There's an interesting column by Neal Cruz in the Philippine Daily Inquirer regarding the Barangay and SK elections and I could not agree more. The Barangay and SK elections have become a breeding ground for corruption.
We all agree that the barangay is the basic unit of a community and the youth should have a voice in nation building but the earnest move to formalize their contributions to nation building by making them elective seems to have backfired. We cannot fault the author of the Local Government Code, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, because he could not have predicted what is happening now at the time he wrote the law.
Having a voice in nation building however does not mean we have to put a lot of layers into our electoral process. It not only adds confusion, it is costly as well. In order to put the importance of barangay officials in its proper perspective, let us keep in mind of what the role is of the local elective officials including the elective barangay officials. Primarily, they are elected to make and implement laws to promote order in our municipality and to contribute to the process of nation building. What law can the barangay make that otherwise could not be done by local Sangguniang Bayan or what law cannot be implemented by the Mayor that the barangay can? Did we not elect our Mayor and the members of the Sangguniang Bayan basically to manage the affairs of the town and direct the implementation of local and national policies?
According to Section 384 of the Local Government Code, "the barangay serves as the primary planning and implementing unit of government policies, plans, programs, projects, and activities in the community, and as a forum wherein the collective views of the people may be expressed, crystallized and considered, and where disputes may be amicably settled."
With this provision in mind, is the spirit of the law really followed in our case? Basically what the law says is that everything must emanate from the barangay and in my own understanding, the mayor and the local SB will have to consult with the Sangguniang Barangay on any plans the barangay has. I doubt if this is being followed in our town or in any other town in our province.
As for the SK, I don't have to say much about this because it is quite obvious that the SK hasn't done much for the welfare of our youth. All they ever do is sponsor basketball tournaments and nothing else. This concept is such a waste of money. One more thing, as Neal Cruz said, it has become a breeding ground for corruption. We are damaging the future of our youth by encouraging them to start the practice of vote buying at such an early age. Even the most unqualified may become an SK Federation Chairman as long as he or his family can afford to buy votes to ensure a seat in the local Sangguniang Bayan.
Are these practices contributory to nation building? I don't think so.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Beachwalks and other musings...
I find it really envigorating to take a walk along the beach on early mornings. This morning, I took a walk along Baybay to get a whiff of fresh air and exercise my weary bones and muscles at the same time. You see, I am trying to get my weight down per advise by my doctor. The water level was already very high considering that the tide wasn't still at its highest. It is really interesting to watch the water come in from the river. I noticed this as I passed by the bridge where the Irriberri fishpond used to be. The water looked really green and one would think that it came from a clean river. I tried to suspend reality at that moment. I was tempted to take my shoes off and jump off the bridge but I controlled myself.
The sight of water rushing in from the river reminded me of my childhood days when we used to jump off the bridge at Casa. Those were the days when our river was still relatively clean although you would ocassionally see some flotsam and jetsam and in those days, it didn't matter to me nor with the other kids. We just brush the debris aside, smelly or otherwise. Water is water and whenever we get the chance, and those chances were plenty, me and my friends would hie off to our river to take a swim. I learned to swim on my own at Cantilan river that's why I have nostalgic memories of this river. In fact, I almost drowned in our river because a friend of mine who didn't know how to swim tried to use me as his floatation device when a boat we were riding in capsized. I was just learning how to swim then and you can just imagine what I did to stay afloat. It was a good thing my friend was able to grab on to something and that saved both of us. To this day, we remain the best of friends.
I mentioned that I have nostalgic memories of our river, a river that was and still is a major transport route for our agricultural and fishing products. It pains me that when I look at our river nowadays, the landscape has totally changed. Where I used to see a river bank with trees, now I see houses on stilts and it's not a pretty sight. I really wonder how it reached to this point when Cantilan has plenty of land where the inhabitants of these houses on stilts could live. With the proliferation of these stilt houses, I can just imagine the ecological impact of this to our river. I haven't even mentioned the impact of having the Puyat Veneer Plant situated at this river. I do not personally know if the plant dumps its waste materials into our river but I can't imagine it not dumping anything into the river. These factors contribute to the slow death of our river.
Rivers are supposed to be a source of life, a place where people bathe, travel and have fun. Think of the Nile, Amazon and Yangtze, the Tigres and Euphrates were civilization started. People built settlements near rivers because of its obvious importance and here we are ignoring this important value of rivers particularly our own. What have we done to our river, I ask myself? And what can I do to help rehabilitate this very important part of our economy and history? Is it too late or can we still do something to stem the slow death of our river?
I wonder.
The sight of water rushing in from the river reminded me of my childhood days when we used to jump off the bridge at Casa. Those were the days when our river was still relatively clean although you would ocassionally see some flotsam and jetsam and in those days, it didn't matter to me nor with the other kids. We just brush the debris aside, smelly or otherwise. Water is water and whenever we get the chance, and those chances were plenty, me and my friends would hie off to our river to take a swim. I learned to swim on my own at Cantilan river that's why I have nostalgic memories of this river. In fact, I almost drowned in our river because a friend of mine who didn't know how to swim tried to use me as his floatation device when a boat we were riding in capsized. I was just learning how to swim then and you can just imagine what I did to stay afloat. It was a good thing my friend was able to grab on to something and that saved both of us. To this day, we remain the best of friends.
I mentioned that I have nostalgic memories of our river, a river that was and still is a major transport route for our agricultural and fishing products. It pains me that when I look at our river nowadays, the landscape has totally changed. Where I used to see a river bank with trees, now I see houses on stilts and it's not a pretty sight. I really wonder how it reached to this point when Cantilan has plenty of land where the inhabitants of these houses on stilts could live. With the proliferation of these stilt houses, I can just imagine the ecological impact of this to our river. I haven't even mentioned the impact of having the Puyat Veneer Plant situated at this river. I do not personally know if the plant dumps its waste materials into our river but I can't imagine it not dumping anything into the river. These factors contribute to the slow death of our river.
Rivers are supposed to be a source of life, a place where people bathe, travel and have fun. Think of the Nile, Amazon and Yangtze, the Tigres and Euphrates were civilization started. People built settlements near rivers because of its obvious importance and here we are ignoring this important value of rivers particularly our own. What have we done to our river, I ask myself? And what can I do to help rehabilitate this very important part of our economy and history? Is it too late or can we still do something to stem the slow death of our river?
I wonder.
Monday, September 24, 2007
NPA Raid of Cantilan Police Station
On Sunday, September 22, two truckloads of NPA rebels attacked the Cantilan Police Station at around 1 p.m. According to reports, there were only two policemen present when the raid happened. As soon as they arrived, the rebels started strafing the station destroying property inside the station and the office of the police chief. The gunfire lasted for roughly 15 minutes. The policemen on duty did not even have the chance to return fire considering that they were heavily outnumbered and outgunned. Both of them were wounded and one of them was supposedly treated by one of the women NPA rebels. I don't know if we were supposed to thank them for this act of magnanimity. The fate of the other cop is still not clear. He was supposed to have been airlifted to Davao.
I read a copy of the letter that purportedly came from the rebel group. It listed several "sins of ommission and commission" that members of the police department of Cantilan has supposedly done, including drug use (shabu), kutong or filching of drivers of tricycles and motorized tricycads, and crime protection. Other "sinners" included illegal loggers and they mentioned a few names. I will not mention the names of those who were mentioned in the letter in fairness to them. I have no basis of knowing whether these people really committed such "sins". What the rebels listed are mere allegations as far as I am concerned. It is up to the legal authorities to prove if these allegations are true or not.
I believe that this letter is just a smokescreen put up by the NPA. The real reason for this raid, for me, was for them to make a statement. To me, this says very boldly that they can penetrate any town in the area, that the government is ineffective in stopping them and that they can do it again. In doing this, the NPA's merely highlighted security lapses on the part of the police and the military and this is something that should be seriously looked into.
The police and the military have several questions that they should answer and these should be investigated by both of these groups or maybe even somebody independent from these groups. First, as far as the military is concerned, the question I would pose to them is: Was there a breakdown in military intelligence? Were they not able to detect movements inside the rebel group?
The rebels were supposed to have organized in Banban, Panikian, Carrascal, Surigao del Sur. If the military were on top of things, they were supposed to have detected these movements and prepared for the eventuality of an attack. However, in light of the situation in Maguindanao where the AFP have been massing their troops, there's reason to believe that the military suffers from lack of manpower. Their troops are heavily concentrated in Maguindanao and the MILF areas where war is going on. If this is true, what is the policy of the military as far as dispersing troops is concerned? In the process of heavily massing troops in Western Mindanao, aren't they exposing the rest of Mindanao or the country in general to serious security threats coming from the NPA?
As far as the police is concerned, I have a few questions. Why were there only two people on duty? In a town as big as Cantilan, how many cops are supposed to be on duty at any given time during the day? Where was the police chief when the incident happened or in the absence of the police chief, who was the highest ranking officer on duty? In light of this incident, I would also like to know how many cops are assigned on detail with the town Mayor? As far as I know, there are two cops who are assigned to provide security for the Mayor. Are these cops on a full time basis providing security for the mayor? Isn't it a little disproportionate that two cops are assigned on full detail for one person and yet only two cops were on duty last Sunday supposedly guarding the whole town of Cantilan?
These are some of the questions that I would like our authorities to answer. The answers to these questions will tell us where our security forces failed to provide us with basic security. It will also help us prepare for such attacks in case they happen again in the future, if we ever learn our lesson.
Wake up people! Do you want this to happen again? Let us condemn the act committed by the NPA and at the same time, call on our military, police and elected officials to do something to prevent such an act from happening again in the future.
I read a copy of the letter that purportedly came from the rebel group. It listed several "sins of ommission and commission" that members of the police department of Cantilan has supposedly done, including drug use (shabu), kutong or filching of drivers of tricycles and motorized tricycads, and crime protection. Other "sinners" included illegal loggers and they mentioned a few names. I will not mention the names of those who were mentioned in the letter in fairness to them. I have no basis of knowing whether these people really committed such "sins". What the rebels listed are mere allegations as far as I am concerned. It is up to the legal authorities to prove if these allegations are true or not.
I believe that this letter is just a smokescreen put up by the NPA. The real reason for this raid, for me, was for them to make a statement. To me, this says very boldly that they can penetrate any town in the area, that the government is ineffective in stopping them and that they can do it again. In doing this, the NPA's merely highlighted security lapses on the part of the police and the military and this is something that should be seriously looked into.
The police and the military have several questions that they should answer and these should be investigated by both of these groups or maybe even somebody independent from these groups. First, as far as the military is concerned, the question I would pose to them is: Was there a breakdown in military intelligence? Were they not able to detect movements inside the rebel group?
The rebels were supposed to have organized in Banban, Panikian, Carrascal, Surigao del Sur. If the military were on top of things, they were supposed to have detected these movements and prepared for the eventuality of an attack. However, in light of the situation in Maguindanao where the AFP have been massing their troops, there's reason to believe that the military suffers from lack of manpower. Their troops are heavily concentrated in Maguindanao and the MILF areas where war is going on. If this is true, what is the policy of the military as far as dispersing troops is concerned? In the process of heavily massing troops in Western Mindanao, aren't they exposing the rest of Mindanao or the country in general to serious security threats coming from the NPA?
As far as the police is concerned, I have a few questions. Why were there only two people on duty? In a town as big as Cantilan, how many cops are supposed to be on duty at any given time during the day? Where was the police chief when the incident happened or in the absence of the police chief, who was the highest ranking officer on duty? In light of this incident, I would also like to know how many cops are assigned on detail with the town Mayor? As far as I know, there are two cops who are assigned to provide security for the Mayor. Are these cops on a full time basis providing security for the mayor? Isn't it a little disproportionate that two cops are assigned on full detail for one person and yet only two cops were on duty last Sunday supposedly guarding the whole town of Cantilan?
These are some of the questions that I would like our authorities to answer. The answers to these questions will tell us where our security forces failed to provide us with basic security. It will also help us prepare for such attacks in case they happen again in the future, if we ever learn our lesson.
Wake up people! Do you want this to happen again? Let us condemn the act committed by the NPA and at the same time, call on our military, police and elected officials to do something to prevent such an act from happening again in the future.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
My thoughts for today..
My Sunday morning was almost ruined when I saw a comment in Cantilangnon's blog regarding my blog. It's not the content of the comment that I was really mad about but rather the discourteous manner of the person who made the comment. Cantilangnon's blog is a well-respected blog and people visit his blog to check the lighter and happier side of Cantilan. To the person who made the comment, it's rather bastos of you to insert a comment about my blog in Cantilangnon's blog and I believe you owe Cantilangnon an apology. If you want to make a comment about my blog, please write it here. You can write whatever you want to write. Don't ruin somebody else's blog because of my blog. Cantilangnon's blog is his own private space.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Rubout or accidental death?
Last week, the body of Rommel Miranda was found floating at the Cantilan River near our public market. His body particularly his face was reportedly bruised up and signs that he was mauled were apparent. He was also in handcuffs when his body was found. According to reports, he was supposedly arrested and handcuffed the night previous to when his dead body was found to prevent him from causing a scene at a KTV bar. Previous to this incident, the victim caused a scene at the KTV bar and since the owner did not want a repeat of the incident she called the cops. 3 cops responded to the owners call for help.
Two things come to my mind about this incident: firstly, shock that such a crime could happen to our otherwise peaceful town and secondly, that the police has not satisfactorily answered about their role in the incident.
There's a big question regarding the role that the cops played in this particular incident. According to reports, the victim ran away after the cuffs were put on him. The cops did not even attempt to pursue the victim considering that he was under police custody. If this is true that the cops did not pursue the victim when he ran away, what was their reason for not going after the victim? Is it fear that they might get into trouble for running after a defenseless man or is it just plain laziness and complacency? Either way, they are in too much trouble for not performing what they were supposed to do.
What has happened to the investigation? Up to this point, we still have to hear from the investigation supposedly being conducted by the provincial PNP.
One thing I noticed about police investigations here in our town is that there is none. Our cops are not even trained to do basic investigative work or if they are, they do not know how to do it. They wait until somebody complains before they start investigating and usually, nothing comes out of it. If there is no complaint although a crime has been committed, they do not do anything. In other words, our cops are not proactive, they are reactive. And if ever they are proactive, as in the case of this victim, they get careless.
Again, is this a case of a rubout or accidental death? Considering the way our police conduct their investigations, I wouldn't even venture a guess. I just hope that they will not try to cover up for their own kind. I also hope that if the cops who arrested the victim will be found out to be negligent in their work, sufficient punishment will be meted out to justify the death of Rommel.
I think it is about time that our police will learn a lesson that doing sloppy police work will not be rewarded. There cannot be an excuse for it especially if somebody died in the process.
Two things come to my mind about this incident: firstly, shock that such a crime could happen to our otherwise peaceful town and secondly, that the police has not satisfactorily answered about their role in the incident.
There's a big question regarding the role that the cops played in this particular incident. According to reports, the victim ran away after the cuffs were put on him. The cops did not even attempt to pursue the victim considering that he was under police custody. If this is true that the cops did not pursue the victim when he ran away, what was their reason for not going after the victim? Is it fear that they might get into trouble for running after a defenseless man or is it just plain laziness and complacency? Either way, they are in too much trouble for not performing what they were supposed to do.
What has happened to the investigation? Up to this point, we still have to hear from the investigation supposedly being conducted by the provincial PNP.
One thing I noticed about police investigations here in our town is that there is none. Our cops are not even trained to do basic investigative work or if they are, they do not know how to do it. They wait until somebody complains before they start investigating and usually, nothing comes out of it. If there is no complaint although a crime has been committed, they do not do anything. In other words, our cops are not proactive, they are reactive. And if ever they are proactive, as in the case of this victim, they get careless.
Again, is this a case of a rubout or accidental death? Considering the way our police conduct their investigations, I wouldn't even venture a guess. I just hope that they will not try to cover up for their own kind. I also hope that if the cops who arrested the victim will be found out to be negligent in their work, sufficient punishment will be meted out to justify the death of Rommel.
I think it is about time that our police will learn a lesson that doing sloppy police work will not be rewarded. There cannot be an excuse for it especially if somebody died in the process.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Polls
You probably have noticed two polls that I included in my blog. I am discontinuing this mainly because I have no experience in polling. My questions were just out of curiousity how readers will answer but without any scientific basis or methodolgy. I cannot control how the answers will come particularly if one person using different email addresses may be able to answer in the affirmative or negative twice. This is my last experiment with polling. I'll leave it to the professionals like SWS and Pulse Asia to do what they do best. Mea culpa.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
SB Cellphones
The Sangguniang Bayan is now, again, involved in a controversial issue regarding allocating for themselves cellphones for supposedly work-related use. This matter was brought to the attention of the "netizens" by karahu, a participant of the CarCanMadCarLan Discussion board. This is also currently the flavor of the week in talks among the different social circles of Cantilan after the issue of the P1.4M robbery has cooled down. The issue has been fanned some more with stories going around that one of the councilors, Mr. Modesto Yparraguirre also known as Sir Moding, is going to file a case against one of the councilors who personally took the money from the OIC Treasurer and who supposedly arrogated unto himself the authority to personally purchase the cellphones.
There are several issues that need to be addressed by the Sangguniang Bayan foremost of which is the propriety of the appropriation as correctly pointed out by another participant, popeye, of the CarCanMadCarLan discussion board. According to popeye: "kun may prebelihiyo baja, abusohan ra kan lamang maski di na kun pabor para sa munisipyo? amo pay ila pag-ingkod sa katungdanan, tagkawatan pa gajud an munisipyo nan 1.3m, hampan unahon nila an ila kaugalingon? pila ka percent nan mga tawag nila an related sa ila trabaho? uman doctor sila kay kinahanglan on-call sila pirmi?"
I agree with popeye on all of the points that he raised. Granting that there is a privilege given to the councilors on this matter, it is not a God-given right. The first thing that should have been addressed is the issue of need, as pointed out by iskolar, another member of the CarCanMadCarLan discussion board. Is there a need for the councilors to have cellphones? Let me point out what I think about this matter of need. In years past, we survived without cellphones and yet things worked out well. The cellphones came into the world within the last decade or so and only within the last five years here in Cantilan and yet in just a short span of time, the Cantilangnons are well-equipped with the it. There is even an anecdote that a mananggutay fell from a coconut tree because his cellphone rang and he had to answer it. We are probably one of the most well-connected people in the planet with our ready access to world-class communication especially also with the advent of broadband connection. Yet, even in this modern age of communication, there still is a lot of miscommunication.
Do councilors really need a cellphone to be issued to them by the LGU paid for by taxpayers money? This can be answered by looking at the volume of calls each councilor handles that are related to his or her work in comparison to the total number of calls in a given month. After getting a summary of work-related calls or texts that each councilor sends, it should be determined what percent is the work-related calls or texts to the total calls and texts that each councilor sends. This should be the basis for determining if it is justified to purchase cellphones for the councilors. Just like any equipment, the SB should then set a policy for the purchase of the cellphones. For example, if the volume of calls or texts averages between 30% to 40%, if the councilors already have existing personal cellphones, wouldn't it be prudent instead to just provide the councilors a cellphone allowance instead of buying a cellphone for each of them? If in this example the councilor does not own a cellphone, maybe the LGU can purchase the cellphone and just like any other equipment owned by the LGU, loan it to the councilor making the councilor accountable for the cellphone. When his or her term expires, he or she should turn over the cellphone to the LGU.
This should have been the right approach that the SB should have taken instead of automatically allocating cellphones for each of them two months after taking their oaths of office. This leaves a bad taste in the mouth especially since just a few weeks ago, the LGU was robbed of P1.4M.
There are more pressing matters that the council could have taken up but instead, they are losing momentum for taking causes that are detrimental to the interest of the general public. First Sipangpang and now this.
What next, dear councilors?
There are several issues that need to be addressed by the Sangguniang Bayan foremost of which is the propriety of the appropriation as correctly pointed out by another participant, popeye, of the CarCanMadCarLan discussion board. According to popeye: "kun may prebelihiyo baja, abusohan ra kan lamang maski di na kun pabor para sa munisipyo? amo pay ila pag-ingkod sa katungdanan, tagkawatan pa gajud an munisipyo nan 1.3m, hampan unahon nila an ila kaugalingon? pila ka percent nan mga tawag nila an related sa ila trabaho? uman doctor sila kay kinahanglan on-call sila pirmi?"
I agree with popeye on all of the points that he raised. Granting that there is a privilege given to the councilors on this matter, it is not a God-given right. The first thing that should have been addressed is the issue of need, as pointed out by iskolar, another member of the CarCanMadCarLan discussion board. Is there a need for the councilors to have cellphones? Let me point out what I think about this matter of need. In years past, we survived without cellphones and yet things worked out well. The cellphones came into the world within the last decade or so and only within the last five years here in Cantilan and yet in just a short span of time, the Cantilangnons are well-equipped with the it. There is even an anecdote that a mananggutay fell from a coconut tree because his cellphone rang and he had to answer it. We are probably one of the most well-connected people in the planet with our ready access to world-class communication especially also with the advent of broadband connection. Yet, even in this modern age of communication, there still is a lot of miscommunication.
Do councilors really need a cellphone to be issued to them by the LGU paid for by taxpayers money? This can be answered by looking at the volume of calls each councilor handles that are related to his or her work in comparison to the total number of calls in a given month. After getting a summary of work-related calls or texts that each councilor sends, it should be determined what percent is the work-related calls or texts to the total calls and texts that each councilor sends. This should be the basis for determining if it is justified to purchase cellphones for the councilors. Just like any equipment, the SB should then set a policy for the purchase of the cellphones. For example, if the volume of calls or texts averages between 30% to 40%, if the councilors already have existing personal cellphones, wouldn't it be prudent instead to just provide the councilors a cellphone allowance instead of buying a cellphone for each of them? If in this example the councilor does not own a cellphone, maybe the LGU can purchase the cellphone and just like any other equipment owned by the LGU, loan it to the councilor making the councilor accountable for the cellphone. When his or her term expires, he or she should turn over the cellphone to the LGU.
This should have been the right approach that the SB should have taken instead of automatically allocating cellphones for each of them two months after taking their oaths of office. This leaves a bad taste in the mouth especially since just a few weeks ago, the LGU was robbed of P1.4M.
There are more pressing matters that the council could have taken up but instead, they are losing momentum for taking causes that are detrimental to the interest of the general public. First Sipangpang and now this.
What next, dear councilors?
Friday, August 24, 2007
How do you solve a problem like mining?
Our mountains and our marine ecosystem is in serious trouble because of the rapid mining activities going on. All you have to do is look at our mountains famously known as the Red Mountain and you will know what I mean. I dread the day when instead of seeing a mountain, we will instead see a big hole in place of the mountain. I also dread the day when I couldn't buy fresh fish anymore from our markets as a result of mining.
The thing that I fear most is the destruction of our ecosystem as a result of mining. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the effects of mining on our ecosystem. Here's a very instructive document from the United Nations University which discussed the effects of opencast nickel ore mining in New Caledonia similar to what miners are doing here:
New Caledonia Experience in opencast Mining
I qoute from the document: "Compared with other mining areas elsewhere in the world, the impact of opencast hilltop mining in New Caledonia has been exceptionally severe and extensive. Large areas have been decertified by the removal of weathered overburden from plateaux and hill crests, and by the spilling and slumping of waste material down hillsides and into neighbouring valleys. It is of course almost impossible to extract the nickel ores, which occur at the base of weathering mantles up to 30 metres deep on these summit plains, without conspicuous devastation; the only way would be to excavate a crater, leaving the rim intact, and working rotationally downwards through the overburden until the richest ores were encountered, although this would be very costly."
This document is very instructive in the sense that the devastating effects of this type of mining can be reversed only if amounts can be reinvested into reforestation. It takes years however for the effects of reforestation to take root. It is also mentioned in the document that only certain species of plants may thrive on this particular terrain because of the high mineral content of the soil.
One of the most severe impacts of mining is siltation of our river systems and eventually our marine ecosystems. Tailings from mining will go down to our river systems and to Carrascal Bay and Lanuza Bay. This will slowly choke the life out of our marine ecosystem. This will also affect our tourism potential since our islands will not have white beaches anymore but instead, clay-colored beaches. Just look at the island across Hayanggabon in Claver.
So how do you solve the problem like mining? Two ways: Stop the mining activities or the government must seriously implement measures to prevent the destruction of the environment if mining must really continue.
The thing that I fear most is the destruction of our ecosystem as a result of mining. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the effects of mining on our ecosystem. Here's a very instructive document from the United Nations University which discussed the effects of opencast nickel ore mining in New Caledonia similar to what miners are doing here:
New Caledonia Experience in opencast Mining
I qoute from the document: "Compared with other mining areas elsewhere in the world, the impact of opencast hilltop mining in New Caledonia has been exceptionally severe and extensive. Large areas have been decertified by the removal of weathered overburden from plateaux and hill crests, and by the spilling and slumping of waste material down hillsides and into neighbouring valleys. It is of course almost impossible to extract the nickel ores, which occur at the base of weathering mantles up to 30 metres deep on these summit plains, without conspicuous devastation; the only way would be to excavate a crater, leaving the rim intact, and working rotationally downwards through the overburden until the richest ores were encountered, although this would be very costly."
This document is very instructive in the sense that the devastating effects of this type of mining can be reversed only if amounts can be reinvested into reforestation. It takes years however for the effects of reforestation to take root. It is also mentioned in the document that only certain species of plants may thrive on this particular terrain because of the high mineral content of the soil.
One of the most severe impacts of mining is siltation of our river systems and eventually our marine ecosystems. Tailings from mining will go down to our river systems and to Carrascal Bay and Lanuza Bay. This will slowly choke the life out of our marine ecosystem. This will also affect our tourism potential since our islands will not have white beaches anymore but instead, clay-colored beaches. Just look at the island across Hayanggabon in Claver.
So how do you solve the problem like mining? Two ways: Stop the mining activities or the government must seriously implement measures to prevent the destruction of the environment if mining must really continue.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Cantilan Fiesta
Depending on how you look at things, the recent town fiesta was either a success or another waste of resources. This has always been a problem for me: How do you measure the success of our town fiesta? Is it the number of stores that opened to sell varied items from pirated VCD's to ukay-ukay or is it the success of the different activities lined up by the LGU? Or is it simply the fact that we were able to get thru another fiesta without any serious incident happening? Or are you of that belief that our fiesta is plainly a celebration of our Blessed Mother's Assumption to Heaven?
I had the chance of walking around the vicinity of the public market to look at what the temporary stores have to offer to the public for consumption. I saw different items being hawked on temporary tents that can be easily folded up and transferred to the next town fiesta. It is amazing to see the entrepreneurial abilities of our fellow Filipinos to sell whatever the public wants but it also poses a question for me: How far can these people take their entrepreneurial abilities? Is this all they are going to do for the rest of their lives or is this just a temporary station in their lives? I cannot imagine myself doing what these transient businesses do. They are like the gypsies of Europe, nomadic and never in one place. The term gypsy, however, is also associated with crime such as theft, as stereotypical as this may sound. Wherever they go, the incidence of crime goes up. But is it true in their case? Only our police department will know the answer to this. What I saw though in the public market and the town plaza is enough to make you wonder if the LGU is exercising their regulatory powers to control these transient businesses. If they can impose fees for permanent businesses from sanitation fees to fire prevention fees, what do they impose on these temporary businesses that may prevent potential problems from occuring if they are allowed to do business here?
The first thing that came to my mind as I was walking thru the areas mentioned was the issue of sanitation. Where did these people dump their waste? With all those tents sprouting in the vicinity of the public market, was this not a public health issue that the LGU needs to seriously look into? I personally saw and smelled waste of different kinds, from the benign to the obscene. I could see plastic and all kinds of trash scattered all over the place and the putrid smell of human waste greeted me as I entered the place where the carnival was. I also saw in the public plaza clothes hanging from the trees surrounding the place. Was this not a public nuisance of the highest order? Have we regressed to being a third-rate town that we allowed this to happen? Why did our local government officials allow this to happen? Are we just content to say that they are there temporarily and that this is part of the celebration of the town fiesta? Can't we do something to change this practice? And who says celebrating the day of the Assumption is an excuse for this type of public spectacle?
If this how we measure success of the town fiesta, then we might as well change the meaning of the word success which according to the online version of the Merriam-Webster dictionary means "favorable or desired outcome".
I cannot pass judgment on the "success" of the different activities lined up by the LGU except for the event on the 14th of August which I was able to attend, the so-called Live Band Concert. It was lively, with the party-goers going at it until the wee hours of the morning. The gym, however, was a mess after the concert with puke, or as they call it in local parlance "bahug sa iro", all over the place. Overall, the "live-band concert" was a success if you go by the definition of the word in the sense that the desired outcome, which I believe was to have a good time, was achieved.
Carnivals and all kinds of different activities form part and parcel of a town fiesta celebration but the activities surrounding the fiesta should be organized around the theme of the fiesta. The judgment of the overall success will have to be gauged against the overall theme of the town fiesta. Did it achieve the desired outcome of the theme? I guess only the organizers will know once they sit down and assess the results, if they ever do that, and your guess is as good as mine.
I had the chance of walking around the vicinity of the public market to look at what the temporary stores have to offer to the public for consumption. I saw different items being hawked on temporary tents that can be easily folded up and transferred to the next town fiesta. It is amazing to see the entrepreneurial abilities of our fellow Filipinos to sell whatever the public wants but it also poses a question for me: How far can these people take their entrepreneurial abilities? Is this all they are going to do for the rest of their lives or is this just a temporary station in their lives? I cannot imagine myself doing what these transient businesses do. They are like the gypsies of Europe, nomadic and never in one place. The term gypsy, however, is also associated with crime such as theft, as stereotypical as this may sound. Wherever they go, the incidence of crime goes up. But is it true in their case? Only our police department will know the answer to this. What I saw though in the public market and the town plaza is enough to make you wonder if the LGU is exercising their regulatory powers to control these transient businesses. If they can impose fees for permanent businesses from sanitation fees to fire prevention fees, what do they impose on these temporary businesses that may prevent potential problems from occuring if they are allowed to do business here?
The first thing that came to my mind as I was walking thru the areas mentioned was the issue of sanitation. Where did these people dump their waste? With all those tents sprouting in the vicinity of the public market, was this not a public health issue that the LGU needs to seriously look into? I personally saw and smelled waste of different kinds, from the benign to the obscene. I could see plastic and all kinds of trash scattered all over the place and the putrid smell of human waste greeted me as I entered the place where the carnival was. I also saw in the public plaza clothes hanging from the trees surrounding the place. Was this not a public nuisance of the highest order? Have we regressed to being a third-rate town that we allowed this to happen? Why did our local government officials allow this to happen? Are we just content to say that they are there temporarily and that this is part of the celebration of the town fiesta? Can't we do something to change this practice? And who says celebrating the day of the Assumption is an excuse for this type of public spectacle?
If this how we measure success of the town fiesta, then we might as well change the meaning of the word success which according to the online version of the Merriam-Webster dictionary means "favorable or desired outcome".
I cannot pass judgment on the "success" of the different activities lined up by the LGU except for the event on the 14th of August which I was able to attend, the so-called Live Band Concert. It was lively, with the party-goers going at it until the wee hours of the morning. The gym, however, was a mess after the concert with puke, or as they call it in local parlance "bahug sa iro", all over the place. Overall, the "live-band concert" was a success if you go by the definition of the word in the sense that the desired outcome, which I believe was to have a good time, was achieved.
Carnivals and all kinds of different activities form part and parcel of a town fiesta celebration but the activities surrounding the fiesta should be organized around the theme of the fiesta. The judgment of the overall success will have to be gauged against the overall theme of the town fiesta. Did it achieve the desired outcome of the theme? I guess only the organizers will know once they sit down and assess the results, if they ever do that, and your guess is as good as mine.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Proposed Sipangpang Mini-Hydro Electric Power Plant
There's an ongoing battle brewing in my lovely town of Cantilan regarding a proposal by the local government council with the prodding of the town mayor, Tomasa L. Guardo for the construction of a mini-hydro electric dam in the mountain barangay of Cabangahan. The debate is centered on the capability of the LGU to manage such an economic activity considering that it cannot even profitably manage an ice plant given by former Cong. Pichay.
As a background, a few years ago, an entrepreneurial son of Cantilan and, claims he, one of the few hydro-electric engineers in the country, Engr. Godolivo Urbiztondo, Jr. made a pitch to the town mayor for a mini-hydro electric dam to help supply the power needs of Cantilan. Currently, we are sourcing our power needs from Maria Cristina Falls. As people in my town can testify, the supply of electricity in our area is not sufficient since we are experiencing drops in power that lead to many brownouts. This proposal actually came at the right time considering our present power requirement.
But as they said, the devil is the details. Please click on the shortcut to read more about the proposal. http://www.dnv.com/certification/climatechange/Upload/Sipangpang%20Falls%20Small%20Hydropower%20project.080306.pdf
As a summary, the proposal will take advantage of a grant from the Czech Republic going towards the purchase of an electro-mechanical equipment and services at a cost of $25,000. As the proposal mentioned, this will be the first of its kind in the Philippines and will be used as "model" for future projects of this kind. It also mentions that since this is a potentially low carbon-emitting project, it will be the first project of its kind in the Philippines to be selling carbon credits called CER's, in accordance with the Kyoto protocol, to augment the income of the project. Sounds lovely, isn't it? However, I am quoting a text from the proposal:
"The Project faces barriers that impede its implementation on a BAU basis. The Project is not financially attractive without income from the sale of CERs. Without such supplementary income, the Project’s IRR will be lower than the benchmark. In addition to this investment barrier, the technology to be used is also a formidable barrier to project implementation. It will be the first hydropower plant in the Philippines to use such advanced technology. Such a lack of experience with this technology could cause problems with project operation and maintenance."
Below is the financial projections of the project:
Cost of the project (in $): 1,633,851.00
Current exchange rate 45.83
Cost in pesos 74,879,391.33
Electricity tariff (in $) 0.066
Current Exchange Rate 45.83
Electricity tariff (in Pesos) 3.02
Electricity Sales in kwh 4,905,600.00
Expenses in dollars 50,208.00
Income Statement in Pesos
Income 14,838,360.77
Expenses 2,301,032.64
Net Income 12,537,328.13
IRR 16.74%
The financial projections looks really attractive but if you dig deeper, you will realize that that's all it is, projection. Many questions come to mind regarding the financial feasibility of this project, like for example where the initial capital will come from. This is where the LGU has a not-so novel proposal of borrowing the money to finance the initial investment of P75m, in fact their loan application was I believe P80M because of the exchange rate at the time of the proposal. I am not sure if the cost of borrowing is included in the expenses of the projected income statement but if you compute the cost of borrowing at say a low 5% (I'm not sure how much cost of LGU borrowings is right now), that would still amount to P4M a year in interest expenses that the project will have to pay. If you look at their expenses of P2.3M, I have a reason to believe that this was not included in the computation. This to me is a very optimistic projection considering that the cost of corruption is not included in the computation.
Another point as stated in the qualification in the project proposal, the technology that will be used in the project is the first of its kind in the Philippines. Consideration also will have to be taken of the fact that Carbon credits will be sold to augment the income of the project, the first of its kind in the Philippines according to the project proposal. Will the LGU of Cantilan be able to manage this kind of project?
I doubt it very much.
As a background, a few years ago, an entrepreneurial son of Cantilan and, claims he, one of the few hydro-electric engineers in the country, Engr. Godolivo Urbiztondo, Jr. made a pitch to the town mayor for a mini-hydro electric dam to help supply the power needs of Cantilan. Currently, we are sourcing our power needs from Maria Cristina Falls. As people in my town can testify, the supply of electricity in our area is not sufficient since we are experiencing drops in power that lead to many brownouts. This proposal actually came at the right time considering our present power requirement.
But as they said, the devil is the details. Please click on the shortcut to read more about the proposal. http://www.dnv.com/certification/climatechange/Upload/Sipangpang%20Falls%20Small%20Hydropower%20project.080306.pdf
As a summary, the proposal will take advantage of a grant from the Czech Republic going towards the purchase of an electro-mechanical equipment and services at a cost of $25,000. As the proposal mentioned, this will be the first of its kind in the Philippines and will be used as "model" for future projects of this kind. It also mentions that since this is a potentially low carbon-emitting project, it will be the first project of its kind in the Philippines to be selling carbon credits called CER's, in accordance with the Kyoto protocol, to augment the income of the project. Sounds lovely, isn't it? However, I am quoting a text from the proposal:
"The Project faces barriers that impede its implementation on a BAU basis. The Project is not financially attractive without income from the sale of CERs. Without such supplementary income, the Project’s IRR will be lower than the benchmark. In addition to this investment barrier, the technology to be used is also a formidable barrier to project implementation. It will be the first hydropower plant in the Philippines to use such advanced technology. Such a lack of experience with this technology could cause problems with project operation and maintenance."
Below is the financial projections of the project:
Cost of the project (in $): 1,633,851.00
Current exchange rate 45.83
Cost in pesos 74,879,391.33
Electricity tariff (in $) 0.066
Current Exchange Rate 45.83
Electricity tariff (in Pesos) 3.02
Electricity Sales in kwh 4,905,600.00
Expenses in dollars 50,208.00
Income Statement in Pesos
Income 14,838,360.77
Expenses 2,301,032.64
Net Income 12,537,328.13
IRR 16.74%
The financial projections looks really attractive but if you dig deeper, you will realize that that's all it is, projection. Many questions come to mind regarding the financial feasibility of this project, like for example where the initial capital will come from. This is where the LGU has a not-so novel proposal of borrowing the money to finance the initial investment of P75m, in fact their loan application was I believe P80M because of the exchange rate at the time of the proposal. I am not sure if the cost of borrowing is included in the expenses of the projected income statement but if you compute the cost of borrowing at say a low 5% (I'm not sure how much cost of LGU borrowings is right now), that would still amount to P4M a year in interest expenses that the project will have to pay. If you look at their expenses of P2.3M, I have a reason to believe that this was not included in the computation. This to me is a very optimistic projection considering that the cost of corruption is not included in the computation.
Another point as stated in the qualification in the project proposal, the technology that will be used in the project is the first of its kind in the Philippines. Consideration also will have to be taken of the fact that Carbon credits will be sold to augment the income of the project, the first of its kind in the Philippines according to the project proposal. Will the LGU of Cantilan be able to manage this kind of project?
I doubt it very much.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Poor Migz!!
I agree with Conrado de Quiros that the most honorable thing that Migz could have done is to have conceded defeat before the Maguindanao votes were counted and his political capital would have risen. It would have been statesmanlike. He's only in his 30's. Why's he in a rush? He could have created an NGO to help push the implementation of his bio-ethanol law and make him a darling of the green community and the citizens too. He's a bright guy. He could have done other things to further enhance his image since he is already in the national consciousness and at the same time do some good for the country. In other words, there are other ways of serving the country. By 2010, had he chosen to concede, he would be an unbeatable candidate for senator. Look at Al Gore. He's a winner even though he "lost" the election.
Now that he "won", he has more troubles than he could imagine. The baggage of "winning" a disputed election weighs heavily on him. He won't have a good relationship with the present senators, especially the opposition, who won fair and square. He himself admitted the difficulty of working with the present senators especially so since his victory is tainted. He will be fending against an election protest with the Senate Electoral Tribunal. Plus the citizenry, especially those 11M who voted for Koko, and the punditocracy plus the bloggers will really give him a hard time. If I were in his shoes, I don't think I would be able to stand the heat but that's me. Politicians are a different breed. Their hides are as thick as that of a rhinoceros.
It will be all fun and games for Migz. But then again, this is the Philippines. Cheaters has a tendency of getting away with it.
Now that he "won", he has more troubles than he could imagine. The baggage of "winning" a disputed election weighs heavily on him. He won't have a good relationship with the present senators, especially the opposition, who won fair and square. He himself admitted the difficulty of working with the present senators especially so since his victory is tainted. He will be fending against an election protest with the Senate Electoral Tribunal. Plus the citizenry, especially those 11M who voted for Koko, and the punditocracy plus the bloggers will really give him a hard time. If I were in his shoes, I don't think I would be able to stand the heat but that's me. Politicians are a different breed. Their hides are as thick as that of a rhinoceros.
It will be all fun and games for Migz. But then again, this is the Philippines. Cheaters has a tendency of getting away with it.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Marine Ambush
What a horrible mess! The marines who died do not deserve the way they died unless of course you are an extreme Muslim fanatic who believe that Christians are infidels and deserve to die like an ordinary animal. This will only help fuel the animosity between Christians and Muslims, which is quite unfortunate considering the never-ending quest for peace in Western Mindanao. I have to qualify that the carnage happened in Southwestern Mindanao because people who are not familiar with the island always equate the violence happening in that part of the island as true in other parts of Mindanao. Contrast this with the report that the new Abu Sayyaf is "spiritual" http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=76182. I wonder if he feels spiritual after slaughtering the 14 marines, not to mention decapitation and cutting off of the arms and the private parts of some of the dead marines. But then again, who knows what goes on inside the heads of these barbarians.
What is sad is that majority of our brother Moros (I prefer to call them the traditional way) are peace loving people. We have our share of our compatriot Moros in our town and the reason why they moved to our town is that they wanted to get away from all the violence. I just don't understand why the people who are perpetrating the violence keep on doing it. Is it in their blood? I certainly don't think it is because a sane person would almost always try to avoid violence. Is it because they feel they are being discriminated against? If this is so, the way they are going about it is certainly inviting more recriminations from the Christian majority and only perpetuates the stereotype of a Moro barbarian. If it is an independent Bangsa Moro they want, this is certainly not the way to do it since it only shows that they cannot run their own independent nation if they want to pursue violence. The experiment called the ARMM is the poster child for a "How not to Run a Nation" campaign. They also keep saying that they want the whole island of Mindanao to become the Bangsa Moro Republic which to me is out of this world considering that not all the "lumad" tribes who are the original occupants of the island are Moros. It's no small wonder that we will never find peace in Mindanao. This cannot be even compared to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because the Palestinians deserve to have their rightful claim to the land since they were the original settlers until they were driven out because of a formula imposed by the British. When will this ever end? Your guess is as good as mine. As the infamous Rodney King said: "Can't we all just get along?"
What is sad is that majority of our brother Moros (I prefer to call them the traditional way) are peace loving people. We have our share of our compatriot Moros in our town and the reason why they moved to our town is that they wanted to get away from all the violence. I just don't understand why the people who are perpetrating the violence keep on doing it. Is it in their blood? I certainly don't think it is because a sane person would almost always try to avoid violence. Is it because they feel they are being discriminated against? If this is so, the way they are going about it is certainly inviting more recriminations from the Christian majority and only perpetuates the stereotype of a Moro barbarian. If it is an independent Bangsa Moro they want, this is certainly not the way to do it since it only shows that they cannot run their own independent nation if they want to pursue violence. The experiment called the ARMM is the poster child for a "How not to Run a Nation" campaign. They also keep saying that they want the whole island of Mindanao to become the Bangsa Moro Republic which to me is out of this world considering that not all the "lumad" tribes who are the original occupants of the island are Moros. It's no small wonder that we will never find peace in Mindanao. This cannot be even compared to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because the Palestinians deserve to have their rightful claim to the land since they were the original settlers until they were driven out because of a formula imposed by the British. When will this ever end? Your guess is as good as mine. As the infamous Rodney King said: "Can't we all just get along?"
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