Politics and Technology Watch: December 2007

Monday, December 17, 2007

Human Rights, Human Wrongs and the Fallacies of the Palace

After two centuries of emancipation, the Philippines is once again entangled with her colonizer, Spain. This time, the issue revolves not on colonialism but on the gold medal awarded by Universidad de Alcala de Henares to the sitting Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. No, it is not about Mrs. Arroyo cheating her way to get the gold medal the way she was accused on getting herself declared as the winner of the 2004 presidential elections. Neither it is about the neutrality of Spain's selection committee the way rumors have it against the Filipinos during the 23rd Southeast Asian Games when the country reaped gold medals, or the way Filipino boxers complain against the judges for this year's SEA Games hosted by Thailand. The issue is about the credibility of Arroyo as a recipient of the award – a stirring that places the Spanish King and his government in grave embarassment before the eyes of the international community and observers.

Reports have it that during Mrs. Arroyo's visit to Spain this December, the Universidad of Alcala de Henares, through its Rector, Virgilio Zapatero, gave Mrs. Arroyo a medalla de oro. The medal is for championing human rights and junking the death penalty law in the Philippines. The problem: The human rights community headed by the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates and civil society organizations in the Philippines petitioned King Juan Carlos I of Spain to recall the medal as the Philippine president is the number one human rights violator in the post-Marcos era. According to the petitioners, it appears that Luis Arias Romero, Spain's Ambassador to the Philippines, did not properly do his homework by apprising his country of the human rights situation in the Philippines. He failed to consider facts and circumstances as evidences against the eligibility of Mrs. Arroyo for the gold medal. Some of these are as follows:

The report of Philip Alston, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. The report shows that there are about 800 extrajudicial executions in the Philippines most of which were done during the Arroyo Administration. The executions were primarily centered against activists, civil society leaders, human rights advocates, labor union leaders, and land reform advocates. Most of these were allegedly conducted by the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The armed forces, however, remains under the state of denial and Mrs. Arroyo, in her capacity as the Commander-in-Chief, only pays lip service. This is also being corroborated by the reports of the Amnesty International.
The reports of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Reporters without Borders, and the International Federation of Journalists. The reports show the presence of a culture of impunity in the Philippines particularly under the Arroyo Administration. For instance, of the 90 journalists killed (or most likely killed) since 1986, 60% happened during the Arroyo Administration alone. Worse, nobody is apprised as to how many of these are solved – meaning, the perpetrators are convicted and are already serving their sentences. As a result, the Philippines was branded as the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists next to Iraq.
The arrest and detention of journalists and media practitioners. Just recently, a number of journalists and media practitioners were arrested, tied, and detained for covering the Manila Pen seige – an outright violation of the freedom of the press on the part of the practitioners and a curtailment of the freedom to information on the part of the audience;
The curfew. Immediately after the journalists were detained, a martial law-like curfew was imposed against the people in the National Capital Region and the surrounding areas – a clear violation of the right of the people to travel.
Repressive policies and proclamations. For several times, the right of the people to assemble and petition the government for redress and grievances were also banned. Mrs. Arroyo even issued Presidential Proclamation 1017 and Executive Order 464 which were later declared unconstitutional by the Philippine Supreme Court.
Poverty, Hunger and Unemployment. There is also this continuing failure of the Arroyo government to answer the issues of poverty, hunger and unemployment – issues which negatively affects the economic rights of the Filipinos. The Social Weather Stations, for instance, noted that as of February 2007, self-rated poverty still lingers at 53% while those who experienced severe hunger is pegged at 19%. The Department of Labor also sees unemployment at 11% while a majority of those employed earns below $1 a day. In striking contrasts, stories of high ranking officials including the first family getting involved in anomalous deals like national broadband deal and the liquified fertilizer, literally and figuratively, with multi-million dollar kickbacks abound thus adding insult to injury. This situation, as recognized in several international documents, will hamper the full exercise of one's civil and political rights.

For these, the petitioners call on King Carlos I to recall the medal as well as relieve Ambassador Romero.

Just like the gloomy days that preceded the Hyatt 10, Mrs. Arroyo's lips are sealed. Only Presidential deputy spokesman Lorelei Fajardo and Presidential Legal Adviser Sergio Apostol were talking. Fajardo argues with her scare tactic while Apostol tops it with an argumentum ad hominem. According to Fajardo the petitioners are only putting the country in bad light – a line of argument which had been used by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce (PCCI) in defense of the ZTE deal. Quoting Sergio Ortiz-Luis of the PCCI: “Other countries are watching the Philippines and that if the ZTE contract will not push through, there might be some repercussions on the country particularly on the aspect of trade relations.”

Apostol, meanwhile, circled around the issue by attacking the petitioners and branding them as communists. The problem, Apostol seemed to have forgotten the elementary principle that the respect for human rights is the essence of democracy.

In a sense, the responses of Apostol and Fajardo just aggravated the situation by reinforcing the claims of the petitioners. Fajardo's message, for instance, prefers trading injustice and disrespect for human rights with a gold medal while for Apostol, the freedom of expression is reserved only for the non-communists and democracy, for those who praise the government. These statements simply show the kind of government Arroyo has and that doesn't really deserve the medal awarded her.

But will Mrs. Arroyo part with the gold she received?

Taking cues from her previous actions, it appears that she will cling to the medal the way she clung to the presidential seat. If this happens, she will just aggravate the situation by further placing King Carlos in embarassment.

The medal to remain in the hands of Mrs. Arroyo will mean that the King approves the human rights record of Philippine president – a very poor judgment in the standard of the United Nations who received the report of Alston. It will also mean an insult to the victims of human rights violations especially those who are still seeking justice. And the monarch might suffer drawbacks from these as well as occassional lashes from the international media who think that the Philippines is the second most dangerous place for journalists. But of course, the king cannot just recall the medal as he will also be offending Mrs. Arroyo. Recalling the medal is like licking the saliva he already spat out. The most that he can do is to relieve Romero from his post as Spain's Ambassador to the Philippines. Doing so, however, might also have consequences against him, his fallibility, and his taste. In simple terms, he is at a deadlock.

Relieving Romero, however, will mean a slap on Mrs. Arroyo's face and a blackeye from the international community. The only option left for her is to deposit the medal to a neutral entity and claim it back only after she is able to polish her human rights records. But it is doubtful she will release her grip to the medal. This being the case, the medal will just be a continuing reminder of an honor with questionable credibility just like her presidency with the ever-flourishing issue of “Hello, Garci!”. ####

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

From Broken Windows to a Broken Administration

One of the prevailing theories in sociology and criminal science is the theory of “broken windows” developed by George Kelling and James Wilson. The theory states that if a window in a building is broken and for a time is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken. The point is that one unrepaired broken window is a signal that no one cares and so breaking more windows cost nothing and may even be more fun.

Of course, windows are not the only indicators. These could be broken light bulbs, dark streets, graffiti and vandals, and even potholed roads and bridges. As these are left un-attended and unrepaired, the perception that no one cares also continue to increase. The effects: increasing crimes as well as skyrocketing distrust in the government.

In the Bicol Region, though, the continuing attention given by the local governments in the aftermath of last year's calamities has almost stabilized the increase of crimes. If records are to be believed, the volume of recorded cases even lowered by 12% for the period of January to May this year compared with the same period last year. This is because the Bicolanos felt that there are still people who cares and hence, applying the golden rule, the harms are minimized as possible. Exception was the election period from March to May where the recorded cases are at the peak. For March, a total of 167 cases are recorded; for April, 180 cases; and for May, 196 cases. A greater number of these are recorded in Masbate and that includes the shooting of some members of the Abapo Clan.

But while the Region V figures are at a decline, the pictures aren't rosy in other areas. Northern Luzon recorded a 20% increase in crime volume followed by Southern Tagalog with 15% and Metro Manila with 6%. Extrapolating it with election results, these are the areas with notable vote for the opposition candidates both in 2004 and 2007 national elections. Intentionally or not, these are also the areas with lesser government budget for social services per person validating, in a way, the idea that crime increases when people don't feel the concern of the government.

Of course, the broken windows theory may not be limited in the study of crime increase. It may also be used as a lens in analyzing government administrations. In the case of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, for instance, one of every four Filipinos according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) expected that life will be rosier when she took the presidential seat in 2001. But then, the opposite happened as poverty ratings soared from 59% in March 2001 to 66% in the next quarter of the same year. A lull occured, though as the May 2004 elections drew near. Money was released as part of the campaign, fertilizers allegedly flowed (which later became a scandal), and Philhealth cards bearing the face of Arroyo were distributed. This resulted to the plummeting of poverty to 46% in June 2004 only to increase again to 57% in May 2005, and peaking at 59% in June last year. Again, because of the 2007 elections, those who considered themselves poor fell to 51% in the September of 2006 then moved by two notches at 53% by February 2007.

In simple terms, Arroyo failed the expectations. For this, her ratings dropped from 24% in March 2001 to 12% in August 2004 to negative 6% in the suceeding two months of that same year. Up to the present, her satisfaction ratings wallowed in the negative and never had any single chance to go up. Her nightmare months were May 2005 and December 2005 having negative 33% and negative 30%, respectively. As of June 2007, she was sitting on negative 3%.

Worse, the failed expectations also increased mass demonstrations against her. These were heightened by the Hello, Garci! scandal, and lately, by undetered corruption in the government. Pulse Asia's “2007 Ulat ng Bayan”, for instance, revealed that 45% of the Filipinos believed that the Arroyo Administration is the most corrupt as compared with 31% who said it is the Marcos Administration.

Third, the failed expectations also led to a strong dissatisfaction with democracy. Recent surveys show that one in every two Filipinos are not satisfied with how democracy works. For this, they are opting that the administration be replaced. As to the manner of effecting the replacement as well as to the question of who will replace, they are still divided. Members of the progressive movements prefer a transitional revolutionary government – an idea being dismissed by centrists. Others prefer a constitutional means such as succession. But then, division is again very high for many do not like Vice President Noli De Castro while Chief Justice Reynato Puno, a common choice, is not amenable to the idea.

Because of these disagreements over the details, deadlocks occur and Arroyo remains a president – a lameduck president as many call her. And because the deadlocks cannot contain the increasing dissatisfaction with the administration, many start to romaticize the violent means such as military uprising or coup d' etat. This is being supported by survey results which show that about 40% now favor coup d' etat as opposed to 20% two years ago. All of these started from a broken window.

Latest reports show, however, that Arroyo is also trying to cure her ailing presidency. Her focus is now on economics as well as a closer ties with the local government officials who are the frontliners to the citizenry. The problem: the pictures of economic statistics doesn't seem to touch base with the people particularly the masa which composes more than 60% of the Filipinos. Many still feel hungry and a greater number remains poor. Likewise, the method of reaching out to the local officials appear shady as her operators think everything is money. Thus, the Malacanang payoffs which led the Panlilio and Abante exposes and the restlessness in the PNP and the armed forces who feel underpaid for risking their lives for the sake of peace.

It is undeniable that the problems have become more complicated and the theory of broken windows may be too simple to serve as an explanation. But isn't it true that, quoting an adage, “A stitch in time saves nine”?

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