bus firms. Their vans and cars do not follow loading capacity. They charge exorbitant fees and fail to comply with minimum health standards thus causing more danger to passengers given the pandemic.

Meanwhile, provincial buses have been suspended for almost 2 years already. Despite this, bus operators continue to meet fees to renew bus registration and business permits, and pay insurance premiums and workers’ compensation. Incidentally, the bus industry has been a steady source of income for employees, transport workers, and their families. Most small and medium enterprises depend on bus operations for their daily existence.

Legitimate bus operators and their representatives have repeated talks with the Cabinet, the Department of Transportation, LFTRB, and IATF people, but their efforts have resulted only in these functionaries pointing fingers at each other. Instead, government officials repeatedly claimed that it is the bus operators who are remiss in getting the special permits.

How about rescinding that Resolution and allow bus firms to use their private terminals? They are still useful and could be easily revived for use.