Posts published during April, 2010
The historic Pangasinan provincial capitol in Lingayen, beautifully lit at night
A visit to the Hundred Islands can be complemented by a visit to the provincial capital, Lingayen, a historic town east of Alaminos.
January 28, 2010. The provincial capitol complex in Lingayen boasts of newly renovated historical buildings that date back to almost a hundred years and saw important moments in the history of province and the country. The provincial government can provide tours of the capitol complex to interested tourists.
Behind the capitol complex, one can spend the day in one of the longest and widest stretches of beaches in the country.
A view of the Hundred Islands in Alaminos City, Pangasinan, taken from the top of Governor's Island
January 29, 2010. It is rare to find a Filipino, young or old, who is not familiar with the Hundred Islands. Along with the Mayon Volcano and the Banaue Rice Terraces, the renowned group of islands in Alaminos, Pangasinan has always been a standard mention in textbooks as one of the best natural wonders of the Philippines. The group of islands has thus etched itself an almost permanent part in the consciousness of many Filipinos from childhood.
Corals and stones can be seen from the crystal clear water that surround the Hundred Islands
Despite its relative fame, however, the city government of Alaminos admits that the islands do not attract the number of visitors nor the investments they deserve, compared to other beach destinations in the country. I, myself, have never been to Hundred Islands before Lakbay Norte’s stop at Alaminos. And what a shame, indeed. The islands are unique gems incomparable to the Philippines’s other beach destinations.
In a field of more than five dozen candidates for senators, it is hard to distinguish senatoriables from among each other. At a time when the focus of traditional and new media are the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, the majority of the electorate are left largely with familiarity as basis in choosing their 12 bets. This trend is manifested in latest survey results, which has consistently showed re-electionists, former senators, and scions of established political families as the most probable winners of the senatorial elections.
In an interview with BlogWatch a few weeks ago, I asked Makabayan senatorial candidates Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza what would make any other voter vote for them, when the convenient choice is to pick the familiar names? What distinguishes them from the rest of the pack? In a field where all candidates promise education, health and employment for all, what can they claim to have experienced, have done and are willing to do that no other senatorial candidate can claim?
CHARACTER
Only Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza have experienced harassment, incarceration and torture in their fight against corruption and abuse in government from the Marcos regime to the Arroyo administration. Others claim to have fought and are fighting for good government, but almost none of them were incarcerated or tortured, for they never genuinely posed a threat to corrupt rulers. Some politicians bravely lash at abuses in government in front of TV cameras, but are cowed and silenced at the threat of dispersal on the streets, or harassment from the powers-that-be. I am sure that Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza will never surrender their fight for good and honest governance.
Only Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza genuinely came from the ranks of the masses and continue to maintain very simple lifestyles despite being congressmen for almost a decade. In fact, they are consistently listed as among the poorest congressmen in terms of material wealth. Satur Ocampo came from a peasant family in Pampanga, and was once a student leader and a journalist. Liza Maza came from a simple middle class family from Laguna and was once a teacher and a government employee. Both of them were scholars of state funded universities. None of them own extravagant cars, nor live in large houses. Other senatoriables claim to be pro-poor, but they never genuinely understand what it feels like to be poor, not when they live in marble mansions, and are chauffeured in expensive SUV’s.
The controversial coal-fired power plant sits along a bay with half a dozen marine sanctuaries and coral reserves
January 29, 2010. From Pangasinan, we drove southwards along the South China Sea into Zambales. Before proceeding to our next stop, Subic, we stopped over the town of Masinloc.
Masinloc may sound familiar to some of us, as the town plays host to a giant coal-fired power plant that was subject of a controversy a few years back, as the government was trying to privatize the facility and sold it to a dubious company.
Ironically, the town also hosts half a dozen coral reef sanctuaries and marine reserves along its coast, very near the power plant. I don’t know how they co-exist with each other, but when I asked an officer from the marine sanctuary office, he said the existence of the power plant has not affected the marine sanctuary.
Because of the town’s marine sanctuaries, Masinloc is also considered as having some of the few dive sites in Central Luzon. We were supposed to hop on a boat to one of the off-shore islands and visit one of the marine reserves and observe the giant clams sanctuary, but due to lack of time, we were just presented with a short video presentation of what the town has to offer in terms of eco-tourism.
Also in Masinloc is the San Andres Church built in the 1600′s and is considered one of the country’s few national cultural treasures. The baroque church features a white facade, made up most probably of coral stones. I’m not really into churches, so I don’t know how else to describe San Andres.
Friends and supporters of the "PUP 5" jubilantly welcomed the five student leaders as they were released from detention at the Manila Police District HQ
It’s been almost a week since the tuition-hike saga of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines concluded with the successful junking of the proposal. It was formalized at the meeting of the university’s Board of Regents last Monday, after weeks of relentless protests by militant students to stop the almost 2,000% rise in tuition. Last Monday, the police also released the five student leaders after the PUP administration dropped charges of “robbery” against them. They were detained after they tried to bring to the office of the government’s Commission on Higher Education (CHED) some of their dilapidated chairs as a sign of protest. The reconciliation of sorts with the university administration came after representatives of Kabataan Partylist and other student leaders from PUP met with the PUP President and demanded the release of their comrades. In the meeting, the PUP President conceded and eventually surrendered to the democratic interests of the students and committed to supporting the campaign for greater state subsidy for the largest state university in the country instead of imposing a tuition hike.
The developments in PUP highlight one thing, now that the university administration has taken the side of the students and the people. The trail of responsibility for the neglect of our state universities and colleges ends at the gates of Malacanang and Congress. It is through the proposals and policies of the government, with the prodding of its foreign multinational lenders, that funding and support for higher education in the country has been on the decline. Despite increasing enrollment in the country’s public colleges and universities, state funding for such institutions has been dwindling over the decades. This year, state universities will get P3 billion pesos less from 2009. The same trend can be seen in countries across the world, from Greece to the United States, as indebted governments bow to the policy dictates of multinational creditors.
The continued neglect of our country’s state universities, notwithstanding the victory at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, sets the context that makes it imperative for the scholars of the people, and the rest of us, to continue fighting for the people’s right to education.
Students from PUP Manila and the University of the Philippines marched together to Plaza Salamanca in Manila to pledge their continuing fight for greater state subsidy for education and other social services
Last Monday, March 29, right after our victory and protest action at Manila after the release of the PUP 5 and after the successful junking of the almost 2,000% tuition hike proposal in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City released a decision junking the rebellion case against the Ampatuans for the mass murder of journalists and their political opponents in Maguindanao a few months ago.
We immediately massed up at the nearest public space, at the 11th World Scout Jamboree Memorial Rotunda at the intersection of Tomas Morato and Timog Avenue, to do a protest action. We condemned the Arroyo government for the obvious design of the charges against her Maguindanao allies. The weak and ill-filed cases were meant to collapse in order to protect the Ampatuans from their hideous acts. It also paved the way for the Arroyo government to experiment and twist the meaning of “rebellion” to suit its suspicious political needs.
Today, we should continue to demand for justice for the victims of the heinous massacre and their families, and to demand for accountability from the administration that tolerated and perpetuated the warlord family that has reigned the poverty-stricken province for more than a decade.
Members of Kabataan Partylist lit candles in remembrance of the victims of the mass murder allegedly perpetuated by the Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao
Victor Villanueva
law student, national democracy activist, film school graduate, photography hobbyist