ASEAN Stumbles Again On South China Sea

November 26, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

Richard Heydarian

MANILA, Nov 24 (IPS) – Against the backdrop of growing territorial tensions in the South China Sea, inflamed by a more explicit Sino-American rivalry in the Pacific theatre, the recently-concluded ASEAN Summit in Cambodia represented the best chance at bolstering regional security through peaceful, multilateral mechanisms.With the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) gathering coinciding with the pan-regional East Asia and ASEAN+3 Summits, Cambodia, as the current chair of the ASEAN, took centre-stage in a broader international gathering, which brought together leading Pacific powers such as the U.S., China, Japan and India.

Ahead of the ASEAN Summit, many commentators as well as regional leaders expressed their hopes for some form of diplomatic breakthrough to address festering maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

Recent months have also witnessed growing diplomatic pro-activeness by countries such as Indonesia to mend intra-regional rifts, especially between Cambodia and the Philippines, and re-focus diplomatic efforts on a peaceful and rule-based resolution of ongoing disputes. For instance, the Indonesian-proposed “six points of consensus” highlights the commitment of regional states to the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and the adoption of a legally binding regional Code of Conduct (CoC).

“We are hoping and expecting that there will be smooth and very productive results of these meetings as far as our advocacies are concerned,” said Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Raul Hernandez. “What is important here is to underscore the ASEAN centrality and, for ASEAN it has always been our position that any initiatives (such as the CoC) should first be accepted and approved by ASEAN and only then would it be presented to other dialogue partners.” His statements echoed Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s cautious optimism regarding a more unified regional stance on the issue of maritime security.

Interestingly, the Philippines has also been very busy with thawing out increasingly frayed relations with both China and Cambodia in recent months, hoping to build positive momentum ahead of the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh.

The newly re-elected President Obama also called for easing of tensions among claimant states, warning against an escalation in disputes, while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier identified the territorial conflicts as a ‘critical issue’ in need of urgent resolution.

However, much to the disappointment of some Southeast Asian nations, especially the Philippines and Cambodia – reportedly at the behest of China – once again blocked the inclusion of the South China Sea dispute in the summit’s agenda. After all, China has repeatedly warned against ‘internationalising’ the disputes, while actively sidestepping the issue in all recent regional multilateral forums.

In essence, Cambodia has effectively trammeled any development on the crucial issue of adopting a more binding CoC to not only rein in China’s growing territorial assertiveness in the near future, but to also lay down the foundations of a more robust regional approach to resolve intractable territorial conflicts in the long run.

Far from unprecedented, Cambodia’s recent move mirrored its earlier stance during the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in June, where it blocked the inclusion of maritime disputes in the final communiqué. While Cambodia’s actions during the AMM prompted a flash walkout then by the Filipino Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario, this time Manila resorted to a formal protest against Cambodia’s decision to once again block the issue from the ASEAN’s agenda.

“Among the principles that the ASEAN community has pledged to abide by is that of centrality; it should also be foremost in our minds as we address concerns in the East Asian maritime region. Prevailing tensions in the area stand to impact regional peace and stability,” President Aquino shrieked in his formal intervention during the ASEAN+3 Summit. “We reiterate our call on all parties concerned to avoid the threat or use of force, and to adhere to universally recognised principles of international law in settling disputes…because respect for the rule of law remains the great equaliser in the relations among nations.”

Aware of Cambodia’s cosy ties with China, Manila’s strategy during the recently-concluded summits was to rally the support of sympathetic and influential external actors such as the U.S., Japan, India and Australia to push for a binding CoC in the South China Sea and exert more pressure on Beijing against further military fortifications and adventurism in the disputed areas.

Refusing to stand idly by, the Philippine president reiterated his concerns in an intervention during the ASEAN+India Summit, emphasising India’s stake in ensuring regional maritime security. “Since a great deal of our (ASEAN and India) trade and resources flow through our seas, the Philippines views that ASEAN and India will mutually benefit from jointly addressing threats to maritime stability through peaceful means in accordance with international law,” Aquino stated.

During the ASEAN+Japan Summit, Aquino underscored the common interest of both Japan and ASEAN states to uphold the rule of law vis-à-vis ongoing disputes by stating, “The Philippines will continue to uphold this principle in its engagement with ASEAN, Japan, and other stakeholders, as the region strives to resolve overlapping maritime claims.”

Foremost in his mind, Aquino also urged the U.S. to play a more active role to stave off rising Chinese assertiveness.

“Each one of our nations has a stake in the stability of Southeast Asia. The United States understands this and, for this reason, has chosen to work with us to ensure the peace and continuous advancement of our region,” Aquino said during the summit, prodding greater U.S. involvement. “While we are all aware that the U.S. does not take sides in disputes, they do have a strategic stake in the freedom of navigation, unimpeded commerce, and the maintenance of peace and stability in the South China Sea.”

In a veiled criticism of China’s preference for a bilateral approach to the disputes, Aquino argued, “We have long said that if it’s a multilateral problem, you can’t have a bilateral solution.” Most interestingly, he also stated, “The ASEAN route is not the only route for us”, suggesting Manila’s possible recourse to greater military cooperation with the U.S. as well as other regional allies such as Australia and Japan, especially if the ASEAN continues to fail in providing a credible multilateral, rule-based approach to ongoing territorial conflicts.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Asia, Featured, Foreign Affairs, Geopolitics Tagged With: , , ,

Philippines Floods Prompt Climate Action

August 27, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

Kara Santos

MANILA, Aug 27 (IPS) – This year’s floods, one of the worst in Philippine history, destroyed a staggering 57 million dollars worth of crops, pushing this climate vulnerable country to implement disaster risk reduction measures. “We used to schedule our harvest season around the wet and dry months. But now you can never tell,” says Teresita Duque, a rice farmer in the Nueva Ecija province of the Central Luzon region, the ‘rice granary’ of the Philippines.

“The sky suddenly darkens, and the rains just fall,” Duque, who uses native rice varieties and eco-fertiliser on her farm, told IPS in an interview in Manila.

Monsoon rains enhanced by Typhoon Haikui near China had already been drenching Luzon, the Philippines’ main island, for several days when, from Aug. 6-7, nearly two months worth of rain fell on Metro Manila and several provinces in Luzon.

At least 95 people perished in the ensuing floods and landslides, with nearly a million others forced to evacuate their homes.

As the Philippines tries to emerge from years of agricultural backwardness and attain food self-sufficiency, farmers, non-government organisations (NGOs) and government agencies are trying to map out strategies that can mitigate the effects of weather patterns gone wild.

Scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a non-profit agricultural research centre based in Los Banos, Laguna, believe that a flood resistant variety of rice, dubbed ‘submarino’ for its ability to withstand two weeks of submergence, could be one answer.

Last year, when typhoons Nessat and Nalgae devastated Central Luzon, farmers who had planted ‘submarino’ were able to harvest their crops even after their paddies had been submerged for nearly a week.

Glenn Gregorio, senior scientist and plant breeder at IRRI, told IPS that several ‘climate-change ready’ rice varieties, including drought-resistant varieties, are being developed at the institute.

“When you talk about floods in the country, you often see images of urban areas with cars floating and people stranded on their rooftops, but the farmers are really the worst affected,” Gregorio told IPS in a telephone interview.

The farmers’ group ‘Sarilaya’ agrees that while agriculture in the Philippines needs to adapt to climate change, it is best to stick to naturally resilient native varieties rather than go in for hybrids developed in laboratories.

Sarilaya workers say that hybrid varieties are dependent on expensive chemical-based fertilisers which, in the long run, ruin the soil and harm the health of farmers and communities.

“Extreme weather patterns are making the agricultural sector more vulnerable than ever before,” said Pangging Santos, advocacy officer at Sarilaya that works to empower farmers like Duque. “What used to be considered normal is no longer normal.”

“There are many different native varieties that still need to be tested, but the experience of our farmers shows that native varieties are more sustainable than hybrid varieties in the long run,” Santos told IPS.

Sarilaya runs a farming school and model eco-farms in Northern Luzon where farmers learn how to make their own organic fertiliser. Farmers are taught to make pesticides from locally available ingredients instead of buying costly chemical-based insecticides and sprays.

Duque said where she used to spend at least 223 dollars on farm inputs for one cropping, she now spends less than 16 dollars, mostly on organic fertiliser and pesticides.

“We need to change our mindsets about climate change strategies and look at long-term sustainability,” said Santos.

Sarilaya’s strategy of promoting organic farming is in line with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s vision of ‘climate-smart agriculture’.

Hideki Kanamaru of the Climate, Energy and Tenure Division of the FAO says climate-smart agriculture is about sustainably increasing productivity. It is also about adaptation and mitigation by reducing greenhouse gases from agricultural production without compromising on food security.

Kanamaru introduced FAO’s vision during a symposium held in February by the Philippines department of agriculture, which was attended by policy makers, scientists and practitioners from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation nations and select organisations.

The essence of FAO’s climate-smart farming is careful use of natural resources such as land, water, soil and genetic material as well as good practices that include conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, agro-forestry and sustainable diets.

While the government is providing free rice seeds and crop insurance to farmers in Luzon – where crops have been severely damaged by floodwaters and heavy rains – the country’s climate change commission admits that it may be too late to meet this year’s rice harvest targets.

In 2010, the Philippines topped the list of rice importers when it bought up 2.5 million tonnes of rice. While determined efforts towards self-sufficiency have brought the figure down to 860,000 tonness in 2011, plans to drop imports further have gone awry.

The national climate change action plan says that sensitivity to weather fluctuations “will greatly affect the country’s production and have a domino effect on our target of self-sufficiency by 2013.”

The plan notes: “The Philippines, being archipelagic and because of its location, is one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change…ranking highest in the world in terms of vulnerability to tropical cyclone occurrence.”

When President Benigno S. Aquino III signed into law the People’s Survival Fund (PSF), on Aug. 17, by amending the Climate Change Act of 2009, it was not a moment too soon.

“As we have seen clearly over the past few weeks, there is a pressing need to financially support disaster prevention efforts of local government units,” said Senator Loren Legarda, the driving force behind the 2009 law, at the launch of the PSF.

Worth 23 million dollars annually, the PSF will finance adaptation programmes and projects based on the National Strategic Framework on Climate Change. The fund may be augmented by donations, endowments, grants and contributions.

“The signing of the law signifies the president’s commitment to better prepare the country for erratic weather patterns and climate change,” said Elpidio Peria, convenor of Aksyon Klima, a coalition of 40 civil society organisations working on climate change.

Aksyon Klima released this month an e-toolkit (www.aksyonklima.com) for mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation and helping local governments plan for extreme weather.

*With Art Fuentes

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This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Asia, Environment, Report Tagged With: , , ,

Journalism is Not ‘More Fun’ in the Philippines

May 10, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Dennis Engbarth

MANILA, May 10, 2012 (IPS) – Reporters working in the Philippines, the world’s third most dangerous nation for journalists, are having difficulty identifying with the "It’s More Fun in the Philippines" tourism promotion campaign launched by the Liberal Party-led government of President Benigno Aquino III.

The Southeast Asian nation’s reputation for press freedom and safety has yet to recover from the notorious Ampatuan Massacre of Nov. 23, 2009 in Maguindanao, Mindanao, in which 58 persons, including 32 reporters, were slaughtered by the private army of a local political clan chief, Andal Ampatuan Sr.

A total of 196 persons have been charged in the massacre, including clan patriarch Andal and his grandson, Anwar Ampatuan Jr, but less than 100 have been arrested and not a single one convicted of any crimes.

While the government attempts to paint over the tragedy with billboards proclaiming the joys of holidaying in the Philippines, media workers are continuing the fight for accountability.

A formal statement issued by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) to mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3 declared, "There is little reason for celebration since not a single mastermind in any of the 152 murders of journalists since 1986 has been arrested, prosecuted and convicted."

Most of these killings occurred during the nine years of rule from 2001 to 2010 under former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is now in detention on charges of electoral sabotage, but at least 12 have occurred in the past two years under the Aquino administration.

"Murders of media workers, just like all other extrajudicial killings, are a matter of State accountability," declared the NUJP. "If the Philippine press remains free despite all the threats against it, it is not because of the government but because the press insists on being free."

Nevertheless, the presidential office in the Malacañang Palace publically marked the country’s improved ranking in the annual Freedom of the Press index, published by the Washington-based human rights advocacy group Freedom House on May 1.

The index cited a reduction in violence against journalists, attempts by the government to address impunity and expanded diversity in media ownership among its reasons for the improved rating.

Communications Development Secretary Ramon Carandang acknowledged on May 2 that "more needs to be done", but stated that the improved ranking had recognised the Philippine government’s attempts to strengthen press freedom.

On the following day, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda vowed that the Aquino administration would not tolerate extralegal killings, especially attacks on journalists.

Beneath the façade

NUJP Vice Chair Joseph Alwyn Alburo disputed the presidential spin on press freedom during an interview with IPS.

"After the Ampatuan Massacre, there has been no improvement on the issue of journalist killings or in the overall plight of journalists in our country," he said.

Alburo told IPS that 124 Filipino journalists have been killed on the job since the end of the former dictatorship of the late Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, but only 10 of those cases have been solved.

"We are one year away from mid-term legislative and local elections next May and, based on our information, the family that perpetrated the (2009) massacre still have relatives in power and are still amassing private armies even as their patriarch and other senior clan members are facing trial," he added.

"The Philippines has the (unfortunate) distinction of being rated the third most dangerous country for journalists, behind Iraq and Somalia and the only one of the three which is a democracy. Nov. 23 has been designated as the World Day Against Impunity, but the current president (has not even blinked) an eye about the impact of these notorious distinctions on our country."

"It is with great sadness that I say things are not going to improve because all the factors that give rise to a culture of impunity are still present. Journalists in this country are still very much in danger."

Another channel for powerful politicians and tycoons to restrict media freedom is through frequent filing of criminal libel charges against journalists, he said. The NUJP and other media unions and associations are currently leading the movement to decriminalise these charges.

Significantly, on Jan. 28, the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolved that the laws in the Philippines that criminalise libel are incompatible with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The decision came in response to an appeal by Davao broadcaster Alex Adonis, who was jailed from 2007-2008 for reporting correctly that a leading local politician had been caught in bed with his alleged mistress by the latter’s husband.

Another major concern for reporters is the concentration of media ownership. Alburo confirmed that NUJP is "closely watching" the widely reported drive by First Pacific Group Chief Executive Officer Manuel Pangilinan to acquire the television network ‘GMA 7’ for approximately 1.2 billion dollars.

The businessman already owns one TV network, telecommunication and power utilities and shares in three major newspapers.

"Such a concentration (of the media) often compromises journalist ethics and editorial independence," Alburo said.

NUJP aims to "jump start" campaigns to stop the killing of journalists, push for the decriminalisation of libel against journalists and promote passage of a robust Freedom of Information Act in May, when the UNHRC is conducting a review of the Philippines’ human rights record under the ICCPR.

The NUJP and other newspaper, television and broadcast journalist unions held a meeting on May 3, which resulted in the ‘Manila Declaration on Media Workers’ Rights and Welfare’, to be used as a platform for future unity and campaigns.

Despite a pervasive mood that there is very little to celebrate, over 40 NUJP members gathered at the fifth consecutive annual ‘Press Jam’ to commemorate World Press Freedom Day at the Skarlet Jazz Club in Quezon City on the evening of May 2.

"It has always been a trait of Filipinos to be able to laugh amidst very serious situations and troubles, so we hold a Press Jam (where) we can sing and be carefree for at least one night," said Alburo.

Still, the festivities were not completely lighthearted; the event featured drawings by the children of journalists who were murdered in the Ampatuan Massacre and other incidents.

The artwork expressed the fear and sadness that still surrounds the tragedy, such as a drawing with the plaintive question, ‘Why is Daddy sleeping so long?’

On an ironic poster asking ‘Is it more fun in the Philippines to be a journalist?’ one NUJP member wrote, ‘Yes, you feel like a survivor all the time’.

Another pundit had added, ‘With criminal libel, 152 killed since 1986, what more can you ask for?’

A more hopeful note was stuck by one NUJP member, who wrote, ‘Yes, so much to write about, so much to change’.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Asia, Human Rights, Media, Report Tagged With: ,

PHILIPPINES: Pulling Children Out of the Tunnel of Hard Labour

April 14, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Kara Santos

MANILA, Apr 14, 2011 (IPS) – At the tender age of 10, Rodel Morozco was working in a goldmine and crawling inside tunnels, until one day he fell 200 feet underground because his father had blasted the tunnel with dynamite.

"I had to run and get out but it was too dark," said Morozco, who worked the mines in Camarines Norte province in Bicol, one of the Philippines’ poorest regions. "I felt so miserable, and then I realised that I did not like what I was doing. I just wanted to go back to school."

Now 25, Morozco managed to overcome adversity as a child labourer by finishing his education, courtesy of a scholarship from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

"The scholarship gave me a chance to leave the dark tunnel," Morozco said during a press conference organised by the ILO. "When I graduated, I dreamt of finding a decent job and helping other children to get out of child labour."

There are at least 2.4 million Filipino children going through what Morozco experienced 15 years ago, says ILO country director Lawrence Jeff Johnson, citing data from the Philippine Labour Force Survey as of April 2010. ILO estimates there were 215 million child labourers globally in 2010.

The number of Filipino child workers has decreased from the four million aged 5 to 17 engaged in economic activity during the period October 2000 to September 2001, according to the Philippines’ National Statistics Office (NSO) and ILO’s Survey on Children in 2001.

But many more child labourers are prone to end up as dropouts. "Children that combine work with school often drop out, as child labour interferes with their learning. And children who have poor access to education often work to meet immediate family needs, and for lack of a better alternative," said Johnson.

ILO data reveals that the dropout rate for elementary students in the Philippines has increased over the last three years, rising from an average 5.99 percent from 2007 to 2008 to 6.28 percent in 2009 to 2010.

Johnson also pointed out that the global economic crisis had an impact on efforts to reduce poverty globally, and increased vulnerable employment.

"The root cause is still poverty," says Lourdes Trasmonte, undersecretary of the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE). "Children are brought in to work because that is the only asset the family has."

More than 18,000 children, mostly aged 10 to 14 years old, work in the mining and quarrying industries alone in the Philippines, according to NSO data.

Aside from being exposed to dust and mercury-based chemicals in mines, which can cause serious brain damage, child labourers in the mining industry often become stunted as a result of carrying excessively heavy loads.

Morozco said he toiled eight to 12 hours everyday as a child labourer. When not inside a tunnel, he was under the heat of the sun, his back bent sifting sand and rock for gold in a heavy wooden pan, using toxic mercury. This he did in the river, which is why his hands were soaked in muddy water every day.

"I was so tired, so weak since I had to work at night and go to school the next day," said Morozco, who had nine other siblings. "I reached a point where in I had to work full time when my parents could not afford to send me to school any more."

Other hazardous forms of child labour include deep-sea fishing, work in the pyrotechnics industry and plantations, domestic help and the flesh trade.

The plantation sector is said to have the highest number of child labourers at over two million, of which 1.4 million are below 15 years old, according to the NSO.

In 2001, the agriculture industry employed about 2.3 million or 60 percent of the total number of working children 5 to 17 years old, according to NSO and ILO statistics.

In 2010, the Philippine Government issued a Progress Report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which found that poverty and education are two key areas where the country is not making enough headway. The Progress Report warned that the Philippines was unlikely to achieve universal access to elementary education (MDG2) if factors such as child labour were not tackled.

To curb the worst forms of child labour, including slavery and commercial sexual exploitation, ILO has been working with government agencies such as the DOLE.

ILO’s project, the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), seeks to remove children caught in the worst forms of employment by providing their parents with the opportunity to earn and support other members of the family with alternative sources of income.

"If the parents have work and social services are accessible to them, the children can be removed from child labour," DOLE’s Trasmonte told media.

IPEC projects areas include the agricultural province of Quezon, where the Department of Education is deploying "mobile teachers" in remote areas to educate children who stop schooling during the harvest season. In Bukidnon, a province known for its sugar plantations, IPEC will set up a community school for indigenous and tribal peoples.

Morozco himself escaped the fate of other child labourers, after becoming a child advocate at an ILO summer youth camp ten years ago. Through an IPEC endorsement, he got a full scholarship from high school to college, where he took a computer programming course.

Now working as a staff member for a senator in Manila, Morozco still regularly goes back to his hometown to speak out against child labour.

"If we allow children to work, then they will remain uneducated. If child labourers do not get a chance to return to school, then nothing will happen to this country because they are the future of this nation," Morozco said.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Asia, Development, Human Rights, Report Tagged With: , , ,

PHILIPPINES: Migrant Workers Put Jobs Before Safety in Libya

April 1, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Kara Santos

MANILA, Apr 1, 2011 (IPS) – Amidst political turmoil in Libya, thousands of migrant workers from the Philippines face a dilemma – either they risk their lives working in the conflict- ridden country, or they return home and face job insecurity.

Exequel Masucal, a former Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who returned to the Philippines in March, originally wanted to stay in Libya and send his wife and four children home to safety. However, because of the children’s young ages and the dangers they faced crossing the border, he eventually decided to go with them.

"Normally, on Fridays, shops and offices are not open," Masucal told IPS. "When the conflict started, it was like Friday everyday. You wouldn’t see any people on the streets. If three or four people gathered, they would be immediately dispersed."

"During that time, we were really scared to go out. We couldn’t leave the house," added Lilia, Exequel’s wife. "Schools were all closed because they had been turned into evacuation centres."

Masucal started working as a computer technician 15 years ago for a Libyan employer. In 2005, he set up his own office equipment business. He and his family enjoyed a comfortable life in Tripoli – but in a flash, they lost their home, business, personal property, bank accounts and earnings when they fled the country.

"We left everything. Almost all Filipinos who left Libya weren’t able to bring anything – just their clothes. If you had a big bag, you’d eventually have to leave it at the border," Masucal told IPS, adding that mobile phones and laptops were sometimes confiscated for "security purposes".

As part of the voluntary repatriation programme, the Masucal family was able to ride the government-chartered ferry MV Ionian Queen from eastern Libya to the Greek Island of Crete, and from there they boarded a special flight dispatched by Philippine Airlines (PAL) that arrived here Mar. 10.

Since they arrived, they have been staying in Rizal, 20 kilometres east of the capital Manila, with Masucal’s parents.

"Other OFWs who returned home whom I’ve talked to are really depressed. They have no jobs yet and weren’t able to bring much money in their rush to leave. Some are actually ready to go back and risk the war just to earn again," Masucal said.

Despite calls from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for Filipinos to return home due to the violent and uncertain climate in Libya, many preferred to put their lives in danger rather than risk unemployment.

"Filipinos are the only nurses left there, especially in the Tripoli Medical Centre," Masucal says. "The European nurses and other nationalities all pulled out during the first week of the crisis."

The DFA made a "last call" for OFWs to leave the country towards the end of March. Their latest figures show that approximately 1,600 of the more than 2,000 nurses in Libya have opted to stay behind. Around 800 nurses and their dependents are in Tripoli alone. Meanwhile, over 100 professors have also opted to remain in the country.

Prior to the crisis, the Overseas Workers Welfare Office (OWWA) estimated that there were approximately 26,000 Filipino migrant workers living and working in Libya. The majority worked in construction, oil and gas, hospitality and in medical and other service sectors, according to the Department of Labour and Employment.

According to the DFA: "Most Filipino workers were promised an increase in their salary if they stayed, while others were told they would lose entitlement to gratuity pay equivalent to one full month’s salary if they do not finish their contracts."

Amnesty International (AI) has expressed concern about the safety of thousands of migrant workers who continue to remain in the country. At the outset of the conflict, AI called for guarantees of safety for civilians in Libya – especially those trying to cross the Tunisian border, including Filipino migrant workers.

"The decision of thousands of OFWs, some of whom decided to stay in Libya due to high financial pay, highlights the desperation of some Filipinos to seek greener pastures abroad despite the risks," Aurora Parong, Director of AI Philippines, told IPS.

In an AI report dated Mar. 25, 2011, tales of horror were reported in Benghazi, including a rocket smashing a bedroom leaving a mother of six and her 11- year-old daughter with multiple shrapnel injuries all over their bodies.

AI called on the Philippine government to take steps to ensure that all OFWs who want to stay in Libya are treated humanely in accordance with international law.

"If necessary, the DFA must facilitate communication of OFWs with their families if they choose to stay in Libya. In the event that an OFW is detained and arrested, the government should take measures to identify the place of detention and provide the necessary assistance and ensure the safety and well-being of all Filipino migrant workers in Libya," said Parong.

Masucal’s brother, who works in a military hospital, is one of those who chose to stay behind. "He says their location is relatively safe," says Masucal, who has been able to keep in touch with him by mobile phone.

With the unstable banking and financial situation there, some Filipino workers are said to be more concerned about the difficulty in remitting money to their families back home, rather than the dangers of air strikes, and have asked the government to help them with their remittances.

Masucal says he will see how it is working in the Philippines. He has already applied for work in the field of computer office equipment. If it doesn’t work out, he says he has no choice but to find work abroad again.

Parong claims this only highlights the need for more aggressive job creation in the country. "Now, more than ever we see the great need for the Aquino government to generate more jobs within the country that will ensure decent wages and income. The plight of the three Filipinos executed in China recently also highlights this need for decent jobs within the country."

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Asia, Economy, Human Rights, Report Tagged With: ,

Death Sentence Looms for Filipino Drug Mules in China

March 29, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Kara Santos

MANILA, Mar 28, 2011 (IPS) – Time is running short for three Filipino workers in China. Ramon Credo, Elizabeth Batain and Sally Villanueva – who were convicted of smuggling heroin in 2008 – are set to be executed by lethal injection Mar. 30.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced that the Fujian People’s Court and Guangdong High People’s Court have informed the Philippine Consulates General in Xiamen and Guangzhou of the date of execution. Foreign Affairs Department Spokesman Eduardo Malaya told reporters that Credo and Villanueva would be executed in Xiamen while Batain’s sentence would be carried out in Shenzhen.

As the date nears, the global alliance of overseas workers and their families – Migrante International – said it would continue to appeal to the Chinese government to commute the death sentences on humanitarian grounds and stop the execution of the three Filipinos.

According to Amnesty International (AI) a significant proportion of the executions or death sentences recorded in 2010 were for drug-related offences – at times in direct contradiction of international human rights law. AI stressed that a total of 31 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice during the last 10 years but China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Yemen remain amongst the most frequent executioners.

According to Migrante International Chairperson Garry Martinez, like many other Filipinos, the three facing death row are either victims of international drug syndicates, or victims of poverty and hopelessness.

"Most, if not all, drug mules are either overseas Filipino workers [OFWs] in distress or victims of illegal recruitment or human trafficking. Even [Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency] chief Dionisio Santiago confirmed this when he said that those desperate for money are the ones victimised by international drug syndicates," Martinez told IPS.

Martinez claims that the Philippine government did not do enough to help the three and remained resigned to the fact that China has a strict policy in carrying out the death penalty for drug smuggling.

"We respect the laws of the land our countrymen work in, but what we want is for our government to give legal assistance to overseas workers in times of need," Martinez said on the sidelines of a protest rally for the three sentenced to death. "In our experience, we have seen so many fellow countrymen executed and given life sentences without ever even seeing a lawyer."

During the rally, a dozen supporters carried banners and held up pictures of the three Filipinos while chanting: "Save the lives of OFWs on death row." A large makeshift hourglass filled with sand signified how time was running out for the three, and supporters lit candles in hopes that their lives would still be spared.

According to Martinez, there are currently 125 Filipinos on death row around the world. In China alone, there are 208 Filipinos with drug-related cases – 72 of these face death sentences, but could still face reprieve within two years.

The government does not provide legal assistance to OFWs in foreign countries, Grace, a former overseas worker who declined to give her last name, told IPS. "Migrant workers are the ones who are saving the economy from crisis through their remittances, but when they need help, the government does not offer them any assistance."

One tenth of the country’s population works abroad, from where, according to central bank data, they send home more than 18 billion dollars to their families.

"As soon as my pending case is settled, I plan to go back and find work in Taiwan because there are really no opportunities or fair wages here in our country. Even if it hurts to leave my family, I have to force myself to work abroad just so that I can give them a better life," Grace told IPS.

In a press statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that the Philippine government provided all possible legal assistance to the three convicted drug mules, but said it has to respect the ruling of the Supreme People’s Court of China. "Their legal rights were respected and observed, and their welfare protected from the time of their arrests and throughout the judicial process, and even up to this very day," according to the DFA.

The department stressed its appeal to Filipinos not to allow themselves to be victimised by international drug syndicates and to be extremely cautious when dealing with strangers in airports and other areas of transit. "We wish to stress that vigilance is the first major step in combating the modus operandi of international drug traffickers."

While some overseas workers are victimised by drug syndicates, poverty is seen as the main reason why others resort to desperate measures like drug trafficking to make ends meet.

One in four Filipinos live on less than one dollar a day. According to news reports, drug mules or couriers are paid anywhere between 500 and 5,000 dollars to swallow tubes containing drugs, carry them hidden in their luggage or dissolved and soaked into paper or books.

"If only our Philippine authorities have been more watchful over the plight of Filipinos here and abroad and have provided them much-needed assistance, they would not be forced to engage with drug syndicates," says Martinez. "Instead of dousing their hopes, give them protection."

As Grace puts it: "Migrant workers send billions of remittances home every year. If only the government would use it for developing industries here, then people will not be forced to leave the country in search for better jobs."

Migrante, including chapters in the Middle East, plan to hold daily actions including vigils and rallies for all Filipinos on death row. "Unlike the government, we are not losing hope," says Martinez. "While there is still time, let us press the government to use it to exhaust any and all means to save the lives of Villanueva, Batain and Credo."

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Asia, Crime, Featured, Human Rights, Justice Tagged With: , , ,

PHILIPPINES: Building Schools From Soda Bottles

February 28, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Kara Santos

MANILA, Feb 28, 2011 (IPS) – It takes roughly three to five centuries for the average plastic bottle to biodegrade. But some environmentalists have found new uses for it, turning it into durable material for building classrooms.

"What used to be a problem in the environment is now part of a solution," points out social entrepreneur Illac Diaz, who is spearheading a campaign to build Asia’s first school made out of recycled plastic and glass bottles.

Diaz heads the non-profit organisation My Shelter Foundation which aims to find innovative solutions to fight climate change through sustainable, eco- friendly, low-cost, disaster-resistant structures.

Over the years, My Shelter Foundation has embarked on several projects for sustainable construction including earthquake-proof earthen schools, bamboo schools, and shelters for peanut farmers made out of peanut shells.

Recycling plastic bottles into building material now counts as one of the Foundation’s "green practices", and has caught the attention of the architecture and construction industry in the Philippines.

Architect Zigfrido Abella said My Shelter Foundations’ Bottle Schools, as they are called, are breaking new ground in sustainable construction. "The Bottle School addresses a lot of issues we are currently facing – environmentally, economically, and socially."

The Foundation got inspiration for the Bottle School from Spanish-style adobe churches and buildings that incorporated glass bottles in Turkey and Mexico, which have all withstood the test of time.

"We liquefy adobe and place them inside the bottles which serve as molds or ‘building blocks’ for the school," Diaz told IPS inside one classroom in San Pablo, Laguna, two hours south of the Philippine capital Manila.

The process started with gathering as many as 1.5 to 2-litre plastic bottles, commonly soda bottles that Diaz says were chosen because these could be sourced from restaurants and hotels.

Then they fill the bottles with liquefied adobe and leave it to dry for 12 hours. Bottles are arranged like bricks, stacked neatly to form walls, with cement holding the bottles in place to make the wall sturdier. It takes roughly 5,000 bottles to complete one classroom.

In the finished classroom, builders insert small holes and PVC pipes in between the bottle brick walls that serve as air vents. This reduces the need for electric fans inside the classroom.

Large windows on two walls, rafters above the doorway, and panels surrounding a wide doorway made of translucent glass bottles maximize the use of natural light. Fibreboards made of bamboo fiber, cornhusk, and rice hull, which Diaz says are sourced locally, make up the back wall that separates two classrooms.

When turned into bricks, these bottles made from synthetic resin called polyethylene terephthalate or PET, are very stable, Diaz said. "After leaving plastic bottles filled with liquefied adobe to dry for 12 hours you can run them over with a six-wheeler truck," he adds.

Abella agrees that these PET bottles, which underwent testing by engineering students, were found to be "even stronger than conventional hollow blocks, very durable, flexible and easily adaptable into conventional construction methods.

"The property of the bottle, being uniform in dimensions, is somewhat very similar to the qualities of a building unit, like bricks. This quality makes it excellent material for construction," Abella tells IPS.

Abella explains that the structure minimizes the dependency on concrete by substituting it with lime, an environmentally-friendly material, to produce "pozzolannic cement, the same type of material used to build the Greek and Roman temples."

"This type of building can withstand rain and storms. It’s strong. When there are earthquakes, hollow blocks tend to crack, but this type of building won’t," Max Seminano, a construction worker on the site, tells IPS in the vernacular.

As for the materials used, Seminano adds that plastic bottles are readily available. "Instead of throwing out old bottles, at least we can put them to better use through these schools."

"Plastic bottles are everywhere," agrees Architect Abella. "Given the proper training, plastic bottle construction can definitely be replicated anywhere in the world. You can even float bottles to a deserted island and build something there."

Aside from the use of bottles and fibreboards, the cement binding the bottles together also makes use of sustainable materials.

Diaz explains that workers mix human hair and chicken feathers, which they source from barber shops and poultry farms in the area, as fibre filler to hold cement together, since cement mixed with fibre was found to have a 95 percent less cracking rate.

It took roughly a month to finish the first of eight planned classrooms, which they only began December last year. The concrete and steel structure bars for the remaining seven classrooms are already in place, while Diaz tries to gather another 35,000 remaining bottles he needs for construction, which various corporations and individual donors donate for free. My Shelter Foundation hopes to finish the school in time for the opening of classes in June.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Development, Education, Report Tagged With:

Arab Uprisings Are Not Exciting Asian Youth

February 24, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN

By Kalinga Seneviratne

IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis  
 
SINGAPORE (IDN) – Two issues that have been attracting headlines recently, one in Indonesia and another in the Philippines, perhaps explain why Asian youth are not all that excited about the youth uprisings and their dramatic success in the Middle East.

Both countries went through ‘people power revolutions’ which brought down long-standing dictators — Philippines overthrew President Ferdinand Marcos on February 25, 1986 and the Indonesian President Suharto in May 1998.

In Indonesia, the case of celebrity graft convict Gayus Tambunan has been drawing the media spotlight for weeks. Indonesians have been fascinated by the astonishing gal of a virtual nobody who was able to buy an acquittal in his first trial, bribe his way out of custody 68 times, and use a fake passport to make numerous trips overseas while still in custody awaiting his corruption trial.

Gayus, a former tax officer earning USD 1300 a month at the Complaints Section of the government’s Directorate of Taxation, is believed to have amassed over USD 10 million. He was recently convicted for an unexplained lesser charge of embezzlement and jailed for seven years.

Gayus’s case has brought into the open decades of ingrained collusion between shady businessmen and corrupt officials in the country’s tax directorate, law enforcement agencies and the courts.

Currently 44 foreign and local companies, whose tax appeals were personally managed by Gayus are under investigation. The investigation is closing in on the family owned business empire of the leader of Suharto’s political machinery, Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, who is known to harbour ambitions to stand for President at the next elections in 2014.

Since his ouster in 1998 none of Suharto’s family members have been convicted of graft nor their ill-gotten wealth traced and brought back to the country. His siblings are freely roaming the country and doing their businesses, though not as widespread as before.

In the Philippines, it has been the same with President Marcos’ family. Twenty five years after the so called ‘People’s Revolution’ which overthrew Marcos, successive governments elected by popular vote have not been able to get their ill-gotten wealth back home nor get them convicted for corruption. His son Ferdinand Marcos jr won a Congress seat in 2010 and is known to be planning to run for the Presidency in 2016.

Speaking on the 25th anniversary of the ‘EDSA (it is a square in Manila where hundreds of thousands of people gathered to call for the overthrow of Marcos) Revolution’ on February 22, 2011, current President Benigno Aquino III, the son of the revolution’s icon Corazon Aquino, said, while people’s power brought democracy to the Philippines, there have been little gains for the people because corruption remained prevalent in government.

"After 25 years was there change?" he asked while speaking at a function outside Manila, adding that "unfortunately nothing has really changed — corruption is still rampant and the result, the needs of the people were left unattended".

Philippines have had five elected presidents since the EDSA Revolution, and numerous Congress, provincial and local elections. Multi-party democracy has become ingrained in the Filipino political landscape. They even had a second ‘people’s revolution’ in 2001 when a corrupt elected President Joseph Estrada was overthrown by popular protests and Vice-President Gloria Arroyo installed as President.

But, she left office in 2010 tainted with serious corruption allegations, and the new President’s attempts to investigate corruption charges against her have been blocked by an Ombudsman who was installed by Arroyo just before she left office, and her own election to Congress last year has given her a platform to block investigations against her from inside the political establishment.

MULTI-PARTY DEMOCRACY DOESN’T SUFFICE

Thus, Asians look at the Philippines and Indonesia today and ask the question whether regime change by popular revolt and introduction of multiparty democracy is the solution to tackle ingrained corruption and resultant injustice and poverty in the country? Such scepticism is reflected in many commentaries published in recent days across Asia on the Egyptian (and Tunisian) revolutions.

Writing in the ‘Jakarta Post’, political analyst Yang Razali Kassim, observed that the most striking resemblance between Egypt 2011 and Indonesia 1998 was regime change and the pivotal role of ‘people’s power’. But he warned that the post-revolutionary euphoria in Indonesia led to what he calls a "democratic diarrhoea" — too much loosening of the system too fast. After the initial chaos, Indonesians have painstakingly built a national consensus, which they call ‘musyawarah dan mufakat’ that according to Kassim has ensured system stability.

"It did not take Indonesians too long to realize that an uncontrolled proliferation of political parties in the name of democracy is not necessarily a good thing," noted Kassim. "The Indonesian model, if adopted by Egypt, could see the disparate political forces, including the (Muslim) Brotherhood, forging compromises through coalitions."

In an editorial, the ‘Jakarta Post’ said: "Egypt needs help in building a strong civil society and in creating democratic institutions to ensure that it does not fall back into another form of dictatorship. Indonesia is well placed to help, at the very least to share its own experience."

Singapore’s ‘Straits Times’ in a commentary by political analyst Loh Su Hsing argued that an Egyptian-style regime change is unlikely in China. While there are similarities in the modes of governance and simmering social discontent in these two countries, Hsing says, "the Chinese are only too aware that replacing the incumbent regime carries high opportunity costs …. radical political upheaval would undermine investors’ confidence and severely compromise the current growth trajectory."

She argues that in the post-Mao era China has moved away from the personality cult, and overthrowing the government would entail revamping an entire system — that is, dismantling the Chinese Communist Party, whose leaders are currently seen by millions of Chinese as "having improved China’s international standing and steered the country’s phenomenal economic growth".

Khor Swee Kheng writing in Malaysia’s ‘New Straits Times’ noted that the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings were characterised by its populist and non-religious leanings, which are important for building a democracy. But he expressed scepticism about whether a young generation conditioned to expect instant gratification would have the patience to build up the necessary institutions for democracy and political stability to function.

"Why do we think that an entire nation of angry young people coming together using mobile phones will suddenly bring about democracy?" he asked. "I’m all for democracy. Let’s remove oppressive dictators and be rid of corruption, fear and poverty. But, we need to keep our eyes open — we may be caught up in the ‘I-want-it-now syndrom’ so prevalent in modern society," he added. "To build a democracy, its creation goes hand-in-hand with widespread economic development, as part of a self-reinforcing virtuous cycle."

In the Philippines this (eighth) week, Filipinos have been on the one hand patting themselves on the back while celebrating the 25th anniversary of the ‘EDSA Revolution’ claiming that it has inspired peoples’ revolutions taking place in the Arab world today.

On the other hand, President Aquino — who has vowed to tackle endemic corruption in the country, which has kept millions of people living in poverty and forced millions more to go overseas to earn a living to feed their families — is fighting an uphill battle in Congress to get rid of Arroyo’s ombudsman who is blocking corruption investigations against her and her business cronies.

It is not surprising, therefore, that Asian youth are not that excited about the youth uprisings in the Arab world. If they are to be inspired by the young peoples’ uprisings there, they will have to come out not just to change regimes but to chase out corrupt government officials, military leaders, parliamentarians and law enforcement officials from their jobs, and bring to justice corrupt businessmen with political patronage who are amassing huge wealth right across the Middle East and Asia. (IDN-InDepthNews/24.02.2011)

Copyright © 2010 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

This article should not be republished or redistributed without the permission of the original author or copyright holder.


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PHILIPPINES: Call Centre Boom Breeds New Culture – and Risky Behaviour

October 1, 2010 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Diana G Mendoza

MANILA, Oct 1, 2010 (IPS) – Anthony, a 22-year-old call centre agent, goes to work at 6 p.m. and finishes at around 2 a.m. But instead of going home, he heads to a bar to meet another male agent over beer, and if the late night looks promising, they spend more time together until daytime.

"The rest of the day is a struggle to sleep," Anthony said in an interview. The young man’s typical day consists of work, chill time with his buddy, often having sex with that same buddy, and then forgetting what happened during the night to try to sleep when the sun is up.

Since the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry created a growing number of call centres in the Philippines – its BPO industry is second to the world’s largest, India – professionals like Anthony and his friend found their niche in the world of work.

Here, they can be comfortable being gay. They can come to work in jeans, sneakers and hoodies, and can grow or colour their hair without being reminded of office rules. "You can be who you are," said Anthony. When asked why having sexual relations seem casual among his colleagues, he said it might be because of the unconventional work hours and the comfort that the workplace offers.

"It’s just us seeing each other during odd hours every single day, and because nobody seems to be looking, we can do things we don’t normally do outside," he said. The non- judgmental atmosphere creates an accepting environment for homosexual males like him.

In other words, a new social phenomenon is taking shape around the lifestyle of Anthony and nearly half a million young people like him working in call centres in this South- east Asian country of 94 million people. Their unusual hours stem from the fact that centres provide services – including customer and technical support – to banks, telecommunication and Internet companies – during work hours in places like the United States.

This environment has come about not only because of the promise of employment and income – studies say call centres provided 70,000 new jobs in 2009 and 2010 in this country where 33 percent of citizens are poor. It is also due to the accepted permissiveness among workers that is perceived as risky sexual behaviour, several studies say.

The high prevalence of risky behaviour might put the youthful workforce in call centres at risk of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), two studies say. A third study found 12 of its respondents testing positive for HIV.

One of these studies into risk behaviour, conducted by the Ateneo de Manila University among 650 respondents aged 15 to 29, from 20 call centres in Metro Manila, showed that casual, unprotected sex is quite widespread among both males and females.

More males had multiple sex partners – nine out of 10 males and seven of 10 females had sex, but in the sexual encounters, 73 percent of males and 80 percent of females did not use protection such as condoms. Among the men who have sex with men younger than 20, all said that they did not use condoms, and 70 percent reported having four or more partners in the past 12 months.

Dr Isabel Melgar, head of the Ateneo university’s psychology department, said that "sex under the influence of alcohol" is rampant in the call centre industry, and that since sexual contact, often with different partners and at one-time encounters is accepted, dating is no longer the norm. "We also saw changes in socialisation, gender identity, and sexual attraction," she said.

The mobile phone is the most common mode for meeting up, while personal interactions have been minimised due to social networking, email and chatting on the Internet. The Internet is also the major source of information about STI and HIV among males, as against magazines for females.

Although awareness of STI and HIV is relatively high, the young workers do not seem mindful of the risks of their sexual behaviour even if, as one respondent said, "sex sometimes occurs during the 15-minute or one-hour break".

Melgar said "there is a fear factor attached to STI and HIV, and they don’t want to talk about it," especially because call centres and HIV infection are already in the news. One male respondent admitted, "I’m embarrassed to say I’m a call centre worker because people think I have AIDS."

But "to consider the call centres a hotbed of HIV infections is stigmatising and totally wrong" points out Melgar.

Prior to the Ateneo study, the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) and the UP- Philippine General Hospital (PGH) released findings of their studies on young professionals’ vulnerability to STI and HIV.

Conducted from November 2009 to January 2010, the UP-PGH study interviewed 406 young male respondents and conducted free rapid HIV tests; 130 of the total respondents were call centre agents. The study found 48 HIV-positive respondents, 26 of whom worked in call centres.

The UPPI study on sexual risk behaviour among young workers in call centres and other industries found that call centre workers reported having more sexual encounters than those in other industries, and that more males than females practise unsafe behaviour.

Regardless of industry, the risky behaviour was high, but levels were slightly higher among call centre agents in unprotected, casual, paid sex, and sex with multiple partners.

These point to the fact that "there is a need to embed HIV prevention in a total health package for call centre agents, and this needs the cooperation of managers and owners", Melgar pointed out.

She said a young person’s sexual behaviour is strongly influenced by the immediate environment, and values from one’s family and any sexuality education learned from school, even in this mainly Catholic country, can only do so much.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2010.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Development, Gender, Health, Report Tagged With: ,

PHILIPPINES: Despite Ad Ban, Tobacco Industry Seduces Customers

August 12, 2010 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Kara Santos*

MANILA, Aug 12, 2010 (IPS) – Adventure motorcycle tours, and driving and racing events organised by tobacco firms. Canopies bearing cigarette brands in popular restaurants. Tobacco brands appearing beside the signages of convenience stores, whether along the Philippine capital’s urban alleys or provincial roads.

These are ‘creative’ ways that tobacco manufacturers are using to get consumers in this South-east Asian country, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) says is already the world’s 15th largest cigarette market.

Because the Philippines’ tobacco regulation act of 2003 tightened restrictions on direct advertising of tobacco products, their manufacturers are getting very innovative, anti-tobacco campaigners say.

They have taken to holding small pockets of events that are "hardly noticeable but get better results," says Roberto del Rosario of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP), a non-governmental coalition of tobacco control advocates.

For instance, the law bans tobacco firms from sponsoring "any sport, concert, cultural art or event" that involves the advertisement or promotion of cigarettes or uses names, logos, trademarks, symbols, designs or colours associated with a tobacco product.

But thus far, events like a three-day motorcycle tour in May – called ‘Marlboro Road Trip’ – have been held successfully. In that event, dozens of motorcycle aficionados clad in red and black jackets, jerseys, sunglasses and backpacks, gunned their engines for a more than 370 kilometre tour that took them from Manila to Naga city to the south.

The makers of Marlboro cigarettes in the Philippines – Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc (PMPMI) – provided the fuel, gear and accommodations during the trip. "Everything was free. We just had to register, then there was a test drive qualifier and we could choose who among our club could go on the trip," a 27-year-old biker, a smoker, recounted to IPS.

In the event venue stood tents in Marlboro’s signature red and white colours, while banners bore the slogan ‘Road to Flavour’. Chris Nelson, PMPMI managing director, called the bike riders "modern cowboys," referring to the iconic image of cowboys riding off into the sunset associated with the Marlboro brand.

Anti-smoking campaigners say all of these were no doubt advertising, but PMPMI says it made sure there was no direct advertising and that all communication about its tobacco products were only for event participants and adults.

"To the best of our knowledge, no communication relating to our brands was visible to the general public, including minors, during the entire conduct of the Marlboro Road Trip," PMPMI spokesman Elmer Mesina said in an e-mail reply to questions sent by IPS.

But "using the colour bright red and knowing that the activity is being sponsored by Marlboro, for instance, are in itself advertising," says Josefina Buenaseda, FCAP legal counsel.

Mesina says that his company is "firmly opposed to youth smoking" and "does not market to minors." He adds: "Our communications and activities are intended for adult smokers only, with the aim of encouraging adults who choose to smoke to choose our brands instead of those of our competitors."

Buenaseda says that while sponsorships are banned, promotional activities for those above 18 years old are regulated under the law. But tobacco firms have used these to advertise its products to the public, she adds.

FCAP says cigarettes are pushed heavily through ‘below the line’ or non-traditional advertising like public relations, events, promotions, merchandising, signages, the use of women promoters, and digital advertising.

Subtle product placements abound – in restaurants, bakeries, billiard halls, junk shops, gasoline stations and mass transit terminals. Canopies bearing cigarette brands are a common sight in open-air restaurants. Coasters, napkin holders and lamps with cigarette logos are used in restaurants and bars frequented by young people.

Young Filipinos in fact make good clientele in this country of 94 million people. A total of 22.7 percent of Filipinos aged 13-15 were smoking as of 2009, up from 15.9 percent in 2008. After Indonesia, the Philippines has the second highest number of smokers – about 30 million – in South-east Asia.

At the same time, smoking-related diseases cause 240 deaths daily in the country, says the WHO 2009 Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic. FCAP says that 80,000 Filipinos die every year due to tobacco-related diseases.

Anti-tobacco groups want a complete and tighter ban on all forms of promotion of tobacco in the country.

According to the 2009 Philippines’ Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), pro-cigarette ads are seen by seven out of every 10 Filipinos mostly in stores (53.7 percent), and on posters, leaflets or calendars (31.7 percent). The most popular form of cigarette promotion are clothes or items with brand names and logos on them, the survey adds. Loopholes in the law as well as low taxes and cheap prices of tobacco products add to the Philippines’ appeal as a market for tobacco products.

A provision allowing advertising, including leaflets and posters, inside point-of-sale retail establishments, has led to the excess of tobacco signages put up in convenience stores, called ‘sari-sari stores’ locally.

Buenaseda says the tobacco industry has twisted the interpretation of the law. "They have chosen to extend this to neon lights, big tarpaulins, billboards and the like in point-of-sale establishments, which do not come within the classification of ‘leaflets and posters’," she says.

Cigarettes here are among the cheapest in the world at less than a dollar a pack. Excise taxes comprise only 28 percent of the retail price, compared to 69 percent in Singapore.

Likewise, cigarettes are sold in five or 10-stick packs, or per piece. "The packaging now is also more attractive and by mere flavour alone, they are targeting the youth," says Del Rosario, referring to menthol, chocolate and candy- flavoured cigarettes.

But some like Nino Chico, 19, think tobacco advertising does not really make a difference. "There’s no effect for those already hooked," he tells IPS. "Even without ads, if children see their relatives or classmates smoking, they’ll want to try it," says Chico, who started smoking at 15 because "all his uncles and older cousins smoked".

A government committee oversees the implementation of the law on tobacco advertising. It has as member the FCAP, but also the departments of trade and industry, agriculture, the National Tobacco Administration and the tobacco industry.

"It’s like assigning the fox to watch over the sheep," says Del Rosario. "When it comes to making votes, they want to protect their interests."

*This feature was produced by IPS Asia-Pacific as part the Tobacco Control Media Fellowship, which is being implemented by Probe Media Foundation Inc. and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP).

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2010.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Health, Politics, Report Tagged With: ,
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