This came out a while ago, but I just saw the news coverage.  Really dope to see our folks on TFC calling out GMA on human rights months before the Maguindanao massacre…

For 8 years, we’ve been calling out HRVs by GMA and many folks though we were crazy or making it up.  Or we were red-baited that it was all a conspiracy or “communist” propaganda.  Did it take the massacre of 57 people including 30 journalists with all of the women raped to have the world finally take notice?

Those 57 are the continuation of the 1,000 other extra-judicial killings allowed or perpetrated by the Philippine Military.  Is it any wonder that President Arroyo’s allies, the Ampatuan family, felt they could massacre so many people and get away with it?

Network (1976)
dir.  Sidney Lumet
121 minutes

“I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take this anymore!!”

Before the 24 hour news networks and especially Fox News, the movie “Network” gave an ominous view of corporate-run news pushing the edge in search of ratings & profit.

It begins with respected broadcaster Howard Beale played by Peter Finch doing what we often joke about when watching the evening news….  what if they just flipped out and called bullshit on the news?  Imagine hearing that from Dan Rather one night.

Howard’s populist rants strike a chord with ordinary Americans facing a worsening recession, rising oil prices, corporate consolidation of media & loss of faith in the government…  something that sounds strikingly familiar.  Of course, the corporate planners work on how to exploit and maximize profits from the situation after suffering low ratings for so long.  Before you know it, they are soon hashing out programming deals with armed “revolutionary” groups and communists for the shock value.

Towards the end, the CEO of the giant media conglomerate (who looks a little like George W. Bush) takes notice of the situation and gives essentially a speech of imperialism’s New World Order.

It’s a great movie exposing the absurdities of corporate media conglomerates and the internal strategies that make them run.  It could be followed up by the documentary “Outfoxed:  Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism” but wouldn’t be nearly as fun.

Sister Stella L
dir. Mike de Leon
96 minutes

Recently at the Filipino Community Center, I was shocked to listen in on a discussion of Ferdinand Marcos amongst some elders.  Shocked because they were still “pro-Marcos” since he supposedly developed the country and was good, except for those human rights violations.

The idea that Marcos developed the country’s economy and infrastructure but was overshadowed by abusing civil liberties is a surprisingly sentiment in the community.  However, in watching movies during this time critical of Marcos, we can see what kind of development was really in the works.

In Mike de Leon’s “Sister Stella L,” Vilma Santos plays Catholic nun Sister Stella Legaspi.  Searching for meaning behind the words in the Bible that teach people to serve the poorest of the poor, she is led to the picket line of striking workers.  Gradually, she begins to see her role as a Christian to be amongst the poor and the oppressed in society.  Eventually, the management (and military?) try to break the strike through terror and torture, something that is happening to this day.

Different strategies of the strike are debated as well as the “sides” between the workers and capitalists.  Although there is a simplistic framing of the “evil capitalist,” the issues raised by the union leaders ring very true today, especially in this economic crisis.

No Filipino movie could be complete without a love story, or at least the background of one which thankfully doesn’t dominate this movie.  Vilma Santos shines as the unsure but strong-willed nun in the beginning to a militant defender of the people by the end.  It is a similar role she plays 18 years later in “Dekada ’70.”  The movie ends in an almost-cheesy PSA but the message is clear and bold coming out after the Ninoy Aquino assassination.

“If we do not act, who will act?  If not now, when?”

******************

The quote also reminds me of Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog when he was in Seattle last year, as he would end his presentations with a similar line.

It’s also good to see the real-life Sister Stella L recently with BAYAN-NY as they protest against GMA’s State of the Nation Address.

as found on numerous posts…

————-

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.

I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.

After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.

On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.

And then I log on to the internet — which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration — and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right.

So much media attention on the elections of Iran.  A lot on the massive rallies, including security forces apparently shooting into the crowd, possibly killing one.

I don’t recall that much US media coverage on the rallies in the Philippines, the breaking up of opposition parties who oppose GMA, attacks on the Philippine Press, or even of the shooting and killing of “pro-reform” demonstrators.

While the world seemed concerned about the abduction of Americans in North Korea, hardly a peep about an American tortured by the Philippine government.

Oh US media…  you don’t even attempt to hide or conceal your bias anymore, do you?

How the Philippine Embassy manipulates the news to create a nice image…  

Below is a press release from the Phil. Embassy that the economy is doing ok per the NY Times.  Below this, I have put the actual op/ed piece.  The Phil. Embassy selects only the favorable parts and prop it up as the whole article.

Essentially the actual article ends by saying the Philippines needs national industrialization and not OFWs and call centers.  Yet the Embassy selects certain quotes to make it sound like the opposite. 

Philippine Embassy
News Release
12 May 2009

RP is ok thus far, says New York Times

The Philippines, which lagged behind its more economically progressive
neighbors in Asia in previous years, is now outperforming most of its East
and Southeast Asian neighbors, and will continue to make headway at least
for a couple more years.

This assessment appeared in the New York Times which cited the Philippines
for its improved economic management amid the global crisis.

The article, written by Philip Bowring, said the Philippines’ expects a
gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 2 to 3 percent this year—a rate
superior to its East Asian peers except China and Vietnam, and a sharp
contrast to the negative growths elsewhere.

The Philippines registered an average growth rate of 4.5 percent in the
past seven years.

The New York Times said the relatively strong performance this year of the
Philippines will be due to its biggest long-term weakness—reliance on
overseas workers’ remittances which account for 10 percent of GDP and the
bulk of its foreign exchange earnings.

Though remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are expected to
weaken from $16 billion in 2008, the remittances have held up well thus far.

A second bright spot—in contrast with the woes of the Asian electronics
manufacturing sectors — is in call centers and business process outsourcing
(BPO) which should keep growing, albeit more slowly, it said.

Business outsourcing absorbs some educated labor but does little for the
unskilled, the NYT article said.

Another boost will come from government spending in badly needed
infrastructure, health and education which have been made possible by
stabilizing fiscal position over several years that brought interest rates
and the cost of debt servicing down, it added.

Even agriculture, long a drag on the economy, has been achieving steady
growth of 3 percent a year with increased investment and higher prices, the
NYT reported.

In his article, Bowring said the bottomline in the Philippines’ good
economic performance is that it did not depend on export manufacturing,
which, however, was also a weakness in that the country failed to use its
abundant labor force.

Industry accounted for only 33 percent of output and has been declining for
three decades. Philippine infrastructure is poor because of low budget
revenues and the dominance of a few big groups in its commercial life has
become a disincentive, the NYT report said.

It said that Philippine labor will continue to be sought
overseas—particularly in East Asia, which is aging fast. The country may be
able to build on gains in fiscal stability and balance of payments
equilibrium.

Remittances will remain less vulnerable than manufactured exports to global
developments, it said.

Reference:
Consul Gines Gallaga
Press and Information Officer
Email: ggallaga@cox.net
Tel: 202-467-9432

 ————————–

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/opinion/05iht-edbowring.html?_r=1

MANILA — “So the last will be first…”

It may be premature, but the Philippine economy looks as though it may outperform most of its East and Southeast Asian neighbors, at least for a couple of years. That says something about improvements in economic management, and much more about the different ways in which countries are being affected by the global crisis.

The Philippines expects GDP to grow by 2 to 3 percent this year, a rate superior to anything in East Asia other than China and Vietnam, and a sharp contrast to the negative numbers elsewhere.

This would follow seven years of an average of 4.5 percent growth. That may not sound like much to boast about, particularly in a country with a population increasing by 2 percent a year, but it’s high by local standards and the most sustained improvement since the mid-1970s.

So has the Philippines really turned a corner?

The relatively strong performance this year will be largely due to what is also the Philippines’ biggest long-term weakness — reliance on overseas worker remittances, which account for 10 percent of GDP and the bulk of foreign exchange earnings.

Although these are now expected to fall from the $16 billion that Philippines abroad sent home in 2008, such remittances have held up well thus far.

A second bright spot — in contrast with the woes of Asian electronics manufacturing — can be found in call centers and business process outsourcing, which should keep growing, albeit more slowly.

Another boost will come from government spending. The success that the Arroyo government has had in stabilizing the fiscal position over several years has allowed interest rates to come down, reducing the cost of debt service and making room for money to be spent on badly needed infrastructure, health and education.

Even agriculture, long a drag on the economy, has been achieving steady growth of 3 percent a year thanks to increased investment and higher prices.

The bottom line in all this is that the Philippines is doing relatively well because of its lack of dependence on export manufacturing. But therein also lies it greatest weakness — the failure to make use, at home, of its abundant labor force.

Industry accounts for only 33 percent of output and has been in decline for three decades. Physical infrastructure is poor mainly because of low budget revenues. Governance issues and the dominance of a few big groups in commercial life are further disincentives.

Remittances have become a crutch which sustain consumption but do little for investment, other than in housing, and are unevenly distributed. Business outsourcing absorbs some educated labor but does little for the unskilled.

Despite several years of positive GDP growth, according to one survey the poverty level actually rose between 2003 and 2006. Inequality has certainly risen.

Of course, there is nothing in principle to stop the country continuing on today’s path for several years once the global economy has overcome its current difficulties.

Philippine labor will continue to be sought overseas — particularly in an East Asia, which is aging fast. The country may be able to build on gains in fiscal stability and balance-of-payments equilibrium. Remittances will remain less vulnerable than manufactured exports to global developments.

Yet without a much broader industrial base, without much bigger commitments to long term investments, public and private, and better governance, it is hard to see the Philippines breaking out of a 40-year pattern of relative decline.

Unbreakable
dir. M. Night Shyamalan
107 minutes
2000

M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable stars Bruce Willis as David Dunn, an ordinary, working class man in Philadelphia with marital problems who miraculously survives unscathed from a train wreck as the only survivor.  Helping him uncover the mystery behind this is Elijah Price whose bones are as fragile as glass, played by Samuel L. Jackson.  Elijah is a comic book collector and owns an art gallery.  Growing up in a working class neighborhood, Elijah turned to comics as a release and an escape from the harsh realities of being a disabled kid. 

Elijah’s insight is that comics are actually a historical form of storytelling of the existence of superhumans, but whose message has been watered down through the commercialization and commoditization of the genre.  Such superhuman ability might have evolved from superior instincts for example.  As both Elijah and David test these theories, David starts to discover more about possibly having extraordinary abilities.  Unbreakable serves then as an origin story of a hero slowly discovering who he is and how he reacts to these insights.

For me, the movie is probably the most realistic portrayal of what a hero/villain storyline and origin story might look like if it were to really happen.  Years before the shows Heroes & Smallville, the flood of Marvel movies, or the Watchmen movie, there was Unbreakable.   With the recent ascent of “superhero” movies and shows, including ones that feature “ordinary people” with extraordinary abilities, Unbreakable feels the most realistic.

But I’m curious to know how folks feel who are bigger comic book nerds than me.  What is your take on Unbreakable?  Given the amount of comic book storylines and themes coming out now in movies and television, how does Unbreakable rank?

On Technology

“The biggest irony in the world today is that science and technology can effect industrial development and eliminate poverty but is used by the multinational firms and banks to exploit the people of the world, extract superprofits and debt service from them, deprive them of the boon of development and consign them to worsening levels of poverty.”

On Human Rights

“There can be an effective advocacy and militant defense of human rights only by knowing who are the violators of human rights and who are the victims and by recognizing that the people themselves can fight for their human rights through the national democratic movement.”

“The substantive scope of human rights covers not only civil and political rights, but also the economic, social and cultural rights of the Filipino people.  The people assert and fight for the full scope of human rights in their struggle for national and social liberation.”

On the Environment

“In extracting superprofits and debt service from the third world, the foreign monopoly capitalists are the biggest plunderers of human and natural resources and despoilers and polluters of the natural environment.  The environmental issue as well as the demand for sustainable development can be seriously addressed only by criticizing and repudiating imperialism and by struggling for liberation.”

On Education

“Academic freedom is not merely a protective mantle for cultivating an egotistic and self-gratifying type of enlightenment and expertise or for undertaking the study, training and research program approved by the capitalist state and its monopoly firms.”

“Aside from being the keeper and disseminator of received knowledge, the university promotes the advance of knowledge to a new and higher level for the sake of social progress.  It has the obligation to perform critical and creative functions in the contemporary world.  Here lies social responsibility that leads to social progress.”

“The bourgeois mode of thinking dominant in society inevitably circulates in or pervades your university at the present time.  The monopoly bourgeois never ceases to influence the university in the capitalist world.  In addition to the tuition fees paid by the students, funds and other resources are received by the university from the state and from the capitalist firms and certain requirements consistent with the demands of capitalism are attached to these resources.” 

On Economic Crisis

“The capitalist crisis of overproduction is actually being accelerated by high technology and a shrinking world market due to the penury and indebtedness of the client states.  In the rush to become more efficient and more profitable, the monopoly capitalist firms are now laying off both blue and white collar workers with the latter becoming more and more vulnerable to replacement by computers, and are forcing smaller firms into mergers and bankruptcies.

“The ongoing crisis of the world capitalist system is a crisis of overproduction.  The production of surplus industrial and agricultural goods is now coming on top of a long depressed South and East of the world, which had earlier suffered from the overproduction of raw materials and deteriorating terms of trade for these and are reeling from mounting deficits and foreign debt.  The crisis of overproduction has been accelerated by the unprecedented internationalization of  capital since the end of World War II and by the application of high technology in the production of surplus manufactures and raw materials which cannot be disposed of profitably.  Now, there is a depression of the world market as a result of the overproduction and the massive amount of bad debts.  Overconsumption by the US has made it the biggest deficit-spender and the biggest debtor-country.  The tighter integration of such huge markets as those of China, India and the Soviet Union in the world capitalist system in the 1980’s have only served to aggravate the crisis of overproduction.”

“At the moment, the rapacity of the big bourgeoisie is becoming more and more obvious in the industrial capitalist countries as unemployment increase, social cutbacks are made, public enterprises are privatized, the wealthy and the monopolies are given tax breaks and public funds are further appropriated for the welfare of private corporations at the expense of the people.”

On Philippine Urbanization

“The increase in city population form 19.8% of the total national population in 1960 to 21% in 1990 is not really big and does not necessarily mean either real urbanization or industrialization.  Only a small portion of the urban population enjoys such amenities as piped-in water and electricity.  In fact, the conditions of rural backwardness and poverty are brought into the cities by the huge reserve army of labor (unemployed) coming in from the countryside.”

On Peace Talks

“True to its revolutionary principles, the NDFP does not accept the GRP Constitution as the sole and one-sided legal and political frame of negotiations and refuses to be drawn at the outset to the line of “restoring trust and confidence in GRP.”  Neither does the NDFP demand that the GRP submit itself to the NDFP Constitution and Program.   Instead, the NDFP proposes such mutually acceptable principles as national sovereignty, democracy, social justice and the like and the agreements still to be made as the legal and political frame of negotiations.”

On Mistaken Ideas of Socialism

“The Chinese revisionists have caricatured socialism as nothing more than an absolutely egalitarian supply system based on permanent poverty, a pot from which everyone gets his equal rice share irrespective of the quantity and quality of work done, as if there had been no system of wage differentials under Mao, and no possibility of moral incentives and civic sense.”

BAYAN USA Limbers Up for a Great Leap Forward

Alliance of Filipino Organizations in the U.S. Marks Its Third Congress with Two Protests Against the Visiting Forces Agreement, Election of New Officers, and Launch of Three Year Action Plan