Filipino Teachers Are Forced to Repair Classrooms at Their Own Expense as the DepEd Withholds Funds

For two years face-to-face classes have been suspended. Now that school is about to resume teachers are rushing to prepare. This includes taking out loans to fix their classrooms.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1578832/teachers-taking-out-loans-to-prepare-classrooms

After the rigors of distance learning, perennially underpaid public school teachers now have to use personal resources to retrofit classrooms in preparation for face-to-face classes.

Teachers Dignity Coalition chair Benjo Basas on Tuesday cited reports of teachers having to take out loans in order to buy paint, iron sheets and glass panes to get their classrooms ready.

“That is the problem [of] our teachers. While they are sincere in volunteering, they are being taken advantage of,” Basas said in a phone interview.

He said teachers were not only providing free labor for the enhancement of their classrooms but also soliciting funds from private donors to buy the materials needed for face-to-face classes.

The Department of Education (DepEd) acknowledged the teachers’ added burden and advised them to coordinate with their respective school heads for possible reimbursement.

“We confirm that there are teachers who are doing beyond the regular work for beautifying, enhancing and putting more things in the classroom,” Annalyn Sevilla, DepEd undersecretary for finance, said in a Tuesday press briefing.

“We are thankful to our teachers [for] their creativity and resourcefulness, but we don’t want them to be abused as well,” Sevilla said.

Apart from the regular funds for maintenance and other operating expenses, the DepEd has provided an additional budget of close to P1 billion to support the expansion of in-person classes nationwide.

There are items that can be reimbursed, such as supplies, under the department’s budget and accounting rules and regulations, Sevilla said. Thus, teachers were told to approach their school heads to discuss the existing policies.

But Basas was skeptical. Responding to Sevilla’s statement that teachers could reach out to school heads to talk about reimbursement, he said: “Can they really reimburse [the teachers’ expenses]? Teachers are willing to spend, but they should not be given false hopes.”

This is absolutely shameful. Taking "out loans in order to buy paint, iron sheets and glass panes to get their classrooms ready?" Have the schools become so rundown in two years that they need to be completely refurbished? If the schools need new glass window panes or a new coat of paint shouldn't the Department of Education be paying professionals to do that? They have enough money for personal vehicles.

Why does the DepEd need their own fleet of vehicles? 

So, where are all the funds?

https://mb.com.ph/2022/03/14/wheres-the-budget-deped-urged-to-swiftly-mobilize-funds-for-in-person-classes/

With the gradual resumption of in-person learning in schools, a group urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to ensure that there will be enough funds for the progressive expansion of face-to-face classes.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines, in a statement issued Monday, March 14, asked the DepEd where the budget for school reopening preparations is. This, after receiving reports, that teachers had to spend their own money to fulfill the requirements for the resumption of face-to-face classes. 

“Our teachers and school heads are toiling in schools even on weekends to clean the classrooms, repaint desks, install signages, and others at their own expense so that their schools will pass the validation process for inclusion in the implementation of limited face-to-face classes,” ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio said. 

ACT alleged that in Tarlac, for instance, “teachers shell out money from their own pockets to prepare their classrooms for the expanded implementation of limited face-to-face classes.” 

Based on the accounts of teachers and school heads, Basilio said that the participating schools have not received any additional budget to fund the requirements set by the DepEd and the Department of Health (DOH) to qualify for the limited in-person learning. 

“However, it is not fair that they and their already too meager salaries are made to bear the burden of physically preparing the schools,” he added. 

Basilio alleged almost six months since the DepEd had announced that it is pursuing limited face-to-face classes, the “funds are still unavailable on the ground.” 

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers??  Who cares what they have to say right? They are a communist front don't ya know?

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/03/31/2171110/duterte-pinoys-dont-vote-kabag-candidates

In his public address last Monday, Duterte said the rebels have used the party-list system to infiltrate Congress and referred to them by the acronym KABAG (stomach pains in Filipino).

“You will see from their behavior and the way they espouse their advocacy for a party, their drift is really to the left,” Duterte said. “So you won’t forget, remember the KABAG: Kabataan-K, Anakpawis-A, Bayan Muna-B, (Alliance) of Concerned Teachers- A and Gabriela.”

He accused them of being legal fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), political arm of the communist rebels. In the House of Representatives, these party-list groups form the so-called Makabayan bloc.

“Do not vote for them,” the President said. “Let us put an end to that. Let us give everything to the barangays. We are wasting lives. We are wasting money.”

ACT should not expect their concerns to be addressed anytime soon. That's a win against the insurgency right? Wrong. It's a loss for the Philippines as teachers with low morale and low pay aren't going to be offering adequate instruction because their minds will be elsewhere. As it is less than 10 percent of Filipino children can read simple text or comprehend a simple story.

Insurgency: Work in Progress

NTF-ELCAC spokesman Lorraine Badoy claims her offices programs are working. The proof is in the number of NPA rebels who have surrendered.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171405

Close to 24,000 communist rebels who surrendered to the government are overwhelming proof of the success of the "whole-of-nation approach" being implemented under President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 70 that created the National Task Force to End Local Communists Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), paving the way for genuine and lasting peace.

This was the statement released by the NTF-ELCAC through Spokesperson for Sectoral Concerns and Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy during its weekly virtual press conference, in response to the baseless remarks made by jailed and reelectionist Senator Leila de Lima about the alleged failure of the task force.

In support of Badoy's pronouncement, Navy Capt. Ferdinand Buscato, Executive Director of Task Force Balik Loob, reported that among the 23,641 former members of various communist terrorist groups (CTGs) who surrendered to government authorities, 2,052 are considered “violent extremists.”

Most of the former communist rebels who surrendered, Buscato said, are now enjoying the fruits of their return to the fold of the law, as they have been reintegrated into society with NTF-ELCAC's assistance including livelihood for their families.

Now, if you have been following this blog you would know that number is totally bogus. Last year we were told that between July 2016 and May 2021 18,000 communists rebels had surrendered. Only 3,684 were regular NPA members. The rest were supporters of various kinds.

Now we are to believe that since May 2021 nearly 6,000 communist rebels have surrendered. That is an incredible number. How many were actual NPA fighters? And who are the 2,052 "violent extremists?" Are they NPA fighters? Will the be able to avail of the government's generous benefits program which includes cash, a house, and job training? It is important to know exactly who is surrendering and they never tell the public. Instead they lump everyone together. Remember in 2016 the public was told there were roughly 5,000 NPA fighters. Could it be that they are recruiting and losing members at record speed?

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170916

The League of Parents of the Philippines (LPP) has raised alarm on the call for “intensified recruitment” particularly among the youth by the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), during its 53rd founding anniversary on Tuesday.

LPP chairperson Remy Rosadio said there’s nothing to celebrate in “another attempt” to destruct Filipino lives, particularly the youth.

“It must not be a joyous celebration for Filipino people. This day only marks the atrocities of the communist terrorist groups for already 53 years. This day should only remind us that many of our children's lives had been sacrificed by the communists’ worthless ideologies,” Rosario said during an indignation rally in Mendiola, Manila City on Tuesday.

Members of the anti-communist groups LPP, Liga Independencia Pilipinas, and Yakap ng mga Magulang condemned the 53 years of atrocities perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and its front organizations’ illegal recruitment of youth to join the armed struggle.

“Many parents still crying for the loss of their children who were deceptively recruited by the legal front of CPP-NPA-NDF headed by Joma Sison,” Rosadio said.

On its official website, the CPP-NPA said it will creatively enhance its guerilla tactics “in order to wage extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare on an ever-widening and deepening mass base.”

“As always, the key is to arouse the broad masses of the Filipino people in order for them to rise up in great numbers against the fascist tyranny. In the coming year or two, we must carry out some specific tasks to raise the fighting capacity of the NPA and the masses in order to steadily advance of the revolution,” the CPP's 20-page anniversary statement read.

The CPP said the NPA should muster its strength “militarily and politically.”

“The masses are the source of strength of the NPA. We must aim to strengthen the ties that bind the NPA and the masses. We must aim to mobilize the masses in their numbers,” it said. “There must be a clear plan to recruit thousands upon thousands of Red fighters from among the peasant masses, especially the youth.”

Who knows if the "broad masses of the Filipino people" will be aroused from their slumber to fight the...uh...government? It seems unlikely however there is one interesting thing from this official statement:

The Party and the NPA have successfully frustrated Duterte and his military generals in their repeated declarations of crushing the people’s armed resistance. This is not without losses, of course, due to some internal weaknesses and shortcomings, particularly in terms of adjusting to the changed military situation borne out of the enemy’s new arsenal of weapons and strategies which requires the NPA to adapt new guerrilla methods and tactics of fighting. The preservation and successes of the NPA in most guerrilla fronts, however, continue to prove the political superiority of the people’s war against the enemy’s war against the people.

https://cpp.ph/statements/raise-the-fighting-capability-of-the-npa-and-the-masses-persevere-and-advance-along-the-path-of-protracted-peoples-war/

The truth is that despite Duterte's pledge to end the insurgency before his term ends and all the top military brass taking up that charge the insurgency is not ending anytime soon. Duterte says it's a work in progress.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171161

Despite acknowledging the achievements in the government’s anti-insurgency efforts, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Thursday said the journey towards dismantling communist-terrorist groups in the country remains a "work in progress.”

Speaking during the joint meeting between the National Task Force and Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-RTF-ELCAC) in Region 7 (Central Visayas) in Lapu-Lapu City, he commended the NTF- and RTF-ELCAC for collectively realizing the government’s “holistic and whole-of-the-nation approach” in resolving communist insurgency.

“Your serious efforts to deliver the basic services in conflict-affected areas truly helped in bringing the government closer to the Filipino people,” he said.

He, however, said the government initiative should not stop here.

“The completion of our commitments to achieving peace for the country remains critical in the remaining three months of this administration,” he added.

Duterte enjoined local chief executives in Central Visayas to synergize their local efforts with the NTF RTF-ELCAC in the fight against lawlessness and insurgency and to support the administration's key programs in achieving sustainable security.

“To the government's national and local partners in this endeavor, we assure you of the administration's unrelenting support in your respective initiatives in securing lasting peace,” he said.

Meanwhile, he acknowledged the consequences of continued armed encounters between the military and the communist rebels.

“The idea really is to dismantle. Of course, killing is part of the territory when fighting the communists. Huwag na kayo magtaka na may mamatay diyan (Don’t be surprised if somebody dies there),” he said.

Duterte said his wish for the next administration to continue providing support to the NTF-ELCAC.

“I hope even beyond my term as president our efforts to end local government armed conflict in our regions will never be in vain. The Filipino people deserve a peaceful and prosperous nation and that is what the government should provide. Let us all work hard together for this,” he added.

It seems that Duterte is not confident the insurgency will be crushed within the next 3 months. And he's right. It won't be. Remember, the insurgency is more than the NPA. According to the government it is the KABAG partylist groups too. It's hilarious because KABAG is the initials of the partylist groups but it also means something else.

A self-confessed socialist, President Duterte reiterated his beef against the “Makabayan bloc” and quoted Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) who first identified and christened the “Makabayan bloc” lawmakers with an acronym “KABAG.” The acronym “KABAG” stood for the first letters of the names of the five party list groups, namely: Kabataan; Anak-Pawis; Bayan Muna; Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT); and, Gabriela.

Obviously, this was to denigrate the name of the “Makabayan bloc” which in the English language means patriotic, or love for country.

Actually, “kabag” is a Tagalog word denoting someone has stomachache, or heartburn due to indigestion, or acidic stomach.

When babies suffer “kabag,” my late mother advised us just to make them burp or belch, or make them fart to get the unwanted air out their stomach.

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2022/04/01/2171374/hot-air-kabag

Kabag doesn't mean merely stomachache. It means flatulence. Gas. Farts. So, the patriotic bloc is now the fart bloc. How mature. 

The fact is the government admits it is having a hard time fighting the communists. They claim the second highest official in the land, Vice President Leni Robredo, is in cahoots with the CPP-NPA. The NICA claims there are up to 400,000 communists who have infiltrated various ranks in the government. The partylists which have members in the House have all been linked to the CPP-NPA. No one can say a single word against the Duterte administration or make a single humanitarian gesture without being labelled a communist. Lorraine Badoy is George McCarthy on steroids except McCarthy was 100% correct as history has shown him to be. 

What more could I possibly post here? I collect all the headlines. NPA surrenderers, NPA fronts have been demolished, ASG members surrender, NPA on the way out. It's all the same thing every week. I want to end with a little bit of advice for Badoy. Shut up! If you have the goods and you know who is who then go after them. Don't warn them. Don't alert them. Go after them and get them. If the NTF-ELCAC wants to end the insurgency and they know exactly who is a part of that insurgency then they need to go get them. Use warrants that are bulletproof and not faulty and will be tossed out by the court. Don't use deadly force because you want the people on your side. But most of all...SHUT UP and stop accusing people left and right! Be quiet and do what needs to be done behind the scenes and end the insurgency.

But they are not going to do that. For one it's quite a hard task seeing as the Makabayn Bloc has affiliates overseas who are constantly raising money which is allegedly being funneled to the CPP. It's a difficult task. And after 53 years?  Perhaps the insurgency is now endemic. Perhaps the NTF-ELCAC doesn't want the insurgency to end. After all if the insurgency ended Lorraine Badoy would be out of a job.

The God Culture: You Do Not Live in a Third World Country

Ashamed American and Proud Filipino Timothy Jay Schwab of The God Culture has a profound message for his fellow kababayans. You do not live in a third world country.

10:53 Because He's gonna pour out His Spirit on all flesh. And we're gonna see prophecies and we're gonna see visions and dreams and we're gonna see people being moved and in this nation as the identity of the Philippines is restored we will see that more than in anywhere else on earth. Now, how do I know that? It all goes back to what I'm about to teach you. It all goes back to your identity. Who are you and what is this land?

You do not live in a third world country. I'm sorry, they can try to misdefine it all they want. They have more resources in this nation than practically any place on earth. In fact in all resources on earth the Philippines, the little Philippines, ranks number five in overall resources on all of the earth.    

https://www.facebook.com/sabbathbc.congregation/videos/460905962381641

So, let me get this straight. The Philippines is not a third world country because the nation has a lot of resources? And what are these resources? Untapped mineral reserves? There's gold in the earth and that makes the Philippines precious and its people special? The very notion is ridiculous.

First of all the term third world comes from the Cold War. It is not a derogatory term.

The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World

So, Tim is dead wrong. The Philippines is indeed a third world nation in respect of that definition.

Second of all the term third world country has come to mean a developing nation.

A developing country is a sovereign state with a less developed industrial base and a low Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries.

Developing countries tend to have some characteristics in common often due to their histories or geographies. For example, with regards to health risks, they commonly have: low levels of access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene; energy poverty; high levels of pollution (e.g. air pollution, indoor air pollution, water pollution); high proportion of people with tropical and infectious diseases (neglected tropical diseases); a high number of road traffic accidents; and generally poor infrastructure. Often, there is also widespread poverty, high crime rates, low education levels, inadequate access to family planning services, many informal settlements, corruption at all government levels, and political instability. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country

Could there be a better description of the Philippines than the foregoing paragraph? Going by this definition Timothy Jay Schwab is, as always, wrong. The Philippines is certainly a third world country. Would a first world country be celebrating the fact no one is crapping outside?

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171111

The Department of Health (DOH) has recognized the town of Bobon, Northern Samar for achieving Zero Open Defecation (ZOD) status.

The DOH announced on Thursday that the town met the criteria based on validation by a team from the regional office, local government units, and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (Unicef).

“This is to encourage more municipalities in the region to vie for this very noble and effective strategy to promote environmental sanitation and a healthy Eastern Visayas,” said DOH regional information officer Jelyn Lopez Malibago in a Facebook post.

Bobon is the second town in Northern Samar to earn such status. Last year, Mapanas was declared the first town in the province to achieve the status by the regional validation team. 

Mapanas received PHP200,000 from the provincial government for accomplishing the elimination of open defecation, improved and safe sanitation practices in the town.

The Provincial Board earlier allowed the granting of incentives to towns in Northern Samar that achieved ZOD status as declared by the Department of Health (DOH).

Under the ZOD campaign, the DOH is pushing that each house should have a basic toilet facility by 2025 to achieve universal health care.

As of 2019, only 11 percent of villages nationwide (4,625 out of 42,045) are certified ZOD, where people have abandoned the practice of open defecation, according to DOH, and families have learned to use a toilet and wash their hands after use.

Only 11% of the villages in the Philippines have achieved zero outside defecation? What's wrong with these people? Don't they know the Philippines is full of resources and that their true identity is that they are the Lost Tribes of Israel? Why don't they act like it?

You know what's a more important resource than gold? Food! In the Philippines that means rice. Sadly the Philippines does not produce enough rice to feed the nation so they are, along with China, the world's number one importer of rice.

https://business.inquirer.net/290438/ph-still-worlds-biggest-rice-importer

The Philippines is expected to remain the world’s biggest rice importer this year even with a slowdown in importation due to excessive supply and improved local production.

In a report published this week, the United States Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Services projected the country’s rice imports to reach 2.5 million metric tons (MT) by year-end—lower by 13.8 percent from last year, but still the highest globally.

China, with a population of 1.4 billion, is expected to remain the second biggest rice importer in the world with 2.3 million MT of imported rice.

The Philippines became the world’s biggest rice importer last year with a record 2.9 million MT after the government removed importation limits.

Despite being an agricultural country and with the Department of Agriculture (DA) devoting a bulk of its budget to improve local production, the Philippines’ rice imports have nearly quadrupled in the last three years.

The rice problem continues to grow and there is no end in sight to importing the nation's staple food. I have written at length about the rice problems elsewhere. But why can't the rice farmers realize that the Philippines has lots of resources and that their true identity is that they are the Lost Tribes of Israel? Surely once the know that then domestic rice production will soar, right?

But let's go back to the untapped mineral resources that, according to Kuya Timothy Jay Schwab, make the Philippines not a third world country. Why do they remain untapped after thousands of years?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/business/article/2074698/whats-stopping-philippines-mining-its-riches

When mining investors talk of the Philippines, they often boast of its wealth of untapped mineral reserves. But as one political controversy after another rocks the industry, miners are beginning to worry that’s all they will ever be: untapped.

In one fell swoop, the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shut down more than half of all operating mines last month. According to Secretary Gina Lopez, its audit found “serious environmental violations” in 23 of the country’s 41 mines. The department also cancelled contracts for 75 mining projects still in their exploration stages. The projects are located in watersheds; Lopez said they never should have been approved to begin with.

The country has been marred by many mining disasters, from toxic leaks to mudslides, land-grabbing to smuggling. For many Filipinos, it’s refreshing to see a strong figure standing up against the miners.

The last few years have been difficult for the Philippine mining industry. In 2012, the government decided to overhaul the entire mining tax system, placing a moratorium on all new investment until a new tax law was passed. Five years on, there has been little progress and the moratorium still stands.

“Quite obviously, no foreign investor is going to risk putting money in the Philippines at this point,” Wallace said. “Mining companies are used to dealing with high-risk countries. But there is a limit to what they will take. And where the government can capriciously implement bans and closures… they’re not going to take that chance.”

Mining has a marginal contribution to the Philippine economy. It accounted for just 0.6 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 0.6 per cent of total employment in 2015. But the numbers can be read both ways. The country is getting little out of the mineral reserves it has at hand.

The answer is the government. The Philippines sits on a treasure trove of resources and government regulations are keeping them from being mined.

https://www.bworldonline.com/the-mining-industry-can-save-the-economy/

Our cache of minerals amounts to well over a trillion US dollars, according to the Chamber of Mines. Our estimated levels of metallic and non-metallic minerals was at 7 billion metric tons and 50 billion metric tons, respectively, as per the last comprehensive audit conducted in 1994.

Gold deposits in the Philippines are among the largest in the world with reserves estimated at 101.6 million metric tons. Iron ore reserves are at 298 million metric tons. Among non-metallic minerals, limestone reserves are approximately 19.5 billion tons while marble reserves are at 14.5 billion tons. The Philippines leads the world in chromite resources too.

Despite our enormous mineral resources, the contribution of the mining industry to the economy remains minuscule. As of last year, the share of the mining output to GDP was a mere .06%. It contributed only 1.2% to national tax collection, and comprised only 6.3% of exports. In terms of jobs, it employed less than .04% of the workforce. In contrast, the mining sector in Indonesia accounts for 21% of exports and 7% of GDP.

The reason for the underwhelming performance is the moratorium imposed on new mining permits back in 2012 and the ban on open pit mining in 2017.

I am not going to sit here and type a long article listing everything that is wrong with the Philippines. From thousands of people dying every year due to diarrhea because they don't have access to clean water to fires razing the homes of hundreds of people because they are stacked on top of each other to government corruption I have written about it all on this blog. Documenting the facts about the Philippines no one wants to accept is what this blog is all about. 

If you come to this nation like Kuya Timothy Jay Schwab with blinders on your eyes or your head shoved into a place so that you cannot see what is happening then you're gonna have a bad time. You will be living in a world of lies and you will be, like Tim, telling those lies to others. Sure there's good things about this nation. Boracay is beautiful and there are a lot of untapped resources in the earth. But not everybody lives in Boracay. Many people live in shacks with corrugated tin roofs without proper access to clean running water or electricity. The untapped resources of this nation aren't helping them. Even if those resources were dug out of the earth they would not be helping those people. It's past time for Timothy Jay Schwab to stop lying to Filipinos about who they are and about the reality of this nation. 

"The unbearable whiteness of international law" is an Awful Opinion Column

On April 7, 2022 The Inquirer published one of the worst opinion pieces I have ever read. Unlike the columns of Rigoberto Tiglao which are smartly written while knowingly twisting the facts this article betrays a stunning lack of comprehension of its subject. In essence the writer, Raphael A. Pangalangan, thinks Poland is racist for taking in Ukraine refugees but not Afghan refugees.

https://opinion.inquirer.net/151860/the-unbearable-whiteness-of-international-law

Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine has uprooted the lives of over 10 million people—a quarter of the nation’s population.

The unabashed aggression has been met by an unprecedented humanitarian front. As of the end of March, 2,451,342 Ukrainian refugees had been welcomed into Poland alone—a stark contrast to its (non-)reception of Afghan asylum seekers just three months prior. Further west in Den Haag, just four days into the war, the International Criminal Court-Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) announced its intention to open an investigation into the situation in Ukraine. That decision was eventually overtaken by 41 state referrals allowing the OTP to bypass the need for judicial authorization and streamline the investigation process—a remarkable combination of prosecutorial nudging and political will unseen before.

Unfortunately, even in our decency, discrimination rears its ugly head. Indeed, while millions of Ukrainian refugees were welcomed across borders, non-Ukrainian refugees from India, Pakistan, Syria, and the Ivory Coast — that is, people of color — were denied entry.

Here we read Raphael's thesis which is completely unwarranted: Poland is racist for not taking in refugees of color. However, Poland shares a border with Ukraine therefore it is a no-brainer that Ukranians fleeing the war would seek refuge in Poland. In any storm one seeks refuge in the nearest shelter. With that principle in mind why would Poland accept refugees from Asia and Africa? Are there not countries bordering Pakistan, Syria, India, and the Ivory Coast which could take refugees? Of course there are. Turkey took in thousands of Syrian refugees but that was not good enough for those people who, like many so-called refugees, were really aiming to get into Europe, Canada, or the USA to avail of the massive benefits. In 2015 this resulted in the death of a young Syrian boy.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/14/europe/alan-kurdi-syria-drowning-sentenced-intl/index.html

Three human traffickers have been sentenced in a Turkish court to 125 years each in prison over the tragic drowning in 2015 of Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi, who was pictured lying face down on a beach in a harrowing photo that became the symbol of the refugee crisis.

The men, who were the organizers of a trafficking ring, were captured by Turkish security forces this week in the southern province of Adana and sentenced on Friday, according to state news agency Andalou. 

The 3-year-old's body washed up on a beach in Bodrum, in southern Turkey, after a boat carrying refugees sank off the coast. An officer was pictured carrying the lifeless child away. 

The heartbreaking image of the boy on the beach went viral around the world, often with a Turkish hashtag meaning "flotsam of humanity." 

Twelve refugees drowned that day during a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos, including the toddler's 5-year-old brother, Galip, and their mother, Rehen. The boys' father, Abdullah, was the only survivor from their immediate family. He took their bodies back to Kobani in Syria for burial. 

The family had been trying to reach relatives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

This family was safe in Turkey but because Europe has essentially opened their borders they made a shot for Greece which ended in the death of this young boy. The photo of his corpse washed upon the shore became a symbol of the refugee crisis. It seems that Raphael is not aware that many of these refugees are trafficked by smugglers who charge large sums of money. This includes trafficking people across Africa to Italy via the Mediterranean Sea and up through South and Central America to the USA. For the most part these people are not fleeing war zones but are economic migrants looking for a better life. Funny that the better life is always in Europe, USA, Canada, or Australia and never the Philippines. No refugees are coming here. The Jews that the Philippines took in during World War II only came here as a last resort after being turned away by every other country.

But perhaps what is most appalling is how discrimination is not simply palpable but plain. News correspondents from around the globe were quick to express their alarm over witnessing a humanitarian crisis not in “Iraq or Afghanistan” but in a “relatively civilized, relatively European city,” involving “prosperous, middle-class people” that “look like any European family.” As if conflict has its place only in Asia. Ukraine’s deputy chief prosecutor himself put it more bluntly, and was “very emotional” to “see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed.” As if color were a measure for cruelty. As if skin set the standard for suffering.

Why is it so wrong to express alarm that Europe is now at war again when by all measures there was stability for decades? The last large-scale conflict in Europe was World War II. Europe has been relatively peaceful especially since the collapse of the Berlin and the end of the Cold War. 

Pax Europaea (English: the European peace – after the historical Pax Romana), was the period of relative peace experienced by Europe in the period following World War II—often associated above all with the creation of the European Union (EU) and its predecessors. After the Cold War this peace was even more evident because of the fall in political tensions, with the major exception of the Yugoslav Wars, The Troubles in Northern Ireland and various tensions and wars involving or within Russia. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

However, due to the 2021-2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, this period is considered to have ended due to Russia declaring war on Ukraine, which could be the biggest European war since World War II

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Europaea

Meanwhile Africa, especially, has been a hot bed of seemingly endless violence. From the Rwandan Genocide to the many civil wars Africa has been soaked in blood throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. The Philippines has been fighting an insurgency since 1969 and the Middle East has been incessantly filled with conflict. 

What is wrong with a European expressing dismay at witnessing other Europeans being killed? Who wants to see members of their people group, their family as it were, getting slaughtered? Is it racist for American blacks to despair at seeing American blacks killing one another?

https://ktul.com/news/local/tulsans-rally-to-stop-black-on-black-crime-north-tulsa-homicide-lamar-norman-march-community-gun-violence

Co-organizer of the march, Richard Baxter, is tired of the violence, which is why he came up with the idea for the rally.

"When somebody Black is killed by somebody Black, it's not business as usual," he said. "We are the change. Enough is enough. No more gun violence in our community."

Is that racist?  According to Raphael it is.

Alas, in the field of international law, this is nothing new. In fact, structural racism is so deeply seated that, at times, it is easier to ignore it than address it. International law is historically whitewashed as Western creation through the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, ignoring a rich history of Babylonian peace treaties dating back deep into the BCE. Reference to “civilized nations” has been too easily explained away as a relic of history, yet remains enshrined in no less than the Statute of the International Court of Justice. The United Nations trumpets itself as “the world’s only truly universal global organization,” yet is straitjacketed by the veto of five.

What does ancient Babylon have to do with the emerging European order in the 17th century? Nothing at all. 

Scholars of international relations have identified the Peace of Westphalia as the origin of principles crucial to modern international relations, including the inviolability of borders and non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states. This system became known in the literature as Westphalian sovereignty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Westphalia#Legacy

Did the ancient empire of Babylon respect "the inviolability of borders and non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states?" No. They were a conquering empire. Whatever treaties they may have made with surrounding nations has no bearing on the way international relations are conducted today. No one is consulting ancient Babylonian tablets to learn how to conduct international relations. In the 17th century Babylon was still buried in the sands of Iraq.

To sum up here this opinion column is completely ill-informed. Raphael A. Pangalangan boils everything down to racism without understanding the implications of actions such as indiscriminately taking in refugees especially those who are thousands of miles away like Syrians. He does not understand the global problem of human trafficking in which people pay big sums to get to white-ruled nations because said nations have an open door policy. He does not understand the implications of having huge refugee or immigrant communities which fundamentally change the nature of the nations they inhabit. See the UK, France, Germany, and Sweden especially as crimes have skyrocketed since Europe opened their borders.

How about the Philippines open its borders wide to thousands of Africans and Muslims and see what happens? What would the political, economic, and social consequences be? Perhaps Raphael A. Pangalangan can be charitable enough to house them. After all, he wouldn't want to appear racist.

It's strange to see an opinion column in a Philippine newspaper loaded with anti-white critical race theory balderdash. Perhaps Raphael is completely unaware of it but white people built the current post-World  War II order. I recommend he and everyone else read Tragedy and Hope by Caroll Quigley for further understanding of that order.

Retards in the Government 253

It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.

  

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171182

Unidentified gunmen staged a predawn attack Friday on the residence of former Mayor Ibrahim” Jong” Mangudadatu here, spraying the house with bullets and lobbing it with grenades.

In a statement, Maguindanao Board Member King Mangudadatu, Ibrahim's nephew, said nobody was hurt in the 1:30 a.m. strafing in Barangay Poblacion.

Mangudadatu said incumbent Mayor Baby Dats Mangudadatu, Ibrahim's son, also live in the same house.

Police said they recovered empty cartridges for an M16 rifle, M14 rifle, M1 Carbine rifle, .30-caliber machine gun, and empty shells for shoulder launcher fired 40mm, and M79 grenades around the former mayor’s home.

Unknown men attacked the house of the former and current Mayor of Maguindanao using guns and grenades.

https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2022/04/03/kagawad-shot-in-his-sleep/

Police on Saturday reported that a barangay kagawad was shot to death while he was sleeping by an unidentified gunman inside his residence in Barangay Bolbolo, Pilar, Abra.

Authorities identified the victim as Marlon Tanurio, a barangay kagawad of Barangay Bolbolo.

According to the Abra Philippine National Police, they received information about the incident at around 5 a.m. of 2 April which prompted personnel of the Police Regional Mobile Force Battalion to immediately go to the house of Tanurio.

Upon arriving at the kagawad’s house, the cops saw the victim’s lifeless body.

The live-in partner of the victim told police that they heard a gunshot at around past 12 midnight and when she tried to wake up the victim, she noticed that the head of her partner was bleeding.

A barangay councilor was assassinated in his own bed.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/433315/tabuelan-town-resident-accuses-mayor-vice-mayor-of-graft-and-corruption

The top officials of Tabuelan town were accused of graft and corruption for allegedly allowing the implementation of an “illegal” reclamation project and the construction of a private wharf in Barangay Tabunok.

Charged before the Office of the Ombudsman were Mayor Rex Gerona and Vice Mayor Raul Gerona.

The two officials are seeking reelection on May 9, 2022.

In a complaint-affidavit which he submitted before the Office of the Ombudsman on March 24, 2022, Junel Genita, a resident of Barangay Maravilla, sought the conduct of a fact-finding investigation on the passage of a Sangguniang Bayan resolution on July 9, 2014 which endorsed the application of Vice Mayor Gerona for the issuance of a Special Agreement for Protected Areas (SAPA).

Genita alleged that the vice mayor even participated in the deliberation on his SAPA application.

The Sanggunian resolution was also approved by his brother, Mayor Rex Gerona.

Genita said what the two brothers did was in violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

In addition, Genita said, the approval of the Sangguniang Bayan resolution was also unlawful and irregular.

The mayor and vice mayor of Tabulean, who are brothers, have been accused of graft and corruption.

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2022/04/03/2171890/general-9-cops-charged-pnp-doctors-death

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed criminal charges against a Philippine National Police general and nine other officers for the death of a PNP doctor from the accidental inhalation of a disinfectant at a COVID-19 quarantine facility in Pasig City two years ago.

The NBI filed on Feb. 11 the complaints against the PNP officers for the death of Capt. Casey Gutierrez before the Department of Justice, which set the preliminary investigation on the complaints against the police officers on April 18.

Gutierrez died on May 30, 2020 after accidentally inhaling a disinfectant at the Ultra quarantine facility.

Gutierrez was undergoing decontamination when he experienced difficulty in breathing.

He was brought to the PNP General Hospital and transferred to the Lung Center of the Philippines, where he died.

An investigation revealed Gutierrez became ill after he was sprayed with sodium hypochlorite or bleach.

Ten PNP officers have been charged with the death of doctor who died after inhaling a disinfectant at a COVID-19 quarantine facility.

https://www.panaynews.net/cop-among-region-6s-top-fugitives/

A disgraced member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is among the 11 most wanted persons in Western Visayas.

The PNP identified the cop as Senior Police Officer 1 (SPO1) Arnold Lizada of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office. On Dec. 31, 2015 he shot to death his platoon leader at the Iloilo Public Safety Company (IPSC) then ran away. He was charged with murder.

A P140,000 reward is being offered to whoever could give information leading to Lizada’s arrest.

“Armed and dangerous” was how the IPPO described Lizada who disappeared after shooting Inspector Christian Lee Nelmida, leader of the IPSC’s 2nd Maneuver Platoon based in Barangay Jibolo, Janiuay.

Lizada, then 43 years old, was a resident of Barangay Poblacion, Lambunao, Iloilo.

After shooting Nelmida around 9 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2015 Lizada fled. He brought with him his M16 rifle, a .9mm pistol and the 12-gauge homemade shotgun he used on his superior officer.

The shooting took place at the kitchen of the 2nd Maneuver Platoon’s office while Nelmida was getting ready for his supper.

Lizada entered the kitchen then shot his superior officer on the chest.

Police sources said Lizada and Nelmida may have had a previous misunderstanding and the victim’s not-so-pleasant attitude that New Year’s Eve may have aggravated the animosity.

According to sources, Nelmida became testy when, upon returning to the 2nd Maneuver Platoon office, he discovered that there was little food left for his supper.

Lizada, who was detailed at the gate, reportedly heard Nelmida berating some police personnel in the kitchen.

A PNP officer on the run is among region 6's top fugitives. He murdered his platoon leader over a grudge it seems.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171424

A lawyer from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) was injured in a shooting incident that transpired along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay City on Monday night.

Pasay City chief of police Col. Cesar Paday-os on Tuesday identified the victim as Joseph Samuel Zapata, 30, and resident of Rainbow Village, San Isidro, Parañaque City.

Paday-os said initial investigation showed that the Zapata was driving his white Toyota Fortuner with plate number NBP 7726, heading southbound of Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, when motorcycle-riding suspects shot the left portion of the vehicle at around 5:40 p.m., hitting the back of the victim's head.

Paday-os said Zapata who sustained a gunshot wound was rushed to a hospital in Manila for treatment while the suspects sped toward the direction of Manila.

He said investigators are conducting interviews at the crime scene for possible identification of the suspects as well as their motorcycle used.

A lawyer for the BOC was wounded in a failed assassination attempt by unknown men for unknown reasons. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1578815/6-cops-accused-of-robbing-vendor-of-p14000-relieved

Six police officers accused of robbing a sidewalk vendor of P14,000 in government aid have been relieved of their posts at the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Caloocan City Police Station, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Philippine National Police(PNP).

“The involved personnel were immediately relieved so a fair investigation can proceed without any undue influence. They are now under restrictive custody and disarmed of their service firearms,” Gen. Dionardo Carlos, the PNP chief, said.

The sidewalk vendor — 39-year-old Eddie Acaso Yuson— accused the six officers of taking his cash on his way to a fast-food restaurant to buy food for his family.

The P14,000 was given to him by the Department of Social Welfare and Development with the help of Caloocan Rep. Dale “Along” Malapitan, who is now running as mayor of the city.

According to Yuson, an officer accosted him, introduced himself as an officer, and then frisked him. In a few minutes, a white pick-up truck with five other officers, as shown in CCTV footage uploaded by one of Yuson’s daughters on Facebook.

Six police officers have been accused of robbing a street vendor of P14,000.

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2022/04/07/2172934/cop-faces-complaint-qc-govt-shooting-man-during-duty-scuffle

An off-duty police officer is in hot water for shooting a man during a scuffle in Brgy. Greater Lagro, Quezon City, the city government disclosed Thursday.

According to a statement issued through the city's information office, Police Senior Master Sergeant Chester Garchitorena is now facing charges of grave misconduct before the Quezon City People’s Law Enforcement Board over an incident on Feb. 18, 2022.

Based on his complaint filed on Mar. 18, 2022, complainant Florose Buenafe said he and his friends were drinking at Haring Constantino St. when a sedan carrying Garchitorena’s associates arrived. Out of the blue, Garchitorena’s friends started a melee while the policeman served as a lookout while aboard his parked vehicle nearby.

When the brawl started, Garchitorena, assigned with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in the PNP's national headquarters in Camp Crame, called the Barangay Public Safety Officers and walked with them heading to the place of the scuffle.

During the altercation, a member of the BPSO witnessed Garchitorena shoot Buenafe in his left leg.

Lawyer Rafael Calinisan, PLEB Executive Officer, said they found probable cause against Garchitorena for using a gun during the melee while off-duty, a violation of the Commission on Elections’ gun ban.

PNP officer is accused of shooting a man during a brawl while out drinking.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171646

A Quezon City judge has been fined by the Supreme Court (SC) for delay in resolving a motion filed by a litigant in a pending case before his sala.

In a resolution uploaded online on April 4, the high court fined QC Regional Trial Court (RTC Branch 226) Judge Manuel B. Sta. Cruz Jr. PHP9,000 for gross inefficiency and delay in the administration of justice and was sternly warned that repetition would be dealt with more severely.

Sta. Cruz, however, was cleared of charges of gross ignorance of the law and evident bias for lack of merit.

The court said records show that it took 12 months for the magistrate to rule on a motion for reconsideration filed by a party and to issue an order on the pending case to the clerk of court for resolution.

“This is way beyond the reglementary period of 90 days within which judges must resolve motions or incidents pending before them. As such, as the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) properly observed, respondent (judge) is administratively liable for gross inefficiency and undue delay in rendering a decision or order which is considered as a less serious charge,” the SC said.

“Judges should be imbued with a high sense of duty and responsibility in the discharge of their obligation to administer justice promptly,” the court said.

A judge has been reprimanded and fined by the Supreme Court for taking 12 months to rule on a motion for consideration rather than the standard 90 days.