Kasangga ng taong bayan

My friends,

Mabuhay ang Bagong Bandila! You have asked me to lead a new movement and I humbly accept.

The gallant men and women of yesteryears like those who belong to the vital organizations here present do not need reminders that in the dark days of martial law you fought for freedom. You marched in the streets, you faced tear gas and water hoses and guns and bullets – but like Ninoy Aquino whose birthday we honor today, you did not relent! You fought bravely till freedom was won.

But time passed by in the subsequent Congress of Bandila, a distinguished keynote speaker said "This Congress is held under the bright sky of a … government we helped install. Yet it seems now … our heart’s desire seem no longer one and our minds set in varying directions. Now many priorities contend, many concerns compete … The middle ground, which we have do dearly staked out and which all our efforts secured, nurtured and widened as a viable homestead for the Filipino nation, is now being threatened by … our own weaknesses and failures.

"I sense that the passion that accompanied persecution is leaving us. I also sense that the complacency that comes with good connections is growing. Let us reverse these by putting ourselves in war footing again. There are many key struggles ahead. We should keep our muscles in tone by waging the battles that carry our people’s wishes.

"What is happening to the middleground? Have we become less creative, or less courageous or both? Where are the bright, fresh attacks and approaches that marked the … protest movement? … Where have all earnest activists of the middle gone? Too much action has moved to the corridors of power, too much reliance is seeing placed on backroom meetings and audiences with the President. Let us go back to our popular roots. Let us work with the mass movement to secure the gains for the people. Let us seize opportunities without hesitation or timidity.

"… If we come away from this Congress convinced in our need to pursue initiatives independent of government, new doors will be opened … BANDILA must strike out in the direction of the mass movement, it must continue to protect the middle ground…

"Magbalik tayo sa mga tao, sapagka’t nasa kanila ang ating mga ugat, ang ating lakas sa ating diwa!"

The statements you have just heard are not mine. They were delivered by the Honorable Secretary of Health, Alran Bengson, a true comrade, a liberal but a true activist, and, above all, a passionate nationalist.

The sentiments he expressed hold true today. Yes, it seems that the more things change, the more they remain the same. And in our case, things seem to have worsened.

First on the MLSA. We have dedicated men and women in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP. Those behind the MLSA tell us that this agreement is harmless and beneficial because the obligations embodied therein are voluntary – on a best effort basis. That is deceptive. Article V, paragraph I states:

"Each Party shall exert its best efforts, consistent with national priorities, to satisfy requests from the other Party under this Agreement for logistic support, supplies, and services. When an Implementing Arrangement contains a stricter standard for satisfying such requests, it shall apply over this paragraph."

"Does this mean that obligations under the Agreement may be transformed into a mandatory commitment? What are the stricter standards? Since cooperative efforts can take place outside Philippine territory pursuant to Article III, Section I(b) – does this mean that our men and women in the Armed Forces can be dragged into an activity not of their own choice – like the projected war in Iraq? Are not the soldiers entitled to know? Do not the citizens have the right to be informed? Unfortunately the MLSA has been signed before explanations were made. Like the tragic ‘shoot first, ask questions later."

We must face realities. Five million Filipinos do not have jobs, more are underemployed. Thirty-two million are poor. We spend more than we earn, with a budgetary deficit of 180 billion pesos as of October this year alone. Unmitigated graft continues to destroy our values like cancer in many parts of the body.

Today you do not fight for freedom. You fight against poverty and privation, against hunger and malnourishment, against injustice and oppression wherever they rear their ugly heads.

In the wake of Free Trade amongst the original six nations in ASEAN on January 3, 2003, and the World Trade Organization after the Doha negotiations – What do we do?

1. If we let our best soccer football team, the De La Salle Football squad, best in football if not in basketball, play against the football team of Brazil, then we can all forecast the results. Our players do not train regularly, not coached consistently, not exercised daily, not supported by government. The Brazil team has training, exercise, coach, support – everything. They think football, live football, and play regularly to win not only the national or regional but mainly the World Cup.

We must empower the people. Like you, I want a strong nation – but strength must stem from a firm foundation below. A strong edifice needs a strong foundation – empowered people. Most of our farmers and fisherfolks and workers in the rural areas have not gone beyond primary education.

I recall two young poor orphans brothers in Mindanao. They were not only poor but uneducated. The parents who both perished in a local war had left them with a hectare of coconut land which yielded a paltry income of six thousand pesos a year. Until one day an uncle, conversant in agriculture visited them. Realizing their plight, he told them how they could plant crops like horse radish and onions and peanuts between the spaces of the coconut trees, how they could improve the yield of coconuts including by-products like tuba. He accompanied them to the rural bank, borrowed the necessary sums, taught them where and when to sell. He empowered them, and they labored to improve themselves. Soon they more than doubled their income, leased another hectare and expanded to fattening of cattle, with more vital plans for a better future.

But that example constitutes exemptions. There are millions of farmers and fisherfolks. Who will empower them?

They are good at planting the traditional palay, sugar, coconuts, some vegetables and fruit trees – but in other instances they do not know and the young who come after them are beginning to feel a creeping sense of despondency.

They need empowerment – but who will empower them? When? How?

Society must empower them. Principally government but others like civic clubs, non-government organizations, not only here but also from abroad. We must teach our farmers new technology, new crops, our fishermen new ways to catch fish, when and where – not just to produce but where to process and market them. And if we do not have the technology, then we buy or borrow the same.

The Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Agrarian Reform, the other organizations must all join hands to empower. I myself have made arrangements for help from friends from other countries.

How do we do this? Thru massive and sustained education, thru computers under diverse modules to hold sessions in schoolhouses after classes or under the trees on a regular basis – until the time that the farmer and fishermen below are shown that opportunities for development exist, that they can be attained – and more important – that they have the backing of government, that they can participate in development, that they belong.

2. Empowerment is not enough, however. We must also develop thru the principle of subsidiarity.

A university, for example, has its President. He is the headman and together with the board sets out broad policies for implementation. But the President must not interfere with the deans of the diverse departments, especially those who show initiative as long as they adhere to general policies. The President should not delve into details or matters that pertain to students who are under a subordinate teacher exercising self-reliance.

The same with the nation. The President supervises local governments. But he must leave to the governors and mayors and barangay heads the task of building their own constituencies – for as long as they exercise initiative and self-reliance – they should be encouraged, not deterred, from their chosen tasks.

The same with the economic development. Under present practice it is NEDA that plans, with rare consultations from local officials if any, implements their plans thru their regional and provincial directors.

Perhaps we should reverse the process. Let us listen to the people below. They know better what they need, what they want, how they can attain these goals. They know better the conditions that exist, the potentials – and the barangays where they live, the mayors, the governors are closest to them. Let them plan along policies set by the national government: for example, self sufficiency in rice, let the locals include the same in planning and development; enhancement of herbal medicines, let the locals do the same. But beyond that we ask the national government to encourage not impede the acts of the locals for their own growth if they build on their own: a commercial center, a slaughterhouse, needed farm-to-market roads, etc. Listen to the people and the local lenders no matter how humble. Support them fully because that is the intent of the Local Government Code.

3. Before the adoption of the Local Government Code, the locals were mere implementers of what the authorities in the national government wanted. Do this. Do that. This is good for you. That is intended for your benefit. And the locals implemented, not only because that was the set-up but also because the locals had no choice. They had no money, no resources, no means to carry out their plans. Today – since the adoption of the Local Government Code – the locals have 40 percent of Internal Revenue Collections. They can, aside from real estate taxes raise revenues thru other means. They can organize corporations to undertake a project. They can go into joint ventures, borrow, float bonds – take means needed to implement their own plans and chart their own future for the nation’s welfare. Already, there is a convention center in Tagaytay City – P220 million, at no cost to the national government. A slaugtherhouse in Dagupan, a commercial center being planned in Tuguegarao. Let the locals act. Let their initiatives give meaning to development and substance to the Local Government Code. If we strengthen the parts, we strengthen the whole, and if we develop from below we develop upwards for a stronger Philippines.

Let us help them. The local leaders of barangays, the municipal, cities and provinces nearest to the people at the grassroots. Sila ang kasangga ng taong bayan.

4. And just as vital – is the challenge to renew the spirit of the Filipino – against corruption, against despair, against a creeping sense of helplessness because of the mounting problems facing us.

It was Father Horacio de la Costa who said that the Filipino may be poor and oppressed but he possesses two precious gems – his faith and his music. Faith in God preserved to overcome the forces of evil. Music in his kundimans – to sing and say to the world, I am a Filipino. I have this land of seven thousand islands. My forefathers were honest, hardworking. In their time public office meant real public service and sacrifice. They were not corrupt, they did not kidnap, they did not rob. They were dedicated. Therefore as long as I can win back honestly in my heart, as long as I am willing to empower my mind anew and work as hard as my brothers who labor abroad – I can speak the truth and spurn deception – and one day I shall overcome – and one day I shall stand and proudly say – I am a Filipino!