This is my Manila Standard column last September 8, 2008

Those among us who struggled through the long years of the Marcos dictatorship and witnessed first hand the profligacy of the then first lady can only seethe at the fact that not only are the Marcoses back at their high perch in Philippine society but that Imelda Romualdez Marcos’ star seems to have found new luster.

There’s really not much we can do if the efforts to rewrite history and to reinstate the former first lady’s dubious distinction as cultural icon and role model for the young is being propped up by private institutions and organizations. This is still a free country after all, and everyone is still presumed to have the inalienable right to make an utter fool of himself or herself.

But when the effort is spearheaded by government itself, as in the case of her being invited as “guest of honor” yesterday at the annual National Leadership Training for Student Government Officers currently ongoing at the Teachers Camp at Baguio City, it deserves our collective protest and condemnation.

I got to know about the first lady’s impending appearance yesterday at the national leadership conference courtesy of a young cousin who was attending the conference. When my cousin texted me about it last Saturday, I initially thought it was a joke; the idea was not only ludicrous, it was insane. One had to be a rabid and die-hard Marcos loyalist to actually think that there is something inspiring that the former first lady can impart to the youth of this country.

Unless of course the session to which the former first lady was invited to was a no-holds barred discussion where people could freely express themselves and take turns lambasting—or okay, defending if one was so inclined to do so —the so-called achievements of the Marcoses, there was absolutely no way that any thinking government official could consider inviting the former first lady to a national training on leadership an inspired decision. But my cousin was absolutely sure that the former first lady was being invited as “guest of honor.”

I wasn’t surprised therefore to read in yesterday’s papers that a number of individuals and organizations have expressed dismay and condemnation at the decision to invite Marcos to the national youth leadership training.

The gaffe caught many officials of the education department at a loss for words. But instead of canceling the invitation, which should have been the most logical course of action, most of our officials opted to act like the three proverbial monkeys who saw no evil, heard no evil, and spoke no evil. Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the decision to invite the former first lady was not cleared with him. The justification proffered was a simple “we did not know about it,” which, if we really come to think about it, is a non- excuse.

But then again, it seems that not knowing about what is happening right under one’s nose is now a favorite excuse among our leaders. This is the same excuse being peddled by Intramuros Administrator Anna Maria Harper for the horrible crime committed under the guise of protecting heritage. As everyone knows, 29 trees including full-grown and decades-old narra and mahogany trees at Plaza Roma in front of the Manila Cathedral were massacred last week. The cutting of trees was purportedly designed to enhance the façade of the Cathedral—the rationale being that the trees obstructed full appreciation of the Cathedral.

This is the first time I’ve come across such a perverted view of what comprises a great landscape. Most artists go out of their way to incorporate trees and other works of nature to scenery to add character and context to it. And yet, here we are deliberately felling down old trees in front of a major national and historical landmark because they supposedly take away beauty from it. This kind of reasoning makes you wonder what else is next—perhaps covering the centuries-old walls of Intramuros with white paint?

This reminds us very strongly of how the former first lady built walls around Metro Manila to hide the shanties that lined major thoroughfares when Pope Paul VI came to visit. Actually, this insanity was something that she constantly subjected Tacloban City to every single time there was an important occasion in the city.

I grew up in Tacloban City and I distinctly remember that days before the annual fiesta, the houses that lined the streets where the religious procession would pass would be subjected to a fresh coat of white paint, much to the consternation of the owners of the houses. There was not much the homeowners could do about it because the workers would not even ask for permission before going about their mandate to beautify the city. The problem was that the painting job would be done so haphazardly and worse, was limited to the façade of the houses.

Thus, some houses ended up looking bizarre with one side, the one facing the street, painted white, while the rest of the house in their original colors. It became an annual exercise in absurdity as homeowners struggled to keep their peace for fear of offending the supposed artistic sensibilities of the former first lady only to eventually spend a fortune restoring their houses to their old looks immediately after the fiesta.

And now Harper’s indignation and profuse hand-washing are unacceptable. The dastardly act has been done and those trees cannot be brought back to life again. It will take decades before new trees can grow to the same heights as the ones that were mercilessly cut down to stumps. In the meantime, I doubt if the desired unobstructed view of the Cathedral that has now been accomplished is something that can we can draw pride and appreciation from. Such a waste, indeed.

This is my Manila Standard column last September 3, 2008.

In my haste to beat the deadline for my column last Monday, I left out a great deal of information that I wanted to share with everyone. There’s an online petition for people who want to manifest their support for the reproductive health bill and to make their voices heard over and above the din and dynamics of the ongoing debate.

Although there is already a sizable number of senators and congressmen who have already signified their unequivocal support for the bill, we know that we should not let our guard down given the intense pressure from the Catholic Church. In fact, the advocacy of the Church has precisely been focused on our legislators and the Church has not made secret its intent to apply all kinds of pressure on them even to the extent of threatening these lawmakers with excommunication.

So please sign up and let our legislators know that there is widespread support for the bill. The petition can be found at http://www.PetitionOnline.com/rhan2008/petition.html.

The petition is being spearheaded by the Reproductive Health Advocacy Network through the Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines . In the accompanying request for support for the petition, the organizers cited that “more than 10 women die daily due to pregnancy and childbirth-related causes. The big bulk of those who die are poor women at the prime of their lives. This is simply unacceptable and must be stopped. Congress has the power to do this.” I agree.

Last Monday, I wrote about how the priests at this church where I go to for Sunday mass tend to hijack the religious service as platform to attack the reproductive health bill. Well, what do you know, it appears now that I am not the only person who has taken offense at the irresponsible behavior of the priests. I dare to call the behaviors of the priests irresponsible because the arguments that they peddle to attack the reproductive health bill are clear falsehoods. For example, they keep on insisting that the bill legalizes abortion. This assertion is not only a barefaced lie, it is malicious. And pray tell, what else could be more hypocritical than priests deliberately lying to the faithful during mass?

Anyway. A friend shared with me that she walked out in the middle of the homily when the priest, who was also using the pulpit to campaign against the reproductive health bill, said that “rich people want to kill the babies of poor people.” This is the kind of incendiary statements that certain priests spew during homily. My friend said she couldn’t help muttering in a loud voice “sobra na ito!” By the way, we attend the same church.

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The hot topic this week, which is something that appeals to me as human resource management professional, is the proposed increases in the salaries of government officials and employees as appropriated in the 2009 budget. As usual, there’s too much speculative drivel being ascribed to the proposal, one of which is that this is another diversionary tactic from Malacañang. The question is: Diversionary tactic to diffuse attention from what?

Let me state clearly and in no uncertain terms my support for salary increases for government officials and employees. It’s clearly about time for this. We all know that the salaries of those who work in government have remained uncompetitive. There’s no need to trundle out the sob stories of the hundreds of thousands that turn the wheels of the government bureaucracy—we are familiar with most of them.

However, the undeniable fact that nobody seems to be recognizing is that the government bureaucracy is actually heavily bloated. There are just too many people in government and most of them, quite frankly, are doing menial and insignificant tasks that can easily be taken over by automating processes. A number of government employees do not add value to whatever it is that the government agency is supposed to deliver in the form of service to taxpayers.

There is clearly a need to reengineer the government bureaucracy. There’s a need to eliminate jobs that are clearly unnecessary. Do you know that the job of a major percentage—some say at least 40 percent—of government employees can be summarized in this sentence: To check and recheck if the necessary signatures are already in the document? There is also a need to identify the performers from those who are simply filling in space in the bureaucracy.

However, I seriously doubt whether these can be done or that there is any politician or leader with the political will to pursue such an unpopular move. It would be tantamount to committing political suicide. But just in case someone with a death wish is listening out there, one way that the government can increase salaries of government employees is really to trim down the bureaucracy and reallocate the savings as salary increases to those who are productive and whose posts are necessary in the bureaucracy.

Of course there are people in government who do their jobs well. They are qualified, they are dedicated, and they joined government service out of a strong sense of altruism. And these are the people who need the most government attention most. Chances are, these are the people who occupy leadership positions in the bureaucracy. And the current proposal stands to benefit this people as it prescribes a graduated scheme that increases the percentages of increases as you move up the bureaucracy.

If you come to think about it, this actually makes sense because that’s the way salaries in the private sector are structured. Middle and senior-level managers are supposed to have higher salaries because of the magnitude of responsibilities and accountabilities. So the proposed increases simply align government salaries to that of the private sector—at least as far as structure is concerned. It’s called external equity. It’s also called talent management and retention.

Unfortunately, the people who claim to be omniscient in this country have already attacked the proposal on the grounds that the people at the very top of the bureaucracy don’t need salary increases. The argument presupposes that everyone in government is corrupt, particularly those at the very top, and therefore have no need for their salaries. This kind of reasoning is not only unfair, it is also deceptive and tends to legitimize corruption in the bureaucracy.

Given the spate of scandals and allegations of corruption that have bedeviled this administration, the reservations being expressed by certain quarters are compelling. The problem, I think, is that certain people in Malacañang have not learned to master the art of balance. The proposed salary restructuring is a move in the right direction. However, it would have been more acceptable, and it could have been a public relations coup, if they declared early on that the President would be exempt from the increases. The discussions would have been pointed towards a more enlightened course.

This is a good news to arcade gamers, addicts and freaks especially to our “kababayans”. Just recently, I made available to all the guest of our website all the games in our Arcade which means guest can now play games in our Arcade eventhough he/she is not yet a member of our Buyogan Forum. I’ve made a promise during my birthday last August 29 that I would be more considerate and this would be my gift to all Abuyognons around the world. But the limitation would be that you cannot save your score and compete on the game, so if you’re aiming to be a champion of the game and you want your name to be put on the hall of famers, I’ll just invite you to register and login in our forum before playing games. More features that will await you if you are a registered member so it’s really good to be a member and be a part of our community.

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