On Mrs. Arroyo’s 7th State of the Nation Address: FDC dispels claims of economic miracles

"Gloria's economy is not working."

This is what the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said of Mrs. Arroyo's flamboyant and rosy economic claims; two days shy from the Executive's 7th State of the Nation Address (SONA) this 23rd of July.

In an economic forum at the University of the Philippines, FDC said if there is one way of truly measuring the economic performance of this government, then it is by scrutinizing our current debt situation beyond what is being peddled to us by Mrs. Arroyo's economic managers and spin doctors.

"If Mrs. Arroyo has anything to say on the debt during her SONA, most likely it would be a boring reiteration of her deceptive claims that the debt problem is 'over' or is being managed prudently," FDC President Ana Maria R. Nemenzo said.

"While this assertion may be partly true, however, these so-called improvements in the debt statistics have been achieved through pre-payment of loans in exchange for new loans with longer maturity, decreased availment of agencies of direct loans and the unplanned resurgence of our currency—all of which speaks of Mrs. Arroyo's core debt management strategy of borrowing heavily to pay old debts," Nemenzo said.

According to the group, Mrs. Arroyo's take on the debt does not solve the problem and is instead imbedding the predicament further. "No economy achieved real growth and development by prioritizing debt payments or by simply remaining in the debt trap. If not for the remittances of our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) which this government has nothing to do with, the economy of our country would have long been in the mire of an undeniable and explicit economic crisis," Nemenzo said.

The anti-debt advocacy group likened the government's debt strategy as a form of pyramiding. FDC said that while it might seem to work at this particular juncture, it is highly unsustainable and harmful in the long run.

"Clearly, this is Mrs. Arroyo's own FrancSwiss scam.  While we are fixated with apprehending those responsible for the FrancSwiss swindle, We, particularly, the new Congress must also put a stop to the pyramiding scam that is the Arroyo government's flawed debt management strategy which continues to deceive the Filipino people," Nemenzo said.

The group stated that while the Arroyo government continues to sell the idea of a 'good debt management', sustained accumulation of illegitimate debt cases are being religiously paid by the Filipinos under Mrs. Aroyo's rule. Some of the many debt cases FDC has mentioned are:

• The $400 million North Rail Project;
• The World Bank textbook loan anomaly;
• The $121 million WB-funded Small Coconut Farms Development Project;
• Austrian Medical Waste Project;
• Power Sector Restructuring Projects; and,
• Private loans that the public is now paying for, e.g., Casecnan and other IPPs, Metrorail Transit.

The group also called on the legislators of the 14th Congress to:

• Repeal of the Automatic Appropriations Law - Stop prioritization of debt payments over the urgent needs of the Filipinos;
• Pursue a Comprehensive Audit of Public Sector Debts and Contingent Liabilities, including review of existing laws and policies, particularly GMA's debt management strategy; and,
• Non-allocation for payments of loans that clearly did not benefit the Filipinos, and/or those resulting from anomalous transaction.

"If we really want our economy to work and serve the interests of the poor, then our national leaders must address the debt problem seriously and courageously. Otherwise, so-called rosy economic performance will remain mere statistics devoid of any broad concurrence from the public," Nemenzo concluded. 

 

ATM reiterates call for scrapping of Mining Law, exposes intensified drive for mining in new areas

The Alyansa Tigil Mina welcomes the continued and unwavering support of the church in the campaign against the intensified drive for large-scale, corporate-driven mining operations in the country.  

We share the sentiments of the bishops that mining, the way government and private, transnational corporations pursue it now, does not present a viable solution to the widespread poverty in our rural areas, nor is it a palatable alternative to the real policy issues that hound our country's continued economic sluggishness.

Mining now represents nothing but the destruction of the environment and the displacement of communities including indigenous peoples from their homes.  The touted economic benefits of mining are a mythology long debunked.  It has been historically proven by figures from government itself that where mining companies operated, the surrounding communities became no better off than before these companies came in.  Regions where mining permits were given remain high on the list of provinces with the highest poverty levels.  Employment in the mining industry has reached only a maximum of about 300,000 since the 1970s, or an ignorable average of 10,000 a year compared to the continued influx of millions of new labor entrants into the labor force every year.

ATM believes it is all about the money.  The puny foreign exchange brought in by mining companies, after all deductions and tax holidays have been effectively repatriated, still amount to a considerable proportion.  And yet our present and future generations bear the ill-effects of mining to our environment.  At the expense of human rights, government and private corporations are riding roughshod over due process and the rule of law in their drive for maximum profit and the plunder of our natural resources.

Guided by the Mining Act of 1995 and the Mineral Action Plan, the GMA administration's 10-Point Agenda seeks to promote mining as one of its priority investment area, despite the fact that where mining operations intrude, local resistance has been often fierce, contentious and fraught with company violence and intimidation.  Despite these realities government remains insensitive in its maniacal desire to tap into the dollar inflow.

In Sibuyan Island in Romblon, multinational corporations under the guise of local subsidiaries applied for small-scale mining exploration permits in Brgy. Mabini, San Fernando town to escape EIA and EC requirements.  An ocular of the area however reveals that heavy equipment have been brought in, and excavations have began along the buffer zone at the foot of Mt. Guiting-Guiting, a Natural Park by presidential decree.  Company infrastructures have been built onshore a few meters away from the national road affecting transportation and damaging coral reefs in the area.  Other mining applications totaling about 20 or more are pending in Sibuyan Island, threatening the biodiversity of the area.  

Interestingly a Marcos-era decree has assigned Sibuyan Island as a mangrove protected area, which would effectively bar any kind of mining activity in the area.  

In Canatuan, Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte, the TVI Phil's. has again resorted to maliciously attacking the duly-recognized representative of the indigenous peoples affected by their operations in the area.  This is nothing but an attempt to cover up for the flawed and deceptive manner in which the company fabricated the supposed free and informed consent of the local residents to acquire mining rights in the area.

These cases, along with other sites of struggles where ATM actively works with local coalitions demonstrate the tragic reality of mining as an environmentally-destructive and violated industry.  People's rights have been time and again violated by mining companies in cahoots with government agencies and other local players in total abandonment of our national patrimony and our people's rights to self-determination, development and freedom of choice.

We enjoin government at the national level to revisit its policy regime towards the industry, starting with the immediate scrapping of the mining law, an overhaul for the regulatory regime governing the industry and the stringent monitoring of mining operations and the companies behind them some of whom have been met with stiff resistance and slapped with environmental penalties for their operations elsewhere.

The Alyansa Tigil Mina offers its Annual Report to the public in hopes of drumbeating support for its continued campaign, and the wider dissemination of information regarding the realities of mining in the country.  We salute the bishops in their continued support for our cause, and the tireless dedication of our communities and partner organizations at the local level who are the real engines of this continuing struggle.

The Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) is a national coalition of NGOs, POs, church and other support groups born out of the collective concern against the impending threat of the revitalization of the mining industry in the Philippines . Alyansa Tigil Mina, Mobile No. 09153153719 Email nc@phildhrra.org

 

Global forum on migration and development held in Brussels

Philippine Ambassador to Belgium Cristina Ortega reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the First Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) was held in Brussels on 10 and 11 July 2007 to effectively address the implications, challenges and opportunities for greater coherence between migration and development policies among countries of origin and destination.

The GFMD is an inter-state, informal and non-binding process for discussion of the various issues concerning international migration and its interconnectivity to development. The First GFMD was spearheaded by the Kingdom of Belgium, following the UN High Level Dialogue (HLD) on Migration and Development held in New York last September 2006.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Esteban B. Conejos, Jr. headed the delegation from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Other members of the DFA delegation included Ambassador Ortega; Ambassador Enrique Manalo and Consul General Grace Princesa of the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva; and Special Assistant Estrella L. Roman of DFA-OUMWA.

The Philippines' participation in the First GFMD is part of the Government's policy to promote the rights and protect the welfare of Filipino migrant workers. Undersecretary Conejos has also represented the Department in three preparatory meetings among "Friends of the Forum" held in Brussels and Geneva.

The DFA delegation was joined at the Forum by representatives from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), namely, Undersecretary Danilo Cruz and Labor Attaché Manuel Imson of the Philippine Mission in Geneva. Labor Attaché Ciriaco Lagunzad of the Philippine Embassy in Brussels, on the other hand, was a member of the Belgian Task Force that organized the First GFMD. Other Philippine government officials who participated in the Forum were Chairman Patricia Sto. Tomas of the Development Bank of the Philippines, Vice Governor Diwa Gunigundo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, OWWA Administrator Marianito Roque, and POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz.

The officials represented the Philippine Government in the First GFMD at the plenary and roundtable discussions. Aside from monitoring the proceedings of the two-day consultative forum, the officials also articulated the Philippine policies on labor migration and its link to development, and advanced the Government's agenda on protection and promotion of the rights and welfare of migrant Filipino workers and their families.

Around 144 UN member countries participated in the two-day Forum. At the same time, nearly 200 representatives from civil society actors such as NGOs, trade unions, the academe, church-based groups, and the private sector gathered at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels for Civil Society Day, where they discussed the same topics that the government actors tackled during the Forum, and submitted their findings and recommendations to the inter-state forum on 11 July.

The Philippines has a special participation in the First GFMD as the host of the Second GFMD, which will be held in Manila next year. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has approved the Philippine hosting of the Second GFMD as a clear and concrete exercise of political will to advance the rights of migrant Filipino workers, to share Philippine experiences in managing labor migration, and to influence global perspectives and policies in aid of protecting the rights and welfare of migrant citizens. (DFA)

ADB told to review energy policy, rather than draft a strategy based on a flawed policy

The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) – Philippines on Wednesday urged the Asian Development Bank to review, if not overhaul, its 1995 Energy Policy rather than drafting a "new" strategy that is based on a "flawed" policy.

Said energy policy governs the power industry restructuring and privatization in ADB's developing member countries (DMCs) such as the Philippines through the Power Sector Restructuring Program (PSRP).

"ADB must consider re-examining its energy policy because it is all about catering to the interests of the corporate industry players and creditors, but not of the consumers," said FDC president Ana Maria R. Nemenzo in time for the forthcoming ADB's sub-regional "consultation" among stakeholders in Southeast Asia and the Pacific on July 13 at the Bank's main headquarters in Ortigas. This is the last of the four consultations on the Bank's draft Energy Strategy which is expected to be approved by September 2007.

One of the focuses of ADB's 1995 Energy Policy is on enabling private
investments in the energy sector. The policy sets the Bank's focus of
assistance which includes, among others, preferential financial support
for its DMCs that are willing to restructure their energy sector and
support to build-operate-transfer (BOT) type of projects in the private
sector as well as joint venture projects.

FDC said that ADB's energy policy, which was implemented through the
Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) in the Philippines, has
compelled the government to increase the generation rates to attract more investors to participate in the privatization of government's generation assets. It also legitimized the debts arising from and payments to expensive and onerous contracts of National Power Corporation with independent power producers.

"This policy has caused additional debt burden to the national government and the National Power Corporation. From only about P500 billion long term debts and lease obligations to IPPs in 1998, now it has ballooned to about P1.4 trillion," said Nemenzo.

Maitet Diokno-Pascual, former president and now board member of FDC, said that the ADB knows about these problems. "But its response is typical of an international financial institution that won't acknowledge its error," she said, adding that the Bank just keeps on lending more and more to the power sector to cover up its mistakes.

Diokno-Pascual explained that since the US$300 million power sector
restructuring loan the ADB extended to the Philippines in 1998, it had to extend additional assistance—loans and technical assistance—of nearly US$500 million. From 2001-2006, 99.6 percent of the ADB assistance to the country's energy sector has been in the area of power sector development.

"This is not because the first loan was a resounding success, but because this is the only way the ADB knows how to keep the flame of power restructuring alive in the Philippines. At this point, the ones with the biggest stake in defending the power sector reforms are the creditors themselves," added Diokno-Pascual.

Nemenzo said that the ADB estimated the total financing requirement for
the power sector to reach US$9.1 billion or P418.6 billion (US$1=P46) in 2006 – 2010 to cover assumed loans from NPC and deficits/losses from
contracts with IPPs. US$450 million was already released by ADB in
December 2006 under the Power Sector Development Program Loan.

The draft strategy, which will guide the Bank's future operations in the energy sector, is expected to address key issues, including: energy
security; global warming/climate change; sector policy reform and
governance; and, energy efficiency.

Following the initial 1981 policy, the ADB Energy Policy was developed in 1995, which is subject for review every 5 years. The Bank undertook a review in 2000 and came up with framework and strategy for its operations for the succeeding years. However, the next review supposedly to be undertaken by 2005 was delayed as the Bank failed to come up with the draft paper for consultation with the different stakeholders.

The framework policies and strategies set in 2000 after the review of the 1995 energy policy are: poverty reduction; addressing regional and global environmental impacts; promoting regional cooperation; and, promoting private sector involvement, which prompted the restructuring of the energy sector in the country and helped create an enabling environment for private investors.

FDC hits ADB on power sector reforms, energy review process

The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) today challenged the Asian Development Bank to admit that its Power Sector Restructuring Program that is being undertaken in the Philippines through the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) enacted in 2001 has created more social and economic problems than supposed benefits to the people.

FDC president Ana Maria R. Nemenzo blamed ADB's power sector restructuring and privatization program for the ballooning National Power Corporation and national government debts, higher power rates, unreliability of supply and lesser access by the poor.

FDC issued this challenge in time for the forthcoming ADB's sub regional "consultation" among stakeholders in Southeast Asia and the Pacific on July 13 at the Bank's main headquarters in Ortigas. This is the last of the four consultations on the Bank's draft Energy Strategy which is expected to be approved by September 2007.

The group likewise criticized the process of the energy review, citing the short period to study and make a more intelligent and substantive comment on the draft strategy.

"It took the ADB almost one and a half years to finish the draft and yet the Bank only gives the stakeholders only 60 days to study and comment on it. In other regions such as Central Asia, they only had 16 days to study the draft before the consultation on June 14," said Nemenzo, who is also the international convener of the NGO Forum on the ADB.

"Besides, a strategy is less binding because it does not require the approval of the board. Will the 1995 energy policy be maintained? What rule—policy or strategy—will govern other energy issues not covered by the strategy?" asked Nemenzo.

Nemenzo raised one of NGO Forum on ADB's questions regarding the issue on strategy: "Will the implementation of contentious provision such as the reduction of carbon emissions, adoption of clean technology, and implementation of ADB safeguards, among others no longer be subjected under the Accountability Mechanism, since it is only a strategy and not a policy?"

The draft strategy, which will guide the Bank's future operations in the energy sector, is expected to address key issues, including: energy security; global warming/climate change; sector policy reform and governance; and, energy efficiency.

Following the initial 1981 policy, the ADB Energy Policy was developed in 1995 and is subject for review every 5 years. The Bank undertook a review in 2000 and came up with a framework and strategy for its operations for the succeeding years. However, the next review supposedly to be undertaken by 2005 was delayed as the Bank failed to come up with the draft paper for consultation with the different stakeholders.

The framework policies and strategies set in 2000 after the review of the 1995 energy policy are: poverty reduction; addressing regional and global environmental impacts; promoting regional cooperation; and, promoting private sector involvement, which prompted the restructuring of the energy sector in the country and helped create an enabling environment for private investors.

Reject compromise deal on Non-agricultural Market Access (NAMA)

Several trade unions, peasant organizations, women's groups, non-government organizations and political blocs belonging to the Stop the New Round! Coalition (SNR) today sent a letter to trade and industry Sec. Peter Favila to express their collective concern over a "possible compromise deal on Non-agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations" and called on the Philippine government to reject the compromise proposal and put development at the heart of the NAMA negotiations.
 
The latest proposal from developing countries led by Chile for a "middle ground" solution represents a serious break from the position of NAMA 11 of which the Philippines is an active member.
 
The SNR challenged the secretary to be the "leading developing country voice in NAMA 11 in calling for the rejection of the new NAMA proposal."
 
NAMA is one of the more contentious issues in the WTO's controversial Doha "Development" Round. NAMA covers all products not covered by the Agreement on Agriculture. It aims to advance further liberalization in manufacturing products, fuels and mining products, fish and fish products, and forestry products.
 
Despite the claims of the WTO, the SNR believes that the current round has effectively sidelined development. This is very apparent in the NAMA negotiations where the "US and EU want an ambitious NAMA formula" that would force developing countries to pry open their market for industrial and fisheries sector. The most contentious point in the so-called "Swiss formula", adopted in Hong Kong during the last WTO Ministerial Conference in 2005, is the coefficient that would be used to determine the tariff cuts of developed and developing economies.
 
The Chilean proposal calls for a coefficient in the high teens or low twenties for developing countries and below 10 for developed countries.
 
The SNR said that a coefficient for developing countries in the high teens would be "a murderous compromise on the part of the Philippines."
 
The SNR believes that "a compromise deal on NAMA would compromise jobs."

 

In the Philipines, such an agreement would exacerbate an already acute jobs crisis. "Job losses could be expected in the motor vehicles sector, which employs around 39,000, the apparel sector with an even bigger employment of 370,000, the leather and footwear sector with 69,000 workers, furniture sector with 143,000 workers and plastic products which provides jobs to 54,000 workers."

 

The SNR is a broad coalition of people's organizations and NGOs campaigning against new free trade agreements.

Open letter to Sec. Favila re a possible compromise deal on Non-agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations

9 July 2007

HON. PETER FAVILA
Secretary
Department of Trade and Industry

Dear Secretary Favila,

We are alarmed over reports of a possible compromise deal on Non-agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations. The latest proposal from developing countries led by Chile for a "middle ground" solution represents a serious break from the position of NAMA 11 of which the Philippines is an active member.

It is clear that the United States and the European Union want to squeeze as much as they can from developing countries on NAMA as pay back for what they claim to be their own concessions in agriculture, concessions that many analysts feel are not even enough to level the playing field in agriculture. It is clear that the US and EU want an ambitious NAMA formula in order to pry open the market for industrial and fisheries sector in developing countries.

The new NAMA proposal coming as it were in the aftermath of the collapse of the G4 meeting in Potsdam, and which is projected as an initiative from developing countries plays dangerously into the strategy of the US and EU. This is exactly the opening that the US and EU were hoping for in Potsdam. The proposal hands the compromise to them in a silver platter.

The call from the new proposal for more flexibility and compromise should be seriously challenged. In Hong Kong, developing countries have already made a huge compromise when they agreed to adopt the ambitious Swiss formula for tariff reductions. Under an ambitious formula, developing countries would absorb close to 70% cuts in their industrial and fishery tariffs as opposed to the measly 25 % cuts for developed countries. Simulations done by both the WTO and international trade unions have already provided us a picture of the possible consequences on jobs and revenues under an ambitious NAMA agreement.

A coefficient for developing countries in the high teens would be a murderous compromise on the part of the Philippines. Such an ambitious formula would result in a substantial reduction of our average bound rates for industrial and fishery products and would constitute a serious erosion of our policy space. Sectors that would be adversely affected include the automotive sector, apparel, plastics, leather products and footwear, and the furniture sector which would all absorb cuts not just in bound rates but in actual applied rates. Huge cuts on bound rates would be felt in rubber products, fabricated metals, wood and wood products, and paper and paper products.

A compromise deal on NAMA would compromise jobs. Job losses could be expected in the motor vehicles sector, which employs around 39,000, the apparel sector with an even bigger employment of 370,000, the leather and footwear sector with 69,000 workers, furniture sector with 143,000 workers and plastic products which provides jobs to 54,000 workers.

We do not need to remind you that central to the NAMA 11 position is the demand to put the development objective at the heart of the NAMA negotiations. The compromise deal on NAMA undermines this very objective.
We challenge you now in this most critical time in the negotiations to exhibit leadership in NAMA 11. We challenge you to be the leading developing country voice in NAMA 11 in calling for the rejection of the new NAMA proposal.

"No deal is still better than a bad deal" Mr. Secretary and in the interest of Filipino workers, we hope that this is still your guiding principle.

Stop the New Round! Coalition
Akbayan
Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)
Alternate Forum for Research in Mindanao (AFRIM)
Association of Genuine Labor Organization (AGLO)
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP)
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women - Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
Confederation of Independent Unions in the Public Sector (CIU)
Convergence for Community Centered Area DevelopmentFocus on the Global South - Philippines
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)
Global Network Asia
International Gender and Trade Network - Asia
Kilusang para sa Pambansang Demokraysa
Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Pilipinas (KPMP)
Labor Education and Research Network (LEARN)
Liga Manggagawa
Makabayan - Pilipinas
Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan (MAKABAYAN)
Pambansang Katipunan ng Malayang Magbubukid - PKKM
Philippine Metalworkers' Alliance (PMA)
Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM)
Resource Center for People's Development (RCPD)
Women and Gender Institute (WAGI)

Journalists can't be compelled to disclose news sources under Anti-Terror Act

Journalists cannot be compelled under the Human
Security Act (Republic Act 9372) to reveal to law
enforcement authorities their sources of information
in connection with reports about terrorist activities
they write about.

This was pointed out today by Senate Minority Leader
Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) who
authored this particular provision, as part of several
amendments in the HSA that were adopted at his
suggestion to prevent violations of civil liberties.

Pimentel said lawyers and doctors likewise cannot be
compelled to reveal their communications with their
clients and patients whose involvement in terrorism
activities are being investigated by the authorities.

Explaining why media practitioners should not be
required to reveal their sources of information,
Pimentel invoked section 4 of Article III (Bill of
Rights) of the Constitution which provides: "No law
shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of
expression, or of the press, or the right of the
people to peaceably assemble and petition the
government for redress of grievances."

"In fact, there is more reason to exempt the
correspondences, messages and records of journalists
from being monitored, bugged and recorded or
subpoenaed for use under legal compunction in the
investigation or terrorist trials than the
communications between doctors and patients," Pimentel
said.

The minority leader also cited the concern of the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the United States
that "if any journalist strongly and legitimately
suspects that his or her communications with a sources
are being intercepted by a third party, that
journalist simply cannot promise confidentiality in
good faith to an international source when that source
could face torture or death if the communication is
revealed."

Another major amendment to the HSA adopted at
Pimentel's suggestion was the reduction of the period
of detention to terror suspects to not more than three
days if they were arrested without court warrants or
if they are not formally charged.

Originally, the maximum period for detaining terrorist
suspects without a court warrant was for 15 days and
later reduced to five days.

Justifying the shortened detention period, Pimentel
pointed out that the Constitution, under Article VII
section 18 provides that during the suspension of the
writ of habeas corpus, any person arrested or detained
for rebellion shall be judicially charged within three
days, otherwise he shall be released.

"The three-day period during which a person may be
detained without charges even during a rebellion or
invasion, is a constitutional demarcation line that
must not be breached," he said.

Pimentel said that a related amendment would require
law enforcers to immediately bring before any judge,
Commission on Human Rights official or justice of the
Sandiganbayan or Court of Appeals any person arrested
by them on charges or suspicion of terrorism before
the suspect is detained.

He said the requirement of immediately bringing an
arrested terrorist suspect to the presence of a
judicial magistrate will discourage abuse or physical
maltreatment of the suspect.

Other major amendments:

1. Compensating persons wrongfully arrested and
detained on anti-terrorism charges in the amount of
P500,000 for every day of detention.
2. Creating a grievance committee headed by the
Ombudsman before which people harassed by law
enforcers on charges of terrorism may complain and get
redress for their grievances. The grievance committee
will have their divisions - one each - in Luzon,
Visayas and Mindanao.

Pimentel said he has introduced nearly a hundred
amendments to the Human Security Act, backed by some
200 pages of studies, to make sure that the bill will
not be used as an instrument of terror against the
people.

"We worked on the Human Security Act very assiduously
and meticulously because I think, in all honesty, that
it is the most terrifying piece of legislation ever
submitted to the hall of Congress," he said.

Taal spa project exposes infirmities of environmental regulations

The botched proposal to construct a tourist spa in the mouth of Taal volcano is another example of how government regulations with respect to the environment are wantonly disregarded and violated. Even though its Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) has been revoked, the DENR Secretary has come out to say the company can apply for one again.

Yet the very idea that a permanent structure was to be built right in the most dangerous part of the volcano should have given more than enough cause for alarm much earlier, had the DENR not been remiss in its oversight duties. Unless the project is abandoned altogether, the public must remain vigilant.

This again shows the infirmities of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) mechanism as a prerequisite to the implementation of development projects. As the first step towards securing an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) the EIA requires the free and prior informed consent of the local communities to be affected by a development project. It is a social safeguard provided for not only in the EIA law, but other statutes including the Mining Law, Indigenous People's Rights Act and the Local Government Code.

But the proposed Taal spa illustrates that the local community did not support the project and that it was railroaded by the local government unit. There is enough reason to make the LGU accountable for abuse of authority in this regard.

The Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) believes the environmental compliance aspect of the Taal spa project should be an occasion to revisit the EIA system and the granting of ECCs to construction firms. It has been our experience with our communities affected by mining operations that more often than not, the granting of ECCs are highly susceptible to corruption and collusion, to the detriment of the host communities where development projects, including mining operations, are located.

The manner in which development projects are measured and assessed in relation to their effects on the environment must be reformed and stricter policies need to be put in place against development projects that seek to utilize the country's natural and mineral resources.

There has got to be a better way to promote development among the thirteen or so municipalities surrounding Taal without sacrificing the heritage of Taal volcano itself. The Taal spa, had it not been for the vigilance of the local residents, would have proceeded, to the detriment of Talisay and the local population. It is the same with the mining communities where informed consent is often twisted with false promises of economic prosperity in exchange for the violation of our patrimony and the exploitation of our environment.

Jaybee Garganera
Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)
59-C Salvador St., Loyola Heights, QC

DOLE tasked to address job mismatch

Following President Arroyo's order to raise the level of the country's educational system to world standards, the Department of Education was tasked to address the problem on job mismatch and have specific plans and programs for education development.

At present, DepED is targeting half a million public school teachers to undergo virtual training through the Cyber Education project.

DepED Secretary Jesli Lapus said through Cyber education, we are bringing our teachers from all over the country closer to quality teacher training activities and materials.

We will ensure that all our teachers are provided the much-needed trainings they need to improve teaching and student learning, he said.

Secretary Lapus has also vigorously pushed for the strengthening of "tech-voc" education and trainings under the supervision and control of the department.

The move came with the gathering of government figures which showed that there were more than half a million blue collar jobs not being filled due to a shortage of skilled workers in the country while millions remain unemployed.

"We have to address what we call as the 'job mismatch'. Out of the 2.6 million unemployed Filipino, around 1.1 million are college graduates.

"But at the same time, we have 650,000 tech-voc jobs available in the local market, and we cannot fill in the vacancies because our tech-voc job applicants lack the required tech-voc skills," Lapus said.

Results of the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE), the latest administered by DepED showed that majority of high school batch 2007 are not fit for college and should take the technical and vocational track.

Lapus expressed the DepEd's hope that students and parents will take advantage of the NCAE in charting their future after high school graduation.

"Students need to be given career counseling support and parents need to be informed and re-educated to appreciate viable alternatives to the college diploma." Lapus said.

The NCAE had four major components that sought to determine the aptitude of examinees in general scholastics, technical-vocational, entrepreneurial skills, and non-verbal ability.

The test also had a fifth part that questioned examinees on their occupational interest. Aptitude for college was mainly measured by the general scholastics aptitude (GSA) test of the NCAE which carried 220 items.

The technical-vocational aptitude test had 50 items, the entrepreneurial skills test had 30 items and the non-verbal ability test had 30 items. (PIA XI)- Rose Palacio