EvEryman

By Prof. Edmund S. Tayao

IT APPEARS we have not learned much from substantive exchanges we have had several times before in considering revising the Constitution.

With the revival of discussions on the subject, I am hearing the same arguments against.

I am hearing the same arguments for other options other than revising the constitution.

The same reasons are being raised by those who do not favor any amendment to the Constitution, and the same cautionary points are being raised by those who would say they support revising the Constitution, except that they favor particular changes, if not approaches to changes, or even the most oxymoron of arguments: that the timing is not right.

Let’s start with this most common of questions and or reservation, that it is not yet time, or that it is not timely to amend the Constitution, that there are so many issues that we should be concerned with and therefore prioritize.

There are also those who are more categori-

Wow! He wants to be like justices of the Supreme Court who have Baguio City offices and residences where they meet during the hot summer months?

Masungi is not as cool as Baguio, but it certainly is cooler than Munti.

Masungi should be a tad colder that the highlands of Tanay before retired generals got titles or tax declarations to government land and parked themselves, their fighting cocks, and now weekend resorts thereat.

What used to be beautiful scenery has now become a hodgepodge of commercial and residential areas, sooner than soon densely populated as well.

That is what will happen to the Masungi Georeserve, its flora and fauna now conserved well by a foundation under an agreement with the DENR in 2002. It is part of the wooded landscape that protects the Upper Marikina watershed.

There is so much more government property in Region 4 if the justice secretary wants to have a prison compound other than in Region 4-A whether in Batangas, Laguna, or even his native Cavite.

Not a beautifully preserved environment such as Masungi, please!

President Marcos Jr. must revoke a proclamation signed by his predecessor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, in order to save Masungi for generations yet to come.

That would be key for the Land Registration Authority, which like the Bureau of Corrections is under the supervision of the DOJ, to revoke the OCT it issued last year.

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Several Facebook and Instagram posts taken from the poolside area of Sofitel show the bay overtaken by gray sand, the result of reclamation granted willy-nilly by the Philippine Reclamation Authority and local government units with jurisdiction over their municipal waters.

It is a clear uglification of Manila Bay.

Through it all, the DENR, then under a retired general, now under a wealthy landowner steeped in the hallowed halls of academia, has been eerily silent.

Manila, or Metro Manila, is one of the most densely populated urban centers in the world. Uncontrolled migration into the metropolis has been going on since after the Second World War.

Open spaces and green patches have been taken over by informal settlers from west to east, north to south.

Now developers are rushing reclamation using sand from Zambales and other parts to fill up the sea in some 18 approved projects from Navotas in the north to Cavite in the southwest.

Some of these have been awarded to developers willy-nilly, that their metes and bounds overlap.

Once construction starts in the reclaimed areas, more workers will migrate to the metropolis, and will never return to the countryside, depleting our farms of manpower, and congesting NCR further, well beyond carrying capacity.

And then, construction work finished, they will re-populate our fetid slums.

And for what? For wealthy foreigners to buy condominium units facing our fabled sunset at the expense of the inner cities and the environment, while adding to the billions already owned by its developers?

What history once referred to as the Pearl of the Orient will forever be marred and defaced, all because there is no foresight, no urban planning, no pride of place, only monumental greed.

What a country!

“THE country will not lose one inch of its territory,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told graduates of the Philippine Military Academy last week, reiterating what he said during his inauguration on June 30 last year.

That he is taking a consistent position on the territorial and maritime dispute with China in the South China Sea is a positive development.

It demonstrates his firm resolve to uphold national sovereignty, territorial integrity and the national interest as mandated by no less than our fundamental law.

The Philippine government should not budge an inch from its duty to defend our Exclusive Economic Zone from Chinese incursions and harassment because we stand on the side of international law and a rules-based international order.

We won our case before the Permanent Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague that affirmed our maritime rights in our EEZ and invalidated China’s outlandish claim of ownership over practically the whole of the South China Sea based on a mythical “nine-dash-line.”

Hence, China has no cogent reason to harass our Coast Guard from defending our EEZ as what its Coast Guard recently did, which was to flash a military-grade laser in the direction of our own Coast Guard vessel performing a resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal we claim as part of our EEZ. We need to take a two-pronged approach to this issue.

We need to muster much broader international support to deter China from committing more acts of aggression in our EEZ

On one hand, we should continue to build a credible defense posture and modernize our military so we can effectively counter bullying and intimidation by the China Coast Guard and maritime militia disguised as civilian fishing vessels in our EEZ. And on the other, we should intensify diplomatic efforts to gain international support behind our stand against China’s intensified acts

Our treaty ally United States was the first to issue a statement of support: “The PRC’s conduct was provocative and unsafe (as it interfered) with the Philippines’ lawful operations in and around Second Thomas Shoal.”

The Japanese embassy in Manila agreed with this stand: “All states should respect maritime order based on international law, in particular UNCLOS, and recall that 2016 Arbitral Award is final and legally binding. We firmly oppose any action that increases tensions.” Canada expressed its “firm and unwavering” support for Manila, urging Beijing to comply with its international obligation as party to UNCLOS. “Recent actions that disrupted the lawful operations of Philippine vessels off the coast of the Philippines are in violation of international law and contrary to the maintenance of regional peace and stability, and the rules-based international order.”

Germany also called out China’s “intimidatory action” against the PCG: “All states must abide by UNCLOS. The 2016 Arbitral Award is final and legally binding.”

And Australia also described China’s actions toward the Philippines “unsafe and intimidatory… We continue to call for peace, stability and respect for international law in the South China Sea, a vital international waterway.”

We need to muster much broader international support to deter China from committing more acts of aggression in our EEZ, or else we will wake up one day to find what is rightfully ours irretrievably lost.

‘Critical Infrastructure EO’ to fast-track sustained prosperity

WE ALL want to move on and recover from the deep economic scars inflicted by the COVID 19 pandemic.

We have survived and have learned to live with this virus and will hopefully soon develop natural resilience the way we can routinely handle the common cold.

However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has sparked a dangerous geopolitical conflict that is radiating economic shock waves across the interlinked economies of the world, hitting the country with high fuel prices and inflation that has further added to the daily burden of all consumers and business enterprises.

In this complex environment the government has aptly avowed to focus on economic recovery in response to the most urgent concerns of a people who are striving to make up for three years of difficult disruption and needs an empowering ecosystem to pursue their dreams of prosperity to which government is duty bound to deliver.

Responsive policy making is very critical in this mission to accelerate the velocity of economic growth in an inclusive, sustainable, and people centered approach, and, to be responsive entails an accurate appreciation of the problems and the potential of drivers of the economy, which is the private sector.

It is very encouraging President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has been engaging the Private Sector Advisory Council wherein the country’s industry leaders in the infrastructure sector have vowed support for the execution of infrastructure programs of the administration.

The state of Philippine infrastructure has been one of the uncompetitive factors for attracting foreign investments.

We need to build a robust manufacturing industry that would create millions of quality jobs for our skilled and young workforce instead of losing to other countries with job opportunities that are often less optimal for their qualifications. The country’s digital, transportation, and power infrastructure are key indicators of competitiveness.

The 2022 annual global competitiveness report of the International Institute for Management Development Yearbook ranked the Philippines 48th out of 63 economies which is a four-step improvement from the previous year but for five years remains second to the last among 14 countries among Asia-Pacific neighbors.

Anyone who has visited other Asian countries will immediately feel how better infrastructures are and how nice it is to do business and be a tourist.

This ‘Critical Infrastructure EO’ may prove to be the President’s developmental legacy that will be valid beyond the myopic 6-year political timeline

Coming back to our old airports, traffic jams, connectivity issues are often frustrating reminders of how our infrastructures are below global standards.

The PSAC and The Anti-Red Tape Authority have jointly called for the issuance of an Executive Order to institutionalize the ARTA Telecommunications Sector initiatives that took effect through Joint Memorandum Circulars that have resulted in substantial increase in telecommunications towers but must be further sustained to catch up with a backlog delayed by decades of red tape.

More than the JMC guidelines to speed up permits and licenses to build digital infrastructure, the proposed EO should adopt provisions of Republic Act 11494 of the Bayanihan to Recover Act in Section 4 “Undertaking measures in partnership with appropriate internet and communication service providers in the acceleration of the deployment of critical Information and Communications Technology infrastructure” and authorizing measures for the “Temporary suspension of requirements to secure permits and clearances for the construction of telecommunications and internet infrastructure”;

“Streamlining of regulatory processes and procedures for the development and improvement of digital, internet and satellite technology infrastructure”; and directing all government agencies and LGUs to “act on all pending and new applications for permit, license, certificate, clearance, authorization and resolutions within a non-extendable period of seven working days.”

Furthermore RA 1194 directs “the DPWH and other government agencies to expedite the implementation of infrastructure programs and projects to generate local employment and stimulate the local economy”; that “infrastructure flagship projects identified by the National Economic and Development Authority shall be fasttracked to pump prime the economy and help promote national economic recovery; all permits and licenses including local government permits, licenses, clearances and registration requirement for infrastructure flagship projects shall be deemed waived for a period of one year; permit requirements relating to environmental laws, health and occupational safety shall continue to be applicable and subject to a processing time of seven working days; that all laws requiring the permits waived under this provision shall be deemed amended during this one (1)-year period of fast-track development.”

Adopting these provisions to the Executive Order being pushed by PSAC and ARTA, and extending these to all critical infrastructure such as land, air, and maritime transportation, will address the bureaucratic blockades that have been suppressing our potential to be a robustly prosperous nation endowed with rich natural and human resources with the skills and driving spirit to excel.

This “Critical Infrastructure EO” may prove to be the President’s developmental legacy that will be valid beyond the myopic 6-year political timeline.

Charter Change, timing and mode of change (1)

cal and rather simplistic with their reservation of changing the constitution under the current President, being a Marcos.

Perhaps the limitation is borne out of perspective, of the work they have been doing all this time.

I have been involved in initiatives to change the Constitution since the time of former Presidents Ramos, Erap and GMA, and the reservation has always been “not at this time.”

Not during the time of Ramos, not during the time of Erap and not during the time of GMA.

Now again, here we are, hearing the same, not during the time of President Marcos.

What many do not realize is that if we will be tied with this reservation, I am afraid we will never be able to change our Constitution.

Of course, that would be preferred by some.

This will be quite unfortunate, however, as many of the issues we have been facing, especially development issues, are due largely to the kind of government that we have, to the limitations in choices of leaders, and especially to the lack of accountability in government.

These are all issues of “mechanisms” that are all defined by the kind of political system, of the processes we have in choosing our leaders.

As long as we continue with the current setup, we will be electing the same kind of leaders that some will likely not trust enough to change anything fundamental such as the constitution. Then there are those who say that we actually have a good, even perfect constitution, that there are good provisions but have simply not been im- plemented as there is no legislation yet enacted to implement it.

One supposed constitutionalist argued incessantly that all that Congress would have to do is pass legislation to implement the “antipolitical dynasty” provisions in the Constitution and that should address political issues, that we have been electing the same people, that our choices are limited only to political families or dynasties.

There are also those who argue that we have to enact laws to effectively implement the good “social justice” provisions in the Constitution and it will then level the playing field in the economy, labor and other related issues.

What we don’t realize or even perhaps would not want to consider is, however we raise our voices to complain the non-passage of important, game changing legislations, it will never be passed.

How many congresses have we had where proposals for an anti-political dynasty law have been just ignored?

Until such time we change the rules of elec- tions, representation and even executive-legislative dynamics, we will never have a legislature that will pass critical legislations.

We have not been electing our leaders on the basis of what they have in mind to champion if elected, right?

Why are we expecting them to be suddenly inclined to pursue compelling legislations? I have written considerably in this regard. We’ll never get the government we deserve, for example.

The point is, revising the Constitution is a political decision, it is never a question of timing. (To be continued)

(The author is currently a faculty at the San Beda University Graduate School of Law and Executive Director of the pioneer NGO on Local Governance, the Local Government Development Foundation or LOGODEF. He was also a member of the Consultative Committee to Review the 1987 Constitution convened by former President Rodrigo Duterte that drafted the ‘Bayanihan Federal Constitution of the Philippines.’)

PORING over family photographs, Jessica Watt Dougherty voices anguish over her father’s death—which she attributes to misinformation on an online platform, an issue at the heart of a knotty US debate over tech regulation.

The US Supreme Court will this week hear high-stakes cases that will determine the fate of Section 230, a decades-old legal provision that shields platforms from lawsuits over content posted by their users.

The cases, which are among several legal battles nationwide to regulate internet content, could hobble platforms and significantly reset the doctrines governing online speech if they are stripped of their legal immunity.

“I watched my father die over the screen of my phone,” Dougherty, an Ohio-based school counselor, told AFP. Her father, 64-year-old Randy Watt, refused to get vaccinated and died alone in a hospital last year after struggling with COVID-19.

After his death, his family discovered that he had a secret virtual life on Gab, a far-right platform that observers call a petri dish of misinformation and conspiracy theories.

To his vaccinated family members, his Gab activities explained why he chose not to get inoculated against COVID-19, a decision that ultimately had fatal consequences.

The influence of vaccine misinformation on Gab was also apparent after Watt drove himself to the hospital and started what his family called an “illness log,” documenting to his followers how he treated himself for the coronavirus.

He wrote that he was on drugs such as ivermectin, which US health regulators say is ineffective, and in some instances dangerous, to use as a treatment for COVID-19. Gab, which has millions of followers, is rife with posts promoting ivermectin.

“I feel very, very strongly that the content (on Gab) is careless and disrespectful, racist and scary,” Dougherty said.

“My dad spent a lot of time virtually surrounded by people with ideas about the pandemic being a hoax, COVID being fake, the vaccine being unsafe, the vaccine being deadly... Those are the belief systems (he) took on.”

Such assertions that platforms are responsible for false or harmful user content are at the core of the Supreme Court cases. AFP or sovereignty, and,

US SECRETARY of State was born on August 6, 1998, in Manila Philippines. I have been a resident of the Philippines since birth. At present, I am a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China (P.R.O.C.)

Antony Blinken warned China not to repeat its “irresponsible act” of sending a spy balloon into American airspace, as he held rare talks late Saturday with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi.

The highly anticipated meeting of the two senior officials came on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The US has been in a state of alarm since a huge white balloon from China was spotted over a series of secret nuclear weapons sites, before being shot down just off the east coast on February 4.

The incident led Blinken to abruptly call off a rare trip to China.

During their encounter Saturday, Blinken “directly spoke to the unacceptable violation of US sovereignty and international law by (China’s) high-altitude surveillance balloon in US territorial airspace, underscoring that this irresponsible act must never again occur,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

“The Secretary made clear the United States will not stand for any violation of our sovereignty,” he added.

He also warned Wang “about the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia or assistance with systemic sanctions evasion,” Price said.

Blinken was “very direct and candid” during the talks, which lasted around an hour, according to a senior State Department official.

He was also “quite blunt” as they spoke about Russia, the official said.

In turn, Wang told Blinken that their countries’ relations had been damaged by how Washington reacted to the balloon.

4. My father's name is TAN KIAN TING A.K.A. JAMES B. TY and he was born on January 26, 1960, in Manila. He is a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China. My mother's name is ZHUANG WEIXUAN and she was born on March 11, 1978 in Fujian,

Beijing denies it uses spy balloons and says the craft was for weather research. Subsequently it accused Washington of sending its own espionage balloons over Chinese territory, which the US has denied.

Wang “made clear China’s solemn position on the so-called airship incident,” and “urged the US side to change course, acknowledge and repair the damage that its excessive use of force caused to China-US relations,” state news agency Xinhua reported. AFP a VIP preview at Art Wynwood in Miami, and some collectors thought it was performance art or a staged stunt.

The sculpture sat alone on an acrylic base emblazoned with Koons’s surname.

“I saw this woman was there, and she was tapping (the sculpture), and then the thing fell over and shattered into thousands of pieces,” artist Stephen Gamson told a Fox News affiliate in Miami.

Gamson told reporters he thought the woman tapped on the artwork to see if it was a real balloon. A bystander took a video as gallery employees swept up the glass shards.

“I can’t believe somebody would knock that over,” a voice is heard to say on the video. AFP

NORTH Korea said Sunday it had test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile as a warning to Washington and Seoul, saying the successful “surprise” drill demonstrated Pyongyang’s “capacity of fatal nuclear counterattack.” and mighty counterattack,” KCNA said.

Leader Kim Jong Un ordered the “sudden launching drill” at 8 a.m. Saturday (2300 GMT) and a Hwasong-15 missile—a weapon first tested by the North in 2017 –was fired from Pyongyang airport that afternoon, the official KCNA reported.

The launch was “actual proof” of the country’s “capacity of fatal nuclear counterattack on the hostile forces,” it added.

The sanctions-busting launch came just days before Seoul and Washington are due to start joint tabletop exercises aimed at improving their response in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack.

Israeli strike hits heart of Syria’s security elite

AN ISRAELI missile strike aimed at Iranian and Hezbollah targets early Sunday killed 15 people and destroyed a building in a Damascus neighborhood home to much of Syria’s security apparatus, a war monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike, which hit close to an Iranian cultural center, had killed 15 people including civilians.

predominance of one's ideas. I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy. I have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude. I am not suffering from mental alienation or from any incurable contagious disease. The country of which I am a citizen or subject is not at war with the Philippines and grants to Filipinos the right to be naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.

It is my true and honest intention to

South Korea’s military said it detected an ICBM launch at 17:22 (0822 GMT) Saturday, which Japan said flew for 66 minutes before splashing down in its Exclusive Economic Zone, with their analysis indicating it was capable of hitting the mainland United States.

North Korea’s leadership hailed the test – the country’s first in seven weeks—saying it showed “the actual war capacity of the ICBM units which are ready for mobile

Pyongyang had last week warned of an “unprecedentedly” strong response to upcoming drills, which it describes as preparations for war and blames for the deteriorating security situation on the Korean peninsula.

The Saturday test is significant as “the event was ordered the dayof and so this is not so much a traditional ‘test’, but an exercise,” US-based analyst Ankit Panda told AFP.

“We should expect to see additional exercises of this sort,” he added. AFP

“Israeli missiles targeted sites including Iranian militias and the Lebanese Hezbollah,” it added.

During more than a decade of war in Syria, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes against its neighbor, primarily targeting positions of the country’s army, Iranian forces and Hezbollah, allies of the Damascus regime. But it rarely hits residential areas of the capital.

Sunday’s strike hit in Kafr Sousa, home to senior officials, security agencies and intelligence headquarters.

“At 00:22 am (2222 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights targeting several areas in Damascus and its vicinity, including residential neighborhoods,” Syria’s defense ministry said in a statement. AFP