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 “
Quote in the Act
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it lack of good governance? Is it corruption? Is it

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 I MPACT August 2005 / Vol 39 • No 5
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
Systems Failure .............................................................. 25
COVER STORY
State of Deep Rut ............................................................ 16
Stuck in the muck of the current political-economic crisis, the
Arroyo government rashly teeters to the brink.
ARTICLES
Media and Governance ................................................ 4
Passion for the Gospel, Passion for the Truth .......... 6
A Matter of Survival ........................................................ 8
Globalization and Its Challenges to Education .... 10
The Youth Factor ............................................................ 13
The Trails to San Andres Upper .................................14
A Question of Public Trust .......................................... 15
STATEMENTS
Statement of Bp. Jose Manguiran on the Mining
Issue ................................................................................. 22
A Call for Sobriety and Non-Violence in the Face of
the Present Political Turmoil .......................................23
DEPARTMENTS
Quote in the Act .............................................................. 2
From the Blogs ............................................................... 24
CINEMA Review ......................................................... 27
From the Inbox .............................................................. 28
Vanilla Bytes ................................................................. 29
News Briefs ...................................................................... 30
The fast pace of information and communications
technology, goaded primarily by business interests
and a heavily responsive market, is changing global
cultures and all facets of human activity. In his Media
and Governance, Eli Cruz, a Salesian priest, writes
how even politicians—debatably the more fortunate
segment of society—gallop to comply with the un-
avoidable upgrades of mass communications.
At the turn of the century, the concept of global-
ization has spontaneously bolted from the confines of
discussion groups to the borderless highways of the
world so much quicker than an epidemic. Now
everybody has to face its implications which, if under-
stood and given a human face, may bring about
opportunities for an integral human development,
albeit on a macro level. Dr. Lourdes J. Custodio
writes about its challenges in her Globalization and Its
Challenges to Education.
Globalization, regional economic crisis, the un-
mitigated hike in global commodities such as oil—and
even the stars—have been finger-pointed, time and
again, as culprits to domestic problems and gover-
nance. Curiously enough, the growing economies of
Asia did even have worse scenarios or plights than
any scapegoat could ever imagine. Vietnam, for
instance, which has been ravaged by senseless war
some thirty years ago started from a below-zero
economic benchmark. But now it is standing tall and
coming in closer to the stature of Singapore, South
Korea and Thailand.
In the Philippines,
both the Executive and the
Legislative Departments
are one in understanding,
intelligently or otherwise,
that the Filipino is pitifully
suffering because of a frail
constitution and a wrong
political system. Conse-
quently, the proposed
panacea to the national
illness is to amend the
Charter and to damp the democratic form of govern-
ment to parliamentary or whatever.
But of course, both the said branches of govern-
ment are undoubtedly healthier than most Filipinos.
Nobody should propose or even think of damping
them to smithereens. Read on.
Volume 39 • Number 5 3
Media as Reality-Mediator and the church had. is novel from what is documentary. Read-
For instance, promiscuous women ers have lost their ability to distinguish

W
hat’s the most effective way are called bitch, whore, and slut in me- between falsehood and reality… giving
to get First World kids to start dia. Promiscuous men are called stud, to falsehood the acclaim that only the
caring about Third World stallion, and playboy. Promiscuity de- truth deserves…
problems? The answer, according to grades women while it uplifts men! There is now the new phenomenon
the United Nations World Food Pro- of the BLOGS. The world of BLOGS, short
gram (WFP) is an action-packed hu- Media and the Mediation of Truth for weblog, is a constellation of five-
manitarian video game that lets play- million-plus journals that have exploded
ers rack up points for air dropping food A little boy goes up to his mom and in cyberspace in the past few years.
rations and surveying war torn popu- asks, “Mommy, is God a boy or a girl?” Blogging is number 1 among the tech
lations on the fictitious island of The mother replies, “God is both a boy trends to watch in 2005. And there is no
Sheylan. (Time, 6 June 2005) and a girl.” The boy then asks, “Mommy escaping it, proclaims Fortune magazine
And what is one tested way of ef- is God gay or straight?” The mom replies, (24 January 2005). According to a blog
fectively preventing AIDS? In parts of “God is both gay and straight.” The boy search-engine and measurement firm,
Kenya, men pay for sex with girls as then asks, “Is God black or white?” She 23,000 new weblogs are created every
young as 10 in the hope of avoiding replies, “God is both black and white.” day. That’s about one every three sec-
AIDS. And Kenyan schools don’t offer The boy thinks about all this for a moment onds.
sex education. In 2000, the United Na- and asks, “Is God Michael Jackson?” Freewheeling bloggers can swarm
tions Population Fund tackled the prob- A polyphonic vision or multiplicity around a new site or piece of information
lem with a song: “I Need to Know.” The of reality created by the new means and in cyberspace. They can prod and poke at
tune, sung by young Nairobi musicians, modes of media makes it more difficult it. Some blogs of little consequence in-
became so successful that the UN de- today to attain to certainty or truth. We volve kids talking about their dates and
cided to do the same in other countries. are immersed in a sea of all the truths teens posting pictures of their cats. But
(Time, 3 July 2000) claiming to be absolute. others which are more profound and in-
Media is influ- sightful can boost
ence. Media has a religious mes-
secured its posi- sage or destroy a
tion as the stron- “But the close-up TV and newspaper pictures of business product.
gest man-made The new psy-
force in the world politicians are rarely impressive and their imperson- chology of new
that can move ations oftentimes corrupt. Media not only reduces our forms of media
people -- positively awe of leaders. It also increases a leader’s self-doubt and shows us that
and negatively, for there are different
good and evil. lowers his self-esteem.” ways of seeing the
“They are from same things. But
a different planet. today the indis-
Definitely not of this world,” said Kenny The images on CNN and BBC of the criminate offering of anything and its
Baker, better known as R2D2 in the Star 12-year old Mohammed al-Dura, a Pales- contrary is only a click away. Think of
Wars movie, on fans’ extremism -- some tinian boy who was pictured killed by how many times and how many Filipinos
fans have started a movement to adopt Jewish soldiers in the Gaza Strip on 30 had been tricked by text messages into
the “Jedi way” as a legitimate religion in September 2000, gave Palestinians a cause believing that John Paul II was already
New Zealand. (Far Eastern Economic to stage violent reprisals against inno- dead years before his actual death early
Review, 22 March 2001). cent Jews. But web sites say these pic- in April 2005.
A study from New York featured in tures were staged. And Reader’s Digest Is not also the present political crisis
the Manila Standard (11 March 2003) contends that the boy may still be alive of the so-called “Gloriagate” scandals a
revealed: Viewers of TV violence grow after all today. battle of information? Never has the na-
up violence-prone… Both boys and The best-selling book “The Da Vinci tion been so divided because each camp
girls who watch a lot of violence on Code” by Dan Brown is a piece of fiction is holding its own information and pre-
television have a heightened risk of that pretends to be a scholarly research. senting its own version of the truth. Such
aggressive adult behavior including The author weaves his novel in such a polyphonic vision or multiplicity of real-
spouse abuse and criminal offenses. way as to dupe many of its readers and ity is a rich opportunity for dialogue as
In 1998, Newsweek published an- reviewers to believe that it is factual work. well as a dangerous to the pursuit of truth.
swers to the question on who has the It has created a lot of confusion and
most sex. Newsweek reported from a controversy because although it is in Media and the Tabloid Mentality
survey made: “Isn’t a regular church- reality only a romance and a thriller, it has
goer… approves of pornography.” positioned itself as well-researched con- Columnist Nestor Torre observes:
(Newsweek, 26 January 1998) spiracy theory and spiritual manifesto. “A disturbing element on local TV is the
Media has become the principal me- What is really disturbing about the increased emphasis in newscasts on crime
diator of reality for man. It has taken on, response of the readers to this book is and showbiz stories. This is a relatively
to a great extent, the anthropological that many who have read it are finding it new change of focus that suggests that
role that formerly the school, the home, difficult later to distinguish between what TV news people feel that viewers even of

4 IMPACT • August 2005

 A R
newscasts want to be “entertained.” (Phil.
Daily Inquirer, 6 Nov 2004)
Newscasts are meant to give infor-
mation. But what is the purpose of a
melodramatic presentation of the latest
cell phone theft or a fight between a wife
and the husband she caught in the house
of his GRO mistress? The newscast is
supposed to be factual and deserving of
the viewer’s cognitive appreciation and
analysis, i.e., to develop us into thinking
and verifying members of the created
world!
The problem is, if we do not take a
second look, we might be misled to accept
what is sensational as true, what is ap-
pealing as good, what is glamorous as
noble. The danger of imbibing a tabloid
mentality is already pervasive among us
adults.
Media
and
Governance
by ELI CRUZ, SDB
T I C L E S
Media and the Question of
Authority
The electronic media today makes
it possible for us to access the world-
wide web of information. But a perva-
sive tabloid-mentality not only makes
the very concept of truth relative. The
question of authority is also going into
crisis.
Modern media allows politicians to
reach followers. But it also allows fol-
lowers to gain unprecedented access to
the close-up appearance and gestures
of leaders. “Leadership” and “author-
ity” depend on mass appeal. One can-
not lead without propaganda. But the
paradox is that authority is weakened
by excess familiarity.
Monarchies not as exposed as the
monarchy of England, like the king of
Thailand or the empress of Japan, have
preserved their “distant visibility” and
“mystified presence.” The irony of me-
dia today is that most people who step
into its limelight for national visibility
become too exposed and thereby
demystified.
In the dictionary, the titles “presi-
dent”, “senator” and “congressman”
still call forth respect. But the close-up
TV and newspaper pictures of politi-
cians are rarely impressive and their
impersonations oftentimes corrupt.
Media not only reduces our awe of
leaders. It also increases a leader’s self-
doubt and lowers his self-esteem. To-
day, we do not only expect leaders to
lead well, but to entertain, charm and
seduce the audience.
Because of this authority-question,
many institutions are also rushing into
spectacular presentations, typical of the
language of the mass media, in a frantic
search for audiences, and so forging a
dangerous link between truth and au-
thority with numbers.
Just think of how People Power has
degenerated with the entry of show
business in the picture! I
Volume 39 • Number 5 5
 Passion for
the Gospel,
Passion for
the Truth
by Prof. Pilar I. Romero
E
ight hundred years of spiritual
journey is no mean feat, consid-
ering that this sojourn transpired
within historical conditions marked by
two extremes: congenial and hostile.
Yet the Order of Preachers, from the
thirteenth century to the present con-
tinues to be fired by the same passion
for the Gospel that propelled Saint
Dominic to found the Order.
Truly, birthing is not the sole privi-
lege of women and the womb is not the
only hallowed place for conception. The
idea of founding an Order first germi-
nated in the mind of Saint Dominic,
taking root in his followers’ hearts be-
tween the years 1213-1214. The small
band of itinerant preachers led by Saint
Dominic began to get organized in 1215
when Peter Seila, a follower of Saint
Dominic sought ecclesiastical approval
from the then Bishop of Tolouse, Bishop
6 IMPACT • August 2005
Fulk. The Bishop,
who was support-
ive of the commu-
nity, first estab-
lished it as a preaching brotherhood for
his diocese. The episcopal approval
served as the catapult that propelled
Saint Dominic to obtain papal confirma-
tion for the foundation. The opportu-
nity presented itself when Bishop Fulk,
together with Saint Dominic attended
the Lateran Council in Rome.
The initial step undertaken by
Bishop Fulk and Saint Dominic for the
birth of the Order was to petition Pope
Innocent III for the right to establish a
new Order of Preachers. It was an in-
trepid move and a pioneering idea at the
same time because first, preaching at
that time was the proper function of
bishops, and second, having an order
whose priests cross diocesan borders
in order to preach as needed was not the
custom then. In making such a petition,
Saint Dominic was therefore faced with
a formidable task. Yet, he rose to the
challenge with dauntless spirit and brim-
ming enthusiasm. The Pope, open to
the idea of such an Order, instructed
Dominic to return to his confreres and
with them chose an existing rule. Saint
Dominic and his companions chose the
rule of Saint Augustine. Constitutions
were added to this rule such that what
evolved was an Order that was generi-
cally monastic, yet specifically “friars”,
that is, not bound to particular cloister
nor manual labor. When Pope Honorius
succeeded Innocent III, Saint Dominic
once again embarked on a journey to
 A R
Rome to complete the foundation of the
Order. On December 22, 1216, in a bull
issued by Honorius, the Order was con-
firmed.
The first General Chapter of the
Order took place in Bologna in 1220. It
was an auspicious occasion for it was
the time when Saint Dominic and his
friars composed the first constitutions.
Later chapters implemented and added
on to these.
The first contributions defined in
no uncertain terms that the Order was
instituted “for preaching and the salva-
tion of souls.” Fr. Damien Bryne, O.P.,
former Master of the Order expounded
on this goal of the Order when he said
that the Dominicans are in the Church
to be a reminder to the Church and the
Dominicans themselves of the essen-
tial nature of preaching to spread the
Gospel. It is no wonder then, according
to Fr. Bryne, that Saint Dominic took
Saint Mary Magdalene as the first pa-
troness of the Order since she was the
first preacher of the news of the Resur-
rection.
The primacy of preaching in the
Order necessitated that those who are
dedicated to this important task are
bound to live in accordance with apos-
tolic life and evangelical poverty. They
must be free from other ministries and
especially from administrative respon-
sibilities.
Without doubt, this dedication to
preaching came with a caveat. In the
thirteenth century, during the early
years of the Order, the Dominicans were
exposed to the attacks of thieves and
heretics as they sauntered through the
lanes of Europe, their spirits buoyed by
the thought of doing that which their
founder devoted his life to. During the
Renaissance, the Dominicans preached
within the context of an emerging new
world order. Thus, they faced up to the
challenges posed by this new order in
two fronts: in Churches where they
grappled with new questions and moral
problems; and in the jungles of Central
America where they immersed them-
selves in the lives of the natives in their
desire to meaningfully preach the Gos-
pel.
Albeit the dangers and challenges
that accompanied and at times threat-
ened their ministry of preaching, the
Dominicans emerged unscathed. What
contributed to their success in this par-
ticular endeavor are some of the charac-
teristics of their preaching. For one, the
T I C L E S
Dominicans’ preaching was backed up Chapters saw to the continuation of
by a genuine apostolic life and evan- this pursuit for intellectual formation.
gelical poverty. Second, their “brand” Calling it as “pursuit of truth” and “sanc-
of preaching can be termed as “charis- tification of human intelligence” fur-
matic preaching”, one that it is not di- ther lent credence to the Dominicans’
rectly associated with hierarchical au- firm belief that the pursuit of pastoral
thority or any kind of coercion. And undertakings such as the work on jus-
though their preaching was kerygmatic tice and peace cannot and will not pros-
and doctrinal, it veered away from the per unless they are fuelled by a passion
usual “doom and gloom” approach for for Truth.
it was never apocalyptic, moralistic or The life of St. Dominic and
threatening. Third, it was also prophetic Dominican’s passion for the gospel, for
preaching because it was responsive to the truth and for intellectual formation,
prevailing conditions both in the Church can provide a wellspring of inspiration
and society. Finally, it was preaching for present-day educational institu-
that transcended boundaries, classes tions. For teaching as creative ministry
and distinctions: it was carried out demands not only a stringent dedica-
among heretics, pagans, peoples of non- tion to the intellectual formation of the
Christian cultures, among university students but also a steadfast adher-
students, among people in emerging ence to the need for formation. Thus
cities and among tribal communities. educational institutions, while endeav-
The first General Chapter in 1220 oring to become effective agents of in-
also saw to the intellectual formation of tellectual and technological advance-
the Dominicans. In that year, a theo- ment, must also seek to be catalysts for
logical school was established in each social agent and moral regeneration.
priory. This move snowballed such For preaching or teaching for that mat-
that provincial schools of philosophy ter becomes an exercise in futility if not
and theology were consequently anchored firmly on a genuine apostolic
erected and from 1227 onward, general life. I
houses of study for the pursuit of gradu- (Prof. Pilar Romero, who holds an M.A. degree in
ate studies were established. These Higher Religious Studies and a Doctor of Education
moves showed that study was to be an candidate majoring in Religion and Values, is currently
important task of every Dominican. teaching Religious Education at the College of
Education, University of Santo Tomas, Manila. She
Such strong drive for intellectual for- is also an author and consultant of Vibal Publishing
mation is by no means alien to preach- House, Inc.)
ing. For the Domini-
cans, dedication to
intellectual growth
is very much related
to preaching. It was
and still is under-
taken not simply for
academic enrich-
ment but for the pur-
pose of preparing
themselves for ap-
ostolic preaching.
Logically, how can
one preach con-
vincingly if one
does not possess an
enlightened mind?
Thus, aside from
being known as the
Order of Preachers,
this emphasis on
study also earned
for the Dominicans
the character of be-
ing an Order of Stu-
dents.
Recent General
Volume 39 • Number 5 7
 A R
T
he Arroyo government -- besieged
over allegations of using jueteng
payola and committing fraud in the
2004 elections -- is seemingly paranoid,
exasperated and cracking up under the
grave pressure of the wide-ranging pro-
test and clamor for truth, justice and peace
and demanding the resignation of Gloria
Macapagal- Arroyo, whose moral ascen-
dancy and legitimacy is clouded with ques-
tions and uncertainty.
With the ongoing spins and an alleg-
edly well-funded manuevers of the Ar-
royo regime in relation to the so called
“Gloriagate” tapes -- the initial attempt at
a cover-up, the use of threat and intimida-
tion to prevent public access to these
tapes, and their recent actions to block the
senate investigation on jueteng and the
impeachment complaint -- could these boo-
merang and strengthen the public percep-
tion of guilt?
“Hello Garci?”
It all started in a press conference on
June 6 when Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye
exposed two compact discs (CD) of alleg-
edly recorded phone conversation between
Arroyo and COMELEC Commissioner
Virgilio “Garci” Garcillano about an at-
tempt to rig the said election, which he
claimed the opposition plans to release.
The following day, Bunye played two
CDs while opposition lawyer, Atty. Alan
Paguia, also released two tapes which he
claimed to be authentic and included con-
versations involving GMA, her husband
Mike Arroyo and Garcillano who immedi-
ately denied the authenticity of the voice
imputed to him. National Bureau of Inves-
tigation (NBI) Director Reynaldo Wycoco
immediately came to the rescue saying
that based on an analysis of the bureau’s
sound engineers, the two CD’s released
by Bunye are “not authentic.”
On June 8, Bunye declared that it was
the President’s voice on the tapes, but
later buckled and withdrew his declaration
saying that he committed a mistake when
he identified the female voice on the tapes
as belonging to the President. At an in-
stance, Intelligence Services of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) Chief,
Brig. Gen. Marlou Quevedo, was hurriedly
discharged from duty with a corollary ex-
planation from Malacañang that his relief
had nothing to do with the wiretapping
controversy.
Also, DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzalez,
apparently one of the president’s loyal
toadies, threatened everyone with sedi-
8 IMPACT • August 2005
T I C I L E S
tion and other possible offenses, found
reproducing, distributing or merely listen-
ing to the tapes.
June 10 became more crucial when
former NBI Director Samuel Ong, who was
then charged with “inciting to sedition”,
presented the “mother of all tapes” after
taking refuge with the Catholic Church.
A day after, opposition senator Panfilo
Lacson affirmed that Atty. Paguia’s tapes
were real based on a commissioned re-
search conducted by Dr. Brian Lovell of
Uniquest Pty Limited, a private forensic
voice analysis company based in
Queensland, Australia.
Former senator Francisco Tatad like-
wise said that the voices, trying to manipu-
late the results of the 2004 presidential
elections through a variety of criminal and
illegal means belonged to President Ar-
royo, according to the findings of the New
Jersey-based Voice Identification, Inc.
Interpreted by many as a way to gag
the media, the National Telecommunica-
tions Commission (NTC) released a state-
ment saying that if the tapes were found to
be “false and/or fraudulent… the broad-
casting/airing of such false information
and/or willful misinterpretation shall be The Arroyo administration is per-
just cause for the suspension, revocation ceived to have an arsenal of resources
and/or cancellation of the licenses or au-
thorization issued. (to the concerned radio
to maneuver the present crisis to her
and television companies).” favor. But how long will it survive?
While Arroyo was still mum amid
mounting calls for her to either confirm or
deny if the female voice on the tapes was
indeed hers, “Garci” CDs sold for only by ROY LAGARDE
P5.00 sprouted everywhere like mushrooms
in Metro Manila. The NBI warned anew between Arroyo and Garcillano -- one of
that those who own bootleg “Garci” CDs which is from the State University Council
could be imprisoned for violating the Anti- of the University of the Philippines (UP) in
Wiretapping Act. The knee-jerk threats Diliman -- indicates that there has been a
from NBI, the Justice Department and the “betrayal of public trust, if not a subver-
NTC, which bordered on the ridiculous, sion of the people’s will.”
were construed not by a few as tactics At the early part of June, Garcillano
emanating from Malacañang. made himself scarce while hiding and
When the five committees of Con- snubbed three subpoenas from the joint
gress started the inquiry into the alleged committees of the House of Representa-
wiretapped conversation, reports revealed tives investigating the wiretapping con-
that solons involved in the hearing were troversy. Alas, 20 days ahead of an arrest
being bribed with hefty financial rewards. order issued against him, Garcillano re-
Finally breaking her silence, Arroyo portedly made a successful escape on July
made the performance of her life by ap- 14 to Singapore and to Europe the follow-
pearing “live” on the TV screens in the ing day.
evening of June 27 by publicly saying “I’m
sorry” for making a supposed “lapse in Why is the administration so
judgment” but denied poll fraud. IMPACT nervous and panicky?
sources, however, alleged that her public
statement was not aired “live” but had From the very start of the senate hear-
undergone around 40 takes to perfection. ing on jueteng, Malacañang has already
A careful analysis of the content and been calling for the immediate cessation of
context of the wiretapped conversations the inquiry.

A Matter
of Survival
The president’s son Rep. Mikey Ar-
royo and his uncle Rep. Iggy Arroyo were
accused of receiving jueteng money by
self-confessed jueteng bag lady Sandra
Cam who revealed that she personally
delivered payola once to both of them.
Ironically, however, instead of facing the
accusations against them, Rep. Mikey
Arroyo together with his father First Gentle-
man Atty. Mike Arroyo exiled themselves
abroad.
Cam and other witnesses including
Wilfredo “Boy” Mayor, Richard Garcia
and Abe Riva have previously admitted
having receiving series of “name your
price” bribe offers should they withdraw
from testifying before the senate investi-
gation. Eventually, however, Garcia and
Riva gave in to the offer. Without recant-
ing their senate testimonies, both excul-
pated the Arroyos with drama and fanfare
but to the ridicule of the watching public.
“Everything is just about money,
money, money,” Archbishop Cruz said
who accused the administration for brib-
ing his witnesses. “Why is the administra-
tion so nervous and panicky that it will
spare nothing to destroy jueteng wit-
nesses?”
When the jueteng issue alleging the
involvement of the First Family exploded,
the crusade of Archbishop Cruz had just
one call: to hear President Arroyo ordering
his men, the PNP Chief principally, to stop
jueteng. It landed in deaf ears.
“Sabihin lang ni President Arroyo
na itigil ang jueteng, within 24 hours
titigil agad ang jueteng,” Boy Mayor
echoed likewise, “Pero bakit wala kaming
marinig sa kanya?”
There are loud allegations that the
foremost reason why the Arroyo Admin-
istration cannot order the stoppage of
jueteng operations is that it has to satisfy
to the hilt the huge amount of money
contributed by gambling lords during the
Presidential elections. And this, not to
mention further allegations that the on-
going maneuverings to save her adminis-
tration from an impending fall is also
bankrolled by the same financial sources.
Impeaching the impeachment
The administration has another plan -
- to kill the impeachment complaint as soon
as possible. As this issue was going to
press, Liberal party Congressman Rodulfo
Bacani, who already signed the impeach-
ment complaint, confirmed the said agenda
of the majority bloc to junk the complaint
before President Arroyo leave for the
United States on September 12.
Also a member of the Majority, Bacani
said that pro-Arroyo solons will throw the
complaint into the garbage bin because of
technicalities.
As of August 26, the pro-impeach-
ment secured eight more signatures, bring-
ing the number of signatories to 48 from 40
signatures last August 23, still short by 31
to reach the required 79, or one-third of the
House membership for the automatic trans-
mittal of the complaint to the senate.
While the regime is disintegrating bit
by bit, Arroyo still hangs on with a formi-
dable number of supporters at the Con-
gress. But the administration is not taking
the situation calmly. Arroyo is still playing
more serious tricks than releasing cinematic
apologies. The sightings of droves of
Congressmen driving to Malacañang these
last couple days may be one of the tricks
too many.
Impact sources say that many legisla-
tors were already willing to give their sig-
natures including the 15 Liberal solons but
dilly-dallied because of favors dangled
before them, their families and even rela-
tives. It is not remote to assume that the
Palace is releasing funds to sustain con-
gressional support. Malacañang
expectedly denied this.
With an arsenal of tactics and finan-
cial resources, the hounds of Malacañang
are being charged of silencing present and
potential jueteng and election witnesses.
Now that the arena of battle is in Congress,
the Palace is accused of costly
maneuverings in order to prevent a poten-
tially destructive impeachment scenario.
But how long can this Administration
hold the floodgates of an increasing socio-
political unrest and its attendant economic
toll? Granting it survives, albeit for a time,
is the Filipino prepared to live harmoni-
ously with suspicions of deceit, corrup-
tion and a stolen presidency? Indeed, it
is a matter of survival -- not of a powerful
president, but of truth itself. I
Volume 39 • Number 5 9
(Editor’s Note: With permission from the author, we
are serializing Dr. Custodio’s article which appeared
earlier in the Philippiniana Sacra, January-April 2004
issue).
Globalization and
Its Challenges to
Education
First of Three Parts
by LOURDES J. CUSTODIO, Ph. D.
W
e are experiencing a transition
towards a Global Society that is
Interdependent and oriented to-
wards an ever-increasing globalization in
all orders (Alexander King and Bertrand
Schneider, The First Global Revolution: A
Report by the Council of the Club of Rome,
1991). The international political field,
economy, environment, information tech-
nology, mass-communications, culture,
and the realm of ideas—all are moving
towards this reality, affecting each and
every one of the world’s inhabitants.
Globalization is a reality that for better
or for worse touches our lives in ways
unknown before. Globalization cannot be
understood as a singular condition or as a
linear process. It is best thought of as a
multi-dimensional phenomenon involving
diverse domains of activity and interac-
tion: economic, political, social, cultural,
technological and environmental.
In the economic domain, globaliza-
tion has its lights and shadows. It brings
vast increases in global income, higher
rate of return on capital and increased
trade. It may be viewed positively, if it is
interpreted as the increasing interdepen-
dence among nations in trade, investments,
technology and human resources.
The single global market excludes
worldwide masses from the system. Thus
10 IMPACT • August 2005
there is greater marginalization of the poor,
greater inequalities between countries and
between the rich and the poor within the
same country. Globalization pays more
attention to the quantitative aspects of
economic growth to the neglect of the
qualitative aspects of human well being
such as quality of life, sense of solidarity,
cooperation among peoples and the build-
ing of the world into a common home for all.
In the political domain, globalization
involves a historic shift from national gov-
ernments and national electorates, towards
more complex systems of regional and
global governance. There are significant
differences of interpretation and empha-
sis in the globalist, traditionalist and
transformationalist accounts of the con-
sequences of globalization for the modern
state, and this should not be underesti-
mated (David Held, A Globalizing World?
Culture, Economicis, Politcs, 2000).
The globalists see globalization as an
inevitable development, which cannot be
resisted or significantly influenced by
human intervention, particularly through
traditional political institutions as nation-
states.
The optimists or positive globalists
point to the benefits of globalization and
see the results of globalizing influences as
a change to be welcomed. They focus on
the potential of stretched social relations
to improve the quality of life, raise living
standards and bring people together,
which in turn promotes the sharing of
cultures and understanding among the
nations around the world—in a sense
making us all world citizens through global
communication. While they recognize the
dangers of global pollution, positive
globalizers argue that we could improve
the situation, if we all took responsibility
for reducing unsustainable levels of con-
sumption. They point to the development
of new technologies that are likely to re-
duce levels of pollution.
The pessimistic globalists, on the
contrary, see the world as becoming less
diverse and more homogeneous. They see
the diminution of national identities and
sovereignty negatively and point to the
uneven consequences of globalization.
The traditionalists argue that the sig-
nificance of globalization as a new phase
has been exaggerated. They believe that
most economic and social activities are
regional rather than global and still see a
significant role for nation states.
The transformationalists believe that
globalization represents a significant shift
but question the inevitability of its im-
pacts. They argue that there is still signifi-
cant scope for local, national and other
agencies.
 A R
In the socio-cultural domain, global-
ization is seen to have originated from
three independent processes, the infor-
mation technology revolution, the eco-
nomic crisis of both capitalism and stat-
ism, and their subsequent re-structuring;
and the blooming of socio-cultural move-
ments with the reactions they triggered.
These are the blooming of cultural social
movements, such as libertarianism, hu-
man rights, feminism, and environmental-
ism. The interaction between these pro-
cesses and the reaction they triggered
brought into being a new dominant social
structure, the network society as well as
the new information/global economy and
a new culture (Manuel Castells cited by
Hazel Henderson in Beyond
Globalization…Shaping a Sustainable
Economy, 1999).
Globalization is seen to be not an
economic phenomenon but has to do with
the emergence of a ‘world system’. Local
transformation is as much part of global-
ization as the lateral extension of social
connections across time and space. In
circumstances of accelerating globaliza-
tion, the nation-state has become “too
small for the big problems of life and too
big for the small problems of life.” At the
same time as social relations become later-
ally stretched, we see the strengthening of
pressures for local autonomy and regional
T I C L E S
cultural identity (Anthony Giddens, The
Consequences of Modernity, 1990).
The technological domain cuts across
all the other domains of human activity.
This is due to the fact that globalization is
the stretching, intensifying and speeding
up of world wide patterns of
interconnectedness made possible by in-
formation and communication technology.
The accelerating diffusion of television,
and Internet, satellite and digital technolo-
gies has made instant communication pos-
sible across vast areas and involving grow-
ing numbers of people.
On the environmental domain, the
global ecological crisis caused by the ozone
depletion, climate change, rainforest de-
struction and environmental pollution is
compounded by social, economic and
spiritual challenges that are equally daunt-
ing. As a reaction to this global ecological
crisis, there seems to be an emerging era
that is not a technological change but a
change in human consciousness. There is
an awakening of our unique capacity to be
self-reflective seeing inter-connectedness
and living systems. This is called the
“Reflective/Living Systems Paradigm” as
opposed to the “Industrialized/Material-
istic Paradigm” (Duane Elgin with Coleen
LeDrew, Global Consciousness Change:
Indicators of an Emerging Paradigm, 1997).
What is happening in the world today
because of globalization is described by
means of a symbolic representation of the
“The Lexus and the Olive Tree” (Thomas
L. Friedman, The Lexus And The Olive
Tree: Understanding Globalization, 2000).
The conflict between Lexus and the olive
tree dramatically symbolizes the tension
between the globalization system and the
ancient forces of culture, geography, tra-
dition and community. The olive tree
represents everything that roots us. Olive
trees speak of what anchor us, identify us
and locate us in the world. This may
consist in belonging to a family, a commu-
nity, a tribe, a nation, a religion and most
of all, a place called home. Olive trees are
what give us the warmth of family, the joy
of individuality, the intimacy of personal
rituals, the depth of private relationships
as well as the confidence to reach out and
encounter others.
On the other hand, Lexus represents
an equally fundamental age-old human
drive, which is played out in today’s glo-
balization system. This is the drive for
sustenance, improvement, prosperity and
modernization. Thus Lexus represents the
burgeoning global markets, financial insti-
tutions and information and communica-
tion technologies by which higher stan-
dards of living are pursued.
The challenge in this era of globaliza-
tion both for countries and individuals is
to find a healthy balance between preserv-
ing a sense of identity, home and commu-
nity and doing what it takes to survive
within the globalization system (Friedman,
2000).
Today, this phenomenon of global-
ization is considered to be mostly a “Glo-
balization-From-Above.” This is also
known as the “New World Order”, based
on the leading states, transnational busi-
nesses and political elites. On the other
hand, “Globalization–From-Below” is de-
scribed as an array of transnational forces
animated by environmental concerns, hu-
man rights, hostility to patriarchy and a
vision of human community based on the
unity of diverse cultures seeking an end to
poverty, oppression, humiliation, and col-
lective violence. It is not inclined towards
a new world order but towards a “One-
World Community” (Jeremy Brecher, John
Brown Childs, and Jill Cutler, Global Vi-
sions: Beyond the New World Order, 1993).
On the whole, globalization has come
to mean different things to many different
people. Some people see it as offering new
opportunities, others as offering particu-
lar threats. Life today is difficult to under-
stand without knowing the way globaliza-
tion works.
Challenges Posed to Society by
Globalization in the 21st Century
A central feature of the global situa-
tion is the enormous increase in the total-
ity of human activity that has led to a huge
rise in the demand for raw materials and
energy. Much of this is due to the rapid,
though uneven, growth of the world popu-
lation in the past century. This situation
radically modified the basic total demands
of good, housing, education and health
services. Concomitantly, all would like to
have access to consumer products proper
to the economy of consumerism, impelled
by the natural expectations of people who
are becoming more and more aware of their
rights and better informed as well, thanks
to the knowledge extension and advances
in communications.
There is an even more powerful factor
in the growth of human activity—the in-
creased consumption per capita that eco-
nomic growth has made possible. A clear
evidence of this phenomenon is the prolif-
eration of mass-produced goods spawned
by the factories of the industrialized world.
Volume 39 • Number 5 11
Globalization and
We live, indeed, in a consumerist society.
But there is still another consumption of
human, material and energy resources
particularly for military purposes as a
source of work and profit for some devel-
oped countries. It is indeed incomprehen-
sible that such a criminally wasteful use of
resources is tolerated in the face of exten-
sive hunger, poverty, disease and under-
development.
The growth of the economies has
been accompanied by an alarming dete-
rioration of the biosphere with serious
consequences to the climate, food pro-
duction, and availability of potable water.
The market economy is devoid of a frame
of social reference, operating so often at
the cost of underdevelopment, insensi-
tive to international cooperation and alien
to the indispensable solidarity among coun-
tries.
With the miseries of underdevelop-
ment, a form of superdevelopment is emerg-
ing that is equally inadmissible. This
superdevelopment consists in an exces-
sive availability of material goods for the
benefit of certain social groups and makes
people slaves of possession and immedi-
ate gratification, with no other horizon
than the multiplication or continual re-
placement of things. This has also come
to be known as the civilization of con-
sumption or “consumerism”, which in-
volves so much throwing away.
In the absence of programs for saving
and their massive recycling, the aforesaid
series of problems will become the great-
est threats to human survival in this new
millennium. Environmental concerns must
12 IMPACT • August 2005
Its Challenges
become a necessary part of education in
the new millennium. Sustainable develop-
ment is imperative. A new design for living
based on a reduction of waste, respect for
bio-diversity, socio-economic diversity,
and cultural diversity that transcends
outmoded concepts of sovereignty must
be aimed for.
We are becoming one world, which is
expressed at times in terms like the “global
village” or “globalization” to describe the
process. Many factors are pulling the
world into greater interdependence,
reconfigured international relations, new
sources of information technology, the
internet, new cultural forms, international
environmental and health initiatives, new
market structures that transcend political
borders.
There is an exponential growth of
scientific and technological knowledge
including the new information technology
and the bio-technologies. We are living in
an age of unprecedented intellectual dis-
covery, an era in which knowledge doubles
every 12 to 15 years in the sciences alone.
As a result of increasingly fruitful scien-
tific research, the new technologies hold
out increasingly bright prospects for con-
fronting the challenges of sustainable
development. However, it is precisely
those countries most in need of them who
have difficulty using them to solve their
problems. The tremendous disparity ex-
isting among countries in the matter of
technological advancement and human
welfare aggravates this situation. This
has come to be called the “digital divide”.
There are likewise, astronomical debts,
to Education
both internal and external, beginning with
the more powerful economically and fol-
lowed by the overwhelming debt of the
developing countries. These developing
countries have very scarce participation
in the global economy, which thrives in-
creasingly on alternative raw materials and
applies mercilessly the principles of
competitivity.
This is the new scenario presented by
the twenty first century. We are at the turn
of a new historical era. Not only do new
problems arise, which are political, social,
economic, and environmental, but other
local events acquire a global dimension
owing to the all-pervading mass media.
Challenges Posed by
Globalization to Education in the
21st Century
The changes shaking the world at the
dawn of this new millennium are complex
and cannot be interpreted simplistically.
At the dawn of the 21st century, there is a
responsibility that education has to as-
sume since all education takes place in
society and has close links with it. All
matters concerning humanity such as:
sustainable development -- including the
environment -- the building and strength-
ening of peace, understanding among
peoples, democracy, freedom and human
rights, as well as everything connected
with changes in work processes and in the
nature of economic activities and with the
extraordinary development of the new in-
formation and communication technolo-
gies have their repercussions in the way
education must take place.
Now, together with the tragic conse-
quences brought about by globalization,
there is however a bright hope in the
realization of the centrality of man to find
solutions for the aforesaid problems. The
“birth of a new humanism” as expressed in
the Vatican II documents is coming out in
bold relief. This new humanism is linked
with scientific progress. Pope Paul VI, in
his Populorum Progressio spoke of the
“search for a new humanism which will
enable man to find himself anew by em-
bracing the high values of friendship,
prayer and contemplation.” (PP, 20) This
new humanism can be said to have
stemmed from the importance of the scien-
tific problems and technological mentality
in our days. Now the scientific problems
are also closely related with human prob-
lems. The understanding of these rela-
tionships, the attempt to clarify and define
Globalization / p. 26
 A R
T
he World Youth Day in Cologne,
Germany has just ended. Due to my
work load, I could not follow it
closely -- I just got glimpses. But it was
always in my heart, like an ember that
refuses to die.
I was struck when Pope Benedict,
quite youthful in his 78 years, said some-
thing to the effect that true joy has a
name, and that is Jesus of Nazareth. He
told the youth this. Jesus is who you
need, he boldly said. Wow!
I was even more moved when he
urged the youth to know and deal with
Christ -- ”at all costs.” Double “wow”! I
could not agree with him more. But the
problem is how to get this very important
message across in all its integrity and
vividness. It’s often lost in a turbulent
ocean of difficulties, temptations, dis-
tractions, weaknesses and sin.
Those raging hormones, emotional
instability, intellectual softness make them
prone to all sorts of unhealthy influences,
by Roy Cimagala
The Youth
Factor
T I C L E S
often leading them to undisciplined and
dissolute lifestyles that they regret later
on. Making things worse, some unscru-
pulous sectors exploit this youthful weak-
ness as they bombard the youth with
false images and illusions, erroneous
ideas and doctrines, dangerous practices
and titillating impulses.
These crooks should be exposed and
duly penalized. They often hide behind
cloaks of legitimate businesses and
youthful proclivity for fun and search for
meaning.
That’s why, my fervent prayer is that
families be truly strengthened to ably
carry out their delicate responsibility of
forming the youth well. They should be
helped by the Church, government and
other private groups.
My prayer is that more and more
people wake up to realize more deeply
how important it is to mould our youth as
they ought to be -- not only good children
to their parents, dutiful students to their
teachers, but also responsible citizens
and faithful children of God.
Thus, we need to realize that forming
them is not just a matter of making them
physically fit, emotionally stable, intellec-
tually prepared. It’s more of making them
spiritually and morally mature. That’s
where a person’s true identity is known.
Yes, they have to develop their hu-
man faculties. I just hope that we can find
a way to pursue this without sacrificing
the spiritual and moral upbringing which
the real goal of education.
Even more, these human pursuits
should rather boost, not compete with,
the spiritual and moral development of
the youth. Their fun, sports and fashions
should not compete with their need for
prayer, sacrifice and the sacraments.
How Christ is translated into doc-
trines attuned to the needs of the youth,
into the substance of their youthful de-
sire for fun and entertainment, into the
goal of their aspirations is the challenge
we all have.
We already have a lot of Christian
doctrine in modules and what not. What
is needed is how to make this vibrant and
always attractive to them. The goal is how
to make them be consistent to their Chris-
tian faith not only at home, nor in the
school and in the church, but rather more
in the places where they hang out.
That is, how they can achieve true
Christian integrity, such that even in their
private moments, when no one is around,
they continue to be a living, breathing
Christian. Though an effect of grace,
Christianity should be quite natural to
them.
Their age is quite crucial. I believe
that’s when a person can already distin-
guish between what is a carnal or sensual
man and a spiritual man, and can choose
which one he wants to be.
That’s the age when a person can
decide to definitively shed off his old
man, so he can assume the new man that
the Christian faith encourages each one
of us to be.
That’s the age we all have to pay
special attention to. The youth should be
helped to get clear and correct ideas, and
to develop appropriate virtues, knowing
how to study, to dominate his passions,
and to be led always by reason and then
by faith, hope and charity.
With the scandalous situation of our
present political world, we need to see to
it that our investment for the future is well
done and developed. We have to seri-
ously work on the youth factor! I
Volume 39 • Number 5 13
 A R
H
ow much farther do we climb to get
to the village? I asked Alex the
sacristan and guide to Brgy. San
Andres Upper, my hands wiping the sweat
all over my face and my body sensing my
feet still trembling from the exertion. This
was a memorable day, and not too long
ago, when I assigned myself celebrant of
the Eucharist in the farthest barangay
being served by the Cathedral Parish of
the Nativity of our Lady, here in Borongan,
Eastern Samar. We had just negotiated a
steep mountain on barely visible steps
mercifully sculpted on the mountain’s side
and supported, rather precariously, by
slices of bamboo. Alex stopped and smiled
wryly. “Hirayo pa, Padre,” he said in Waray.
When Alex says it’s still far, it’s really far.
In my mind I started to count the hills and
mountains past us and I couldn’t believe
there were already quite a number of them.
What followed next was, to me at least, a
seemingly endless climb intermittently
under the heat of the sun or under the
The Trails to San
Andres Upper
by Eutiquio ‘Euly’ B. Belizar, Jr., SThD
14 IMPACT • August 2005
T I C L E S
shade of trees and the rainforest. In the
end I came to understand why they called
the village San Andres Upper; it is literally
on top of a mountain. I was fully drenched
with sweat but glad to have arrived.
I was in for a mild shock.
I realized it was good my body ex-
pelled its liquid waste via my profuse sweat-
ing because there were no rest rooms or
comfort rooms or, to put it directly, toilets
within the vicinity of the village chapel. Of
course, I could just go behind any bush
but my being in the thick of the village
disallowed that. I could just guess that
many villagers still sought relief the way
our ancestors did -- that is, by natural
means. That’s what the bushes are for, I
was told in half-embarrassed smiles.
I soon discovered why toilets were so
few and far between. Water was a moun-
tain away. For drinking or bath villagers
still have to negotiate a kilometer or two to
get to the mountain or to the nearest stream
or river. I could understand that using
water for toilets could seem like a waste.
Feeling a bit dehydrated because of
the sweating, I asked if we could have
some young coconuts to relieve our thirst.
Our host gave a sign to a young man and
in no time we were feasting on several of
them; I noticed our host took my request
like I asked only for peanuts.
I also discovered San Andres Upper
still has no electricity. That means only
battery-run radios and such other devices
can be of any use here. My cell phone was
totally irrelevant. And, miracle of miracles
-- there is no television. People are still
having quality family conversations;
neighbors could hear one another from
several huts away and are at each other’s
beck and call when an emergency comes.
What’s more, people at San Andres
Upper have something even Metro
Manilans and other more comfortable
people would envy: flat bellies. Obesity is
unheard of in the whole village of thirty
eight something huts. A bi-product of
poverty and deprivation? Or maybe of the
constant climb of the hills and mountains,
not to say fording a daunting stony river,
to reach their homes and farms? Without
a doubt. But for a villager it’s just the way
things are.
Don’t get them wrong. The villagers
have heard of the distant rumblings in
Manila. They have heard of how their
congressman and governor are battling
for a president so beleaguered by accusa-
tions of electoral fraud and other irregu-
larities. They have heard of how the oppo-
sition uses the media to throw everything
but the kitchen sink at the sitting Chief
Executive of the land to make her give up
power which she holds on to with fiercely
unyielding determination.
It’s ironic. People in Manila are fight-
ing for power while people in San Andres
Upper remain power-less, electrically and
politically. Public servants are trying to
tear one another to bits and pieces while
people in San Andres Upper are bereft of
the most basic services. If this is not mad-
ness, if this not a big shame on us, I don’t
know what is.
And yet the most disarming thing I
encountered in San Andres Upper is the
people’s humor. When I asked them why
they choose to live in a place so high and
so far away, I heard a woman say repress-
ing a smile, “Father, it’s good here. Our
farms and homes are here. Besides,” she
paused, “the fare to heaven from here is
only two pesos!”
“There’s no fare,” I said. “Especially
for you heaven is for free.” I
 A R
A Question of
Public Trust
by Atty. Ricky Ribo
P
ublic 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, according to the Constitution.
The office a public servant occupies
is vested with power which if not kept
within its appropriate limits, could be
abused to the prejudice of the people
whose interest and welfare is the essence
and justification for the existence of gov-
ernment.
The President, no less, and as likewise
provided by the same Constitution, is
obliged to strictly avoid conflict of interest
in the conduct of his office, and to ensure
that the laws are faithfully executed. But,
verily, constitutional provisions do not
grant power; it limits it. It is not a source of
prestige; it is a bedrock of subservience.
Not a few steps or measures were thus
undertaken to institutionalize this trust
T I C L E S
with the enactment of various laws, rules,
guidelines, and proclamations: RA No.
3019, or the “Anti-Graft and Corrupt Prac-
tices Act,” enumerates certain acts con-
sidered as corrupt and unlawful: RA No.
6713, which established a code of conduct
and ethical standards for public officials;
Proclamation No. 472, which declares the
second week of October every year as
“Moral Guidance Week for Public Ser-
vants”; Executive Order NO. 319, which
institutionalized the Moral Recovery Pro-
gram (MRP) in all government offices to
address graft and corruption, lack of dis-
cipline, dishonesty, patronage, etc., which
continue to taint the public service. Clearly
then, the need to instill the basis for a belief
or willingness to believe in the capacity,
ability and dedication of public officers
became primordial for good governance.
Curiously so, and anent the “Hello
Garci” tapes, did President Arroyo breach
the trust bestowed upon the Office when
she admitted calling a Comelec official?
In any exercise of discernment, it is
imperative to start with a clear statement of
facts. It is undisputed that the President
herself the incumbent and a candidate in
the last presidential elections; that during
the election period she made a telephone
call to a high-ranking Comelec official who
had direct control and supervision over
election personnel in Mindanao; that the
call related to election activities at the said
area; and that the President admitted mak-
ing the call and expressed her apologies,
albeit belated.
Without going into the unrestrained
details of the conversations, was there a
breach of public trust? Clearly enough,
yes.
It is the policy of the State to promote
a high standard of ethics in public service.
Public officials and employees shall at all
times be accountable to the people and
shall discharge their duties with utmost
responsibility, integrity, competence, and
loyalty, act with patriotism and justice,
lead modest lives, and uphold public inter-
est over personal interest. Public officials
are indubitably enjoined to observe a cer-
tain degree of ethical standard not unlike
that of Caesar’s wife who must not only be
above reproach and approach, but must
also be perceived to be such.
To merit the trust, respect and obedi-
ence of the governed, a government must
be just. Justice cannot exist where trust is
not reposed, where respect is not earned
and obedience is not complied. To be just,
the government must be good. To be good,
it must adhere to the principles of decency
and fair play as they are understood by
universal conscience. The inherent na-
ture, hence, of public trust is that, nay
merely an adjuration, it is both a legal and
moral imperative.
The admission of a wrong and the
consequent apologies in full view of the
public is sufficient enough to ferret out the
truth we all seek, i.e. that a wrong was
committed -- and such admission no longer
needs a trial, if only to precisely observe
Rule 130 of the Rules on Evidence.
The issue on whether or not the last
presidential elections were rigged is an-
other truth to be sought. It is a question
premised on the culpable violation of the
Constitution and other existing laws by
the President, not on the issue of public
trust.
Thus, under the law, the President
must be held accountable for breaching
public trust. What form must accountabil-
A Question / p. 26
Volume 39 • Number 5 15
 C O V E R
N
o doubt, the current political im-
passe that’s thunderously shak-
ing the Arroyo government to the
tilt is no way far from over. Worse yet, with
the unprecedented record high prices of
oil casting an ominous whammy on the
economy, it simply seems that this coun-
try is coming apart at the seams. In fact,
some analysts opine that “sky-high oil
prices were a far bigger threat to the sur-
vival of President Arroyo than the political
scandals she is facing.”
The current political turmoil that took
the Arroyo presidency by storm may have
been principally attributed to the Tapes.
Of course, over two months or so back
then, the budget deficit and rising oil prices
-- and the opposition’s fervid bent on
raking the jueteng muck -- were already
reasons enough for worry. But not until
The Tapes -- as the Phil. Daily Inquirer
Editorial aptly put it, “It’s the tapes, stu-
pid” -- and suddenly the mounting storm
of “resign, impeach, or oust GMA move-
ments” gathered force. Breaking her three
weeks of silence since the Hello Garci
expose, GMA’s admission and apology
for a “lapse of judgment” hit snag --
smacked as “too little, too late” -- and
stirred even more questions than answers.
Thence, various groups and movements -
- not only the opposition’s frontline orga-
nization, the United Opposition (UNO) --
have sprouted all over to lay claim to the
unraveling of the Arroyo presidency, in-
variably demanding for Arroyo’s resigna-
tion, impeachment, or ouster: Senator
Lacson’s “Be Not Afraid Movement”;
Bayan’s “Gloria Step Down Now” Move-
ment; Laban ng Masa’s “End GMA Re-
gime, End Elite Rule and Establish the
Transitional Revolutionary Government”;
Bro. Eddie Villanueva’s “Bangon Pilipinas
National Renewal” Movement -- also not
excluding even some local anti-GMA move-
ments outside of Metro Manila, like the
“People United for the Removal of Gloria
Arroyo” (PURGA), a movement of health
workers and medical professionals in
Davao City; and the “Negros Oriental
Movement to Remove Gloria” (No More
Gloria). Likewise, various universities and
colleges, students and youth and other
sectoral, professional, religious and civic
organizations have joined the GMA re-
sign calls. The De La Salle University and
the University of Santo Tomas came out
with their respective statements published
as paid ad in major broadsheets.
Not the least too, and perhaps the
hardest blow that hit by far the Arroyo
administration was the telling events on
16 IMPACT • August 2005
S T O R Y
the 8th of July. The resignation of the by MALOU MAHILUM & BOB ACEBEDO
“Hyatt 10” (the 10 Cabinet members who
announced in Hyatt Hotel their irrevo-
cable resignation and asked the President
to do the same) jolted GMA’s political
base. It was immediately followed by
similar calls for GMA resignation from
State o
former allies, no less by Senate President
Franklin Drilon of the Liberal Party. The
Makati business Club, the Financial Insti-
tute of the Executives of the Philippines
and former president Cory Aquino echoed
a similar position.
The Unmaking of the Presi-
dent
That the current political crisis has
indeed paralyzed the presidency is much
of Mrs. Arroyo’s own making as it is of the
confluence of circumstances. Sheila
Is the wrenching
Coronel of the Philippine Center for Inves-
tigative Journalism, contends that Mrs.
political-economic
Arroyo is reaping the consequences she
has wrought on the electoral process and
crisis begging for
on key institutions, among them, the Com-
mission on Election, the military, and the
system change?
police.
Coronel observes that “much more
than Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada,
Arroyo has politicized these and other
agencies of government, stunting their
professionalism and turning them into
puerile props for a president insecure about
her mandate and the affections of her
people.”
“Arroyo has exerted every effort to
win the allegiance of the military and the
police by buying their loyalty through
promotions, perks, and special access to
her. She used these institutions to quell
legitimate threats to her government…but
having courted the favor of strategic offic-
ers, these agencies were also used for
more partisan purposes, including keep-
ing tab of the president’s political oppo-
nents,” Coronel said.
Even the wiretapping, Coronel further
notes, did not stop short as allegedly
ordered by the Intelligence Service of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines or ISAFP,
but may even be further traced, as report-
edly culled from military and intelligence
sources, to an instruction from Malaca-
ñang political operatives, who wanted to
keep track of Commissioner Garcillano’s
movements, for fear that he would favor
the opposition instead.
Not that the Commission on Elections
(Comelec) was then, prior to Arroyo’s
term, politically immune from presidential
appointees serving as commissioners and
of
DEEP RUT
politically beholden to the incumbent lead-
ership. Even former presidents Ramos and
Estrada also accommodated their trusted
knaves to the Commission -- the mercurial
Bernardo Pardo and the “kissing lolo”
Manolo Gorospe by Ramos; and the con-
troversial professor Luz Tancangco by
Estrada. But, for Arroyo, “instead of re-
building the Comelec’s tainted credibility
by naming respectable commissioners,
(Arroyo) named Garcillano, a known
dagdag-bawas (vote padding and shav-
ing) expert, and Manuel Barcelona Jr., her
campaign contributor, as commissioners.
These appointments contributed to the
further weakening of the Comelec’s insti-
tutional capabilities and effectiveness,”
Coronel said.
Apart from the Comelec, military and
police, Mrs. Arroyo’s patronage politics
also used, or “corrupted” maybe, the staff
and resources of some civilian agencies of
government particularly during her elec-

Volume 39 • Number 5 17
 C O V E R
toral campaign: the Philhealth, which is-
sued millions of health cards that Arroyo
gave away as largesse during the cam-
paign; the Overseas Workers’ Welfare
Administration or OWWA, which report-
edly provided part of the funding for the
said health cards; the Department of Ag-
riculture, which released millions of pesos
in fertilizer subsidies to win the local offi-
cials’ support; the Department of Public
Works and Highways, which implemented
the road-repair programs that oiled the
administrations patronage machine; and
the Philippine Amusements and Gaming
Corporation or Pagcor, which has been
accused of allegedly releasing millions to
fund various dole out projects associated
with the presidential campaign.
“In her desire to be elected president,
Gloria Arroyo (with the more than ample
help of her husband) mobilized the whole
machinery of government for her cam-
paign, in the process wreaking havoc on
key institutions,” added Coronel.
The Dash for Charter Change
The wrenching, and lingering, politi-
cal impasse -- and exacerbated by the
looming economic whammy of sky high
oil prices -- have, aside from unraveling or
unmasking Mrs. Arroyo’s “unmaking” of
her presidency and herself reaping the
consequences of the damage she has
wrought on key institutions, even pre-
cipitated two more related consequences:
the conspicuously eroding public trust in
the Arroyo administration; and the stri-
dent calls, this time even more pronounced
than ever, for political change -- systemic
or otherwise.
The telling public distrust is reflected
not only in street protests and GMA’s
18 IMPACT • August 2005
S T O R Y
plunging disapproval ratings in the sur-
veys, but also in the ring tones, the jokes,
and the blogs. “These are not just forms
of entertainment, they are cries of anger
and disapproval…(and) Malacañang’s
belated recognition of the extent of public
disaffection only shows how unfeeling
of the pulse of the people it has become,”
PCIJ’s Sheila Coronel said. Similarly,
Patrick Patino of the Institute for Popular
Democracy claims that “GMA has lost
not only her credibility, she is also losing
grip on her authority.”
At the same time, while the Arroyo
administration has managed so far to
fend off threats to its survival -- albeit
remaining yet on shaky ground, the hov-
ering backdrop of the lingering political
instability have engendered a plethora of
change advocates from various sectors
and shades of the political spectrum to
randomly proffer in haste their proposed
programs of transformation -- some opt-
ing for radical shift in the system of gov-
ernment through Con-
stitutional reforms,
others for a transfor-
mation in our value
system, and still oth-
ers simply raving for a
transition of people
running the system,
and a lot more of sun-
dry innovations vari-
ably reflecting or ex-
hibiting the propo-
nents’ furtive agenda,
perspectives, or inter-
ests.
At the early stage
of the political crisis,
there was already the
rather prompt propo-
sition for the establish-
ment of a Transitional Revolutionary Gov-
ernment following an eventual ouster of
Arroyo. Principally propounded by the
political organization, “Laban ng Masa,”
which purportedly projects itself as an
“independent third pole” (in contrast to
the UNO and Bayan coalition as “second
pole” and the Arroyo administration as
“first pole”), the movement failed to gather
force, bereft of the needed support from
other central sectors, like the Church,
military, and business.
The United Opposition (UNO) has
been consistently bent more on a transi-
tion in leadership -- on ousting Gloria
Arroyo -- than on working for structural
reforms. At first, the opposition spear-
headed the mounting campaign for
Arroyo’s resignation. But as GMA has
repeatedly rejected calls for her to resign
and coldly remained stuck on drawing the
impasse longer to extend her survival, the
opposition eventually changed its tack
to the more drawn-out process of im-
peachment now slowly creeping, or maybe
“languishing” soon, in Congress.
Unlike the past Edsa 1 and 2 when the
Church took the transitional offensive of
harnessing people power at the Edsa high-
way which ultimately ousted Marcos and
Estrada, the July 10 pastoral letter of the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Phil-
ippines doused cold water on anti-GMA
forces and fell short of calling for the
president’s resignation. Entitled “Re-
storing Trust: A Plea for Moral Values in
Philippine Politics,” the letter likely prof-
fered for the expediency of an intrinsic
transformation in people and of the inher-
ent value system in Philippine politics
more than an eventual transition of the
national leadership or a system change of
government.
But most telling of the strident calls
for change to address the current political
turbulence is the persistent, and brewing,
advocacy for Charter change or amend-
ing the Constitution with the end view of
a system shift from presidential-unitary
to parliamentary-federal form of govern-
ment.
The principal protagonist or propo-
nent for the shift to parliamentary-federal
Philippine republic is, no less, President
Arroyo herself who, in her July 25 State of
the Nation Address (SONA), called on
Congress to initiate moves to amend the
Constitution and effect a change to a
parliamentary-federal form of government
because -- proffering her premises -- ”our
political system has degenerated” to be-
come a “hindrance to progress” and “how
we have strained it to its final limits.” But
while the President’s proposal to change
the Constitution was enthusiastically re-
ceived with thunderous applause from
local executives and members of the
House of Representatives (as if, accord-
ing to one observer, “the President had a
well orchestrated claque under the direc-
tion of Speaker Jose de Venecia”), it has
run into a wall of opposition in the Senate
-- and, as some senators and most critics
believe, the proposed Charter change is
GMA’s ploy to divert attention from the
looming impeachment complaint against
the President, if not a rather sly attempt to
defuse the lingering political impasse.
Other protagonists, of course, in-
clude former president Ramos and Speaker
 S t a t e o f D e e p R u t

De Venecia as accomplices in the political fewer seats akin to the present Senate, calls for charter change and parliamen-
gambit of Cha-cha. Ramos and De Venecia but composed of nominees chosen by the tary-federal shift cannot simply pose to
cannot be said to have been unwittingly state assemblies comprising the current be immune from or insusceptible to op-
lured into supporting Arroyo’s proposal administrative regions in the country. posing arguments, the wall of opposition
without their own political ends. Joel The two groups, however, are in- particularly enunciated by the Senate. In
Rocamora of the Institute for Popular dicatively one in propounding the same fact, truth to tell, according the Sheila
Democracy contends that “former Pres. arguments in favor of the parliamentary- Coronel, “even as the talk of cha-cha
Fidel V. Ramos’ trapo-eleventh hour ‘res- federal shift: One, that the present uni- snowballs, the proposal to convene Con-
cue’ of the Malacañang ‘damsel in dis- tary-presidential system is outmoded and gress into a constituent assembly to draft
tress’, aside from saving President counterproductive as it stifles local ini- a new constitution is dead in the water.”
Arroyo’s downfall, likewise increased the tiative and resourcefulness and perpetu- Senator Joker Arroyo, chairman of
diminishing political stock of FVR.” ates local dependency and control the Senate blue ribbon, justice and hu-
“Speaker De Venecia and president through national regulation and patron- man rights, and public services commit-
Ramos have risked supporting a discred- age. Federalism advocates argue that the tees, and a strong opponent of the parlia-
ited President Arroyo in return for an- shift to a decentralized government will mentary system, doubts the plausibility
other promise to step down for early imple- hasten the efficient delivery of public of the argument that it would be easier,
mentation of parliament,” Rocamora services and finally emancipate the local under the parliamentary system, to re-
added. governments and communities from the move an unworthy Prime Minister and
Similarly, PCIJ’s Sheila Coronel be- age-old domination by “Imperial Manila.” not having to wait for his term to expire.
lieves that “Speaker Jose De Venecia and Two, a parliamentary-federal system will “Not really. At present, in the 237-mem-
other leaders of the House are really more address the defects of the unstable presi- ber House of Representatives (less than
interested in a parliamentary system that dential system -- its rising cost of elec- the proposed number of members of Par-
gives their kind -- politicians with a pa- tions, it is built-in conflicts and gridlock liament or MPs), the opposition, despite
tronage and electoral base in the districts in the separation of powers and checks- the noise, hoopla, demonstrations and
-- both executive and legislative powers. and-balance between the President and massive media support against a maligned
For De Venecia, et al., a shift to a parlia- Congress. Three, federalism will allow President, cannot muster the 1/3 vote
mentary system offers a back route to the the country to accommodate the diver- needed to impeach, that is, charge her,”
prime-ministership and protects the mo- sity of our people by passing laws and Senator Arroyo said.
nopoly of political power by traditional adopting policies that differ from state to Senator Arroyo believes that a par-
politicians, most of them members of po- state along ethnic, cultural, or religious liamentary system does not sit well with
litical clans, from incursions of media and lines. our participatory political culture. More-
movie stars into what was once trapo On the other hand, aside from the over, Senator Arroyo goes on to pro-
territory.” rather plausible distrust about GMA’s pound his other compelling arguments
But, apart from Ramos’ or De call for cha-cha as a ploy to extend her against the parliamentary system. One,
Venecia’s, or other traditional politicians’ political survival, the mounting moves or “parliamentarism may open the door to
vested ends, a parliamentary-federal
form of government is not at all de-
void of some merits that may slug it
as well for an effective and good
governance and thus steer a mean-
ingful transformation.
Two major civil society organi-
zations have been particularly in the
forefront advocating the parliamen-
tary-federal shift: the Citizens Move-
ment for a Federal Philippines (CMFP),
led by political scientist Jose
Abueva; and the Coalition for char-
ter Change Now (CCCN), associated
with Speaker Jose De Venecia. Both
groups have produced draft Consti-
tutions, and their proposals are al-
most the same except for some few
differences that lie in the mechanics
for the shift -- like, for instance, while
the CCCN wants to establish a uni-
cameral parliament and have the Sen-
ate abolished (thus the strong oppo-
sition, if not consternation, of most
senators), the CMFP is proposing
the creation of another chamber
called the House of States, with much

Volume 39 • Number 5 19
 C O V E R S T O R Y

autocratic rule under a very strong Prime

Minister, who can mesmerize a docile
parliament because the powers of the
executive and the legislative are merged
into one. The parliamentary set up is
conducive to installing a Prime Minister
who can stay on in perpetuity. Since the
Prime Minister is not only the Chief Ex-
ecutive but at the same time the leader of
Parliament, patronage politics would even
be worse than in the presidential set up.”
Two, “our weak party system -- our brand
of politics which unfortunately is domi-
nated by personalities, not by party plat-
forms, ideologies, or causes -- may not
withstand the constant pressures of
changes in the parliamentary set up where
the Cabinet, or the government so to
speak, rises and falls on the continued
support or loss of confidence of the leg-
islature.” Three, it is likely bordering on
obscurantism to argue that legislation
would be faster in a parliamentary setting
because a unicameral legislature is only
one house. “One need not go parliamen-
tary if the objective is just to have a
unicameral legislature or merely to hasten
legislation,” Senator Arroyo said.
Another potential drawback of fed-
eralism, according to Washington-based
professor Dr. Eric Langenbacker of
Georgetown University, is that states can
set different tax rates or tax incentives to
lure investors to their territories. This
could lead to what he called a “race to the
bottom,” where a country’s total revenue
collection could drop as its individual
states “compete” with each other to lower
their taxes. “Market forces start dictating
independent tax decisions. Companies
will consider relocating to states with
lower taxes or bigger tax breaks,”
Langenbacker said.
People or System: Where dost lie
the problem?
Admittedly so, diagnosing or dis-
secting the countless ills and their
roots that constitute the complex pa-
thology of the lingering crisis in our
national life requires more than just
pinpointing or ascribing one source,
say the political system, as the only
culprit -- likely it smacks of plain over-
simplification, if not naïve parochial-
ism.
Yes, there’s no denying thus -- as
the sociologist Samuel A. Culbert af-
firms that the first stage of “conscious-
ness raising” in effecting social and
organizational change is recognizing
what’s “off” -- that the Philippines is
indeed replete with debilitating defects
and problems (fact is, we have already
outdone almost all our Asian neigh-
bors on this aspect). We have the
lingering political crisis, or the lan-
guishing economic crisis, much as we
have our abattoir of moral crisis. We
have broad swaths of our population
who are out-of-school, unemployed,
and living far below the poverty line
just as standards of living continue to
slide, incomes stagnate, and hopes are
dampened. At worse, we have been
held hostage by profligate practices of
our national leaders that, as the Phil.
Daily Inquirer columnist Randy David
claims, have become the emblems of
the Arroyo presidency: massive and
organized electoral fraud, conversion
of public funds into campaign largesse,
deployment of the military and the po-
lice for partisan politics, and distribu-
tion of choice positions in the public
bureaucracy as political rewards. In-
deed we have fallen so far and so low
-- yes, we’re in the state of deep rut.
Yes too, there’s no arguing the
point that these staggering ills and
problems, symptoms of our debilitat-
ing national crisis, demand more than
ever the urgency for tangible change
and genuine reforms.
The controversial former US Em-
bassy Charge d’Affaires Joseph
Mussomelli , in his departure state-
ment last month, hinted that the Philip-
pines needs to concentrate on fixing
the system, instead of focusing on per-
sonalities. Clearly too, Mrs. Arroyo’s
July 25 SONA accused the current po-
litical system as “hindrance to
progress” and thus called for Consti-
tutional change. President Arroyo
painted herself as a victim, and blames
the system for the dysfunctions of her
administration.
But, evidently enough, blaming the
system for the present administration’s
mess plainly eschews to identify, much
less address, the country’s real prob-
lems and their roots -- from whence and
whoever they come from.
In the present state of deep rut,
where dost the problem lie?
William Esposo, in his column ar-
ticle “Gloria Governs the Philippines
by Delusion” (High Ground, INQ7.net,
August 8, 2005), contends that, “Our
biggest problem is the people running
the system and less of the system it-
self. Unless the nation develops that
capability to become a mature and vi-
able democracy where it’s citizens per-
form their appropriate roles to achieve
common good, we can only pull our-
selves lower and lower in the social
abyss.”
Hence, the dysfunctions of the
present administration that President
Arroyo attributes to the system may
just not be completely endemic in the
system but may as well be imputable to
the President herself, the one running

20 IMPACT • August 2005

 S t a t e o f D e e p R u t

the system. The August 6 Editorial of completion, and that the fundamental man -- and very likely, a “changed
the Phil. Daily Inquirer exactly hit the vocation of man is to strive for ‘hu- heart” might just as well pave for a
nail when it said, “Ms. Arroyo cannot manization’ or become more fully hu- “changed world.”
focus on the system without facing up man.” In a sense, Freire adds, despite No. The lingering political impasse
to her role as a leader of the system. the “historico-cultural conditioning of and the wrenching economic whammy
Resolving the question of the ‘dependent’ and ‘director’ societies,” may yet not be tearing this country to
President’s fitness for office is, in fact, man and his intrinsic system possess the seams. Not unless our national
the first step toward beginning the pro- far greater importance over the exter- leaders and politicians emancipate
cess of instituting far wider, and deeply nal structural system. themselves from the abattoir of profli-
needed, change.” Moreover, even on philosophico- gate vested interests, patronage poli-
Also, Senator Arroyo believes historical perspective -- whether it be tics and governance, and start a reso-
that while the present Constitution may the Hegelian structural triad of “The- lute self-examination of their ineptitudes
have its defects, the present system of sis-Antithesis-synthesis,” or Marx’s and faults than that of the system. Not,
government is not really the problem. “hegemonic structural consciousness” too, unless President Arroyo stops rant-
“The present Constitution has its de- and dialectical class struggle, or still ing or blaming the system for the dys-
fects, we can see it and perhaps, it is Churchill’s history as “one damn thing functions and defects of her adminis-
time and fair to correct parts of them. after another,” or simply a cyclical “his- tration, or using Charter change as ploy
But let us not overhaul the basic struc- tory repeats itself”--it may be gleaned, to extend her political survival; and,
ture of government because to begin since time immemorial, that the under- more importantly, not unless she truth-
with, it isn’t really broke. To borrow a lying principle of human, and social, fully discern and humbly acknowledge
much-repeated phrase, the problem lies transformation, amid the dialogical di- (nay merely lifting a Pauline verse from
in our leaders,” Sen. Arroyo said. chotomy of “system” and “people,” the Bible) her, or her family’s, “unmak-
But more than just unraveling has always been man himself, a free ing” of the highest office of the land,
where the problem lies and where trans- agent responsible of his own actions. the Presidency -- and thereby set the
formation be effected, whether in sys- He “creates”, so to speak, and so he supreme example for a genuine and
tems or in people, most change phi- pays the price of his own making. Vir- meaningful transformation by starting
losophers and scientists agree that in tues and vices, good as well as sinful with herself.
the complex nature, process or evolu- actions emanate not much from out- Yes, again, human, and social, trans-
tion of human transformation, man or side of as they do from within man. formation starts from within. Whilst, amid
the “self” takes precedence over the Accordingly, hence, systems alone the present state of deep rut, where dost
system -- albeit subject to both coordi- cannot bring about a meaningful trans- thus lie the rot? In the system or in the
nated and uncoordinated structural formation -- for systems, both corrupt people running the system? “It is not
factors, impulses, and forces. and wise, are but creative artifacts of what goes into the mouth that defiles a
According to sociologist Samuel man. To effect social, or political, person, but it is what comes out of the
A. Culbert, in his article, Conscious- change thus is to start from the heart of mouth that defiles” (Mt. 15:11). I
ness Raising: Five Stage
Model for Social and Or-
ganizational Change, the
“personal”, as the first
important component of
consciousness raising,
precedes the system and
that “there is the inher-
ent necessity or urgency
for the person to go be-
yond one’s system com-
ponent to see what the
system really is and how
it actually works as con-
trasted with how one has
been conditioned to see
it and one’s thinking
about others who are
also part of the system.”
Paulo Freire, a Bra-
zilian Educationalist,
likewise contends that
“Man, who is an incom-
plete being, and yet con-
scious of his
incompletion, has the in-
herent potential for

Volume 39 • Number 5 21
 S T
T
his beautiful and bountiful earth
was given to us by Creator God.
We, as children of God, are charged
to protect this land and cultivate it. As we
protect the land, it nurtures and sustains
our communities. Through this rich rela-
tionship we discover God and glorious
connectivity of His creation.
We know that destroying the land
costs us greatly. It costs us our crops,
our communities, and our futures. It also
costs us spiritually, since our actions
carelessly sever one of the most simple
and beautiful ways that we commune with
our maker.
The very existence of Republic Act
7942 (Mining Act) places us all in danger.
This legislation makes our environment
and communities vulnerable to foreign
mining companies whose only concern is
extracting a profit from our land and labour.
These companies do not care about pre-
serving God’s earth and they certainly do
not care about futures or the opinions of
the people that inhabit that land.
TVI, a Canadian mining company, has
been developing and operating an open
pit gold mine in Canatuan, Siocon since
Statement of Bp. Jose
Manguiran on the Mining Issue
© Royalty-Free/CORBIS
22 IMPACT • August 2005
A T E M E N
1994. These mining operations are against
the wishes of most of the people of Siocon.
The Municipal Mayor Cesar Soriano has
repeatedly stated his opposition along
with numerous other civil society groups
including the different faith communities
in town. The legitimate organization of the
Subanon people of Canatuan has also
continually voiced its opposition to the
destructive presence of these miners in
the community. This stance has been ech-
oed by other Subanon communities who
are aware of the situation.
The opposition of the people has
been made abundantly clear and main-
tained consistently for a long time. They
have maintained their opposition even
when shot at and wounded in 2004 or
beaten and arrested in 1999.
The operations of the company have
already caused grave environment dam-
age to an important watershed. The moun-
tain is also a sacred place to the Subanon
and it has been violated. The Subanon
have suffered abuses at the hands of the
company guards. Their community has
been disrupted and divided against itself
to serve the interests of the company.
T S
A grouping of respected elders of
the Subanon have condemned efforts to
falsely project some supporters of the
company as the leaders of the community
while the real traditional leader of the
local Subanon, Timuay Jose Anoy, is not
even free to live in his home or enter his
ancestral lands.
There have been many false claims
and misinformation presented about the
situation in Canatuan. The true voice of
the people and their cries for help are not
heard in Manila yet their problems are
grave and urgent. We invite those who
wish to know the truth to travel to Siocon
where the real wishes of the people cannot
be hidden and the real problems created by
the mining operations can be plainly seen.
I challenge the Government of the
Philippines to accept its God-given re-
sponsibility to protect the earth and de-
fend the cause of the poor and oppressed.
Scrap RA 7942 and support the rights of
indigenous peoples in mining affected
communities.
Bishop Jose R. Manguiran, D.D.
Bishop of Dipolog
 S T A T E M E N T S

P
resident Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
has made public admission of her
voice on the taped conversation with
a Comelec official, has apologized and has
asked forgiveness from the Filipino people
for a “lapse of judgment”. “…let him (her)
who has no sin, cast the first stone.”(Jn 8:7)
We admire her courage and humility
for owning to a fault, taking full responsi-
bility for it and promising to make up for it
by seriously taking on the gargantuan
task of implementing needed government
reforms to turn around the increasingly
burdensome toll on the life of Juan de la
Cruz in today’s Philippines.
Our economy is in very bad shape.
The peso continues to nosedive and in-
vestments are on a standstill. Costs of
living, transportation, consumer goods,
and energy are on the rise.
Politics in our country is no big deal!
Our politicians continue to plunder our
moral sensitivities, disregard our higher
values of statesmanship, love for country,
due process and Constitutional law. They
do not cease to abuse our patience and our

A Call for Sobriety and

democratic space.
From media, we are daily barraged by
the empty noise of spin-masters/doctors
and public relations consultants. There is

Non-Violence in the Face

a widespread epidemic of unsolicited ad-
vice and opinion overload, not to mention
text messages which run from wholesome
jokes to sickening brouhahas.

of the Present Political

We appeal for sobriety, for prayer, for
moments of reflection and discernment. In
this the year dedicated to the Holy Eucha-
rist and Mother Mary, let us take time out

to kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and
pray the Prayer for the Eucharistic and
Marian Year. Let us call on all our Basic
Ecclesial Communities to organize prayer
brigades around the Eucharist and our
Blessed Mother in their barangay chapels
during these times.
We also appeal for specific actions:
First, we would like the authenticity of
the “tapes” to be established beyond
doubt. Who did the wiretapping? How,
when and where was it done? How authen-
tic are its contents? Only when the authen-
ticity of the tape contents is established
can we entertain analysis and judgment on
the substance of the conversation that
supposedly took place. Does the sub-
stance of the exchange merit any violation
or infraction of the law? Only then should
due process of the law be invoked and
applied to whoever party is found guilty.
Meanwhile, we strongly call for na-
tional solidarity and respect for our Con-
stitution and governance system. Let us
Turmoil
allow the Executive to govern. Let us trust
Congress to play its part in putting in place
the needed legislative reforms. And let us
give the Judiciary its rightful role in the
interpretation of the law.
Specifically, we call on President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo to make good her prom-
ise to make amends. Let her institute the
much needed and long delayed programs
for poverty alleviation, good governance
and peacebuilding. Corruption in govern-
ment and illegal gambling should be finally
fiscalized. Microfinance, land reform, in-
creased subsidy, and creation of market
opportunities for our small farmers, hous-
ing and employment for our urban poor,
respect for the rights and ancestral do-
mains of our Indigenous Peoples. Con-
tinue to pursue the peace process and
negotiations. Challenge the business com-
munity to optimize benefits for the poor
sectors in the name of corporate social
responsibility. Forge critical collaboration
with civil society groups to effect mean-
ingful partnership at the service of the
poor.
Finally, let us not allow ourselves to
be used as instruments of destabilization.
Violence breeds more violence. Peace is
our only way forward.
For the CBCP Social Action Network
Bishop Dinualdo D. Gutierrez, DD
Chair, CBCP-Episcopal Commission on
Social Action-Justice and Peace
June 30, 2005

Volume 39 • Number 5 23
 F R O M T H E B L O G S

A
walkout is an expression of history is a great reminder. And this nation
protest, a symbol of exas- has the experience and the history of what

© Royalty-Free/CORBIS
peration, a shout for fair play. significant walkouts by a few can do to the
It is a non-violent option. Yet is life and lot of many.
definitely a pro-active move. It is a The danger signals war up. The situa-
strong message of dissent. A loud tion is ominous. A third possible walkout
manifestation of discontent and de- appears to be in the offing. And this is bad
spair. news for everybody -- but specially for some-
The country already witnessed one in tenure of people yet placed under
two popular walkouts that caused question as to integrity and credibility.
socio-political upheavals and This is the inherent force and influence
changed its history. They were of a walkout when done by a few who seem
poignant walkouts that made people to have the truth according to popular per-
act that made national difference. ception. And the said force and influence
The first walkout was staged become even more forceful and influential
by election computer encoders. when the walkout is directed at their leader
They left their place of work and who appears to be losing the truth of the
people followed them. This walk- citizens.
out triggered the famous EDSA I. In the event that the present impeach-
The second walkout was done able complaints were not rightly addressed,
by prosecutors in an impeachment in case the on-going impeachment proceed-
proceeding. They also left their ings were not satisfactorily ventilated, there
task and people followed them too. could be a third walkout. And this would be

Walkout
Their walkout brought about the bad news for the country as a whole.
still well remembered EDSA II. Not a third walkout -- please!
If experience is a good teacher, www.ovc.blogspot.com

45678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456
45678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456

P
aying taxes is a civic duty. able incomes and exempt revenues.

Taxation
There is only a threefold con
dition: They are according to
the capacity of the private and ju-
ridical persons to pay. They are
collected fairly without deceit espe-
cially on the part of both the payee.
© Royalty-Free/CORBIS
This is not hard to know. When the
government does not collect cor-
rect taxes from taxable incomes or
wrongly demands taxes from exempt
revenues -- this is squarely the fault
of government.

They are spent for the public wel-
fare.
Therefore, over-taxation is an
abuse of public authority. Influen-
tial and powerful persons paying
less taxes than the common tao is
blatant injustice. Public revenues
going to private pockets or funding
personal interests is the summit of
corruption.
The main reservation of people
in paying taxes to the government
also has a threefold premise: It is
not exactly known for its integrity.
It is even resolved in collecting more
and more taxes. Yet it is providing
less and less benefits to the public.
As to the church, sects and
other religious movements paying
taxes, why the big fuss? Why the
loud threat? The government must
know the difference between tax-
Now that the government is
resolute in taxing even the poorest
of the poor, here is one unsolicited
and unwelcome advice: the govern-
ment better take a good look at the
jueteng lords in the country.
Even barbers know them by
name. But the way these characters
live and behave the conclusion is
likewise threefold: the government
does not know who they are. The
public authorities consider them un-
touchable. They are altogether tax-
exempt.
Would that the government put
its act together, get the country out
of the dubious distinction of being
the second most corrupt in the world,
make the rating of satisfaction of the
national leadership even but a little
bit higher.
www.ovc.blogspot.com

24 IMPACT • August 2005

 E D I T
SYSTEMS FAILURE
T
he country is sevenfold poor: Poor mor
als. Poor governance. Poor politics.
Poor execution of laws. Poor justice
system. Poor economy. Poor people.
The national leadership has three basic prob-
lems: corruption. Jueteng payola. Scandalous
tape. All these bring about three national liabili-
ties: Deepening division. Growing dissent. Dis-
trusted government agencies.
One wonders how could such a sevenfold
drawback and sixfold problematic be resolved
with one well and much proclaimed option: char-
ter change.
The form of government is not the problem
but those governing. The system does not work
because of the people behind it. The fundamen-
tal problem is not politics but morality among
politicians.
To be “high in charter change” but low in
morals is an exercise in futility. Immoral leader-
ship, amoral governance and demoralizing agenda
O R I A L
are the composite formula for social disaster.
In fact, for honest people, irrelevant is the
law against thievery. For upright and decent
people, prisons are a waste. So too, for good
and able politicians, the form of government is
immaterial.
There is moral crisis, fiscal crisis, political
crisis in the Philippines not because of system
failure but due to the failure of those running the
system. In the same vein, a different form of
government would fail too if the one governing
are the same.
These are the best of times for people to learn
that moral principles are what make a political
system serve them well. Without moral prin-
ciples, any form of government would be but a
big disservice to them.
Morality first and everything else comes sec-
ond. Integrity, truth, justice: Without these, any
form of government is vanity. With these, any
form of government is opportunity.
Volume 39 • Number 5 25
 Globalization / from p. 12
them serves as the basis of the new hu-
manism.
The actual scientific and technologi-
cal dimension of our world provokes radi-
cal transformations, which justify a new
understanding and evaluation of man and
humanity as a whole. This does not mean
that the old and eternal human values
should be discarded, rather the new val-
ues should be so ordained as to enable
man to find himself in the place that corre-
sponds to him in our world today as we
have been ushered into the new millen-
nium.
It is noteworthy that this new human-
ism is a humanism for all. In this connec-
tion, Vatican II says that in the new human-
ism “man is defined before all else by his
responsibility to his brothers at the court
of history” (GS, 55). Thus the new human-
ism must include in its program the promo-
tion of every human person without any
distinction of social classes, creeds, races,
nationalities, and sexes.
This new humanism will also try to
extend efficaciously the sharing of mate-
rial and cultural wealth in ever-widening
social strata. However, not even the avail-
ability of the many real benefits provided
in recent times by science and technology,
particularly, information technology
coupled with telecommunications giving
rise to the Internet, the cyberspace and the
like can bring about freedom from every
form of slavery. There is a better under-
standing today of authentic human devel-
opment. “Development, which is not only
economic, must also be oriented accord-
ing to the reality and vocation of man seen
in his totality, namely, according to his
interior dimension” (SRS, 28). Education
or the access to moral and cultural values
is still seen as the most decisive factor in
the social advancement of people.
In its program for the promotion of men
and women, the new humanism will have to
approach individuals and groups with a
keen sense of responsibility before the
concrete realities of family, professional
and social life of others. Here, priority
should be given to the satisfaction of the
just aspirations of the social categories that
are more deprived and underprivileged.
This new humanism is certainly not
closed in upon man but open to the Tran-
scendent. In fact, it is humanism with a
clear Christian lineage. It is interesting to
note that in the Vancouver Declaration on
Survival in the 21st Century, we find some
conditions of this new humanism under-
scored in the following statements:
“The present critical situation
of man’s occupancy of the planet
requires new visions, rooted in a
variety of cultures, in contemplat-
ing the future:
The perception of an organic
macrocosm that recaptures the
rhythms of life would allow man to
reintegrate himself with nature and
understand his relationship in
space and time to all life and the
physical world.
Recognition that a human being
is an aspect of the process that
gives form to the universe enlarges
man’s image of himself and allows
him to transcend the egoismthat is
the principal cause of disharmony
among his fellows and between
mankindand nature.
The overcoming of fragmenta-
tion of the body-mind-spirit unity,
brought about byunbalanced
emphasis on any one over the
others, allows man to discover
within himself the reflection of the
cosmos and its supreme principle.”
Such visions change the conception
of man in nature and call for a radical trans-
formation of models of development; the
elimination of poverty, introduction of new
learning processes, educational systems
and mental attitudes; implementation of
better forms of redistribution to ensure social
equity; a new design for living based on a
reduction of waste; respect for bio-diver-
sity, socio-economic diversity and cultural
diversity that transcend outmoded con-
cepts of sovereignty. I
Dr. Lourdes Custodio, Ph.D., Dean Emeritus of the
College of Education, University of Santo Tomas,
Manila, is currently a Professorial Lecturer at the UST
Graduate School.

A Question / from p. 15 Sellout / from p. 28

ity take? The Constitution pro-
vides for resignation and im-
peachment.
Resignation connotes a
deliberate renunciation of a
right or position, such as re-
nouncing the Office of the
Presidency to pave way for a
peaceful constitutional suc-
cession. Renunciation of the
Office is the acceptance of the
revocation of public trust, vol-
untary and deliberate.
Impeachment, upon the
other hand, is intended to elicit
facts to sustain a truth. It is the
denial of any wrong doing
which will join the issue of
whether or not there is a basis
for impeachment proceedings.
The former is voluntary,
the latter is not. The former is
acceptance of a wrong, the lat-
ter is a rejection of the truth.
The former requires an invoca-
tion for personal sacrifice, the
latter awaits the imposition of a
penalty. The former is an ad-
mission, the latter an evasion.
Whilst, now that the im-
peachment complaint against
the President is yet lingering in
Congress, and its imminent
stonewalling hovers omi-
nously, will a bud, at the very
least, of a springtime of truth
ever sprout that -- yes, in fact,
in law, and in conscience -- the
President did betray public
trust? I
Atty. Ribo is a professor of Law at the
Arellano University School of Law. He
obtained his Licentiate degree in
Philosophy, Cum Laude, from the
University of Santo Tomas Central
Seminary, Manila. He is likewise an
author of various Secondary Values
Education textbooks.
our fellow Filipinos -- all with
our hard-earned, hard-fought
Dollars, Euros, or Dinars. Even
then, we will continue to shore
up the economy of our coun-
try, fight for its future the best
we can.
Even when our country
has not been very good to us
we still help our families back
home. Even when our own
countrymen, kababayan
kuno, call us “sellouts”, we
still send our hard-earned dol-
lars to families who appreci-
ate us. Even when you insult
us we still try to find out what
is going on in the Philippines
(see, we read inq7.net, abs-
cbn.com, philstar.com and we
watch the Filipino Channel
and we know what you’re
yammering about when you
think we’re not looking) and
see how we can help our coun-
try somehow, by helping our
families.
If and when our govern-
ment gets its act together and
gives us a reason to come
back, then you might see us
come back in droves. We will
bring back our intelligence,
our street-smarts, our special
kind of diligence and perse-
verance hammered and honed
in the jobmarket battlefields
of other countries. We will
continue to work, in silence
for the most part, to improve
our lives, assure our family’s
future, and hopefully help
improve our country’s
economy. I
rdalanon@yahoo.com

26 IMPACT • August 2005

 E N T E R T A I N M E N T
ease!
Rel
New
CATHOLIC INITIATIVE
FOR E NLIGHTENED
MOVIE A PPRECIATION

Title: MUST LOVE DOGS

Running Time: 100 min.
www.ovc.blogspot.com

Lead Cast: Diane Lane, John Cusack,

Elizabeth Perkins, Christopher Plummer, Dermont
Mulroney, Stockard Channing, Ali Hills
Director: Gary David Goldberg
Producer: Gary David Goldberg, Jennifer
Todd, Suzanne Todd
Screenwriter: Gary David Goldberg
Music: Craig Armstrong
Editor: Roger Bandelli
Genre: Comedy
Cinematography: John Bailey
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Location: USA
Technical Assessment: • • •
Moral Assessment: + + +
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above
For Orders Contact:

S
ince her divorce, Sarah Nolan bors. Even the grocery man at the meat
National Matrimonial (Diane Lane) has become a vir counter and the preschoolers deliver
Tribunal Office tual recluse, burying her nose in their lines flawlessly. The pacing of
Tel. No. (632) 5274160 her job as a pre-school teacher. Con- the story is good, although some parts
cerned for her happiness, her family, of the dialogue could have been bet-
CBCPWorld Office with all their good intentions, runs a ter.
Telefax (632) 4041612 personal ad in an internet dating site on Internet courtship has become a
her behalf. After entertaining a hand- reality in Philippine culture, albeit occur-
ful of undesirable candidates, Sarah ring mostly in key cities. In Must Love
Other books by meets Jake Anderson (John Cussack), Dogs, internet courtship which leads to
Abp. Oscar V. Cr uz, JCD, DD who's also trying to move on from a dating includes sex even at first meeting.
1. Marriage Tribunal Ministry recent divorce. Jake is charmed by Careful when you let your teens view
2. Curia Management
3. Guide Documents on Parish, Vicariate and Sarah, and Sarah gets fascinated by this movie, lest they blindly imitate what
Diocesan Administrative / Pastoral Jake's old-worldly passion for building they think is "cool" in this day and age.
Concerns boats, and after a couple of meetings, The comic situations tend to distract
4. Canon 290 CIC in the Service of Truth, things click and it seems like they are from the serious issues in the movie,
Justice and Charity
5. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on "it." But complications arise when which only proves that with its free-
Canon 1097, 1098, 1102 Sarah cannot resist the advances of wheeling attitude towards coupling, pre-
6. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on Bob (Dermot Mulroney), the handsome marital and extramarital sex is taken for
Canon 1103 father of one of her pupils, and whose granted, "Standard Operational Proce-
7. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on wife is also divorcing him for being an dure," nothing to fuss about. This is
Canon 1095
8. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on incorrigible womanizer. contrary to Church teaching which up-
Canon 1101 The one perfect point in Must holds chastity as a most desirable virtue
9. Evidence in Marriage Nullity Cases Love Dogs is the casting and charac- in both man and woman. Must Love
10. Impediments to Canonical Marriage terization. Lane's Sarah seems al- Dogs earns points, though, in empha-
11. Markers
12. Penal Process for Dismissal from the most true-to-life, devoid of self-con- sizing the values of lasting marriage,
Clerical State sciousness. Cussack projects an aura family support, true love, and communi-
13. Provincial Council, Diocesan Synod, of stability despite his romantic na- cation which makes for lasting, honest
Pastoral Assembly ture. Mulroney comes on as the su- relationships. Enjoyable comedy for
14. CBCP Guidelines on Sexual Abuse and premely confident charmer. Christo- adults; must be viewed with caution by
Misconduct: A Critique
15. Board of Conciliation and Arbitration pher Plummer as Sarah's widower- impressionable teens.
16. Viewpoints at the Onset of the New father and Stockard Channing as his
Millennium fiancee portray characters so con- Date Reviewed: 19 August 2005 @
17. Administration of the Temporal Goods of the vincing they could be your neigh- www.cbcpworld.com/cinema
Chrurch
18. Clergy Compensation

Volume 39 • Number 5 27
 F R
W
e resent your calling
a Filipino who
chooses to stake out
his own future in a foreign land
a “sellout”. How easy it is for
you to say that, you in your
comfortable chair in your com-
fortable office cubicle! Have
you ever gone to a foreign land
to work as an entry-level em-
ployee, struggling upwards
against an oh-so-subtle but
ever-present current of dis-
crimination as a “second-class
citizen”? Have you ever
worked 12 long hours on your
feet, answering to the needs
and demands of multilingual,
multicultural patients, only to
come home to have to cook
your own meals, do your own
laundry, throw your own trash
before you throw your tired,
aching body to bed and wake
up 5 or 6 hours later to put in
another long day at work?
Have you ever fought fa-
tigue, loneliness, homesick-
ness, and despair all at once,
and then have to present a
brave voice to the people back
home: “Yes, Mama, I’m all right
here. The pay is good, Papa.
Opo, I will send $300 on my next
payday so you can go to the
doctor to have your heart
checked and buy your medi-
cines. Ingat po kayo”. And then
burst to tears when you put
down the phone, the loneli-
ness gripping your heart so
tight you almost can’t breath,
wishing you were back home,
but a ticket back will cost an-
other $900...better to send it
home so that your parents can
pay for the doctor, your
pamangkins can go to school,
your aging lolo can buy his
medicine.
No, perhaps you with your
“katulongs” at home, sur-
rounded by parents who pam-
per you, with your own secret
sense of arrogance that you
work in a major newspaper and
are etter than the masa and
middl class lot who have to find
work abroad -- you have never
been in our shoes and you will
not understand the battles we
fought to get here, stay alive
28 IMPACT • August 2005
O M T H
(This piece is an email received a couple of months ago from an overseas Filipino
worker. This has been circulating among online communities, in response to an
online newspaper who, in an article of March 4, 2004, tagged “a Filipino nurse a
‘sellout’ for wanting to work abroad.” We liberally removed the name of the online
newspaper and edited phrases not ready to appear in print—Inbox)
Sellout?
here. You do not understand,
do not even try, and that is why
you judge us. You -- with your
overworked maids, your uni-
versity education, your com-
fortable 15-30 paycheck…
Do you think this person
you are judging, or others like
him, have not fought to stay in
our country, if only we saw that
staying would assure us of a
good future for ourselves and
our families? Do you really ig-
norantly believe that just be-
cause a person is young and
smart, that his life is “unen-
cumbered by challenges”, as
you put it so uphemistically?
Do you not know that our par-
ents sacrificed and scraped
together their own meager sala-
ries to send us to school, only
E I N B O X
people, telemarketers, any-
thing, so we can put food in our
stomach and clothes on our
backs and maybe give a little
something to our parents and
© Royalty-Free/CORBIS
siblings.
And when we finally
landed a non-medical job, we
had to repeatedly answer ques-
tions like “O, nurse/doctor ka
pala, bakit dito ka
nagtatrabaho? Anong
ginagawa mo dito?” But we
bore that in silence, in humility
even, because the alternative -
- despair, poverty -- were unac-
ceptable to us. But perhaps
you do not understand this
either, as you most probably
got your job straight out of
university, using your family’s
connections.
And have you ever volun-
teered on medical missions,
unpaid but willing and able,
like many of us had before we
left the country? Most likely
not, because it is easier to judge
and write about it than do some-
thing better.
And yet, now, are you with
one side of your doble-kara
going to judge and condemn
us, brand us “sellouts”, and
with the other side praise us
and thank us for sending $7
Billion annually back home in
remittances? And, may I point
out that as you write that
haughty, arrogant editorial,
to find us, after graduation, even the very ads in your
working for years in easly-pay- website target the very people
ing jobs in hospitals, getting whom you so
paid as little as P3,000 a month, arrogantly dismiss as “sell-
barely enough to cover our outs”.
“pamasahe” to and from work? You have deeply insulted
Do you really think mil- us overseas Filipinos by brand-
lions of unemployed or under- ing someone who wants to
employed hungry young doc- work abroad a “sellout”. But
tors and nurses languishing in despite this, we will continue
poverty will be good for the working, continue fighting,
country’s economy and future? continue sending money home
When there was a glut in so that our families can have
our professions and the local better lives, and our children,
hospitals turned us away or siblings, and even relatives to
asked us to work as “volun- the nth degree can have better
teers” (walang bayad!), do you education and better future.
think we sat on our behinds Someday we hope to come
and waited for someone to give back home to our beloved Phil-
us handouts? No! We pounded ippines, to start businesses,
the pavements applying for open schools, create jobs for
work as hotel clerks, sales- Sellout / p. 26
 V A N I
by DENNIS B. DAYAO
Browse
these sites!
Catholic Schools
1. University of San Agustin, Iloilo City -
http://www.usa.edu.ph
2. University of San Carlos, Cebu City -
http://www.usc.edu.ph
3. University of San Jose-Recoletos,
Cebu City - http://www.usjr.edu.ph
4. University of Santo Tomas - http://
www.ust.edu.ph
5. University of St. La Salle, Bacolod
City - http://www.usls.edu
6. University of The Assumption,
Pampanga - http://www.ua.edu.ph
7. University of The Immaculate
Conception, Davao City - http://
www.uic.edu.ph
8. Urios College, Butuan City - http://
www.urios.edu.ph
9. Virgen Milagrosa University
Foundation, Pangasinan - http://
www.vmuf.edu.ph
10. Xavier University, Cagayan De Oro
City - http://www.xu.edu.ph
Religious Institutions
1. AgustinongPinoy - http://
www.agustinongpinoy.com
2. Disciples of Jesus Covenant
Community - http://
www.disciplesofjesus.org
3. Kolping Society of the Philippines -
http://www.kolpingphil.com
4. Pacem International - http://
members.tripod.com/~pacem
5. Order of the Discalced Carmelites in
the Philippines - http://
www.ocdphil.org
6. Conventual Franciscans - http://
www.conventuals.org
7. Society of Jesus Philippines Province
- http://www.jesuits.ph
8. Alexian Brothers - Davao Mission -
http://www.alexianbrothers.org/
english/history/america/hist-mis-
phl.html
9. Anawim Community - http://
www.anawim-community.com
(Note: Due to space limitations other schools could
not be included in this issue. They will be listed in
the next)
L L A B
TECHNObabble
Access - Method Rules that govern
how nodes on a network access the
transmission media.
ACK - Acknowledgment. A type of
message sent to indicate that a block
of data arrived at its destination with-
out error.
ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber
Line
Agent - In the client-server model, the
part of the system that performs infor-
mation preparation and exchange on
behalf of a client or server application.
A process within Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP) that
responds to get and set requests and
sends trap messages.
Aperture - A cross sectional area of the
antenna which is exposed to the satel-
lite signal.
API - A pplication Programming Inter-
face is a set of calling conventions
defining how a service is invoked
through a software package.
Asymmetric - A transmission channel
that is has different data rates in each
direction.
ATM - Asynchronous Transfer Mode.
The SONET standard for a packet
switching technique which uses pack-
ets (cells) of fixed length.
Attenuation - The loss in power of
electromagnetic signals between
transmission and reception points.
AUI - Attachment Unit Interface; A 15
pin connector found on Ethernet cards
that can be used for attaching coaxial,
fiber optic, or twisted pair cable.
AZ/EL - Mount Antenna mount that
requires two separate adjustments to
move from one satellite to another.
Azimuth - The angle of rotation (hori-
zontal) that a ground based parabolic
antenna must be rotated through to
point to a specific satellite in a Geo-
synchronous orbit. The azimuth angle
for any particular satellite can be de-
termined for any point on the surface
of the earth giver the latitude and
longitude of that point. It is defined
with respect to due north as a matter of
easy convenience.
Y T E S
Backbone - The primary connectivity
mechanism of a hierarchical distrib-
uted system. All systems which have
a connectivity to an intermediate sys-
tem on the backbone are assured of
connectivity to each other.
Backhaul - A terrestrial communica-
tions channel linking an earth station
to a local switching network or popu-
lation center.
Back-off - The process of reducing the
input and output power levels of a RF
power amplifier to obtain more linear
operation.
Bandwidth - The quantity of data that
can be sent across a link, typically
measured in bits per second.
Baud - Bits at unit density. A unit of
transmission speed equal to the num-
ber of times the state of a line changes
per second. Equal to the bit-per-sec-
ond rate only if each signal element
represents one bit of information. Baud
rate usually refers to the number of
bits transmitted each second.
BER - Bit Error Rate - a measure of
transmission errors that is calculated
or measured on a per bit basis; A bit
error rate of 1x10-6 means that there is
an average of one error per one million
bits.
BGP - Border Gateway Protocol. A pro-
tocol used to advertise the set of net-
works that can be reached within an
Autonomous System. BGP enables this
information to be shared with other
Autonomous Systems.
Bird - Slang for a communications sat-
ellite located in geosynchronous or-
bit.
Bisync - Binary Synchronous commu-
nications; a legacy data protocol.
Bit - A binary digit, either a 0 or 1. 8 bits
make up on a byte. Bits are used in the
measure of transmission capacity.
Block Down Converter - A device used
to convert a wide range (usually
500MHz) from a higher frequency range
(C, X, Ku, Ka-band) down to UHF or
lower frequencies (1 GHz and lower).
Typically this unit is located on or near
the antenna feed.
Volume 39 • Number 5 29
 N E
CHINA
Bishop Xie Dies
Bishop Xie Shiguang of
China’s underground
Church has succumbed to
acute blood cancer at the
age of 88. The bishop of
Mingdong, in the southeast
province of Fujian, had re-
portedly spent a total of 28
years in prison for his loy-
alty to the Pope. There are
about 75,000 underground
Catholics in the Diocese of
Mingdong. The under-
ground Church in China,
which professes loyalty to
Rome, does not have
Beijing’s approval.
NEPAL
97 die of encephalitis
A total of 97 Nepalese,
mostly children, have died
of Japanese encephalitis in
a number of terai districts
over the last few days, Nepal
news said on August 30.
According to the source,
officiating head of the Epi-
demiology and disease con-
trol division at the Depart-
ment of Health, Dr. G. D.
Thakur, said up to 500
people have suffered from
the disease so far. The dis-
ease has been reported in a
dozen districts, particularly
Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke,
Bardiya and Dang which
have been severely af-
fected. Officials fear that the
number of casualty due to
encephalitis could go up. A
total of 70 persons had died
of the disease last year,
which is transmitted by
mosquitoes. Thakur also
said that about 99 percent
of fatality due to encephali-
tis can be prevented if chil-
dren are vaccinated in time.
30 IMPACT • August 2005
W S
INDONESIA
Int’l tribunal for East Iraqi Christians fear Is- 10,428 prisoners freed
Timor mulled lamic Law to dominate on National Day
A UN Commission of Ex-
perts has advised the UN
Security Council for the sec-
ond time to establish an in-
ternational criminal tribunal
if Indonesia fails to take
action towards securing ac-
countability for serious
crimes committed in East
Timor within six months.
The Commission of Experts
has produced a detailed and
thorough report, which is
particularly harsh in its criti-
cism of the proceedings of
Jakarta’s ad hoc human
rights court and expresses
reservations about the Com-
mission of Truth and Friend-
ship (CTF) set up by the
governments of Indonesia
and East Timor.
SOUTH KOREA
Evangelizing youth at
cyber-cafés
Slowly but surely, a
“cyber-café” here managed
by Korean priest Fr. Stephen
Yang that opened five years
ago is providing to be a great
success and already draws
over 5,000 frequent visitors,
Christians and non- Chris-
tians and many of whom have
found their way to Christ. How
to share the Good news with
young people of the third
millennium, in this era of new
technology? How to make a
place of alienation like the
Internet becomes a channel
of evangelization? How to use
IT to build communion among
people physically distant?
These were questions that led
Fr. Yang into promoting the
Catholic presence in Korea’s
cyber-space. (Fides Service)
B R I E F S
IRAQ
A draft version of the
Iraqi Constitution leaves
Christians fearing that their
religious freedom might not
be protected. Kirkuk Arch-
bishop Louis Sako said that
if the constitution fails to
provide civil liberties for re-
ligious minorities, it could
spark a mass exodus of
Christians, the group Aid to
the Church in Need reported.
The archbishop’s remarks
came after fierce debate over
whether the country’s con-
stitution should acknowl-
edge Shariah, Islamic law,
as the “sole source” of law
in Iraq. (Zenit 8/26/05)
SRI LANKA
FM raps Norway on
Tamil rebels
Sri Lanka’s new foreign
minister has accused the
island’s peacebroker Norway
of misleading European na-
tions about the “terrorist”
nature of the Tamil Tiger
rebels, a report said. Anura
Bandaranaike urged India to
be “very emphatic to the free
world that this (the Libera-
tion Tigers of Tamil Eelam-
LTTE) is a terrorist organiza-
tion.”
He also said that Colombo
would like India “to try to in-
fluence the Europeans in par-
ticular who have been misled
by Norwegians...away from
the LTTE.” Norway has been
asked by Sri Lanka in 2000 to
act as a peacebroker to end
the island’s three-decade-old
ethnic conflict that has
claimed 60,000 lives. But Sri
Lankan critics have accused
it of bias toward the rebels.
VIETNAM
A total of 10, 428 pris-
oners were released on the
occasion of Vietnam’s Na-
tional Day recently -- the
second parole in 2005 with
the largest number of ben-
eficiaries. Among the ben-
eficiaries were 21 foreign-
ers from China, Laos, Cam-
bodia, the US, Taiwan, the
Republic of Korea, Malay-
sia and Cameroon. Deputy
Head of the State Presi-
dential Palace Nguyen Van
Bich stressed that the
State amnesty decision
shows the Party’s and
State’s policy of leniency
and Vietnam’s humanitar-
ian policy towards in-
mates, thus encouraging
them to work harder and
become useful citizens of
society.
PHILIPPINES
Population Control Bill
bucked
Filipino-Americans are
pitching in to help fight
population-management
legislation in the Philip-
pines that aims to limit
families to two children.
The Philippine Congress
is currently considering
the passage of House Bill
3773 or the Responsible
Parenthood and Popula-
tion Act of 2005. Accord-
ing to the Washington-
based Filipino-American
group Filipino Family
Fund, the bill discrimi-
nates against Catholics
who work in education and
in health care.
Volume 39 • Number 5 31
32 IMPACT • August 2005