ANL September 2012 Issue

E  D  I  T  O  R  I  A  L

Dams  for flood control, anyone?

The provincial government of Pangasinan and the management of the mammoth San Roque Dam—built at San Manuel town in the densely populated province—have had a bickering in the aftermath of the successive onslaughts by cyclones “Ondoy” and “Pepeng”  late September to early October 2009 flooding Metro-Manila, central and northern Luzon spawned by typhoon rains.

Pangasinan governor Amado Espino berated a dam engineer in an ensuing press conference when the latter could not fully expound on any official policy or procedure on timely releases of excess rainwater from the dam. The two parties later agreed on a  protocol for a proper early warning system on water releases from the dam; and to foster closer coordination between them on the critical problem of flooding caused by undue releases of dam water during stormy days. 

Exactly three years this September 2012, what did Pangasinenses got?  At the height of incessant monsoon rains (“habagat”) last month, 5-9 August, Governor Espino announced plans to sue dam operator National Power Corporation to compel the shutdown of the huge reservoir for apparently forgetting and/or ignoring  whatever was agreed upon in the aftermath of the tragic and costly “Ondoy-Pepeng” deluge spawned by spilled dam waters from San Roque.

Ironic as it is, flood control is said to be one of the “many uses” of San Roque Dam. But wherever province a dam is located, people—including Metro-Manilans—are on the uproar fearing and protesting the devastations caused by untimely and/or undue and improper releases of dam waters during danger periods of typhoons and monsoon rains as big and tragic as this year’s and 2009’s. We got damned by spilled dam waters costing precious lives, limbs and properties.  anl . sep2012

N  E  W  S  L  I  N  E

Tayug-Asingan dike ripped off!

By:   Engr. Joe L. Sevilla  .  ANL Asingan Correspondent

The huge non-cemented Agno River dike at  Barangay Sta. Ana-Tayug  near the tri-boundary of Tayug-San Manuel-Asingan towns in eastern Pangasinan province was  nearly ripped off by erosion caused by rampaging waters released from San Roque Dam in the wake of a weeklong monsoon rains early last month, August.  Part of the same dike at Barangay Carmen in Rosales town was torn off September 2009 by torrent floodwaters at the height of typhoon “Pepeng”  swamping the floors of the sprawling SM City-Rosales  rendering most parts of the province underwater for days.

Residents around the area express fears on another onslaught of monsoon flood  totally breaching the dike posing grave danger of submerging and washing out wide areas east from San Manuel town to Asingan, Binalonan, Villasis, Urdaneta City, Sta. Barbara, Manaoag, and far west to flood-prone Dagupan City—all in the northern bank of the Agno River basin that slices Pangasinan into halves east-to-west in a lengthwise fashion.

Pangasinan lands with the top five provinces of the country in terms of land area, of income and population size with over two million people. It has remaining forests at its Caraballo mountain range arching north-to-east of the province. It has the rich and historic Lingayen Gulf. It owns the largest cattle market in the country situated at Urdaneta City. It has the iconic Manaoag Church serving both as religious spot and tourist attraction. It is one of the top three rice granary and vegetable producing provinces in the Philippines.

It houses the giant San Roque Dam—one of the 20 biggest in the world—built at Barangay San Roque in the municipality of San Manuel. It has the Agno River Basin—one of the three largest in the country—that is both a fishing ground and sand-and-gravel source at summer time;  and a source of irrigation before the typhoons come.

The province is home to the famous sea salt and bagoong industry and the equally popular “Dagupan bangus” [milkfish] grown in Bolinao, Lingayen and Dagupan. It has fine and famous beaches in San Fabian and in the island-town of Anda. And, finally, it prides having the famous and scenic  Hundred Islands  punctuating the riches and grandeur of the province.

Pangasinan province has two abandoned  small-to-medium airstrips [airports]—one in the capital town Lingayen and the other at Brgy. Carmen in Rosales town. An annual festivity unique to Pangasinenses along the seashores of Lingayen Gulf called “Pista’y Dayat”  [Feast of the Sea] is held on Labor Day, or every May 1 of the year. Simultaneously holding this historic event are townspeople of about ten seaside municipalities in the Gulf area.

With the “wealth of wonder” that Pangasinan has, the entire province could not afford bearing the yearly damages that typhoons and flooding inflict on the hardworking Pangasinense. Floodwaters from Ambuklao and Binga dams up north in the Cordilleras and  from nearby San Roque Dam spilled into  the Agno River basin on stormy days not only destroy crops and properties but eats up as well hundreds of hectares of productive lands eroded yearly. This is inimical to a sustainable future that the province is envisioning for its people.   anl . sep2012

P  U  N  C  H  L  I  N  E

A Commentary:  Dams of damnation!

By:   Rowena Agaton-Balino  .  Photo/Lay-out Artist, ANL

Dam proponents are quick to put forward vested interests over and above anyone’s, not even the people’s. Government, big business and contractors collude and agree on the use-value of a project jaded from public scrutiny while the big bucks change hands.  And that’s a mere icing on the cake!

In the wake of so much grumblings and debates on disastrous flooding attributed to ineptly managed dams all over the country, Asingan NewsLine  focuses eye on the intents and results in having these structures even as dam seekers urge building more as if these were cash vaults.

For an objective look at the issue on the dams which proliferate more in Luzon, the northernmost island and the largest in the country, we took hints from the outrage of Gov. Amado Espino of Pangasinan against these dams that batter his turf with floodwaters virtually every year.

Pangasinan province sits in an enviable location endowed with the various ecosystems vital for a vigorous economy. Caraballo mountain range stretches north to east on its borders with five adjoining provinces. Lingayen Gulf is Pangasinan’s territorial waters. The province possesses vast agricultural plains, salt farms and fishery areas, and fine beaches along the Gulf. Agno River basin winds up within the province serving as fishing and gold panning ground, sand-and-gravel source and irrigation supply. Pangasinan’s pride and fascinating Hundred Islands were scattered well within Lingayen Gulf. And, for all purpose and intent, the gigantic San Roque Dam is built on Pangasinan soil at Barangay San Roque in San Manuel town. Sadly though, these riches are now critically compromised by both natural and man-made calamities.

“Dams were rammed through our throat,” said an angry old woman refugee-victim whom we talked to at Barangay Tatalon, Quezon City in the wake of the September 2009 deluge spawned by cylone “Ondoy” submerging  Metro-Manila. Peoples’ ire rose high when all five dams both in nearby Bulacan and Rizal provinces released so much dam waters without due notices or early warning.

Back at Governor Espino’s turf Pangasinan, the province was one of the hardest hit by the equally harsh cyclone “Pepeng”  that follows “Ondoy”  a  few days later. Housing one of the world’s biggest dams, San Roque, the province was submerged in floodwaters when the huge dam opened spillways without prior notice or warning. A portion of the Agno River dike at Barangay Carmen  in Rosales town was breached by overflowing floodwaters swamping most parts of the province.

That time, Espino castigated dam management for ineptness. August this year when monsoon rains [“habagat”] battered Luzon in days, the ordeal was repeated and this time the governor is suing dam operator National Power Corporation for the total shutdown of San Roque. Posted on facebook by one Roger Birosel, he says:  “The dams are damning our lives more often than not!”

The government’s National Power Corporation claims otherwise saying a DAM is intended for POWER SUPPLY,  IRRIGATION and FLOOD CONTROL. The intention on paper was good but flaws rear an ugly head from the very start. Dam projects were never a subject of public consultation much less a consensus of the very communities being displaced upon construction and the affected public thereafter.  

People have learned from decades of heart-rending experiences. Case in point is the Ambuklao-Binga-San Roque chain of dams in that order. The first two lies north and central Benguet province. Down south just across the provincial boundary with Pangasinan is San Roque. On stormy days, these dams normally releases excess water all at the same time causing excessive flooding down the plains of Pangasinan and Tarlac provinces effectively negating the “FLOOD CONTROL” clause.

The “IRRIGATION” clause does not apply at all in the case of Ambuklao and Binga dams as these were built up there on the ridges of the Cordillera mountains where there are no  adjoining agricultural plains. The San Roque master plan shows an 80-20 power-irrigation percentage ratio. Interestingly, the small cemented irrigation canals were there laid out unfinished and far from operational even after over a decade of dam operation.

In all actuality, these dams cater largely to the needs of big business for power supply and the wellbeing of the people only secondary. The dams around Metro-Manila are a menace to peoples’ safety. Dams are supposedly being watched in a 24-hour basis yet these are ambiguously mismanaged at critical times. These dams have eroded hectares upon hectares of productive lands every stormy season in decades past. 

Asingan NewsLine  is not anti-dam. It recognizes hydroelectric dams are clean sources of energy. Sources like solar panels and windmills are feasible and safe as well. Natural gas is rising in use and importance but so does its cost. While we see government settles for the dams, it seems less intent on supplementing the dams with other clean and renewable source of power. We see, too, a government more adept at politicking than good governance and sustainable development.  anl . sep2012

F   E   A   T   U   R   E

FLOODING:  Root causes and Remedies

By:  Ruben M. Balino,  Editor-In-Chief, ANL

                                     MSF,  Environmental Science

                                        

My co-forester and environmentalist wife says she used to frolic in the rains with co-toddlers in a neighborhood in Malate, Manila where she was born. She recalls, thus: “The old metropolis that came to be known as Metro-Manila was relatively green in the mid-sixties with trees and grasses in most parts. The rain was cool and fresh sans the acid from pollutant greenhouse gases floating and dulling the atmosphere. Flooding was a rare occurrence then and if ever it did happen it is more of the ankle-deep rainfall record for the year rather than waters cascading down from somewhere else overland.”  

As years wear on flooding rose up to critical levels where toddlers eventually lost both freedom and safety to wade the likes of today’s nose-deep and polluted killer floodwaters. The ordinary man in the street was wondering what  really are the root causes of these floods? If and when, how could these be remedied?

People and their own government as major stakeholders must realize that the problem on flooding is exacerbated by both natural and man-made causes. Rainfall is but natural although the phenomenon called “regime of extremes”—that is, “La Nina” or “excessive rainfall” during wet season on the one hand; and “El Nino” or “prolonged drought” at summer days on the other—points to man’s action as one of the main culprits in heating up the globe’s temperature resulting to such adverse climatic regimes. Man polluted his entire surroundings and continues decimating what is left of the globe’s flora [plant cover]  and fauna [animal population].

Land use conversion has only man to blame on his decisions of tearing down and converting an intact ecosystem into yet another less sustainable use like golf courses and exclusive subdivisions on rolling hills and steeply elevated areas. Man continues manufacturing and using harmful chemicals and warfare materiel inimical to the environment and to man’s safety himself. Nuclear plants and gigantic dams like San Roque sitting near ”digdig fault” [an earthquake line] 22 kilometers northeast on its boundary with Nueva Vizcaya province is inviting danger with catastrophic proportion.

Unplanned, careless and rampant urbanization widening the so-called cemented “urban jungle” are man’s suicidal acts preventing rainwater from sinking down into the aquifers. Waste and garbage thrown around by a largely insensitive and undisciplined population clog waterways while portion of which finds way to seashores and ocean beds. Old, obsolete and inadequate drainage systems in urban centers can hardly contain and dispose off  excess rainfall.

Still, others with superficial knowledge on and analysis of the problem readily point at population boom and the increasing number of informal settlers in urban areas as major players in the  problem of yearly flooding and erosion while government fails poorly in nailing down destructive big loggers, miners and illegal poachers in which case laxity and corruption in law enforcement crop up as a major aggravating factor as well.

The extent of damages flooding have caused on people in both urban and rural areas are becoming more risky, costly and unbearable. Aside from human and animal lives, crops and properties sacrificed, flooding eats up hectares of lands eroded yearly; infrastructures like huge dikes, roads, bridges and power lines breached or destroyed. Untold sufferings command no less than unswerving commitment at providing lasting remedies to mitigate such monumental damages.

Deforestation of the country’s remaining forests and watershed areas must be put to a stop. Rehabilitate or reforest denuded areas. Individuals, families and civil society groups, government employees and the private sector should plant trees in every plausible space—along roads, riverbanks  and farm perimeters; backyards, school grounds, churchyards, graveyards and plazas; spaces in subdivisions and commercial districts; rooftop forestation and gardening.

Alongside this serious effort at countrywide tree planting must go with it a no-nonsense education campaign to imbibe community discipline and environmental awareness, cooperation and volunteerism. A Filipino migrant-friend in Switzerland says that rivers and waterways in Europe are not littered with wastes and garbage despite people and families residing along these water bodies. Good and effective law enforcement, she emphasizes, springs from a sincere and honest governance.  The very positive virtues on  volunteerism, cooperation and discipline were molded by serious education, value formation and awareness building, she clarifies. And, of course, love of country, she hastens to add.

Some advocates suggest the building of the more manageable and less costly mini-hydroelectric plants wherever possible rather than the huge and dangerous type of dams less affordable for the country to build and manage. And as the horizons for both science and technology widen, other countries are showing the way at supplementing hydropower with  solar and windmill technologies. And why can’t the Philippines?

Or why can’t government rehabilitate old and obsolete drainage system and build new ones to cover the entire metropolis. Flooding costs on lives, properties and infrastructures far exceed the costs of any rehabilitation and modernization projects of these types. Pork barrels for all three branches of government—the executive, legislative and judiciary—worth hundreds of billions each annually are more than enough to deliver this country from rags to progress.

Regulating the seeming anarchy in land conversion and urbanization, and instituting a sustainable formula for both urban and rural community planning are primarily the tasks of government. Insincere, corrupt and inefficient governance only spells calamity, or more of it coming!  anl . sep2012

L  I  T  E  R  A  R  Y

“Thoughts Parade”

 a.  ML@40: Never Again!

 Martial Law, imposed by virtue of  Presidential Proclamation 1081 signed September 21, 1972 but was declared in the dead of night the following day by then Philippine President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos who himself is the very architect of the infamous rule, shocked and catapulted the country into despotism, corruption and poverty.

Pandemonium broke loose as warrantless raids and arrests were done round-the-clock in every nook and cranny the police and military could lay their hands on.  Enforced “sona”, or village-to-village search, made people to form long queues on streets and searched for IDs and cedulas, arrested men sporting   long hairs and tattoos, and senseless lots. Target personalities were hauled to jail except for the vigilant youth leaders who with their flock conveniently “seek comfort” among the masses in the countryside.

On the pretext of wanting to “effectively eliminate the communist threat” and reign in what he calls then as “anarchy and criminality in the streets”; “reform society and build a new one to improve the lots of the Filipino people”, Marcos built a conjugal dictatorship at the expense of genuine freedom and democracy. Himself a suspect of murdering his father’s political foe Julio Nalundasan, Ferdinand was discreet in his vile scheme at eliminating his own political foes who were about to supplant him from power had he not imposed martial rule.

Aside from usurping freedom and democracy, martial rule did have immeasurable blood debts and sorrows inflicted on innocent people—all of about 12 thousand arrested and incarcerated, tortured, raped, murdered, and forcibly disappeared—that until now in 40 years are never indemnified and/or rendered justice. Millions more were victims of martial law’s harshest anti-insurgency campaigns in terms of displaced population due to forced evacuations, hamleting, indiscriminate bombings, crossfire, arson, harassments, robbery,  and other criminal atrocities against the people.  

The Marcos dictatorship obnoxiously built a cabal of moronic and fascist police and military generals and a throng of parasitic cronies and technocrats fed with people’s tax and foreign debts. It laid out a mantle of power clothed in legal jargon as “constitutional authoritarianism”  odiously governed by general orders [GOs] and presidential decrees [PDs].  

Marcos’ wife and alter ego, Imelda Romualdez, was herself the “imeldific” monster molded by martial rule turned rabid evangelist of the culture of lavishness, greed and extravagance in a banana republic she and her dictator husband shamelessly built.

Equally worse was Marcos crafting an import dependent and debt oriented economy that put the country into mendicancy at the hands of syndicated international usurers like the IMF-World Bank.

Martial Law was a war that devoured  its own children and people, most painful of all—the brightest and the bravest. Some says that it’s better for the dead in that they were mourned and carried to their graves while it is an infinite torture imagining of the disappeared where could their bodies been thrown away and eaten by the elements.

And yes, it’s equally horrible thinking of martial law@40 while the perpetrators of such a heinous reign of greed and terror were back here remaining scot-free and virtually swaggering in power as before…Never again! 

By:  Ruben “Ka Bencio” Balino  [One of six core-convener of the now famous League of Filipino Students representing GAUF (DLSAU). The others were: Susan Deborja of UP;  Mark Rosales of Adamson U;  Sonny Ramirez of UE;  Vic Pacia of  FEATI;  Diony Doronio of MLQU].

Note:  The following images were sent by our Alumni Correspondents abroad, namely: 1. Rudy D. Antonio of Vancouver, Canada.  2. Engr. Silver  M. Casilla & RN Merly Grospe-Mayo of USA.  3. Ronilo R. Corpuz of Vienna, Austria.  4. Fely Dumaguing-Malgapo of Milan, Italy.

b.

SS   S

c.

d.

e. where to? to?

f.  The "BALANGIGA MASSACRE" of 1901.  Exactly 111 years ago this September 28, 2012, the people of Balangiga town in Samar  island of the Visayas commemorates what  is now known  as “Balangiga  Massacre”  in two notes, e.g., in glory and pride at the bravery of their forebears in boldly resisting  foreign occupation and oppression by attacking the garrison of U.S. occupation forces at the town center killing 48 soldiers; in terror and hatred at the genocidal retaliatory attacks by the Americans by ordering “kill all people aged 10 and above and burn Samar and make it  a howling wilderness.”

In retrospect, this sad note on the Philippine-American war resulted in the killing of mostly unarmed Filipino civilians estimated by U.S. historian Kenneth Ray Young   to  more than 50,000  in just a few months. This number far exceeds the 3,000 casualties in the so-called  “9/11 terrorist attack” and  approximates the 60,000 immediate casualties in the U.S. atomic attacks on  Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

In the back of our minds, there are a lot more to count. Now in the millions were killed in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and in many more places where the “real and mighty terrorist” sets foot. –By: Ross “Ticong” Diaz

E  d  i  t  o  r  i  a  l     B  o  a  r  d

MEMBERS:  Rudy D. Antonio [Canada Correspondent];  Engr. Silver Casilla  &  RN Merly Grospe-Mayo [U.S. Correspondents];  Ronilo R. Corpuz [Vienna Correspondent];  Fely Dumaguing-Malgapo [Milan Correspondent];  Engr. Joe  L. Sevilla [Asingan Correspondent];  Col. Lalin Layos-Pascual;  Ross C. Diaz;  Engr. Lorie  dG.  Estrada;  CPA Rod A. Layco;  Wena Agaton-Balino [Photo & Lay-out Artist];  Ruben “Bencio” Balino [ Editor-In-Chief].

ANL August 2012 Issue

E  D  I  T  O  R  I  A  L

The “august”  in us

The past month of July was rocked with a rare mix of news, issues and problems like the proverbial Chinese recipe, “chopsuey”, cooked yummy with a sprinkling of select vegetables and seafood species like sea shrimps and squid most abundant in the contested west Philippine seas. Yes, those intruding neighbor-fishermen out there might be mincing the recipe while an overstaying typhoon “Gener”  is pounding waves and trash into the shore of Manila Bay  end July to early August.

It’s undeniably burdensome for a SONA-fresh Aquino government to contain both domestic and foreign fronts in troubled times. The China challenge is most difficult in that the pretender to our internationally acclaimed sovereign territories seems to stir away from a more sober and decent diplomacy by employing tricky “hit-and-run” intrusions into our sacred waters obviously testing both our will and capabilities.

Of which we are poorly lacking. A nation’s strong will is built upon the bedrock of a sincere and honest government leadership that can foster trust and support from its own people. A country’s full capability stems from a responsible government wedded to the very interests and aspirations of its own countrymen. A sorrowfully corrupt government-state will go down the drain sick and weak that we seem to be.

This majestic month of August offers us an opportune moment to pause and reflect. As taught to us by our forebears, the “august” in us, Filipinos, commands that we’re not to feast on debts and wallow on the sweat and tears of our loved ones strewn in “diaspora” to foreign lands for our bread.  

Statistics from out-of-the pocket enslave us more to poverty and dependence. The “august” in us, freedom-loving Filipinos, dictates that we must wean away from centuries of rabid dependence on foreign hands. More independent countries like Japan shows the exemplary way and flourished ahead of the rest of the world despite the horrors of atomic war.

Capability building springs from a nation united, creative and self-reliant. Going by P-Noy’s rhetoric in his latest SONA: “For a true Filipino, nothing is impossible!” Or so, we hope.
anl .aug2012

N   e   w   s   L   i   n   e

a.  Alternative livelihood, technologies for farmers

       By:  Engr. Joe L. Sevilla  .  ANL Asingan Correspondent

Be it in Asingan, or elsewhere in the largely agricultural province of Pangasinan, poverty and exorbitant cost of farm inputs are driving landless tenant-farmers bankrupt right after harvest. The vicious cycle sees the poor tenant-farmer borrowing money for capital inputs like seeds, fertilizers and pesticides; rent for farm implement such as a tractor if he has none of the old plow-and-cow tandem; plus expenses for irrigation.

In the feudal countryside, landlords don’t participate whatsoever in the production process except to extend an itchy hand for the 50-50 sharing with nary an ounce of sweat or  iota of worry. Damning the soiled hand, harvest time is payback time for the debt-ridden farmer.

In this sorry state of feudal relation by and between the tiller of the soil and the absentee landowner, landless tenant farmers can only grope for means to survive the ordeal on their own.

 

For Asingan and other municipalities along the huge Agno River Basin that winds off to the already silted Lingayen Gulf—a length-wise east-to-west flow that virtually slices Pangasinan into south and north divides—the waters of the river system offer a potential fishing ground for farmers on furlough waiting for harvest time. Others resort to goat and sheep farming in lieu of the costly, time consuming and labor intensive cattle and hog raising. The more profitable duck raising is becoming popular in the rice farming areas of the province although this venture likewise requires a bigger capital, a day-to-night long tending of the flock, and a ready market for the daily egg produce.

Meanwhile, at the technology front, farmers—in lieu of high and spiraling cost of farm inputs—are now testing their hands on the much cheaper and environment-friendly organic farming. This writer-correspondent and a couple of friends in barangay Ariston Este are currently exploring indigenous resource and technology to further the knowledge and practice of the more sustainable farming techniques that are practical, safe and cheap.

For a start, we, poor guys here, are currently perfecting the backyard production of organic fertilizers and pesticides. Advising our co-small farmers, we urge everyone to go into both organic animal and plant production at the same time in order to utilize time more wisely and productively.

For the more meaty discussions and details on sustainable plant and animal production in our own backyard, we refer you to continue reading a sequel to this article in the September issue of Asingan NewsLine.  [To be cont’d. Part 1 of 2]  anl . aug2012

b.  Greed amid calamity

       By:  Arnold  J. Padilla 

The country’s largest and most profitable firms are oblivious to the devastation being wrought by torrential rains on Metro Manila and various provinces in Luzon. Displaying barefaced greed, oil companies led by Petron Corp. hiked their pump prices, the fifth round in as many weeks since July. Then, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced a new increase in its generation charge this month. Also, the Business Process Outsourcing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) asked for an exemption from the work suspension order issued by Malacañang.

All these even as hundreds of thousands of mostly poor people are still struggling to survive the worst downpour since tropical storm Ondoy hit the country in 2009. According to the latest update (as of Aug.7, 5 p.m.) from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the heavy rains spawned by the southwest monsoon have submerged 46 cities and municipalities in Metro Manila and Regions I, III and IV-A, affecting more than 541,000 people. Sixteen have been reported dead.

Such display of cold-blooded corporate greed amid a grave natural disaster is most unconscionable. We have yet to cope with this latest tragedy (and still reeling from the impact of typhoon Gener that preceded the heavy monsoon rains), and already we are being battered by increases in oil prices and electricity rates. Many families have yet to be rescued and still call center firms are requiring their employees to report for work.

But we must not forget that these profit-gluttonous companies have the temerity to do what they do because government allows them. They abuse and oppress the people with impunity because they know that government policies favor them, because they know that they are Aquino’s real bosses.

Petron, owned by presidential uncle Danding Cojuangco, and other oil firms increased their pump prices despite the calamity because the Oil Deregulation Law, which President Aquino has staunchly defended amid criticisms and allegations of overpricing, gives them the right to automatically hike their prices without a public hearing.

Meralco, also owned by Danding and known presidential allies Manny Pangilinan and the Lopez family, increased its generation charge despite the calamity because the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), whose full implementation is being pushed by Aquino despite strong opposition from Mindanao and other sectors, allows it to automatically increase its generation rates without a public hearing.

BPAP, meanwhile, knows that the BPO industry is one of the few supposedly growth areas prioritized by Aquino in his medium-term Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-2016 for government promotion. I’m not sure if the administration has granted BPAP’s request. But Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa said that call centers and other private firms that will require their employees to report for work should just “ensure personnel safety and give premium pay”. Para saan pa ang suspension order?

These intolerable acts of greed by the oil companies, Meralco and BPO firms bolster our argument for government to rethink and undo its current policies and programs. Especially during times of calamities, Aquino could not claim helplessness to stop oil price and power rate hikes because his predecessors, as dictated by foreign creditors, chose to deregulate the setting of pump prices and generation charge.

Government must revise its economic plan and stop relying on externally-driven growth sources like the BPO that is so detached from our own development needs, and in this particular case, from our domestic realities. BPO serves American and other foreign clients. Ano bang malay nila kung binabagyo na tayo at nalulunod na sa baha ang mga Pilipinong call center agents?

Unfortunately, Aquino has shown time and again that he is incapable and unwilling to implement the fundamental policy reforms we need.  arnoldpadilla.wordpress.com

P  U  N  C  H  L  I  N  E

Komentaryo: “Pen-pen de sarapen.., hula-hula de PAGASA!”

Ni:  Wena Agaton-Balino  .  Photo/Lay-out Artist, ANL

Ha! ha!  “Heto na naman ang mga ha…al!”

Isa sa mga tampok na ipinagyabang ni Pang. Noynoy Aquino sa pinakahuling SONA nito ang mga bagong suplay na kagamitang binili ng pamahalaan para sa weather bureau ng bansa, ang PAGASA. Dahil sa mga diumano’y makabagong kagamitang ito na ipinakalat sa mga istratehikong bahagi ng bansa kung kayat buo ang pag-asa ni P-Noy na magiging epektibo at mahusay ang paghahanda/pag-angkop sa,  at pag-uulat ng kaganapan tuwing dumaraan ang bagyo sa kalupaan ng Pilipinas.

Maging ang Asingan NewsLine at ng madlang pipol ay umasa sa PAGASA na inaasahan ni Aquino. Alas! Sa ‘di inaasahang pagkakataon at ‘di mahinuhang dahilan ay sumablay pa rin ang PAGASA ng  umaasang bansa!

Nasabat ng reporter na ito sa radyo, telebisyon at internet ang balita ukol sa namumuong sama ng panahon [“low pressure area” o LPA] bandang tanghali ng biyernes, Hulyo 27, 2012. Nasumpungan ito ng PAGASA na nasa bandang “east-northeast” ng isla ng Catanduanes sa rehiyon ng Bikol. Kinabukasan, araw ng Sabado, Hulyo 28, idineklara ito na isa nang ganap na bagyo [“tropical storm”] at inaasahang kikilos tungo sa direksyong “west-northwest” tumbok ang mga bansa ng Tsina at Hapon. Binansagan ito sa lokal na pangalang “Gener” at posible diumanong hindi ito tatama  [“won’t hit land” ]  sa lupain ng Pilipinas, ayon pa sa PAGASA.

Samantala, habang nakatuon ang mata ng PAGASA kay bagyong “Gener” na namuo sa dagat Pasipiko dakong silangan ng bansa, nakaligtaan nitong mapansin ang alimpuyo ng lamig  o “hanging habagat”  [“southwest monsoon” ] sa ibabaw ng katimugang Dagat Tsina gawing kanluran ng bansa. Naghilahan ang lamig na ito at ng bagyong “Gener”  kung kayat biglaang pumihit ang huli at pumasok ng bansa hatinggabi pagitan ng Hulyo 29-30 at ginulangtang nito ang buong Metro-Manila at mga karatig-lalawigan. Ang pagsanib ng bagyo at ng lamig-habagat ay nagdulot ng matinding pag-ulan o “monsoon rains”  at  pag-ikot  ni “Gener” sa ibabaw ng Luzon ng  halos isang linggo.

Habang papalayo ng bansa sa direksyong “west-northwest” ika-5 ng Agosto 2012, nahagip ni “Gener”  [international name: “Saola” ] ang kabubuong bagyong “Haikui”  300 kilometro gawing hilagang silangan ng Taiwan na lalong nagpaibayo sa iniwan nitong “monsoon rains”  [ulang “habagat” ] sa Pilipinas na humagupit ng todo sa loob ng 72 oras, Agosto 6-9. Nag-iwan ang matinding habagat na ito ng mahigit 100 kataong namatay, mahigit dalawang milyung apektado ng sakuna at mahigit  PhP1 bilyong halaga ng mga ari-arian, alagang hayop, tanim at mga produktong sinalanta ng tumagal at malawakang pagbaha.

Hindi maituturing na “super typhoon” [140 kph pataas] ang “Gener”  ngunit ang pagsanib nito sa “southwest monsoon”  o  “hanging habagat”  at pagbunggo nito kay “Haikui”  ang nagpalawig ng ilang araw na pagbuhos ng matitinding ulan sa buong Luzon ilang araw matapos itong lumisan ng Pilipinas.

Ganap na ika-4 ng umaga, Agosto 9, umapaw ang Ilog Marikina  at umabot  ito sa natatanging rekord na 28.14 metrong lalim dulot ng pagdausdos ng daan-daang libung metro-kubiko ng tubig mula sa kinalbong kabundukan ng Sierra Madre sa kalapit-probinsiya ng Rizal, dakong silangan ng Metro-Manila. Dalawampu’t apat na oras pa bago humupa ang  walang pangalang “sama ng panahon”  kundi sa simpleng tawag na “habagat” . Nag-iwan ito ng  malagim na bakas na higit pa sa iniwan ng isang bagyong tulad ni “Ondoy”  noong taong 2009. 

Sa madali’t sabi, lumilitaw na maging ang mga makabagong kagamitan ng PAGASA ay hindi nakita, o natanaw man lang, ang umiiral na “southwest monsoon” o “hanging habagat” sa dakong kanluran ng bansa bago ito mahigop ni “Gener”;  at ng namuong bagyong “Haikui” sa dakong hilaga ng Pilipinas bago nito mahagip palabas ng bansa.  O dili kaya’y kaso ito ng “tardiness” [katamaran] at/o “mindlessness” [kapabayaan] ng mga tao sa kinaukulang ahensya ng gobyerno?

Naulinigan ng Asingan NewsLine ang panayam ng batikan at premyadong brodkaster TED Failon kay G. Bendito Rameses [not real name], Undersecretary ng isang kinaukulang ahensya ng gobyerno. TED Failon: “Mr. Usec, bakit tila unlimited ang buhos ng ulan.., at saan nanggagaling ito?” Usec RAMESES: “ Alam mo, TED, tila minamalas ang Pilipinas at dito dumaan ang bagyo at ulan…”  TF: “Ha! ha! Ba’t ba nasali dito ang usaping malas…!” [DZMM: “Failon Ngayon!”, 8-9:30 AM/Thursday, 9 Aug ‘12].

Hayu’t  lumipad sa “pantasya ng kamalasan” ang sana’y tumpak at siyentipikong paliwanag ni Sir Usec., lol! O “bopol”  talaga ito? Sa halip na pagliwanagin ang kamalayan ng Pinoy ay lalo nitong pinagdilim at inilayo sa realidad. Kung mamalasin mo nga nama’y parang “minamalas” talaga ang Pinas sa kamay ng mga “pesteng malas” na ito!  anl . aug2012

F   E   A   T   U   R   E

“Majestic August”  and the “southwest monsoon”  rains

By:  Ruben M. Balino  .  Editor-In-Chief, ANL

August, the 8^th month of the year in a proper noun form, has its dual meaning in the common noun form, “august”, which means “majestic dignity”. This year, 2012, August seems to have etched a mark in history by bringing in a record-breaking “southwest monsoon” rains all over Metro-Manila and most parts of Luzon in almost a hundred-hour  period August 5-9 wherein victims were less knowing of the complexities of typhoons and monsoon rains.

Mr. Nathaniel Cruz, resident meteorologist of TV Network GMA, calls the early August monsoon rains “unprecedented’  in that it poured rains heavily sans a storm or any  weather disturbance obtaining within Philippine area of responsibility at the time. “We need to re-analyze what happened,” advised the veteran weatherman. “As far as I’m concerned, this did not happen before with purely a southwest monsoon alone causing such a heavy downpour,” stressed he. Short of saying he, too, was wondering on the turn of events that virtually caught everyone flatfooted.

On hindsight, things start getting awry 27July 2012 when a low pressure area spotted east over the Pacific near Bicol region turned into a tropical storm the next day. Locally named “Gener”, the brewing storm is seen by the country’s weather bureau PAGASA to move northwest with moderate rainfall and winds in the direction of China and Japan most probably not hitting local soil, bureau forecasters say.

Intent on monitoring “Gener”, PAGASA failed to account a swirling cool breeze or “southwest monsoon”  [“hanging habagat” ] in the opposite side over South China Sea  west of Luzon. The two cool weather systems—“Gener”  and  “hanging habagat”— rendezvoused on land rather unpredicted right over Metro-Manila and parts of Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog regions enhancing heavier rainfall over the expanse early evening July 29 and well into the next day, July 30, surprising  residents and victims with flashfloods and rough seas.

Not beaten on the draw with “Gener”,  and apparently edgy for a cover-up of an apparent lapse at PAGASA and elsewhere, heads were reported to roll even as a “sideswipe” made by  presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda irked media and the disaster victims even more. Lacierda lashed at people later in a July 30 press conference when he unabashedly retorted back to a forthright query: “If only you follow or monitor warnings and weather situation on twitter, you may not have been stranded or victims…”, or words to that effect.

People can only wince at how this un-presidential pointman could mutter such a senseless barb to hapless victims like those in a seaside barangay at Hapilan, Tondo “torpedoed” by two ill-fated cargo ships at the height of Gener’s pounding of Manila Bay July 29-30. “Eat your twitter, moron! Can’t even afford to buy two kilos of rice at a time,” growled  an elderly “mangangalahig”  [scavenger] at the Hapilan dumpsite.

And while storm “Gener”  was moving northward away from Philippine territory August 5, it bumped into another brewing storm “Haikui”  300 kilometers northeast of Taiwan further aggravating the “monsoon rains”  [“habagat” ] it left back in the country. Torrential rains pounded Metro-Manila and most parts of Luzon in a four-day streak, 5-9 August, or almost a hundred-hour moderate-to-heavy downpour.

At  3:46 pm August 7, GMA News reported that the prevailing “habagat”  had already poured 323.4 millimeters of rain the past 24 hours—more than half the average rainfall of 504 millimeters for the entire month of August. The figure—at that point—was far from eclipsing the 2009 record posted by tropical storm “Ondoy”  in a 24-hour heavy rains September 26-27 reaching 455 millimeters. But this year’s August “monsoon rains”  lasted for almost a hundred-hour period, August 5-9, that must have exceeded Ondoy’s record though a final and official data has yet to come out as of this writing.

Nonetheless, one final and official conclusion by experts and the “habagat” victims themselves shows that this year’s August monsoon rains far exceeded Ondoy’s in terms

of vast areas affected [six of Luzon’s eight  regions]; in the number of people displaced [over two million]; and overall damage in lives and properties sacrificed [over a hundred dead and over a billion-peso worth of properties lost]. Portions of the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan in Region 3 [Central Luzon]; and Cavite and Laguna in Region 4-A [CALABARZON] are still under water as of this writing. Benguet province in the mountainous Cordillera Administrative Region suffered not only flooding but widespread and crippling landslides.

The Marikina River in eastern Metro-Manila [National Capital Region] rose to a historic high 28.14 meters August 9 due to cascading hundreds of million cubic meters of water from the Sierra Madre Mountain slopes in nearby Rizal province in the east, adding up to the water level that inundated over 90 percent NCR’s land area. Almost all of Luzon including the southernmost province of Palawan and the Batanes island-province in the northernmost tip of the country suffered the brunt of the nameless weather disturbance simply known as “southwest monsoon”  or  “hanging habagat”  in the native tongue.

And more scary notes in the lives of those who barely escaped the wrath of mother nature aggravated by man’s indiscretions, unlearning ways and, at certain extent, unrestrained greed.  anl . august2012  

L   I   T   E   R   A   R   Y

a.  Sanaysay: “Maluwalhating paglalakbay, Ka MAITA!”

     

      Ni:  Noli  M. Samonte

[MAITA GOMEZ:  Maganda (Bb. Pilipinas-World 1969). Mayaman. Matalino, bagama’t undergraduate ng medisina sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas. “Namundok” matapos ipataw ni Marcos ang batas militar taong 1972 at duo’y nagpatuloy ng pag-aaral sa piling ng masa. Nagpakadalubhasa (PhD!) sa gawaing masa hanggang sa umangat sa gawaing pulitika-militar (polmil) at naging pulang mandirigma at kumander ng Bagong Hukbong Bayan.] ---NMS

Ayaw kong sabihing “Paalam, Ka Maita!”; o sambiting “Mamahinga ng Mapayapa!”  Mahirap kasing ituring na ang isang “restless spirit” at “committed figure” na tulad mo’y malalagutan ng hininga sa iyong pagpapahingalay. Gayunpama’y ‘di rin namin matiis na masuyong ihatid ka ng isang “Maluwalhating paglalakbay, Ka Maita!”

Oo, pumanaw na si Ka Maita. Anila’y payapa’t tahimik itong namatay sa pagkakaidlip; walang kaabug-abog, o halos walang nakapansin maliban sa mga kaanak, malalapit na kasama at kaibigan. Sumakabilang buhay siya habang ito’y nagpapahingalay bandang hapon ng Hulyo 12, 2012 sa tahanan nito sa Quezon City dahil diumano sa isang ‘lingering disease’. “To a certain extent, natabunan ang pagkamatay niya ng pagkamatay two days earlier ni Mang Dolphy,” paliwanang ng kaibigan nating makata-manunulat at book designer Fidel Rillo.

Sa kalibre ng isang Maita Gomez, mahirap mamaalam sa kanya; o baliktarin man, siya ang mamaalam sa atin..,’di yata pupwede ‘yun!.  Nariyan lamang si Maita, ‘di maiwawaglit ang dakilang yapak, pagkatao at pagkababae nito.

“Her warmth and kindness as a person and comrade is exceptional,” pagdidiin ni “Ka Arlyn”—isa pang manunulat-diyarista na malapit kay “Tamayts” at dating kabungguang-balikat nito sa gawaing masa sa isang sulok ng Gitnang Luzon. “Generous and thoughtful,” ayon naman kay “Mang Ramon”—isang negosyante at madalas na “poste” ni Maita  noon sa CL. “Di lang maipagkailang siya si Maita ‘pag naglalakad kami noon sa baryo dahil  ‘taller-than-usual‘  at ‘meztiza-looking’  ito,” pabirong kuwento ni Arlyn.

“Lubhang nakagigiliwan ng masa dulot ng ito’y babae at mestisahin. Minsa’y napagkakamalan pa itong foreigner. Namamangha ang taumbaryo sa pakiwaring naligaw o nasubo sa ganitong mabigat, mapanganib at ‘di-karaniwang buhay at gawain na  tingin nila’y panlalaki lamang.  And yes, super-sipag, matulungin at pursigido sa trabaho,” dagdag pa ni Arlyn. “That was Maita Gomez in a nutshell, at least, in her revolutionary work. I would not venture into her inner personal life. I’m not adept nor so much particular on that,” paisantabi ni Ka Arlyn. [To be cont’d. Part 1 of 2]  anl . aug2012  

b.  Tula:

“bagyo at dilubyo”

bagyo at dilubyo

magpinsang buo

kidlat at habagat

magkasapakat

naghalo’t inalog

nagdabog ang kulog!

*

bagyo’t dilubyo

lagpas-tao

hanging habagat

abot-talukap

sagitsit ng kidlat

tigbak si damulag!

*

bagyo at habagat

humagibis, tumagaktak

dilubyong rumagasa

peste sa magsasaka

bagyong sunod-sunod

kabuhaya’y nabansot!

*

ang dam nagparamdam

karaka’y binuksan

apaw-lubos ang ilog

si juan ‘di makatulog

ang kubo’y lumubog

si bunso’y nalunod!

*

kinalbo ang gubat

ang mina hinalungkat

hinanting-dinekwat

orkid, troso, hayop na ilap

kalikasa’y nawarat

bumaha sa patag!

*

bagyo’t dilubyo

laway sa kongreso

putak doon, putak dito

santambak na tonto

sona ngayon, sona bukas

sangkatutak na ungas!

*

batu-bato sa langit

taumbaya’y gipit

sikmurang naghihilab

damdaming nag-aalab

mga ganid, mapanggipit

tatamaan ng lintik!

hinabi ni:  rmbalino

k.

k.   Salawikain:

        “Ang naglalakad  ng matulin, unang nakararating;

       ang mabagal kung maglakad, laging kulelat!”

       “Pusa’y tumatahol, aso’y ngumingiyaw;

       ganyan ang mga santito ‘dun sa palasyo!”

        --Niretoke ni:  Klasmeyt  “Tikong”

d.  Quotation of the Month:

e.  Parangal:

     “We  at   Asingan  NewsLine   bestow  on  DILG  Secretary  

    JESSE ROBREDO  the  distinction  as   ‘Golden Boy’  in  public  

    service,  one of  a  kind  in  government…We  are  saddened  at

    your  untimely passing,  Sec  Jesse!  Our deepest  condolences  

    to  the  family!”

E  d  i  t  o  r  i  a  l     B  o  a  r  d

MEMBERS:  Rudy D. Antonio [Canada Correspondent];  Engr. Silver Casilla  &  RN Merly Grospe-Mayo [U.S. Correspondents];  Ronilo R. Corpuz [Vienna Correspondent];  Fely Dumaguing-Malgapo [Milan Correspondent];  Engr. Joe  L. Sevilla [Asingan Correspondent];  Col. Lalin Layos-Pascual;  Ross C. Diaz;  Engr. Lorie  dG.  Estrada;  CPA Rod A. Layco;  Wena Agaton-Balino [Photo & Lay-out Artist];  Ruben “Bencio” Balino [ Editor-In-Chief].