The Philippines : Friend and Foe 1 PHILIPPINES: FRIEND AND FOE “We can only serve our country by telling the naked truth, 1 however bitter it may be.” Jose Rizal 2 The Philippines : Friend and Foe 1st Edition, 2000 2nd Edition, 2001 Permission to reproduce, all or in part, if credit is given to the appropriate contributing editor. 2 “We can only serve our country by telling the naked truth, however bitter it may be.” Jose Rizal The Philippines : Friend and Foe 3 DEDICATION This book is dedicated to the over two hundred news journalists who lost their lives through assassinations attempt to stifle freedom of the press, and to those who wish to make known to the world the true conditions in the Philippines [The nation of reality of duplicity] and murderous deeds of political regimes that from 1986 to 1991 alone, 32 Filipino journalists who dared to print the truth were killed, 27 of them outside Metro Manila. Most of the crimes against news correspondents remain unsolved not out of lack of evidence but often out of lack of sincerity in solving cases which are an embarrassment to the Republic and its criminal force, elected government officials, the only major organized crime in the Philippines. Perhaps with the disclosures contained herein some compassionate civil workers may wish to redeem themselves. This book is also dedicated t o those brave Filipinos who dare defy a system which has corrupted their land from the lowest levels and continuing through to the various agencies, departments, and bureaus which purport to represent the people. “A man in the Philippines is only an individual; he is not a member of a nation,” with the system as it now is perpetuating this dichotomy and dysfunctionality of peoples to keep them un-united in any cause which may be to their advantage. –Quotation from La Solidaridad, May 31, 1890. One does not need a college degree or exhibit high intelligence to see the waste of this country’s highest and most valuable resources, its people. Proud and stalwart, they have stood side by side with their American counterparts in war and in peace. They rank second to none in bravery when put in a position of no withdrawal. Witness the thousands who were willing to surrender their lives in Edsa I and II in Manila. For those content to live in fear, “Surely there must be something strangely degenerating in the love of monarchy, that can so completely wear a man down to an ingrate, and make him proud to lick the dust that kings have trod upon.” The words of Thomas Paine live on long after his death and the American Revolution which set her people free from the tyrannical rule of a despot king. The Philippines ranks as Number Four in the Southeast Asian Countries in denying freedoms to the populace based on formal complaints registered. However this country has made it a concerted effort to suppress these complaints in an effort to look good in the eyes of the world and to proclaim proudly their democratic principles to developed countries, so the statistics available to the media are “We can only serve our country by telling the naked truth, 3 however bitter it may be.” Jose Rizal 4 The Philippines : Friend and Foe generally not reflective of the true conditions which exist under a totalitarian system. Having a democratic system, on paper, has not deterred those who would deny freedoms to others in order to further their own financial cause. There appears to be an unwritten law in this land, and that is to further no cause, bureaucratically or judiciously, which may hinder the efforts of incumbent politicians or bring to light the criminal actions or faux pas [indiscretions] of civil servants in the total disregard of their duties and obligations to their country and to the public from whom they receive their salaries. "One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation." - Thomas B. Reed, 1886 4 “We can only serve our country by telling the naked truth, however bitter it may be.” Jose Rizal The Philippines : Friend and Foe 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to acknowledge the many corrupt, fraudulent, and deceitful politicians and public servants that we have come across during our tenures in the Philippines, which inspired us to write this book. Their preoccupation in semantics and bureaucracy instead of getting the job done and helping the people has created a monument of paperwork to demonstrate to the world their graft, incompetence, and corrupt ways. Our aim is to exploit not only the political system which denies the poor Filipino the right and access to the basic necessities of life, and also denies such prerequisites such as electricity, good drinking water, hospitalization and medicine, which many cannot afford, but also the bureaucrats, without whose support of corrupt political figures a good deal of the corruptness in government would not be possible. These contemptible creatures whose sole purpose in life it often appears is to create [or fabricate] red tape in order to increase their wallets and which the legislature does little or nothing, except rhetoric, year after year. Corruption permeates political life and living in the Philippines at every level. The only transparency you will ever see in writing in this country may be in this book and those brave journalists with the courage to reveal what is happening at the unremitting threats to their lives. This book was written after many interviews with expatriates from many European countries as well as Americans who married and decided to stay in the Philippines. Some have found it expedient to pay for the so called luxuries and favors to public officials [lagay] while others we have spoken to have looked the other way or cared not to get involved, if there is such a thing here. The government spends millions of pesos annually soliciting tourism and foreign investors to visit and do business in the islands, yet it does little or nothing to correct the frauds and dishonesty which causes many to eventually leave with a feeling of hopelessness and frustration. The Chinese community was in an uproar as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo apologized, after insinuating that a wealthy Chinese-Filipino businessman had conspired with the opposition to have his daughter kidnapped. “Chinatown denounced the statement, coming amid 98 mostly unsolved kidnap-for-ransom cases against members of the community this year.” -From The Freeman newspaper, 30 June 2001, pg. 11. “We can only serve our country by telling the naked truth, 5 however bitter it may be.” Jose Rizal 6 The Philippines : Friend and Foe HISTORY The Philippines is a Republic which claims itself a democracy, yet denies basic human rights and civil liberties not only to the poor, uneducated, and under privileged but also to foreigners and visitors who come to visit these beautiful islands. Kidnappings of foreigners are suppressed by the government to avoid the loss of tourism which has sustained the economy through perilous financial times. The Philippines is a story of promises and broken negotiations, a narrative of how a country remains a third world nation after the war and their ecstatic declaration of independence. A chronicle of the poverty imposed upon a hard working, industrious, and persevering people who struggle against a culture of corruptness inherited from Europe over four hundred year ago. The Philippines is a story of corrupt officials pointing fingers at everyone but themselves as the responsible factor in why this county cannot make significant advancements in alleviating poverty. The Philippines is a story of how the oligarchy [ruling few] contains the masses with unlimited promises without delivery of the goods pledged; a history of racial poisoning by European government officials, which is condoned and practiced also by its Church leaders. A practice evident today by its advertisements genetically predisposed towards those of fair skin and tall applicants. What is grossly lacking is merit. The Church and state literally creating a social, financial, psychological caste system over 480 years ago. What limitless power the Church has over its members cannot be established. Suffice it to say that the successful countries of the world today saw fit at one time or another in their history to secede from its tyrannical and servile demanding affliction. Those who still subscribe to the Church’s acquiescence continue to suffer under despots and tyrannical dictators who know the masses fear them and will do nothing for fear of being alienated, tortured, and in some cases assassinated as an example for others. The Catholic Church would have one believing, “Tell us we are Catholics first and Americans or Englishmen afterwards; of course we are. Tell us, in the conflict between the church and the civil government we take the side of the church; of course we do. Why, if the government of the United States were at war with the church, we would say tomorrow, To hell with the government of the United 6 “We can only serve our country by telling the naked truth, however bitter it may be.” Jose Rizal The Philippines : Friend and Foe 7 States; and if the Church and all the governments of the world were at war, we would say, To hell with all the governments of the world. Why is it that in this country, where we have only seven percent of the population, the Catholic Church is so much feared? She is loved by all her children and feared by everybody. Why is it that the Pope has such tremendous power? Why, the Pope is the ruler of the world.