Philippine Observer

Libingan ng mga Manggagawa or Elysium for Sleepless Souls

Thursday, September 1, 2016 The Mail Man 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">The debate on the Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani rages but what about the Libingan ng mga Manggagawa? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Let us go back in time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was well noted that the Philippines hosted the Ms. Universe 1974 pageant. It was less than 2 years after Martial Law was declared and it was an attempt to show the world the “Smiling Martial Law”. Those times were meant to show the world the New Society and a re-envigored Philippines. That the pageant was held at the 10,000 seater Folk Arts Theater (FAT) was evidence. The FAT was constructed at record time (for the Philippines) and was the precursor of other buildings to sate the caprices of Imelda Marcos who then was diagnosed with an “Edifice Complex”. Soon followed the National Nutrition Center, The Philippine Heart Center for Asia, The Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), the Kidney Center and 14 luxury hotels. These were the centerpieces of the Martial Law regime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By 1981, there seemed no stopping the regime. By that time, Imelda Marcos sought to have a  film festival to rival the Cannes film festival. Of course a venue for the Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) must be constructed since the MIFF was set on January 1982. The Manila Film Center was to be the centerpiece of the MIFF. It was to cost US$25 million at that time. Imelda Marcos wanted it to be modeled after the Parthenon in Greece. A place for the new Filipino “gods”. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was hidden from the public at that time that the regime was teetering on the brink of economic collapse. The projected revenues to be generated by economic policies fueled by cheap petro-dollar loans were nowhere to be found. Thus, such extravagant spending on such buildings and edifices found its funding squeezed that resulted in delays. In order to compensate for the delays, more workers were required to meet the deadline. By that time, there were 4,000 construction workers toiling in 3 shifts around the clock. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was on November 17, 1981 when tragedy struck. It was about 3:00 a.m. when the upper scaffolding collapsed and workers fell into the still wet cement of the lower scaffoldings. Some were buried, others were half buried and others were half buried and impaled on the steel reinforcing bars.  Rescue workers raced against time and the quick drying cement to recover and save the workers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Imelda Marcos was informed of the accident and told that it would take time to recover the workers. Imelda wanted to meet the deadline. She ordered that the workers just be covered by new cement and stories of protruding arms, legs and torsos were just cut and fresh cement was just poured on top of the workers, many who were still alive. The media was controlled tightly and the news just filtered out because the truth cannot be totally hidden. In fact, rescuers, ambulances and media were barred from the area for a full nine hours!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The festival opened on schedule on January 18, 1982. The guests included Brook Shields, Ben Kingsley, Robert Duvall among others. It was told that the carpets were squishy since the cement under it was not yet dry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first film screened was “Gandhi”. After that there was a party at the Film Center. The stars, notables and celebrities partied standing on a mausoleum. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The following year, the MIFF had to scramble for funds because US$5 million was withheld because of the scandal it caused. In order to finance the festival, Imelda Marcos allowed pornographic films to be shown. That was the end of the Manila International Film Festival.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Imelda Marcos and the Marcos family has a macabre sense of burials and interments. They are now pushing for the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani and acting and behaving in such a way as that they have no sins during the regime. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The least they can do is rename the Manila Film Center to Libingan ng mga Manggagawa. An Elyseum for Sleepless Souls. </span></div>
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Events History Libingan ng mga Manggagawa or Elysium for Sleepless Souls

The debate on the Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani rages but what about the Libingan ng mga Manggagawa? Let us go back ...

Heroes

Monday, August 29, 2016 The Mail Man 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Jose Rizal just got out of his clinic after a day of consultations. He was just waiting for the chance to get back to his hobby of online anthropological research on the difference of Filipinos and Europeans that his non-academic research that will eventually be published by a friend abroad named Blumetritt. As he was passing by Azcarraga, he saw two motorcycle guys riding in tandem gunning down a pedicab driver. Then a cardboard was tossed on the hapless victim. Being a doctor, he quickly rushed to the fallen man, the cardboard read “Huwag akong tularan. Pusher ako”. Paying no heed to the sign, he saw that the man was beyond medical help with two gunshot wounds to the head and 5 to the chest. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Rizal then saw a woman running and then cradling the dead man to her chest. Dr. Rizal was moved because of the scene. His travel back to his home was with a disturbed conscience. All his education here and abroad was useless to save the man. He is active in the Silangan Lodge and other civic groups. He was instrumental in various medical missions and also reserved 1 day a month for free consultations to indigent families. His active participation in feeding programs for poor children every Saturday morning at the Barangay Hall has been going on for years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Upon arriving home, he went inside his den, something was still bothering him. He turned on the TV and saw news of killings of alleged addicts and pushers on TV Patrol. The president was interviewed and that a statement that sacrifices must be made for peace and order. That human rights must take a back seat to the exigencies of fulfilling a campaign promise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Rizal then turned off the tv and turned on his laptop and proceeded to open his current paper he wanted to finish drafting. He logged in to facebook and read the newsfeed. It also featured posts with pictures of those killed and the flame wars now a regular feature of facebook. He noted all the hate being thrown around by fb account holders with fictitious names and accounts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Rizal posted his feelings. “I have devoted my life in curing people, helping them, giving them the chance in improving their lot. It was never easy. A lot of effort in giving them a chance to improve their lives and then the life is gone in a few seconds because of these roving vigilantes. In a few seconds, a comment was made. It told Dr. Jose Rizal that he was a protector of addicts and criminals. His sisters and mother must be raped. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Jose Rizal opened up a new file and started to write “Cardboard Justice”…..</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Emilio Jacinto rode the MRT going home from school. He was just 19 years old but he knew he must make a stand with regards to the killings. He wore an improvised cardboard sign that said “Lahat tayo pwedeng maging Pusher”. There were stares as he was getting off the platform at Shaw Blvd. Station. Wanting to get some merienda at Shang Mall, he tried to enter the mall at its 5th level. The guard at the entrance told him to remove the cardboard sign he was wearing. Emilio insisted that he was not violating anything. He even showed his student ID and opened his backpack for inspection but the guard would not let him in without removing his cardboard sign. There were people in line that were waiting to be allowed in. When they saw and heard the discussion, someone shouted “tanggalin mo na kasi yan para makapasok na kami. Istorbo ka eh. Bakla!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Emilio, noting the angry stares thrown his way just went down the MRT station stairs and took a ride going to Pasig. All the other passengers gave him dagger looks and it was a ride that seemed to last an eternity until he arrived at the Pasig Immaculate Conception Basilica. He got off and took a tricycle to his home. The tricycle driver seeing his sign asked if he was an activist or a drug addict.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Emilio got home and wrote his experiences in his blog. He used fb to chat with like minded friends and classmates. Apol Mabini, one of the older guys in the chatgroup then told them that he is in contact with a guy and they were already organizing. Apol told Emilio that the man who was organizing was a follower of Emilio’s blog  and requested that they meet up. Emilio agreed and Apol sent a different PM to the man who acknowledged the message.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“OK, sige meet tayo sa Starbucks Metrowalk 5:00 PM bukas.” He typed on his laptop. Then he drew up another FB chat, “Dr. Rizal, bukas 5:00 pm tayo sa Starbucks Metrowalk, may bata ako, introduce sa iyo. We have already started to organize. Jun Luna and his brother Col. Tony Luna will also attend. There is restiveness now in the AFP and PNP”. Andy Bonifacio then logged out.</span></div>
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Dr. Jose Rizal just got out of his clinic after a day of consultations. He was just waiting for the chance to get back to his hobby of on...

Hottest of Biodiversity Hot Spots Found in the Philippines

Wednesday, August 24, 2016 The Mail Man 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">Years of unmitigated and destructive human activities have plunged the Philippines in a biodiversity crisis that could take decades to reverse, environment officials said on Tuesday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Philippines is one of the world's most biodiverse places, but its marine and wildlife riches are under threat because of intrusive manmade activities, according to Undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"The Philippines is one of the most threatened in the world. The rate of extinction of species is 1,000 times the natural rate because of manmade activities," Ignacio told the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Champions of Biodiversity awards.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"It is a crisis. We are the hottest of the hot spots," he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Rodrigo Fuentes, executive director of the Asean Center for Biodiversity, said the entire Southeast Asia region was in danger of biodiversity loss.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Fuentes described it as a "silent" crisis. "You don't see it, but you feel it. We are in the midst of it."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Habitat loss, unsustainable use of resources, climate change, invasive alien species and pollution have not been arrested and continue to negatively impact biodiversity," he said in a statement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">These threats have contributed to the decline in the mangrove, coral reef, seagrass, forest, agro, peatland and freshwater ecosystems, Fuentes noted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Officials said it would be difficult to reverse the trend because it often took years to get ecosystems back in balance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Moreover, people and governments only realize the loss of species and ecosystems when the crisis is there, making recovery harder and more expensive, Fuentes said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ignacio said the Philippines' main problem was the loss of habitats due to deforestation and coastal denigration.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">He cited as an example the recent discovery of black coral poaching in the seas of Mindanao, a part of the Coral Triangle where one of the world's richest marine resources can be found.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Coral reefs are considered to be "rainforests of the seas," providing food, nutrients and protection to many marine species.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The loss of one species could have a domino effect on other creatures that depend directly and indirectly on it, the officials said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the Philippines, deforestation is caused by unmitigated logging and urbanization. According to the DENR, the Philippines has 8 million hectares of denuded and idle forest lands. A recent study by Conservation International (CI) said only about 4 percent of the Philippines' forests remained as natural habitat for many endemic species.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Forest lands are being cleared to make way for food production and other activities to meet the needs of the country's rising population, now around 90 million, CI noted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">According to the DENR, the country loses about 2 percent of its forests every year. The Philippine government is seeking to reverse the trend by planting 1.5 billion trees in six years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Poor coastal management and unregulated fishing have contributed to the decline of water resources and coastal areas, the environmentalists said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The World Wide Fund for Nature recently said the Philippines used to have more than 27,000 square kilometers of healthy coral reefs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">However, 50 years of destructive commercial and unregulated fishing have left less than 5 percent in excellent condition, with just 1 percent in pristine state.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ignacio said the DENR could not quantify the country's biodiversity loss, noting that there had been no assessment of it. "It takes a huge amount of resources," he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mundita Lim, director of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, said the destruction of Philippine coral reefs to get rare and valuable black corals appeared to be wider than initially reported. The area could be five times the size of Manila, she said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lim noted that it would take years for the reefs to recover their original health as corals are "slow growing" creatures. Black corals, for instance, grow only 2 millimeters a year. It could take 50-100 years for the black corals to grow to their adult size, Lim said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The waters off Mindanao are not the only part of the country that are under threat from marine poachers. The entire Philippine coasts and seas are their harvest grounds, Lim said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Turtles, which are critically endangered, and sharks have been poached and sold illegally for their meat and fins in China and Taiwan where demand is high, she said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Philippines has 36,289 kilometers of coastline and is considered to be the world's second-largest archipelago.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But environment officials said they did not have enough manpower and resources to guard the country's coastline and seas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/hottest-biodiversity-hot-spots-found-philippines-074002632.html</span></div>
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Environment Hottest of Biodiversity Hot Spots Found in the Philippines

Years of unmitigated and destructive human activities have plunged the Philippines in a biodiversity crisis that could take decades to re...

When We Were Punks

Friday, August 19, 2016 The Mail Man 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">It was a typical Sunday afternoon. Mama, standing up after watching Lovingly Yours, Helen to prepare merienda. I was just waiting for the sun to go down enough so I can play basketball without being scorched. Looking out from the window of our unit, I saw Mr. Perez talking with other members of the Bagong Lipunan Community Association (BLCA). But there was something amiss. It was not the usual banter of neighbors and friends. They were talking as if in whispers and eyes cast furtively on either side. I went to my room and listened to my U2 tape. Then in the middle of Bono's voice singing Sunday Bloody Sunday, a knock on the door. I peeped out from my room's door and saw Lola Engga come in, but she talked with my mom, also in whispers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />It was August 21, 1983.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />I knew Ninoy was coming home, but I didn't know it was to be that day. Days before I saw the yellow ribbons tied along parts of EDSA. I heard it from an uncle and drew whatever information about it from the Marcos newspapers. The significance I knew little about. I remember Ninoy from a telecast way back in 1978. Followed by a noise barrage. But now, being a freshman in college that seemed to be an eternity ago.<br />"He was shot!", "They killed him!" That was what Lola Engga told my mother. Immediately after that, Mama enforced a lock down. All five of us, my sisters and brother were not allowed to go out. We tried watching TV but around 6:00 pm, there was a brownout. Nothing to do and nothing to watch. All we could do was watch from our windows and look at the darkness that descended. What we didn't fully realize was that a different and sinister darkness was already enveloping the land since 1972. We waited for electricity to return, but it didn't get restored that night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Little did I know that the world has taken a turn, things are happening that affects me even to this day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />It was August 21, 1983.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />When We Were Punks II</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Pare, brownout din sa inyo?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />The first words upon seeing my classmates on Aug. 22, 1983. Jojo D. was quiet only giving out his trademark half smile, half smirk. Vallar was still incoherent whenever he would relate his take on the situation. Roxas said that he caught a 1 hour window when they had power and Gen. Abadilla kept recounting on TV that his father was a "gorilla" instead of a guerilla. Clearly, us students were unaware on what will be transpiring and what we should do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Aside from a glimmer on what our Social Studies textbook said about the "Days of Disquiet and Nights of Rage", we were Martial Law babies. We didn't know the story of the First Quarter Storm. Of the terrific battles at Mendiola Bridge, of the desperate struggle wherein the Palace Gates were breached, of the counterattack by the then Presidential Security Battalion firing Thompson submachineguns on the ground to repel the students. No we were not aware. Barely past kindergaten when democracy was snuffed out by Presidential Proclamation 1081. Having been subjected to Junior Citizen and Current Events Digest during our elementary and high school days. We were just clueless on what to do and even what to feel. But we can still sing "May bagong silang, may bago nang buhay, bagong bansa, bagong dangal sa Bagong Lipunan. Nagbabago ang Lahat, tungo sa pag-unlad at ating itanghal Bagong Lipunan..." But some would add "... madaling araw ay nagnanakaw ng manok sa kulungan. Nagising ang may-ari. Binato ng kawali! May bagong silang, may bago nang buhay...."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Such were the only forms of defiance to Martial Law that we knew back then. We didn't want to be like Ariel Ureta who was made to uproot grass at Camp Crame and bicycle the whole day "Sa Ikauunlad ng Bayan, Bisikleta (instead of Disiplina) ang Kailangan". Oh yes we heard those stories when we were little kids. Actually, I guess it replaced the aswang and kapre stories.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />But we didn't know. But slowly and quietly, we remembered. They banned video games, they banned Voltes V and Mazinger Z and now they killed Ninoy too! Although fewer than our baby boomer elders, Generation X started to stir, yes we are Martial Law Babies, but the blood of Bonifacio, Rizal, Del Pilar, Mabini and heroes and martyrs also flowed in our veins. Yes, the nation is awakening. Apres moi, les deluge! After a week, a massive funeral procession transpired. Cuenca told me as the procession passed us by "Pare, this is a Turning Point". </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />The Sleeper Has Awakened!<br /></span></div>
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History Nationalism When We Were Punks

It was a typical Sunday afternoon. Mama, standing up after watching Lovingly Yours, Helen to prepare merienda. I was just waiting for t...

“True Love Waits” Imposed in CDO School

Tuesday, August 16, 2016 The Mail Man 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">Teenage pregnancies have been put on hold at a school in Cagayan De Oro city in southern Philippines.<br /><br />Romantic relationships between the opposite sex are verboten in the Golden Heritage Polytechnic College as long as the students are enrolled in the institution. <br /><br />This is explicitly stated in a large tarpaulin at the campus entrance and is also printed on the uniforms of the teachers as a further reminder to students.<br /><br />According to school president Capt. Tito Dichosa, this was to enable the students to finish college. It is a source of frustration to the school president whenever a student stops studies because of pregnancy.<br /><br />So far, six students were expelled last year for violating the school policy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But what is little known that the owners of the school is generous with scholarships and they themselves are the one's who look for jobs for their graduates. </span><br />
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Events News “True Love Waits” Imposed in CDO School

Teenage pregnancies have been put on hold at a school in Cagayan De Oro city in southern Philippines. Romantic relationships between the...

We can beat hunger

Monday, August 15, 2016 The Mail Man 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">We can beat hunger<br />By Cielito F. Habito<br /><br />AROUND 300,000 more Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger just before the turnover of government to the new leadership, according to the latest Hunger Survey of the Social Weather Stations released over the weekend. The incidence of hunger rose to 3.4 million families (15.2 percent) nationwide in the second quarter, from 3.1 million (13.7 percent) in the first. Interestingly, Mindanao actually had dramatic improvement, with hunger incidence falling nearly six percentage points from 19 to 13.3 percent, or by more than 300,000 families. That is, hunger fell in Mindanao by about as much as it rose elsewhere in the country. Perhaps Mindanao and our new leaders from there have a thing or two to teach the rest of us.<br /><br />Even as hunger persists worldwide, it’s not because there is not enough food. One need not look far to see this. Almost on a daily basis, we see large amounts of food wasted in gatherings, in hotels and in restaurants. Recently we heard of tons of meat rotting in containers stuck in the port, and of grains similarly rotting away in warehouses nationwide. There’s no lack of food in this country and in the world, for that matter. It is in ensuring adequate access to food for all, where the failure lies. One might say that at this time, the challenge of food security at the national or global levels is not so much about food supplies as about food distribution and accessibility to the poor and hungry. As I’ve often argued, it’s about prices and incomes.<br /><br />Why is there so much food in the world, yet so many continue to be without it? The World Future Council blames market structures that are profit-seeking and speculative, leading to prices that exclude the poor from access to healthy food and hinder investments in small-scale agriculture. It notes how world food prices roughly doubled between 2006 and 2009, with the most significant jump (by 85 percent) happening between April 2007 and April 2008—when speculators pounced on food commodities. It also notes that official development assistance for small-scale agriculture was cut by 85 percent between 1980 and 2002, and that agricultural productivity had declined in many developing in the last 50 years.<br /><br />The same World Future Council gave the Future Policy Award in 2009 to the city of Belo Horizonte, the fourth largest city in Brazil—a country now in the limelight for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. For two decades now, lesser-known Belo Horizonte has shown that hunger need not be a fact of life. In 1993, the newly elected city leadership declared that food was a right of every citizen, and began work to make good food accessible to all. Mayor Patrus Ananias—later to become Brazil’s minister for social development and the Fight against Hunger—established a secretariat for food policy and supply that included a 20-member council of citizens, workers and business leaders from all sectors involved with food. He pulled in church representatives to advise in the design and implementation of a new food system. The explicit mandate was to increase access to healthy food for all, as a measure of social justice.<br /><br />Brazilian citizens even then already participated actively in local governance, particularly in allocating government budgets, via the bottom-up budgeting system that Brazilian cities (including the other famous city of Porto Alegre) had pioneered worldwide. Mayor Ananias’ “right to food” policy is credited for having led Belo Horizonte residents in doubling the numbers who took part in the city’s participatory budgeting process to well over 30,000 individuals.<br /><br />Belo Horizonte’s food council developed ways to put food within everyone’s reach, addressing the interests of farmers and consumers alike.<br /><br />Family farmers were given access to prime retail space in which to sell their produce directly to city dwellers. Thus, consumers and farmers split between themselves what would have been hefty margins garnered by middlemen. The city also bid out to entrepreneurs the right to set up “ABC” markets (for alimentos a baixo custo, or food at low cost) in choice city locations. Prices are fixed below-market for some 20 specific foods sold at these outlets, while everything else can be sold at market prices. With the privilege of securing a spot for an ABC market also came the obligation to transport and offer their produce to poor neighborhoods outside of the city center on weekends.<br /><br />The “food as a right” approach also included the creation of a chain of restaurante popular (people’s restaurants) serving up to 12,000 cheap meals made from locally grown foods every day, to up to 700 people at a time. The bulk of visitors are poor, but the service is open to everybody, which helps avoid having the restaurants stigmatized as mere poor people’s diners. The city also helped develop urban gardens in schools and communities, and allocated national budgets for school lunches to local farmers rather than to processed and packaged foods. Food banks were added in 2004, where fresh fruit and vegetable donations are cleaned and vacuum-frozen, and distributed to charitable organizations and social service agencies.<br /><br />Proof positive of Belo Horizonte’s success is that among other substantial public health improvements, the city’s infant mortality rate dropped by 60 percent in a decade.<br /><br />This case demonstrates how, with a government that is responsive and accountable to the people, we can beat hunger if we are prepared to think out of the box, trust our caring and sharing instincts, and work together as problem-solving partners. Belo Horizonte has shown that it can be done. We only need to follow the example.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://opinion.inquirer.net/96542/can-beat-hunger">http://opinion.inquirer.net/96542/can-beat-hunger</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></div>
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Op-Ed We can beat hunger

We can beat hunger By Cielito F. Habito AROUND 300,000 more Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger just before the turnover o...

ROTC: Who will fight for the Philippines?

Sunday, August 14, 2016 The Mail Man 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">Historical perspective<br /><br />Andres Bonifacio, Jose Rizal, Emilio Jacinto, Gregorio Del Pilar. These names resonate in the annals of Philippine history. A generation that waged a full revolution in Asia against 2 colonial powers, Spain and the United States of America. What binds them is that they did so in the full flower of their youth. Emilio Jacinto was only 19 and then Gregorio Del Pilar was 21 when he was felled at Tirad Pass.<br /><br />Of course there are examples of the youth rising to the occasion in all countries in history. The point is that it was the youth who spearheaded the Philippine Independence movement in the 19th century, the youth who fought the Americans, the youth who fought the Japanese and the youth who fought in the insurgency wars on both sides.<br /><br />Why the youth?<br /><br />The energy of the youth has known no bounds. Alexander The Great conquered the known world when he was in his teens. The youth does not pay heed to mountains, jungles and seas. Given motivation and a mission, the youth will endure everything. This is because of biology.<br /><br />Going back to the question on why the youth? The answer answered is in the historical perspective and in the above mentioned biological capability.<br /><br />The beginnings of a Citizen Army<br /><br />Having known the biological perspective, let us revisit the model for a citizen army. Ancient Rome during its republican days comes closest. Rome then has no standing army. All it had was a cadre of Non-Commissioned officers, the modern day sergeants. Its legions were formed when the Roman Senate called for the formation of an army. The typical Roman soldier was likened to Cincinnatus. Cincinnatus was a farmer when there are no wars and when called upon he was part of the newly formed legions that battled Hannibal of Carthage from the plains of Italy to the walls of Carthage in North Africa. After the war Cincinnatus returned home back to his farm<br /><br />That is the historical context of a citizen-soldier, he who defends his country when his country is threatened. <br /><br />In the Philippine Experience<br /><br />During the Commonwealth era, President Quezon (also a veteran of the Philippine Revolution of 1896) acknowledged the need for a professional standing army. But unlike most modern armies at the time, Quezon knew that a standing regular army is an expensive national hobby. Instead, the model for the Philippine army was based on the Roman and Swiss Army model. It was an army of trained citizens. An army composed of the children of Illustrados were not enough. They did not have enough sons. That is why there was the landmark National Defense Act of 1935.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">“ARTICLE II </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONS AND RESOURCES</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Section 3. Military service shall be obligatory for all citizens of the Philippines, and the methods and procedure for the classification, selection, examination, induction, training, and release of all citizens from their military obligations shall be as prescribed in Title III of this Act.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />This army was not formed to invade but to defend. Defense capabilities were oriented towards defense. The ideal was for every able bodied male to be trained in military matters and that any invader, though technologically advanced will find it hard to occupy and rule the Philippines. Interconnected with alliances and diplomacy, any invader would find the Philippines ungovernable since more than 35% of its population is trained.<br /><br />That was the Swiss and Roman model adopted as the national defense strategy of the Philippines. It is very important to note that Section 3 referred to all citizens or able bodied males of military age be given training<br /><br />Contemporary Experience<br /><br />It is a given that such was followed by reforms in that sector after WWII. The most enduring was the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). The ROTC was instituted during the 4 year college course of all male students and female volunteers. <br /><br />The intention is to create a corps of professional soldiers or reserve officers from the ROTC program. The products of the Philippine Military Academy would not be enough to fill in the officer corps of the reserve army. Thus, the need for an ROTC program.<br /><br />The notable products of the Philippine ROTC program were Gen. Romeo Espino, the longest serving AFP Chief of Staff (1972 – 1981) a graduate of UP Los Baños with a degree in Agriculture. Gen. Alfredo Santos was appointed AFP Chief of Staff. Gen. Santos was a graduate of Mapua.  <br /><br />One of the most prominent ROTC graduates who made it to the post of AFP chief of staff was Gen. Alfredo M. Santos. His role as corps commander of the Mapua ROTC contingent led him to a military career which culminated in his appointment by President Diosdado Macapagal as head of the AFP. A living example is Gen. Jose Magno who came from UP ROTC. He also served as GSIS chairman. In the US, Gen. Colin Powell was also a product of the US ROTC program. He was the first black national security advisor under President Reagan, first black Chief of Staff under President Bush and first black Secretary of State under President Bush the younger.<br /><br />Clearly, the ROTC program has already proven itself to be a rich harvest ground of leaders and public servants.<br /><br />Obligation<br /><br />It is rarely recognized that ROTC is a builder of character. The derision on formation and marching belies that it is needed to instill discipline and team spirit. It is not easy marching in cadence when you are with 30 others in the formation. This means one’s self is subsumed to a greater whole. Think about it.<br /><br />As with Cincinnatus, there is an obligation to be rendered by every Filipino. Freedom is not just  given, it must be guarded and defended. The national patrimony must be guarded and defended. The freedom of every Filipino must be guarded and defended.<br /><br />The ROTC  (mandatory) must be revived. It is legal and its ideals are the same with the ideals of the Filipino people.<br /><br />South Korea has a reserve force of 5 million, Vietnam has 4 million, China has 4 million the Philippines has less than 500 thousand out of a population of 100 million. Otherwise, we will meet the invaders with street sweepers and tree planters.<br /><br />The lines of Bonifacio, Rizal, Jacinto and Del Pilar must continue.</span></div>
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History Nationalism Patriotism ROTC: Who will fight for the Philippines?

Historical perspective Andres Bonifacio, Jose Rizal, Emilio Jacinto, Gregorio Del Pilar. These names resonate in the annals of Philippine...

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