WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THIRD PHL TELCO?

China Telecom ban latest in global pushback against Chinese intrusion

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

ACTIONS by the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies to terminate China Telecom’s authority to operate in the U.S. market constitute the latest developments in the mounting pushback against Chinese intrusion worldwide.

From geopolitical tension and Chinese aggression in the South China Sea to cooling China-Italy relations, to coronavirus-related disagreements with ally Iran, China’s recovery from COVID-19 and its attempts to aid the rest of the afflicted world have failed to give the goodwill and upper hand it seeks in the global stage.

This is being complicated by recent accusations that China is source of the destructive virus that has caused a pandemic, even as various entities have threatened they would bill China for the adverse effects of the virus and seek damages in various legal forums. China is now in a crisis public relations mode mainly to escape culpability or lessen the future damage to its global reputation.

In the U.S., the Department of Justice and the State Department were requesting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke China Telecom’s license to carry out international telecommunications services to and from the U.S.. They are concerned that state-owned China Telecom is “vulnerable to exploitation, influence, and control” by the Chinese government.

In the Philippines, the entry and operations of Dito Telecommunity, the reputed third telecommunications firm after the PLDT Group and Globe Telecom, into the market could be adversely affected by the developments in the U.S. involving China Telecom, a part owner of Dito Telecom.

Because of the recent developments, Neri Colmenares, chair of leftwing Bayan Muna, said the government should scrutinize further the third telco player, saying it would require a congressional inquiry “in aid of legislation” since China’s entry into the domestic telecommunication sector is “a threat to the sovereignty of the country and national security.”

“This development in the U.S. will delay Dito Telecom’s rollout because it should now be subject to tighter scrutiny from government and requires a congressional investigation.  Because of its expansionism in the West Philippine Sea, the Chinese government is not a friend. We continue to assert that allowing China entry into our telecommunications sector is a threat to Philippine sovereignty and national security,” Colmenares said.

Dito Telecom has announced it has drawn out the initial $500 million (P25 billion) from state-owned Bank of China to lay down the infrastructure for its nationwide backbone. Adel Tamano, chief administrative office, announced the firm would start operations by March 1, 2021.

Dito Telecommunity Corp., formerly Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company Inc. (Mistel), is a "consortium" (not a joint venture- author) of Udenna Corp. of Davao City-based businessman Dennis Uy, and its subsidiary Chelsea Logistics Corporation and the China stated-owned China Telecommunications Corporation, a parent company of China Telecom.

Dito Telecom would have a hard time operating in the Philippines once the China Telecom is banned in the US mainly because of interconnection issues. Without interconnecting to other telecomunications firms, it is next to impossible to operate freely. Interconnection is regarded as the heart of sustainable and vigorous telecommunications sector.

Its rollout has been stalled thrice.  It was initially scheduled for inauguration in the final quarter of 2019. Its operation was later moved to July 2020, but now has been programmed for a March 2021 opening.

Its unveiling is in danger of being put off anew following the opposition of several U.S. departments in the operation of the China Telecom (Americas) Corp. in the U.S. Several U.S. departments had encouraged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke China Telecom (Americas) Corp’s authorization to provide international telecommunications services to and from the U.S.

“This recommendation reflects the substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecom’s continued access to US telecommunications infrastructure,” said the group of departments, which include State, Justice, Defense, Homeland Security, and Commerce, in a statement, along with the United States Trade Representative, in a statement regarding the filling at the FCC recently.

The call is in the midst of the continuous scrutiny being done by FCC to China Telecom in an investigation that was started last year. The US subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned telecommunications company holds the license to grant service in the US since 2007.

The FCC united to vote May of last year to deny the request of another state-owned Chinese telecommunications company, the China Mobile, to grant service in the US. According to FCC chairman Ajit Pai, the Commission was able to determine following the vote that China Mobile was controlled by the Chinese government.

The U.S. government laid out several issues they had with China Telecom including the “increased knowledge of the People’s Republic of China’s role in malicious cyber activity targeting the U. S.” The agencies stressed that China Telecom is “vulnerable to exploitation, influence, and control by the PRC government”.

In Italy, China’s Belt and Road initiative has failed to develop stronger relations between the two countries mainly because the anticipated economic benefits for Italy have yet to materialize. Italy’s trade deficit with China had in fact widened further last year. The spread of COVID-19 did not help the situation as the Italian government moved to stop all flights to China over worries about the coronavirus.

Alongside stalled investments, trade benefits have failed to add up for Italy. Italian exports to China showed a 1% decline last year, even as overall foreign sales rose, according to preliminary figures released by statistics agency Istat in January. With Chinese imports growing, Italy’s total trade deficit with China climbed to €18.7 billion ($20 billion).

Immediate tensions related to the virus “will blow over once COVID-19 disappears,” said Jan Weidenfeld of the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin. “But those more fundamental issues of reassessment of what doing business with China means, that is here to stay.”

China’s ties with Iran have also seen better days as Iranian health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur criticized Chinese government statistics on the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, appearing to blame those statistics for other countries’ slow response to the emerging pandemic.

“It seems statistics from China [were] a bitter joke, because many in the world thought this is just like influenza, with fewer deaths,” Jahanpur said during a video conference. “This [impression] were based on reports from China and now it seems China made a bitter joke with the rest of the world.” Jahanpur added, “If in China they say an epidemic was controlled in two months, one should really think about it.” The remarks sparked a row with Chinese officials, with China’s ambassador to Iran saying the country should “show respect to the truths and great efforts of the people of China.”

With no regard for the ongoing battles against COVID-19 around the world, China has also kept up its aggression in the South China Sea. Its Coast Guard and paramilitary vessels continue to harass fishing boats, military ships and oil and gas rigs in the area, and even sunk a Vietnamese fishing boat earlier this month.

“There’s no apparent pause or reduction at all” in Chinese activity in the South China Sea, added Collin Koh, a maritime security expert at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. “It appears to be business as usual for the PLA, and for that matter, the China Coast Guard as well.”

The Philippines expressed support for Vietnam after Hanoi protested against what it called the ramming and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by a Chinese coastguard vessel in the disputed South China Sea last April 3.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila expressed deep concern over the reported sinking of the boat off the Paracel Islands, adding that the incident happened ‘at a time when a common approach was crucial in confronting the coronavirus pandemic.’

The Philippines has its own problems with its ‘China pivot’. China’s intrusion into the country is highlighted by the recent report of about 3,000 members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) entering Manila as tourists or workers in Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).

The PLA report comes at the heels of security fears hounding the Philippines’ power and telecommunications sectors. China maintains ownership over the national grid as well as the Philippines’ third major telecoms firm – Dito Telecommunity, of which 40% of its equity is owned by China Telecom, the same company facing a potential US ban. #

THE HUMOR OF AMANG RODRIGUEZ

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

ONE of the most colorful persons to have graced Philippine politics was a humble man named Eulogio Rodriguez Sr. A son of Rizal province, Rodriguez, who was "Amang to friends and foes, had a political career that spanned both the prewar and post war eras. He was the longest tenured Senate president. He held the post for over ten years until Ferdinand Marcos replaced him in a turbulent takeover.

Amang Rodriguez, for whom a major thoroughfare in Quezon City has been named (remember E-Rod?), was reputed for his unparalleled sense of humor. He could make people laugh with his special humor. There were many humorous vignettes about him. No, Amang was much intelligent than the likes of Tito Sotto, Manny Pacquiao, Migs Zubiri, or even the sick old man of the South, who did not bother to run for senator and was never elected as one. Tito, Manny, Migs, among others could be regarded as dumb but not humorous.

Although elected senator under the Liberal Party, Ferdinand Marcos joined the Nacionalista Party in 1963 to become its standard bearer in the 1965 presidential elections against incumbent president Diosdado Macapagal. Amang Rodriguez, dubbed as "Mr. Nacionalista for his party loyalty, opposed Ferdinand Marcos, uttering the prophetic words: "luluha tayo ng dugo diyan." Amang did not like Marcos because it was Marcos who took his place as Senate president. But Marcos knew how to charm his opponents.

Together with his chief party backer, the Speaker Jose Laurel Jr., Ferdinand Marcos went to Amang Rodriguez's residence in New Manila to ease the pain of having an opponent as his party ally. But Amang refused entry to his uninvited guest. He feigned illness, but not without telling one of his kasambahays, a male, to face Pepito Laurel and Marcos to tell he was ill. "Maysakit po si Sir. Under seduction siya," the kasambahay told the two politicians. Even Marcos narrated this anecdote in his speaking engagements when he became dictator.

Amang Rodriguez was always patronizing to reporters, who covered the Senate, but in a different way. While he was a perfect gentleman to lady reporters, he was irreverent to the men. He called "Kupal" every male reporter who covered to the Senate during those days. In return, every male reporter called him "Kupal" too. He never lost his cool to journalists; he never sued any journalist for libel.

The late Maning Almario, a journalist who happened to know personally Amang Rodriguez, once narrated how he warned journalists, who were about to partake a whole lechon baboy. "Don't eat too much lechon, guys. It has plenty of collateral," Ka Maning quoted Amang as telling them. They all laughed.

Another vignette was how he chided a local official and partymate, who always narrated complaints about the Nacionalista Party. "I don't want to talk to you. You have many reclamations," Amang told him. In another instance, he coined a new word "ejempol," which was a odd mixture of Spanish and English words for example.

It was in a bitter debate with Senator Cipriano Primicias Sr. that Amang cemented his humorous and disarming style. In the middle of plenary debates and interpellation, where Amang was defending a bill he authored, Primicias stood to point out many errors in the proposed measure. Amang was so embarrassed by the mistakes, but not without leaving the Senate hall with a humorous line. "Yes, I made a mistake in the bill, Your Honor. I stand erected," Amang said with an air of contrition.

BALUKTOT NA INTERPRETASYON

Ni Philip M. Lustre Jr.

(Pambungad na salita: Hindi ako magaling sa Bibliya. Mas lalong hindi ako nagmamagaling. Tulad ng ibang Cristiano, hinanap ko ang kasagutan sa ilang katanungan at agam-agam sa aking damdamin. Tama ba na suportahan ng isang Cristiano ang giyera kontra ilegal na droga at ang mga walang katapusang patayan ng mga pinaghinaaalang adik at tagatulak ng droga? Hinanap ko ang sagot. Isa si Pastor Richard Benitez ang nagbigay ng kasagutan na ikatutuwa ng aking puso at damdamin. Pakibasa na lang.)

HINDI ako komportable sa pagsuporta ng ilang alagad ng Simbahang Catolico at pastor ng mga grupong Cristiano sa maramihang pagpaslang ng mga adik at pinaghinalaang tagatulak ng ilegal na droga Hindi ako makapaniwala sa kanilang paninindigan na sumusuporta sa bigong digmaan kontra droga ng gobyernong Duterte.

Magkasalungat ang mga aral ng Simbahang Catolico at mga grupong Cristiano sa bigong giyera kontra droga. Itinuturo ng Simbahang Katoliko at grupong Cristiano ang pagmamahal sa kapwa at pagbibigay suporta at tulong sa mga kapus-palad. Hhindi tugma ang mga aral at doktrina sa malawakang pagpatay sa mga pinaghihinalaang adik at tagatulak ng droga. Hindi magkatugma ang mahalin ang kapwa habang may pinupuksa ang mga tao na ang tanging batayan ay pinaghihinalaang silang sangkot sa ilegal na droga. Hindi ako pumapayag na patayin na mistulang mga manok at baboy batay lamang sa hinala.

Tinanong ko si Richard Benitez, isang pastor ng Gospel of Grace Baptist Church tungkol sa paninindigan ng mga konserbatibong alagad ng Simbahan at grupong Cristiano sa giyera kontra droga. Tahasan niyang sinabi na umuugat ang suliranin sa baluktot ng interpretasyon ng Bibliya. Nababatay sa Bibliya ang maraming aral ng mga grupong Kristiyano. Ito ang dahilan kaya tinagurian silang Christian fundamentalist.

Ayon kay Pastor Richard, umuugat ng isyu sa Romans 13:1-7 na may talata tungkol sa katapatan ng mga nasasakupan at mga umuugit ng pamahalaan. Ito ang sabi ng Bibliya:

13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Mukhang literal ang unawa ng mga ilang Catolico at Cristiano sa mga nabanggit ng berso ng Bbliya, ani Pastor Richard. May konteksto itong mga berso ng Bibliya, aniya. Hindi ito maaaring lubos-lubusang tanggapin at sundin ng sinumang Catolico at Cristiano. Hindi ito nangangahulugan na pagsunod sa mga lider ng isang pamahalaan na mapang-api at abusado. Hindi ito berso para sundin ang mga gobyerno na kumikitil sa mismong mga mamamayan.

Ipinaliwanag ni Pastor Richard na ang awtoridad ay hindi ang mga Romano kundi ang mga taong simbahan (o sinagoga) na pinagkanlungan ng mga naunang Cristiano at Hudyo. Sang-ayon sa pastor, iminungkahi ni Pablo, ang alagad n Hesukristo na sumulat ng berso, na sumunod sa batas ng Hudyo ang mga naunang Cristiano at Hudyo kahit na nasa Roma sila. Magkaiba ang batas ng Hudyo at batas ng mga Romano. Itinuturing ang batas ng Husyo na mas mataas sapagkat kinilala ito bilang batas na mula sa langit at sugo ng Dios ang mga alagad ng simbahan at sinagoga.

Isa itong bagay na hindi nauunawan ng mga alagad ng Simbahang Catolico at mga pastor ng iba’t-ibang Christian ministry. Ang buong akala nila nila ay marapat sumang-ayon sa isang gobyernong mapaniil. Ginawa pa nilang basehan ang mga talata sa pikit-matang pagsunod sa gobyerno ni Rodrigo Duterte at pagsang-ayon at suporta sa walang habas na patayan sa ilalim ng bigong giyera kontra droga.

Para kay Pastor Richard Benitez, walang basehan sa Bibliya ang pagsuporta sa giyera kontra ilegal na droga. Marapat lamang itakwil at kondenahin ang bigong giyera na nagduot lamang ng kasawian sa maraming magulang, kaanak, at kaibigan ng mga biktima.

Ayon kay Cesar Evangelista Buendia, isang kaibigan at kapwa netizen: “Show me a Christian, who in spite of knowing Duterte is a killer, still supports him and I’ll show you a fake Christian.” 

OPINION WRITING IN MODERN-DAY ERA

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

THE late Teodoro Valencia, an apologist of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, once wrote in his daily column in the martial law Daily Express newspaper that it was easy to write opinion pieces. He was correct.

During the martial law era (1972-1986), Marcos allowed only three newspapers to exist. Ka Doroy, as he was intimately called during those days, had captive readers, who has to endure his bellyaching ways because his daily column was one of the very few they could read.

Had Valencia lived to this day, he would not probably say the same thing. The restoration of democracy and the subsequent reopening of the democratic space here have led to the proliferation of many dailies, which keep on competing in the proverbial marketplace of ideas.

The same thing has happened in broadcast media. Dime a dozen radio and TV commentators have appeared, providing nuggets of opinion as if they have the divine right to pontificate and legislate on which is right and appropriate for the people.

There is an excessive pomp and weirdness in the various ways they express their views.

The nontraditional media has led to the introduction of social media, a new communications platform allowing every netizen to express his views, while he ingest news and other info on a 24/7 cycle. Social media has empowered the netizens, making them a caste of opinion leaders in their own right.

A thousand flowers have bloomed and blossomed as a result of the restoration of the freedom of expression and press freedom since 1986, the year the EDSA People Power Revolution happened and toppled he Marcos dictatorship. But it is equally important to distinguish the weeds from the flowers and pluck them out as well.

In these days of social media, where everybody could be an opinion writer, it is important to distinguish the quality of sustainable opinions.

While it is indeed easy to write an opinion article, the point is that it is not easy to write and provide opinion pieces that are worth reading or hearing.

Also, it is not easy to sustain a readable opinion column. In the current democratic structure, opinion writers are too many. But opinion writers, who are worth reading, are definitely few and difficult to find.

In a rambunctious political culture like ours, it is common to see people, who pretend to be opinion writers in traditional and nontraditional media, including social media.

It is the task of every reader and netizen to discern the pretenders from the genuine.

While one is free to express his opinion in a free country like ours, it is not easy to find opinions that could be regarded as illuminating, enlightening, or even refreshing to a hungry intellect.

As every student of opinion writing says, a reader may read an opinion writer on the first day he sees him on the pages of a newspaper. But he won’t read him the next day, if he finds him boring and obnoxious.

The same thing happens to an equally obnoxious but opinionated netizen in social media.

Opinion writing belongs to the beyond the news genre. Opinions usually follow published or aired news. While it constitutes the reaction to published or aired news, an opinion is basically an evaluation, assessment, interpretation, analysis, critique, or whatever of a given news or issue.

Opinion writers and commentators, whether in traditional or social media, lead in molding public opinion on certain issues. But it is wrong to conclude that their opinions constitute public opinion. What they write are their personal opinions, which are hardly representative of public opinion.

Public opinion is composed of many voices flowing in a single stream. It could be the personal voices of ordinary citizens, or the collective opinions of community and political leaders. Or it could also be the voices coming from various sectors and institutions – the Church, Congress, judiciary, civil society, labor, youth, peasant, among others.

Please don't forget social media. The opinions expressed in social networking sites like Facebook, Twitters, Instagram, among others, also constitute public opinion.

When all these voices flow in a single stream, we see the creation of public opinion. It has its own dynamics. The varying voices could cascade into a single stream to mold public opinions.

Gauging the formation of public opinion is a matter of gut feel. It does not have a complete science, although it could be discerned by the numerous voices coming out from various people, sectors, and institutions on a given issue at a given time.

Competent opinion writers and netizens become opinion leaders in their own right as they guide the public in molding public opinion through their opinion pieces.

Readers and netizens could judge competent and qualified opinion writers by the clarity of thought, strength of argument, sense of objectivity, and specific vantage point which they assume as they explain the burning issues of the day.

Competent opinion writers and opinionated netizens comment on events that have happened or about to happen. They don’t write on something hypothetical or speculative in nature. In short, they do not dignify speculations nor treat them as real.

Also, they do not pretend to be knowledgeable about certain issues. While they could be maverick in their views, cold and hard boiled in presenting issues, or passionate in advancing their advocacy, they are humble on issues they hardly know.

In short, competent opinion writers are rare. What we see on the horizon are pretenders, or apologists of certain vested interests, who hardly speak with the passion, tone, timbre, and logic of a genuine opinion leader.

TRIBUTE TO SONNY ALVAREZ: ‘HEHE’ IS OUR MAN

By Philip M. Lustre Jr. 

POLITICAL journalists called him “Hehe.” Pampango-speaking journalists called him “Labul” (wind) or “Malabul) (windy). They were not labels of disrespect, derision, and disdain. They were unofficial conferment of irreverence that bordered on insanity, endearment and fondness – all combined although not exactly in that order.

Journalists are basically irreverent. They have a hard time giving respect, much less submission, to authority or anybody who stands for it. They are creatures of hard-boiled cynicism. A journalist who sugar coats the words that come out from his pen is a failed journalist.

Heherson T. Alvarez, freedom fighter, political activist, senator and Cabinet secretary, champion of agrarian reform, and climate change advocate, has earned the unsavory epithets. Why not Throughout his public life, Heherson Alvarez, or Sonny to friends and foes alike, always came out flamboyant and flashy with his politics and advocacy, but impeccably precise and brilliantly swinging.

I came to know Sonny Alvarez, when I covered for the defunct Philippine Daily Globe newspaper the 8th Congress, particularly the Senate, which was formed after the Feb. 7, 1987 ratification of the Constitution. True to her promise, President Cory Aquino immediately called sometime in May the elections of lawmakers who would comprise the first post-Marcos Congress.

The creation of a new Congress was among the series of moves Cory Aquino took to establish a constitutional government replacing the Marcos dictatorship. The elections took place without many hitches. To my recollection, Sonny Alvarez came out brilliantly swinging, as he placed 8th of the 24 senators, who composed the first post-Marcos Senate.

Since I was a daily fixture when I pounded the Senate beat for my newspaper, Sonny Alvarez went out of his way to introduce himself. Senators had to establish rapport with the working press to convey their messages to our people. We function as their link to the people.

Cleverly dressed in his business suit shortly before the opening of the plenary session, Sonny approached me in the press box, introduced himself, and offered his hand in a gesture of goodwill. I gladly obliged with a handshake and big smile, but not without taking my own sweet way to establish rapport with him. I told him I knew him since way, way back when he was a delegate of the 1971 Constitutional Convention that drafted the 1973 Constitution.

That was in 1971. I was a college freshman in a big university when I watched the debate between him and Salvador Britannico, a fellow delegate in the Convention, in the university theater. The debate was about the U.S. military bases in the Philippines, which were controversial because of the abuses allegedly committed by U.S servicemen here. Besides, they symbolized U.S. imperialism, which during those days was a dirty phrase.

I told Sonny how he argued vigorously for the dismantling of the American bases in our country. I did not know that I struck a soft spot in his heart. Why not? Sonny, wife Cecilia Gudote, and children Hexilon and Hexilia just returned to the Philippines from political exile since 1972 in the U. S. They returned after 14 years of absence immediately after the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that toppled the detested Marcos dictatorship. Cory Aquino subsequently named him secretary of agrarian reform in the revolutionary government that replaced the Marcos dictatorship.

Those days, few people remembered Sonny and Cecille, an accomplished advocate of the performing arts, particularly the theater. They were reacquainting with the Philippines and its people. They were in process of reestablishing new connections. How a 33-year old journalist came to know him was a pleasant surprise, or even a serendipity for Sonny. He did not expect it. I surprised him with my repartee.

The get-to-know-you meeting was followed by more intimate meetings, where, along with other Senate beat reporters, interviewed him on a variety of issues. In one of those dinners he hosted for journalists, Sonny Alvarez took pleasure to explain that the period prior to the 1972 declaration of martial law era was among the best years of his life.

He fought the looming dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and his abuses, arguing before the Convention the inclusion of a transitory provision that would ban Ferdinand and wife Imelda from running for president in 1973. He also called for the dismantling of U.S. bases here. To end the issue of feudalism that beset the country during those days. Sonny Alvarez called for the redistribution of those big parcels of land to the landless tenants. It was an advocacy that he brought to the Senate when he became a lawmaker.

Sonny Alvarez recalled how he was invited by various student organizations and groups to speak on many issues during those days. Charismatic, handsome, and dashing, Sonny was the darling of the students and young intellectuals, as the country had the intellectual ferment of his era. Political activism was on an upswing. He was part of it.

Ferdinand Marcos answered the simmering tempest of those days with his own “revolution” – a counterfeit one as described by some quarters and historians. On Sept. 21, 1972, Marcos declared martial law not to meet the brewing communist insurgency, which he claimed was part of his “democratic revolution,” but to perpetuate himself in power. Sonny and wife Cecille escaped to the U.S., tricking the Marcos minions, who were then hot on their tracks.

Although Sonny and Cecille were engaged to get married, the couple had to advance their wedding schedule because of the exigencies of those days. Shortly before they left for the States, they did what is called “matrimonio de consciencia,” or marriage by conscience, where a couple gets married without proper documentation. The bells did not toll when they got married in a midnight rite officiated by a priest, who was their personal friend. It was an emergency marriage.

Incidentally, Sonny Alvarez was one of the very few, who refused to sign the 1973 Constitution. He was correct. That constitution became the constitution of the Marcos dictatorship. Had he signed it, his name would be regarded as one of the villains in history.

Sonny and Cecille lived together just like any married couple in the States. But they were political exiles. Like the other exiles, they were hounded by Marcos and his ilk there. In the interregnum between 1972 and 1986, Sonny Alvarez, along with fellow exile Raul Manglapus, led the U.S.-based political opposition to the Marcos dictatorship. They did lobbying works, informing the American public and U.S lawmakers about the conditions in the Philippines and the excesses of the Marcoses, and influencing their decisions when the issue of military aid was taken in the U.S. Congress.

Sonny Alvarez told me several secrets about the other Filipinos, who either migrated or worked in the U.S. The late former Manila Mayor Antonio Villegas, who left for the States after his defeat in 1971 to become a successful real estate agent there was “a complete asshole,” who avoided Filipino oppositionists like lepers. It was all for Yeba, his nickname, Sonny said with an air of disdain and derision. He did nothing but to enrich himself there. He was so filthy rich and comfortable to the point that he did not care for the Filipinos back home, he said.

The late Rafael Salas, the alleged technocrat and executive secretary, who left Marcos in 1969 to join the United Nations, was a “coward.” In two or three times they met to solicit support for the U.S. political opposition, or possibly join their ranks, Paeng Salas never gave any semblance of support; he never gave any commitment. When they met at certain rendezvous, Paeng Salas was nervous to the point of being paranoid. He was afraid that some agents of Marcos had tailed him. “Nerbiyoso iyon,” he said.

Ninoy Aquino, who went to the U.S. as an exile, and wife Cory took a liking of Sonny Alvarez. They worked together in the fight against the Marcos dictatorship. Because he was younger and more energetic, Sonny Alvarez served as sort of Ninoy Aquino’s secretary and assistant, although it was never officially conferred. Sonny Alvarez claimed Cory Aquino liked him because he did the laundry of his clothes when he stayed with them in their house in Boston. "Hindi ko siya pinaglaba ng mga damit ko," he said.

Cory Aquino did not like the idea that she did the laundry of the clothes of some compatriots when they were in the Aquinos’ house. She did not forget them when she became president. Yes, Sonny gave the names of abusive transients in the Aquinos’ abode in Boston. Not one of them got any appointment in her government. The Alvarez family went home soon after the EDSA People Revolution.

Essentially, each senator stood for specific advocacy or vision and mission in their incumbency. For his part, Sonny Alvarez fought for agrarian reform. He was the principal author of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, the landmark legislation that seeks to break the farmers’ bondage to the soil. For three or four months, Sonny Alvarez stood on the Senate floor to defend and push for enactment of the omnibus law.

He also chaired inquiries “in aid of legislation” of several issues notably the scandal on the sale of pieces of lands for agrarian reform. It was a scandal that led to the resignations of key officials of the Department of Agrarian Reform. It was discovered in the inquiry that the lands acquired by the government for farmers were in the mountains, and ergo, were not arable for farming.

But what surprises me until this day was his unusual capacity for marathon public hearings. Sonny chaired public hearings that lasted for seven or eight hours each. Yet, he came out of the public hearings with sufficient summations of the major points raised in the congressional inquiries. I did not see any other senator who could hold public hearings that last for eight hours. Sonny Alvarez was exceptional for his staying power in those punishing public heaings.

Sonny Alvarez was always vocal of his views regarding his colleagues in the 8th Congress. Jovito Salonga was a picture of moral rectitude, while Sotero Laurel was the man of the world, who knew dancing, singing, and practically everything about being human. He did not like Erap Estrada, as he described his Senate seat as" almost vacant."

He held the two lady senators - Letty Shahani and Santanina Rasul - in esteem and respect, but reserved unsavory remarks about Ernie Maceda, whom he regarded as too astute and political. I once saw him arguing bellicosely with Rene Saguisag on a matter of diverging opinions. No, he did not hold high opinion for Orly Mercado, but liked Tito Guingona for his fierce stand on graft in government.

In 1995, Sonny Alvarez and I went to Tahiti, one of the main islands in French Polynesia, to witness the protests of the Pacific Islanders on the underwater tests of France’s nuclear weapons. He talked to some local leaders there, while I did the news coverage. The news articles I wrote were carried by several newspapers here. By that time, Sonny Alvarez has opened a new vista for advocacy: climate change. It was an advocacy that he has carried until his death.

We stayed five days in that exotic island populated by seafaring Polynesians, who were said to have come from the Philippines and Indonesia. It was a time to know him better as we stayed together. We talked a lot of subjects during that brief sojourn, particularly his life as exile in the States and a sidekick of Ninoy Aquino in the States.

Going back to the opening paragraph of this tribute, irreverent journalists called him “Hehe,” not to laugh at him but to pay tribute to his parents, who coined He-Her-Son as the name of their son. It was unique; his parents were even ahead of the time. Hehe was the abbreviated form of his first name.

Journalists with Pampango roots could not help but notice his bravado when he came out with those astounding pronouncements. He could steal the thunder, so to speak. His statement usually come like gusts of a strong wind.

Farewell, Sonny, my friend. I feel sad that we did not have the chance to talk to each other over the last few years. But this is life at its purest. See you in some other time.

INDUSTRIAL PEACE?

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

CAN the private firm’s preference for members of a particular religious sect be considered a form of discrimination in its employment of workers?

Yes, I raised this question in a media forum, where newsmakers and other news sources explain their sides on nagging issues confronting the nation.

Although I did not mention the religious sect, it was obvious I was referring to the Iglesia ni Cristo, the members of which are usually the preferred employees of several firms, notable of which is the SM chain of malls nationwide.

My question perked up Daniel Edralin, a prominent labor leader in the hotel industry, who acknowledged that the SM’s chain of malls has provided INC members with regular employment and income.

Edralin did not directly answer my question but he took pains to lay down the premises, as he dispassionately explained the circumstances for SM’s perceptible preference of INC members to comprise the main bulk of its workforce.

According to him, SM keeps on employing INC members because of their docile, uncomplaining attitude towards top management and terms of their employment. Influenced by their leaders, INC members believe it is against their religious doctrines to complain against their employers and even the terms of their employment.

This is a reason contractualization continues to thrive in private firms like SM, Edralin said, as he stressed the prevalence there of “endo,” or “end of contract,” where employees, although they do core functions, are contractual workers, whose employment is good for only five months.

Edralin said SM hires those INC members mainly for pragmatic purposes. This is to prevent SM workers to form unions or groups that would oppose contractualization, or the “endo system.”

Under the Labor Code, workers in a particular firm are required to hold elections through secret balloting to determine whether or not they want to form a labor union. It requires a simple majority, or 50 percent plus one of all cast votes to create a labor union, Edralin said.

Knowing that INC members would not vote to join labor unions because it is against their religious doctrines, SM has indeed taken a preference for SM members in the recruitment of its working staff, Edralin said.

It could be viewed as a form of discrimination, but the problem is that no particular workers have come out in the open to lodge a protest against SM before any legitimate forum, Edralin said.

In so many words, Edralin confirmed that such preference could be a form of discrimination, although he did not categorically said it was indeed illegal. In the absence of any jurisprudence on the issue, the conclusion of its illegality could not be drawn.

I am not particular about provision of the Labor Code particularly on the provisions that speak of constitutes discrimination in employment. 😳😳😳

'GOD SEES THE TRUTH BUT WAITS'

By Philip M. Lustre Jr. 

THAT day - Oct. 4, 2017 - is clearly etched in my memory. It was a televised public hearing at the Senate. It was supposed to be a public hearing on the proliferation of fake news, but Grace Poe, the pretentious but underachieving senator, went out of bounce by openly praising RJ Nieto, the pro-government blogger who goes by the mocking name "Thinking Pinoy" (or Stinking Pinoy), for his "excellent research" and "neutrality."

Grace Poe is not known for sarcasm. She does not possess the intellectual savvy and sophistication to grasp the magic of words. A former preschool teacher, Grace Poe appears to have developed quite a limited range of ways to express her equally limited thoughts. Her words could be therefore construed as her views of the world. They hardly elicit any enigma, or stimulate the deeper recesses of the intellect. She is no intellectual. Mababaw, as we say it in Tagalog.

“You know we may or may not agree with you. But if there’s anything, you do excellent research and that’s the truth. You do excellent research – sometimes against us, sometimes for us,” Poe said. Poe, who chaired the Senate committee on public information, held three public hearings on fake news. But they resulted in zero accomplishment. They were not in aid of legislation as earter bruited about; they were in aid of her reelection, as he won in 2019 midterm elections.

At one point, RJ Nieto, or Stinking Pinoy, did not lose the air of a braggadocio. The windbag Nieto said the monthly retainer fee of P12,000 he received those days from the Department of Foreign Affairs as "consultant" was just a "pittance." "Kulang pang pantaksi," he said to confirm that he did not drive. He soared a little higher by saying "the DFA needs me more than I need them."

His ego trip did not end there. "Hindi po ako nagyayabang (I'm not bragging), I have 700,000 followers, and my engagement is equal to about Inquirer plus Rappler, my engagement on Facebook, and I basically want to lend my platform so that we can reach out easier to OFWs." It was his way to say he was being paid for his blogs and that makes him mercenary. He openly bragged he had more readers than the Philippine Daily Inquirer. I could only puke at the pontifications of this asshole. Saksakan ng hangin. Punong-puno ng kayabangan ang katawan.

Why not? They were sitting on top of the world during those halcyon days. In their obfuscated views, they would never go wrong. Even Rodrigo Duterte owes his political victory in 2016 to their skillful manipulations of public opinion. These pro-government bloggers even thought they were God's gift to Philippine politics. They thought they could do anything and everything they wanted and put in Malacanang whoever they would fancy and support.

Then, the world of those pro-government bloggers has started to cave in. The institution of fact checks in 2018 is among the first in a series of blows that have clipped their wings. Fact checking has enabled major media institutions to conduct probes on the authenticity of facts and veracity of their blogs and claims. Hence, the likes of media entities like rappler.com, VeraFiles, and Agence France Presse have been empowered to declare "FAKE" (in big bold letters) whenever these pro-government bloggers come out with fake news. Mocha was among the first victims of fake checks.

No, we did not need the intellectually challenged Grace Poe to tell us how to discern fake news and what to do with them. She is a fraud and has remained useless (until now) for the Filipino people.

The world of those pro-government bloggers, who have become specialists in fake news, has further caved in when social networking sites like Facebook have taken down en masse websites of fake news and fake accounts. The cleansing process has defanged pro-government entities whose business was mainly to come with every conceivable fake news to fool the world. Suddenly, they have become toothless and powerless. Where before they were the proverbial hunters, they have become the hunted and dispossessed.

Those pro-government bloggers have suddenly become irrelevant. They are no longer in the mainstream. They have been relegated to the fringes. Modern technology has its ways of correcting itself of its mistakes and excesses. In the 2019 midterm elections, those pro-government bloggers hardly played a role. It was Comelec which did the magic in its seven hour glitch where fake senators won.

Still, I am reminded by the title of Leo Tolstoy's classic short story: "God Sees the Truth But Waits." 😧😧😧