Opinion
B2
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com
HORROR-FUL...
From A1
relentless insomnia that drives him to hallucination and death. Most, if not all of these classic works may be read for free on the Internet. In the modern era, the name “Stephen King” is synonymous with horror the world over, thanks to his best-selling books in the genre that he regularly churns out. Many of his works have been made into movies that were the stuff of our adolescent nightmares; because of them we fear clowns (It), vampires (Salem’s Lot), and large dogs (Cujo). King’s use of language is genius, the tone and flow so attractive and hypnotic that his books have often been described as “unputdownable.” A National Medal of Arts awardee in 2015, he was hailed for being “one of the most popular and prolific writers of our time,” combining “his remarkable storytelling with his sharp analysis of human nature.” While some might find his novels, particularly the latter ones, slow and meandering (Duma Key, The Cell), his short stories are always gripping. Among his short story collections, my favorites are Night Shift (containing “Children of the Corn,” which was later adapted into a feature film), Different Seasons, Skeleton Crew, Four Past Midnight, and Nightmares and Dreamscapes. His latest collection, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, is now out in paperback. The tome leads with “Mile 81,” at once a story of courage, curiosity, altruism, and mind-shattering fright, starring brave children, clueless adults, and a haunted car. He has used these themes to good effect before (It, Christine), but in his hands they gain new life in this story. For those who want to explore this genre further, short story anthologies are an efficient and affordable way to get a broad overview of the different styles and themes. Happy Halloween! Let me leave you with a warning from M. R. James: “Be careful how you handle the packet you pick up in the carriage-drive, particularly if it contains nail-parings and hair. Do not, in any case bring it into the house. It may not be alone…” Dr. Ortuoste is a California-based writer. Follow her on Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Instagram: @jensdecember.
MY STORY starts with me staring up at the night sky, laughing to myself, in the middle of a residential street in Sta. Mesa, Manila. Let me provide some context. Because of the weather, it’s been months since I have last seen actual stars. Virtual, digital stars I am used to seeing. I teach the basics of stargazing and astronomy almost every Sunday at The Mind Museum in Bonifacio Global City. The museum has a modest planetarium where I can project a virtual sky. I use this virtual sky to teach how to use the stars to navigate, tell the time, find planets, enjoy meteor showers, and more. When I feel like it, I also use the virtual sky to take my “passengers” (my audience) on a virtual voyage across space. A virtual sky has many advantages over the real sky. In a virtual sky, I can get rid of clouds. I can even get rid of the light pollution and the atmosphere, if I want. I can also control the time, making it go fast or go on reverse. This allows me to show the guests the patterns of the sky’s motions. Lastly, I can project the shapes of the constellations against the virtual night sky. That said, nothing beats the magic of the real night sky, even if that night sky is
MUSIC... From A1 halls of some Glorietta malls, where they are able to entertain and inspire shoppers despite the lack of technical (acoustic) reinforcements. For Saturday’s concert, the children—ages ranging from nine to 18— will play the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart alongside contemporary, popular pieces of Queen, Michael Jackson, Coldplay, Guns N’ Roses and Nirvana. Tickets for the show come at P1,000 each and are available at Ticketworld, MSO Music Academy branches (Taft Avenue and Glorietta 5) and at the CCP. Donations and sponsorships come in packages of P10,000, P30,000 and
SPECIAL REPORT By Virgilio C. Galvez PART II FEDERALISM has long been imagined
as an alternative to the current system of government. Its proponents admit, however, that it is not the silver bullet that will slay the monsters of poverty, corruption, and inequality that continue to plague the nation.
The Abueva draft
“A federal-parliamentary democracy is not proposed as a panacea or cure all for our myriad ills as a nation. There is no such thing as a cure all,”says Jose V. Abueva, chairman of the Citizen’s Movement for a Federal Philippines (CMFP), in his paper on federalism. He views it as the appropriate structure that will nurture and promote ‘good governance’ and facilitate the “redistribution of power, wealth and opportunities in our unjust society ruled by an oligarchy.” Abueva headed the Consultative Commission created on Aug. 19, 2005 by then President Gloria Arroyo to draft a new charter. In December, Abueva submitted a draft proposing a federal system and liberalization of the economic provisions in the 1987 constitution. Arroyo, however, dropped the federalism proposal and only pushed for the adoption of a unicameral, parliamentary government through a people’s initiative. The Supreme Court would eventually junk, by an 8-7 vote, a petition for the holding of a plebiscite on the draft amendment. The proposed Federal Republic in the Abueva draft would have a federal government based in Clark Economic Zone, in Angeles, Pampanga and 11 regional Estados or governments: 1. Bangsamoro (ARMM), 2. Davao region and Central Mindanao, 3. Zamboanga Peninsula and Northern Mindanao, 4. Central and Eastern Visayas, 5. Western Visayas-Palawan, 6. Southern Luzon, 8. Metro Manila (NCR), 9. Central Luzon, 10. Cordillera, and 11. Northern Luzon. The Federal government would be responsible only for national security and defense, foreign relations, currency and monetary policy, citizenship, civil, political and other human rights, immigration, customs, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Tribunal, and the Court of Appeal, and such functions of federal governments. The 11 Estados and the local governments, on the other hand, would take care of functions and services “that impact directly on the lives of the people including peace and justice; agriculture and fisheries; energy, environment and natural resources; trade, industry and tourism, labor and employment, public works, transportation and communication; health; basic education, science and technology; culture (language, culture and the arts); social welfare and development; and public safety and police.”
THE FEDERALIST PAPERS Parlamento
In Abueva’s draft, the executive and legislative powers would be lodged in the Parlamento which shall be divided into the House of the People (Sambayanan) and the House of the States (Balay Estados or Senado). Sambayanan representatives will be elected in parliamentary districts while Senadores will be elected by members of the Batasang Estados or State Assemblies. The Parlamento will elect the Prime Minister from among themselves, who will, in turn, form a Cabinet composed mostly of members of the Parlamento. A ceremonial President will be elected for a term of 5 years by the Parlamento and State Assemblies. Judicial power will be vested in a Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. A Constitutional Tribunal will also be created which will solely resolve disputes involving the constitutionality of the decisions and actions of the Federal government and the States. A Federal Civil Service shall also be created which will be source of professional career executives and administrative staff of the Federal government.
Regional government
As envisioned in the Abueva draft, the State Assembly exercises executive and legislative powers. The members of the Assembly will be elected from each State Assembly district, except for Metro Manila whose assembly will be composed of the mayors of the local government units. The State Assembly will elect a State Governor and Vice Governor. The Governor will form the State Council (Cabinet) who will be composed mostly of members of the State Assembly. Local government units that exist at the time of the new constitution’s approval will be retained. Judicial power will be lodged in a State Superior Court, Regional Trial Courts, Municipal Courts and other inferior courts. A State Civil Service will also be created at the regional government level. The Abueva Parlamento will be composed of 299 representatives in the Batasang Estado and 28 Senadores in the Balay Estados.
Transitions
Recognizing the uneven political, economic, fiscal, and administrative capacities of the proposed regional Estados and resources within their jurisdictions, the Abueva draft proposes a transition period of 10 years from the adoption of the new charter. “The more developed and ready among the States shall become fully operative on the first five years…and the less developed in the next five years.” It provides however that the Bangsamoro and Cordillera federal regions “shall be enabled to become operative in the first five years.”
Araneta Bayanikasan
One of the first advocates of Federalism was Dr. Salvador Z. Araneta who presented his draft Bayanikasan Constitution to the 1972 Constitutional Convention. Araneta, a nationalist and advocate of Filipino First policies, coined Bayanikasan from the phrase Lakas ng Bayan which he said reflects the “the strength each citizen must possess to build a ‘good society, a great nation.’ His draft charter was endorsed by the Philippine Constitutional Association but did not gain support from a convention that was embroiled in the political maneuvers of the day—with the delegates divided into anti and proMarcos camps. A distinguishing feature of the proposed Federal Republic envisioned by Araneta is that power is shared by a troika—the President, Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament. This will also be the case for the regional state governments.
Collective leadership
The Federal Troika will be elected by Parliament and renounce all party affiliations upon their election to office. The top three in the voting shall be elected as President, Prime Minister, and Speaker of Parliament. Araneta dismissed concerns that his idea would be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth because the Bayanikasan troika would each be working on different dishes. The President shall supervise the Ministry of National Identity, Culture and Education, the Ministry of National Affairs, and the Ministry of National Defense, as well as the Authorities that may be created, and are related to those ministries. The Prime Minister has jurisdiction over all other Ministries of the Federal Government related to the domestic and economic problems and such Authorities, as may be created to support those Ministries. The Speaker of Parliament shall preside at all the meetings of Parliament and direct its affairs. He will also decide on all conflicts of jurisdiction between the President and the Prime Minister. In addition, he will participate in the preparation of the program of government to be submitted annually and from time to time to Parliament.”
Five regional states
Araneta’s draft proposes the creation of regional states: Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, Christian Mindanao, and Muslim Mindanao. Metro Manila will be the seat of the Federal government which shall have control over the capital. The unicameral Parliament, whose representatives will come from each State, will be responsible for the delineation of the boundaries of the five States. The State Troika will be made up of a Governor General, the Premier, and
WHY WE ARE STAR STUFF
the Speaker of the State assembly. The Governor General shall have jurisdiction over peace and order, justice, culture, education, media, and all matters related to the development of human resources “in the spirit of an effective and meaningful democracy for all,” as well as interstate and State and Federal relations. The Premier shall have supervision over natural resources and economic development while the Speaker of the State assembly shall have the corresponding powers and duties of the Speaker of Parliament. Araneta favored a unicameral body because it would do away with gridlock in the legislative mill and would “avoid wastage of materials and human resources.” Members of parliament will be composed of elected representatives from the Regional States, whose numbers will depend on the population within its jurisdiction, and whose terms, at least for the first election, will be limited to six years (for those elected with the highest number of votes) and to three years (for those elected with lowest number of votes). An act of Parliament can be vetoed by the President and Prime Minister but Parliament can override this with a vote of 60 percent of its members.
Judiciary
Another innovative feature of the Araneta’s draft is the proposal to create a Constitutional Tribunal which is co-equal to the Supreme Court. He also pushed for the creation of Special Courts of Original Jurisdiction under the Trihunal to handle all cases involving Public Law. Araneta defines public law as laws involving the State including impeachment proceedings, declaration of the unconstitutionality of an Act of the Legislative or the exercise of Executive powers, taxation cases, public utility cases, conflicts of jurisdiction between different government bodies, between the State government and Federal government and the supervision formerly exercised by the President over the three Constitutional Commissions—Electoral, Civil Service, and Audit. The Tribunal also had jurisdiction over cases against public officials, and election disputes. The Supreme Court, on the other hand, would “deal solely with those cases pertaining to private laws and would speed up the backlog of cases as well as those pending in courts.” Appointees to the Supreme Court are made by the Chief Justice with the consent of the Constitutional Tribunal. Appointments will have to be approved by the Commission on Appointments and will hold office until the age of 65. Knowing full well that the adoption of federalism would take time, Araneta proposes a 10-20-year transition period and recommends that a Caretaker government manage the transformation into a Federal Republic. Continued tomorrow
the light- and air-polluted sky of the big city. And this brings us back to the start of my story. I was walking to my house one night this week when I happened to look up. Orion, Taurus, Gemini, and Canis Major were all high in the sky. Being so used to seeing their virtual versions, it struck me how marvelous the real ones were. I thought to myself, those are real stars I am looking at! I am looking at light from huge balls of gas burning so far, far away. Then I remembered two facts about the sky I’ve always loved. First, when you are looking up to the night sky you are looking at so many layers of the past. Second, staring at stars is staring at furnaces where the very stuff that makes us up was made. And I was there, basking in the time-travelling light of those stuffbaking furnaces. I couldn’t help but stand there for several moments, laughing to myself at how weird existence was. Allow me to explain. When I said that looking up into the night sky is looking into so many layers of the past, that’s because it’s literally true. The stars are so far away that even light, which travels across space at the fastest speed the universe allows, takes years to reach us here on Earth.
So when I was looking at Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, I was looking at light that left Sirius almost nine years ago. I was 19 years old when that light left Sirius; now I am 28. And Sirius is the near one. The stars of the Pleiades, or what many Filipinos call “the Rosary,” are on average 400 lightyears away. That means light from those stars had to travel 400 years to get to you and me. When I said stars are the furnaces where the stuff making us up was made, I was not making stuff up. We literally are made of star stuff. That’s quite a fantastic thing to say, so let me say it again some other way. Most of the stuff making us up— most of the atoms of our bodies—came from stars. One principle in science goes as follows: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. To say that we are made of star stuff is quite an extraordinary claim. In my opinion, it’s more extraordinary that many of the stories of ancient myths. What’s really amazing then is that we have the extraordinary evidence to back it up. So yes, it is true: you are made of star stuff. A little bit more accurately, you are made of star dust. You really, truly are. Isn’t that marvelous?
Here’s how we know it. When we burn elements in the lab, we see that each element releases a unique “fingerprint” in the light they release as they burn. Hence, if we look at light from, say, the Sun, we just need to look at what fingerprints are there. When we analyze light coming from the Sun, we see that it’s mostly hydrogen and helium. As a matter of fact, helium got its name from the Greek personification of the Sun, Helios. It’s the same for almost every other star. There’s no surprise there. When the universe formed some 13.8 billion years ago, it started with mostly just hydrogen and helium. But hydrogen and helium are not enough to make up planets like the Earth. They’re not enough to make up people, or flowers, or butterflies. For those, you need other stuff, like calcium (that can be for the bones), oxygen (that’s to combine with hydrogen to form water), and carbon (to make up the backbone of the most complex molecules in our bodies), among others. We know for a fact that these elements were mostly made inside stars. We know that because we understand how stars burn. They don’t burn the usual way, like things here on
Earth. Instead, they burn by smashing together different elements to form new ones. And here’s the clincher. We know that because when we analyze the light coming from the stars, we find that they are made not only of hydrogen and helium, they are also made of the other things that make us up. So given the extraordinary evidence, scientists can make the extraordinary claim that the stuff that makes up people was cooked inside stars. How did it get to us? Well, the stars had to die first. In their death throws, they exploded with a burst of light and star dust. This star dust scattered across the universe, some of it eventually falling on the newly forming Solar System, seeding that Solar System with the ingredients to make planets, trees, whales, birds, and people. So you and I really are made of star dust. Now try to think of that the next time you see stars in the night sky and not laugh to your self at how ridiculous and marvelous the universe is. I bet you can’t do it.
P100,000. “The music guides me to be a better person for myself and my fellowmen,” says 17-year-old violist Angel Joyce Esteban, who started playing at age 13. And she does not stop there. “To learn music is to discover life. One of my goals is to collect different instruments and learn how to play them all. So far, I have seven of them.” The children are ably guided by their conductor, Professor Jeffrey Solares. He says he does not consider what they do as entertainment, per se. “Our mission is closer to education or human development. What we try to sell are goods for the spirit—things that nurture the soul.” Visit www.ticketworld.com.ph or call the MSO Academy at 09164087549 for details. ***
Meanwhile, 36-year-old pianist and harpist Ryan Villamor believes that jazz in the Philippines needs awakening and hard work. The Ryan Villamor Trio performed last week at Jazz Sessions at the Ayala Museum, an event organized by
The trio performed 15 songs, a mix of jazzy renditions of pop tunes, standards, and sounds for introspection. The central pieces during the show, however, were those that carried a deeply personal theme for Villamor— Ugoy ng Duyan, and two compositions, Laging Kasama and Bedside, both for Villamor’s mother. She is battling Stage 4 ovarian cancer which doctors say has metastasized to the stomach. Most of us are familiar with Ugoy ng Duyan, a lullabye about a mother’s love. “Sana’y di magmaliw ang dati kong araw/ Nang munti pang bata sa piling ni Nanay.” Laging Kasama evokes Villamor’s memories of the time when, as a young boy, his mother brought him everywhere she went because he did not have a nanny.
Bedside, on the other hand, was drawn from Villamor’s sentiments and reflections while caring for his mom. One is awed by the skill of the performers, but even more so by the depth and intensity of Villamor’s love for his ailing mother, now undergoing a thrice-weekly hydrogen peroxide infusion treatment, and his desire to help her manage her pain. “The family is still hoping for a miracle,” he says. The Ryan Villamor Trio will have benefit gigs for Ryan’s mother’s treatment. The gigs will be on November 5 at Bar 1951 in Malate and November 19 at Tago Jazz Cafe on Main Avenue, near Cubao. Tickets sell for P300 each. Text 09177189840 or search Ryan Villamor Music on Facebook for details.
Sometimes you play; sometimes you play for something. the Ayala Foundation in partnership with Tago Jazz Cafe. The trio—Ryan on piano, Given Bacani on drums and Josh Tulagan on bass—showcased its brand of “intuitive music” to an intimate audience.
(Pecier Decierdo is the resident physicist and astronomer of The Mind Museum.)
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