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Opinion
SATURDAY April 13, 2019
˜ The Manila Times
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E d i to r i a l A reminder of our unity in a fragmented world
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E devote a great deal of our time and energy on these pages to inform, educate, and in some ways, provide viewpoints that we hope will guide the Filipino people and their leaders to cultivate the best interests of the country. It can seem at times that news that is most important TO OUR DAILY LIFE IS ABOUT CONlICT ‡ CONlICT BETWEEN POLITICAL FORCES WITHIN THE COUNTRY CONlICT WITH OTHER NATIONS INTERESTS CONlICT BETWEEN PEACE AND ORDER AND CRIME AND CHAOS AND CONlICT BETWEEN OURSELVES AND forces of nature that threaten our safety and livelihoods. There are rare times, however, when we are reminded that for all our differences, mankind is capable of amazing displays of transcendent cooperation and astonishing achievement. Such a reminder came earlier this week when an international team of scientists revealed the kRST EVER PHOTOGRAPH OF A BLACK HOLE Until now, a black hole was an idea, an object predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO AND A STAPLE OF SCIENCE kCtion stories. A black hole, according to Einstein, is a massive star that has collapsed so completely that IT HAS BECOME A gSINGULARITYu m AN INkNITELY SMALL point where the entire enormous mass of the star is concentrated, which creates gravity so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape it. The reason why the idea of a “black hole� is important to our everyday lives is that it makes our current knowledge of the universe and how it works possible. Without Einstein’s theory, we would not understand how gravity works, and might not have been able to develop things WE NOW TAKE FOR GRANTED SUCH AS ARTIkCIAL SATELLITES 3CIENTISTS HAVE LONG BEEN CONkDENT THAT THE THEORY IS correct, but as long as it remained a theory, proved by mathematics and not real-life observation, there was always the chance of discovering that what we thought we knew was not correct at all. Actually seeing a black hole, however, seemed nearly impossible: From our tiny PLANET HOW CAN WE kND WHAT WOULD APPEAR TO US TO BE A small black spot of nothingness in the vastness of space? By stretching the limits of human ingenuity in a global team effort that ignores borders and political differences, that’s how. Using something called the Event Horizon Telescope and more computing power that has ever been assembled for a single purpose, a coordinated TEAM OF SCIENTISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD ‡ INCLUDING scientists from our Asean neighbors Vietnam, Thailand, -ALAYSIA AND )NDONESIA ‡ PHOTOGRAPHED THE ENORMOUS black hole that lies at the center of the M87 galaxy, 55 million light years from Earth. To do this, they had to create a “camera� almost the size of our whole planet; the Event Horizon is actually eight massive radio telescope arrays located in Hawaii, Mexico, Arizona, Spain, Chile and Antarctica, all working together. If the Event Horizon Telescope was an actual camera, one would be able to use it to read a newspaper in New York from a sidewalk in Paris. The lesson in all this is that when we, as people, set ASIDE OUR DIFFERENCES AND kND A COMMON GOAL WE CAN achieve incredible things. On Monday, our knowledge of the universe, of what we consider “reality,� was based on theory; by Tuesday afternoon, it was based on fact, and whole new realms of study and ways to improve our knowledge and our lives were opened to us. In a world that so often seems at odds with itself, it is a message of encouragement that we need, and should all take a moment to appreciate. ~
SATURDAY April 13, 2019
The Manila Times
VOLUME 120 NUMBER 182
DANTE A. ANG, Chairman Emeritus RENE Q. BAS, Publisher Emeritus NERILYN A. TENORIO, Publisher-Editor ARNOLD E. BELLEZA, Executive Editor FELIPE F. SALVOSA 2ND, Managing Editor LEENA C. CHUA, News Editor LYNETTE O. LUNA, National Editor TESSA MAURICIO-ARRIOLA, Lifestyle Editor PERRY GIL MALLARI, Sports Editor DINO RAY V. DIRECTO 3RD, Motoring Editor LEA MANTO-BELTRAN, Supplements Editor JOMAR CANLAS, Chief of Reporters RENE H. DILAN, Chief Photographer DANTE F. M. ANG 2ND, President and CEO BLANCA C. MERCADO, #HIEF /PERATING /FkCER RODA A. ZABAT, Advertising Director VICENTE P. CRUZ, JR., Circulation Director DENISE O. CALNEA, Marketing Communications and Services Director Telephone All Departments: 524-5665 to 66; Subscription: 524-5664 Local 222 Advertising: 524-5664 Local 121 Telefax: 310-5895 or e-mail advertising@manilatimes.net XXX NBOJMBUJNFT OFU t F NBJM OFXTEFTL!NBOJMBUJNFT OFU Letters to the Editor THE MANILA TIMES is published daily at 2/F Sitio Grande, 409 A. Soriano Avenue, Intramuros, Manila 1002 The owners, managers, publishers and editors do not necessarily share the opinions expressed and the statements made by individual authors of columns, commentaries and other articles published in The Manila Times.
Weaponizing laughter, sex jokes and videochats ON THE W CONTRARY
HEN the forces of the universe conspired to create a happy place, they would have most likely found their mark in the Philippines. Our country is not just a happy place. It is an outrageously happy place with an oversupply of wit and humor that can easily turn tragedy into comedy, and convert a disaster into material for stand-up comedians. The universe must have been kind to us. After all, with the heavy dose of natural calamities and human-made political and economic disasters, we could have easily imploded had we not been equipped with the weapons of parody and laughter. We navigate
ANTONIO CONTRERAS the challenges in our lives with our killer sense of humor. It is because we really typify what politics has become. We have always seen politics as a theater of the absurd, that in order to survive it, we had to defend ourselves by weaponizing laughter to help us kGHT AND SURVIVE LIFE S HARDSHIPS We are probably the only country in the world where people laugh at someone who slips and falls, instead
of calling a medic. When the rebel MILITARY FORCES WERE EXCHANGING kRE with government troops in one of the many coup attempts against Cory Aquino, I was asked by curious Americans how it was that there were PEOPLE WATCHING THE kREkGHT ) TOLD them they were enjoying the reality show, which was a lot better than watching action movies. We really know when to have fun, whether it is in the middle of a coup ATTEMPT OR AMID lOODWATERS OR EVEN in the aftermath of a deadly killer tyPHOON $ESPITE THE lOODING BROUGHT by Ondoy, people still managed to celebrate birthdays. CNN’s Anderson
Cooper stood in awe at the resilience of the people of Tacloban who found time to wave their hands and smile at the camera, play basketball and laugh in the midst of the devastation brought by Yolanda. And this is in contrast to how imAGES OF lOODING IN OTHER PLACES ARE presented. While we see panic and desperation in some countries, where we witness people desperately at a loss on how to cope with rising waters, &ILIPINOS kND WAYS TO NAVIGATE THE lOODED STREETS TO REACH THEIR DESTINAtion or to escape. Floods even become opportunities for children to play
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Failure of bicameralism and other sorrows The chamber leadership has no identity together, having been cobbled together from a patchwork of parties. A single senator can screw up the consideration of bills or doom them to defeat on just his say-so or opposition. This period in national history bids to be remembered as the longest gridlock in history, and probably the costliest. If President Duterte makes good on his threat to veto the 2019 national BUDGET AFTER ,ENT WE WILL SEE kRSTHAND the failure of bicameralism in our constitutional system. It will be as crippling to national life as the government shutdowns that have periodically hobbled the US government. The Senate may need the grace of a resurrection.
Just live with it The President issued the threat during a campaign rally in Bacolod City earlier this week. He said: “The budget has just been submitted to me. I have to sign it once I return. I am still studying the budget [which was submitted to the] Office of the 0RESIDENT 4HE /FkCE OF THE 0RESIdent is not the budget.‌ “So, ang legal ko magbasa uli. Ngayon, pagka talagang tagilid ’yan (My legal team is reading it. Now, if it is problematic), I will outright veto the entire budget,â€? he added. Duterte noted that the House of Representatives and Senate have been bickering over alleged insertions in the budget. “Hindi magkasundo ang Congress pati ang Senado eh, pati ’yung mga insertions diyan, titingnan ko (Congress and Senate cannot reach an agreement. I will look at the insertions),â€? the Chief Executive said. “Pagka tagilid talaga (If it is really problematic), I will not hesitate to veto the entire budget. Eh, ’di pasensya tayong lahat (We just have to live with it),â€? he added.
Bickering of House and Senate The passage of the spending bill was hampered by the mudslinging among lawmakers and between
some House members and the budget department. Because of the delayed appropriations law, the government has been operating on a reenacted budget since the start of the year. A reenacted budget until April will bring down full-year economic growth to 6.1 to 6.3 percent, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). Economic growth is expected to slow down to 4.9 to 5.1 percent if the budget is enacted in August and to 4.2 to 4.9 percent if no new spending bill is passed this year. An earlier advisory that the President may sign the budget on Monday was abruptly withdrawn. Now, according to presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo, the President could sign it after the Holy Week break, which effectively means after Easter Sunday, April 21.
Bicameralism object of ambivalence Troubled relations between the two chambers of the Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, principally account for the budget impasse. The 1986 Constitutional Commission, which drafted the 1987 Constitution, decided to adopt a shift from the unicameral to a bicameral legislature in the new Charter. The change passed by a margin of one vote in the Concom. The main impetus for the change was the desire of many members and no doubt, of President Cory Aquino herself, to restore the Philippine Senate in the government system, whose members would be elected nationally. They wanted the chamber to serve again as a training ground for future leaders, and guard against ill-considered legislation. According to Concom member Jose N. Nolledo in his account of the work of the Concom: “Those who objected to a bicameral legislature had very good arguments. They raised the arguments of simplicity and economy and pointed out that the presidential veto power is SUFkCIENT CHECK FOR HASTY AND ILL considered measures. They warned that the deadlocks between the two
houses might prove disadvantageous and truly wasteful.� Nolledo also cited the broad historical background of the Philippine legislature: “We began with a unicameral legislature in the form of the Philippine Commission in 1902; then under the Jones Law, we shifted to a bicameral legislature with the Philippine Commission as the upper house and the Philippine Assembly as the lower house; but under the1935 Constitution, we returned to a unicameral body which lasted for about six years because in 1940, our Constitution was amended reverting to a bicameral legislature. The 1973 Constitution returned to the unicameral body, and the 1986 Constitutional commission decided to adopt the bicameral system.� Concom member Florangel Braid offered this rationale for bicameralism: “The system balances social and political interests. The senators being elected nationwide represented national interest while the congressmen of the lower house represented the interests of their respective districts. A chain of checks and balances is made systematically when the lower house passes a bill, the upper house scrutinizes it well, the President studying it for possible veto, and the Supreme Court analyzing it on its constitutionality.� Fr. Joaquin Bernas, S.J., another Concom member, cited the reasoning behind bicameralism in his book, A Living Constitution (Ateneo de Manila University Press, Quezon City, 2003): “One of the reasons for opting for a bicameral body is precisely to allow the two houses to check each other. Neither house may allow itself to be gobbled up by THE OTHER ‡ EVEN IF THE OTHER HAS A yawning insatiable maw. The Senate, if it maintains its dignity and honor AND kDELITY TO ITS POPULAR MANDATE must not allow itself to be swallowed by the larger House. To do so is to betray a public trust.�
Problem began with senators’ pork Talking about, honor, dignity and MANDATE IS kNE 4HE PROBLEM BEGAN
when the senators started coveting also their own pork barrel or earmarks, as they looked with envy at the appropriations from public works projects secured by lower house members for their respective districts. Originally, the House lobbied only for a Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to be distributed among the 250 districts represented in the Congress. The senators lobbied for their own share, to the tune of P200 million per senator, and set it as a condition for their support of the appropriations bill. The senatorial demand turned PDAF into a monstrosity. When the Supreme Court looked at PDAF, the justices said PDAF on its face was unconstitutional. The ruling was crushing. Despite the ruling, however, some legislators were undeterred. Especially the then senator Alan Peter Cayetano who went around telling his fellow legislators not to lose heart. He or someone came up with the idea of making “insertions� in the appropriations act to restore the pork barrel. It was in these circumstances that "insertions" became a standard stratagem of lawmakers to secure pork.
Facing Duterte Now, the lawmakers and their insertions must face President Duterte and his pen, eyeball to eyeball. If as I hope and believe, the President uses his veto to strike down pork insertions in the 2019 national budget, he will signal a new beginning in the responsible preparation and legislation of the annual general appropriations act. He will effectively protect as he has promised the people’s money from the predators in the Congress. He will commence the obserVANCE OF kSCAL PRUDENCE IN THE CONduct of government. For months, he has gone after officials who wasted public funds on travel perks abroad. Now, he will go after the gargantuan appropriations from lawmakers who defraud the people OF INkNITELY MORE PUBLIC MONEY
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