Crowdsourcing politics and governance; Pope should land in Tacloban

There is a growing impatience that Bayanko, the crowdsourcing movement begin its work for drafting a new constitution to restructure its politics and governance. The impatience is well taken but it would be a misunderstanding of what crowdsourcing means if we were to begin the work by imposing the organizers’ views before the crowd has spoken or a panel of experts to draft the constitution has been appointed.

If crowdsourcing were to be true to its tenets, it has to hear from the crowd, the Filipino public on what they want for the country. I am speaking of how the many has been excluded by the few in the nation building of our country. Crowdsourcing is a way to correct that anomaly if we are to build a democratic state instead of our present oligarchic set-up that has created a lop-sided society with a wide gap between the rich and the poor not found in other countries in our region.

In time, not long now, we will begin the work but always in conformity with seeking the wisdom of the crowd. The drafting of a new constitution for a new political structure will take place after Bayanko has gathered enough inputs from the crowd and a panel of experts have been appointed. We concede that there are many problems crying out to be solved immediately but that will be the function of an interim body with revolutionary powers. Bayanko remains the repository of ideas and principles that govern the implementation of new policies for government.

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A recent update in Bayanko has received widespread consensus on the urgent problems the country faces today. I am reprinting this update for those who are not in social media and not sufficiently covered in oligarchic media:

We have a country where 100 families control 90 percent of the wealth of the nation.

We have a country where the oligarchy and political dynasties rule with impunity.

We have a country with a do-nothing government unable to solve poverty and unemployment, rising food prices, high electricity costs, increasing crime, the traffic mess that affects productivity, the rehabilitation of areas devastated by natural disasters, and the list goes on and on.

We have a country where the vice-president has been accused of corruption and is unwilling to face the charges.

We have a country where the Congress is perceived as a den of thieves and thrives on pork barrel.

We have a country where the president threatens to clip the powers of the Supreme Court because it declared the DAP unconstitutional.

We have a country where the Comelec voting machines are defective.

We have a country where the checks-and-balances in the Constitution have been ignored.

We have a country where the rule of law is no longer observed.

We have a country where 60 million of its people consider themselves poor, 4.5 million are homeless, 3 million are jobless.

We have a country where nearly 10 percent of its people have to migrate abroad to seek work because there are no opportunities at home.

We have a country which is in a total mess.

By any definition, we have become a failed State.

Despite the call from various quarters, embodied in the Lipa, Cebu and Butuan Declarations, calling on this government to step down, President Aquino refuses to heed the calls.

Do we wait until a bigger disaster hits us all?

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The Chinese embassy has sent this column a correction on a report that does not help in promoting a more judicious diplomatic approach to the South China Sea problem.

The media report of “China bypassing Philippines in its 21st century maritime silk road” is incorrect. China has never published any official map of the 21st century maritime silk road, nor has China excluded the Philippines from the blueprint of the 21st century maritime silk road.

The ancient maritime silk road had long been an important route of economic and cultural exchanges between east and west. In October 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the initiative of building a 21st century maritime silk road during his visit to Indonesia. Based on historic traditions, this strategic concept is aimed at deepening China’s friendly cooperation with the world by promoting policy communication, road connectivity, trade facilitation, monetary circulation, and people-to-people exchanges along the route, thus leading to a more closed community of shared destinies.

On November 8, 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China will contribute $40 billion to set up a Silk Road infrastructure fund, which will bring new opportunities for infrastructure, resources and industrial development along the 21st century maritime silk road.

Since ancient times, the trade, cultural and personnel exchanges between China and the Philippines have been conducted on the sea with a history of more than a millennium. The Philippines is definitely part of the 21st century maritime silk road, as well as a member of the China-ASEAN maritime cooperation. China welcomes the Philippines to be a proactive and constructive partner of the 21st century maritime silk road, which serves the national interests of the Philippines and will contribute to the social and economic development of the Philippines.

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What is this we hear that the Aquino government is trying to block the Pope’s visit to Tacloban? Francisco Tatad wrote that there is a plan to close down the Daniel Z. Romualdez airport on the anniversary of the Haiyan tragedy which killed thousands and destroyed the Leyte capital. According to some travellers, although much needs to be done, it functions and can certainly be made ready for the Pope’s visit if he desires to visit the victims and see for himself all the stories about the mismanagement of aid to rebuild the city. For something as important as a papal visit to Tacloban, something could be done to make it possible for him to land in the most destroyed city.

There is a plan to divert him to Palo that would stop him from performing the ceremonies that have been prepared for Tacloban. Although my late husband’s family come from Palo, they, too are incensed about this diversion calculated to stop the Pope from seeing the ruins and mismanagement of aid to the victims in Tacloban.

There are questions to be answered on what is truly behind the closing of the Tacloban airport (named Daniel Z. Romualdez airport). Although I have personal links to Palo, the Pedrosa family has expressed their objection to transferring the Tacloban airport to Palo.

Plans for moving the airport would mean destroying their more than 200-year old ancestral house that has been deemed by the National Historical Commission qualified as a historical structure that must not be destroyed. But more importantly, the family is more concerned that the Pope land in Tacloban and judge for himself what happened there and why international aid has not come through to properly rehabilitate the city.