Education and Land Reform

Education is the key to a successful land reform program, just as ignorance is the one plague that has kept our people in bondage for so many years.

In our country, it is not uncommon to hear people say that if one has not attained higher education, tilling the land is the only option available. People equate tilling the land with ignorance.

In rural agricultural areas, farmers who were awarded lands find themselves unable to sustain its productivity on their own. Eventually, they get lured by the promise of easy money and they sell off their lands to real estate developers. Not knowing any better, they use the money for non-revenue generating assets like houses and furniture which they eventually pawn or sell – or worse on gambling, booze and other vices. Then they end up with nothing, and they go to the urban areas to try their luck.

In cities and urban centers, people from the provinces who used to farm and raise livestock become informal settlers and join squatter colonies. Without education to land them decent jobs, they fall prey to all kinds of opportunists. Unscrupulous businesses take advantage of their cheap labor. Politicians encourage a mindset of mendicancy and use them as voting blocks. Militants take advantage of their situation to push for their own agenda and incite class warfare. For some, poverty becomes an excuse for crime.

But there is no excuse for greed – whether individual or corporate. Neither is there also an excuse for remaining poor and ignorant. There are no reasons why farmers cannot be successful landowners. There are no reasons why they cannot help each other to make lands more productive. There are no reasons why farmers cannot work with businessmen to supply the demand for produce and earn a decent profit. There are no reasons for farmers to remain poor.

It is not the land, or the lack of it, that keeps our farmers poor. It is ignorance. Being poor is not a reason for ignorance. Rather, ignorance is the reason why people remain poor. Education gives the people the power to rise above ignorance. Land reform without educational reform is bound to fail and will just perpetuate the vicious cycle of poverty.

The government must ensure that Land Reform is preceded and sustained by Educational Reform. Congress must pass laws on genuine and sustainable land reform that will put forward social justice that encompasses both the landowners and the farmers. To be truly encompassing, land reform must also include urban areas to address the growing and worsening problem of the urban poor.

On the other hand, the Executive Department led by the President must have the political will to implement these reforms. There is logic to the intent of the Constitution to limit the tenure of the President to only one term. It is to give the Chief Executive the free-hand and political leeway to execute hard decisions without the burden of thinking about a re-election campaign. For us to move forward, sacrifices must be made and we need a leader who will do what is right even if it means the end of his political career. Our President must cease to be a politician and become a statesman.

Our Judiciary is supposed to be the defender of our rights, the bastion of equality and the fountain of social justice. The current Supreme Court is dominated by justices appointed by a President bent on protecting her interests over and above that of the country. She took advantage of history and circumstance to appoint justices who are not only legal lightweights, but heavily indebted to her – foremost of which is the illegal Chief Justice.

Our Judiciary has been and is being prostituted. Sad, but very true.

Some people say Presidents should not appoint the justices. Others say that the JBC is a farce and a failure. But good justices, many even great, were appointed by Presidents in the past. P-Noy himself appears to have done good appointments to the Supreme Court. The key then is to choose leaders that will abide by the greater interest of the people, not theirs.

There is a sarcastic joke going around that for the Philippines to escape from corruption and impunity, we need to eradicate a whole generation to start fresh. What we actually need is to eradicate ignorance through education reform. We need to have an informed electorate that will vote with discernment. We need constituents who will actively participate in good governance. Corruption and bad governance will continue only if we allow it to do so.

Social media is revolutionizing the use of information in our society. It is providing an informal platform from where people can be educated in the reform of our government in particular and our society in general. Education need not be confined in schools, nor is it an exclusive domain of academics. We can all learn from each other. And by not giving up on each other, we ensure a better future for the generations to come.

* Picture is from http://filipinolifeinpictures.wordpress.com.

June Keithly Castro - Woman with a purpose

Dear Ms June,

I may not know you from Adam, but you have touched my heart so deeply, so intimately.

A mother's love, like that of our Mother Mary, is unconditional. Sure, there are exceptions, but they are just that - exceptions. Good or bad, a mother would do everything to protect their children. I remember one mother who was recently in the news. Her son might be a cold-hearted monster to a lot of people, but to her he is just a little boy who needs her complete love and attention. She would do anything, everything, even if it makes her look insane to the entire world, just to protect her son.

I saw how you calmly accepted your beloved Angelo's passing. I see the courage by which you deal with your own health challenges. Your body may no longer be the sprightly dynamo it was during the heydays of the EDSA revolt, but your mind, your spirit still soars. And now, reading your latest piece on the Philippine Daily Inquirer, I understood where that fortitude comes from, for it can only be given by the same God that gave us His only Son and His Mother. God loves all of us, sinner or saint. If God does not love us, why would He give us mothers who love us so unconditionally?

You write with your heart. Every tap on the keyboard must be like a prick to your heart. It is not easy to so publicly share dark episodes of your life. But in doing so, your soul shines forth like a beacon for all of us whom you have touched with your sharing. Your pain is our comfort, your suffering is balm for our anguished souls. Your brokenness makes us whole. You heal us with your illness.

Thank you for letting us share in your life, for showing us what we are capable of doing and enduring. Thank you for showing us how to love - our mothers and fathers, our families, our country, people we do not even know. Thank you for saying "YES!" to God's invitation to be His instrument. It must not be easy for you, but you accepted it just the same. God Bless your good heart.

I am tempted to say, "Be strong...". I forget that you are much, much stronger than anyone of us. I want to say, "God be with you...". But God is already with you - in you! I will continue to pray for you and your family, that is the least I can do.

Maraming Salamat!

Dennis Concepcion

Happy Easter!

I will choose to ignore the senseless and insensitive ranting of a tail-ending senator named Honasan, and the vain and blasphemous claims of Renato Corona who dared likened himself to our Lord when he is more like Barabbas or the unrepentant thief on the cross. I would like instead to impart an Easter message of hope to all the Filipinos who are actively monitoring the Impeachment Trial. You may be toiling in other lands, or chose to slug it out in this country, but your collective yearning for truth, for decency, for integrity and for honesty in government have made you more Filipino than anyone in the halls of Congress or in the august chambers of the Supreme Court.

After Jesus rose from the dead, He chose to show Himself not to His disciples – not even to Peter or to His most beloved, John. Instead, he showed Himself to Mary the Magdalene. This is significant because historically, women are not on the same level of status in society as men in the time of Jesus. Thus, it can be said that Jesus exalted the lowly with a first glimpse of His glorious resurrection.

Yes, the Lord is risen! And He chose to reveal Himself first to a lowly maiden, not to the apostles who will lead His flocks, not to the High Priests who claims to be the keepers and defenders of the Law of Moses, not to the Roman Governor who holds the power over the land. It is to a woman, who was among the nameless and faceless throng who toiled in fields, who worked in households, who laboured in the market – who left everything to follow the Truth, our Lord Jesus Christ.

As in the glorious story of our Lord’s resurrection, the Truth that will set us free and redeem us from our bondage to patronage politics, sense of entitlement and impunity is not revealed to those who falsely claim to have the sole authority to discern it. The Truth that do justice is not revealed to the Senator-Judges who chose to see and hear only the parts of it that will benefit their re-election, or the election of their relatives. The Truth that liberates is not revealed to the Prosecutors-Congressmen who fear that it will mirror their own sins and shortcomings. The Truth that will separate the sheep from the wolves is not revealed to Corona and the defense team as they would do anything and everything imaginable to twist and bend it until the wolves become sheep and the real sheep are sent to the slaughterhouse instead.

In God’s infinite wisdom, the Truth is revealed to the people themselves. It comes in different forms, on different times, through different channels – not in legal terms that can only confuse, but in concrete situations that every Juan Dela Cruz can understand and relate to. It is the Truth that Sister Flory longs for, the truth that the PAL labor union seeks, the truth that has eluded the family of Navy Ensign Pestano, the truth that Corona’s SALN so blatantly tried to hide and distort, and the truth that Corona’s lawyers want us to see as lies.

Social media and other public forums, including the surveys, are the new Galilee, the new Mount of Beatitudes, and the new Temple of Jerusalem where the Truth is proclaimed - not to the high and mighty, but to the lowly so that they may realize that the power of salvation lies in their own hearts. The Lord died and rose again to show us that there is a higher Truth that only faith can comprehend, one that transcends all laws and logic, but lies in the very heart of each man, that which compels us to do good to every man.

To all Filipinos to whom Truth is being revealed – keep the faith! Let Easter’s message of hope and redemption be an inspiration for us to carry on our search for the Truth that will liberate our country from the destructive clutches of self-serving politics.

Fidelity to the Law

Renato Corona and his supporters and defenders flaunt the rule of law and fidelity to the Constitution as their rallying cry. They accuse the government of doing a demolition job on the Supreme Court and the entire judicial system when it impeached the Chief Justice primarily because of betrayal of public trust. They cry harassment over the exposition of the Corona family’s vast financial holdings, including real properties and peso and dollar deposits. They would like us to believe that far from being guilty, Renato Corona is being unjustly vilified, wrongly accused and deprived of his right to due process. They insist that far from being a personal battle of Mr Corona, the impeachment is a direct affront to the independence of the Supreme Court and the viability of our judicial system.

As a non-lawyer, I am amazed at the extent of legal contortions that the Corona camp resorts to in their attempt to save the skin of their embattled Chief. I believe that our Constitution was not written for lawyers, just as the Bible was not written just for the priests. It was written for the people, so that they will know and understand that governmental power and authority emanate from them and that it exists because of and for them. Thus, in these times when many lawyers, foremost of them Serafin Cuevas and Renato Corona himself, are confusing us with their convoluted arguments, we need to go back to our Constitution as our bedrock of stability. What does our Constitution tell us in these confusing times?

Article II – Declaration of Principles and State Policies, Section 27. “The State shall maintain honesty and integrity in the public service and take positive and effective measures against graft and corruption.” Honesty and Integrity are not just moral issues subject to relativity. They are the very foundation of public service.

Article VIII – The Judicial Department, Section 7.3. “A Member of the Judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence.” For the Judiciary, the standards of public service are understandably higher. As the vanguards of justice and equality, much is expected from those who wield the power to determine what is right and what is wrong. Competence, integrity, probity and independence must not only be claimed, it must be proven.

Section 11 of the same Article states, “The Members of the Supreme Court and judges of lower courts shall hold office during good behaviour until they reach the age of seventy years or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office.” There is no distinction between a justice of the Supreme Court and a judge of the lower courts. The requirements for public service apply to all and do not end after the appointment – it must be maintained throughout his or her tenure. The actions of Corona, inciting court employees, law school graduates and the people in general with his claims of budding dictatorship, oppression of the judiciary and damaged democracy is anything but good behaviour as required by the Constitution itself.

Article XI – Accountability of Public Officials, Section 1. “Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.” Public trust. Must, at all times. To the people. Modest lives - these are admonitions that are plain and simple as they are important and compelling. Corona had been caught weaving lies upon lies, declaring contradictions one after another while making us believe that he is the best thing that ever happened to our country.

Section 2 of the same Article further states, “The President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Supreme Court, the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman may be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust.”

These first two sections of Article XI did not come one after the other by mere coincidence. They both deal with the essence of public service – public trust. It is interesting to note that all other grounds for impeachment had to be proven by hard evidence as they are also crimes for which the impeached official can also be charged in courts of law. However, betrayal of public trust is a class on its own as it is the violation of the very source of the power vested on the official – the trust bestowed by the sovereign will of the people.

Take for example the situation in all companies. When rank and file employees violate rules and regulations, they can be dismissed only after due process. However, high officials of the company such as executives and managers can be dismissed outright due to loss of confidence. The stockholders and owners will do what is required to save the company and will replace an erring official with someone more capable and trustworthy. What “loss of confidence” is to the corporate world, “betrayal of public trust” is to the government.

I wish I could say that Ranato Corona still doesn't get it, that this impeachment is not about the Supreme Court or the Judiciary as a whole; that it is all about him and no one else - not P-Noy, not the Senator/Judges, not the Congressmen/Prosecutors. But saying that assumes a tinge of innocence, and of naiveté on his part - which he does not have, being an accomplished lawyer as he claims.

Renato Corona had it all planned out - from the moment he accepted his midnight appointment, to his deft juggling of his peso and dollar accounts, to his legal maneuvers to gain control of BGEI, to the acquisition of various properties through his children. As he said many times, he is not stupid and he knows his law. This latest caper on a property that he said they do not own, but then were forced to admit that they bought at the same time another pricey property in McKinley Hills was bought to fore the intellectual and moral dishonesty of this man.

So what gives? It only means that all these were accomplished with a clear intent to circumvent the law, to take advantage of legal loopholes and to use the power and privileges of his office. Speaking to fresh law graduates of Philippine Law School, Corona said, "It would then be our duty as members of this noble profession to wield the law not as an instrument of deceit and oppression, but as a social apparatus for the common good.”

Those were great words of advice to young idealistic future lawyers. But can he honestly say the same to the Basa-Guidote family who found themselves deprived of their rightful inheritance? To the lower government officials convicted by the courts and penalized for similar or lesser offenses? To the millions of ordinary employees whose miniscule monthly salaries are automatically taxed while he enjoys tax-free perks and bonuses? To millions of poor Filipinos still struggling to find decent roofs over their heads while he and his family buy high-end properties one after the other both here and abroad with no clear source of funds for the acquisitions?

Renato Corona, by his actions past and present, by his willful and deliberate maneuverings of the law to suit his own benefit, by his futile attempt to hide the fruits of his poisoned connections with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and by his dubious mis-declaration to mislead the public about his financial interests, have irrevocably betrayed the public trust. Can Corona still stand proud before the Filipino people and declare that "Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives." as enshrined in our Constitution?

If he has any respect and concern left for the Judiciary and his country as he claims to have in abundance, the noblest thing to do is to step down and defend himself outside of the influence of his position. That may not be the easiest thing to do, but it is the only right thing to do.

The Crown of Seven Sins

The defense is trying to justify Renato Corona's offenses and omissions by pointing accusing fingers to other government officials. In everyday life parlance, this is called "bakit ako lang, eh pati naman sila yun din ang ginagawa!" Mr Corona seems to have conveniently forgotten that the position he coveted and got in the dead of the night demands the highest standards of ethical conduct. The Chief Justice is the highest official of the Judiciary, our country's keeper of the law, dispenser of equal justice and vanguard of freedom.

His SALN is just but an external manifestation of the real issue here, which is his flawed character. It is a powerful symbol of that flaw because many other officials of lower stature have been charged and convicted for filing incomplete or erroneous SALN. If these lower officials were convicted and removed from office with their benefits and retirement pay forfeited, with some even going to jail, and then the Impeachment Court lets Corona off the hook for the same if not graver offense, it will only reinforce the long held suspicion that in this country there is a law for the rich and powerful and another for the poor and powerless.

More than the numbers in the SALN that are being debated by the protagonists of the Impeachment Court, the trial has brought to light the serious character flaws of the impeached Chief Justice. Consider:

1. Even if he claims to belong to a family of no ordinary means, and has the money to buy not just one but several high-end properties, he also openly acknowledged his gratitude to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for footing his hospital bills for an operation on his bad back when he was already in the Supreme Court. If you have the means and yet asks someone else or the government to pay for your expenses, that is called “panggugulang”. Not content with the perks of the SC and against all ethical considerations, he allowed his wife to accept a government appointment by then President GMA.

2. In the last few days of the GMA presidency, he accepted his nomination as Chief Justice. While the legality of the appointment may be subject to debate, the propriety and ethical aspects are certainly very plain and simple. We can blame outgoing CJ Puno for not doing anything to stop the farce, we can blame the JBC for side-stepping the issue, we can blame GMA for laying booby traps on her way out, we can blame his fellow Arroyo appointees in the Court for legitimizing his questionable appointment, but most certainly the buck stops at Corona's table as he alone has the power to right that wrong - by being a true statesman and saying NO to the midnight appointment.

3. Mr Corona has been using an embellished Curriculum Vitae that stated honors and recognition that he received from schools he attended. Until just recently before the SC website was updated, these spurious claims were all reflected in his profile. However, public documents from these schools show that while he may indeed have received honors and medals, these were of lower rank and significance than what he declared. If he had undervalued properties in his SALN, it now appears that he has over-valued his achievements in his CV. This clearly shows a pattern of dishonesty and deceit.

4. While he claims to be a gentle person who unabashedly cries at the sight of his supporters waving placards of support and who would not hurt or threaten anyone much less an old man as his wife’s relatives claim, PNP records show more than 30 firearms registered under his name, including high-powered automatic weapons. Not only is he quick with his hands, he is also quick with his tongue. In not a few public occasions, he did not hesitate calling President Aquino a dictator, accusing Justice Carpio of plotting his ouster and calling the 90-year old Franciscan nun who is also an aunt of his wife a liar. The Supreme Court has not been as politicised as it is now under Corona’s watch.

5. While he rues the use of the "awesome powers of the presidency" against him, he finds nothing wrong with court employees skipping case hearings to march to the supreme court to hear him lambast his detractors, see him cry and raise his hands to heaven. Instead of admonishing judges and justices to remain neutral and be loyal only to the country, the constitution and the Judiciary as an institution, he chose to drag the entire judicial system into a battle that questions only his personal fitness to remain as Chief Justice. If he gets convicted, how will the court employees react to the new Chief Justice? He has put the entire Judiciary between the devil and the deep blue sea.

6. It was bewildering enough that he should seek relief from the Supreme Court while he still sits as its Chief; it was downright repulsive that he should ask justices Carpio and Sereno to inhibit themselves in the cases he filed in the Supreme Court regarding his impeachment when he himself has not taken a leave of absence. He continues to benefit from his position, exerting persuasive influence on the Arroyo-appointed associate justices. He mocks the independence of the Impeachment Court by asking the SC to intervene in its proceedings.

7. When confronted with his alleged bias towards GMA in cases that was brought to the SC, he declared that he is just one vote in the collegial body. However, when he talks about the Hacienda Luisita case, he says he was the only one that stands in the way of Ph10 billion being paid to HLI as payment. In the course of his other public pronouncements, this is not the only instance when he contradicted himself. In the BGEI case, he said he purposely distanced himself from his wife's family feud, yet then Manila Mayor Lito Atienza confirmed that it was Corona himself who negotiated for the higher price paid by the government for the BGEI property in Sampaloc. As was recently found out, payment for that property was for many years deposited in his personal bank account until he withdrew them on the day he was impeached by the House of Representatives.

These are just but seven of the many instances where we can get a glimpse of the flawed character of Mr Corona. No amount of technicality, no amount of finger-pointing and no amount of white-washing can justify his remaining a minute longer as the Honorable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In the classic novel "The Scarlet Letter", the adulterers wear the mark of their sins on their chests for everyone to see. For Renato Corona, he wears a crown of seven sins.

An Open Letter to Sister Flory Basa

March 25, 2012 - I am compelled to add this note because not a few people have already called my attention to some re-posts of this open letter. Apparently, some bloggers and newspaper columnists have wrongly attributed authorship of the letter to Dennis Garcia of the Hotdog Band fame. Although the link to this page is included in the re-posts, somehow the name Dennis Garcia got linked to it as well. To set the record straight, I am much younger than him, but to be fair - he sings way too much better than I do. I really do not mind if people attribute this letter to anyone they wish. As long as it serves it purpose, then that suits me just fine. Just don't ask me to sing - I will leave that to the real Dennis Garcia.

March 10, 2012 - Last night, I posted in an online Inquirer article an open letter to Sister Flory Basa, aunt of Cristina Roco Corona. Almost as soon as I hit the Save button, comments poured in, and people started sharing and re-posting the letter in different blogs and sharing sites. I even found a Cebuano translation of the letter just today. Although there were a few negative reactions, majority of those who commented were very supportive. I guess a lot of people share the same sentiments as I have.

I am sharing the letter in its original form, and some of the links to sites where it has been re-posted so you would be able to read both the good and not so good reactions.

Dear Sister Flory,

I almost gave up on the impeachment process. I thought it was going nowhere. The defense team was succeeding in their suppression of evidences. The prosecution was fumbling all over the place. Some Senator-Judges were openly showing their dogged resolve to literally look the other way as the impeached pretender to the position of Chief Justice trampled on the very basic tenets of integrity and honesty. Like you, I had left it to the Good Lord to do justice in His own time.

But then your family, most especially you, came along. God indeed works in mysterious ways! The lawyers of Mr Corona and their misguided followers have done and will continue to do everything to discredit you, short of calling you a lying senile and disgruntled relative who wants more money. I saw your interview on TV, and you have that serenity about you. It is a peace of mind and soul that only true forgiveness can bring about. But you also have that resoluteness in your voice – firm, truthful and honest. You said charity made you forgive the Coronas, but truth and justice compels you to speak up and let the people confront the truth about Mr Renato Corona.

God has not only been good to you, He has shown even more compassion to us the Filipino people. While a lot of people your age would have been beset with illnesses of both body and mind, you have been blest with good health and a mind still so sharp and lucid. It is not so for no reason, I am sure. When the battle seemed lost, you came forth like a shining star to remind us not to lose hope. God allowed you to outlive your siblings so that the truth may be proclaimed in all its brutal glory, and not in the convoluted version being peddled to us by those who seek to block our nation’s search for justice.

Thank you for your courage in proclaiming the truth. Mr Corona might have succeeded in having his character flaws overlooked by the Judicial and Bar Council when he was planted by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the Supreme Court. He might have pushed his luck too far when he got his minions in the SC to legitimize his midnight appointment. I do not think he will be able to shut out the flames of truth that you now so resolutely hold in your hands. While they have everything to lose and will do anything and everything to cover up their lies, you only have your faith in God and his abiding fidelity to his promise that His justice will be supreme over all human frailties.

If it is not too much to ask, we will be forever grateful if you will do us a great favour – please take the witness stand. Please tell this nation how this man who claims the exalted position of Chief Justice as his unalienable right has done injustice to his own kin for more than 30 years. Please tell our Senators, who have been vested by our sovereign will with power in order to protect our nation’s interest, how the same power when wielded by someone who do not have the probity, integrity and moral uprightness not to be drowned by it can abuse the same to inflict harm on the very people he is supposed to serve and protect. You, who are old and weak, you whose only weapon is the truth, can teach our power-tripping Senators a most valuable lesson in humility and fairness.

I know it might be too much to ask from a frail, 90 year old servant of the Lord. But the stakes are too high – our future and those of the generations to come. If we allow this travesty to pass, we would have sold our souls to the devil. What are we teaching to our children? That as long as you can justify it in the rules of court, it is okay to be to be dishonest? That it is okay to do wrong as long as you can win it in court? That it is okay to do away with morals and the sense of what is right and what is wrong as long as there are good lawyers that you can pay to twist the facts and suppress the truth? Is this what we want for our country? Please say it isn’t so Sister Flory. For your family’s and for our country’s sake, please say it isn’t so.

And before I end this rather long letter, I would like to assure you that in case you do decide to take the witness stand and if Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago dare try to scare you off with her histrionics and self-serving plaudits to her perceived superior intelligence, and God forbids that something bad happens to you, I will march on the street even if I should do it by my lonesome self, and demand that God open up the ocean and swallow the entire Senate and everyone else who have dragged this country into the dark abyss.God is with you. We are with you. All right thinking Filipinos should be with you. Let us not stay in the dark. You have the light. Lead us to our redemption as a nation. God Bless you Sister Flory.

Sincerely,

Den

Here are a couple of sites where the letter has been re-posted:

http://raissarobles.com/2012/03/09/judge-miriam-skips-icc-oath-taking-as-asias-first-woman-judge-for-corona-trial/

http://abs-cebu.blogspot.com/2012/03/arangkada-of-leo-lastimosa-for-march-11.html

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/158123/sister-flory-basa-willing-to-testify-in-corona-trial#disqus_thread