Happy Thanksgiving

It reads:

New home
New life
New country

It's about the 4Fs: Family, Friends, Food, and Faith

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Free Speech Needed Most When It's Wanted Least"

At the recent Tucson Meet Yourself annual gathering, October 2007

He stood there for hours into the night, making sure that as we ate good food, we did not forget about human rights.

America hot on Philippine reefs

America hot on Philippine reefs

In 2003, the world famous and at one time the largest indoor aquarium in the world, the John G. Shedd Aquarium, located in Chicago, Illinois, United States created a permanent exhibit called Wild Reef. This 750-thousand gallon Wild Reef exhibit recreates the Apo Island Marine reserve, located in Negros Oriental, Philippines. The Apo Island Marine Reserve is a model community-based marine conservation and community development program organized by the residents of Apo Island, Silliman University in Dumaguete and other supporters. The Wild Reef permanent exhibit has living coral, numerous species of fish and sharks within a 400,000 gallon (1.5 million liter) shark exhibit with twelve foot (3.6 meter) high curved windows.

See: http://www.sheddaquarium.org/sea/fact_sheets.cfm?id=111

Now, the west coast seeks to create their own coral reef exhibit focusing on the Luzon part of the country. A $400 million Philippine Coral Exhibit is being planned at the California Academy of Sciences. In case, you haven’t heard about it, here is the blurb and podcast from the San Francisco Chronicle Podcast.

There is much potential in transnational environmental activism and collaboration. Fiipinos and American-Filipinos, along with Americans, can accomplish much.

See the SF Chronicle blurb below.

Philippine sea treasures take center stage at new Cal Academy of Sciences

California Academy of Sciences Artist rendition of the new $400 million Philippine Coral Reef exhibit.

The Philippine Coral Reef off the coast of Luzon in the Philippines is considered an underwater sea treasure because of its rich diversity of marine life. Scientists say conservation of the endangered reef has ecological implications throughout the world.

So the California Academy of Sciences is creating a $400 million replica of the reef here in San Francisco.

In this Pinoy Pod podcast, The Chronicle's Michelle Louie reports on how the academy is working with scientists and researchers in the Philippines on the 212,000 gallon replica, scheduled to open in 2008 in the museum's new Golden Gate Park home.

Part 1 of a two-part podcast.

Listen: 9:07 min

(Download Audio 7.70 MB)

To read a recent story by The Chronicle's Carl Hall on the new California Academy of Sciences museum, click HERE

Posted By: Benny Evangelista (Email) | June 19 2007 at 12:01 AM

Philippine Coral Reef a source of life

California Academy of Sciences Diagram of $400 million Philippine Coral Reef project.

The California Academy of Sciences is building a $400 million model of the Philippine Coral Reef in San Francisco.

But on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, the reef -- with its abundance of marine life -- is a priceless source of daily sustenance for residents in coastal towns in the Philippines, says Malou Babilonia, co-founder of the environmental activist group Pusod.

Pusod, a Berkeley environmental education and conservation group with offices in the Philippines, is working with the California Academy on the reef replica.

California Academy of Sciences Artist rendition of new exhibit

In the second of a two-part podcast, Babilonia talks about what the reef means for residents on the coast of Batangas province, about the need to help save the reef from man-made ecological problems and how the San Francisco project will help.

She talks with The Chronicle's Michelle Louie from the Philippines about the group's weekly newspaper Balikas that covers - despite death threats -- laws and other local efforts to protect the reef.

Listen: 22:40 min

(Download Audio 13.65 MB)

For Part One, click HERE

To read a recent story by The Chronicle's Carl Hall on the new California Academy of Sciences museum, click HERE

PINOY POD COMMUNITY CALENDAR: Read More »

Posted By: Benny Evangelista (Email) | June 26 2007 at 12:01 AM

Listed Under: Asian American, Environment, Pinoy Pod | Permalink | Comments (0) : Post Comment

Listed Under: Asian American, Environment, Pinoy Pod, Science | Permalink | Comments (0) : Post Comment

Bryce Canyon, Utah

Bryce Canyon, Utah
Spring 2007

Hunting dolphins (and whales) is wrong!

Recently, a rising Hollywood actress was filmed trying to protect dolphins from being hunted by Japanese fishermen. She and conservation friends failed. The fishermen were very aggressive. As she and her conservation friends left after being threatened, they were able to film the waters turning red with the blood of the massacred dolphins.

Now, why would anyone want to kill these graceful and intelligent animals for food in this day and age? Can't an economically developed country like Japan afford to shift from dolphin and whale consumption to other sources of food that are more humane and enlightened?

The upcoming trade treaty between Japan and Philippines is worrisome because of the implications on Japanese trawlers fishing in Philippine territorial waters.

Do we really want to be party to this inhumane fishing practice?

See the graceful and friendly dolphins of Bais, Negros Oriental, Philippines.

Byahe tayo sa Pinas/Lets travel to the Philippines

Looking out of our dining room window, we can see the Catalina Mountains in Tucson with sunny blue skies. It’s an awesome sight, but it lacks one crucial aspect. Where’s the beach? Two emails I recently received stress this absence and need. One email forwards a video link on visiting the Philippines. Another, by a friend, asks about my last trip to Manila and whether I miss it already. Well Bea, looking at these ‘recently old’ videos on the Philippines, what can I say?

Check out these awesome videos.

Wow Philippines 30-second spot, April 2002

Byahe tayo, the music video. Twenty-one Filipino artists singing about the beauty of the Philippines. Great scenery shots. Video can be downloaded for free from the Philippine Department of Tourism website at http://www.wowphilippines.com.ph/index.asp.

Byahe tayo short with English subtitles

“..when the gods created a Philippine island, they liked it so much they decided to create 7,000 more….

Diving the Philippines, Palau, and Marshall Islands

Apo Island,Negros Oriental diving

Greenpeace video on Apo Island

More on military, anthropologists, and plagiarism

Last week, we noted the expose of anthropologist David Price on possible instances of plagiarism in the U.S.Army/ Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual (COIN), which was recently published by the University of Chicago Press.

The listed author, Lt. Col. John A. Nagl, a West Point graduate, Rhodes Scholar, with a PhD from Oxford, has responded to Dr. Price. His article, “Desperate People with Limited Skills", faults Dr. Price for his diatribe and says that adherence to academic writing standards is not applicable in a military manual. He writes;

"To paraphrase von Clausewitz, military Field Manuals have their own grammar and their own logic. They are not doctoral dissertations, designed to be read by few and judged largely for the quality of their sourcing; instead, they are intended for use by soldiers. Thus authors are not named, and those whose scholarship informs the manual are only credited if they are quoted extensively. This is not the academic way, but soldiers are not academics; it is my understanding that this longstanding practice in doctrine writing is well within the provisions of “fair use” copyright law."

Dr. Price immediately rebutted Lt. Col. Nagl's articl and U.S. Army spokesman Major Tom McCuin's assertion that they made several offers to anthropologists to discuss these issues. In his rebuttal Dr. Price stuck to his point that the COIN manual is being represented as an academic book by its author and the ghost writers who are anthropologists. Worse, he noted that the publication was made to deflect discussions from the Iraq debacle. He concludes with;

"If the Counterinsurgency Field Manual had remained an obscure military document, I can't imagine this exchange would be occurring. It was the Army's calculated decision to use the University of Chicago Press to try and sell the American public the notion that we could win the Iraq War based on intellectual principles, rather than shock and awe that raised the ante on claims of academic worth. If there are public claims that the Manual is a work of scholars, then the scholarship of this work needs examination, and this is precisely what my article does."

The controversy reminds me of the Tasaday Hoax in the Philippines, where an alleged stone-age group was discovered. Anthropologists and scholars immediately debunked this claim and cited the motivations of the Marcos regime to deflect criticism from his martial law regime and to control the resource competition for mining claims among his cronies. Scholars and writers who staked their academic reputation on the Tasadays-as-real were just as determined to prove it so. The saga has tarnished the reputation of anthropologists and has brought suffering to these manipulated indigenous people's group.

Back to the COIN controversy. What struck me the most though was what Lt. Col. Nagl admitted:

"When insurgencies arose in Afghanistan and in Iraq, the United States Army was unprepared to fight them..."

C4 or CR? More on the Glorietta explosion

The 19 October 2007 explosion at the Glorietta II mall owned by listed-company Ayala Land Inc. and located at the Makati Central Business District (CBD), which killed close to a dozen people and injured over 100 others, is begging for more questions. The tacky joke circulating these days is that it wasn't C4 that caused the explosion but C.R.! (CR is an acronym for comfort room, the Filipino term for restroom). Investigative teams from the Philippine government and the United States, Australia, and even Israel suggest that it may be a deadly brew of gases that caused the explosions. See US, Aussie, Israeli teams say Glorietta not bombed. Manila Standard columnists Tony Abaya and Jojo Robles have commented on the contradictory statements and initial findins between the investigative teams and Ayala Land.

My view is that Makati, and particularly the Ayala malls, have multi-layered security systems, which incorporate both formal and informal aspects. Note that nearly each building in the Makati CBD has several guards. Makati does not sleep. There are many people who could have noticed something suspicious. Entry to the Ayala mall basement is subject to rather strict security procedures, even if some say that security guards are generally ill-trained. Worse, traffic is horrendous and would make escape routes very risky. This will make even the most professional of would-be terrorists anxious (there is no such thing as personal space with all that frisking the guards do to you).

By now it should be clear whether it was a real bomb or a stink bomb that caused all that destruction.

An environmental risk assessment (ERA) specialist can easily comment on this. In any case, what did their Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) filed with the DENR state about the placement of cooking fuels tanks and wastewater treatment systems? Was there an ERA study required or done? What can their architects and engineers say about their design? I wonder what sort of environmental remediation is being done? The Ayala Land website doesn't say much.

If indeed it was a gas explosion, the liabilities Ayala faces will be significant, not counting loss of face. It's beginning to look like Ayala is between a rock and a hard place. It will be interesting how they and support groups such as Makati Business Club will act.

Anthropological plagiarism in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps new Counterinsurgency Field Manual (No. 3-24)???

I got an email alert on David Price's article in www.CounterPunch.com about David Price's expose on possible plagiarism in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps' new Counterinsurgency Field Manual (No. 3-24).

The article is very revealing. On top of the issues of ethics in using anthropological methods in counter-insurgency, war, or violence (however you want to term the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations), who would have thought plagiarism would be an issue?

See: David Price

Pilfered Scholarship Devastates Gen. Petraeus's Counterinsurgency Manual

Burma is quiet, but the world is acting/ panty power campaign

Recent update on the free Burma campaign of Avaaz.org. Avaaz, which means "voice" a transnational cause oriented and human rights NGO.

From their website:

"What Avaaz members have done so far:

789,479 petition signatures, hand-delivered to UK Prime Minister and UN Security Council member Gordon Brown. (Video here.)

$315,000 raised for the Burmese democracy movement.

33,403 emails to EU leaders urging targeted sanctions.

1,952 messages sent to Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo.

100+ protests in cities worldwide against the Burmese regime.

1 global ad campaign, including a full-page ad in the Financial Times pushing China to act.

If they haven't yet, ask friends to
sign the petition!"

There are other campaigns as well, but the one that got my attention is the Panty Power Campaign launched by women and activists exasperated by the slow progress of diplomacy on Burma. These activists believe that the Burmese generals are superstitious and culturally abhor female undergarments, whether clean or unclean. Contact with undergarments are supposed to sap males of power. "Bombing" the Burmese embassies in UK, Thailand, Australia and Singapore with panties is more an insult to the generals and symbolizes their disgust at their thuggery.

I still think that countries of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) need to do more. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo needs to step up and secure the release of those jailed, especially Aung San Suu Kyi. ASEAN should be the harbinger of human rights in Asia.

These times call for heroic leadership.

Fully solar-powered, affordable homes nearing reality

It is possible to have a fully powered solar home that is close to the costings of a "standard" built home.

Teams from twenty universities proved it and showed the world how at the recent Solar Decathlon.

Held every two years, 20 selected teams of college and university students compete in designing, building, and operating, fully functional, energy-efficient, yet aesthetically pleasing homes. The competition is held at the the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and comprises 10 contests including:

Architecture — 200 points

Engineering — 150 points

Market Viability — 150 points

Communications — 100 points

Comfort Zone — 100 points

Appliances — 100 points

Hot Water — 100 points

Lighting — 100 points

Energy Balance — 100 points

Getting Around — 100 points

This year's top three winners are:

Technische Universität Darmstadt

University of Maryland

Santa Clara University

PBS featured the Solar Decathlon last night.

Glorietta Blast, SoCal wildfires, man-made or nature's fury?

The past week hasn't been good safety-wise. In Pakistan, a suicide bomber attempting to kill former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto failed but ended up killing about 136 people and injuring over 300. The suicide bombing brings Pakistan to the brink of chaos politically. Current President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is under strong pressure from Ms. Bhutto who returned recently to discuss power sharing arrangements with Gen. Musharraf and to participate in the forthcoming January parliamentary elections.

In Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines, a strong explosion at the trendy and glitzy Glorietta II mall killed 11, injured at least 112, with three missing. There was confusion as to the cause of the explosion. Initial reports and off-the-cuff statements by police, military officers, and opportunistic politicians suggested that it was either a terroristic act or a military conspiracy.

Recent statements from investigators are downplaying the bomb scenario and are focusing on the deadly brew of methane and diesel gases from diesel tanks, septic tanks, and wastewater treatment facilities. If this is the case, what does this say of Ayala's environmental, safety, and engineering protocols? Ayala should clear this asap.

In California, close to 750,000 homes in seven counties have been ordered evacuated because of wildfires fueled by the infamous Sta. Winds and bone-dry conditions. California's fire department reports 14 active fires and three contained. About 373,000 acres, or 583 square are currently burning all over the state. In San Diego County alone 346,000 homes have been ordered evacuated. Over a 1,300 homes and structures have burned down. There are two reported fatalities, and dozens of injuries. The wildfires are not going to die down anytime soon. One friend emailed from San Diego saying that she could see the fires from her son's bedroom. There are reports of fires jumping the ten-lane Insterstate 15 highway.

Our prayers go out to all those killed, injured, who've lost their homes and businesses and to their suffering families.

I can't help but think though if better planning, a focus on security, attention to environmental impact issues, and a genuine concern for the community or stakeholders might have prevented or minimized the destruction and injury.

Marshall Sahlins and more on Anthropologists go to war

Marshall Sahlins addresses the call for a more updated discussion on anthropologists and Iraq/Afghanistan in his letter to NYT. See the link below, which was forwarded to the e-anth listserve.

http://savageminds.org/2007/10/11/marshall-sahlins-on-anthropologists-in-iraq/

The incident he was talking about can be found here: U.S. Guards Kill 2 Iraqi Women in New Shooting - New York Times

(an open letter to the New York Times)

To the Editor:

The report (Oct.11) of the killing of two Iraqi women by hired guns of the State Department whose mission was “to improve local government and democratic institutions” bears an interesting relation to the story of a few days earlier about the collaboration of anthropologists in just such imperious interventions in other peoples’ existence in the interest of extending American power around the world. It seems only pathetic that some anthropologists would criticize their colleagues’ participation in such adventures on grounds of their own disciplinary self-interest, complaining that now they will not be able to do fieldwork because the local people will suspect them of being spies. What about the victims of these militarily-backed intrusions, designed to prescribe how others should organize their lives at the constant risk of losing them? What is as incredible as it is reprehensible is that anthropologists should be engaged in such projects of cultural domination, that is, as willing collaborators in the forceful imposition of American values and governmental forms on people who have long known how to maintain and cherish their own ways of life.

Of course, these collaborating anthropologists have the sense that they are doing good and being good. I am reminded of a cartoon I saw years ago, I think it was in the Saturday Review of Literature, which shows two hooded executioners leaning on their long-handled axes, and one says to the other: “The way I see it, if I didn’t do this, some sonovabitch would get the job.”

Marshall Sahlins

______

My last comment is this:

Let us again remind ourselves of the consequences of the Iraq war. Per Deborah White, as of September 23, 2007:

US SPENDING IN IRAQ- About $600 billion of US taxpayers' funds

• Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq - $390,000 (Congressional Research Service)
• Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq - $9 billion of US taxpayers' money
• per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.
• Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq - $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings
• Number of major U.S. bases in Iraq - 75 (The Nation/New York Times)

TROOPS IN IRAQ

• Iraqi Troops Trained and Able to Function Independent of U.S. Forces - 6,000 as of May 2007 (per NBC's "Meet the Press" on May 20, 2007)
• Troops in Iraq - Total 179,779, including 168,000 from the US, 5,00 from the UK, 1,200 from South Korea and 5,579 from all other nations
• US Troop Casualities - 3,800 US troops; 98% male. 90% non-officers; 80% active duty, 12% National Guard; 74% Caucasian, 10% African-American, 11% Latino. 18% killed by non-hostile causes. 51% of US casualties were under 25 years old. 70% were from the US Army
• Non-US Troop Casualties - Total 300, with 169 from the UK
• US Troops Wounded - 27,936, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries (total excludes psychological injuries)
• US Troops with Serious Mental Health Problems 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home

IRAQI TROOPS, CIVILIANS & OTHERS IN IRAQ

• Private Contractors in Iraq, Working in Support of US Army Troops - More than 180,000 in August 2007, per The Nation/LA Times.
• Journalists killed - 112, 74 by murder and 38 by acts of war
• Journalists killed by US Forces - 14
• Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed - 7,460
• Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated - A UN issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian casualties have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualties at over 600,000.
• Iraqi Insurgents Killed, Roughly Estimated - 55,000
• Non-Iraqi Contractors and Civilian Workers Killed - 539
• Non-Iraqi Kidnapped - 305, including 54 killed, 147 released, 4 escaped, 6 rescued and 94 status unknown.
• Daily Insurgent Attacks, Feb 2004 - 14
• Daily Insurgent Attacks, July 2005 - 70
• Daily Insurgent Attacks, May 2007 - 163
• Estimated Insurgency Strength, Nov 2003 - 15,000
• Estimated Insurgency Strength, Oct 2006 - 20,000 - 30,000
• Estimated Insurgency Strength, June 2007 - 70,000

QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS

• Iraqis Displaced Inside Iraq, by Iraq War, as of May 2007 - 2,135,000
• Iraqi Refugees in Syria & Jordan - 1.3 million to 1.75 million
• Iraqi Unemployment Rate - 27 to 60%, where curfew not in effect
• Consumer Price Inflation in 2006 - 50%
• Iraqi Children Suffering from Chronic Malnutrition - 28% in June 2007 (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)
• Percent of professionals who have left Iraq since 2003 - 40%
• Iraqi Physicians Before 2003 Invasion - 34,000
• Iraqi Physicians Who Have Left Iraq Since 2005 Invasion - 12,000
• Iraqi Physicians Murdered Since 2003 Invasion - 2,000
• Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity - 1 to 2 hours, per Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (Per Los Angeles Times, July 27, 2007)
• Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity - 10.9 in May 2007
• Average Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 5.6 in May 2007
• Pre-War Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 16 to 24
• Number of Iraqi Homes Connected to Sewer Systems - 37%
• Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies - 70% (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)
• Water Treatment Plants Rehabilitated - 22%

RESULTS OF POLL Taken in Iraq in August 2005 by the British Ministry of Defense (Source: Brookings Institute)

• Iraqis "strongly opposed to presence of coalition troops - 82%
• Iraqis who believe Coalition forces are responsible for any improvement in security - less than 1%
• Iraqis who feel less secure because of the occupation - 67%
• Iraqis who do not have confidence in multi-national forces - 72%
  

Other sources:

Iraq War Results & Statistics as of Sept 23, 2007,

Casualties in Iraq - 2007,

War with Iraq Sources

Iraq War Casualties - FCNL Issues

Brookings Institute’s Most Recent Iraq Index PDF

Anthropologists working for the military imply engagement with the military as an institution. The operative word is engagement. In this context, one end goal of the anthropologist should be to influence policy, vision, goals, and objectives of the institution. Are anthropologists really in a position to do so?

What aspect of the statistics shown above are they working on and hoping to achieve? What part of it includes studying culture, society, and humanity without compromising the interests of your subjects?

Are they really doing applied anthropology? Or are they using applied anthropology methods and perspectives in counter-insurgency operations? Someone noted to me that in a free country, anyone including anthropologists, can express their opinion and choose their employer. That is correct, but semantically, are they applied anthropologists or just counter-insurgency specialists or even- soldiers? Let us get our semantics right.

Another black mark on mining in the Philippines

Read When governance fails: Murder in the island - 10/05/07

This is about the October 3, 2007 murder of World Wildlife Fund community organizer and farm supervisor as well as Sibuyan, Romblon Municipal Councilor, Armin Marin during a confrontation between staff and security personnel of a mining consortium and environmentalists/mining oppositionists. Check out the YouTube tribute to him and sign on the online petition to ban mining in Sibuyan Island at:

http://magdiwangromblon.blogspot.com/.

Councilor Marin is the 23rd environmental activist to be killed in the Philippines since 2001 according to Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE).

There are some revealing information on the web. Among the interesting ones are the following:

1. The mining rights have been sold to one corporation after another, mostly foreign. Nothing irregular here, except that the current mining rights or lease holder has already paid a premium and will definitely want a good ROI. Note also that some of these mining companies are publicly listed so they have to produce a profit for their shareholders, no matter what. See the following blogs written by Romblon locals:

Sibuyan Aton Manggad

http://bunsurancaravan.blogspot.com/

2. The ECC was for small scale mining. The permit to cut trees indicate massive tree cutting and site development. See

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14260687@N03/

The ECC should have been for large scale mining not small scale mining. They used the loopholes in the Small Scale Mining Act to apply for several but contiguous small scale mining projects. In reality this makes it large scale mining.

3. This mess wouldn't have happened if Filipinos themselves were more ethical. Money has tainted the mining technical staff, environmental consultants, mining corporations, LGU officials, etc. Some web links indicate that an ex-Mines Bureau top official was an officer of one of the mining firms. Some of the most prominent geologists and businessmen in the country were mining leaseholders. Provincial and LGU officials welcomed and endorsed the mining companies. Poverty is also forcing residents into illegal logging.

See this blog for the interview of the Romblon Congressman and the comments thereafter:

http://www.sanrokan.com/newsanrokan/frontpage/blogs.asp?bloggerid=5&artid=9

Blogs

Here's a partial list of proposed mining projects in the country:

MINERAL EXPLORATION PROJECTS

Here are some of the websites of the mining companies:

Altai Resources Inc.- Relationship of Altai & APMC, Philippines

http://www.altairesources.com/ATMD&A04.PDF.

http://www.pelicanresources.com.au/reports/quart_report_mar2006.pdf

Pelican Resources Limited

Theoretically, there is good mining and bad mining. Good mining operations develop the local economy, assist social development, contribute to national industrialization, develop infrastructure, promote technology and skills transfer, etc. UP's Dr. Teddy Santos suggested that the Philippines, in opening up the country to mining, should ensure that mining leads to national development and not to further environmental destruction and impoverishment.

Does good mining exist in the country? Rio Tuba comes to mind. I wouldn't call them saints, but maybe the presence of 3,000 Muslim rebel returnees in one of the barangays of Bataraza, the suspicion that Bataraza is an R n R area of Muslim revolutionaries and possibly Abu Sayyaf, the presence of vulnerable foreign technical staff there, the fact that the mining law requires them to spend over P100 million on social development projects (1% of direct mining and milling costs), the strict provisions of the Palawan Strategic Environmental Plan, the presence of active environmental NGOs, and a more assertive LGU leaves them no choice but to implement environmental and social development programs.

Only time will tell if good mining is possible in the Philippines. It seems to be off to a bad start though.

ABC/ Desperate Housewives' slur on Filipino medical education

(See http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3028709.ece for a backgrounder on this.)

I agree with Tony Abaya's post below, but the cultural wars here in the U.S. have made each ethnic group more politically sensitive and ready to defend their rights. I posit that the neoconservatives attacks on "illegals" and "illegal immigration" to detract from the Iraq debacle and economic impacts of NAFTA have triggered defensive stances from ethnic groups. Am-Fils and other other Asian Americans will not, in this day and age, accept or tolerate widespread and institutionalized discrimination again (such as the attacks on Filipino labor in the U.S., the Japanese-American WWII internment camps, the Chinese exclusion act, the almost 300 racial attacks after Sept. 11, etc.). Asian Americans and Hispanics are organizing themselves. There have been many protests and campaigns launched against racist media personalities. The Asian Media Watch and the Asian American Journalists Association are organizations that monitor ethnic slurs in media. They have good track records. Let us also not forget the ongoing suffering of Dr. Chua. See:

Good Men Deserve To Have Their Day In Court: Dr. Noel Chua's Case

The other point is that Am-Fils and Filipinos are increasingly spending a lot of time online. Their presence and membership in online communities can only but increase over time. This is a phenomenon that should be noted and studied. With their talent and available online time and their how they are connecting with one another, their online presence will be something to contend with in the future. The Malu Fernandez saga, the online petition and the e-bombardment of ABC.com are clear examples.

Third, we need to encourage more Filipinos and Am-Fils to be more aggressive in defending their rights as an ETHNIC COMMUNITY. Meekness in this day and age, especially when other groups, are pushing their agendas to our detriment, can be disastrous. This is a good exercise in demanding governance, which can and should be replicated in the Philippines.

Lastly, if we consider Filipino doctors/ medicine as a brand, the DH slur has economic and professional implications. As Rodel Rodis noted, the Philippines is promoting itself as a medical tourism destination. The slur undermines this global effort. ABC and its Marc Cherry should not get off lightly with an apology and an offer to "explore" ways in which Filipinos can enter show business. Let some economists and lawyers calculate the damage in dollar and lost opportunities terms. That should be the starting point of negotiations. Let us be prepared when we meet with ABC.

Yes, we have the Recto diploma mills, the nursing scandal, and the occasional grumpy/lazy medical person, but that is nothing compared to the tens of thousands of competent, dedicated, and nurturing Filipino doctors, nurses, and medical technical staff all over the world.

Hecky



Antonio Abaya wrote:

Our Image

By Antonio C. Abaya

Written on Oct. 15, 2007

For the Standard Today,

October 16 issue

A country’s image abroad is created by a combination of fortuitous events and how its people react to those events, and deliberate efforts to enhance or destroy an image that has been created.

In the past 20 years or so, the most positive image that the Philippines and the Filipinos have projected of themselves abroad was the People Power of February 1986, in which hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians stared down the tanks and machineguns of a two-bit dictator for four magnificent days AND WON.

It was a watershed event in modern world history and contributed immensely to the triumphs of other unarmed peoples around the world in their confrontations with their tormentors, principally the largely peaceful collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989, the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa in 1991, and the implosion later that year of the ‘evil empire’ that was the Soviet Union.

In 1986, Filipinos basked in the adulation of the rest of the world. We were proud to be Filipinos and we held our heads up high as we have never done before, or since. Those of us who were privy to the information were confident that our beloved Cory Aquino was on her way to being formally recognized by the world community with the most sought-after honor on the planet, for which she had been nominated..

But a funny thing happened on the way to the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. Mrs. Aquino freed from detention the communist leader Jose Ma. Sison in 1987, over the objections of the military who had spent countless lives and treasure in hunting him down.

Mrs. Aquino no doubt followed her Pollyanna-ish gut instinct that if she were nice to Joma and his communists, they would in turn be nice to her and wind down their Maoist revolution.

Nothing like that, of course, happened. Joma showed his gratitude by going into exile in Europe and, from his base in Utrecht (Holland), waging a campaign among Europe’s generally leftist media to depict Cory in the most despicable terms as a human rights violator and, being the most visible part-owner of Hacienda Luisita, a holdover of feudalism.

It was a formidable demolition job and not all the novenas and supplications on bended knees of her Prayer Brigade saved the day for Cory, and she lost out to some relative unknown in Costa Rica.

The point of all this is to demonstrate that we Filipinos are our own worst enemies. We have a bad image because our political leaders, from Marcos to the present, have given us so few pluses to be proud of, and so many minuses to be ashamed of.

After the highs of People Power in 1986, it was downhill all the way. Consider the images that we have projected since then: Imelda’s 3,000 pairs of shoes; 30-push-ups punishment for coup leaders in December 1986; Gringo’s coup attempts against Cory in 1987 and 1989; Smokey Mountain as an iconic image of the country; ten-hour daily power outages in 1991-1992; massive electoral cheating in 1992, 1995, 2004 and 2007; a criminally inclined ignoramus as president; the only country with two (Marcos and Erap) “most corrupt leaders’ in the Guinness Book of World Records; cheating over age-limits in the Little League softball championship in the US; the ‘Hello Garci’ tapes in 2005; Joc Joc Bolante in 2006; cheating in the nurses’ exams in 2006; “most corrupt country in Asia” in 2007; the ZTE scandal in 2007; etc.. Is there no end to our humiliation?

It is in this context that I bring up the battering that our image has suffered in American pop culture in recent days.

While I agree with the 85,000 Fil-Ams and Filipinos who signed an internet protest demanding an apology from ABC for the slur against Philippine med schools that one of the characters in ‘Desperate Housewives’ uttered in one episode, I am surprised at the vehemence of the protest.

Only three or four years ago, two American radio jockeys - one of them Howard Stearn, I do not recall the other’s name – broadcast some really vicious and nasty remarks against Filipinos: Filipinos are good-for-nothings, unlike the Japanese, the Koreans and the Chinese, whom Filipinos try to pass themselves off as their ‘fellow Asians.’. Or many, many more words to that effect. Compared to which, a snide one-liner about our med school seems petty. Yet there was no massive internet outcry against it. Was it because it was ‘only’ on radio, not on primetime TV?

Not having watched a single episode of ‘Desperate Housewives,’ I cannot vouch for the counter-argument that the show has also made digs at Chinese, Jews, Blacks and other minorities. As if two Wongs can make a White. If this is so, then mainstream US TV may be rebelling against the prissy cult of political correctness, a trend long noticeable in the routines of stand-up American comedians outside primetime TV.

I have a sneaking suspicion that that snide remark was inserted by a Filipino or a Fil-Am writer or researcher in the producer’s staff. Implicit in that remark was some familiarity with our very own University of Recto, where one can buy a diploma for any degree. Most Americans would not know that. Most Filipinos and many Fil-Ams would.

As for scrawling the word “Slut!” on Cory Aquino’s portrait, this was unforgivable, not only because it was offensive, but also because it was not funny at all. I do watch John Stewart and ‘The Daily Show.’ And I do enjoy the clowning and ribbing against George W, Uncle Dick and the other neo-cons. But sometimes, the humor is flat, forced and not worth a fiddler’s fart. This was one such case.

In the context of the episode – Is America Ready for a Woman President? - Jon Stewart seems to be saying that it is not, and does so by mocking three women leaders: Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher and Cory Aquino.

Scrawling ‘Slut’ on Cory’s portrait is the comedic equivalent of scrawling ‘Genius!’ on George W’s portrait, to emphasize the opposite of the word as it applies to the subject. Using the word ‘Slut’ on Cory Aquino, however, reveals a poverty of comedic imagination, and the writer should be sacked for his failure to be funny at all. *****

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