Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri himself considered it a “big challenge.” In the Senate, 18 votes are needed to pass Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 “proposing amendments to certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution,” which he co-authored with senators Loren Legarda and Sonny Angara.

Majority vote is needed for the bill to be submitted to a bicameral conference committee before it gets voted on in a plebiscite.

“It’s a challenge, it’s a big challenge because I think the rift between our friends at the House and our friends here at the Senate is a factor because this resulted in trust issues,” Zubiri told reporters in a mix of English and Filipino.

The Senate President is referring to the rift between the two chambers in relation to the push to amend the Constitution. The squabble started when senators signed a manifesto rejecting the House’s new push for charter change, which proposes that both chambers vote jointly on proposed amendments.

Senators want separate voting by the chambers to ensure that their voice is not diluted in the process. Zubiri said that the Senate and its 24 members cannot cast any meaningful vote against the 316 members of the House.

University of the Philippines professor and political analyst Ela Atienza said this is the primary reason why the Senate opposes charter change. “The Senate’s reluctance to back Cha-Cha initiatives is more personal because the House leadership tried to undermine the Senate by pushing for a people’s initiative earlier that will diminish the Senate’s power to vote as a separate chamber in case the two Houses vote on proposed amendments as a constituent assembly.”

Senators echo the concern of many that while proposals to amend the Constitution are focused on economic provisions, no one can stop the inclusion of proposed provisions on term limits and other political provisions. They fear that the Senate will be abolished if political amendments, such as a shift to a unicameral parliamentary form of government, will be introduced.

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Charter change rift deepens between Senate, House

The Senate is currently deliberating on RBH6. Meanwhile, the House already wrapped up its version, RBH7, in just six days. The House version mirrors the Senate’s which allows foreign investments in the country’s public utilities, education, and advertising sectors.

The two differ though in one contentious line that says “each House vote separately” on the amendments.

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Angara, who chairs the Senate subcommittee on amendments and revision of codes, had said that the upper chamber would likely finish their discussions by October.

The dissenters

Although it’s not up for voting yet, some senators already said that they are voting against RBH6.

At a press conference on Monday, March 11, Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said they have a “fighting chance” to gather at least seven votes to “put down” RBH6. She said that she could sense that the no vote on RBH6 would not be limited to the two members of the Senate minority.

“Batay sa sense namin sa minority na hindi lamang kaming dalawa ang magno-no sa Cha-Cha. Kahit ‘yung Resolution of Both Houses 6 dito sa Senado, mula sa halos simula ng pag-uusap namin ni SP, alam na nila na no talaga ang posisyon ko kahit sa sinasabing economic only provisions amendments na nakapaloob sa RBH 6,” she said.

(Our sense in the minority is that we’re not the only ones who will say no to Cha-Cha. Even the Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 here at the Senate, ever since the start of our discussions with the Senate President, he knows my “no” position even on the economic only provisions included in the RBH6 is firm.)

In a statement on Monday, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s possible intervention in RBH6 will only “help a little.” He earlier claimed that he and eight other senators were ready to vote against RBH6.

“The credibility of the President among senators has fallen to an all-time low when it comes to the subject matter of charter change. Hence, presidential endorsement may help the proponents of Senate RBH 6 but only a little. Everything that the President says will be taken with ‘a grain of salt,'” he said.

Apart from the two-member minority bloc, Senator Cynthia Villar already expressed her opposition to RBH6, noting that “there was a chance” that seven senators, including herself, would vote “No” on the bill.

“They claim they are only after the economic provisions. But when they open up the Constitution, nobody can stop them from changing other provisions, including the political portions. That’s not good,” she said. Political observers said that Senator Cynthia would likely influence her son, Senator Mark Villar.

Meanwhile, presidential sister Senator Imee Marcos has been very vocal about her dissenting opinion on charter change. She had led a Senate inquiry into alleged bribery in the push to secure signatures to amend the charter through a supposed people’s initiative.

Before the Senate started deliberating on RBH6, Majority Leader Joel Villanueva claimed that “a lot of senators” were not interested in supporting RBH No. 6 filed by Zubiri. He was also among the senators who had traded barbs with House members in relation to charter change via people’s initiative.

Rappler reached out to Villanueva to ask whether his position on the issue has changed or not, but he has yet to reply as of posting.

In February, Senator Nancy Binay said that proposed economic amendments to the charter are “not a magic solution” as she urged her fellow lawmakers and the public to “carefully listen to all perspectives before making any decisions regarding the proposed constitutional amendments.”

“Base sa unang hearing, parang mas marami kaming naging resource persons na mas mabigat ang hindi muna napapanahon ang pagpalit ng ating Konstitusyon,” Binay said.

(Based on our first hearing, it seems that most of our resource persons are strongly against constitutional amendments at this time.)

If all these seven senators vote against RBH6, then the push for charter change will be junked. For Zubiri, forcing senators to vote “yes” to RBH6 will mean losing his Senate leadership.

“Alam mo ‘pag inutusan ko sila gawin ‘yan mawawala talaga ako as Senate president, (You know, if I force them to vote yes to charter change, I really will no longer be Senate president) I will no longer have the trust and confidence of more than 14 senators if I force a vote, force them to vote on the affirmative,” Zubiri said, referring to the 14 senators who signed a manifesto of support for his leadership amid ouster rumors.

‘Senate independence’

Political analyst Cleve Arguelles said that this development from the upper chamber is a manifestation of the “nature of the Senate of being more independent of Malacañang’s wishes than its counterpart in Batasan.”

“Senators, like the President, also enjoy a national constituency, mandate, and support. I think this is very important in their ability to counterbalance the weight of the combined influence of the House and Malacañang,” Arguelles said.

But is it really about the Senate reflecting its independence from the executive branch? Or is it because the senators will be at a disadvantage in case charter change pushes through? Like other elective officials, senators are keenly aware of the consequences of supporting unpopular measures.

“They’re also presidents and vice presidents in waiting whose choices now may influence public support for them in the future,” Arguelles said.

Remember when senators railroaded the passage of Maharlika bill at the pleasure of the President? In May 2023, the Senate swiftly passed Senate Bill No. 2020, or the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund Act of 2023. Their vote came after an 11-hour plenary session that saw senators scrambling to pass the priority legislation of the Marcos administration. Prior to its passage, the President had already boasted about this bill during his trips abroad.

The Senate took a beating from the railroaded passage of the controversial measure. With the 2025 elections just around the corner, and with the 2028 elections not too far away, lawmakers are weighing all decisions that could affect public favor.

A survey conducted by pollster Octa Research in December 2023 and released in January 2024 found that only one in every 100 Filipinos identified charter change as an urgent national concern. The top concern of Filipinos is fighting inflation.

Another factor at play in the charter change discussion is the political influence of popular figures, such as former president Rodrigo Duterte and daughter Vice President Sara Duterte, who are both opposed to charter change. The Duterte family even held a prayer rally against the push to amend the 1987 Constitution under the Marcos administration in Davao City.

Some senators are close allies of the Dutertes, among them, senators Bong Go, Bato dela Rosa, and Francis Tolentino.

But in Philippine politics, the unexpected is a given. With the Senate seen to end deliberations on RBH6 in October, will the proponents get the needed votes? Or will more senators end up voting against charter change? – Rappler.com

Penny Wong, Foreign Minister and leader of the government in the Senate, was born in Sabah, Malaysia and speaks the language. Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism, lights up as he talks about marrying his Bicolana wife in Pasig City some four decades ago. Chris Bowen, Climate Change and Energy Minister, is fresh off a holiday in Malaysia.

It’s the beginning of February 2024 and preparations were well underway in Canberra and in Melbourne for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Australia Special Summit, a celebration of 50 years since Australia signed up to be the bloc’s first dialogue partner in 1974.

The summit starts on March 4 and culminates on March 6 with several high-level leaders’ meetings featuring ASEAN heads of government, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Wong, who’s traveled to all ASEAN states save for Myanmar, puts it this way: “When Australia looks to the world, if you think about where we are, what is the first step? We see the countries of ASEAN. So for us, the notion of ASEAN centrality is not just an abstract concept, actually, it’s a reflection of our geographic strategic reality.”

The summit comes at a tense time for the bloc and the region.

“There’s obviously a lot of geopolitical strategic politics at the moment. So, rather than talking about what we’re for, what we’re against, or what we don’t want, we want to say what we’re for. We want a region where…our sovereignty is respected, and what does that mean?” Wong told a group of visiting journalists from all over Southeast Asia, in an interview held a month before the summit.

Middle powers

That Wong emphasizes the importance of international rules, diplomacy in resolving disputes, and of might not being right, is no surprise.

The Sydney-based Lowy Institute ranks the US and China as the only two superpowers of the world, with Washington having an 8.2-point advantage over Beijing. Australia is a “middle power,” sandwiched between Russia and South Korea.

“All of us in the international community, middle powers like our countries, as well as small nations, have our part to play in building a more stable, peaceful and prosperous future,” said Albanese on February 29 to welcome Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the Australian Parliament.

Lowy’s Asia Power Index measures how a country makes use of its resources – from diplomacy, cultural influence, defense networks, and economic ties, among other things. The Power Gap measures if a country has overutilized or underutilized its resources.

In the Indo-Pacific, according to the same Lowy ranking, the Philippines ranks 16th – between Pakistan and North Korea – as a middle power. Lowy Institute notes that Manila ranks highest in defense networks – the Philippines is a treaty-ally of the US, after all.

Several ASEAN countries are middle powers, too – Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam all rank ahead of the Philippines based on Lowy’s measure.

Exploiting one’s potential as a middle power – and tapping like-minded fellow middle powers as partners – is an approach Australia and the Philippines are keen on improving, based on speeches delivered by Albanese and then Marcos before Australia’s parliament.

Marcos painted the Philippines as a country on the frontlines of a region facing “actions that undermine regional peace, erode regional stability, and threaten regional success.” “The security of Australia is bound with the security of the Philippines,” said Marcos on February 29.

Australia’s security and prosperity is bound not just with the Philippines but the rest of the region.

Upping trade ties

Farrel, a senator who oversees trade and tourism for Australia, pointed out Canberra’s shortcomings in trading with its Southeast Asian neighbors.

“We are part of the region. But we don’t do enough trade,” he told a group of journalists in early February.

Trade with Southeast Asia in 2022 totaled only over AUD 187 billion (P6.8 trillion), in contrast with AUD 300 billion (P10.9 trillion) in trade with China. Still, the Australian government notes that two-way trade with ASEAN is “greater than our two-way trade with Japan, the United States or the [European Union].”

Farrel sees natural ways to increase two-way trade with members of ASEAN.

First, there’s renewables. Australia aspires to be a “superpower” for renewable energy, but needs a bigger market for those technologies to scale up faster.

“We have all of the materials that go into the electric vehicles that are going to build the cars of the future, plus we have lots of sunshine but, more importantly, we have lots of space. And so we can increase, significantly increase, that – our contribution to renewable energy,” he said.

Digital trade is another opportunity, and so is agriculture – especially since Australia is able to produce much more than it can consume. Trade and energy are two of the five core themes of the Special Summit in Melbourne.

There’s a CEO Business Forum and an SME Conference, coupled with discussions on climate and clean energy, as well as the blue economy and maritime issues.

Australia is also hosting the Emerging Leaders’ Dialogue, designed to put a spotlight on the next generation of regional leaders.

Maritime security in focus

It’s noteworthy that the speakers at the opening of the Maritime Cooperation track were Australian Foreign Minister Wong and her Filipino counterpart Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.

Australia has grown to be among the Philippines’ key partners in maritime security, and that’s a relationship that’s been pushed further by the Marcos administration by elevating ties to strategic cooperation. A maritime security agreement was also signed just days before the summit kicked off, during Marcos’ visit to Canberra.

Australian National University International Relations lecturer Dr. Maria Tanyag said the invite for Marcos to speak in parliament is a “strong testament” to the Philippines’ importance in regional geopolitics, and a continuation of Australia’s desire to strengthen its ties with ASEAN.

As another island and trading nation, as Albanese himself pointed out, international norms and rules at sea are practically existential. In welcoming Marcos, Albanese said: “And for both of us, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is not an abstract notion or a theoretical question.”

It takes a village – or a coalition of like-minded countries, in this instance – to make sure the “rules-based order” is being followed.

“We continue to underscore the importance of [bilateral] defense and security cooperation and its contribution in the preservation of regional peace, security and stability. In view of the shared history of the two countries and common maritime heritage, the Philippines will continue to look at Australia as an important and reliable partner in defense and security,” said Manalo in a keynote address to kick off sessions on maritime cooperation.

He had earlier taken care to highlight that maritime challenges “cannot be addressed by any one of us alone.” He added, “In the last analysis, the world’s oceans comprise the ultimate global commons, a continuous and seamless expanse not bounded by the arbitrary lines of political cartography in their issues and concerns.”

But agreement in ASEAN is easier said than done. The bloc has been criticized and continues to reap criticism for its seeming inaction in military-ruled Myanmar. Its engagements with superpowers US and China also vary.

Dr. Pichamon Yeophantong, a Deakin University associate professor and speaker on a session about geopolitical risk in the Indo-Pacific, said that ASEAN members have “different capacities at different levels” in terms of engaging with either Washington or Beijing.

An external partner, Yeophantong pointed out, helps “minimize” the risk of taking sides or having to pick between the two superpowers.

As tensions rise in the region and superpower competition heightens, it’s going to be up to ASEAN and its middle power allies to, to paraphrase Wong, think about what they want and resist the temptation to focus on what they don’t want.

“We want a region where…. our sovereignty is respected, and what does that mean? That we can make our own choices. We want a region where rules and principles guide the resolution of disputes, so that it’s not just power that determines, size that determines, our purpose,” she said ahead of the summit.

Engagements among leaders in the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit officially begin on Tuesday, March 5, with an official welcome hosted by Albanese. ASEAN and Australian heads of government will be meeting until May 6. – Rappler.com

This reporter visited Australia upon the invitation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for an International Media Visit that saw journalists from all over Southeast Asia visit Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney, ahead of and during the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit. The contents and views expressed by the writer are all her own.

“We must reinforce each other’s strengths. We must protect the peace that we fought for during the war and have jealously guarded in the decades since. We must oppose actions that clearly denigrate the rule of law,” said Marcos at Parliament House, speaking before legislators of Manila’s newest strategic partner.

Marcos, who flew into Canberra the night before, wore his usual barong but donned a pair of spectacles to address a joint sitting of Australia’s parliament.

The son and namesake of the late dictator is the first Philippine president to have been invited to address parliament. He joins an exclusive club that includes former US presidents and Chinese leaders.

Marcos’ visit was not universally welcomed – Senator Janet Rice, of the minority Australian Greens party, held up a banner decrying human rights abuses in the Philippines, and protesters staged a rally outside Parliament House against the Philippine president.

Yet for the Albanese government and even the opposition – Marcos is a welcome and important visitor.

“I know you will be warmly welcomed wherever you go in Australia. Because all of us in this place, and indeed all Australians, are united in our respect for the contribution your nation and your people make to our region and our communities,” said Albanese, after thanking Marcos and his wife, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, for hosting him and partner Jodie Haydon in September 2023.

His trip to Canberra, with another visit to Melbourne days later for a regional summit, comes as tensions in the South China Sea continue to rise and concerns over stability in the region concern even countries that exist outside of it.

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‘When the Southern Cross met the Pearl of the Orient’

Dr. Maria Tanyag, a research fellow and lecturer at the Australian National University’s Department of International Relations, said the invitation from Australia to make the “rare” address is “the strongest testament to the importance of the Philippines for geopolitical relations.”

“Australia, in a variety of ways, has been signaling its commitment to Southeast Asia, and [this invitation] is part of it. It also aligns because Marcos is also sending the right signals. This is an alignment of strategic interest,” she said in an interview with Rappler before Marcos left for Canberra.

Marcos swept the 2022 national elections on a campaign that vaguely promised to continue the policies of his predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

In the realm of foreign affairs, especially, Marcos could not be any more different than the former city mayor who came before him.

“Marcos is opening up in ways that Duterte was not. And Australia has been for a while trying to position itself, not just in Southeast Asia, but also in the Pacific. Having the Philippines as an ally covers that region fully. Because again, the Philippines is not just Southeast Asia, it’s very much the Pacific too,” added Tanyag.

Since Marcos took office in June 2022, Philippine foreign policy and relations have taken a 180-degree turn. If Duterte was friends with – critics would say kowtowed to – Beijing, Marcos has chosen to become closer to the Philippines’ only treaty ally, the United States.

If under Duterte, Chinese activities in the West Philippine Sea, or parts of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), were a mystery, it’s under Marcos’ National Security Adviser, former military chief Eduardo Año, that the Philippines launched a “transparency initiative” in the West Philippine Sea.

Año, curiously, was also a member of Duterte’s Cabinet as local government chief.

A lot of things have developed in the realm of defense and diplomacy under Marcos. In early 2023, his government announced additional military camps that the US could access under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

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Marcos in Canberra: What the Philippines and its president gains

“Like-minded countries” – old, existing, and emerging – have been quick to propose closer relations, especially when it comes to maritime cooperation. During a visit to Washington DC in 2023, Marcos got what he had been asking for: an update to existing agreements with the United States.

Japan, a strategic partner and long-time friend especially in maritime issues, is eager to sign a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), a Visiting Forces Agreement-like deal that would allow Japanese boots on Philippine soil more regularly. Canada wants the same set-up.

Australia certainly does not want to get left behind.

In September 2023, when Albanese visited Manila, the two countries officially elevated ties to a strategic partnership. During Marcos’ February 2024 visit Canberra visit, the two countries signed a “Enhanced Maritime Cooperation to strengthen our existing civil and defense maritime commitments.”

Canberra and Manila also signed Memoranda of Understanding on cyber and critical technology to better combat cyber attacks, as well as one on cooperation between competitive commissions to “enhance effective competition law and policy.”

Albanese also announced a Aus $20 million investment to “support the Philippines to reform, and improve access to, its justice system.”

Middle powers and the rules-base order

While Marcos’ speech made numerous references to the past – Filipino pearl divers in the 1860s who ventured into Australia, Filipinos who fought in Bataan and Corregidor to delay Imperial Japan’s onslaught, and the two countries’ roles in “shaping the free world’s vision for the postwar order” – more focus was placed on what lies ahead.

“From the very beginning, we knew that our interests were intertwined. The security of Australia is bound with the security of the Philippines. When my father accompanied Prime Minister [Edward Gough] Whitlam on a sentimental tour of Bataan and Corregidor in 1974, they reaffirmed that core principle,” he said.

“Our two countries have always understood that without the predictability and stability of our rules-based order, our region would not have emerged as the driver of the global economy as it is today,” added Marcos.

Albanese, in welcoming Marcos, also highlighted the two countries’ commonalities: island and trading nations and middle powers that depend heavily on regional stability and international law.

“All of us in the international community, middle powers like our countries, as well as small nations, have our part to play in building a more stable, peaceful and prosperous future,” said the Australian leader.

He also echoed a sentiment that Marcos had made in the past: that regional stability should not hinge in great powers.

“Our cooperation is an assertion of our national interest and a recognition of our regional responsibility. It reflects our shared understanding that peace depends on more than the presence of the great powers,” said the Prime Minister, as he emphasized the importance of upholding the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and freedom of navigation.

The week before Marcos’ Canberra visit, the Philippines again reported incidents of harassment at the hands of the Chinese – both its China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia.

The West Philippine Sea is the flashpoint of tensions between Manila and Beijing – there’s Ayungin Shoal where a marooned World War II ship stands as a military outpost, and Bajo de Masinloc, where Filipino fisherfolk are regularly barred by the Chinese from fishing.

Both features are within the Philippines’ EEZ, which means it has sovereign rights over the area. Yet China insists almost all of the South China Sea is part of their territory, rejecting a 2016 Arbitral Ruling that said their claim was invalid.

“We must reinforce each other’s strengths. We must protect the peace that we fought for during the war and have jealously guarded in the decades since. We must oppose actions that clearly denigrate the rule of law,” Marcos told parliament.

In a previous interview with Rappler, Ateneo de Manila University Assistant Professor Alma Salvador said that in bringing Manila back closer to Washington DC, Marcos was building on the diplomacy work of the presidents before him – especially that of the late Benigno Aquino III.

On top of improving Philippine-US ties, Salvador then noted that like Aquino, Marcos was keen on working with fellow middle powers – Japan, South Korea, and, of course, Australia.

Both Manila and Canberra are treaty-allies of the US.

Philippine defense and security officials will say that allies – old and potential new partners – making a beeline to improve ties with the Philippines is a new opportunity they want to capitalize on. Observers and diplomats themselves said the opportunities had always been there: it was just a matter of the Philippines opening itself up to those opportunities. – Rappler.com

The school official said the temperature when the fire drill happened on March 23, 2023 was between 39 and 42°C. It was very hot and humid. In a tropical country like the Philippines, where classrooms are not built to withstand extreme heat, conditions are not conducive to learning.

Classes in the Philippines typically begin on the first Monday of June concluding in March, as mandated by Republic Act 7797. But in 2020, this law was amended to accommodate changes in school opening schedules. Classes should start not later than the last day of August, the new law said.

The country made the adjustment due to the impact of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown in 2020. But even prior to the pandemic, there had been calls to make the academic calendar in the Philippines synchronized with other countries, especially with its Southeast Asian counterparts. Proponents of the shift also said that the months of June and July coincide with the typhoon season, resulting in class disruptions.

Since then, the academic year had shifted to August, meaning, students were now in school from April to May – a time that previously marked their summer vacation in the previous school calendar, and a period when high temperatures were often recorded.

But after a year of full adjustment, public clamor to revert to the old academic calendar intensified. A survey commissioned by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the basic education committee, revealed that 8 in 10 Filipinos want summer breaks back to April and May. This prompted the Department of Education (DepEd) to gradually revert to the old calendar.

“The shift to the school calendar back to the usual April-May break will be gradual. We will end on May 31, but we will open around July 29. And then slowly, we will move it back until we return to the normal April-May break,” DepEd Undersecretary Michael Poa said.

Poa said the decision to revert to the old academic calendar was based on consultations done by DepEd. “This is a decision made by the people,” he added.

The education official said that by school year 2026-2027, schools would open in June and end in April, based on DepEd’s projected timeline. By school year 2027-2028, schools would open in June and end by mid-March.

While the reversal of the academic calendar was welcome news to many, education experts said that it was just another “stopgap” measure. Meanwhile, for critics, it was just another “populist” policy by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte.

Stopgap

“I think it’s more of a stopgap because DepEd couldn’t address the heat problems in the classrooms, which is the main reason why the public school teachers and students had clamored for the revert,” said education psychologist and University of the Philippines professor Lizamarie Olegario.

Olegario noted that Filipino students suffer from extreme heat in their classrooms because school buildings do not have “enough ventilation.” She enumerated the following issues that need to be addressed instead of reverting to the old calendar.

• Limit class size to 40

Classroom shortages had been a problem even before the pandemic. In some schools, 75 to 80 students were packed into one classroom meant for only 40. To make up for the lack of classrooms, class shifting had been implemented to accommodate enrollees every year. (READ: Classroom shortages greet teachers, students in opening of classes)

At a Senate hearing in 2023, it was revealed that DepEd would need P397 billion to address the 159,000 classroom backlog nationwide. Gatchalian also noted that the congestion rate in schools was at 32% for Kinder to Grade 6, 41% in Junior High School, and about 50% in Senior High School.

• Enough electric fans

While electric fans are a common appliance in any Filipino household, there are still classrooms that don’t have them.

At a separate Senate inquiry in 2023, Senator Raffy Tulfo blasted the DepEd for soliciting funds from students – through the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) – to buy school supplies and appliances such as electric fans for classroom use, as these should be provided by the agency.

• Equip teachers with remote learning teaching skills

There have been calls to “institutionalize” remote or blended learning in Philippine basic education so class suspensions would be lessened in case of typhoons or any natural disasters.

But doing so is not as easy as ABC because access to technology for both teachers and students remains a problem up to this day. Teachers are also not equipped with adequate know-how on how to use technology for learning.

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As if the lack of resources for teachers wasn’t enough, the DepEd even got embroiled in a corruption controversy for purchasing “overpriced and outdated” laptops in 2021.

A separate Rappler investigation also revealed that laptops procured by the agency were being resold in markets.

“Since it has been decided that basic education reverts to the old calendar, during the rainy season, the teachers and the students should be equipped to have automatic online learning. There should be no need to wait for announcements from local officials for cancellation of classes,” Olegario said.

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In a statement on February 21, the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) said that with the DepEd’s move to revert to the old academic calendar, the agency should tap local governments to address issues in the education sector, “as many of the concerns can be addressed at the local level.”

“The decision to revert back to the old academic calendar should not be seen as a stopgap measure to address the underlying issues that make the existing school calendar unbearable. To safeguard our children, we need to make sure that classrooms can withstand extreme weather conditions and have transportation support available,” the group said.

In an interview with Rappler on February 28, PBEd executive director Justine Raagas emphasized that the problem in Philippine basic education is not really the academic calendar.

“Regardless of the academic school year, one of the biggest problems is, our classrooms are not conducive for learning. The problem goes beyond the shifting measures. The problem is classrooms can’t withstand typhoons, or classrooms are in very poor conditions that they don’t allow proper ventilation,” Raagas said.

Learning loss due to long break

But another issue that cropped up with the reversal to the old academic calendar is the looming long break for senior high school students going to college.

If by school year 2027-2028, basic education in the Philippines would open in June and end in March, that would mean senior high school graduates would have a five-month break before they enter college.

Raagas fears that the long break would result in learning loss, especially since students’ foundational knowledge isn’t strong.

“Learning loss occurs whenever a student is outside the classroom. If you remember in 2020, schools opened late, sometime in October 2020. Even in normal times, where you have two months of summer break, that results in learning loss. That’s why the first few weeks of the start of classes, it’s for catch-up, and review of past lessons,” she noted.

Learning loss, according to the Journal of Education and e-Learning Research, “occurs when students lose knowledge and skills generally or specifically or there is an academic impediment due to prolonged gaps or the discontinuation of the educational process.”

With the recent move by DepEd, should the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) also change its academic calendar? Olegario and Raagas don’t think so.

“For college, it was done because they want to align with international standards and for better partnership. It could stay that way but the basic education should improve,” Raagas said, noting that DepEd should improve its teaching quality so the long break would not result in learning loss.

For Olegario, higher education institutions in the Philippines “do not have problems with ventilation in the classrooms.”

“I’ve never heard of similar issues mentioned by the public school children. I’ve never seen classes that are too cramped, unlike what I saw in some elementary and public high schools,” she added.

CHED has not released any statement yet on the recent move by the DepEd.

The public hopes that the revert to the old academic calendar will benefit students and help in learning recovery.

“If we make the decision, let’s stick to it. It’s not fair that we experiment on schedules at the expense of our students. [Our] children require normalcy and stability in their education,” Raagas said. – Rappler.com

These were no ordinary cars. Both were Bugatti Chirons – cars so rare that only 500 units were ever produced from 2016 to 2022 in a Bugatti factory in France. Each is priced at around $3 million or P165 million, an amount that would take the minimum wage earner more than 750 years of daily work to achieve.

The BOC didn’t so much find the cars as have their owners surrender them – perhaps out of fear after Customs called on the public to help spot the sports cars on the road.

But behind the triumph of Customs in its search is a host of questions: How did two of these vehicles find their way to the Philippines? How did the importers and owners cheat the government out of hundreds of millions in duties and taxes? And how did these illegally imported cars get their paperwork done by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) without anyone noticing?

It began in late 2022 when the two luxury cars likely entered the country, as evidenced by a bill of lading dated December 24, 2022 and a certificate of payment issued by Customs on December 27, 2022.

Things get fishy right from the start, as the certificate of payment shows only P24.7 million – or P24,787,838.82 to be exact – was paid in customs duty. Meanwhile, an estimate by Inquirer.net suggests that the customs duty should have been about P49.5 million, with the total duties and taxes supposed to reach more than P160.5 million.

But despite this questionable customs payment, the vehicles were somehow registered under the LTO. The blue Bugatti – with a plate number of NIM5448 – was registered under Thu Trang Nguyen, while the red Bugatti – with plate number NIM5450 – was registered under Mengjun Zhu.

The vehicles were registered with the LTO on the same day, May 30, 2023. This happened to be a turbulent time for the agency. A week before, on May 22, Jose Art Tugade resigned from his post as LTO head over the shortage in plastic cards for drivers’ licenses. Hector Villacorta, a communications assistant secretary for the Department of Transportation (DOTr), only stepped in as LTO’s officer-in-charge on June 1.

That means from May 22 to May 31, the LTO was likely in a messy transition period, and the smuggled vehicles just so happened to have been registered during this window. Coincidence?

Gaps in the system

So how did these vehicles get through the LTO’s system? It turns out that there are glaring gaps in the system used for vehicle registration, sources close to the LTO told Rappler.

The LTO is currently in the process of transferring all its operations from its old IT system provider, Stradcom, to the government-owned Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) portal. However, because not all processes have been fully swapped, LTO personnel may still sometimes register vehicles in the old Stradcom IT system rather than the LTMS.

This is, in fact, what happened in the case of the two Bugatti Chirons. The LTMS’ service providers – a joint venture headed by German company Dermalog – said that both luxury vehicles were not registered in the LTMS, asserting they “would not have been able to be registered in LTMS as the robust security features of LTMS would have prevented such registration to occur.”

Sources close to the LTO also separately confirmed to Rappler that the vehicles were not registered in the LTMS. Instead, it seems the vehicles were registered through the LTO’s old IT system provided by Stradcom.

The LTO wrote to Stradcom on February 21, 2024 to ask for an audit trail “to determine who are the personnel involved in the processing of the registration of the said vehicles,” based on an initial report seen by Rappler regarding the LTO-NCR’s investigation into the matter.

The problem is that vehicle registrations processed through the Stradcom IT system have a weaker audit trail, a source close to the LTO told Rappler. This is because under the old system, paper documents are not scanned, making it more difficult for other officers to conduct audits or due diligence.

Another LTO source told Rappler that it might be possible for an improper certificate of payment to get through the system because it is beyond the scope of the LTO’s work to double-check if customs duties were correctly paid. Once the Bureau of Customs electronically reports the certificate of payment, the LTO issues a certificate of stock reported (CSR), a document that acts like a car’s “birth certificate” and serves as evidence that it was manufactured or imported in the Philippines.

The LTO, in its initial report, also seemed to deflect responsibility away from the agency when it came to the issue of the improper certificate of payment and the resulting CSR.

“Liaison officers of the accredited manufacturers, assemblers, and importers are responsible for inputting data into the LTO system based on the Certificate of Payment issued by the BOC. They independently handle all stages, including evaluation, approval, and the printing of the CSR. The LTO’s role is limited to the processing of payments,” the LTO said in its report.

“The validity and processing of the CSR are dependent upon the issuance and successful transmission of the Certificate of Payment issued by the BOC. Although LTO employees play a vital role in vehicle registration, their primary function is to facilitate the application process and ensure adherence to established regulations. Their duties are purely ministerial in nature. As long as the requirements are met, motor vehicle registration would proceed,” the agency added.

But even then, a misdeclared CSR was far from being the only issue here.

P1 million Bugatti?

Aside from a CSR, an original sales invoice is one of the documents needed to register a vehicle with the LTO. But as with the undervalued customs document, there were also anomalies in the sales invoice for the Bugatti Chirons.

The LTO initial report seen by Rappler questioned why each Bugattin Chiron was listed as worth only P1 million – a fraction of the vehicle’s usual price – in two sales invoices dated May 30, 2023. The two sales invoices also did not indicate the breakdown for 12% value added tax (VAT), VATable sale, VAT-exempt sale, zero-rated sale, and total sale.

Remember, the Bureau of Customs estimated the value of the luxury car at around P165 million each. Similar to what happened with the customs payment, it’s possible that the vehicles were undervalued to lessen or avoid taxes paid.

The question here then becomes how the LTO and its system failed to flag the Bugatti Chirons with conflicting sales prices of only P1 million and customs duties of P24.7 million – both of which were obviously incorrect in the first place.

Rappler reached out to the LTO’s intelligence and investigation head for clarification but received no response.

Importer without a warehouse

The irregular sales invoices were issued by Frebel Import and Export Corporation, the same company that imported the vehicles into the Philippines based on the bill of lading.

Based on Frebel’s latest certificate of accreditation obtained by Rappler, the company’s address is at Room 317 Femil Building, A. Soriano Avenue, Barangay 656, Intramuros, Manila, putting it under the jurisdiction of LTO NCR West.

However, Frebel’s initial accreditation as an importer was processed by the LTO NCR East regional office when it should instead have been processed by the LTO NCR West regional office.

Frebel was first certified by Benjamin Santiago, then-regional director for LTO NCR-East on August 11, 2022. Frebel then received a certificate of accreditation as an importer and dealer from Teofilo Guadiz III, who was then the LTO assistant secretary. Guadiz currently sits as the head of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, where he has weathered accusations of corruption. (READ: From LTFRB to Malacañang: Insider says Teofilo Guadiz at center of bribes)

The accreditation history of Frebel as an importer and dealer was irregular, as flagged by the LTO investigation in its report. After the “discovery of the questionable processing of the accreditation of Frebel,” members of the Monitoring Committee for Accreditation of Regional Assessment and Compliance paid a visit to Frebel morning of February 19.

“The inspection report identified the absence of both a showroom and a warehouse at the accredited entity’s registered address. Additionally, the report noted the lack of any visible import or dealer signage,” the LTO said in the initial report seen by Rappler.

In light of this, the LTO’s investigation committee recommended issuing a show cause order against Frebel that would compel them to address potential violations. The committee, in its report, also said that “considering the severity of the alleged violations, the issuance of a preventive suspension is deemed necessary.”

The LTO will also investigate Frebel’s liaison officer and Customs broker, as well as the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission documents.

Who’s fault is it?

Again, the LTO seemed to downplay its responsibility to verify the legitimacy of its importers and dealers, pointing instead to a supposed “loophole” in the Manufacturers, Assemblers, Importers, Rebuilders, Dealers and Other Entities (MAIRDOE) portal system that handles the accreditation of importers and dealers.

“Online submissions for accreditation renewal of MAIRDs offered convenience and efficiency, but also raised concerns about bypassing verification processes. This approach offered a loophole that was manipulated to get accredited without meeting all the crucial requirements. In-depth verification procedures are crucial to ensure only qualified importers renew their accreditation,” the LTO said in its initial report.

But the question here is: why did the LTO not do its own due diligence before approving or renewing Frebel’s accreditation as an importer and dealer? A simple site visit would have already revealed Frebel’s lack of a warehouse and showroom. Rappler is trying to get the side of Frebel and will update this story once we are able to.

The DOTr has already requested the National Bureau of Investigation and Jose Lim IV, DOTr’s Assistant Secretary for Road Transport Non-Infrastructure and Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation, to look into the smuggling of the luxury vehicles, a source close to the LTO told Rappler. A copy of the LTO’s report was also submitted to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista on February 23, 2024.

Investigators from the NBI and Office of the Solicitor General visited the LTO Central Office on Thursday, February 29, an LTO source told Rappler. Meanwhile, the DOTr has spoken up on the issue, declaring that “documentary and procedural irregularities appear to surround the eventual registration of these luxury vehicles.” – Rappler.com

The words of the Confiteor, a prayer at the beginning of Mass to seek the forgiveness of sins, rang out as from a chorus of angels, at the intersection of EDSA and White Plains in Quezon City.

Sister Cho Borromeo, now 80 years old, remembered uttering this penitential prayer – while kneeling and crying along with other protesters, among them nuns, priests, and seminarians – on one of those evenings between February 22 and 25, 1986.

They had been staking out along Metro Manila’s main highway, EDSA, sleeping on the road with only newspapers and malongs (traditional and colorful handwoven cloths) as their sheets. 

Like millions of Filipinos, Borromeo and other church workers heeded the call of Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin to flock to EDSA to protect rebel soldiers against dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. The four-day gathering at EDSA would turn out to be the People Power Revolution, a bloodless uprising whose 38th anniversary was celebrated on Sunday, February 25.

In their tensest moment during the EDSA revolt, Borromeo remembered seeing military choppers hovering above them, even as they offered food and flowers to soldiers.

Borromeo believed Marcos knew “he was losing the revolution on the ground,” and “must have directed the soldiers to attack us from above.”

“Mga kababayan, katapusan na natin! Eto na (My countrymen, this is now our end! Here we go),” the protest’s youth leaders declared, as they saw the choppers coming.

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The protesters knelt and prayed the Confiteor while a number of priests offered to hear confessions of sin. A general absolution, which takes the place of individual confession “when there is imminent danger of death,” was also given.

When the helicopters appeared to come much closer, the protesters started singing the Philippine National Anthem, “Lupang Hinirang,” which normally lasts around a minute. But even this they had to rush.

“Sabi nila, ‘Ayan na, ang lapit-lapit na, hindi natin matatapos! Ang kakantahin na lang natin, ‘Ang mamatay nang dahil sa ‘yo,’” Borromeo recalled. (They said, “There they are, they are so near, we can no longer finish it! We can only sing, “Ang mamatay nang dahil sa ‘yo.”)

“Aming ligaya na ‘pag may mang-aapi / ang mamatay nang dahil sa ‘yo” is the last line of the Philippine National Anthem. In the English translation by Camilo Osias and M.A.L. Lane, it is translated as: “But it is glory ever, when thou art wronged, For us, thy sons, to suffer and die.”

Filipinos, in other words, were ready to die as martyrs.

“We were crying because the end is near. So we all knelt and waited to be bombed,” Borromeo told Rappler. “And to our surprise, the helicopter just passed over.”

In what she describes now as a “funny scenario,” Borromeo said the protesters ended up turning about. They ran after the helicopters that they initially thought were angels of death. “We were wondering, where are they going?”

“Then we saw the helicopters going down, down, down, until they landed in Camp Aguinaldo. And when they landed in Camp Aguinaldo, the soldiers in the helicopter came out with rifles – and with yellow ribbons at the end of the rifles. So we knew, they had defected to the side of the people,” Borromeo said.

‘An act of God’

There was a flood of tears, Borromeo recounted. “We hugged the soldiers. And the soldiers were crying like little boys.”

“And typical of Filipinos,” she added, “siyempre may picture-taking (of course there was picture-taking).”

Borromeo said she turns emotional whenever she recalls those days, which “will forever be seared in my consciousness.”

That is why, Borromeo said, she is “agitated” at efforts “to minimize or to revise the value of EDSA.” She said in a mix of English and Filipino, “Those who do the revising, they were not even alive at that time. How dare they? What are their facts?” 

EDSA, she added, was nothing short of a miracle.

“EDSA was an act of God,” Borromeo said, citing Jesuit priest Father Manoling Francisco, who said Mass at the EDSA Shrine on Friday, February 23, to mark the 38th anniversary of People Power.

“I dare say that. EDSA was an act of God,” she repeated for emphasis. “EDSA showed the Filipinos at their finest. It is a defining moment.”

“And anyone who dishonors EDSA, dishonors God,” said the nun. “As simple as that.”

Sin gone, Marcos back

For church workers like Borromeo, EDSA was the perfect example of how faith can change the course of a nation’s politics. 

People Power, for sure, was the culmination of more than a decade of activism by Filipinos from all walks of life – not only the Catholic Church but also other religious groups, opposition leaders, activist students, and the Left.

The literal voice that called Filipinos to EDSA, however, was Cardinal Sin appealing to Filipinos on church-run Radio Veritas to protect soldiers who had defected from Marcos.

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Filipinos praying the rosary, singing church hymns, bearing the crucifix, and carrying images of the Blessed Virgin Mary – such as the iconic image of Our Lady of Fatima, which is now housed and canonically crowned in a Valenzuela shrine – are constant images of this peaceful revolt that reverberated across the globe.

For at least a decade-and-a-half after EDSA, the use of prayer as protest remained a powerful weapon against sitting presidents: in 1997, when Cardinal Sin and former president Corazon Aquino led a Luneta prayer rally against charter change under Fidel V. Ramos, and in 2001, when Sin and Aquino were also at the forefront of the so-called People Power II that ousted Joseph Estrada.

But the political landscape, 38 years after EDSA, is now more complicated. The biggest change since then: the dictator’s son and namesake, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is now president – and, according to Rappler’s latest research, at least 16 officials related to the once-exiled Marcos family are deeply entrenched in government.

The Philippine Catholic Church itself has vastly changed. Since Cardinal Sin stepped down in 2003 and died of renal failure in 2005, the Catholic Church is still searching for ways to engage in the political scene in the absence of a single, powerful leader who could confront the powers that be. 

While many in the church have consistently issued reminders to stop looking for another Cardinal Sin (he was a unique individual who played a unique role in history, they would say), the late Manila archbishop still lurks in the Filipino subconscious as a template of church involvement in politics.

As Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew, however, “People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.”

And so it happened at key turning points over the past decade.

A defeat under Aquino’s son

On December 21, 2012, the Catholic Church suffered a momentous defeat after President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III – son of the country’s first woman president, Corazon Aquino, whom the Catholic Church helped bring to power after toppling Marcos – signed the Reproductive Health (RH) law.

The RH law, which mandates wider access to contraceptives especially for poor families, was staunchly opposed by the Catholic Church. Bishops even campaigned against Aquino and his allies on their pro-life issue – with the Diocese of Bacolod putting up tarpaulins in support of “Team Buhay” (Team Life) and in opposition to “Team Patay” (Team Death) candidates.

That Mrs. Aquino herself was a devout Catholic was not lost on Mr. Aquino’s critics, but despite his ties to Catholic leaders like Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, there was no stopping Noynoy Aquino who was enjoying high approval ratings at that time.

Father Eric Marcelo Genilo, a Jesuit professor of moral theology, pointed out the defeat of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in the RH debate, in his paper, “Illusions of Influence: Clerical Partisan Engagement during the 2022 Elections.”

“Since the CBCP’s defeat in the battle over the Reproductive Health bill, politicians have learned to ignore negative clerical campaigns against their candidacy,” Genilo wrote.

“Using populist appeals and relying on the dissatisfaction of Filipinos against clerical interference in politics, politicians can now win elections even with opposition from church leaders. The hierarchy has effectively lost its prophetic voice in elections because of its misuse of political influence,” he added.

On priests for Robredo

The latest “slap in the face” for the Catholic hierarchy, in the words of Boac Bishop Marcelino Maralit, was the defeat of former vice president Leni Robredo in the 2022 presidential election.

Not only did Marcos win this election, he also became the country’s first majority president since his father was ousted on February 25, 1986. Marcos won with over 31 million votes or 58.77% of the votes – a referendum not only on the EDSA forces, which largely supported Robredo, but also on the Catholic Church that campaigned for her in explicit or implicit ways.

Religious endorsement in the 2022 elections was the subject of intense debates within the Catholic Church – which, during the Duterte administration, was also divided over condemnation of the drug war killings. Many Catholic bishops and priests, after all, especially in Mindanao, were Duterte supporters.

Vincentian priest Father Daniel Franklin Pilario, a critic of drug war killings and a theologian whose field of research includes liberation theology, addressed the question of religious endorsements in his 2022 paper, “Can Priests and Religious Endorse Political Candidates?

Pilario, now president of Adamson University, explained that “the classical answer is ‘no’” as repeatedly stated in church documents. This is because a priest (and, by extension, a consecrated person) is supposed to serve as “the center of unity.” Based on this school of thought, a church leader needs to stay neutral to keep his or her “authority to pass moral judgment on the political realm.”

Pilario said Jesus, however, also took “a non-neutral and partisan position” at times, such as when he “unmasked the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders or whipped the money changers out of the temple.” It is also like Jesus “to fight for justice and work for the liberation of the poor.”

“The clergy and religious can take partisan position when the common good demands it, when justice is grossly violated, when the good of the Church requires it or when the Gospel values are at stake,” wrote Pilario.

The key, according to him, is for church leaders to clearly state their criteria for discernment based on Christian values.

“At this historical juncture, for instance – graft and corruption during Martial Law (‘Thou shall not steal’), the promotion of extrajudicial killings (‘Thou shall not kill’), and complicity with and/or silence about them – are nonnegotiable criteria for such a decision,” the Vincentian priest said in this paper published before the 2022 elections.

Pilario stressed that “no Christian can remain neutral in front of victimization and abuse of power” and that “as prophet, the Christian shall always take the side of the victim.”

One of those who supported Robredo was Borromeo.

When asked how she feels that Marcos won the 2022 presidential race, Borromeo responded by describing their support for Robredo.

“Of course, we went all out for Leni,” Borromeo told Rappler.

In a paper published after the presidential elections, however, Genilo argued that “public partisan political activity of some priests and bishops” in 2022 “was contrary to the proper role of clergy in politics and undermined the Church‘s moral credibility and pastoral mission.”

The Jesuit moral theologian explained: “If an endorsed candidate loses, the Church’s moral credibility and voice in politics is diminished. The election loss of the endorsed candidate can be interpreted as a repudiation of the church leadership’s inappropriate partisan political interventions, and it is like a slap on the face of the Church.”

“If an endorsed candidate wins, the Church’s pastoral and religious mission can also be compromised. The clergy will be encouraged to continue their partisan activity in future elections. This will foster political clericalism that gives priests and bishops the illusion of being political power players in the country,” he said.

In particular, Genilo said that “candidates who win because of the Church’s support may feel indebted to church leaders and grant Catholics special favors not given to other groups.” Eventually, prelates “may start pressuring the government to pass laws that enshrine Catholic moral teachings to create a theocratic society.”

For Genilo, it was also “rash” to think that the clergy can participate in partisan politics “because of the urgency of preventing a Marcos presidency. This argument draws from the flawed principle that ‘the ends justify the means.’ This is a principle that the Church has constantly rejected,” the moral theologian said.

“The call of Vatican II for the Church to read the signs of the times should remind the clergy that the Spirit also speaks to God’s people and that the clergy do not have a monopoly of wisdom,” he said.

‘Each of us can be a Cardinal Sin’

Whether it was right or wrong for the Catholic Church to endorse Robredo and oppose Marcos, the majority vote for Marcos showed that either people did not listen hard enough to Catholic leaders who campaigned against the dictator’s son, or the Church’s voice was drowned out by the sophisticated and well-oiled disinformation machinery of the Marcoses.

“What happened to our voice? Is it because we’re not that credible anymore?” asked Bishop Maralit in a Manila Times report.

One factor was how former president Rodrigo Duterte sought to demolish the credibility of the Catholic Church, one of the strongest critics of his war on drugs, along with the opposition and the media. Duterte, at one point, even threatened to kill Catholic bishops who are into drugs.

Another factor is Mass attendance: From 64% in 1991, the percentage of Filipinos who go to Mass weekly has gone down to 38% as of December 2022, according to polling firm Social Weather Stations.

Chel Diokno, who ran but lost under Robredo’s Senate slate, refused to make the same conclusions that Catholics no longer listen to their church, based on election results.

“I’m not sure that that can be a scientific measure of whether people are listening or not,” said Diokno, who identifies as Catholic, in an interview with Rappler on Friday.

Diokno said it is better to look at the kind of support and the “spirit of volunteerism” that the opposition received in 2022. “I think that really captured the spirit of EDSA,” he said.

Diokno is the son of the late nationalist Jose W. Diokno, who was imprisoned in the 1970s for opposing the Marcos regime. His father was known to have drawn much inspiration from his Christian faith.

“I think the Church still has a crucial role as being sort of the conscience of the country,” Diokno said, noting that this was also the role of the Catholic Church during the Marcos dictatorship.

When asked if the Philippines needs another Cardinal Sin, Diokno responded: “I think that each of us can be a Cardinal Sin. Each of us can stand up for what is right and be a beacon, really, of hope and of light for everyone else.”

A new battle

Borromeo, the 80-year-old nun who “knelt and waited to be bombed” at EDSA, vowed to continue the fight despite the revisionism that made Marcos win.

She also addressed criticism of the Catholic Church’s constant involvement in politics.

“Who is the Church?” Borromeo asked in a mix of English and Filipino. “The members of the Church are Filipinos.”

“Every Filipino has every right to participate in the life of the country. To keep silent as fence-sitters or as bystandars, these are acts of complicity to crime,” she said.

“The Church cannot be allies of fake news. The Church cannot be allies of revision of history. The Church cannot be allies of those who dishonor God,” she said. “We are Filipinos. And we will always stand for the good of the Filipino people.” 

When asked what she views as the way forward for the Philippines, Borromeo said that if she is to follow her human perspective, “there is no hope.” 

“But if I were to look at what is happening with the lens of faith, I still believe in the light at the end of the tunnel,” Borromeo said. “Because if I will allow myself to be overcome by hopelessness, then I am invalidating the resurrection of Christ.”

What will work for the Catholic Church is that, while it may be weaker 38 years after EDSA, the second Marcos is not any stronger. In terms of political acumen, observers note he is nowhere near his father, the dictator. The President’s critics – led by his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte – have constantly derided him as a weak leader controlled by friends and family members behind the scenes.

His allies, said to be led by his cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez, are now working to revise the 1987 Constitution that was a fruit of the 1986 revolt. But Marcos is facing a host of other problems, most especially his fractured alliance with Vice President Sara Duterte, whose father is himself opposing charter change.

The Catholic Church is now set for another pushback, a battle against charter change or Cha-Cha that Cardinal Sin and Corazon Aquino had won a decade after EDSA.

While the battle against charter change is not a definitive measure of the Church’s strength at this time – public clamor for Cha-Cha, after all, is weak – it will signal to its flock if it will take a new path.

It is a long, bumpy ride to a new kind of EDSA. – Rappler.com

But for younger Indonesian voters, they know Prabowo as a “cuddly grandpa.”

For his 2024 campaign, Prabowo greatly benefited from a major rebrand, thanks to generative AI (genAI). A cute, chubby-cheeked cartoon version of Prabowo, generated using text-to-image genAI tool Midjourney, is often shown dancing in viral videos across social media. These videos often used the word “gemoy,” which is Indonesian slang for cute and cuddly.

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This isn’t Prabowo’s first presidential election – he ran in Indonesia’s 2014 and 2019 elections, losing to incumbent President Joko Widodo both times. In his first two presidential bids, he portrayed himself as a fierce nationalist. But he’s since ditched the nationalist branding, and it’s his “gemoy,” AI-fueled reputation that finally won him the presidential seat.

Third time’s the charm for Prabowo, who made the most out of newer technologies and social media platforms like TikTok. The election results also proved that Prabowo successfully catered to the country’s young voter base – majority of whom are millennial and Gen Z Indonesians.

What happened in Indonesia

Indonesian journalist Ika Ningtyas, fact-checking coordinator for Tempo Media and secretary-general of the The Alliance of Independent Journalists, said the country’s 2024 election is vastly different from previous elections.

In an interview with Rappler, Ningtyas said previous Indonesian elections were mainly marked by disinformation and hate speech – and while these were still present in the country’s 2024 polls, these were overshadowed by how candidates were more focused on portraying themselves as “tolerant leaders.”

“[I think] the use of [cartoons] with AI generative facilities is a form of information manipulation that [has not happened] before,” she said.

Apart from Prabowo’s viral AI-generated cartoon, there were also deepfake videos of the late dictator Suharto circulating on social media ahead of Indonesia’s election day.

Nadia Naffi, assistant professor at Université Laval in Quebec, Canada, said academics like herself who research digital disinformation had anticipated how generative AI could harm democratic processes like elections. Naffi admitted, however, that the recent incident in Indonesia’s election was “surprising in its scale and immediacy.”

“This incident…underscores the growing concern among researchers about the potential misuse of deepfakes and AI-generated content…. Although the specific use of generative AI in the Indonesian election wasn’t predicted in exact terms, the trend towards its misuse in political contexts was anticipated,” Naffi said in an interview with Rappler.

Ningtyas also noted that apart from the abuse of technology and disinformation present in the 2024 elections, Prabowo also benefited from the ways incumbent President Jokowi “[abused] his power” to make his son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, win the vice presidential seat. 

Gibran was Prabowo’s 2024 running mate, and has faced criticism from how nepotism propelled his political career. Gibran is currently 36, which would have made him ineligible to run for vice president, as candidates are required to be at least 40 years old. But Indonesia’s court lifted the ban to make an exception for Gibran, which led to accusations that Jokowi was building his own political dynasty.

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Ningtyas also attributed Prabowo’s election victory to the insufficient political and historical education on his past human rights abuses, allowing him to rebrand more easily.

“With the help of generative AI, the [Prabowo-Gibran campaign] produced animations or cartoons that transformed Prabowo’s figure to be much younger…and [to] look more [like a] funny grandpa. [It’s] a strategy to shift the public’s focus from Prabowo’s past human rights abuses and cover the issue of nepotism,” she said.

This year’s election is also not the first time social media saw sketchy campaigns supporting Prabowo. In 2019, Facebook announced that they took down a fake network of Indonesian pages, accounts, and groups that engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior to promote pro-Prabowo propaganda.

Generative AI and other threats to elections and democracy

Naffi’s previous research on generative AI consistently focused on its “dual nature” – while she recognizes its “capacity for innovation and democratization,” she had always underscored “the risks [AI poses] to the integrity of information.”

When it comes to elections, Naffi said AI can be especially harmful not just because of its ability to create misleading content, but also its ability to “[hyper-personalize] messages that exploit individual vulnerabilities,” which can “[deepen] societal divisions.” (READ: Rapid AI proliferation is a threat to democracy, experts say)

“There’s also the danger of fabricating entirely false audiovisual content that can undermine trust in public figures and institutions,” she said.

Ningtyas also explained that Indonesia has “problematic laws” that are weaponized to crack down on criticism instead of addressing disinformation.

“Indonesia does not have a policy [that tackles] disinformation that is based on a human rights approach. Instead, they use a number of articles from problematic laws to silence criticism under the pretext of fighting disinformation,” she said.

For instance, media groups and legal experts sounded the alarm over the country’s Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law, as it has the potential to “undermine freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”

“Under the [ITE Law], there are articles on defamation and consumer false news, but they are misused to criminalize those who have an opinion… their criticism [is labeled] as hoaxes,” Ningtyas explained.

The same has been said of libel in the Philippines. Government officials and bodies, press freedom advocates, and activists in the Philippines have tackled the possibility of decriminalizing libel, as it stifles dissent and threatens the free press. (Criminalizing ‘fake news’: Why it won’t work)

Lessons for the Philippines and the world

When it comes to mitigating harms brought about by AI and other tech, Naffi strongly advocated for a comprehensive strategy that not only covers technological solutions, but focuses on education and digital literacy.

“From the incident in Indonesia, the Philippines and other nations can learn the importance of proactive digital literacy and the crafting of adaptable regulatory frameworks to counter the rapid evolution of AI technologies,” she said.

Naffi emphasized the importance of educating individuals, particularly the youth, on how to navigate emerging technologies and digital disinformation. She also stressed the need to include vulnerable groups in these initiatives, to ensure all segments of society are equipped to critically engage with tech and new forms of digital manipulation.

In an article published earlier in February, Naffi wrote and researched about how human intervention through education can empower the youth to engage critically with deepfakes. She explained that legal systems and governments are struggling to keep up in combating new forms of digital manipulation, and stressed the importance of integrating deepfake education into existing curricula.

“The human element, particularly the role of education, is indispensable in the fight against deepfakes. We cannot rely solely on technology and legal fixes,” she wrote.

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Beyond education, Naffi also highlighted the need for international cooperation in “establishing ethical standards for AI use in political campaigning.”

“Such preparedness is essential for safeguarding against digital disinformation, ensuring that technological advancements serve to support, rather than undermine, democratic values and processes,” Naffi said.

AI companies have made efforts to prevent their tools from being abused. Midjourney’s Terms of Service explicitly prohibit generating images for political campaigns, and OpenAI is working on preventing political abuse in the lead-up to elections across the globe.

Some social media companies, such as Meta, have also worked on banning political advertising using AI tools. However, journalists like Ningtyas and other watchdogs have criticized social media platforms for being too slow to take action.

“Social media platforms are also very late in [taking] action…. [They] fail to anticipate or take quick action when generative AI is used as a gimmick campaign,” Ningtyas said.

Ningtyas also explained how Indonesia’s recent election can serve as a reminder for citizens and watchdogs to keep an eye out for campaigns that may distract voters from critical issues.

“Indonesia can be an important lesson, that the current development of generative AI…is very powerful for gimmick campaign strategies that can cover important issues [surrounding] candidates that can endanger democracy,” she said.  – Rappler.com

Thirty-eight years after the historic EDSA People Power Revolution, which ousted the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, his son and namesake stands at the helm once more. But this return to the presidency is merely the tip of the iceberg insofar as Marcos supremacy is concerned.

Rappler’s research shows that at least 16 elected officials who are related to the Marcos family – through blood and marriage – are in the chambers of the Senate and House of Representatives down to the grassroots level of barangays. 

A series of studies showed that the years of online propaganda and disinformation campaigns that sought to rehabilitate the family’s image catapulted Marcos Jr. to the presidency.

Congress

In the Senate, presidential sister Imee Marcos commands multiple committee chairmanships, boasting of the highest count alongside Senator Pia Cayetano.

Imee is the chairperson of the following committees:

• Cooperatives
• Electoral reforms and people’s participation
• Foreign relations
• Social justice, welfare and rural development

The House mirrors this influence, with seven Marcos-related lawmakers, and the President’s first-degree cousin Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez at the helm.

Martin is the son of former Leyte governor  Benjamin “Kokoy” Romualdez, younger brother of former first lady Imelda Marcos. (She has five other siblings besides Kokoy: Alita, Alfredo, Armando, and Concepcion.)

When Imelda was first lady, Kokoy was appointed ambassador to plum posts China, Saudi Arabia, and the US. The Presidential Commission on Good Government listed at least 61 corporations where Kokoy allegedly acquired shares of stock illegally.

Meanwhile, Martin’s wife Yedda Marie Kittilstvedt Romualdez, a former beauty queen and a registered nurse, sits as Tingog representative.

She heads the committee on accounts, which deals with the “internal budget of the House including budget preparation, submission and approval, disbursements; accounting, and financial operations.”

The power of Yedda Romualdez, Lady of the House and wife of the Speaker

Yedda’s influence stretches further through her own relatives holding seats in the House: her uncle, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines Representative Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza; and cousin, North Cotabato 3rd District Representative Ma. Alana Samantha Santos.

The President’s eldest son, Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative Sandro Marcos, was elected senior deputy majority leader despite being a neophyte lawmaker.

A senior deputy speaker, the second highest-ranking official in the lower chamber, assumes the role of presider in plenary sessions in the absence of the House speaker. The official rules of the House, however, do not explicitly outline any additional duties that may be assigned to a senior deputy speaker, if such responsibilities exist.

Before Sandro’s election as a lawmaker, he was mentored by his uncle Martin, who, at the time, was House Majority Leader, and served as a member of his legislative staff. In early 2023, Sandro’s brother Vincent “Vinny” Marcos started his internship under Martin’s office.

Sandro is also serving as vice chair of the committee on rules, which sets the agenda and priorities of the House.

Another cousin of the President who is also in the lower chamber is Ilocos Norte 2nd District Representative Eugenio Angelo Marcos-Barba. He is the son of Fortuna Marcos-Barba, youngest sister of the late president Marcos.

Angelo is the chairman of the committee on the North Luzon Growth Quadrangle, which is responsible for “policies and programs concerning the development of municipalities, cities, provinces, and other local communities in the northwest Luzon area.”

Part of the committee’s role is also “to promote growth and expand avenues of economic cooperation” with nearby areas. He is also one of the vice chairpersons of the committee on accounts.

The Marcoses also have ties with the Tiangcos of Navotas. The country’s fishing capital is represented by Tobias “Toby” M. Tiangco in the House of Representatives.

Toby is married to Michelle Romualdez Yap, cousin of the President. Michelle is the daughter of Concepcion Romualdez Yap, the sister of Imelda.

Toby is the chairperson of the House committee on information and communications technology committee and vice chairperson of the committees on appropriations and aquaculture and fisheries resources.

Another Tiangco in Navotas is Mayor John Rey, Toby’s brother. 

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Local

Beyond the national arena, alliances extend to key provinces and cities, too.

In Marcos’ bailiwick of Ilocos Norte, Matthew Manotoc, son of Senator Imee, governs alongside his aunt Cecile Araneta-Marcos as vice governor. Cecile Araneta-Marcos is the wife of Mariano “Nonong” V. Marcos II, the President’s cousin.

In Laoag City, Michael Keon, the President’s cousin, serves as the local chief executive. He is the son of Michael James Keon who is married to Marcos Sr.’s sister, Elizabeth. (Editor’s Note: In an earlier version of this story, we said Michael Keon is the President’s uncle. This has been corrected. He is the cousin of the President.)

A crack, however, seems to have developed in the relationship between the Marcoses and Michael Keon. During the 2022 elections, the local “Team Marcos” led by Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Marcos Manotoc endorsed Keon’s opponent, Vicentito “Tito” Lazo.  

However, the Marcoses claimed that it was Michael who dropped them after filing his certificate of candidacy as an independent candidate, while the rest of the Marcos clan ran under the Nacionalista Party. 

Marcoses drop cousin in Laoag City mayoral race, back another bet

The Marcos influence persists in areas like Cotabato, where Yedda’s aunt Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza serves as governor. During the 2022 elections, Emmylou, a long-time politician, endorsed the Marcos-Duterte Uniteam.

The President also has a cousin in Tacloban serving as mayor, Alfred S. Romualdez, who is married to former actress and former mayor Cristina Gonzalez. Alfred is the son of Alfredo “Bejo” T. Romualdez, Imelda’s brother. 

According to Ricardo Manapat’s book, Some are Smarter Than Others, Bejo, a former Navy official, took control of the Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Co. and Philippine Dockyard Corporation during the time of the elder Marcos. 

Under Marcos Sr.’s policies favoring Bejo, the company dominated the shipbuilding and ship-repair industry. Bejo was implicated in strings of ill-gotten wealth cases which were later junked by the anti-graft court.

Down to the barangay (village) level, the incumbent president has a relative in power. His nephew and Alfred’s son, Raymund, is the chairman of Barangay 88 San Jose in Tacloban City. The 35-year-old politician is also the city’s Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) president or the Liga ng mga Barangay.

The ABC president serves as ex-officio municipal or city councilor, allowing him to vote when the town or city council passes ordinances and resolutions.

Raymund ran for a barangay position in 2023 after losing his bid in a tight vice-mayoral race in 2022. 

Executive officials

The Marcoses’ web of influence is not confined to elected positions.

Phividec Industrial Authority Administrator and CEO Joseph Donato J. Bernedo is the President’s brother-in-law. Bernedo, a lawyer who used to work with SGV and Company, and the Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De los Angeles Law Office, is the husband of presidential sister Aimee Marcos.

Phividec, a government-owned and government-controlled corporation created under the administration of Marcos Sr., is “mandated to identify and develop sites in the country as prospective industrial areas.”

The Philippine ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel “Babe” del Gallego Romualdez is also related to the Marcos family. Babe, who is the son of Alberto Z. Romualdez and Covadonga del Gallego Romualdez, is the President’s second cousin.

Alberto – first cousin of the former first lady – is the son of Miguel Lopez Romualdez, brother of Imelda’s father Vicente.

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What’s next for the Marcoses?

After the Marcos dictatorship, the 1987 Constitution provided for a clause “prohibiting” political dynasties.

Article II, Section 26 of the Constitution says that “the state shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law. ”

The definition of dynasties, however, and how they are to be prohibited have yet to be defined by Congress, which has been dominated through the years by members of political dynasties.

After almost four decades, the presence of the Marcoses in Philippine politics, alongside other dynasties, continues to grow, with new generations assuming roles in government.

As the 2025 midterm elections near, will the Marcos dynasty continue to consolidate its power? – Rappler.com

Read the other stories in our Political Dynasties 2022 series: 

Luzon

• Political Dynasties 2022: Amid controversies, Pinedas of Pampanga expand reach
• Political dynasties 2022: Espinos still lynchpin of Pangasinan politics
• Political Dynasties 2022: Pangasinan clans in high stakes 2022 brawl
• Political Dynasties 2022: Fariñas clan foil to Marcos power in Ilocos Norte

Visayas

• Political Dynasties 2022: Evardones reach Eastern Samar summit
• Political families crowd Eastern Samar candidates’ list
• Political Dynasties 2022: No heirs for Osmeña, Rama in Cebu City
• Political Dynasties 2022: Garin patriarch of Iloilo hard act to follow
• Political Dynasties 2022: Benitez clan guns for Bacolod City
• Negros Occidental big clans offer ‘soft’ support for Marcos

Mindanao

• Political Dynasties 2022: Zubiris rule Bukidnon after Fortich
• Political Dynasties 2022: Clashing families spring from Dongkoy Emano
• Political Dynasties 2022: Dongkoy Emano morphs into kingpin after EDSA revolt
• Political Dynasties 2022: Two families dominate Zamboanga Sibugay politics

Going through the usual motions of sluicing and panning inside the 24-hour processing plant, they will soon recover gold.

The ball mill makes an incessant noise while churning ore. Men haul sacks of ore and put them inside the mill, then shovel the crushed ore onto huge plastic tubs.

When not sluicing ore, Lingwa, along with the two other middle-aged women in the plant, take turns cooking for the other miners in the plant. Work in the Minahang Bayan (people’s small-scale mining area) is seasonal. They have work now because there’s gold to recover.

Over the years since mining activities started around 1986, Sagada miners have been working to make the most out of the gold mined in their area, without the use of harmful chemicals like mercury.

Outside, it’s dry and cold. Even at high noon, the mountain breeze is cool. The earth is loose going down the mining site. Some workers lie on sacks or on the earth to sleep under the shade of trees. 

High in the mountains surrounding the small-mining area are houses, paddies, and cemented stairs. A few miles away is Bomod-ok Falls; sometimes the sound of waterfalls can be heard from a distance. 

Women and gold work

Her father’s generation used mercury when they mined in the area once before, said Lingwa. Mercury is commonly used in small gold mines because it separates gold from other sediments and forms an amalgam. The amalgam is heated and mercury is released into the environment.

However, exposure to mercury puts people’s health at risk. It could enter water sources and contaminate food. 

The use of the chemical didn’t take off in Sagada. Miners said mercury is not compatible with the refined texture of Sagada’s gold.

While safer and more environment-friendly, the work remains physically taxing. Without mercury, miners have to sluice and pan for hours. But this paved the way to the employment of more women like Lingwa. It has helped increase household income.

“Noong nagkaroon na ng gilingan, nagkaroon ng mga babae. Mas matiyaga ang mga babae,” Lingwa told Rappler.

(When we had processing plants, women came. Women persevere more.)

Miners would use a pan to swirl ore with water until gold, because of its density, remains at the bottom of the pan free from other sediments.

Sluicing, meanwhile, makes use of an angled platform with carpets. Miners wash down ore through these platforms with running water. Gold particles are captured on the carpets.

Lingwa said that unlike in farming, they have the benefit of having a roof over their heads. They also have protective gear like boots and gloves. For every shift, they earn P300. It’s not much, Lingwa said, but it helps them get by.

Work inside the plant goes for 24 hours. There are three shifts. Miners are not restricted to one particular job per shift. Lingwa said she likes going at her own pace at work. The women, who often come in threes per shift, take turns cooking in the kitchen located at the corner of the plant. 

Etag, or smoked pork, hang on a strip of wood. Pots, covered in black soot, contain rice, fish, and corn cooked with condensed milk and buko pandan. Black coffee simmers in a kettle beside the rice. Boxes of vegetables and stacks of wood fuel lie beside sacks of ore. 

The two other women during Lingwa’s shift were Fabiola Lay-os and Pacita Banluyan. Lay-os was manning the kitchen during lunch hour, while Banluyan was sluicing for gold.

Making the most out of gold

The problem with these manual methods is that the miners do not recover as much gold as they should.

Most of the gold they mine remain in the residues or tailings. Because of the traditional methods they use, Sagada miners can only extract free gold, or those that are not chemically bound. They sell the tailings to other parties who have access to processing equipment which can recover lingering gold.

In other parts of Cordillera, large-scale mines like Lepanto in Benguet profit from deposits of gold because they have the advantage of having the technical know-how and equipment. In general, the Philippines ranks 25th out of 123 countries with gold reserves around the world.

Meanwhile, the odds are stacked against small-scale miners working with what little they have. 

That’s why there’s a pressing need to give more attention to small-scale miners. Geologist professor Jill Gabo-Ratio said further research and knowledge-sharing would be beneficial to the community.

“If we can help them by studying gold textures, grain size, and refractoriness, we can avoid the trial-and-error system that only adds to pollutants and miners’ expenses,” she told Rappler.

Gabo-Ratio is the officer-in-charge deputy director for academic affairs at the National Institute of Geological Sciences in University of the Philippines Diliman. 

She said it’s also important to determine how much gold remains in the tailings – and then eventually find more efficient ways to extract the gold. 

“Yaman din lamang na kinuha na nila from the ground, mas maganda na masulit ‘yung efficiency of extraction,” she said. 

(Since they already extracted it from the ground, it’s better to get the most out of the extraction and make it efficient.) 

Legal and formal sector in the works

More than 30 provinces across the country are engaged in small-scale gold mining, employing 300,000 to 500,000 people, according to a report of the Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. It gives livelihood to around two million people.

The gross production value of small-scale gold mining reached P21.86 billion in 2022. But the sector remains largely informal.

Most of them, like Lingwa, Lay-os, and Banluyan, mine to support themselves and their families with little discretionary income. 

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has said that they are undertaking a review of laws to modernize the industry and protect small-scale miners.

“A properly regulated small-scale mining industry will benefit the community in terms of job creation and livelihood, and the country in terms of mining assets and taxes,” said Environment Undersecretary Carlos Primo David in a statement last October 2023. 

“More importantly, it will address the violation of environmental laws and mining regulations, and minimize environmental risks and promote mine safety.”

Mining in Sagada goes back decades, but it was only in 2021 that the Minahang Bayan was formally recognized by the Philippine government through a provisional contract.

Mathew Malicdan, the president of the small miners association known as the Northern Sagada Small-scale Miners Association Incorporated, started working in the mines when he was still a high school student. In the ’80s, Malicdan’s father worked in the mines when it was not yet allowed by the elders. 

At 53, Malicdan is now a tunnel owner in the Minahang Bayan after working in a gold mine in the Middle East and a diamond mine in Africa.

But his problem now is making sure Sagada miners do not endanger the legality of their operations by selling gold in the black market. 

The black market, according to locals, consists of both Filipino and Chinese gold traders. In other small-scale mines, some traders give away mercury for free to expedite gold recovery.

Other miners find these transactions in the black market simpler: no documents and permits are required. 

“Dahil nga ligal na tayo, lumugar tayo sa ligal,” he told Rappler. (Because we’re already legal, let’s do things legally.)

Malicdan recalls the long process of finally getting their operations legalized, when they started collecting funds back in 2018 to process documents needed for their application.

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During the pandemic in 2020, their application for a 10-hectare Minahang Bayan zone was approved. In 2023, their contract was regularized. It was the first Minahang Bayan to be approved in the Mountain Province.

Under Republic Act 7076, also known as the People’s Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991, gold from small-scale mining can only be sold to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). 

Abigail Ocate, project manager of planetGOLD Philippines, said there are many reasons why some miners prefer the old way of selling gold in the black market rather than to BSP. 

There’s a minimum processing fee of P1,600. The nearest gold buying station of BSP is in Baguio City, which is six hours away from Sagada. 

This is a pain point that BSP has acknowledged, said Ocate, which is why they are exploring partnerships with financial institution Cebuana Lhuillier which can be accredited to buy gold. 

The law has prescribed that the BSP should establish as many gold buying stations to “fully service” small-scale mines across the Philippines.

The planetGOLD Philippines is a project assisting artisanal and small-scale gold miners by non-profit organization Artisanal Gold Council, funded by the Global Environment Facility.

Their program helps mining towns like Sagada legally operate, such as in applying for a small-scale mining contract. They also aid miners organize into an effective association that can teach them how to improve gold production and recovery.

But this requires a lot of money, and small-scale miners subsist on low wages. Because of poverty, some miners get stuck in a vicious cycle, abetted by traders from the black market.

Ocate said some traders give loans to miners. “That’s what they use as incentives in the black market: ‘I’ll loan you money, then sell me your gold.'”

Funds are necessary to get permits and the equipment to mine gold, as well as comply with all the regulations.

In communities they’ve been engaged with, Ocate and her team found that some had pooled and spent millions to hire consultants to help them petition for a declaration of a Minahang Bayan.

“All the things we want to happen in the sector – to formalize them, to make them follow environmental and safety standards – for that to happen, they need capital,” said Ocate.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Sagada is a mountain town steeped in tradition. They hold their elders’ judgment with utmost respect. 

Previously, PlanetGOLD had proposed constructing a leaching facility within the Minahang Bayan, but the elders wouldn’t hear any of it because it would make use of cyanide. Any mention of chemical use and the elders shake their heads.

The use of cyanide in a leaching facility helps extract gold more efficiently by turning gold into liquid. Through adsorption, gold is made to stick to coal. The coal undergoes a cold wash to remove impurities, then a hot wash. The solution from the hot wash goes through electrolysis leading to recovery of pure gold.

Out of respect for the elders, the mining association is trying workarounds to improve gold recovery.

The association is exploring a possible partnership with a leaching facility in Itogon, Benguet, used by the Loacan Itogon Pocket Miners’ Association (LIPMA). 

During a February 13 meeting in an inn along Sagada-Besao Road, Malicdan and Emy Dongail talked about identifying the people who still prefer the black market so they can have discussions with them.

Dongail is one of several women in the mining association where she serves as secretary-general.

Even among miners, there is apprehension about using the leaching facility in Itogon. Dongail said that according to miners, the design of the facility may not be appropriate for their tailings which are of a different nature compared to those in Benguet.

Ocate explained that the design of the facility does not matter; it’s the length of processing time and the amount of cyanide to be used that matter. These are factors that can be adjusted when they use the leaching facility.

The night ended with two important resolutions: talk to hesitant miners prior to a bigger association meeting; quell people’s concerns over the leaching facility by telling them that they are to transport and process the tailings themselves because they own the wealth.

One of the most fulfilling parts of the job for Ocate is seeing communities identify with the work they do.

Their program started just when the mining town decided to have their mine declared as a Minahang Bayan. There is so much to do and many things to think about.

But they’ve come a long way now.

Mining started without the elders’ approval and without permits from bureaucratic government institutions. 

Now they’re talking about how best to extract all the wealth from the sediments they mined, sluiced, and panned with their hands. – Rappler.com

Jimmy and his wife Clarice, and Angenica and Angelyn were in touch that day. Clarice and Angenica were worried by the sudden stop in messages received from their loved ones, only to find out later that Jimmy was taken, while Angelyn stayed with her Israeli employer until they both died.

Israel-based caregivers Jimmy, Angenica, and Angelyn were just some of the hundreds of Filipinos caught in the crossfire of Israel’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas. And if one were to count Filipinos affected by the conflict, the number may reach up to 30,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Israel and over 100 Filipinos in Palestine, multiplied by their distressed families.

The Philippine and Israeli governments have pledged support to the Filipinos escaping the conflict – the latter even promising lifetime benefits. But even with the financial and livelihood support, Jimmy and Angenica still found that the best way to keep providing for their families was to return to Israel.

Losing her best friend

Angenica, 35, and Angelyn, 33, come from a family of 10 in Pangasinan. While the eight siblings are tightly knit, Angenica said she was closest to Angelyn.

They grew especially close when they lived with their aunt in their college years. Angenica was the first to fly to Israel to work as a caregiver, and her younger sister followed her some time later. The two became their family’s breadwinners.

In a commemorative event for her sister and the three other OFWs confirmed dead in the attack on November 28, Angenica recalled how she and her sister were messaging each other from their respective kibbutz or villages. The last thing Angelyn told her was that there was no lock in their bomb shelter, and that she was scared.

Angenica was able to come home by the end of October. She saw Angelyn only days later, when she came home in a box.

Angenica knew she was going to return to Israel, despite her mother’s disapproval. She said that it was more than a job, and that she could not bear to leave her ward, whom she saw as the grandfather she never had growing up.

Her whole family brought her to the airport in January. After checking in, she went out to them to say goodbye once more.

“They told me to always take care of myself and not to worry too much since we could count the days until we would see each other again. They told me to be strong,” she told Rappler in a call from Israel.

But upon landing in Israel, Angenica felt two things: fear and sadness. She was still in disbelief that her sister was gone.

Angenica was back in her daily routine with her ward, an 89-year-old, whom she bathed, fed, put to bed, and accompanied in the facility they relocated to after the attack.

But still, she was alone. Her ward, affected by dementia, was no longer capable of having conversations about what she was going through. While there were a few Filipinos in the same facility, everyone was busy with work. Her closest friends in Israel lived an hour away.

Fearful still, but with a need to provide

Angenica is now based in central Israel – far from the ongoing aggression in the north and the south, and as Israel intensifies attacks on Palestine. No more did she wake up to sounds of rockets in her kibbutz just over a kilometer away from Gaza, the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Her trauma remained nonetheless. She was afraid of going outside, crowds, and traveling anywhere alone. 

“I get paranoid sometimes. What if someone barges in, or knocks and breaks down the door?” she said. 

Despite these fears, she has returned out of love for her ward and her family, for whom she was the sole breadwinner after Angelyn’s passing. Even if she knew she would be safer and happier in the Philippines, she needed to be in Israel.

Angenica said she will stay in Israel until her ward passes. In the event he does, she won’t be going home then either.

“I plan to migrate elsewhere. If there is an opportunity to transfer to another country, I will go there first, because I saw how hard life is in the Philippines,” she said.

She pointed to the high cost of goods, and not being able to save anything if one did not own a business. Expenses for her family were especially high now, as her brother has medical needs for his kidney and eyes.

Of the equivalent of P70,000 she earns monthly, P30,000 goes to the family’s daily needs, while P20,000 goes to her brother’s medical expenses. Her siblings are in and out of work, and even when they do have jobs, these aren’t enough to sustain them all, she said.

Tissue paper for survival

For Clarice Pacheco, she had to endure 49 days of not knowing if her husband was alive.

She would later find out that when Jimmy was in captivity, he ate only once a day, and sometimes resorted to eating tissue paper to survive. When one loses someone like this temporarily, it’s difficult to imagine sending them back to where it all happened. But Clarice did.

Jimmy and Clarice met when the former was a college student, and the latter was working at a fast food chain. They met and grew close through Jimmy’s cousin, who was her coworker. 

Jimmy was studying to be a seaman, but things took a turn when Clarice became pregnant with twins. Neither of them were able to finish school, but they needed to decide how they were going to provide for their two boys.

Clarice encouraged Jimmy to go abroad, even though he didn’t like the idea. She had no clue about the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine, but she wanted him to go because “life here in the Philippines was so difficult.” She had a new job working in a casino, while he worked in agriculture. But the future seemed bleak for their children. 

Jimmy left in 2018. At this point, their twins were five years old, and another baby was on the way.

In their calls, Clarice learned about the conflict. “At first, I was always nervous because of the rockets. But as time went on, even as they said there were rockets, they had an iron dome to escape to anyway. This calmed me, which is why I never expected what happened [in October],” Clarice told Rappler.

Clarice found out that her husband was taken hostage when a family friend who was also a caregiver in Israel sent her a pixelated video of him following the October 7 attack. “When it’s your husband, you know. You know, even when the video isn’t clear.”

“I actually blamed myself when he was taken hostage because I was the one who pushed him to go there,” said Clarice. While she worried for her husband’s well-being, she was also terrified of being left to provide for their three children all by herself.

Jimmy was among 24 hostages freed on the first day of the truce, November 24. It was Clarice who confirmed to Philippine authorities that her husband was free, as one of her in-laws sent a photo to their family group chat of a skinny, unshaven Jimmy in a vehicle, smiling.

“I was the only one awake then, and I was crying of so much joy. My in-laws heard me, and we were celebrating so loudly. We couldn’t sleep that night, even my children,” she said.

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Weeks later, Jimmy was home for Christmas. The family received at least P170,000 from the Philippine government. From their home in Cagayan Valley, they took the kids on vacation in Ilocos and Baguio. For the first time, they spent the holidays as a complete family.

No dependence on benefits

Even on the day Clarice held her husband again, she knew that he was decided on going back.

Their children were promised scholarships from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, though as of posting, Clarice said that these were still being processed. Initial support from the Israeli government also came in, amounting to hundreds of thousands of pesos. 

“He thought about the future of the children for when they go to college. And I realized how difficult life really is here in the province,” she said.

They understood that Israel would provide Jimmy benefits for a lifetime as a victim of war. But according to Clarice, Jimmy still wanted to work. He also worried that Israel’s law that served as the basis for these benefits might change.

“He did not want to depend on the benefits. He wants to work while the children are still small. He wants to provide for them so that they can have something they can call their own,” she said.

But why Israel, of all places? Clarice said that Jimmy had simply gotten used to working there, as he has only known work abroad in Israel.

Jimmy was back in Israel by February 2. With the financial assistance they received, the couple put up a business, Jimmy Pacheco’s Frozen Store, in Santa Ana, Cagayan.

Risks abroad more worth it?

According to University of the Philippines political science professor Jean Franco, OFWs migrating back abroad after returning to the Philippines is not new. The Philippines may be physically safer, but it did not mean security for the OFWs who fled the crises.

“This is a recurring pattern already, with regard to previous crises which have occurred which concern overseas Filipino workers,” she said. 

Franco, who has written about labor export, pointed to the Lebanon war in 2006, when some 10,000 Filipinos fled the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, but there was also a “massive return.” 

A more recent example is the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed at least 2.3 million OFWs to return to the Philippines. In a 2021 study by the Center for Migrant Advocacy, OFWs had difficulties finding work in the health sector during the pandemic due to competition with local workers, and having needed skills but lacking certain documentary requirements. 

Former president Rodrigo Duterte’s policy restricting health worker deployment was also criticized – and while not all health workers seeking overseas employment may have been returned migrants, Franco said they were still willing to risk their lives to take care of COVID-19 patients as long as the job was abroad. (READ: Nursing in the UK, where the risks seemed more worth it)

“And you really cannot blame them. And the fact that they’re willing to sort of be in a place where there’s precarity because of the war, and not be here in the country shows that their livelihood and their families’ welfare are more important,” said Franco.

She also noted how migration and diplomacy are intimately linked.

“When the Philippines had to decide on certain matters…people were wondering why it took us some time on whether to issue sanctions, not just here in Israel but in other periods of conflict elsewhere. It’s because it’s not easy for us,” she said, adding that while sending workers to Israel may have been a diplomatic strategy, the country also needed to do it to provide jobs for these workers.

Franco emphasized that Filipinos simply need better salaries and more decent jobs, “because these are things that will make them stay.”

Clarice understands that Jimmy had to leave her side again. After all, it’s for their children. But if there was an opportunity for him to return home for good, she would have him stay in a heartbeat.

“If we only had enough for our children’s education, I would prefer that we all stay together,” she said. – Rappler.com

All quotes have been translated into English.