the coco levy loot

so will someone please tell us coco-levy victims how much the Fund is now, kahit approximately lang, given the latest supreme court ruling?  acc to inquirer:

The value of the contested shares was not immediately known, but a former UCPB director said it was a “pittance” compared to the 20 percent of the sequestered shares of stock in San Miguel Corp. (SMC), worth P60 billion, awarded to Cojuangco by the court last year.

Another block of 27 percent of sequestered SMC shares, likewise acquired with the levy money, was awarded by the court in a decision, also finalized last year, to the farmers to be used for their benefit and the development of the coconut industry. It was worth more than P70 billion.

that makes php 130 billion, plus this latest “pittance” from UCPB shares, some “26 B for government,” or so i heard on coco alcuaz’s business news the other night.  that would make 156 B all in all.  but wait, former phil coconut authority chairman jose v. romero says it’s less:

… some P70 billion in financials assets and probably the same amount in fixed assets.

ano ba talaga?  who is keeping count?  will we coconut landowners across the country, who put up the seed money of 96 Billion, collected by marcos and enrile over cllose to ten years of oppression, ever be told, in detail, how much there is in cash and stocks or whatever?  or will it take a freedom of information act, the people’s version?

i’m tending to think, correct me if i’m wrong, that the government does not really want to call too much attention to the coco levy loot — and media, good old mediocre media is being quite obliging, wittingly or un- — because, wow, ang daming pera, di na kailangang mangutang, tamang tama for the aquino admin’s many expenditures like, you know, the pork barrel (for ghost projects), the conditional cash transfer for the pantawid pamilya program (unsustainable), the pambayad daw sa mga coujangco&aquino for hacienda luisita (unjustifiable), and even, pangkampanya daw for the president’s annointed in 2016, sana hindi.

Romero: … the industry is awash with money creating a mad scramble for its use among government entities acting like hungry dogs over a piece of meat. Unless properly managed this could easily produce a moral hazard—defined as the propensity of government to indulge in a spending orgy that will not redound to the interest of the beneficial owners of the fund—the coconut industry.

in truth, my sibs and I are beginning to feel like human rights victims of martial law who have been waiting for justice and compensation like forever.  we weren’t physically detained or tortured, and we’re not impoverished coconut farmers, but like every coconut land-owner, poor and middle-class alike, from 1973 to 1982 we were, like, mentally and emotionally and materially abused, forced to pay the coco levy under false pretenses, the promise of development never materializing then, and it certainly is looking like it’s not going to materialize now.  because, really, nothing has changed.

During the Marcos Regime, a coconut monopoly was set up primarily using coco levy fund collections. From trading to hauling, processing and milling, marketing and export — all these were run by a few privileged business interests identified with Marcos.

Most of the levy was controlled by the PCA, the COCOFED and other organizations controlled by Enrile and Cojuangco. PCA decided that Enrile and Cojuangco could use 10 per cent of the levy for investment purposes. It was this provision that permitted the two to totally integrate the industry vertically23 and complete their monopoly. They created two conglomerates within the coconut industry, the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB), which concentrated on finance, and the United Coconut Mills (Unicom) which focused on manufacturing and trade. Again the point is that capital was transferred from the coconut production and into non-productive sectors like finance and to a certain degree into manufacturing and trade.

back then, marcos and his top cronies simply took over the money and proceeded to enrich themselves and other big players in the coconut industry, at our expense.  today, the powers-that-be continue to refuse to share the coco levy loot with us coconut landowners who put up the 9.6 Billion seed money.  agriculture sec alcala is pompously adamant:

Instead, the assets should be used to rehabilitate and modernize the industry so the benefits would trickle down to the poorest coconut farmer, he said. 

trickle down.  hello.  bumenta na yan.  discredited na yan.  nothing ever trickles down.  as to why alcala slams the door on any cash distribution to us poor, yes, us poor abused coconut landowners, read this and weep.

Alcala feared the heirs of deceased coconut farmers and the government would end up embroiled in divisive and costly cases in court to determine who among them would be the legal recipients of the share of the levy contributors.

“Most of the levy contributors were already dead. If the government would resort to cash distribution, many of the heirs would file complaints on charges of unequal distributions,” Alcala told reporters in Mulanay, Quezon, on Wednesday on the sideline of the Department of Agrarian Reform land distribution program.

When Alcala was reminded that the Coconut Farmers Federation maintained records of the levy contributors, he shrugged his shoulder and replied: “I don’t know.” 

aha.  so there’s a list pala, except that alcala doesn’t deign dignify it.  his beef is that heirs of the dead might also want to be paid.  but why ever not?  it’s not as if we want all 150B, but we do want fair returns-on-investment. and surely the bright boys of the aquino admin can come up with a scheme that will make not only the big players, but us small coco levy victims, happy, too?

but the worst news yet on government’s plans for the dying coconut industry is this: according to charlie manalo in the tribune, “even if a huge chunk” of the coco levy fund actually came from the contribution of the coconut farmers in quezon (where i’m from) and laguna. both provinces are not included in the dept of budget and management’s priority areas that would supposedly benefit from the coconut levy funds.  butch abad’s dept of budget and management memo of april 25

… listed only 12 provinces under the Integrated Coconut Industry and Poverty Reduction Roadmap as “priority areas for program convergence (tenurial reform, agricultural productivity programs, industry development, infrastructure development, social services, and climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction and mitigation measures) in the 2014 budget.”

playing politics, obviously.  so what else is new.  if my mother were alive, she’d be saying, “parang si marcos din lang sila, puro magnanakaw [they’re just like marcos, all thieves]!”  senator joker arroyo puts it more kindly re aquino and the marcoses: “birds of the same feather.”  yes.  a plague on both their greedy houses flocks.

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coco levy blues

‘Strongest testament to Marcos plunder’ 
For coco farmers only
Keep their dirty hands off… 
Coco levy eyed for P10-billion Hacienda Luisita payment 

almario, pilipinas, revolution

so, finally national artist and KWF chief virgilio almario is engaging with mainstream and social media re the renaming of country.  he’s been on radio and television, and KWF’s facebook page has a Q & A primer of sorts and other essays, and on katrina’s wall i saw part of a letter from almario to his supporters where he claims that the change from pilipinas to “filipinas” is revolutionary, or something to that effect.

he seems to have backed down on “burahin ang philippines,” which is good.  the philippines in english stays, but pilipinas in tagalog/filipino he still wants to kill and replace with “filipinas” so as to be consistent daw with “filipino” the language.  e what if, para consistent, yung “fiipino” the language na lang ang ibalik natin sa “pilipino” na ginagamit pa rin naman ng maraming pilipinong hirap magsambit ng “ef” sound?  ay, kakailanganin ng charter change, ‘no?  ‘wag na lang, let’s just leave it as is.  anyway it won’t be the first time that the constitution is defied (think dynasty).

sabi rin ni almario, dito LANG daw sa atin tinatawag na “pilipinas” ang bansa — in europe daw, lalo na in spain, we are known either as the philippines or filipinas.  kaloka.  papalitan natin ang matagal nang tawag natin sa ating bansa dahil “filipinas” pa rin ang tawag sa atin ng spain?  hello?  pakialam ko sa spain.

and what about this: “pinoy” and “pinay” come daw from the last two syllables of “pilipino” and “pilipina”, and pinas from the last two syllables of “pilipinas,” therefore changing to “filipinas” won’t change it to “finoy” and “finay” or “finas.”  i am in complete agreement with prof lilia quindoza-santiago on this.

… tungkol sa palayaw na “Pinoy” at “Pinay” na sabi ay galing sa ikatlo at ikaapat na pantig NG FILIPINAS – paano KAYA natiyak ng KWF ito? Patunayan sa bisa ng estadistika at masusing pananaliksik! Sa kalaganapan ng gamit ng Pilipinas, maaaring may timbang pa rin ang unang titik at pantig na /Pi/, sige nga mapapatunayan ba ninyo na yung ikatlo at ikaapat na pantig ang pinagmulan ng Pinoy at Pinay? THIS IS REALLY AND TRULY ABSURD!

indeed.  show us the proof.  it is even more likely that “pinas” comes from “naspi,” early slang for pilipinas among musikeros abroad, a la yosi for sigarilyo, first and last syllables reversed.

ayon pa  kay almario, walang batas na nilalabag kung papatayin o pipigilin ang “pilipinas” in favor of “filipinas.”  pero kahit na.  changing the name of the country is no small matter.

prof lilia:  ang pagbabago ng pangalan ay isang desisyong legal – kahit naman sa indibidwal, hindi mo basta-basta mapapalitan ang iyong pangalan, kelangan pumunta ka sa korte at manghingi ng legal na kautusan para mapalitan, kahit iisang letra lang ng iyong una, pangalawang ngalan at apelyido.  E ganito ang batas para sa pagpapalit ng ngalan ng isang tao, hindi ba mas dapat sundin ito sa pagpapalit ng ngalan ng bansa?  Tawagin na ninyo akong legalistic, but that’s what it is folks.  Walang mangyayari sa resoulusyon ng KWF na ito kung hindi gagawing batas ang pagpalit ng ngalan ng Pilipinas para ito itatak sa ating pasaporte.  Ibig sabihin, in William Faulkner’s words, this is all “sound and fury signifying NOTHING.”

besides, changing what almost a hundred million filipinos call their country simply cannot be, should not be, a decision for government to make.  if at all, it should be a response to already widespread use of “filipinas,” if ever.

isa pa, ano ba talaga ang itinawag ni bonifacio sa bansa?  pilipinas o filipinas?

Ipinaliwanag ni Almario na ang “Filipinas” ang orihinal at opisyal na pangalan ng bansa hanggang sa dulo ng ika-19 siglo at ginamit ni Jose Rizal sa kanyang mga gawa at ni Andres Bonifacio sa kanyang tulang “Katapusang Hibik ng Filipinas.” 

but if you google  Katapusang Hibik ng Flipinas, the search engine gives you links to Katapusang Hibik ng Pilipinas instead.  so, ano ba talaga?  this is no small matter either.

which brings me back to revolution and this quote (from a letter almario wrote to his supporters) that katrina posted on facebook:

“Ang “Filipino” at ang “Filipinas” ay kinatawan lamang ng nabubuong pambansa at makabansang rebolusyon, isang bagong himagsikan mula sa kultura ng korupsiyon at kamangmangan na umiiral sa ating kasalukuyang “Pilipinas,” tungo sa higit na pagkakaisa at kaunlaran ng sambayanan.” — Virgilio Almario.

medyo over the top, thus drawing this rejoinder from prof. lilia:

Lilia Quindoza Santiago  Kung laganap ang korupsiyon at kamangmangan sa kasalukuyang “Pilipinas”, babaguhin ba ito ng pagpapalit pangalan patungong Filipinas? Paano? Paano nga ba nagaganap ang pagbabago ? – Ito ba ay idinidikta ng otoridad mula sa mga nakaluklok sa posisyon sa gobyerno o mula sa mga mamamayang nagnanais ng pagbabago? Ano ang ikinaiba ng analysis na ito sa narinig ko na ( at ayaw kong paniwalaan) na “damaged culture’ ng mga tao sa arkipelago?

for a language to be revolutionary, for language to bring national unity and progress sans corruption, it would have to be truly a language of the masses, and not some laboratory version that doesn’t make sense.

WIKA NATIN ANG DAANG MATUWID, says the cover photo of KWF’s facebook page, apparently in celebration of Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa and some Pambansang Kongreso sa Wika in august.

WIKA NATIN ANG DAANG MATUWID.  our language is the straight path?  really?  a language that ‘s killing off more and more tagalog words and taking in more and more english ones and even ispeling them the tagalog way so that matitisod ka at mapapaisip muna, o tatamarin ka na lang magbasa at magsulat?

or is it, the straight path is our language?  what straight path.  at least di ko na naririnig yung kung-walang-corrupt-walang-mahirap line, i suppose dahil di naman kayang panindigan.  it’s time to drop daang-matuwid too, methinks, because it’s just another road that has the oligarchy and its minions laughing all the way to the bank, as always.

WIKA NATIN ANG DAANG MATUWID?  come on, KWF, you can do better than that.

 

binan steel, saturday explosion, media fail

it’s three days later and (correct me if i’m wrong) nary a news report, whether on mainstream or social media, on the huge explosion that rocked binan, laguna last saturday night.  learned about it lang on facebook, from the sunday morning status of my niece ainee amador-mapili who lives in filinvest, binan.  she and husband art were on their way home along dona justina right beside the wall of binan steel when hell broke loose.

Leilani Marie Amador-Mapili : It was really scary. A sudden blast of hot air and then falling debris in flames! My car window was open and I thought I was going to get burned. Biñan Steel is our neighbor. It is located within a residential area but was re-classified into an industrial area by the then Biñan municipal govt when this was pointed out by concerned homeowners. According to an engineer friend who also lives in the area, a furnace may have exploded. Mayor Lenlen Alonte-Naguiat, Vice Mayor Dimaguila, city councilors: The blast could’ve been stronger, it could’ve been fatal (or is it? We heard sirens in the distance). What are you waiting for?

more from ainee and the comment threads:

…mukhang malakas nga kasi may nadinig kami kakaibang pumutok kahapon,, nasa bandang bicutan kami.. malaki yung tunog kasi.. hindi transformer ng meralco ang tunog … Explosion was so strong it ripped the roof of Binan Steel when I passed by the highway this 7:30 am. Columns of twisted sheet metal on the plant’s wall along Dona Justina st …  nabingi nga yung right ear ko kasi nasa side ko yung explosion … aside from previous explosions, acrid smell was emanating from the steel mill, and according to homeowners living near the site, fine gray powder is often found on their cars and garden. The Sanggunian said they will look into the classification. And they did, they changed it!! Galing ‘no! …  super lakas na as in parang World War 3 was declared!!! … Yeah!! Everyone in the village was jolted!! The blast was horrifyingly strong!!!…and the powers that be in Binan surely felt the strong blast as well….strong enough for them to investigate and act on the Binan Steel long pending issue … Don and i did the same (googled) and we were surprised na wala talagang news! Dumating daw ang gma7 and abs-cbn, don’t know  kung totoo.  … not sure why it’s not in the news. sobrang lakas ng kapit ng BS kung nagawa nila ng news blackout. Nothin on tv, radio … Mga anak ko nga just finished watching Prometheus nung nangyari yung blast, kala nila merong naglanding na aliens sa bubong, hahaha!

monday update:

The firetrucks and police weren’t allowed to enter the BS compound on the night of the blast. There were reported casualties and the police will try to find out where they were brought. … according to the police, kung bomb explosion daw, they can force their way in. But still, they have to make a report na ayaw sila papasukin. E yung firetruck, bakit d nila pinapasok? … somethin is cookin here….smells like cover up…Again!

tuesday update:

Hi Ainee! Just got this message from Mayora….denr issued an interim cease order to BS to stop operation…according to cenro mas titibay daw order ng local govt for the order to stop operation…good morning…

calling out media.  bakit kayo dedma?  who owns binan steel ba?

egypt on edge, women at risk

watching cnn‘s coverage of giant protests in egypt, take two, i was reminded of edsa dos, of course, and that the foreign press (and erap, too) called it “mob rule” back in 2001.  no such words for the egypt action now, how kind.  how careful?  dealing with a different culture there, and none brings it home more clearly than this story:  Gang rape, the dark side of Egypt’s protests by Nina Burleigh, Special to CNN.  counting my blessings now.