Standing sentinel

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte used strong language to upbraid oligarchs in the aftermath of the arbitral ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in Singapore. Ayala owned Manila Water is the intended beneficiary of a P7.39 billion windfall but the President isn’t settling this particular water bill.

PRRD doesn’t mind the howls against changing rules midstream, the specter of capital flight and the admonitions that governmental intervention would have adverse constitutional ramifications. Even greater, international arbitral awards have not deterred him in the past.

The unconscionable provisions of concession contracts, packaged as bitter pills for needed relief, have been around for a while. If government can’t handle basic needs delivery, people will always look to the private sector. You get efficiency, yes. But not economy. It costs more and private business is guaranteed their profits.

These arrangements are beneficiaries of the Constitutional protection of non-impairment. But this President is unwilling to pay that price. When it comes to public interest, to the concessionaires – it is he who is the bitter pill.

Standing up. If attended by irregularity, the non-impairment clause will protect no contract. Going by the record, the President doesn’t just fly into his tirades. He may be inconsistent with his friends, but he has never accused powerful men outright without any basis. This is where Rody the lawyer comes in.

Once you have unleashed the wind, as the saying goes, then must you abide by its blowing whatever it may tear down. Having waved criminal prosecution in these big men’s faces and threatened the exposure of all involved, including members of Congress, the President will have to walk his talk. Only this will validate his pointed accusations. At the same time, it affords those he publicly accused with the opportunity to clear their names. 

The assurance of investor confidence is an end in itself. But if attained unjustifiably, it yields to government’s obligation to guarantee access to basic needs.

Standing down. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Martial Law administrator, has conceded that there is no need for further extensions thereof in Mindanao. The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police both concur. With the shelf life of this latest iteration expiring on Dec. 31, 2019, it appears that our brothers in the South will finally be rejoining the ranks of normalcy.

This is as it should be. Even the last battles for extension, in Congress last December 2018 followed by the perfunctory Supreme Court review last February, turned on pretexts and excuses far removed from what the Constitution meticulously required.  

These episodes further highlighted the obeisance and subordination of the Legislature and the Judiciary to the Executive. The martial law debates on the floors of Congress and in the annals of the Justices’ decisions will form part of their institutions’ legend when, in the future, students of the law learn about their roles in the diminution of this terrible power.

Standing proud. The South East Asian Games has supplied stories of heroism to suit every palate. Oro. Personally, we are delighted by the Gold medal won by swimmer James Deiparine in the breast stroke, setting a new SEAG record. When legends Eric Buhain and Akiko Thomson strode across the Philippine Sports Arena stage during the opening, we were reminded of our highs and lows in the sport. Our last gold in swimming was in 2009, courtesy of Miguel Molina. For an island race, this is sad. Our first ever Olympic medal, a bronze, was in swimming courtesy of Teofilo Yldefonso in 1928. Deiparine’s achievement should herald a renaissance which only even more determined efforts from our national sports associations can ensure.

Plata. Being a racket sport aficionado, I’ve followed with interest the progress of our tennis and badminton players. As of press time, we’ve secured a bronze in men’s tennis singles. In badminton, its been tough cracking the dominance of world class Indonesia and Thailand.

I enjoy both these sports plus two others: one was “invented’ here by Rafael Toda and widely played during the 70s and 80s. I refer to pelota – a version of the basque pelota (also jai-alai), mixed with handball rules and American racquetball equipment. The other is squash, first played in London in the 1800s and a mainstay sport in British commonwealth nations.

The regional squash powerhouses have played the sport since the time of their colonial forebears. The Philippines doesn’t have the same storied traditions nor the facilities. Only select private sports clubs have squash courts. Yet here we are scoring a silver in the men’s singles, long the domain of Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. In several ways, it’s good as gold. Congratulations to our medalist, Philippine No. 1 Robert Garcia and the Philippine Squash Academy with their tireless efforts to give the sport a wider base.

Mata. Thank you Sec. Leonor Briones for the latest serving of tough love. Had we not purposely subscribed to the prestigious Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) worldwide survey conducted by the OECD, we never would have realized how bad we were. 

With results mirroring those of our own National Achievement Tests and as education’s share in the gross domestic product (at 3.4 to 3.9 percent) is much lower than the international standard of six percent, are we still surprised that we ended up last in the ranking?  A UNESCO report in 2008 attributed the drop in our participation and achievement rates to underfunding.

We adopted the K-12 program to bring us up to speed with global standards. It turns out that the only international standard we matched is quantity. As for quality, we’re not there yet.

The PISA results are prized worldwide with nations commonly basing their policy reforms on the findings. Its designed to give feedback on education systems and show what works across the board. The results overall confirm that education systems are stagnating. Even countries like the US which spent billions are confounded by their poor results.