An Overdose of Lies Could Kill
By Erick San Juan
As if humanity is not yet tired of the daily dose of myths and lies being given to us – from the war on terror, global warming to the resurgence of different flu pandemics and the like, which is being done on a global scale by some evil minds from “rich” countries, that the “poor” nations cannot help but swallow. Until now, we are "injected" with false informations particularly on the dangers of the H1N1 influenza, all for the profit of some big pharmaceutical companies. I have written several articles exposing this flu hoax and in early May 2009, in less than a month after its reported outbreak, we warned that some big pharma companies will profit from such “chaos”.
We are not alone in this fight. Thanks to the people whose concern is beyond profit, recognition and power compared to the so called "world agencies" that were supposed to protect humanity from danger and death. And most of all to the internet - the different websites, blogs and other conscientious mainstream media that continuously give the other side of truth to the viewing public. This is the beauty of the internet and media, as I always say. Although this could also be used by irresponsible people whose only motive is to spread fear, like this letter sender, a certain Arsenio Sangalang of Bulacan whose article entitled The Grave Threat (published in Malaya, 2/24/2010) seems to lack the quality of a real research work and I'm sorry to say, ended up with pure fear mongering. Why did I say this? If you really did research on this false pandemic, you will come across with the truth on how this so called swine flu myth was manipulated and made into a monster by a clique of influential people inside the World Health Organization (WHO) and its counterpart representing some leading pharmaceutical companies. Investigations made by known persons in the field of medicine, in different countries, posted on the internet their findings of the fraud surrounding the “flu pandemic”.
An investigation was also made by Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, the president of the Council of Europe's Health Commission on how this H1N1 pandemic was really manipulated. According to Dr. Wodarg, – “I had suspicions that the figures were quite weak and the level of alarm was elevated. There weren't even a thousand sick people before there was already talk of the pandemic of the century. The extreme alert decreed was based on the fact that the virus was new. But the characteristic of flu-type illnesses is to develop very fast with viruses that take on new forms each time by moving in on new hosts - animals, people etc. There's nothing new in that. A new "flu" virus of that kind appears every year. In reality, nothing justified sounding the alarm at that level. That was only possible because the WHO changed its definition of pandemic at the beginning of May 2009.”
Simply put, why the alarm level had to be set at pandemic alarm level 6? As long as pandemic declaration 6 continues to be in force, this special crisis committee under the direction of WHO and the UN continue to have extraordinary powers to intervene in the public health services, military and law enforcement. In addition, the declaration of a pandemic level 6 significantly increases the power of WHO over national governments. And, a pandemic level 6 declaration allows pharmaceutical companies to claim immunity.
Crisis committees created in some countries even imposed martial law where a mandatory vaccination is forced among its citizenry. That is why on the hearing at the Council of Europe, WHO announced that H1N1 pandemic emergency level 6 will remain for another two years! Is this because the billions of dollars that the big pharma profited from this faked propaganda is not enough and that they want more? Most of all, were the people who were fooled to take the shots (unfortunately) are not enough to depopulate the world? Remember the claim of Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg: “A group of people at the WHO is very tightly associated with the pharmaceutical industry.” And that “H1N1 swine flu was never dangerous, and it never should have been escalated to a level-six pandemic in the first place. It was all a big marketing scam whose purpose was to simply sell vaccines.” Need we say more?
To the likes of that letter writer, and those who will follow the line of the worldwide fear mongering of the “swine flu pandemic” you know that an overdose of lies could really kill.
Lastly, Mr. Sangalang, thousands of that vaccine were never used by countries who bought them from the taxpayers’ hard-earned money and that the goal of that Council of Europe investigation is for governments to question contracts they made against the big pharma companies and eventually lead to compensation. (For more updates and info, please search for Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg and the Council of Europe's Health Commission or just search : swine flu hoax. My e-mail – culdesac0002@yahoo.com.ph)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The War on Terror Myth
The War on Terror Myth
By Erick San Juan
Hours after the September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Bush administration was quick to put the entire blame on Al Qaeda, particularly to Osama Bin Laden as the culprit sans investigations. Later, on that same day, the global war on terrorism (GWOT) was officially launched. Since then, countries including the Philippines and in other parts of the globe followed suit by creating government agencies that will address the war on terrorism and even drafted laws to fight terrorism in all fronts. In October 7, 2001 US troops bombed and invaded Afghanistan where the CIA-created Al Qaeda and its “resurrected” leader, Osama Bin Laden were reportedly hiding.
For over eight years now, the GWOT is still on. Though the 9/11 Truth Movement and other investigative organizations are gaining ground in propagating the truth about 9/11 through the internet and in the different media outlets. Why? Without an "outside enemy", there could be no "war on terrorism". The entire national security agenda will collapse "like a deck of cards". The war criminals in high office would have no leg to stand on.” (Michel Chossudovsky)
Yes, that “outside enemy” lives on and continues to threaten the world in order to justify the presence of US, NATO and its allied troops in Afghanistan where the “immortal” Osama allegedly hides. But the real score was not revealed to the world until several researchers and writers on the internet exposed the hidden agenda of the war on terror which is drugs and its trafficking in Afghanistan.
“This Afghan-Pakistani border region (Spin Boldak) has long been awash in opium, which is grown in Afghanistan and then generally smuggled west to the Balkans, via Iran and Turkey, or shipped out of the port of Karachi to the Gulf states and Africa. The trade boomed during the eighties, when both the CIA and the Pakistani government were happy to turn a blind eye to the drug operations of the mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan, since it helped fund the war against the invading Soviet Union. After the Soviets left, the drugs remained, and since then opium production in Afghanistan has increased fourteen-fold, from around 500 tons in the mid-1980s to 6,900 tons this year. As a result, Afghanistan has been transformed into an opium plantation that supplies 90 percent of the world's heroin.” (United States of America, Chief Kingpin in the Afghanistan Heroin Trade? By Richard Clark for Op Ed News)
Sadly, the world was taken for a ride all these years. The myth that there is really a group of terrorists and that those countries should continuously wage war on terror even after Bush, Jr. left office. The current US president, Barack Obama sustained such operations by sending additional troops to Afghanistan. It seems that this will go on much longer than we expected, for the money they get from illicit drug trade actually “saved” several banks in the wake of the global financial crisis as reported by Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. This only proves how lucrative for the protectors and operators of the so called “war on terror” is.
“The truth is that since World War II, the CIA, without the establishment opposition, has become addicted to the use of “assets” who are drug-traffickers, and there is no reason to assume that they have begun to break this addiction. The devastating consequences of CIA use and protection of traffickers can be seen in the statistics of drug production, which increases where America intervenes, and also declines when American intervention ends.” (Afghanistan: Heroin-ravaged State by Prof. Peter Dale Scott).
Such intervention was felt as some 15 thousand Afghan and NATO forces launched Operation Moshtarak in the morning of February 13, which is branded as the biggest operation since 2001 in the war-torn country. Marjah, a town with a population of 80,000, is a Taliban stronghold in the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand. Military analysts said around 1,000 insurgents might be hiding inside the besieged town.
This war on terror will continue for as long as countries give their support to the coalition of the willing (translation- unwitting and witting tool). But some nations already started realizing their mistakes and slowly pulling out their troops from Afghanistan. Hopefully, as more revelations surface, the promoters and protectors of the GWOT will finally meet its end.
By Erick San Juan
Hours after the September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Bush administration was quick to put the entire blame on Al Qaeda, particularly to Osama Bin Laden as the culprit sans investigations. Later, on that same day, the global war on terrorism (GWOT) was officially launched. Since then, countries including the Philippines and in other parts of the globe followed suit by creating government agencies that will address the war on terrorism and even drafted laws to fight terrorism in all fronts. In October 7, 2001 US troops bombed and invaded Afghanistan where the CIA-created Al Qaeda and its “resurrected” leader, Osama Bin Laden were reportedly hiding.
For over eight years now, the GWOT is still on. Though the 9/11 Truth Movement and other investigative organizations are gaining ground in propagating the truth about 9/11 through the internet and in the different media outlets. Why? Without an "outside enemy", there could be no "war on terrorism". The entire national security agenda will collapse "like a deck of cards". The war criminals in high office would have no leg to stand on.” (Michel Chossudovsky)
Yes, that “outside enemy” lives on and continues to threaten the world in order to justify the presence of US, NATO and its allied troops in Afghanistan where the “immortal” Osama allegedly hides. But the real score was not revealed to the world until several researchers and writers on the internet exposed the hidden agenda of the war on terror which is drugs and its trafficking in Afghanistan.
“This Afghan-Pakistani border region (Spin Boldak) has long been awash in opium, which is grown in Afghanistan and then generally smuggled west to the Balkans, via Iran and Turkey, or shipped out of the port of Karachi to the Gulf states and Africa. The trade boomed during the eighties, when both the CIA and the Pakistani government were happy to turn a blind eye to the drug operations of the mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan, since it helped fund the war against the invading Soviet Union. After the Soviets left, the drugs remained, and since then opium production in Afghanistan has increased fourteen-fold, from around 500 tons in the mid-1980s to 6,900 tons this year. As a result, Afghanistan has been transformed into an opium plantation that supplies 90 percent of the world's heroin.” (United States of America, Chief Kingpin in the Afghanistan Heroin Trade? By Richard Clark for Op Ed News)
Sadly, the world was taken for a ride all these years. The myth that there is really a group of terrorists and that those countries should continuously wage war on terror even after Bush, Jr. left office. The current US president, Barack Obama sustained such operations by sending additional troops to Afghanistan. It seems that this will go on much longer than we expected, for the money they get from illicit drug trade actually “saved” several banks in the wake of the global financial crisis as reported by Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. This only proves how lucrative for the protectors and operators of the so called “war on terror” is.
“The truth is that since World War II, the CIA, without the establishment opposition, has become addicted to the use of “assets” who are drug-traffickers, and there is no reason to assume that they have begun to break this addiction. The devastating consequences of CIA use and protection of traffickers can be seen in the statistics of drug production, which increases where America intervenes, and also declines when American intervention ends.” (Afghanistan: Heroin-ravaged State by Prof. Peter Dale Scott).
Such intervention was felt as some 15 thousand Afghan and NATO forces launched Operation Moshtarak in the morning of February 13, which is branded as the biggest operation since 2001 in the war-torn country. Marjah, a town with a population of 80,000, is a Taliban stronghold in the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand. Military analysts said around 1,000 insurgents might be hiding inside the besieged town.
This war on terror will continue for as long as countries give their support to the coalition of the willing (translation- unwitting and witting tool). But some nations already started realizing their mistakes and slowly pulling out their troops from Afghanistan. Hopefully, as more revelations surface, the promoters and protectors of the GWOT will finally meet its end.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The Dulmatin-JI-ASG Puzzle. Cui bono?
The Dulmatin-JI-ASG Puzzle. Cui bono?
By Erick San Juan
Every time an incredible news floated, speculations and a lot of questions will arise. Take the “Dulmatin, still alive Marine chief says” story. Imagine, after two years that we never heard from this most wanted terrorist and then suddenly, the “authorities” will say that Dulmatin is still alive. This recent news was picked up (or parroted) by different news agencies worldwide. Is he the Osama bin Laden, Jr. in the making? That, whenever and wherever convenient, his handlers will "release" him and surely will cause fear and tension in the process.
Such "resurrection" will add fire to the almost extinguished “war on terror”. After that failed bombing of the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit by the “underwear bomber”, the suicide bombing at the CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan that killed some CIA contractors ,and the recent audio message of bin Laden, what’s next? Is there some sort of fine tuning to the recent US President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address and that the fight against Al Qaeda is still on the White House agenda?
Dulmatin is an Indonesian-born terrorist, nicknamed “Genius” and got his training from Azahari Husin in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and eventually became an electronics specialist and bomb-making expert. He was known to be one of the masterminds behind the Bali bombings in 2002 that killed more than 200 people including seven US citizens and 88 Australians. Being the senior member and sometimes tagged as the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian associate of al-Qaeda, Dulmatin could be a good script for this new wave of the “war on terror” in this region.
Going back to that military raid of Dulmatin’s hideout in January 31, 2008 – it was reported that Dulmatin was severely wounded together with Umar Patek. But the two escaped and later, with the help of the captured turned informant Abu Sayyaf rebel, Alpha Moha led the soldiers to a shallow grave where Dulmatin’s supposed body was buried. This was in February 19, 2008, where the soldiers unearthed Dulmatin’s remains and took samples for DNA testing. Forensic experts from Australia also helped the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the local PNP to verify the tissue samples. Months have passed and no official report was given by the so-called foreign forensic experts. After two years, the authorities declared that the DNA test result was inconclusive. FBI and Australian forensic experts came out with an uncertain and unconvincing DNA test result. That’s incredibly amazing!
Another coincidence was the alleged abduction of two Chinese-Malaysian by members of the Abu Sayyaf group led by Albader Parad in Malaysia and were brought to the southern part of the country. This abduction by the Abu Sayyaf and the police report of Dulmatin being seen “roaming the jungles of Sulu” were quite obvious. One can’t help but conclude that this is another pretext of fear mongering and a bigger scenario is in the offing.
This can be classified as state sponsored terrorism. The big question is – who is orchestrating all these events? Is Dulmatin, the Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf Group, patsy in this scenario? Who will benefit from this? It's sad that our local law enforcers seem helpless and even relying from their foreign counterparts to give them the needed data to avert and apprehend these bandits. Our alert intelligence operatives believe that some of the so called terrorists are actually "assets" or paid recruits by foreign contractors. We even got the feedback that the "new ASG recruits" are trained and deployed in some parts of Asia to sow chaos.
Our government should be wary about this scheme. The Filipinos, especially our brother Muslims will be suspected and blamed again if such spillover plot crop up. For sure, if that will happen our OFW,s and Filipino travellers will have a hard time entering any port of entry.
Remember – “For every terrorist and terrorist group in the field, an extensive bureaucratic support system is necessary.” And “… that terrorism is therefore an activity which is controlled by a faction of government, probably acting under the influence of financier factions, which are generally the ultimate source of authority in the globalized universe.” (9/11: The Synthetic Terror by Webster Tarpley)
We are entering the crucial weeks before the May 10 elections, let us all be vigilant and pray harder to achieve a peaceful election. God help our country!
By Erick San Juan
Every time an incredible news floated, speculations and a lot of questions will arise. Take the “Dulmatin, still alive Marine chief says” story. Imagine, after two years that we never heard from this most wanted terrorist and then suddenly, the “authorities” will say that Dulmatin is still alive. This recent news was picked up (or parroted) by different news agencies worldwide. Is he the Osama bin Laden, Jr. in the making? That, whenever and wherever convenient, his handlers will "release" him and surely will cause fear and tension in the process.
Such "resurrection" will add fire to the almost extinguished “war on terror”. After that failed bombing of the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit by the “underwear bomber”, the suicide bombing at the CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan that killed some CIA contractors ,and the recent audio message of bin Laden, what’s next? Is there some sort of fine tuning to the recent US President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address and that the fight against Al Qaeda is still on the White House agenda?
Dulmatin is an Indonesian-born terrorist, nicknamed “Genius” and got his training from Azahari Husin in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and eventually became an electronics specialist and bomb-making expert. He was known to be one of the masterminds behind the Bali bombings in 2002 that killed more than 200 people including seven US citizens and 88 Australians. Being the senior member and sometimes tagged as the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian associate of al-Qaeda, Dulmatin could be a good script for this new wave of the “war on terror” in this region.
Going back to that military raid of Dulmatin’s hideout in January 31, 2008 – it was reported that Dulmatin was severely wounded together with Umar Patek. But the two escaped and later, with the help of the captured turned informant Abu Sayyaf rebel, Alpha Moha led the soldiers to a shallow grave where Dulmatin’s supposed body was buried. This was in February 19, 2008, where the soldiers unearthed Dulmatin’s remains and took samples for DNA testing. Forensic experts from Australia also helped the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the local PNP to verify the tissue samples. Months have passed and no official report was given by the so-called foreign forensic experts. After two years, the authorities declared that the DNA test result was inconclusive. FBI and Australian forensic experts came out with an uncertain and unconvincing DNA test result. That’s incredibly amazing!
Another coincidence was the alleged abduction of two Chinese-Malaysian by members of the Abu Sayyaf group led by Albader Parad in Malaysia and were brought to the southern part of the country. This abduction by the Abu Sayyaf and the police report of Dulmatin being seen “roaming the jungles of Sulu” were quite obvious. One can’t help but conclude that this is another pretext of fear mongering and a bigger scenario is in the offing.
This can be classified as state sponsored terrorism. The big question is – who is orchestrating all these events? Is Dulmatin, the Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf Group, patsy in this scenario? Who will benefit from this? It's sad that our local law enforcers seem helpless and even relying from their foreign counterparts to give them the needed data to avert and apprehend these bandits. Our alert intelligence operatives believe that some of the so called terrorists are actually "assets" or paid recruits by foreign contractors. We even got the feedback that the "new ASG recruits" are trained and deployed in some parts of Asia to sow chaos.
Our government should be wary about this scheme. The Filipinos, especially our brother Muslims will be suspected and blamed again if such spillover plot crop up. For sure, if that will happen our OFW,s and Filipino travellers will have a hard time entering any port of entry.
Remember – “For every terrorist and terrorist group in the field, an extensive bureaucratic support system is necessary.” And “… that terrorism is therefore an activity which is controlled by a faction of government, probably acting under the influence of financier factions, which are generally the ultimate source of authority in the globalized universe.” (9/11: The Synthetic Terror by Webster Tarpley)
We are entering the crucial weeks before the May 10 elections, let us all be vigilant and pray harder to achieve a peaceful election. God help our country!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Japanese Nationalism, The Envy of All
Japanese Nationalism, The Envy of All
By Erick San Juan
"I fought this campaign vowing to resist the base, I intend to keep that promise as we move forward." A strong statement made by newly elected Mayor of the Okinawan city of Nago in Japan – Mayor Susumu Inamine. He ran as an independent (and won) backed by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan’s current Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
The issue at hand is the relocation of the US Marine air field station from Futenma to the coastal city of Nago by 2014. The said relocation was agreed upon by Japan and the US in 2006 under the previous government that lost power last year to the current Prime Minister Hatoyama who promised a less submissive stand towards the United States. PM Hatoyama also assured the reassessment of the 2006 agreement whether to move the Marine air station as planned or move the base to another site, either on or off the island. Although Hatoyama affirmed the US that they will come out with their decision by May this year.
Actually before the Nago election, Hatoyama is already considering the re-examination of the 2006 pact with Washington. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, last month, informed her counterpart to go ahead with the plan and remind Tokyo of its “commitment” to the relocation.
In November of last year, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates commented that the agreement is non-negotiable meaning Washington will push through with the relocation, no matter what.
We can see here on how the US top brass officials intimidate Japan in the midst of the clamor of the residents of Okinawa and the Japanese in general to oppose the presence of the new US base in the region. But importantly, Japan’s resistance to this intimidation only shows their nationalism at work even if it put the US-Japan alliance at risk. Much more, the consequences that goes with it. I am referring to the top two carmakers in Japan – Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Corp. which are currently recalling thousands of different car models and mini vans in the US, China and Europe allegedly because of several faulty features like air bags and brake pedals among others. Is this just a coincidence? Why only now?
The present policy of Japan as America’s key ally since the end of World War II, seems to have change into "deal with caution". In this part of the region, where the US is intensifying it's military presence due to the reported "threat" from North Korea and the military build up of China,it reminds me of the similar situation we are in today. The victory of Mayor Inamine seems to serve as the litmus test for the retention of the US base in Japan. The outcome of our country’s upcoming national elections will surely put to test the foreign policies the new administration will implement. Whoever wins and whatever policies that will be agreed in the future, our nation must learn from the Japanese kind of nationalism. The other day, one of my daily radio listener’s questioned me on the outcome of the Senate's renegotiation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the US. The last time we heard of it was during the approval of the Senate resolution on VFA’s renegotiation or its abrogation which Malacanang assigned to the VFA Commission. The outcome of the Commission’s study was overtaken by several events. The bottom line is, we don’t have the guts and nationalism as the Japanese have for the protection of its citizenry and the country’s sovereignty.
The VFA question is just among the many foreign policies that our leaders must review and be cautious to decide. If not, we will always be at the losing end. One example is the Balikatan joint military exercises which is more favorable to the Americans than to us, and sadly we even spend for it. We must be firm to negotiate. Our counterpart should be truthful with their dealings and should give us what's due us.
I hope and pray that our new set of leaders will – at least get some inspiration from the Japanese nationalism and boost our national pride as a great Filipino race.
By Erick San Juan
"I fought this campaign vowing to resist the base, I intend to keep that promise as we move forward." A strong statement made by newly elected Mayor of the Okinawan city of Nago in Japan – Mayor Susumu Inamine. He ran as an independent (and won) backed by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan’s current Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
The issue at hand is the relocation of the US Marine air field station from Futenma to the coastal city of Nago by 2014. The said relocation was agreed upon by Japan and the US in 2006 under the previous government that lost power last year to the current Prime Minister Hatoyama who promised a less submissive stand towards the United States. PM Hatoyama also assured the reassessment of the 2006 agreement whether to move the Marine air station as planned or move the base to another site, either on or off the island. Although Hatoyama affirmed the US that they will come out with their decision by May this year.
Actually before the Nago election, Hatoyama is already considering the re-examination of the 2006 pact with Washington. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, last month, informed her counterpart to go ahead with the plan and remind Tokyo of its “commitment” to the relocation.
In November of last year, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates commented that the agreement is non-negotiable meaning Washington will push through with the relocation, no matter what.
We can see here on how the US top brass officials intimidate Japan in the midst of the clamor of the residents of Okinawa and the Japanese in general to oppose the presence of the new US base in the region. But importantly, Japan’s resistance to this intimidation only shows their nationalism at work even if it put the US-Japan alliance at risk. Much more, the consequences that goes with it. I am referring to the top two carmakers in Japan – Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Corp. which are currently recalling thousands of different car models and mini vans in the US, China and Europe allegedly because of several faulty features like air bags and brake pedals among others. Is this just a coincidence? Why only now?
The present policy of Japan as America’s key ally since the end of World War II, seems to have change into "deal with caution". In this part of the region, where the US is intensifying it's military presence due to the reported "threat" from North Korea and the military build up of China,it reminds me of the similar situation we are in today. The victory of Mayor Inamine seems to serve as the litmus test for the retention of the US base in Japan. The outcome of our country’s upcoming national elections will surely put to test the foreign policies the new administration will implement. Whoever wins and whatever policies that will be agreed in the future, our nation must learn from the Japanese kind of nationalism. The other day, one of my daily radio listener’s questioned me on the outcome of the Senate's renegotiation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the US. The last time we heard of it was during the approval of the Senate resolution on VFA’s renegotiation or its abrogation which Malacanang assigned to the VFA Commission. The outcome of the Commission’s study was overtaken by several events. The bottom line is, we don’t have the guts and nationalism as the Japanese have for the protection of its citizenry and the country’s sovereignty.
The VFA question is just among the many foreign policies that our leaders must review and be cautious to decide. If not, we will always be at the losing end. One example is the Balikatan joint military exercises which is more favorable to the Americans than to us, and sadly we even spend for it. We must be firm to negotiate. Our counterpart should be truthful with their dealings and should give us what's due us.
I hope and pray that our new set of leaders will – at least get some inspiration from the Japanese nationalism and boost our national pride as a great Filipino race.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Government’s Last Dam Standing
Government’s Last Dam Standing
By Erick San Juan
My attention was caught by this news item that the MWSS will draw less water from the Angat Dam starting this month due to the El Nino phenomenon. The Angat Dam which was built and made operational between 1967-68 and being the source of Bulacan’s water supply, this dam also supplies 97% of Metro Manila and some parts of Luzon with a total of 9.84 million people.
When I reviewed some news on this, I found out that Angat Dam is for sale! And that is why just recently, some local officials of Bulacan and Napocor’s team of experts also inspected Angat dam for the alleged cracks which they found out to be false, with the assurance that it will last for another 60 years. Are we being taken for a ride here again?
“The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) says the sale of Angat Dam does not mean absolute control of the water by any private corporation since government is mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to protect water for household consumption and irrigation.”, (Manila Bulletin). Have you heard this familiar line before? Every time that a government-owned facility is being privatized, we hear this same line that the “consumers will be protected” and most especially rates will be lowered and improved services will be enjoyed. Really? But, that is not the case as we, the Metro Manila residents are experiencing high cost of water and electricity since they were privatized. Now again, the only source of potable water will be given to another private sector who is also a concessionaire of the water sector. That is monopoly! Then we will hear the CHR defending its sale justifying it will not lead to a monopolized water sector? My foot, I can smell something fishy here.
As mandated by EPIRA, the government’s generation plants should be privatized up to 70% to give way to the implementation of open access and retail competition in the energy sector. Actually, Angat dam is the last remaining dam owned and operated by the National Power Corporation which is also a hydroelectric power plant. The Angat Reservoir is Napocor’s only facility that supplies water for the NCR which is very strategic to be privatized. That is why opposition to the sale of this asset grew due to the risk of having a private corporation run an important facility, the life blood of the country’s strategic region. Are we going to allow this?
Have we forgotten the people who died and the devastation of properties brought by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng aggravated by manmade disaster due to the mismanagement of our privatized dams? We must be vigilant and support the opposition to the impending privatization of Angat Dam. If the CHR cannot defend the people’s rights to a secured source of potable water and sadly a government agency that cannot protect its citizens. Let us not be contented and allow the sale of this government’s last dam standing for the benefit of the few corrupt corporats! I hope that our presidentiables will advocate accountability in governance. May karma be with the corruptors!
By Erick San Juan
My attention was caught by this news item that the MWSS will draw less water from the Angat Dam starting this month due to the El Nino phenomenon. The Angat Dam which was built and made operational between 1967-68 and being the source of Bulacan’s water supply, this dam also supplies 97% of Metro Manila and some parts of Luzon with a total of 9.84 million people.
When I reviewed some news on this, I found out that Angat Dam is for sale! And that is why just recently, some local officials of Bulacan and Napocor’s team of experts also inspected Angat dam for the alleged cracks which they found out to be false, with the assurance that it will last for another 60 years. Are we being taken for a ride here again?
“The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) says the sale of Angat Dam does not mean absolute control of the water by any private corporation since government is mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to protect water for household consumption and irrigation.”, (Manila Bulletin). Have you heard this familiar line before? Every time that a government-owned facility is being privatized, we hear this same line that the “consumers will be protected” and most especially rates will be lowered and improved services will be enjoyed. Really? But, that is not the case as we, the Metro Manila residents are experiencing high cost of water and electricity since they were privatized. Now again, the only source of potable water will be given to another private sector who is also a concessionaire of the water sector. That is monopoly! Then we will hear the CHR defending its sale justifying it will not lead to a monopolized water sector? My foot, I can smell something fishy here.
As mandated by EPIRA, the government’s generation plants should be privatized up to 70% to give way to the implementation of open access and retail competition in the energy sector. Actually, Angat dam is the last remaining dam owned and operated by the National Power Corporation which is also a hydroelectric power plant. The Angat Reservoir is Napocor’s only facility that supplies water for the NCR which is very strategic to be privatized. That is why opposition to the sale of this asset grew due to the risk of having a private corporation run an important facility, the life blood of the country’s strategic region. Are we going to allow this?
Have we forgotten the people who died and the devastation of properties brought by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng aggravated by manmade disaster due to the mismanagement of our privatized dams? We must be vigilant and support the opposition to the impending privatization of Angat Dam. If the CHR cannot defend the people’s rights to a secured source of potable water and sadly a government agency that cannot protect its citizens. Let us not be contented and allow the sale of this government’s last dam standing for the benefit of the few corrupt corporats! I hope that our presidentiables will advocate accountability in governance. May karma be with the corruptors!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Ako'y Pinoy-Sa Isip, Sa Salita at Sa Gawa
Ako'y Pinoy-Sa Isip, Sa Salita at Sa Gawa
by Erick San Juan
I would like to share the outcome of my recent trip to Indonesia which is quite fruitful. Every time I go out of the country, I enjoy every minute of it because I learn a lot from the culture of each country I visit. Indonesians are like Filipinos in so many ways. They also treat their guests with warmth and hospitality. It is an archipelago with lots of nice tourist spots.
I met and had a short conversation with His Excellency, the President of Indonesia – Hon. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a man who love books that is why I was honored when I gave him a copy of my book, Conspiracies and Controversies. After browsing it, he said that he will surely read it. Being the world’s fourth most populous country with an estimated population of more than 240 million people in a country of more than 17, 500 islands and 33 provinces, I observed that they have a policy of using their national language as what President Yudhoyono used when he delivered his speech to his countrymen while foreign guests had to use monitors to understand the meaning of his speech. Come to think of it, most countries using their national language are the ones that had already developed or in the advance state of development. For the Indonesian people, the use of their national language is a must especially with their government. Indonesians in all levels of society can comprehend much better by using their national language in their daily life.
I can’t help comparing this with what is happening to our country and our government. Just recently, the never ending telenovela in the halls of congress make it more unbearable when you hear each one of them lambasting each other with a language that is hard to understand by the ordinary "Juan dela Cruz". In fact, behind most of these political bickerings, our country’s money that are being spent and wasted by these politicians and their cohorts. Senator Lito Lapid when he first came to Congress in 2004, filed a resolution in the Senate requesting the translation of the Senate Rules of Procedures to our national dialect. The Senate approved this resolution and came out with the Filipino version of the Rules of the Senate. But, when Sen. Lapid sponsored the Bill recommending the use of Filipino language in all levels of accounting firms, banking institutions and other laws to provide a better understanding of the business transactions especially for those who are inexperienced and non-English speaking citizens, Congress approved it but was vetoed by President Arroyo. Most of the lingo used in banking and finance, when translated in Tagalog are somehow not allegedly good for public consumption.
This is the sad state of our country and culture, colonized and influenced so much by its former rulers. We are always branded as having a colonial mentality. As for our few nationalist historians put it, we are still a neocolonial state. We are being bombarded daily with all forms of foreign culture through the mass media, believing that the "white guys" are always superior to us. This is what Indonesia and other nations could not allow, the use of media and education to brainwash its people.
Hopefully, our government and its nationals will come to their senses that in order to achieve a real development, we must patronize our own, starting with the use of our national language. All government institutions especially the legislature and judiciary are very important branches of the government that should use the "Pinoy lingo". In the process, laws and other regulations of the land will be implemented, followed with ease and understanding by its citizenry.
by Erick San Juan
I would like to share the outcome of my recent trip to Indonesia which is quite fruitful. Every time I go out of the country, I enjoy every minute of it because I learn a lot from the culture of each country I visit. Indonesians are like Filipinos in so many ways. They also treat their guests with warmth and hospitality. It is an archipelago with lots of nice tourist spots.
I met and had a short conversation with His Excellency, the President of Indonesia – Hon. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a man who love books that is why I was honored when I gave him a copy of my book, Conspiracies and Controversies. After browsing it, he said that he will surely read it. Being the world’s fourth most populous country with an estimated population of more than 240 million people in a country of more than 17, 500 islands and 33 provinces, I observed that they have a policy of using their national language as what President Yudhoyono used when he delivered his speech to his countrymen while foreign guests had to use monitors to understand the meaning of his speech. Come to think of it, most countries using their national language are the ones that had already developed or in the advance state of development. For the Indonesian people, the use of their national language is a must especially with their government. Indonesians in all levels of society can comprehend much better by using their national language in their daily life.
I can’t help comparing this with what is happening to our country and our government. Just recently, the never ending telenovela in the halls of congress make it more unbearable when you hear each one of them lambasting each other with a language that is hard to understand by the ordinary "Juan dela Cruz". In fact, behind most of these political bickerings, our country’s money that are being spent and wasted by these politicians and their cohorts. Senator Lito Lapid when he first came to Congress in 2004, filed a resolution in the Senate requesting the translation of the Senate Rules of Procedures to our national dialect. The Senate approved this resolution and came out with the Filipino version of the Rules of the Senate. But, when Sen. Lapid sponsored the Bill recommending the use of Filipino language in all levels of accounting firms, banking institutions and other laws to provide a better understanding of the business transactions especially for those who are inexperienced and non-English speaking citizens, Congress approved it but was vetoed by President Arroyo. Most of the lingo used in banking and finance, when translated in Tagalog are somehow not allegedly good for public consumption.
This is the sad state of our country and culture, colonized and influenced so much by its former rulers. We are always branded as having a colonial mentality. As for our few nationalist historians put it, we are still a neocolonial state. We are being bombarded daily with all forms of foreign culture through the mass media, believing that the "white guys" are always superior to us. This is what Indonesia and other nations could not allow, the use of media and education to brainwash its people.
Hopefully, our government and its nationals will come to their senses that in order to achieve a real development, we must patronize our own, starting with the use of our national language. All government institutions especially the legislature and judiciary are very important branches of the government that should use the "Pinoy lingo". In the process, laws and other regulations of the land will be implemented, followed with ease and understanding by its citizenry.
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