Ducky Paredes

“US funds to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) have been blocked since 2002.” 

by Ducky Paredes

 It is a bit of good news to those that see a more aggressive population control program as being good for this country that many observers believe that the incoming Democratic administration in the United States may lift a ban on US funding for overseas family planning groups.

It is no secret that whatever funding was coming from the U.S. for population control in the Philippines was reduced to a trickle during the Bush presidency. This is referred to as the  “global gag rule,” which was first established by Ronald Reagan in 1984. It cuts off funding to overseas family planning clinics which provide any abortion services whatsoever, from the operation itself to counseling, referrals or post-abortion services.

Among the first acts of President Bill Clinton was one that undid the population policy of the Reagan and Bush presidencies. Now, the Obama presidency is expected to unfreeze funds for many overseas family planning groups.

 US funds to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) have been blocked since 2002. The State Department says that the UN agency supports China’s one-child policy, which i amounts to coercive abortion.

The Bush administration said that because UNFPA supports coercive birth control, it would receive no US money. Of course, money to UNFPA also goes to family planning and contraception programs in many developing countries, not just to China. Thus, by cutting off all money to UNFPA, the Republican policy could actually be encouraging abortions.

A World Bank report says that women in developing countries, where access to contraception is poor, often turn to abortion as a means of birth control.

Abortion is more costly than providing contraceptive services, and around half the 42 million abortions performed annually are unsafe, the report said.

UNFPA senior culture adviser Azza Karam stressed at the launch of the UN agency’s annual State of World Population report in Washington this week that family planning is “not a luxury of whether or not you’re going to have premarital sex” but a service to which women must be given access.

One woman dies every minute somewhere in the world because of complications during birth.

According to a survey conducted in May by Gallup, roughly 50 percent of Americans are pro-choice — for abortion rights — and around 40 percent are pro-life — opposed to abortion rights.

* * *

And, now, for something thoroughly ridiculous. The following is from an Associated Press story from South Carolina sent by a reader in the U.S.:

“A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him ‘constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil.’

“The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.

“’Our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president,’ Newman wrote, referring to Obama by his full name, including his middle name of Hussein.

“’Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ’s Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.’

“During the 2008 presidential campaign, many bishops spoke out on abortion more boldly than four years earlier, telling Catholic politicians and voters that the issue should be the most important consideration in setting policy and deciding which candidate to back. A few church leaders said parishioners risked their immortal soul by voting for candidates who support abortion rights.

“But bishops differ on whether Catholic lawmakers — and voters — should refrain from receiving Communion if they diverge from church teaching on abortion. Each bishop sets policy in his own diocese. In their annual fall meeting, the nation’s Catholic bishops vowed Tuesday to forcefully confront the Obama administration over its support for abortion rights.

“According to national exit polls, 54 percent of Catholics chose Obama, who is Protestant. In South Carolina, which McCain carried, voters in Greenville County — traditionally seen as among the state’s most conservative areas — went 61 percent for the Republican, and 37 percent for Obama.

“’It was not an attempt to make a partisan point,’ Newman said in a telephone interview Thursday. ‘In fact, in this election, for the sake of argument, if the Republican candidate had been pro-abortion, and the Democratic candidate had been pro-life, everything that I wrote would have been exactly the same.’

“Conservative Catholics criticized Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004 for supporting abortion rights, with a few Catholic bishops saying Kerry should refrain from receiving Holy Communion because his views were contrary to church teachings.

“Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said she had not heard of other churches taking this position in reaction to Obama’s win. A Boston-based group that supports Catholic Democrats questioned the move, saying it was too extreme.

“’Father Newman is off base,’ said Steve Krueger, national director of Catholic Democrats. ‘He is acting beyond the authority of a parish priest to say what he did. … Unfortunately, he is doing so in a manner that will be of great cost to those parishioners who did vote for Sens. Obama and Biden. There will be a spiritual cost to them for his words.’

:A man who has attended St. Mary’s for 18 years said he welcomed Newman’s message and anticipated it would inspire further discussion at the church.

“’I don’t understand anyone who would call themselves a Christian, let alone a Catholic, and could vote for someone who’s a pro-abortion candidate,’ said Ted Kelly, 64, who volunteers his time as lector for the church. ‘You’re talking about the murder of innocent beings.’”

* * *

Added my correspondent who lives in Florida and not in North Carolina: “This is one reason I have given up on the Catholic Church. This priest will drastically reduce the number of practicing Catholics in his parish. This priest is a total idiot.”

# # # #

hvp 11.17.08)

“Spotty coverage, weak or dropped signals, poor service – these make Sun’s offer of unlimited calls and text not even funny.” 

by Ducky Paredes

The Philippines is admittedly behind in a lot of things. Cell phone use is not one of them.

A Wikipedia entry notes: The Philippines sends on the average 400 million text messages a day or approximately 142 billion text messages sent a year, more than the annual average SMS volume of the countries in Europe, and even China and India. It is said that the Philippines is the texting capital of the world. Did you know that text messaging was originally developed for the hearing-impaired?  

A visiting niece was surprised in talking to people her age to discover that Pinays actually feel disrespected if a new male acquaintance calls her on her cellphone. She would rather receive a text that a voice call. Said my stateside niece: “I  would rather get a call than a text.” Texting has grown its own subculture in this country.

Other, more developed countries have higher percentages of actual cell phone users. Taiwan has 111 percent cellular phones to population since many Taiwanese have more than one cell phone. Hong Kong has a penetration rate of 91 percent and Singapore stands at 75 percent.

Yet, we rule the world in the number of text messages.

The rest of the world is only waking up to the use of cell phones for SMS messaging which has been the main use of the Philippine cell phone. Where else can you buy just enough load for jut one SMS message if not in the Philippines? Money is even sent through SMS. A pioneer in this is the GM Bank in Nueva Ecija that uses the cell phone almost like an Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

The Philippines is a virtual ongoing, real-time laboratory experiment in how people actually use cell phone technology, what can be done with it, and how to make money from it. From business models, marketing efforts, service packages, technology deployment to social repercussions, the world is watching what is happening in our country.

Regionally, the Philippines is at the cutting edge of telecommunication, with Korea and China and most neighboring countries following suit. We are in a unique situation as far as the cell phone usage is concerned.

At the GM Bank in any town in Nueva Ecija, a student enters the branch, fills out a form and sends a text message from his cell phone to a phone in the bank dedicated to the service. In a matter of seconds, the transaction is approved and the teller gives him the dollars sent by his mother who is working abroad after deducting a one per cent fee. He need not even have a bank account to retrieve the money.

More than 5.5 million Filipinos now use their cell phones as virtual wallets, making the Philippines a leader among developing nations in providing financial transactions over mobile networks.

With a very rabid, active and passionate user community, our society is the perfect laboratory for the technology and the business. As one of the most cell phone-active parts of the world, we have been able to take a simple concept and take it to the extreme, experimenting with variations on complicated, intricate usage plans while the rest of the world is only now discovering that they can use their phones for SMS messages.

Thus, when a telecom provider offers a cellular service that retards rather than helps  move cellular use forward, it ought to be given notice.

Our telecom providers here offer liberal and generous business packages, due mainly to a viciously competitive environment that often results in dynamic and innovative efforts that drive prices down but still increases their profits.

Among the most appealing and enticing are usage plans that promise “unlimited” calls and texts. The promise is that for a small fixed amount, we can enjoy calling and texting without limits for a day or a month. Sounds too good to be true and it sometimes is. A particular “unlimited” plan offering usually results in one’s actually paying much more for the service that one actually receives.

The  promise of “unlimited” calls seems like a wonderful idea for people with large social groups, families, or even companies that need to be in constant communication with its employees.  These unlimited plans make users feel safe and secure that whatever happens during their day, running out of load for calls and texts seems to be the least of their problems.

One provider offers as its main package a full day’s worth of unlimited texts and calls for just P25. Looks really good; but, when one looks at actual usage, most of their customers are paying P25 actually get to use less than P25 worth of calls and texts.

Sun Cellular’s service is far from perfect. Spotty coverage, weak or dropped signals, poor service – these make Sun’s offer of unlimited calls and text not even funny.  The meter’s not running but can you even complete a call in the first place? And if you could make that call, can you actually complete it going before the signal drops?

I have yet to meet anyone who has not complained about this very popular “Unlimited Call & Text” plan of Sun Cellular. It actually turns out to be expensive and misleading, and is unfair and disadvantageous to the consumer. The concept is nice, and in a perfect world, it would be the best offer ever. Given the actual calling needs of the average consumer, and the current state of service and support by Sun, their unlimited call and text plans turn out to be, in more cases than not, poor value for your money. Consumers actually pay more for less.

Sadly, while the rest of the cellular phone industry seems to be improving its services, this one telecom is dragging the rest down. Can someone stop Sun Cellular from selling “unlimited” for their present service and reach that is actually limited by poor technology and inadequate networks.

* * *

Last Saturday, playing for the broadcast sector in the first media golfers Ryder Cup-type “pasiklaban” between Print and Broadcast media men, MMDA Deputy Chairman Cesar Lacuna had his first-ever Hole-in-One on the 13th Hole of South Forbes Golf and Country Club.

Cesar, who was not playing his best that day, hit a borrowed Callaway ball with a Honma Twin Marks # 11 iron (equivalent to a sand wedge) 100 yards to the hole. His ball went past and up the raised edge, then rolled back down smack into the hole. From then on, his game improved. It was only the eighth hole-in-one in the beautiful but mountainous tough par 67 course.

By the way, the broadcast players, tired from the industry’s Golden Dove Awards the night before lost to us print golfers. Competition was between three teams playing Best Ball, three teams playing High-Low and the top five best net scores for the rest of the players. Each side had more than 17 players. It was a lot of fun and had grand raffle prizes.

# # # #

hvp 11.16.08)

“If Senator Escudero is pro-poor as he claims, he’d be moving for the repeal of Meralco’s franchise,’ says Winston Garcia.”

by Ducky Paredes

If Meralco and the Lopezes thought that GSIS’ selling its Meralco shares has put a stop to the headache that GSIS President Winston Garcia has been giving the Lopez family, they are definitely wrong.

Yesterday, Winston let loose another of his artillery rounds. This time the target was Senator Chiz Escudero who Winston says will soon be revealed as nothing more than a “stooge” of the Lopezes  if Chiz will continue to “see and hear no evil” on Meralco’s exorbitant power rates and failure to refund what it had overcharged its 4.4 million customers.

 Garcia cites Escudero’s lingering silence on the hot issues being raised against Lopez-controlled Meralco: “He’s got his mouth zippered on Meralco’s abuses under the management of the Lopezes, while being very vocal against those whom the Lopezes may consider as their enemies, like the GSIS.”

According to Garcia, Escudero “has not dared touch with a 10-foot pole the shenanigans of Meralco,” while riding high publicity-wise on almost every issue, including those involving former agriculture under-secretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante and the so-called “euro generals.”

As a matter of fact, the whole Senate (with the exception of Loren Legarda) has ignored the Meralco issue and most senators seem to have never even heard of the exorbitant Meralco power rates, which are P2 to P3 more expensive per kilowatt hour (kWh) compared to other distribution utilities. If Chiz and his fellow senators are what they pretend to be – the champions of the Filipino people – shouldn’t they be at least showing some concern about the Meralco issue?

One would think that the Senators who like nothing better than another investigation “in aid of legislation) would have gotten on Meralco’s case long ago; yet, strangely, it has not.

Garcia points out: “The abuses of Meralco hit the stomach as they victimize a lot of people and are committed in blatant disregard of moral and legal norms.

“Senator Escudero is nowhere to be found in the prolonged profile and drawn out discussion on Meralco’s high rates, questionable deals with Lopez companies, unconscionable pass-on charges, and the many times it had been caught overcharging consumers.”

Garcia asks why Escudero does not at least support a petition of consumer groups before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) bidding to stop Meralco’s deferment of P3.9 billion in consumer refund.

The refund in question arose from Meralco’s over-recovery from 2003 to 2006 under the currency exchange rate adjustment mechanism or CERA.

Why can’t Escudero press Meralco to complete its refund of the P30 billion of its income tax which it surreptitiously passed on to consumers from 1994 to 2002, and which the Supreme Court ordered returned in a 2003 decision?

“Meralco has been violating with impunity both the terms of its franchise and the EPIRA, which tasked it to provide least-cost electricity to its captive market. If Senator Escudero is pro-poor as he claims, he’d be moving for the repeal of Meralco’s franchise,” says Winston Garcia.

Winston says that he hopes that the entry as a major stockholder of Meralco of food and beverage giant San Miguel Corporation (SMC) will bring about the much-needed change, resulting to the lowering of its rates.

This could come about in the event of a management change in Meralco. Its lower rates would drastically drop once the onerous contracts entered into by the company with power generators owned by the Lopezes – First Gen and First Gas – are rescinded.

The Lopez IPPs had been drawing and will continue to draw for the duration of their 25-year contracts about P20 billion in capacity fees each year from Meralco.

 Says Garcia: “Meralco customers at present pay the Lopez IPPs even for undelivered power, on top of the many questionable pass-on charges by the company, including the cost of power it itself uses in its offices.”

Garcia, who remains on the board of Meralco pending the appointment by SMC of its choices to replace the GSIS-appointed board members, says that Meralco must also be stopped from collecting system loss charges to cover the cost of power lost due to its distribution inefficiency and due to pilferage.

When will Winston Garcia stop his anti-Meralco crusade? Is it possible that SMC will keep Winston on the Meralco board to continue his crusade of reform in the power utility? That would make things more interesting. One can hardly imagine a Meralco without a Winston Garcia.

* * *

For the first time, on Novermber 10, I was invited to the Jojo Binay Cup, a golf tournament that started in 1995. This one was at Ayala Alabang which is a course that I used to hate. I don’t anymore; this time around, I had a reasonable score.

The food was also super and the raffle prizes were among the best I have ever seen. (When the raffle prizes are that good; one can get frustrated when he does not get anything better than a genuine Lacoste bag. Luckily, I stopped to talk to Allen Macasaet, my Abante publisher, who passed on to me the Johnnie Walker Green Label that he won because “I don’t drink.” Would that there would be more such generous teetotalers in this world!)

Jojo’s Birthday was 11/11 (which was also Armistice Day after World War I and is the birthday of my brother Jake as well as that of the late Vice President Doy Laurel who was remembered at a memorial golf game at Manila Golf Club that teed off on 11/11 at 11:00 o’clock).

At his birthday celebration in the Makati City Hall, Jojo talked about running for higher office. His present term ends in 2010 and he has decided to support his Vice Mayor Elmer Mercado in his run for Mayor. As for Jojo, he wants to continue in politics but on the national stage. Senator? Vice President? President?

Whichever it is, there is no doubt that Jojo can do the job. What needs doing is to win the election. That is a bit harder to do in this country that chooses its national leaders based solely on popularity, without any consideration whether the candidate can do the job for which he is running. Consider that most of the competent ones in this country are also not necessarily popular. In fact, being competent may bring one’s popularity rating way down; while singing and dancing like some fool on the campaign stage will make one even more popular.

# # # #

hvp 11.12.08)

Malaya 11.11.08)

“Verzosa may have actually increased the reporters’ access to the stories available at the police precincts.” 

Verzosa’s Blotter

by Ducky Paredes

We have a pretty dumb Senate that will pounce on anything that moves.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Director General Jesus Verzosa was clearly within his authority to issue a directive on Oct. 30 entitled “The Decentralization of the Public Information Office.”

What our Senators took issue with “without thinking” was this part of the directive: ““The information contained in the police blotter, in order to protect the integrity of the document and the identity of any victim and suspect, shall not be made accessible to the public or media without the proper authorization from the head of office or unless the disclosure is in compliance with a lawful order of the court or any pertinent authority.”

Immediately, some media practitioners and some of our Senators went to town on this. The usual practice for police reporters is to spend most of the day on other cocerns. Then, with the day’s deadline approaching, they go to the blotter and copy their stories verbatim from the record.

Perhaps, some of our senators are unaware that ir is not unusual tjhat information accessed from the police blotter has been used to extract funds from both victims and named suspects in the blotter.

In a case that is familiar to everyone, a congressman was accosted by tabloid reporters on the day that his name appeared in a police blotter as the accused rapist of what turned out to be an under-aged prostitute. What happened before the story finally came out in print was that a delegation of reporters sent word to the congressman that they could very easily “kill” the story for a small consideration that the congressman could easily afford. Our representative replied with a few well-chosen expletives. So, our criminal reporters went to town with the story.

A broadsheet reporter then approached the group that had spoken to the congressman and who went to town with the story of the congressman committing statutory rape on a minor. Apparently, the emissary let them know that the congressman still wanted the story killed; this time, however, the reporters replied that their price was now ten times the original amount. Again, our congressman screamed bloody murder. The final outcome of the story is that our congressman had to serve several years in Muntinglupa.

What is the moral of the story? There is none. True, because the congressman refused to pay up, his story became part of our recent history. So, is the moral lesson that there would not have been any story if he had parted with his money; that doing so, may have saved him jail time? The congressman deserved whatever punishment society could impose on him for his despicable acts, not because he did not pay up to the reporter-mulcters. 

What I point out is that the reporters’ access to the police blotter is not always used for the noble purpose of reporting to the general public the stories that can be found in the blotters of our police precincts. Not all reporters have souls of reformers.

What Verzosa did, on the one hand, was to stop the direct access of media to the police blotter – the registry of complaints filed at a police precinct. This is reasonable since there are complaints filed and recorded in the blotter that require sensitive handling. Another way of looking at this, however, is that the precinct commanders have been given carte blanche in releasing to the reporters whatever stories they may want to release to the public; there is no more need to send these stories to be handled by the PNP’s PIO. Thus, Verzosa may have actually increased the reporters’ access to the stories available at the police precincts.

PNP spokesman, Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome says: “The (PNP) headquarters approved the ‘decentralization’ of the public information function with pure good intention of allowing media to get better and more efficient access to information on police concerns.

“The decentralization of information now defines the responsibility of unit commanders to assist media and facilitate access to official reports, and other public documents. The same policy also defines the levels of approving authority for release of information to the public and the media.”

One senator who apparently never took the trouble to see things clearly before opening his mouth, says:

“Clearly, the directive of the chief of the PNP on prohibiting media access to police blotters is wrong. I don’t see the logic behind the memorandum. We should not curtail press freedom in the country. The PNP should reconsider and recall this order.

“It is situations like these that show the need for a law that will ensure freedom of access to information, and in my capacity as chairman of the committee on public information, I will be conducting public hearings on this immediately.”

Again, that much-feared public hearing! Perhaps, we ought to stop pretending that we are electing senators; let’s call them investigators!

Says the Senator who obviously does not know what he is saying:

 “They should bear in mind that the Constitution clearly provides freedom of the press and freedom of information. No one has the authority to prohibit anyone from exercising these rights.”

Clearly, what the PNP has done is to afford those who would report crimes with a modicum of anonymity. Their entry in the police blotter can be kept private until the proper time that this has to be revealed. Perhaps, this may even encourage some to report crimes they would not otherwise report to the police.

* * *

The Couples for Christ (CFC) St. Thomas More and Associates (STMA) South B Sector is holding its annual fund-raising golf tournament at the Villamor Air Base Golf Club on Friday, November 21, 2008.

CFC is a private national and international association of lay faithful involved in renewing families to Christ and helping our marginalized and poor brothers and sisters in uplifting them.  Thus, CFC is not only concerned with spiritual formation but also with the material and physical needs of our less fortunate brethren.

STMA assists CFC in implementing an integrated program towards total human liberation in many places in the country in “Gawad Kalinga” communities.  The various programs in these communities include “TATAG” for housing, “SIBOL” for the kids, “SIGA” for the youth, “SAGIP” for the out-of-school youth, “LUSOG” for health, and “SIKAP” for livelihood.

There are more than 1,220 Gawad Kalinga areas throughout the country and several of them are within the Parañaque-Las Piñas area where STMA is based.

# # # #

hvp 11.10.08)