Our contact, an official of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), sent us a text message, “Tapat kami Aristocrat (We are in front of Aristocrat),” as he gave us the make and plate number of their vehicle so that we could easily find them.

The men, as we walked to their vehicle, were unloading a tripod and a tool that was to be the star of the evening: a telescope – Astromaster 130EQ of Celestron, which, according to its website, “provides bright, clear images of the Moon, planets, star clusters, and more for great nighttime viewing.”

It was around 4:30 pm, and the “show” was scheduled an hour and a half later. We were about to watch sunset at 6:05 pm – and to check if the new moon could already be sighted.

It was a moonsighting activity mounted by the NCMF in the National Capital Region (NCR) on Sunday, March 10, to determine the start of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. 

From our meeting place at Rajah Sulayman Park, we crossed Roxas Boulevard so that we could station ourselves at the iconic Manila Baywalk, the perfect spot to view the postcard-worthy Manila Bay sunset. 

We joined around two dozen Muslims, including NCMF staff, many of whom – in true Filipino fashion – took photos of themselves peering into the telescope. At one point, sandwiches were distributed to participants. The mood was a mix of curiosity and excitement, although subdued. 

Would they see the moon that evening?

If they spot the moon, then the fasting month of Ramadan would begin the next day, Monday, March 11. If not, then Ramadan would start on Tuesday, March 12. 

Moonsighting is the process by which Muslims determine the date not only of the start of Ramadan, but also their two great feasts: Eid’l Fitr, which is the end of Ramadan, and Eid’l Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice. If you ever wondered why there are no fixed dates (and no fixed holidays) for these observances, the lunar calendar of Islam provides an explanation.

But why the moon? 

What are the roots of moonsighting? How is it conducted? Why is it relevant in the Muslim faith?

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The lunar way

Islam uses a lunar calendar, which is based on phases of the moon, unlike the commonly used solar calendar, which is based on the Earth’s position relative to the Sun.

The Islamic calendar is made up of 12 months, each of which is 29 or 30 days long. Because the number of days in a month vary, the length of the year varies as well – either 354 or 355 days, shorter than the 365 days in the solar calendar.

The name of this Islamic dating system is the Hijri calendar. It begins in the year 622 AD, when the Prophet Muhammad escaped persecution in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to the city of Medina, which is around 338 kilometers away. 

In contrast, the dating system now generally used around the world is called the Gregorian calendar, named after Pope Gregory XIII, who instituted this calendar in 1582 AD. The Gregorian calendar was an improvement of the Julian calendar, which was proposed by, and named after, Julius Caesar in 46 BC. 

Each year in the Gregorian calendar is commonly denoted as “AD” or anno Domini (year of Our Lord), since the counting of years begins with the birth of Christ. (BC means “Before Christ,” referring to the period before the Gregorian calendar started counting years.)

Each year in the Hijri calendar is called “AH” or anno Hegirae in Latin, or “the year of the Hijrah,” since it begins with the Hijrah of the Prophet Muhammad.  

The 12 months of the Hijri calendar are as follows: Muharram, Safar, Rabi al-Awwal, Rabi al-Thani, Jumada al-Awwal, Jumada al-Thani, Rajab, Sha’ban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Dhul al-Qadah, and Dhul Hijjah.

Each of these names has a meaning. 

The first month of the Islamic calendar, Muharram, means “forbidden” – a time when all forms of fighting are prohibited. 

The second month, Safar, means “empty” – “because pre-Islamic Arabs used to leave their homes in search of food during this month,” according to the Islamic advocacy website Amaliah. Other sources say that this name “derived from pre-Islamic Arabs conducting raids during this time on houses, leaving them ’empty.’”

Ramadan, according to Amaliah, comes ”from the root word ‘ramad,’ which means ‘burning’ in reference to the scorching heat that characterized this month.” 

The context, of course, was the climate in the Middle East where Islam was born.

‘Practical calendar’ 

In a video by the Al-Rasoul Islamic Society in Canada, Islamic scholar Sayed Mohammed Baqer Al-Qazwini explained the roots of the Islamic lunar calendar.

“One reason why Islam went by the lunar calendar is that, at that time, this was the most practical calendar for the people. Why? Because if you want to go by the solar calendar, you have to have a calendar, you need to know how to read and write, you need to keep track of the days,” said Al-Qazwini.

Many people then, however, “were illiterate” and were “Bedouins living in the desert” who “did not know how to keep track” of dates on pen and paper.

“The other calendar, which is the lunar one, is more practical for most people. Because all you need to do, at the beginning of the month, is see what? See the crescent. Even if you’re not educated, even if you do not know how to read and write, you can get out there in the desert and just see the moon,” the Islamic scholar said.

“So the people who lived at that time, they just look at the moon, they know which night it is,” he said.

The second reason, according to Al-Qazwini, is that the lunar calendar “gives you diversity.” This is because the Islamic observances fall on different parts of the Gregorian calendar each year, given that the Hijri calendar follows its own timeline.

The month of Ramadan, for example, sometimes falls in the summer or in the winter, said Al-Qazwini. “That’s beautiful. That way, you get to fast in all seasons, and you can taste these events and you can experience fasting in all seasons.”

While Ramadan this year began on March 12, in fact, it was not always around this time of the year. Ten years ago, in 2014, it began on June 28. Twenty years ago, in 2004, it began on October 15. 

Viewing the moon ahead of Ramadan, said Islamic scholar, is also being faithful to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.

Alzad Sattar, an Islamic Studies professor from the University of the Philippines Diliman, said this was stated in the hadith or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. “The Prophet said, ‘Before you fast in the month of Ramadan, you first have to see the moon,’” Sattar said in a mix of English and Filipino while waiting for the moonsighting activity last Sunday.

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Sattar explained that if the new moon is sighted on the 29th day of the month of Sha’ban, then the month of Ramadan can begin the next day. If not, then Muslims need to complete the 30th day of the month of Sha’ban, which means beginning Ramadan two days later.

Sometimes ‘moonfighting’

But who gets to declare that the moon was sighted? And, of all the Muslim authorities who conduct their moonsighting activities, whom should ordinary Muslims believe?

This is where it gets complicated.

Esmael Abdul, cultural affairs chief of the NCMF in Metro Manila, said any adult who is trusted and credible in the community can conduct moonsighting activities.

Even just one such person who sees the moon is enough, he said. Not even a telescope is required. “Even in the case of the Prophet Muhammad, there were no telescopes during their time,” he explained.

In the Philippines, there are two main authorities when it comes to moonsighting and other Muslim affairs.

The NCMF, created on February 18, 2010, is tasked to advise the Philippine president on Muslim affairs, and to “act as the primary government agency through which Muslim Filipinos could seek government assistance and redress.” The NCMF is led by a secretary appointed by the president.

The other authority when it comes to Muslim affairs is the Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta, the Islamic advisory council of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta is led by a mufti, an Islamic legal expert. 

There have been times when the NCMF and BARMM had different findings in their moonsighting activities.

While this can already be confusing, there are also Filipino Muslims who choose to look outside the Philippines – in particular, Saudi Arabia – for their sighting of the new moon. “Their view is that this is because Islam began in Saudi Arabia,” said Sattar.

This is why in Facebook comment sections, it is common to see a few Muslims arguing over which authority to believe when it comes to moonsighting. In one instance, the moon was seen in Saudi Arabia and not in the Philippines, and a believer was insistent that the Saudi declaration carried more weight. An irked Muslim replied on Facebook, “Then go live there.”

“The issue before, as they said, was that instead of moonsighting, it became ‘moonfighting.’ Because there are different views and different approaches,” said Sattar. “So to solve such kind of problem, there should be coordination.”

Abdul of NCMF-NCR said there have been efforts to streamline the results of moonsighting activities across the Philippines.

“This year, I really made a way by which the two offices (NCMF and the Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta) can coodinate. Muslims shouldn’t have to choose between the two. All of them have Islamic scholars, so these two offices should really reach an agreement and act as one,” Abdul said.

Within the NCMF alone, officials have been cautious in releasing their new moon findings.

The NCMF is composed of 11 regional offices, and NCMF-NCR is only one of these.

The moonsighting activity at the Manila Baywalk last Sunday was an activity only by NCMF-NCR, and the telescope used was actually personal equipment owned by Abdul because their regional office did not have its own. According to the Celestron website, the telescope is now priced at $349.95 or roughly P19,380.

Two days before the moonsighting activity in Manila, Abdul cautioned our team against reporting the NCMF-NCR findings as the findings of the whole NCMF. We had to wait until the reports from all regional offices were consolidated, he said. Only the NCMF national office can release the conclusive findings.

Tradition and technology

During Sunday’s moonsighting activity, the coordination was immediate – and high-tech.

Shortly after sunset at 6:05 pm, we saw Abdul and his assistant chief Al-Jomer Ali looking at their smartphones, dimly illuminating their faces as the dark of night crept in.

Only three male journalists from the Rappler team, a female journalist for Indonesian TV, and a male photojournalist from a broadsheet were covering the activity for news purposes. There were no other big cameras from mainstream TV news outlets, indicating little interest, even as many Filipino Muslims held on to their seats: Will Ramadan begin on Monday or Tuesday?

“What is that?” we asked Ali, as we turned the sharper light of our camera in their direction. 

Abdul and Ali were apparently on Zoom, where other regional offices gave updates on their own moonsighting activities.

“Soccsksargen, not sighted. Northern Luzon, northern Mindanao, no sighting. What else?” said Ali, as he waited for updates from other regions.

“Before Zoom and Facebook were invented, how was coordination done for moonsighting?” we asked them. Abdul answered, “Phone calls.” 

That night, it was a centuries-old tradition merging with modern technology. “It is faster, it is more accurate, it is something for which Muslim communities can better prepare,” Ali said in Filipino.

Roughly two hours later, at around 8 pm, the NCMF released its announcement: the agency “has determined that no moon was observed tonight by all the NCMF regional and field offices and their moonsighting groups.”

Ramadan, then, would begin on Tuesday instead of Monday.

When asked how he felt that the moon was not sighted, Abdul said the feeling was normal. “It is really like that,” he said. “I have not seen the first moon on the 29th day of Sha’ban.” 

Beyond determining another month in the Islamic lunar calendar, however, Sattar said moonsighting holds religious significance for Muslims like him. 

“We see this as a good deed,” Sattar said – proof that “we are truly following the sunna of the Prophet Muhammad.”

The end of the moonsighting activity was proof of this. 

A few minutes after sunset, Muslims walked to another part of the Manila Baywalk, rolled their prayer mats, faced in the direction of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and knelt with their heads touching the ground in front of Manila Bay.

While the moon was not sighted that evening, their faith as shown through obedience was still on full display.

And their chanting, borne of a faith that spans many centuries, mixed with the sea breeze. – Rappler.com

In the Philippines, business tycoons are even teaming up for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Batangas, signaling efforts to quickly mainstream energy transition. LNG is often regarded as a transitional fuel between coal and renewable energy sources.

Each passing year, the threat of breaching 1.5 degrees Celsius in global temperature becomes increasingly real. As the world warms, the world becomes more vulnerable to extreme weather events, rising sea levels, food insecurity, and biodiversity loss.

The world relies on the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity. Because of dirty energy sources, the sector accounts for three-quarters of global emissions.

Now, countries are scrambling to get the critical minerals needed to build renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power to hit net-zero targets by 2050. But the rush to transition could, in fact, harm the environment and workers, especially those employed in the fossil fuel industry such as coal miners.

Clean energy transition needs to happen faster. But first, it has to be just. That’s why the climate movement, while demanding the urgent shift to renewables, also demands a “just energy transition.”

But what does that mean?

It’s a term thrown around in climate conferences, understood mostly by advocates but remaining a buzzword for many people.

Where did the idea come from?

Francis dela Cruz, advisor for policy group Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, told Rappler in an interview: “The energy transition is about looking after those who will be displaced by the transition away from fossil fuels like coal into renewable energy sources.”

Dela Cruz, who has been advocating for just energy since the 1990s when discussions revolved around consumer rights, said he first got wind of the concept during the 2014 United Nations (UN) Conference of the Parties held in Lima, Peru.

It was the time when the climate movement and labor unions came together, according to Dela Cruz. “That’s why they were talking about retooling, reskilling.”

Simply put, with just energy transition, workers are placed at the heart of a low-carbon economy.

A labor issue

How will this work?

Private companies, for example, will make sure workers of coal-fired power plants slated for closure will get support. Or the government trains displaced workers and women on, say, assembling and operating equipment found in solar farms.

According to the UN, there is no strict roadmap to implement just transition. “Just transition should not exacerbate inequalities and must be undertaken in a way that supports affected workers,” the UN wrote in a 2023 report.

The international body stressed that there needs to be social safety nets in place and that governments must create decent jobs.

It emphasized the role that labor unions play in achieving net-zero targets. Labor unions can initiate dialogues between employers and workers on compensation during transitions, and they can organize to raise workers’ issues to concerned government agencies.

Citing an example, the UN report said, “In the Philippines, a national trade union federation works with energy cooperatives to promote renewable energy.”

The country wants to increase by 2030 renewable sources in the energy mix at 35% then even higher at 50% by 2040. Under the clean energy scenario in the Philippine Energy Plan, transformation in the sector should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 12%.

Renewables not without problems

Beyond the labor issues, the energy transition will also affect and can damage the environment.

The increased demand in critical minerals needed to shift to renewables will mean more extraction. This could exacerbate labor and human rights abuses and environmental degradation already entrenched in the industry if left unregulated by governments.

“When shifting away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy, the transformation of energy systems must also ensure responsible minerals extraction, and must not simply shift exploitation and land grabs to new areas,” the UN report read.

Solar and wind farms need vast tracts of land. Vast lands, mostly those used for agriculture, are being eyed by investors for conversion. For instance, in Tarlac, a largely agricultural province, rice farms have already been converted to solar farms. A cost-benefit analysis released in 2021 noted that while there are considerable economic benefits in the conversion of rice farms to solar farms, rice supply for more than 200,000 people a year would have to be foregone.

In addition, wildlife habitats are at risk of fragmentation. When tracts of land get converted eventually to solar and wind farms, this could alter birds’ migration patterns.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said offshore wind power development could affect behaviors of marine species, life cycle stages, and release contaminants that could be absorbed by marine life.

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How justice should look

Despite the new problems that arise with the advent of renewables, just energy transition is opening opportunities for humanity to change existing inequalities.

In a report published in 2022, development organization Oxfam International wrote that given the transition, it’s possible for the world to achieve universal energy access, create green jobs, and protect consumers from volatile fuel prices.

“Without a focus on justice, the transition risks undermining human rights and entrenching existing and historic injustices and inequalities,” the report read.

The transformed energy sector that is a product of a just transition must be affordable, reliable, and accessible to the public. How can this happen? There are a few ways:

Poor countries get financing from both public and private sectors. Countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts are often those that are unable to afford the high upfront costs of clean energy.

More than $1.7 trillion was invested in clean energy in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The trend continues to increase as powerful countries make strides in investments and energy and security goals.

However, the IEA found that investment remains uneven across the world. Leading the investments is China, followed by the European Union, then the United States (US). China and the US are among the top polluters in the world.

“Advanced economies and China account for 80% of global spending and for almost all of the growth in recent years,” the IEA wrote in its report.

Majority of these investments come from the private sector, according to the IEA.

During the last UN climate summit in Dubai, several countries and organizations launched the Coal Transition Accelerator, which aims to “unlock new sources of public and private financing to facilitate just transitions from coal to clean energy.”

Financing will not only support the establishment of renewable sources, but also the improvement of a weak grid infrastructure that delays connections of already existing farms. This is a problem that pesters not only the Philippines but other countries, too.

This is the same underlying principle of the loss and damage fund, where rich polluters help vulnerable countries mitigate the harmful effects of climate change. (READ: Phaseout of fossil fuels an aspiration ‘we need to afford,’ says DENR chief)

A responsible extractive industry that recycles. The extractive industry is undeniably at the core of the energy transition.

The industry provides the critical minerals needed for components in clean energy, like batteries and solar cells. For example, most electric vehicles now use lithium-ion batteries.

While damage can only be minimized, it will make more economic and environmental sense to recycle the materials mined. For instance, copper, used in cables, turbines, and generators, could be recycled without loss of properties.

Recycling materials can help advance a circular economy in the mining and metals industries, minimizing waste and making sure emissions are not for naught.

However, recycling efforts must be increased to keep up with the fast-tracked extraction of minerals.

Groups, communities should benefit and have a say in development. This does not only mean indigenous peoples and women perfunctorily attending public consultations.

Oxfam International said in a 2022 report that these meetings should “harness local knowledge and real-world experiences to improve the design of [programs] and make them more relevant to affected communities.”

Under Philippine law, indigenous peoples are given agency through free and prior informed consent (FPIC), a mechanism that attempts to enforce their rights over development projects intruding on their territories.

A decade ago, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit came out with an assessment of the FPIC in the Philippines.

The report said the country’s FPIC is vulnerable to circumvention because of “tricky” mechanisms like community-initiated projects or the certificate of no overlap.

More recent stories on mining and dam projects showed that nothing much has changed in the usual accounts of indigenous peoples imperiled by development projects. Vast ancestral lands are often regarded as spaces that can be utilized for further development. (READ: Indigenous rights clash with solar power project in Ilocos Norte)

Aside from including communities, they should be given energy access, too. When communities can access reliable and cheap power, Oxfam said this could boost productivity of local enterprises, help children finish school, and empower women to work outside the home.

A case study in the report is the off-grid Hilabaan Island in Eastern Samar. Oxfam and a local organization partnered to install six solar-powered streetlights and an off-grid solar-powered system.

The report said the system had been servicing 124 households, increasing security at night, and making care work more efficient for women.

Detecting this problem to be nationwide, Senator Risa Hontiveros filed a bill back in 2022 establishing a solar home system financing program in remote and rural areas in the Philippines. The bill remains pending at the committee level.

“Transition is not without negative impacts,” said Hontiveros during the launch of the Responsible Energy Initiative in January. But she also added that there’s no going back to the old ways, as “relying on fossil fuel is not only [unsustainable] but [also] anti-consumer.”

The Responsible Energy Initiative Philippines, consisting of groups across the renewable energy supply chain, seeks to shape an “ecologically safe and socially just renewable energy transition.”

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Making a living

A just energy transition should not only account for fossil fuel industry workers or residents in need of affordable sources of renewable power; it must also power the farmers and fisherfolk who rely on transport and electricity to eke out a living.

Dela Cruz said a fisherman from Suluan Island in Eastern Samar, for example, will not care about the amount of greenhouse gas emissions he emits by using a diesel generator if that enables him to fish out at sea.

“The context of energy is not just climate, right?” he said. “It’s livelihood.” – Rappler.com

An underground railway system for the Philippines has remained a dream for more than 50 years now, but with the addition of a second tunnel machine to the project, it certainly feels like full speed ahead for the Metro Manila Subway.

Here’s what you need to know about the Philippines’ “project of the century.”

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Stations

As of March 7, 2024, there are 17 confirmed stations that stretch for 33 kilometers from Valenzuela to Parañaque, with a branch line going to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay.

Here are the stations:

1. East Valenzuela Station
2. Quirino Highway Station
3. Tandang Sora Station
4. North Avenue Station
5. Quezon Avenue Station
6. East Avenue Station
7. Anonas Station
8. Camp Aguinaldo Station
9. Ortigas Avenue Station
10. Shaw Boulevard Station
11. Kalayaan Avenue Station
12. BGC Station
13. Lawton Station
14. Senate-DepEd Station
15. NAIA Terminal 3 (branch line)
16. FTI Station
17. Bicutan Station

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Originally, travel time from Valenzuela to NAIA reaches one and a half hours. With the new subway, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has given varying estimates of travel time being slashed to 35 minutes, 41 minutes, or 45 minutes. Travel time from end to end (Valenzuela to Bicutan) is expected to be 46 minutes.

Once fully operational, the subway will have 30 pieces of eight-car train sets with a design speed of 85 kilometers per hour, enabling it to accommodate 519,000 passengers per day. 

Timeline

The Metro Manila Subway is far behind its initial schedule. Construction for the subway began in 2019. Back then, the subway was expected to be fully operational by 2025, with the first 3 stations supposedly running by 2022. But land acquisition challenges, right of way issues, delays in payments, and the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way.

Actual tunneling and excavation for the subway only began in January 2023. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who kicked off the launch of the first tunnel boring machine, urged those working on the subway to “finish the contract package by the end of 2027.” A Filipino-Japanese joint venture –composed of Shimizu Corporation, Fujita Corporation, Takenaka Civil Engineering Company Ltd, and EEI Corporation – has the contract package for the subway’s first three stations.

The tunnel boring machine launched in January 2023 was supposed to have completed the East Valenzuela–Quirino Highway stations tunnel by December 2023. The North Avenue–Tandang Sora station tunnel was supposed to start work in July 2023 and finish by July 2024. The last tunnel, from Tandang Sora–Quirino Highway, will be completed by August 2025.

However, the tunnel boring machine is only starting work on the North Avenue station in March 2024. Another tunnel boring machine from North Avenue will start excavating by July 2024.

The Department of Transportation recently moved another tunnel boring machine for the subway to Doña Julia Vargas Avenue, where it will be used to construct the tunnels for the Ortigas Avenue Station, Shaw Boulevard Station, and Kalayaan Avenue Stations.

Full operations for the subway is targeted for 2029.

Here is the list of contract packages for the subway:

• CP101 – Construction of depot and East Valenzuela, Quirino Highway, Tandang Sora, and North Avenue stations. Awarded to joint venture of Shimizu Corporation, Fujita Corporation, Takenaka Civil Engineering Company Ltd., and EEI Corporation.
• CP102 –  Construction of Quezon Avenue and East Avenue stations. Awarded to joint venture of Nishimatsu Construction Company Limited and D. M. Consunji Inc.
• CP103 – Construction of Anonas to Camp Aguinaldo stations. Awarded to Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd.
• CP104 – Construction of Ortigas to Shaw stations. Awarded to joint venture of Megawide Construction Corporation, Tokyu Construction, and Tobishima Corporation.
• CP105 – Construction of Kalayaan Avenue and BGC stations. Not yet awarded.
• CP106 – Integrated railway system along with track works. Awarded to Mitsubishi Corporation
• CP107 – Design, supply, installation, construction, testing, and commissioning of the subway’s 240 train cars. Awarded to joint venture of Japan Transport Engineering Co. and Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd.
• CP108 – Construction of Lawton and Senate-DepEd stations. Not yet awarded.
• CP109 – Construction of NAIA Terminal 3 station. Not yet awarded.

History

Plans for a subway date back to 1973 when the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA, then-known as the Overseas Technical Cooperation Agency) developed an urban transport study for the Metro Manila area. This was during the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s father.

“The rapid transit system for Manila and suburbs will consist of the subway system and the [Philippine National Railway] improvement project. Five lines are proposed for the subway system,” JICA wrote in its study.

The five lines planned back then would have stretched all across the metro. Line 1 would have stretched from Quezon Memorial Circle to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport; Line 2 from Manotoc Subdivision in Quezon City to Cainta, Rizal; Line 3 from Sangandaan, Caloocan to Pasay; Line 4 from Quirino Avenue to Roxas Boulevard and “future reclaimed land;” and Line 5 from Marulas, Valenzula to Tutuban, where it would connect to Line 1.

However, the proposal was eventually rejected in 1977 in favor of a Light Rail Transit (LRT) project that would eventually become the LRT-1. An idea for a subway was again revived during the administration of Benigno Aquino III, but disagreements on the alignment for the supposed “Makati-Pasay-Taguig Mass Transit Loop System” allegedly derailed the project before works had even began. It wasn’t until the Rodrigo Duterte administration that plans for a Metro Manila Subway were finally approved in 2017.

However, it would take more than 5 years before tunneling and excavation works finally began for the long-delayed subway in January 2023, now under President Marcos Jr.’s administration.

“Looking back, this Metro Manila subway was planned exactly 50 years ago in 1973,” Matsuda Kenichi, minister and deputy chief of mission for the embassy of Japan, said during the start of tunneling works. “The plan was first initiated during the time of the late president Marcos Sr. Decades later, it can be considered a legacy that is now in the hands of His Excellency President Marcos Jr. to fulfill.”

MISSING CONTEXT: Metro Manila Subway project snubbed by 6 administrations

Financing

The project has an estimated total cost P488.5 billion. The bulk of this – P370.7 billion – will be financed through an official development assistance (ODA) loan from JICA, while the remaining P117.7 billion will be shouldered by the Philippine government.

The project is currently drawing its funding from two JICA loan agreements. The first tranche of P47.58 billion was signed on March 2018, while a second tranche of P112.87 billion, was signed on February 2022. A third tranche of P55.7 billion is expected to come in March 2024.

“[T]he Department of Finance is fully committed to securing the funding for this project. We aim to finalize the loan agreement for the third tranche of financing by March 2024. We will also remain resolute in monitoring the progress of all ODA projects,” Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said during a visit to the subway.

The Department of Finance said that the Metro Manila Subway will lessen economic losses caused by traffic congestion by about P2.5 billion a day or P930.26 billion a year through “reduced vehicle costs, travel time, and carbon emissions.” – Rappler.com

No China, no problem: Mindanao Railway to continue even without Beijing’s loans

It was February 26, and Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Representative Rufus Rodriguez was delivering an impassioned speech at the House of Representatives on a “fourth mode” of amending the Constitution. 

Rodriguez said House lawmakers now want to follow the “Bernas proposal” in amending the Constitution, “because the Senate does not even want to meet with us.” 

The Constitution describes three modes by which amendments or revisions can be proposed: first, through Congress convened as a constituent assembly (Con-Ass); second, through a constitutional convention (Con-Con) with appointed or elected members; and third, through a people’s initiative (PI) where a petition is made by at least 12% of registered voters.

The so-called fourth mode, the Bernas formula, seeks to amend the Constitution by using the process of crafting a regular law: a bill is filed in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, the chamber deliberates and votes on it, then sends it to the other house to undergo a similar procedure, then the two houses thresh out differences and approve the measure.

Like the House lawmakers, in the upper chamber, one senator recently invoked the same name: “Bernas.”

It was “the late constitutionalist Father Joaquin Bernas, who was also a member of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the present Constitution,” who suggested this “fourth mode” of charter change, said Senator Francis Tolentino in proposed Senate Resolution No. 941 on adopting rules to amend or revise the charter.

It has been exactly three years since he died of heart ailments at the age of 88 on March 6, 2021. Yet the name of Father Joaquin Bernas SJ, one of the nation’s greatest legal minds, still reverberates in the halls of Congress. In fact, if the Bernas formula is used and later challenged at the Supreme Court, then his voice – through his writings – will be heard in Padre Faura once more.

Who is Father Bernas, and why does he matter in the debate on charter change?

Respected by the Supreme Court

Born in Baao, Camarines Sur, on July 8, 1932, Bernas was the second in a family of 12 children. “Bernie” to his fellow Jesuits and “Father B” to his students, he was known as “Quining” to his relatives.

Bernas entered the seminary of the Jesuit religious order at the age of 17. His father died six months after he joined the Jesuits, according to his nephew Luigi Bernas, and this prompted him to ask his superior – without his mother’s knowledge – if he could leave the seminary so that he could help his family.

Bernas’ novice master “replied by telling to him to forget the idea and stay put where he was, because he would only be a burden to his mother and family,” his nephew said in a eulogy.

He eventually finished college at Berchmans College in Cebu and studied law – graduating as class valedictorian – at Ateneo de Manila. He placed ninth in the Bar exam, then earned his master of laws and doctor of juridical science degrees at New York University.

Most of his assignments later evolved around the Ateneo Law School, where he was dean from 1972 to 1976, and then from 2000 to 2004, and Ateneo de Manila University, which he led as 28th president from 1984 to 1993. He was Ateneo president when dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos was ousted in a peaceful revolt in 1986.

He also led the Jesuit order in the Philippines from 1976 to 1982, midway through the Marcos dictatorship. Many Jesuits, at that time, were at the forefront of fighting the dictator.

His knowledge, integrity, and leadership made him a highly revered figure in the Philippines. Supreme Court (SC) magistrates sought his counsel, lawyers bowed to his wisdom, and journalists ran to him for help to digest legal concepts for a mass audience.

And politicians, to this day, invoke his words for their various purposes.

“Even the Supreme Court recognized his authority. Why? Because every time a very difficult question of constitutional law will arise or will be confronted by the Supreme Court, you can be sure that Father Bernas will be called upon to be an amicus curiae (friend of the court),” said lawyer Mel Sta. Maria, who has taught at the Ateneo Law School for more than 35 years.

Sta. Maria cited the 2003 case of Francisco et al. vs. House of Representatives, where petitioners challenged the filing of a second impeachment complaint against then-chief justice Hilario Davide in a span of one year.

Bernas was one of the amici curiae summoned by the Supreme Court. “When Bernas decided to stand up and sort of lecture the Supreme Court and ask questions to the Supreme Court, and once he finished, the audience could not resist applauding,” Sta. Maria told Rappler in a mix of English and Filipino.

“Silence, silence, silence!” was all the court could say, as the audience applauded the constitutionalist.

The SC, in its decision declaring the second Davide impeachment complaint unconstitutional, later cited “the august words of amicus curiae Father Bernas.”

“It says a lot,” said Sta. Maria. “Bow sila kay Bernas (They really bowed to Bernas).” 

Former chief justice Artemio Panganiban Jr., in fact, “had said in a public forum that no discussion on constitutional issues would be complete until we hear from Father Bernas,” wrote former Ateneo Law School dean Cesar Villanueva in a tribute in the Ateneo Law Journal.

Santa Maria quickly added, however, that Bernas stayed “very humble.” 

He was a priest, after all.

A priest before anything else

Reading the 144-page special issue of the Ateneo Law Journal in honor of Bernas in July 2022, one gets the same impression from his family and friends: despite his achievements, being a constitutionalist or a law professor was secondary to him.

Sta. Maria said, “When you ask him, ‘Father, who are you?’ He will say, ‘I’m a professor, I love being a professor. Others say I am a constitutionalist. Well, I am a columnist.’ But what he will really say is, ‘But first and foremost, I am a priest.’”

Bernas’ successor as Ateneo president in the 1990s, Father Bienvenido Nebres, said the late Jesuit was “remembered for his scholarly lectures, books, and elegant and witty speeches, but as well for his Masses and his short – very short – memorable homilies.”

His fellow Jesuits treasured Bernas’ retreats and spiritual guidance, Nebres added at Bernas’ funeral Mass.

“Father Bernas was first and foremost God’s good servant. In everything he did, Father Bernas always placed God at front and center,” wrote Ateneo law professor Eugene Kaw in an obituary published by Rappler in March 2021.

“That certainly explains one of the best traits of Father Bernas: how he could deepen everyone’s faith through crisp and provocative homilies three to five sentences long, lasting no more than five minutes,” he said.

Kaw added it was the word “vocation” that best describes Bernas’ life. Each of his life milestones, in fact, “has been about the preparation for and fulfillment of that vocation.”

“He dedicated his entire life to the service of others – a path that he always recognized as having been chosen by God. In one of his succinct homilies, Father Bernas shared: ‘Vocation is a word which we sometimes reserve for a call to convent life or priestly life. It is not that way at all. Vocation is for all, yes, even for rascals. God singles out each one of us for a task.’”

‘Christ came to save not souls, but people’

In a 2006 interview with Alya Honasan for the Sunday Inquirer Magazine, Bernas himself opened up on his deepest convictions.

“The reason why I’m teaching law is because of our Lord, who came to save sinners,” Bernas said in this Inquirer interview.

He then addressed criticism that he is friends with people like Lucio Tan, a crony of the late dictator Marcos, and deposed former president Joseph “Erap” Estrada, who was convicted of plunder in 2007.

“People criticize my having friends like Lucio Tan and Erap, who don’t have very saintly reputations. Our Lord hung around with Pharisees. If I had lost faith, I would have abandoned law school!” Bernas said.

“You have to have a sense of humor, and accept that there are some things you cannot do anything about, even if you try. It is messy, and I see a lot of corruption, bribery. I don’t really lose sleep over things I cannot achieve, because I’m not God. I realized that long ago,” he continued.

Why did he join the Jesuits? Bernas said it was “because I wanted to become a priest and something else.” 

He was referring to how many Jesuits study fields of expertise other than theology and philosophy – including law, climate change, and astronomy – so that they can better engage the world outside the usual church buildings. Pope Francis, himself a Jesuit, has a background in chemistry. Jesuits, who emphasize “finding God in all things,” call themselves “contemplatives in action.”

“I didn’t want to be confined to the sacristy, because I feel the role of the priest and the Church in general is both spiritual and worldly,” Bernas said.

“Christ came to save not souls, but people, and people are body and soul. He was curing the sick, feeding the hungry. And the thrust of the Church today, which is social justice, is because of the responsibility to care about the material welfare of people also,” the Jesuit constitutionalist added.

The grander ‘Bernas proposal’

Bernas, as a priest, was “very honest,” Sta. Maria said. “The kind of honesty and sincerity which he exhibited while he was a priest, one can also see in his deliberations on matters of law.”

Bernas was also “sensitive” in fighting human rights abuses. This was most evident in how he spoke of the Bill of Rights.

In his sponsorship speech at the Constitutional Convention in 1986, Bernas made an iconic statement: “The protection of fundamental liberties is the essence of constitutional democracy. Protection against whom? Protection against the state.”

Sta. Maria said Bernas, as a constitutionalist, always stressed that when a person looks at the Constitution, “you not only look at its words, but the aspiration of its words and the spirit that it wants to convey to us.”

This brings us back to 2024, when lawmakers are pushing for the “Bernas formula” in changing the charter.

“But where in the Constitution does one find this mode?” asked Bernas in a 2012 opinion piece for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, when Benigno Aquino III was president.

“The elements of this mode are all in Article XVII. The fundamental principle is that what is not prohibited by the Constitution, either explicitly or implicitly, is left to the discretion of Congress provided it can be traced somehow to the powers of Congress. It is clear from Article XVII that the power to propose amendments can only be activated by Congress,” he said.

“The two houses of Congress are not required, as they were under the 1935 Constitution, to be in joint session. Hence, it is quite possible for the two houses to formulate amendments the way they formulate laws – as they are where they are. Once one house is through with a draft, it is passed on to the other house for action,” Bernas added.

Sta. Maria said Bernas, however, always posed a caveat: examine the context.

“This was always the caveat of Bernas: ‘But yet, we have to look at the context of how this is always being made. We have to look at the environment outside, and we have to look at the people doing it,” the lawyer said. 

“If one looks at it, according to Bernas, who must be the starting engine? Who is the initiator of the amendment among the three bodies of government? It should not be the President. It is Congress,” Sta. Maria said. “So if you already see that the President seems to be involved in this, hmm, then you have to think twice.”

Current efforts to amend the charter are pushed by allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is eyeing a plebiscite on constitutional amendments alongside the 2025 midterm elections. The President’s cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, is said to be the main proponent of charter change moves, upsetting presidential sister Imee Marcos.

The bigger picture, in understanding Bernas and the Constitution, lies in the reason why the 1987 charter exists.

It was, in the first place, a fruit of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that deposed the Marcos patriarch and forced the Marcoses into exile in Hawaii.

“When Father Bernas helped frame the 1987 Constitution, he ensured the protection of the Filipino people’s fundamental liberties against government abuses through the Bill of Rights and the system of checks and balances. That was his own way of saying ‘NEVER AGAIN’ to the abuses during the Marcos dictatorship,” Kaw wrote.

Bernas himself, at the 5th Jaime V. Ongpin Memorial Lecture in October 2006, put forward his general conviction on charter change – the grander “Bernas proposal” that lawmakers might do well to consider. 

“I have always maintained myself that, for our society, success or failure depends not so much on the system as on the people running the system,” Bernas said. “It is easy to write a Constitution; it is more difficult to make a Constitution work.” 

The purpose of a Constitution, added the Jesuit constitutionalist, “is not so much to achieve efficiency as to avoid tyranny in its various varieties.” – with a report from Lance Arevada/Rappler.com

After over four months, Navotas City RTC Branch 286 Presiding Judge Pedro Dabu sanctioned the cops tagged as suspects with lighter penalties on Tuesday, February 27.

The court convicted Police Staff Sergeant Gerry Maliban, not of murder but of homicide. This, even though the original complaint was murder. This could happen as section 5, rule 120 of the revised rules of criminal procedure, states that a person can be convicted of a lesser crime than the crime he/she was originally charged with.

Four others – Police Staff Sergeant Niko Pines Esquilon, Police Executive Master Sergeant Roberto Balais Jr., Police Corporal Edmard Jake Blanco, Patrolman Benedict Mangada – were convicted of illegal discharge of firearm and sentenced to four months in prison.

Since they received short jail time, they could be released from detention because the court allowed their preventive suspension to be credited. They have been detained since October 2023, or four months prior to sentencing.

Meanwhile, Police Staff Sergeant Antonio Bugayong Jr. was acquitted. After the verdict, Baltazar’s family aired their disappointment, particularly over Maliban’s jail time.

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“‘Yong lima po makakalaya po, si Maliban lang po ‘yong makukulong, apat na taon lang po. Iyon lang po ba ‘yong buhay ng anak ko? Siya po apat na taon lang siyang makukulong, ‘yong anak ko habang buhay nang wala,” Rodaliza Baltazar, the teen’s mother, said.

(The other five will be freed, and only Maliban will be imprisoned for only four years. Is that what my son’s life is only worth? Maliban will be jailed for only four years, while my son is gone forever.)

Why the cops received lighter sanctions is now the question for the Baltazar family.

Why Maliban is liable

Undoubtedly the teen was killed, and whoever caused the gunshot wound in his body was criminally liable for his death. The court said this, and highlighted the autopsy report conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun, which found that the gunshot wound was the underlying cause of death of the teen.

This was based in the doctrine “el que es causa de la causa es causa del mal cuasado” (he who is the cause of the cause is the cause of the evil caused), which was used by courts in previous cases.

The evidence also pointed to Maliban as the police officer who aimed at Baltazar, the court said.

First, Sonny Boy Agustillo, Baltazar’s friend who was with him when he was killed by the police, testified that Baltazar said he saw a “fat man” fire his gun during the police operation on August 2, 2023. To confirm, Agustillo stood up and also saw the same man in the dike firing his gun. During one of the hearings, Agustillo identified Maliban as the said “fat man.”

Agustillo’s testimony was supported by no other other Police Captain Mark Joseph Carpio, one of the team leaders of the operation where Baltazar was killed. Carpio testified that he saw Maliban standing in the dike and firing his gun at Baltazar and Agustillo’s boat. Additional evidence proved that the fired cartridge in the boat found by Baltazar’s uncle, Nicanor Guillermo, matched Maliban’s firearm that he surrendered after he was implicated in the crime.

The court also took note of the fact that Maliban himself admitted to having fired his gun during the Senate probe into the killing on August 22 and 29, 2023.

Why only homicide and not murder?

The court said it found Maliban guilty of homicide, and not of murder. A person is liable for homicide under article 249 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) if that “person who, not falling within the provisions of Article 246, shall kill another without the attendance of any of the circumstances enumerated in the next preceding article, shall be deemed guilty of homicide and be punished by reclusion temporal.”

In the decision, there were elements of murder that were not present in the case, thus the downgrade to homicide.

Treachery, an element of murder defined under article 248 of the RPC, happens when an “offender commits any of the crimes against the person, employing means, methods or forms in the execution thereof which tend directly and specially to insure its execution, without risk to himself arising from the defense which the offended part might make.”

In the decision, the court said even though Baltazar could not have defended himself, it still cannot be said that Maliban “employed means or methods or forms in the execution of the crime.” It was proven, according to the decision, that Maliban’s urge to shoot only materialized when Baltazar attempted to escape. Thus, treachery was ruled out.

Another element of murder that the court said was not present was evident premeditation. Noting the fact that Maliban’s urge to shoot only materialized during the teen’s escape, the element of evident premeditation was not proven.

The court mentioned Yapyuco vs. Sandiganbayan: “The allegation of evident premeditation has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt because the evidence is consistent with the fact that the urge to kill had materialized in the minds of petitioners as instantaneously as they perceived their suspects to be attempting flight and evading arrest.”

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Why is penalty lower for Maliban?

Homicide is usually punished with 12 years and one day as minimum, and up to 20 years as maximum.

Article 11 of the RPC lists justifying circumstances that do not incur criminal liability. This means that if a person can prove that his/her act falls under these circumstances, he/she will not be held criminally liable. Among the circumstances mentioned is: “any person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or office.”

However, the court was not entirely convinced that Maliban should not be held liable through the justifying circumstances. So the court applied article 69 of the RPC to the cop’s case, which states: “A penalty lower by one or two degrees than that prescribed by law shall be imposed if the deed is not wholly excusable by reason of the lack of some of the conditions required to justify the same or to exempt from criminal liability in the several cases mentioned in Article 11 and 12, provided that the majority of such conditions be present.”

The court also took note of Maliban’s surrender before authorities. Voluntary surrender could also be considered by the court to lower penalties in a criminal case.

With all these considerations, Maliban was sentenced by the court to four years, two months, and 10 days, up to six years, four months, and 20 days.

Lower penalty for others

The court said Balais, Esquilon, Blanco, and Mangada fired their guns at the water, and not at the teen, adding that there was no evidence to prove that the two gunshot wounds Baltazar sustained were caused by two different guns. 

The court took note of Dado vs. People, that in conspiracy “there should be a conscious design to perpetrate the offense.” In the decision, the court said that neither joint nor simultaneous action could be sufficient proof to prove conspiracy. Since conspiracy was ruled out in the case, the cops were liable individually, and not as a group.

“As we found that these accused did not conspire with PSSg Maliban in shooting Jemboy and that they lacked the intention to kill the victim as shown by their acts of firing their guns in the water just in front of them, they are only liable with Illegal Discharge of Firearms,” the decision read.

As for Bugayong, who was acquitted in the case, the court said there was doubt that he fired his gun. The court said there were conflicting testimonies on whether he fired his gun or not. He was also not the cop who fired his gun that Agustillo saw in the dike.

In addition, the paraffin test on his gun turned out to be negative. Although the negative result is not conclusive evidence, it served as corroborative evidence, the court explained.

The Navotas court added that for Bugayong, this rule was applicable: “if the inculpatory facts and circumstances are capable of two or more explanations, one of which is consistent with the innocence of the accused and the other consistent with his guilt, then the evidence does not fulfill the test of moral certainty and is not sufficient to support a conviction.”

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Essentially, it would be difficult to appeal Bugayong’s acquittal because it would amount to a violation of the double jeopardy rule, which is provided in the Constitution.

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Section 21 of the Constitution states: “No person shall be twice put in jeopardy of punishment for the same offense. If an act is punished by a law and an ordinance, conviction or acquittal under either shall constitute a bar to another prosecution for the same act.”

The Baltazar family can, however, file a petition for certiorari – a legal remedy used to review grave abuse of discretion – to ask another court to review a lower court’s ruling. This is usual practice when seeking a review of a conviction, without touching on the double jeopardy rule. (READ: Office of the Solicitor General challenges Leila de Lima’s last acquittal)

On February 27, Department of Justice spokesperson Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said they will bring the case to the Court of Appeals, adding that they will tap the Office of the Solicitor General to represent the government in the appeal. 

The six cops, including their supervisors Carpio and Police Captain Luisito dela Cruz, were ordered dismissed by the PNP. The dismissal is still pending because of the cops’ appeal. However, if the appeal is junked, the police officers and personnel will be officially removed from the police service. – Rappler.com

The Philippine president is set to address what Bloomberg has described as a “rare” joint sitting of Australia’s Parliament on Thursday, February 29. It’s an honor that is, no doubt, rare.

Previous invitees include past American presidents Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Chinese leaders Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping have also been accorded the honor.

“I think it’s the strongest testament to the importance of the Philippines for geopolitical relations,” Dr. Maria Tanyag, a research fellow and lecturer at the Australian National University’s Political and International Relations Department, told Rappler in an interview ahead of Marcos’ visit to Canberra.

Officially, Marcos was invited to visit Canberra by current Governor-General David Hurley. While in Canberra, the Australian capital, Marcos is expected to hold meetings with both Hurley, the representative of King Charles III, and with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

What’s in a strategic partnership?

Australia has been keen on improving its ties with the Indo-Pacific, especially with Southeast Asia.

Days after Marcos speaks to their parliament, Melbourne will host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Australia Special Summit to mark 75 years of ties between the bloc and Canberra.

Philippine and Australian ties have also grown substantially in the past decade. Just eight years after Manila and Canberra agreed on a comprehensive partnership, ties were elevated to a strategic partnership during Albanese’s official visit to Manila in September 2023.

Months later, in December 2023, the militaries of both countries sailed and flew over the West Philippine Sea for a Maritime Cooperation Activity (MCA) just as tensions were rising between Manila and China.

Tanyag explained that when you talk about a strategic partnership, the emphasis is usually on defense and military investments. “We will see the extent of these alliances – from military, financial decisions to actual institutionalized agreements,” added Tanyag.

The joint declaration on the strategic partnership between the Philippines and Australia states: “We will explore new opportunities and address common challenges, recognising our collective agency and shared responsibility to respond to changing dynamics in the region.”

Statements that cover defense and security ties comprise a chunk of the joint declaration signed by Marcos and Albanese. They also touch on a hot-button issue for Manila and the rest of the region: Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea, and the tensions that have arisen between China, claimants, and their allies.

Australia and the Philippines agreed that “all disputes should be resolved peacefully, without the threat or use of force or coercion, in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” and that the 2016 Arbitral Award, which quashed China’s sweeping claim, is “final and legally binding on both parties.”

The governments of the Philippines and Australia, both maritime nations, also reaffirmed in that agreement the “importance of maritime safety and security, freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the seas in accordance with UNCLOS.”

“To this end, we will strengthen bilateral and regional cooperation between maritime policy-making, administration, security and law enforcement agencies through dialogue and coordination, practical engagement and capacity-building activities. We will plan bilateral joint patrols in the South China Sea and in areas of mutual interest to support regional peace and stability,” reads the declaration.

Taiwan was also mentioned in the declaration, just as China continues to insist on reunification.

“The visit is envisioned to further cement the strategic partnership that affirmed the two countries’ shared interests in regional prosperity and peace,” said Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Teresita Daza in a briefing in Malacañang on February 27.

Defense ties with Australia run deep – Canberra’s engagements with conflict-hit parts of southern Philippines include equipping security and defense personnel with training and facilities to improve their capacity to combat terrorism.

It’s now steadily expanding as the Philippine military eases out of internal defense and into territorial defense, as mapped out by the National Security Policy under President Marcos.

Besides treaty-ally United States, Australia is only the second country with which the Philippines has a visiting forces agreement. Manila is expecting to ink a similar one – the Reciprocal Access Agreement – with Japan by March 2024.

At least once every two years, Australian troops come to the Philippines for joint exercises under the Indo-Pacific Endeavour (IPE), its international engagement activity in the Southeast Asian and Indian Ocean region. During 2023’s Exercise Alon, Marcos said he wants the joint exercises to continue.

Pros for Marcos, pros for the country

As is the case in almost all of Marcos’ major engagements overseas, addressing parliament is another milestone in the political career of the scion whose clan was once a pariah in political circles here and abroad.

The current President Marcos has been rather selective in evoking the legacy of his infamous father and namesake, the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. The second Marcos president cherry picks – mentioning his dictator-father to evoke long-standing ties with other countries, while glossing over the Marcos legacy of human rights abuses and corruption.

International engagements often fulfill the dual purpose of serving the current president’s political interests, domestically and abroad, while also aligning with the country’s strategic interests, Tanyag pointed out.

“He has an image to maintain domestically and an image to maintain internationally. While he might have convinced domestic populations, there’s still a certain… the history of Marcos Sr. is well-established globally, and so he has a lot to rehabilitate at the external front,” she said.

It certainly helps that fostering good ties with Manila is in Canberra’s interests, too.

“At the same time, this is not just about Marcos, as I’ve pointed out. This is about the geopolitical and structural relations in our region. This is, again, just an alignment of political and strategic interests. It could have been any other person who has the same strategic interest, [and] Australia would still be there,” she added.

Australia is keen on upping its ties with ASEAN – on trade, renewable energy, and certainly security. The Philippines fits perfectly into Canberra’s wider vision of being more present in the region. For Manila, an address in Parliament House means articulating its own place in the messy geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific.

“This is a very good opportunity for the Philippines not only to underscore the shared vision about the future with Australia, and this is coming after the two of us elevating our partnership to strategic partnership, but will also help us underscore – because both countries as maritime nations have actually committed to – adherence to the rules-based order of international law,” said Daza.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said agreements are expected to be signed during the visit to Canberra, but Daza declined to expound on what these would cover. – Rappler.com

Despite having already secured a string of primary victories, it was crucial for Trump to win South Carolina, a key early Republican primary state that often predicts the party’s nominee. Unlike in 2016, Trump was facing a rival who had won two terms as governor of the state and is still locally popular.

The plan was to isolate Haley politically by locking down endorsements from scores of officials in the state as quickly as possible to demonstrate publicly that she had no path to the presidency through South Carolina, aides with knowledge of the Trump campaign plan said.

Trump’s victory on Saturday was not a complete blowout but he still defeated her by a comfortable 20 percentage points on her home turf.

“We were facing a two-term governor. That necessitated a show of force. We needed endorsements to stop donors and voters taking a look at Nikki,” a senior Trump campaign adviser told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Chris LaCivita, a co-manager of Trump’s campaign, said the series of big-name endorsements played a critical role in snuffing out the competition in the state.

LaCivita said another crucial part of Trump’s success was to harvest data on the thousands of voters who attended the former president’s rallies.

“What happens in the state after we’re on the airplane. That’s where the real work begins,” LaCivita said.

Working out of a nondescript office park in North Charleston, campaign staff have been toiling for months to use voter data to communicate regularly with potential voters. Trump used a similar game plan to win in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Endorsement windfall

As recently as December, Haley was still saying publicly that South Carolina was where she would finally score a win over Trump and turn the nominating contest around. Instead, it may be remembered as the state where her campaign suffered its fatal blow.

By January 24 – a month before the primary – Trump had secured the endorsements of 158 current and former South Carolina Republicans officials, including lawmakers, mayors and sheriffs. By this week Haley had received endorsements from one member of the US House of Representatives, 11 current state lawmakers, and two mayors.

“Those endorsements (of Trump) do matter. They are absolutely embarrassing in their numbers for Nikki Haley,” the Trump campaign adviser said.

“If you have the local police chief or a city council person evangelizing about President Trump at a barbecue or at a local meeting, it’s a force multiplier on our ground game and grassroots efforts,” the adviser said.

Spearheading the push to lock up endorsements was the state’s governor, Henry McMaster; Ed McMullen, Trump’s former ambassador to Switzerland and a veteran of South Carolina politics; and Justin Evans, a state operative who ran Haley’s first political campaign in 2010.

The influential South Carolina House of Representatives speaker, Murrell Smith, who endorsed Trump in August 2023, also played a key role in securing endorsements inside the State House, as did the state’s lieutenant governor, Pamela Evette.

McMullen said he and other Trump allies began sketching a plan to ensure the former president’s total dominance in the state as early as June 2022, months before Trump officially announced he was running for president that November. Haley declared her candidacy in February 2023.

Trump’s South Carolina surrogates began contacting every state House and Senate member in May 2023. Lawmakers who were reluctant to endorse Trump were invited to personal meetings with him when he flew into the state, either at airports or other venues.

“The president was very generous with his time, he met with numerous people, it made clear to people he was serious and very much wanted their support,” McMullen said.

For her part, Haley said publicly she was not bothered by the endorsements Trump received, although associates have spoken of a sense of betrayal that some high-profile allies deserted her.

Her effort relied on some 1,700 volunteers across the state, and she crisscrossed South Carolina aggressively in recent weeks.

“Just like when she ran for governor, Nikki is the outsider, conservative candidate,” said Olivia Perez-Cubas, a campaign spokesperson. “As governor, she signed pro-life legislation, cracked down on illegal immigration, and took on both parties over spending and transparency issues.”

Seeking endorsements is common practice in US presidential politics, but securing so many played a significant role in South Carolina for Trump, given Haley’s ties to the state.

The former president employed similar tactics to try to force Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, out of the race. Trump highlighted his overwhelming advantage in endorsements in Florida to fuel the narrative that he was the runaway favorite to win the nomination. DeSantis ended his campaign in January.

‘Designed for maximum impact’

A much sought-after endorsement was that of Tim Scott, one of South Carolina’s US senators and a one-time presidential rival to Trump who dropped out of the race in November.

Scott had been appointed to his Senate seat in 2013 by Haley when she was governor, so securing his endorsement over the woman who sent him to the US Senate was a big prize, several donors and operatives close to both Trump and Haley said.

Trump had maintained a relationship with Scott for some time. In 2020, he called Scott’s mother on her birthday, a source close to Scott said. Toward the end of his presidency, Trump invited Scott and his mother to ride aboard Air Force One.

Trump called Scott shortly after the senator dropped out of the race, a person close to Trump said, while Trump allies kept talking to Scott about an endorsement.

One person close to Haley said she exchanged text messages with Scott after he dropped out, but never verbally discussed an endorsement. It is unclear why they never directly discussed the matter, but Scott and Haley’s relationship deteriorated over the course of a campaign during which both camps took jabs at one another, said the person.

At a rally in New Hampshire on January 19, four days before the primary election there, Scott endorsed Trump, a big blow to Haley and her hopes in South Carolina.

Trump’s team made sure Scott was standing prominently alongside the former president at his New Hampshire victory rally on January 23. Trump appeared triumphant, suggesting to Scott he “must really hate” Haley. Scott replied: “I just love you!”

Haley was not deterred.

Fueled by donor money she persisted with her insurgent campaign even as she seemed to acknowledge she faced certain defeat to Trump in her home state. Trump and his allies hoped that a loss on home ground would finally persuade Haley to quit the race, but she said on Saturday night she was not giving up and would continue her presidential campaign. – Rappler.com

It was September 21, 1997, and around half a million Filipinos flocked to Rizal Park, site of the biggest rallies against dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, to wage a new battle. 

Eleven years after the strongman’s downfall, Filipinos heeded the call of two democracy icons – former president Corazon Aquino and Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin – to oppose moves to change the Constitution under Aquino’s successor, Fidel V. Ramos.

As in the People Power Revolution of February 25, 1986, Filipinos clutched their rosaries and chanted their protests at the same time, as Church and civil society groups formed a potent force ​​against the powers that be.

The Luneta prayer rally of 1997 “was the largest public demonstration” since the EDSA revolt of 1986, the Chicago Tribune reported, as the event made headlines worldwide.

The combined forces of Aquino and Sin – and the use of prayer as protest, a powerful weapon in this Catholic-majority country – meant it was only a matter of time before Ramos relented.

Aquino, a devout Catholic, used religious imagery as she appealed to Filipino sensibilities.

“Today, there is a dark wind blowing across our country again… the wind of ambition, a gathering storm of tyranny,” Aquino said at the 1997 prayer rally against charter change, popularly known in the Philippines as Cha-Cha.

Referring to the “flame of freedom” that burned at EDSA, the former president added, “We are here to shield that flame so that the light of democracy will not go out in our country again.”

Aquino’s appeal to Ramos 

Concluding her speech, Aquino directly addressed “the man I supported in 1992, my friend, our President, Fidel V. Ramos.”

Aquino and Sin supported different candidates in the 1992 presidential election, the first electoral exercise after the fall of Marcos. While Aquino backed her former military chief Ramos, Sin was said to have supported House Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr., a claim that he denied.

In an Easter pastoral letter, however, Sin had urged voters to choose candidates “who not only respect but also espouse” Catholic teachings, according to UPI. It was seen as a dig at Ramos, who would later become the Philippines’ first and, so far, only Protestant president. 

Aquino told Ramos during the Luneta rally: “No work is ever finished, and good work is hard to let go.  But you made your name in history even before you became President, when you joined the people’s fight for democracy, and stood by me in its defense.”

Aquino continued: “You will be remembered for the stability you established, for the economic progress you achieved; above all, for the confidence you restored in our country throughout the world. The downturn of the economy will pass, but the gratitude of the nation will abide for the man who raised it up and held it there.”

Saying Ramos has already done much for the country, she emphasized to her successor that “the real saviors of this country are the people and not any of us.” 

“Trust the good people of our country to continue your good work. I trusted in you when my term was over. Trust in the Filipino,” Aquino said.

The day of the prayer rally, September 21, was also the 25th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law under the Marcos dictatorship. 

Sin: ‘I pray for him every day’

During the Luneta rally, Aquino also paid homage to Sin, whom she called “the godfather of Filipino freedom.”

It was Sin’s appeal on church-run Radio Veritas on February 22, 1986, that prompted Filipinos to flock to EDSA to protect rebel soldiers and, eventually, to stage a revolt against the Marcos regime. Sin, a native of Aklan and a former archbishop of Jaro, Iloilo, was also one of the staunchest critics of the Marcos dictatorship.

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In his own speech, Sin reminded Filipinos of “‘the ear-popping, electric-shock, sexual-assault, cigarette-burning’ tortures of the Marcos era,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

“Let us pray for our president. I pray for him every day. I do not even pray for my own mother every day,” Sin said.

It was also eight months before the May 1998 elections that would elect Ramos’ successor, the second presidential election after the fall of Marcos. Sin said that Ramos “will not be a lame-duck president” if he “respects our newfound unity.”

Sin said that instead of changing the charter, Ramos should “turn around the downward trend of the economy, prepare for droughts caused by the effects of El Niño, safeguard the May elections, and address the problem of poverty.”

“It was the sort of advice that might have encouraged Ramos to snap at a news conference a few hours earlier: ‘I am still the president of the Philippines,’” the Chicago Tribune reported.

Ramos ended up stopping efforts to amend the charter, which would have lifted the single-term limit under the Constitution of 1987. 

As quoted on the newspaper Today on September 20, a day before the Luneta rally, Ramos said: “I am not running for reelection. Period. Period. Period.”

Luneta rally ‘a turning point’

The late veteran journalist Amando Doronila, in his article “The Crisis of Succession” for the journal Public Policy, wrote in late 1997: “The unequivocal declaration helped defuse a looming confrontation between the Ramos government and a broad multisectoral coalition – led by Cardinal Jaime Sin, the politically influential Roman Catholic archbishop of Manila, and former president Corazon Aquino, Ramos’ immediate predecessor – that was opposed to tampering with the Constitution.”

Doronila pointed out that Ramos’ September 20 announcement, on the eve of the Luneta rally, “was clearly intended to defuse what the coalition had called a new demonstration of people power reminiscent of the People Power Revolution that deposed President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.”

Doronila called the rally “a turning point for a disengagement between the regime and the popular coalition.” 

“It demonstrated the capacity of the Church and Mrs. Aquino to mobilize people against perceived threats to political liberties, particularly against moves that appeared to lead to the return of the Marcos-style rule,” Doronila wrote.

He added, “The point was made: if the campaign orchestrated by officials close to President Ramos had gone ahead, it would have provoked political turbulence.”

A vastly different landscape

Fast-forward to the present day, or 27 years after the Luneta prayer rally of 1997, the son and namesake of dictator Marcos is now the Philippine president. Forces associated with Marcos and his cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, are making another push for charter change.

As they did nearly three decades ago under Ramos, Church and civil society groups are working together again.

On Thursday, February 22, a coalition called Siklab – “Simbahan at Komunidad laban sa Cha-Cha” – marched in Manila to oppose charter change. Prominent convenors of the group include Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, Bishop Jonel Milan, former government peace adviser Teresita Quintos-Deles, and Senator Risa Hontiveros. 

But the landscape is now vastly different: the opposition is weak or even nonexistent, the Catholic Church has lost much of its influence in politics, and the fear of the return of “Marcos-style rule,” to borrow a term from Doronila, is gone. 

The President, after all, is now a Marcos.

Let the numbers serve as a reality check.

If Mass attendance is an indication of Church influence, for example, then the Church has truly lost much of its clout. 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 (SWS).

Public perception of Marcos has also been reversed through the years. From 52% in 1986, the percentage of Filipinos who believe Marcos was “a thief of the nation’s wealth” went down to 48% in 1995, then slipped to 38% in 2016, and went further below to 19% in 2022, the SWS reported.

Will the anti-charter change movement still succeed as it did under Aquino and Sin?

What will it take for such movement to prosper in the current political landscape?

Let’s have a deeper conversation in the #faith channel of the new Rappler Communities app. – Rappler.com

MacAulay, himself once a potato seed farmer, said it was “touching” to be presented a bag of potatoes grown from Canadian potato seed brought to the Philippines many years back. The potato seed happened to come from Prince Edward Island, where MacAulay hails from.

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“Some farmers drove us 10 hours to get here. And the fact is, they understood so well how much good seed, good genetics in hogs, no matter what sector you’re talking about – when you have the proper seed, it increased the production immensely. And we want to help in so many areas in this area, in this part of the world,” said MacAulay, who is in Manila for the launch of the Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office (IPAAO) on February 21.

The office, based in the Canadian embassy here, will serve the entire Indo-Pacific. Its establishment is part of Canada’s bigger vision – to improve and expand its ties with the region.

“Yes, we want to sell. But we also want to make sure that we help the area grow…. If you have the top quality seed, you generally produce a much richer and a more abundant crop.
And that’s what we want to see in all of this area in the Indo-Pacific,” added MacAulay.

The new office in Manila isn’t a literal physical space but the presence of experts across different fields in agriculture and agri-food. Diedrah Kelly, previously Canada’s ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is executive director of the new office.

Why Manila?

MacAulay said Canada’s “great relationship” with the Philippines was one of the reasons why the hub is located in Manila. Ottawa is also keen on expanding its ties with Manila, in trade, aid, and defense.

The Canadian minister also sees helping the local farmers as among Canada’s “obligations.”

“I saw a bunch of farmers today. I don’t know what their financial situation is. But I know one thing – that it will improve. With people like [Kelly] and other people that will be working with her… to make sure that farmers have the best opportunity to succeed,” he said.

In a release, the Canadian embassy in the Philippines said the new office would “leverage Canada’s expertise as a world leader in food safety and sustainability with that of our Indo-Pacific partners to tackle common challenges.”

That Canada wants to involve itself more in the region is a matter of choice and necessity. As it stands, the Indo-Pacific accounts for a third of the world’s economic activity. Southeast Asia, the region the Philippines belongs to, is projected to have the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2040.

“We are committed to our partnership in the region and I can tell you – we are here to stay,” MacAulay told an audience of Canadian officials and agriculture industry officials during a reception at the Manila Peninsula.

The IPAAO’s focus won’t just be on productivity – the goal is also to help farmers, growers, and producers figure out more efficient methods to handle “environmental issues properly.”

IPAAO team members will be based at the Canadian embassy located in Makati City. – Rappler.com

The Senate on Monday, February 19, unanimously approved on third and final reading the bill mandating a P100-daily pay increase for minimum wage earners in the country.

Who doesn’t want higher pay amid inflation?

While deemed a popular measure, economists have raised the alarm over its unintended consequences, especially for those who are in the informal sector and are not covered by the wage increase.

The Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) underscored four reasons why they oppose the move.

“We are not against wage increases but we urge the Senate not to tamper with the existing mechanism of regional wage boards to adjust wages if needed. Regional wage boards take into account the interests of both employers and workers and the different cost and employment situations of various regions,” FEF said in a recent statement.

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TRACKER: Minimum wages in the Philippines

It will ‘turbocharge’ inflation

FEF said the wage increase will result in higher prices of goods, as additional across-the-board wage increase will push companies to charge higher prices.

“The subsequent wage-price spiral will trigger an erosion of the people’s purchasing power, causing widespread demands for future rounds of wage hikes,” FEF said.

It will raise interest rates

With inflation jumping, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas may be forced to hike interest rates.

This will result in people shelling out more to pay for housing and car loans and credit card charges. 

FEF added that increased interest rates will also force companies to reduce investments and cut back on employment.

It doesn’t take into account varying cost factors

The proposal also does not take into account the different cost factors and employment situations across different regions.

FEF warned that many small businesses may close shop or lay off workers.

The informal sector won’t be covered

FEF said the proposal doesn’t cover informal and seasonal workers, fishermen, gig economy workers, and market vendors, who will now suffer from the inflationary impact of legislated wage increases.

What to do now?

Instead of a nationally-legislated wage increase, FEF urged the government to liberalize food imports by reducing the tariffs on rice from 35% to 10% and abolishing or vastly expanding the import quotas for corn, chicken, pork, and fish.

“Liberalizing food imports will see an immediate fall in the price of food, thereby increasing the purchasing power of all Filipinos, whether formally or informally employed and whether senior citizens or babies.”

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Can the Philippines afford a P100 national minimum wage hike?

Speculative?

Those who are in favor, however, view these warnings as speculations.

IBON Foundation executive director Sonny Africa said wage hikes can lead to economic activity, as workers who earn more will spend more, unlike businesses that will not necessarily reinvest earnings.

Africa, as well as Makabayan lawmakers at the House, argued that higher earnings of workers will be spent on small businesses, and effectively spur economic growth.

Africa said that according to their estimates, large and medium firms will take just a 6.7% cut in profits, while small and micro businesses may take as much as a 7.9% cut.

IBON Foundation estimates that a family of five in Metro Manila needs P1,193 a day or P25,946 a month to live decently. Currently, Metro Manila’s minimum wage is just P610 a day. – with reports from Michelle Abad/Rappler.com