Run, Beltran, run

Natalio Beltran III is a very lucky guy.

After getting thrashed by Dr. Eduardo Firmalo in the 2010 election for governor, Beltran faded away from the province, with his brief, corruption-ridden reign fading away with him.

Political observers predicted that 2010 would be his swan song, the last that can be heard from the son of Natalio "Puti" Beltran, Jr. They said he was already a spent force and will live through the remaining years of his life nursing the pain of being a political discard. Recall that Eleandro Jesus Fabic Madrona disowned him in 2010. It was Madrona who anointed him as if he was hulog ng langit in 2007 over the more qualified candidate, the late Paping Mayor.

But the political observers got their weather vanes all wrong. Beltran has come back, threatening to steal the thunder away from Eleandro Jesus Fabic Madrona's final curtain show as congressman of the province. He came back for political revenge.

By any stretch of the imagination, Madrona himself, like former Gov. Beltran III, could not live with the insult of history, and that insult is what many Romblomanon say of the latter being "so young, yet so corrupt". Madrona doesn't want company. He doesn't even want to be considered primus inter pares or first among equals. He should be alone. The only one.

And so, it was in the year of our Lord 2010, that Madrona and Beltran III parted ways, like the Red Sea parting to expose dry ground to allow the Israelites to escape the wrath of the Paraoh, all the way from the coast of Egypt to the coast of Jordan, by a mere stroke of the miraculous staff of the patriarch Moses.

And like the Red Sea which again fused after the clashing of the walls of waves to drown the pursuing Egyptian army, Madrona and Beltran are destined to collide here, now, in the 2013 election, after drowning us Romblomanon during the last three years.

It's funny, but the collision is expected to be a classic. Both will be out to prove something. They will go after each other's throat, fight toe to toe; stare each other eye to eye, bite each other teeth to teeth, and pull each other's hair, if need be, to win the race. They might even pinch each other's ears to prove who hears clearly the voters' wailing, and their cheeks to see who blinks first. I expect a very merry fight.

Run, Beltran, run. To the ends of the earth, if you wish, and catch up with Madrona. You will lose nothing from running but your extra fat kilos.

You have to run because if you don't, Firmalo, who is also running like you, although in a different race level, might catch up with you. This will allow the voters to compare both your three years in the capitol and, voila, find out your true weight as a politician: you were weighed and you were found wanting.

There are enormous advantages for the voters if this happens. For one, they will be able to compare Firmalo with Bernie Fondevilla, another "runner". I will deal with Fondevilla later. He has my full attention. For another reason, voters will also be able to compare Beltran with Madrona when the latter was in the capitol.

Let us do a "running" account first of Firmalo’s administration from July 2010 to December 2012.

On health, which is his strength, Firmalo's record shows Romblon hospitals "are now better equipped to provide proper medical services" to Romblomanon because he has installed new X-ray and 3D ultrasound machines at the Romblon Provincial Hospital in Odiongan and Romblon District Hospital in Romblon. The Don Modesto Formilleza Hospital in Looc and the Sibuyan District Hospital have also now X-ray machines.

He has also installed an 11-KVA power generator for Tablas Island District Hospital in San Agustin, showing how unreliable the power supply is in Tablas, and showing further how government priorities can be skewed.

I said this because if only the provincial government has made electric power infrastructure a priority, there would have been no need for an electric generator to power up a hospital. The amount used for the purchase of the generator could have been better spent buying another X-ray machine.

Gov. Firmalo has provided this pen pusher an exhaustive list of the laboratory and medical equipment and supplies, including six units of blood chemistry analyzers, and a dental chair and dental X-ray for Romblon, Romblon.

This is, indeed, good news, which we should be thankful for. Romblomanon can now breath a sigh of relief in knowing that when they get sick, or need to see a doctor or dentist, the hospital they will go to have ample equipment, facilities, and supplies, like medicine.

I need not mention all the improvements in the province's medical care facilities that happened under Firmalo's watch in three years, including the improvements in the health centers in all of Romblon's municipalities. The list, as I said, is exhaustive--height and weight scale, blood refrigerators, computers, examining tables, wheel chairs, IV drip stands, etc--and verifiable if the reader doubts my word.

They can also verify if all of the eight government hospitals in the province have bought karaoke machines with matching DVD players, for these are on the list. What are karaoke machines doing in government hospitals? 

Readers might say: "Ikaw ra Nicon ay spoiler. Pati baga ka maisoting kasadyahan it mga pasyente ag mga doktor ag nars ay i-ismot pa nimo? Badyang ra sinra mag karaoke paminsan-minsan. Mas matulin magtigson ka nagkakanta."

OK. I rest my case, but the point I am trying to raise, and the reader can disagree with me, is this: Firmalo, as governor, caused these improvements, bought these equipment, and installed these facilities in the government hospitals precisely because his predecessors--that's Beltran and Madrona --did not do it when they were at the capitol.

That's a campaign issue that Trina Firmalo should suggest to his father if he needs to blow the wind off Fondevilla's sail.

Question: Can Firmalo raise this issue if he is on the same stage as Madrona?

A conversation with Dr. Arnulfo de Luna

Dr. Arnulfo Formon De Luna, most probably a year younger than this pen pusher, is in a vantage position. As president of the Romblon State University, he commands over an empire, a state institution that has become an orbital center of higher education in Romblon.

 

A few years ago, the RSU became an infamous focus of public attention when some personages inside its walls and halls proposed to erect a rock monument to Romblon's most famous modern-day politician, Rep. Eleandro Jesus Fabic Madrona.

 

That proposal has gained traction, initially, but has since been shot down for its indecent timing.

 

The reason is that Rep. Madrona is still very much alive and in good health. Not only that. He is scheduled and on track to steamroller the former governor Natalio "Jun" Beltran IV in the 13 May 2013 election. He doesn't need the monument now. In the future, maybe.

 

The horrendous public backlash to the "monumental" plan to honor the author of the law transforming the Romblon State College into a state university with a rock statue had dissipated and its proponents--surely lapdogs wanting to curry favor from the master--had disappeared. Temporarily, I am sure. They could try another time.

 

But that 'another time' is yet to come. Today is the time to move ahead and today is the time of Dr. Arnulfo F. De Luna.

 

And at this time of De Luna, I think the RSU is moving past its episodic brush with politicians trying to be rock stars, pun intended. Steady at the helm of Romblon's premier institution of higher learning, De Luna could yet make the RSU a controlling domain of knowledge as it was mandated to be, regardless of politicians wanting to carve their names in solid rock.

 

I had a brief conversation with Dr. De Luna the other week. Over dinner of kimchi and bulgogi in a Korean restaurant in Malate, he and I mused over topics seemingly unrelated to each other but upon dissection of his agile mind proved to be really interconnected.

 

Which made the dinner fun, the conversation lovely.

 

John Rufon, who arranged the dinner date, was an intent listener throughout our conversation and I am sure he made copious mental notes of what transpired during that brief encounter between the academic leader and this itinerant writer. So were Engr. Ryan Fadriquela, RSU's director for alumni affairs; Kenneth Maestro, a student leader; and Heicel Dalisay and Rocky Gonzales, administrative aides to the RSU president.

 

I invited Dr. De Luna for I was interested to know what's inside the head of a university president whose rank and position could be more powerful than a governor's.

 

No exaggeration here. If a governor presides over a province of 17 towns and 219 barangays, the RSU president holds the power of intellectual life and death over the 17 towns' and the 219 barangays' young population. Isn't that power?

 

But De Luna is a simple man who is imbued with power but who is not drunk of it. With a towering intellect on matters that concern the common tao, he could be a good politician, if there is such.

 

His handle, I saw during the dinner, was his connection to his roots. "The student population of the RSU's Romblon campus experienced an exponential rise during my time because I made sure the university's value was appreciated by the local government unit," he said matter-of-factly. That's making the connection.

 

My main and singular issue with the RSU is its alienation to the masses. I told De Luna that as a stand-alone educational institution, supported largely by government largesse, the RSU should matter to the common Romblomanons' everyday lives. I said RSU's impact should not be measured solely by the number of graduates who pass through its portals and wore the toga during graduation. It should be measured by how much the university changes the lives of the people--for the better.

 

Take its researches, for instance. I know that the RSU has plenty of researchers who have conducted--and continue to conduct--very good researches. These good researches have not made the people good, I said. They have only made the researchers feel better because their names are eventually affixed to their researches, adding more luster only to their credentials for future promotion, of themselves, and not of the people's.

 

Very fortunately, Dr. De Luna agrees with me. He mentioned that on agriculture, the RSU has produced plenty and very good stock varieties of root crops that could be mass cultivated to contribute to Romblon's food security. He wants the people to avail of these stock varieties. In short, he wants the Romblomanons to plant.

 

The problem, he said, is that people no longer want to become farmers nowadays. Even children don't appreciate the value of farm work. They want everything in RTE packs. That's 'ready-to-eat' in military lingo. But I will dwell on this later.

 

Out of this world, the RSU is. The problem, I said, is that the RSU does not communicate to the people in a language they understand. It communicates only to itself, in a language laden with technical 'ek-ek'  that contributes to its being perceived as alien. To this, Dr. De Luna responded that he is trying to remedy the anomaly. He said his appointment of Prof. Jun Fetalsana, as one of the RSU's 'spokespersons', is precisely to enable the RSU to reach out to the people.

 

"I will spend more time next year in the campuses. I will start at the Sta. Maria campus," Dr. De Luna pledged.

 

"This is a good start. Better write in The Romblon Times," I said back.

 

In ruling a university, Dr. De Luna rules by the rules of perspective. And his perspective, I believe, is neither gray nor in dark shade. It is clear: to make the university a truly Romblomanon university, embodying the soul of the province, and living up to realize its people's potential and aspirations.

 

He even encourages municipal mayors to allocate a good portion of their budgets in support for their constituents who would like to pursue higher education. "I would like to build a modern dormitory for students from the islands," he said.

 

Public support for such policies is necessary. But I told Dr. De Luna, whose expertise is in agriculture education--he has a master in science in agriculture and a Ph.D. in crop science--that that support could only be had if the RSU conducts itself as a good corporate social citizen, by going out of its way to get itself involved in social causes, and by acting as the 'knowledge conscience' of the province, not by confining itself on matters purely academic and theoretical.

 

The RSU's coming out party will come inevitably. It will come when it is already speaking out about the ills of graft and corruption in high and low places of the provincial government which the present administration seemed to have failed to do. It will come when it is already organizing forums and symposiums on Romblon culture and history and hosting public affairs programs on illegal drugs and illegal mining.

 

It will come when the RSU no longer concerns itself with useless debates on whether or not it should erect a rock monument for a politician whose credentials as a hero or heel are, well, still debatable; when its researchers and technicians are going out in the field to encourage the people to plant crops and to teach them to fish properly rather than feed their children chemical-laden imported noodles; when its students act on their ideals by helping out educate the people on issues that matter to them; for example, by leading public shunning or boycott of politicians who lie and cheat and buy votes.

 

When that time comes, and I hope it comes during Dr. De Luna's presidency of the RSU, that's the time we can say the RSU has truly, genuinely become the Romblon State University.

Mercury, the poison; not Mercury, the druggist

Pamoso ang Mercury Drug Corporation, ang pinakamalaking network ng tindahan ng gamot sa Pilipinas. Isa rin ito sa pinakamatandang parmasyutika sa bansa. Isang mayamang pamilyang Filipino-Chinese ang may-ari ng Mercury Drug, at sumikat ang kumpanyang ito sa kaniyang slogan na "Gamot ay laging bago."

 

Totoo ito. Noong nasa Senado pa ako, pinaupo ako ng yumaong Sen. Blas F. Ople bilang isa sa mga hurado sa isang gawad-timpalak para sa mga kumpanyang pinakamahusay ang pamamahala at isa sa mga finalist ang Mercury Drug Corporation.

 

Isa sa mga nakasama ko bilang hurado ang editor-in-chief ngayon ng Philippine Daily Inquirer, si Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc. Kapwa namin ibinoto ni Bb. Magsanoc ang Mercury Drug Corporation dahil sa kalidad ng serbisyo at produkto at maayos na pagtrato nito sa mga empleyado. Pinangangalagaan ng kumpanya ang kapakanan, higit lalo ang kalusugan, ng mga kawani nito.

 

Kung ang pangangalaga sana ng ating mga pinuno sa ating mga Romblomanon ay sing-husay ng pangangalaga ng Mercury Drug Corporation sa mga kawani nito, disin sana'y hindi ko na susulatin ang kuwentong ito.

 

But the fact that some of our local leaders are only not taking good care of us the way they should, but also expose us to the dangers of mercury, the poison, and mining, the  rapist of our land and mortgagor of our children's future, is reason sufficient and logical for me to write--however repetitive--about the truly tragic situation we are in.

 

And what is truly tragic in our current circumstances?

 

We are being poisoned, yes. Slowly, but surely, with organic mercury through the deliberate incompetence and monumental uncaring attitude of some of our leaders, starting with Rep. Budoy Madrona down to the barangay captains who allow organic mercury to be dumped as sludge and waste into our rivers and streams.

 

I should have added to this the charge of ignorance, but I need proof because most of our leaders are highly-educated. Which means to say their actuations should not be equated with idiocy. Not yet.

 

You mask ask: Pray, tell, Nicon, why did Rep. Madrona's name crop up in this episode? Or, for that matter, Gov. Firmalo's? Don't you know they are anti-mining? Don't you know that Rep. Madrona had filed a bill in Congress declaring Romblon a no-miner's land? And didn't Gov. Firmalo issue an executive order banning all forms of metallic mining in Romblon? Weren't these enough proof they are true-blue anti-mining souls?

 

Of course, yes, and I know. But I remember, while writing this piece, Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian Nobel laureate for literature, who wrote: "A tiger need not proclaim his tigritude" as an admonition to his fellow countrymen for making so much noise about their "Negritude".

 

Indeed, a tiger need not shout that he is a tiger, in the same manner that an anti-mining activist, or any activist for that matter, need not proclaim that he is so. He only has to live it.

 

And living it means condemning in words and deed the poisoning happening in Magdiwang, right in the national integrated protected areas of Sibuyan. Listen to this:

 

"When released into the environment, mercury is capable of traveling wide distances and transforming into the more toxic organic form which accumulates in seafood. Finally, once present in the environment in any form, mercury can no longer be destroyed, and instead accumulates in various environmental media and form."

 

Ano raw? Kapag pinakawalan sa kapaligiran, kaya ng mercury na tumawid ng malalayong distansiya at nagiging higit na nakalalasong organiko na naiipon sa mga pagkaing-dagat. Kapag ito ay nasa kalikasan na sa alinmang anyo, hindi na mabubura ang mercury, at sa halip ay naiipon na lamang sa iba't-ibang bahagi ng kapaligiran.

 

Who said this? Sinong Ponsio Pilato ang nagsabi nito?

 

Si Richard Gutierez. Ang artista? Hindi, kundi si Abogado Richard Gutierrez, isang paham na maestro at doktor sa batas na siyang kasalukuyang executive director ng Ban Toxics, at partner sa grupong Health Care Without Harm. Si Abogado Gutierrez and nagsabi nito bilang bahagi ng kaniyang ulat sa mahal nating gobernador noon pang Enero 14, 2011.

 

Ganito ang kuwento. Inanyayahan ni Gob. Firmalo si Gutierrez na maging tagapagsalita sa isang konsultasyon sa mercury at small-scale mining noong Enero 7-8, 2011 sa Romblon.

 

Bilang bahagi ng konsultasyon, nagsagawa ng mercury vapor testing ang Ban Toxics sa ilang barangay sa Magdiwang, gaya ng Dulangan, Tagkayo, Ipil, Mabulo, at Espana, kabilang ang Poblacion. Ang test ay isinagawa sa mga kabahayan, minahan, eskuwelahan, at sa mga ilog.

 

Matapos ang test, gumawa ng report ang Ban Toxics at isinumite kay Gob. Firmalo. Walang nakakaalam, sa aking palagay, kung ilan at sino ang nakabasa ng report.

 

Hindi siguro ito nabasa ng Romblon Sun o ng The Romblon Times, dahil kung nabasa ito ng mga mamamahayag, malamang na nailathala na ito. Baka headline pa.

 

Hindi rin siguro ito nabasa ng Simbahan, kasi kung nabasa nila ito, malamang naipahayag na ito sa mga pulpito at sa kanilang mga pangangaral. Ang Simbahan sa Romblon ang tanging may natitirang kredibilidad pagdating sa pagsasatinig ng mga isyung sosyal.

 

Nasa posisyon sana ang Romblon State University na isa pang tatayo upang dagdagan ang kamulatan at kaalamang pambayan, dahil bilang akademya at pugad ng mga nagiisip na intelektwal, ito ay may sapat na kapabilidad. Subalit nalulunod naman ang unibersidad sa sariling mantika ng internal na pagkakampi-kampi, sigalot, at pag-iinggitan, bukod sa ito'y kinubkob na rin ng pamumulitika, kaya sa halip na maging balwarte ng mataas na antas ng diskusyon at pagpapalitan ng kuro-kuro, nakakulong na ang RSU sa bakal na kulambo.

 

Kung kaya't malamang na hindi siguro nabasa ang report ng mga guro at profesor, dahil kung alam nila ang nilalaman ng report, baka nagliyab na ang ating mga paaralan sa debate kung papaanong unti-unting nalalason ang Romblon.

 

How about the government officials, particularly of the LGUs of Sibuyan, and of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources? Have they read the report? Most likely? I don't know. If they had, then most surely they would have conducted information drives and study sessions and warned the people of the imminent danger posed by small-scale mining using mercury. But there wasn't such thing happening as far as I can remember, so most likely . . . never mind.

 

How about Rep. Madrona? Does he have a copy of the report? How about Magdiwang Mayor Baring Manzala? Did he read the report? If he did, and now I will grant that he really has a copy and has read it, what did he do? File it and pray that some rats chew up the six-page report so no one would know about its existence?

 

Who else, aside from the governor, has a copy of the report and had read it?

 

I do. I have a copy of the report and I have read it. To obtain a copy, email me at kusog@ymail.com. The first one to request will receive a P10 mobile phone load. Don't forget to include in your request your mobile phone number.

 

I thank my source, ever vigilant and astonishingly brilliant, for sending me a copy of the report. My source is an authentic Romblomanon, articulate and assertive, and very much in tune with the socio-economic and political developments in the province. Without this source, whose identity I have promised to treat in strict confidence, this opinion column will not have materialized.

 

What does the report contains? Bomba. It is explosive, as you can read from the headline of The Romblon Times.

 

Sa mga ngayon lang makakabasa ng The Romblon Times, masuwerte kayo. Kung galit naman kayo sa diyaryo dahil may kompyuter kayo na naka-WiFi, basahin na lang ang blog ko sa http://bunsurancaravan.blogspot.com.

 

Hindi ninyo mababasa ang report sa website ng Lalawigan ng Romblon. Hindi pa kasi ito tapos. Hayahay.

 

Seriously now, the report is already a year-old and I grant that there had been changes and new developments, as Gov. Firmalo admitted in my interview of him for this story, which may render some parts of the report out-dated, or irrelevant. But this is not the point.

The point is why was the report not publicly disseminated when its contents impact on the health and well-being of Romblomanons? Why was there not a deliberate effort to share and discuss the report with all Romblomanons so they will know that small-scale mining, with the aid of mercury, is wreaking havoc on the people of Romblon, not the least the environment?

 

I am just asking questions, but I am also reminded of Conrado de Quiros' famous words: "Never mind the trees. Save the writer."

 

In this case, I will say it the other way: "Always mind the trees. Without trees, there will be no writers."

B.M., or Before Mining

Si Woodritz F. Rabino, taga-Simara, ay nag-aaral upang maging titser. Gagradweyt na siya ngayong Marso. Sa Facebook ko siya nakilala noong mag-post ako tungkol sa mga aksidente sa mga minahan.

Ang sabi ko kasi, nitong nakaraang linggo, halos sunod-sunod ang mga aksidente na nangyayari sa mga minahan na ipinagbuwis ng buhay ng mga minerong walang kahina-hinala na ang kanilang hanapbuhay ay balot nang pangamba at banta ng kalagim-lagim na kamatayan.

Noong Febrero 1, bandang alas-11:00 ng umaga, si Jaime Fernandez, 55, at nakatira sa P-1 Gamaon District sa Mangagoy, Lungsod Bislig, ay natabunan ng putik nang gumuho ang isang tunnel sa isang small-scale na minahan ng carbon. Agad siyang binawian nang buhay. Lasog-lasog ang mukha at katawan nang mahukay ang kaniyang bangkay. Isa pang iligal na minero, si Jose Garay, 51, ng P-5 Brgy. Cumawas, Lungsod Bislig, ang kasama niyang nabaon sa putik ngunit himalang nakaligtas. Si Garay ay empleyado ng gobyerno.

Nito namang nakalipas na linggo, Febrero 14, gumuho ang kanlurang dingding ng Panian pit mine ng Semirara Coal and Mining Corporation sa Semirara Island, sakop ng Caluya, Antique. Patay kaagad ang limang minero, tatlo lang ang nakaligtas, at lima pa ang nawawala habang sinusulat ko ang pitak na ito.

Ang sabi ko, palapit nang palapit sa Romblon ang aksidente sa minahan, ngunit ipinagdarasal ko noon pa na sana ay huwag mangyari ito sa ating mga kababayan.

Doon sumagot si Woodritz. Ang sabi niya: "Masunor rey ka Sibuyan." Susunod na ang Sibuyan. Mali si Woodritz. Mali din ako.

Sa site ko sa FB ay may isang Romblomanon na nagsabi na hindi totoong papalapit na ang aksidente sa mina sa Romblon. Ayon sa kaniya, ang kinatatakutan kong aksidente ay matagal nang nangyari at talagang naririto na sa lalawigan. Sa Asi: "Haliy sa Romblon." Di na kailangan pang hintayin o ipagdasal na sana'y huwag mangyari dahil nangyayari na.

Sinabi pa ng aking source ang detalye nang bagay na ito.

I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the information and the integrity of my source who will remain nameless at the moment for reason of confidentiality.

What the source was referring to is the continued proliferation of illegal small-scale gold mining in Magdiwang, particularly in the three Barangays of Ipil, Tampayan, and Dulangan, which the public has only a very faint suspicion about. But which is also public knowledge.

We don't know what's truly happening in Magdiwang and, therefore, we are being had. Pinaiikot lang tayo sa tsubibo.

On or about the third week of September in 2012, seven Magdiwang citizens--a grandfather, a father, two mothers, and three children, all male, aged 18, 16, and five--fell sick and were rushed to the Romblon Provincial Hospital under a cloud of utmost secrecy.

Ang dahilan: lahat sila ay biktima ng pagkakalason ng mercury, ang iligal na kemikal na ginagamit sa pagmimina ng ginto sa Magdiwang. Lahat ay iisa ang sintomas--nanghihina ang katawan at nanginginig. Sumasakit ang ulo. May slurred speech, narrowing of vision, at nabibingi.

Walang dahilan upang magduda na hindi alam ng punong-bayan ng Magdiwang, si Ibarra Manzala, ang pangyayaring ito. Walang dahilan upang pagdudahan na hindi alam ni Gob. Lolong Firmalo ang pangyayaring ito. Pitong biktima ng mercury poisoning sa isang lalawigan na katulad ng Romblon ay isang kahindik-hindik na pangyayari. Isang eskandalo dapat. At walang nakakaalam? Alam nga na nagmimina si Dr. Jose Cabrera sa kabundukan ng Odiongan sa boundary ng Looc, ngunit walang sumisita o nagpapatigil. Bakit kaya?

Kaya ang pagdududa ay may batayan, dahil nakalkal ng ating source ang tunay na pangyayari. Nakuhanan ng retrato ang mga biktima. Nakita nang personal. Nainterbyu. Makalipas ang ilang araw, gumaling din sila, ngunit sang-ayon sa ating source, pagbalik na pagbalik sa Magdiwang ay nagmina na uli.

Kaduda-duda na ang pitong biktima ay pinagsabihan na itikom ang bibig. Naka-zipper ang mga ito at hindi pinagsalita maging sa media. Nino?

Maging ang mga doktor sa hospital ay ayaw magsalita. Pati nars. May mga pangalan ba sila? Meron. Kanino nanggaling ang utos na huwag magsalita? Sino ang gumastos sa pagpapa-ospital?

Mabababaw na mga tanong? Hindi. Umpisa pa lang ito ng pagbubunyag nang anomalya ng pamamahala at pagtrato sa mamamayan ng Romblon na nagiging biktima ng sakuna o aksidente na gawa ng tao. Ang gawain ng pagpapabaya sa kalunos-lunos na katotohanang bagaman may executive order ang ating gobernador na walang dapat magmina sa Romblon, harap-harapan naman ang paglabag dito sa Magdiwang.

In your face ito. Kesehodang anuman ang sabihin, sulatin, o ibrodlkas, bahala na si Batman. Ganoon ba, Mayor Manzala, ang nangyayari sa bayan mo? Itinatago ang bad news at pogi points lang ang dapat lumabas?

Noong Enero 2011, may nagsagawa ng toxic test sa hangin ng Magdiwang upang malaman ang lawak ng polusyon ng hangin at tubig sa naturang bayan. May kopya ng resulta ng test ang ating source. Malala, ayon sa kaniya, ang sitwasyon. May dapat bang ipagduda na hindi alam ng lokal at panlalawigang pamahalaan ang katotohanang ito?

Kung alam, ano ang ginagawa? Kung hindi alam, bakit? Ayaw malaman dahil baka maalarma ang taumbayan at mag-aklas. O kaya'y tumalikod at hindi sila iboto?

Ang sabi ng ating source, napakahalaga ngang malaman ng lahat ng Romblomanon ang nangyayari sa Magdiwang upang makapaghanda at makagawa ng hakbang upang matigil na ang pagkalason ng hangin at tubig sa naturang bayan.

Iisa lang ang alam kong paraan. Ngayon din ay dapat itigil ang pagmimina ng ginto. Ngayon din ay dapat ipatigil ni Gob. Lolong at ni Mayor Manzala ang paggamit ng mercury sa mga ballmill upang mapino ang gintong nanggagaling sa lupa ng Magdiwang. Ano ang pumipigil sa kanila?

Alam ko na ang sagot ng ating mga opisyal. "What is the livelihood alternative that you propose if we stop all mining activities in Magdiwang?"

I have a ready answer: I don't know, Mayor Manzala. I don't know, Gov. Firmalo. You tell me. You are the responsible officials. That's why you were elected in the first place. To help people rise from scratch to a life of decency. So, don't ask writers what to do. We know what we do. We tell the truth. We tell things as we see them.

The argument that I often hear, that we need to propose livelihood alternatives to the small-scale miners in Magdiwang before we can stop this environmental rape, will not wash. It can be answered by a simple question, really.

What do the people of Magdiwang, of Romblon, do to live B.M., or before mining, when the Magdiwang environment was still pristine because some of its politicians are not of the worse kind as they are today?

Don't they fish, or farm, or trade, for a living? Were they not alive even B.M., before mining, when the rapacious and methodical destruction of all things natural in Mother Earth changed the character and behavior of some of our politicians?

B.M., before mining, were not the people of Magdiwang, and of Romblon, lovers all of their natural environment off whose bounty they lived peaceful lives until the intrusion into their shores of the miners who snuffed out Armin Marin's life? Tell me.

Sakmal ng lagim ang pagkakalason ng mercury. Kaya nga bawal ito kahit sa termometro. Sa bansang Hapon ay may lugar na kung tawagin ay Minamata, from whose name the Minamata disease was derived. Minamata is a pollution disease, discovered in 1956, caused by the entry of methyl mercury in the body. It attacks the central nervous system, including the brain. It is a deadly disease, but not contagious, and can be caused by eating large quantities of fish and shellfish from mercury-polluted waters.

Kaya para kay Woodritz Rabino, totoo ang pangamba mo na baka susunod na ang Magdiwang sa tatamaan ng aksidente dahil sa mina. Ngunit kung mababasa mo ito, maniwala ka, may aksidente nang nagaganap, at mas malala pa sa iniisip mo.

Ang aksidente ay narito na. Hindi lang napapansin, dahil pilit tinatabunan. At pilit na itinatago.

Ngunit maniwala ka, Woodritz, may kasabihan ang ating mga ninuno. Lahat nang itinatago, may baho.

Sa ngayon, unti-unti nang umaalingasaw ang amoy ng pusali ng kapalpakan sa ating lalawigan pagdating sa pagma-manage ng isyu ng mining. Kaya dapat tayong maging mapagbantay. At mapanuri.

Looking for an early upset? Look, it's in mining

If there is one thing that many Romblon politicians lack, it's the ability to think.

Thinking--hard thinking--is a rare trait, and those imbued with the ability to think often have the powers of imagination at their disposal. And imagination, when used properly by a leader, could lead to rational decisions.

One does not need to be a rocket scientist to figure this out.

On 17 January 2013, Judge Ramiro Geronimo issued a resolution striking out as unconstitutional Executive Order No. 1, Series of 2011 issued by Gov. Eduardo C. Firmalo.

The resolution arose from a special civil case filed by Sibuyan Nickel Properties Development Corporation against Romblon Governor Eduardo C. Firmalo, San Fernando Mayor Dindo C. Rios, Vice Governor Mel Madrid, and several other provincial and municipal officials seeking declaratory relief and praying for a temporary restraining order on the controversial order which imposes a moratorium on mining in the province of Romblon.

By all indication, the resolution was well-thought out, anchored as it was on the basis of law. I, therefore, salute Judge Geronimo for swimming against public opinion and issuing the resolution, thereby putting into the right frame the lingering debate in the province on whether to allow mining or not.

Before the vociferous and the non-thinkers scream, "Hey, Nicon, you are for mining!" and throw me the kitchen sink, let me just say this: "I think."

I think that Judge Geronimo's resolution cuts through the garbage in the mining debate and sheds light--not on mining per se--but on how government leaders should behave and think rationally, sensibly, when faced with grave issues that affect communities, like mining.

You may ask: "And how's that, 'Hagong it Buhi'?

Well, for one, Judge Geronimo said that as governor, Firmalo "cannot validly issue a moratorium prohibiting all forms of metallic mining in the entire province of Romblon".

To back up this declaration, Geronimo (aside: Geronimo is the title of a Lito Lapid movie, the star of which was himself as a slick gunslinger), used plenty of ammunition, the most potent of which was the Constitution.

"The 1987 Constitution," Judge Geronimo wrote, "does not prohibit mining." On the contrary, it ordains it, he said, citing Section 2 of Article XII of the basic law.

Geronimo said the contention that Joint Resolution No. 01, S. 2011, was regulatory and prohibitive is offensive to the Constitution, considering that Firmalo's order places legal mining on the same plane with illegal mining for an indefinite period.

The judge also said Firmalo's order is an ultra vires act. Ultra vires is a Latin term which means "beyond the powers", a doctrine in corporate law holding that if a corporation enters into a contract beyond the scope of its corporate powers, the contract is illegal. He was succinct in saying that a careful reading of the order shows it does not seek to enforce or implement a law or ordinance because there is no law or ordinance that prohibits or suspends all forms of metallic mining.

Aside from the Constitution, the judge also cited the Local Government Code of 1991, Philippine Mining Act of 1995, R.A. 7942, and President Benigno S. Aquino III's Executive Order No. 97 to drive home the point that Gov. Firmalo acted "beyond his powers" when he issued his order.

An interesting point.

The judge said that the creation by Firmalo's order of a special task force to assess all pertinent mining applications, permits, and activities in the province is illegal because this function is vested in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

"Local government units are merely expected to cooperate so that the environmental standards of mining laws, rules, and regulations are fully and strictly enforced," Geronimo chastised Firmalo.

I mentioned this because in a previous piece, I asked whether the provincial government, in the light of Firmalo's order, had already established such a special task force. I wanted then to know who are its members and whether they are doing their job or just sleeping comfortably in their hammocks in the capitol.

I also wanted to make sure that the members are not adding to the poste--all in all 14, I have been told, and still counting--already in place in Sibuyan standing in line to collect  regularly their share of protection money from the small-scale mining activities.

If my recollection is right, I think my friend Trina, the governor's chief of staff, said yes, indeed, there was already a special task force, although to this day, I haven't got a name of any one of them. Perhaps, they are horses with no names, as the title of America's hit song goes?

In sum, Judge Geronimo said local governments should only confine themselves to impose reasonable limitations on mining activities conducted within their territorial jurisdiction that are consistent with national laws and regulations--not to prohibit it for an indefinite period of time.

In his resolution, Geronimo also pin-pricked the toothless and less thought-out  Joint Resolution No. 01-10 and Joint Resolution 02-10 that prohibit mining and adopted by the Sangguniang Bayan of San Fernando, Cajidiocan, and Magdiwang.

The first joint resolution was addressed to the Secretary of the DENR, while the second was addressed to the President of the Philippines. All were supportive of Gov. Firmalo's executive order. All were declared by Judge Geronimo as not ordinances, and thus, have no effect whatsoever.

Another note.

It was only now, after reading Geronimo's resolution, that I found out the comic--bordering on the ridiculous--act of some of the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, populated as of now by elected legislators, some of whom are not in my favorite list of thinking people.

In his resolution, the judge devoted a whole paragraph noting how the Sangguniang Panlalawigan waxed hot and cold on the issue.

On the same day that Firmalo issued his order, or on 10 January 2011, the provincial legislative body issued its own resolution, SP Resolution No. 01-2011-23, strongly supporting E.O. No. 1. The ink on this resolution has hardly dried up when the SP followed up with another resolution, SP Resolution No. 01-2011-24, requesting the provincial director of the Philippine National Police "to immediately coordinate with other law enforcement agencies and arrest the source of illegal mercury that is smuggled in the province".

Then, the SP suddenly changed course like the wind. In a matter of only half-a-month, or on 24 January 2011, the honorable members issued another resolution, SP Resolution 01-2011-41, withdrawing its strong support to Firmalo's order.

What happened? Perhaps, the SP members were visited by the spirit of their ancestors and, finding enlightenment by thinking, or illumined by wisdom or motivation other than light, acted they way they acted.

Still, it puzzles me no end. If it withdrew its support to the order, why did it not withdraw its request to the PNP provincial director? And relative to the request, why arrest only the source of illegal mercury? Why not arrest the smugglers and the consignees or users of the mercury themselves? What if the source of the illegal mercury is in the US? Or nearer, like Cobrador Island? And yes, is there legal mercury?

See what hard thinking could do? It could raise a lot of questions.

Finally, there is no doubt that Judge Geronimo's resolution was a bolt of lightning out of the blue, a set-back, a slap in the face of Romblon anti-mining activists and a triumph on the part of the miners.

The short-sighted and unthinking class may even read this as political and paint it as a preview of the impending clash in the May 13 election.

Looking for an upset? This is it. An upset, yes, but for those who care for Romblon's ecological balance, not for the politicians who can change their colors whenever it is favorable to their interest. Or if it threatens their survival.

I asked Awe Eranes what Gov. Firmalo's reaction was to the resolution. His answer was terse: "Malungkot, siyempre." (Sad, of course).

He should be. But this could not have happened if he only listened to the advice of those in the know, even to those who are steeped in the law, before hastily issuing the order.

Leadership--the transformative kind--requires a leader to think of the pros and cons of a certain course of action, to balance the causes and effects of a decision and their impact on the larger audience, and to see the larger picture, to distinguish the trees from the forest, so to speak, in an impassioned, detached way.

Alas, E.O. No. 1, S. 2011, was issued because of the heat of the moment, of the onrush of public opinion which is sometimes not the kindest kind and, therefore, not imbued with this perspective, Judge Geronimo so easily, coldly, rationally demolished the order.

We who are all against the mining rape of the province could learn a lesson or two from Odiongan Vice Mayor Brix Fajutnao's deep thinking on this matter. He said, after reading the resolution, that the issuance of the governor's order did not even benefit from a single public consultation.

I agree. Issuances of this kind, being of a very sensitive nature and having the force and effect of law, should have been subjected to a thorough study and analysis and to an extensive and expansive consultation with all affected stakeholders.

Even if it means paying for an expensive pump boat rent to Sibale--which many of the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan have not visited for three years--to consult with the Sibalenhons who have their own views to share on mining and other issues.

'The Times They are A-changin'. Alas, Romblon is not

Poet, musician, lyricist, artist Robert Allan Zimmerman, at the height of his creative powers, wrote the following poem which became an entry in the bible of the common man--Romblomanons included--for the poem captures in vivid color the soul and the angst of all human beings, politicians and voters alike.

Zimmerman is Bob Dylan. He is now 65 and highly revered as one of the greatest musical icons of our times.

And speaking of 'our times', Awe Eranes, considered by one social network fan as the bravest Romblon journalist, has resurrected a paper I have not seen: The Romblon Times (TRT).

I don't know what Awe's motive was when he asked me one night--at the night of the second inaugural of US President Barack Hussein Obama--to write for TRT.

I should have said no, but I said yes, the writer in me wanting to tear to shreds a sheaf of A4 white bond paper on a shelf near my writing desk lying idle--blank--for quite some time. I have not written for over a year. More, I think.

John Rufon, who had noticed that I have not written anything for two years since I was hooked up by the Aquino III administration for a public communication job at the Department of Labor and Employment, one day said my "fans"--readers, actually--are missing my essays.

Some of them, he joked, refuse to 'die' until I return to writing. Of course, he was salving my ego. Yes, Virginia, writers are a proud lot.

John named Manong Dioning Fradejas as one of those who refuse to go with the sunset for fear he would not be able to see me write again. He convalesced in the hospital last year and when I heard the news, I sent the grand old man of Odiongan a bundle of foreign newspapers and magazines. A voracious reader, Manong Dioning got up and threatened to live a hundred years more, provided I write.

But what to write after a very long hibernation?

For my first piece for TRT, I decided on politics. Apt, I think it is, because the moro-moro, as Ping Ramilo calls the upcoming election, is about to consume us all.

And so here. I write about politics. But not in the manner pundits think politics should be written. I write about it by borrowing Bob Dylan's take on America's social condition during his time.

Now is our time, but notice how Dylan, writing in the 60s, wrote about the present. If you read closely, you will think Dylan is a Romblomanon, for his reading of the social condition of our time is erringly on-target. So accurate

'The Times They are A-changin'

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

Need I say more? 

The Asi identity in the age of globalization (4)

(Last of four parts of commencement address to the graduating class, Class of 2012, Sibale Academy, 23 March 2012, Concepcion Parish Church, Concepcion, Romblon)

With education, you will gain enough confidence to be in the labor market. This market, by the way, is very competitive and open only to the skilled and the educated. It is blind to race, religion, color, nor creed. Remember, we are in the Knowledge century where brainpower, not manpower or muscle, commands a premium. Only if you acquire an education that you can fully participate in the continuing knowledge debate happening at every turn in a highly globalized, flat world.

After my graduation from high school, I had never doubted, despite my family’s poverty, that I will finish college. My grandparents on my father’s side were barely able to read and write. On my mother’s side, my grandfather finished only grade seven under the American system, but he was fluent in spoken and written English. My father never reached high school; neither my mother. But all of them had inculcated in us the value of education. In my family, so strong was our desire to pursue college education that as I look back now, I couldn’t believe that all my brothers and sisters, except one, finished our courses in college through sheer hard work and tremendous sacrifices. And I am very proud of our achievement.

It is fortunate that you and I grew up in an island where the tradition to acquire an education to be able to make it in life is very strong. Our parents go through so much pain and sacrifice so that we can be educated. And rightly so. With limited land and other resources, they are convinced that education is the only ticket out of the socio-economic shackles of Sibale.

So I sincerely believe that most, if not all of you, will continue to college after high school, if only to affirm this education tradition, and to sustain the record of Sibale as the municipality in Romblon which has the highest literacy rate and with the highest number of university graduates. You can check this fact with the National Statistics Office.

The fourth life-long learning that could be useful to you after your graduation is to learn the values of sacrifice, tenacity, and diligence. I know that these concepts are not new to you. For four years, you have already invested a lot in acquiring a high school diploma, perhaps, sometimes skipping the luxury of a new shirt or dress just to save a little money for books or tuition; or perhaps skipping a meal just to make it to the next day. Your parents have also done as much, perhaps, foregoing the little luxury of a drink during a fiesta, or at the worst, postponing a visit to a doctor just to save for your school allowance.

Well, you are not alone. Students before you have suffered the same. I know many Sibalenhons who have been through such adversities and have triumphed. They are an inspiration. I myself experienced terrible difficulties in my college days. Before I finished my degree, I did a lot of odd jobs as many of my classmates and peers can attest. I did poultry farm work; worked in a hollow blocks factory; became a barker in a jeepney terminal; sold real estate and insurance; and bought and sold junk. But I hang on to my dream and chased my star as if it was the only thing that mattered. The good news is that the rewards for those sacrifices, when they come as they did to me, are immense and very self-fulfilling.

So, don’t ever lose hope, or be discouraged. Be patient and hang on to your dreams. Persevere. Be diligent and work harder. Don’t be distracted. Stay focused, for you will eventually succeed and get your reward as countless others before you had.

The last, and the most important, life-long learning that has helped me and I am sure will help you is to cultivate your faith in God. Coming from a writer who has a different perspective about many things, you wouldn’t believe it but the most constant in my life philosophy is the belief that nothing in this world ever happens without the knowledge and dictate of the Creator from whom all things, including knowledge, emanate.

You have gone to a Catholic school, so I am sure you need not be reminded that faith move mountains. When all else fails, when you are down and seem vulnerable to temptation and despair, the only remaining anchor that can save you from total moral and spiritual devastation is God. Never mind religion, but mind your faith. We have our moral duty which is, according to George Washington, is inseparably connected with human happiness. That moral duty is first and foremost to the Heavenly Father. If we obey it, no storm on this earth should and could ever extinguish the light that our faith in God keeps burning in our hearts to shine the path of our journeys.

My dear graduates, I began by saying how honored I am to be here today. I shall end by saying thank you to all of you—to Father Mehler, the school officials, and members of the faculty—for making this graduation happy and meaningful. And thank you, too, for listening.

Inggwa ako it pabayon sa mga maguyang: Lamihay nak salamat sa inro hugot na pagpalangga sa inro mga apas, ag sa pagtambong it hungor sa inra pag-aray. Paka-rumruma baga nak ka aagtuan ninra sa liwas it Sibale Academy ay buko rungawan, kung buko’y mas sahoy, mas marako, ag mas maigkas nak labanan sa pagpanray it kaisipon ag kaayaman. Ka inro premyo nak kaalwanan pag sinra’y makabarbar it kolehiyo o nio mang kursong bokasyunal ay naghuhuyat. Waya’t maakab it kina, kada huyata. Kapan kamo it rungan-rungan nak pag kamo'y nakatabok ay tangkas ka inro tanang kabudlayan.

Masilak ag masadyang adlaw sa atong tanan.