PNoy’s SONA 2013: AYEs Have It!

I like PNoy’s SONA this year.  First, by choosing to deliver his address in Pilipino, he was making sure that his target audience, meaning his “bosses” – the Filipino people, could understand in the clearest terms his report and message.  Second, he supported his address and report with specific facts and figures – numbers that everybody understands; that tell better stories; and that even the severest critics find hard to argue against.

Many did not like the speech for being lengthy (100 minutes).  My barber’s response to that is, “It better be long if you have an extensive list of achievements that your bosses should know.”

Some criticize it because it excluded many things that they believe should be included.  To them my barber says, “Then, the SONA would really be too long.”

Last year, I used ABS-CBN News Tracker of PNoy’s promises vs. performance to date as my basis for my objective analysis to go with my subjective one.   This year, I am again using ABS-CBN News Tracker but focusing on how PNoy’s bosses assess his performance based on 10 categories related to his promises.

The categories are:  1. Economy, Jobs, Asset Reform.; 2. Education, Sports; 3. Government and Ethics; 4. Health and Environment; 5. Tourism; 6. Government and Justice; 7. Urban Poor; 8. Mindanao; 9. OFWS and Foreign Affairs; 10. National Security.

The public is asked on what their view is on PNoy’s performance: aprub (APPROVE);  ayos lang (JUST OK or FAIR);  or an’yare (FAILED).

Over all, ABS-CBN News reported the following results:

APPROVE:     53%

FAIR:              17%

FAILED:         30%

Called upon to fulfill his promises in 6 years, majority of those who expressed their views approve of his 3-year performance so far.   About 17% of them believe that while the state of the nation is AYOS LANG (Just OK), they want him to do more and better.   About 30% think that he is a failure.  According to my barber, the naysayers are being true to form.  They will always think PNoy is a failure even if he performs “miracles”.

PNoy obtained the highest approval from his bosses in Tourism and National Security.  PNoy got 62% and 63% approval of his performance in the 2 categories, respectively.

I am not surprised! The “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign generated more than 4 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2012 alone.  It could generate 5.5 million in 2013.  My barber encourages his customers to “Book it!  Philippines is the place to be!”

On National Security, Aquino promised modernization of the Philippine military.  In December 2012, he signed the AFP Modernization Act that renewed, for another 15 years, the modernization of the armed forces to the “tune of P75 billion for the first 5 years.”  This means that we now see a continuous upgrading of weapons, hardware and equipment for the military. In fact, according the ABS-CBN report, the military is already acquiring Hamilton-class cutters, FA-50 multi-role fighter jets; new radar systems, close air-support aircraft, flight simulator machines, Bell 412 combat utility helicopters, armored vehicles, assault rifles, long-range patrol aircraft,  anti-aircraft guided missiles, multiple launch rocket systems, 155mm self-propelled artillery guns,  service support vessels, an anti-submarine helicopter, and AW109 naval helicopters.

The police forces are getting modernized too.  ABS-CBN says that on July 2, 2013, Aquino led the distribution of over 22,000 Glock 17-generation 4, 9-mm pistols to police officers. This is the biggest batch of firearms distributed so far of the 59,904 pistols acquired by the Philippine National Police last year.

He performed worst in the following categories:  OFWS and Foreign Affairs as well as Government and Justice.   Less than 50% of his bosses approve of his performance in these 2 areas (38% and 43%, respectively) while 15% and 18% respectively say, Ayos Lang.  Of course, the optimists would add the 2 ratings and end up with 53% and 61% and hope that better things would come.  The naysayers on the other hand, would claim hopelessness in these categories.

The expose on Sex for Flight regarding OFW women actually stains the efforts of the government and PNoy’s promise to protect them.  The wheels of justice are still slow.  There still exists that Wang-Wang mentality or Culture of Impunity in the judiciary.  Powers that be still think they can get away with murder.  Corruption in the judicial process remains unabated.

He chose to criticize publicly the performance of 3 agencies in his administration namely: Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Immigration, and the National Irrigation Administration.  These are all breeding grounds of corruption.  Many of the corrupted have been in the bureaucracy for years protected by the Civil Service System and their political “padrinos”.

I do not know about the other 2 but in the Bureau of Customs, putting honest men like Biazon and General Lim would not have been enough.  You had to provide them full support (political, legal, and logistical) to go after the well-entrenched protectors of the status quo.

The amount of responsibility that one has is always commensurate to the amount of power and resources that he possesses to meet that responsibility.  

As president, PNoy has tremendous powers and resources that he could use or delegate to his agencies to fulfill their mandates.  There are enough laws to enforce.  The government has the COA, the NBI, the DOJ, the Ombudsman, PCGG and other enforcement agencies to go after the thieves and the corrupt in government.

S.AL.N. (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth) and other constitutional provisions brought down a very powerful but corrupt Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  The same could easily be used to remove, suspend, or reform corrupt employees not only of the judiciary but also of other agencies regardless of whether they are protected by Civil Service or by their political “padrinos”.

As I suggested earlier, lead a S.A.L.N. Revolution.  Get rid of the undesirables!

One of the better lines in PNoy’s SONA was how savings in government would be used for education, health, housing, infrastructure, and the like.  Citing examples made them very credible.  

The abolition of the pork barrel would precisely generate tremendous savings that could be used for the services mentioned.  Or as a compromise, the earmarks specified for the services could be transferred to the Local Development Councils (LDCs).  The interested Congressman or Senator could claim credit if he wants to.

The Cory Constitution already guarantees freedom of Information.  In fact, it is in the Bill of Rights and therefore, self-executing.  PNoy may choose to issue an Executive Order or push for the passage of the FOI Bill.  Either way, he would silence his critics but at the same time restricting or limiting any abuse.  

PORK Barrel, POLITICAL Dynasty, PEOPLE’s Initiative

Three of my last six articles in this column/blog had been devoted to the Battle Against Political Dynasty.  Two were on protecting the Philippine Archipelago through the use of unmanned vehicles.  One was on the surveillance programs of the NSA as revealed by fugitive NSA contractor Edward Snowden.  

Readers found them interesting because they are getting also the perspective of a barber, his clients who could be learned, sophisticated, of some ordinary or substantial means, and of course, me.  The topics also happened to be in the headlines when the columns were written.

Of all the responses or comments that I received on the Political Dynasty columns, there was one that caught my attention.  It came from Manuel Valdehuesa, a friend from a while back who has consistently advocated socio-political reforms for about half a century now.

He wrote, “Actually this issue is intimately linked with the

‘Amass capital for elections, dynasty-building and self-enrichment.’

With an annual allocation of P200 M (half for "soft" Pork involving cash outlays, half for "hard" involving infrastructure) one term in the senate nets P1.2 billion ++ to play around with, tax-free and practically no accountability.

Same in the House though with only proliferation not only of dynasties but also of insurgency.  Imagine, from practically nothing, the front organizations of the NDF-CPP - collectively every year to subsidize their parliamentary/street-level operations, their armed depredations in provinces, and their collection of 'revolutionary" taxes and permit-to-campaign fees.

Meanwhile, relatives in government like the Cayetano and Ejercito siblings in the senate can buy all the votes they need with tax-free money and "contributions" which are actually loans payable during their terms. Pork and Dynasty are the twin issues causing dry rot in all local jurisdictions.”

This was before the news media headlined the involvement of “28 Philippine Solons Re Pork Barrel Scam.”  My barber and I agree with Manny Valdehuesa.  So do many of our readers and right thinking Filipinos!

PORK BARREL

Couched with high-sounding description, “Priority Development Assistance Fund” (PDAF), Filipino legislators are allocated large sums of the annual budget (P200M for each senator and P70M for each representative) to supposedly finance certain development projects of their choice (in the case of the senators) and/or in their districts (in the case of representatives).  The total allocation is about 25 billion pesos annually.

Most, if not all Filipinos, know that many of the legislators have always conspired with contractors, NGOs, and other beneficiaries of the PDAF so that a certain percentage of the allocation would be kicked back to the legislators.  The percentage ranges from 20-40 %.  At least, in this scenario, 60-80% are assumed to benefit the citizens even with less service and less quality for sure.

My barber describes the practice of sharing the pork as “bringing home the bacon”, “hamon pamasko”, “pulutang lechon kawali, crispy pata, or roasted pig.”  They are all great recipes for pork.  It initially benefited some members of the community; it eventually became an exclusive family affair.  Hence, the ardent desire for control – creating political dynasties.

 

(From: Inquirer.net)

To many of these legislators, greed and the uncontrollable desire for power and control have led them to ask for more.  Thus – resulting in the SCAM where the only beneficiaries are the legislators and the scammers.  ZERO percent went to citizens.  The latter became last priority in the development assistance funding.

ALTERNATIVE CONGRESS – PEOPLE’s INITIATIVE

Presidents always found it hard to give up this “pork barrel” practice because they use it as a leverage to extract concessions from Congress.  There are powers that only the legislature possesses that, at times, Presidents need to pursue their executive agenda.

There is rampant corruption because of pork barrel.  There is pork barrel in order to satisfy the cravings of a greedy Congress virtually controlled by political dynasties.  

Remove political dynasties as mandated by the Cory Constitution.  Remove pork barrel, which causes corruption and the proliferation of dynasties.  Use the People’s Initiative as an alternative to Congress.  The Cory Constitution provides it.  

“Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.”  Reduce corruption and you reduce poverty.  Use the pork money in the battle against poverty.

To President Benigno Aquino III: you said it before and let me, as my barber would say, “repeat it again, once more, twice for the second and the nth time” regarding the importance of legislation – “There are enough laws in the Philippines.  We just have to enforce or execute them efficiently and effectively.”

Most importantly, the Cory Constitution provides a people-powered alternative to Congressional legislation.  It does not require pork barrel or paying off legislators.  The people would gladly invest with minimal effort – SIGNATURE.  The return would be tremendous – BRIGHT FUTURE.

USE IT!

Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV): Made in the Philippines?

In last week’s column, I wrote about an opportunity in the 1990s for the Philippines to access the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), otherwise known as Drone technology.  I also mentioned the possibility of making Philippine UAVs to go with the opportunity.

What I did not mention was that the next project after UAV would have been what was called at the time Unmanned Water or Marine Vehicles project. The official term for it now is Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV).

For almost the same military uses primarily protecting the Philippine Archipelago’s maritime territories; for their civilian functionalities; and commercial applications, I thought at the time that the Philippines should also acquire the USV technology.

About two weeks ago, the Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera visited the Philippines.  He met with Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, signed a couple of agreements, and later on co-hosted a press conference.  

At the conference they announced that the Philippines would establish basing arrangements with both the US and Japanese militaries.  Foreign Minister Onodera also pledged to help the Philippines defend “its remote islands” in its dispute against China regarding the waters of the South China Sea.  

Furthermore, Onodera also mentioned that Japan would officially back the Philippine’s claim of territorial sovereignty which is currently being adjudicated by the United National Commission on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).  Such unprecedented support validates the Philippine legal claim to the disputed waters.

I am not privy to the discussions between and among the Japanese, American, and Philippine government officials.  But I sincerely hope that it included not just the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as practiced by Philippine and U.S. Naval forces during their joint exercises but also the use of Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs).

USV-UAV

Based on my research, outside of the United States and Israel, Japan has one of the most sophisticated and most advanced USVs in the world.  Compared to China, which is only in the conceptual design phase, Japan has already developed fully operational USVs with full military as well as civilian and commercial uses.

Japan’s Yamaha, for example, developed two USVs – the Unmanned Marine Vehicle High –Speed  (UMV-H) and the Unmanned Marine Vehicle Ocean (UMV-O).

This is how a USV Research and survey describes the two:

“The UMV-H is a deep-V mass-produced hull, equipped with 90 KW to go 40 knots using water-jet propulsion.  The boat can be used either manned or unmanned.  At a length of 4.44 m, the craft is small enough to be loaded on a small cutter, but large enough to accommodate all necessary equipment and instruments such as under-water cameras (ROV) and sonar equipment.

The UMV-O is an ocean-going USV with displacement hull. It is used primarily in applications involving monitoring of bio-geo-chemical, physical parameters of the oceans and atmosphere that put the long-distance capabilities of the vehicle to effective use. “

If the Philippines is able to access and even acquire the Japanese USV technology, together they would be able to protect themselves against Chinese bullying without the risk of losing more lives.  Furthermore, Filipino seafarers, sailors or seamen who already man most of the Japanese ships, could also be relied upon to help in mass-producing the USVs perhaps in Subic.  The Philippines could also work with the Japanese in developing and training a new brand of sailors to operate these USVs.

I am familiar with some of the USVs developed and used by the United States.  They are not limited to military uses.  Some are productive in combating maritime problems such as piracy and human trafficking.  They are also ideal for Philippine use in stopping smuggling and counter narcotics as well as preventing piracy.  They could also be used during the floods and in search and rescue operations.    

I understand that unmanned civilian boats created for leisure have begun operating.

We supply the seamen or crews for most of the ships in the world.  Such sailors have been remitting more than $4B annually to the Philippines.  Their contribution to the Philippine economy is undeniable.

We graduate about 300,000 seamen every year.  It would be wise if we eventually train our graduates to operate USVs as well.  

UAV – Made in the Philippines

In recent days, the headlines in the Philippine news media are the joint exercises of naval forces from the Philippines and the United States.  Fully aware of the threat that the Philippines faces in its maritime territories, this certainly is good news to many Filipinos like me who really prefer peaceful and legal means to resolve conflicts.

Although these joint naval exercises have been going on for the last 19 years, this sharing of techniques in sea reconnaissance has gained greater significance.  Added to the plan of PNoy to shore up the country’s capabilities in patrolling its maritime territories and by cooperating with the United States, the Philippines hopes to contribute in “maintaining regional security, addressing trafficking and smuggling, and responding to disasters”.

According to the news, the use of America’s unmanned aerial system, which can be used for sea surveillance and convoy, and tracking target positions, was demonstrated.  Weighing only 6 kilos, the Kevlar radio-controlled UAV can fly up to 10,000 feet at speed of 40 nautical miles.  “Images taken by a camera inside the unit can be monitored by squadron members on the boat.  It is also capable of capturing infrared images,” the report also stated.

In the 1990s, I had the privilege of representing one of the pioneers of the UAV technology – BAI AEROSYSTEMS.    The representation was to exclusively sell their systems to the Philippines and to Southeast Asian allies who would qualify and be cleared for technology transfer.

At the time, BAI’s UAV system was already being used by the U.S. Military especially in the Persian Gulf War with great success.  I remember bringing the Philippine Naval/Military Attaché to the manufacturing and training facility of BAI in Easton, Maryland for demonstration.  We noticed that some Israeli military experts were also visiting and checking out the technology.  The attaché committed to support my efforts.

Convinced that the Philippines, being an archipelago would really need and benefit by the acquisition of such a technologically advanced system, I decided to pursue it more aggressively.  I communicated and met with the military’s UAV Coordination, National Disaster Coordination, and the Self-Reliance Program Director who would all benefit in the acquisition and use of the technology.  In one of his Washington visits, I also met with the Secretary of National Defense.  I presented to him the beneficiality, necessity, and practicability of the technology at that time.

I went further.  With the help of a Colonel friend who was in touch with the Congressional committees on defense, we got an allocation for the UAV inserted in the Defense budget.  In fact, the amount was almost identical to the quote I had earlier proposed.  It became part of the budget by law!

My interest in having the UAV technology transferred to the Philippines was not just for its military uses although it was pre-eminent.  Based on the Master Plan that I accessed and my discussions with the Founding President of BAI and his very skilled Vice-President both of whom I befriended, the UAV technology also has several civil and commercial uses.

MILITARY – SELF-RELIANCE

Knowing the importance of monitoring and protecting the Philippine Archipelago including its maritime territories recognized by International Law, I saw the necessity of being able to build and manufacture a Philippine UAV.  It required the transfer of technology.  I negotiated it and got it.  BAI and I were convinced that we would not have any problem getting the U.S. State Department approval.  The BAI President who is Jewish American thought that the Philippines was as close an ally as Israel of the United States.

After relaying this development to the Philippine military’s Self-Reliance Program Director, he suggested that we would eventually work with the Mapua Institute of Technology to start building a Philippine UAV.  I had no objection but the military had to buy the BAI UAV system first.

CIVIL GOVERNMENT AGENCY APPLICATIONS

UAVs that are now known as DRONEs could perform one or more of the following functions:

1. Carry sensors (such as video, infrared, radar, and chemical);
2. Carry communications relays;
3. Carry cargo

The Department of Agriculture can use them for:

1. Pesticide & Fertilizer spraying;
2. Insect sampling (bug catching);
3. Farm Management

The Postal Service can use them for Package Delivery; the Bureau of Customs for Counternarcotic and Smuggling surveillance; the NBI for surveillance of suspects, search and rescue operations; the National Disaster Coordinating Council for surveying and assessing disaster areas, facilitating relief operations, and relaying communications; the Transportation Department for traffic and highway surveying and monitoring, mapping and surveillance for illegal aliens; and many other agencies of the government.

PRIVATE COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS

In a meeting with the executives of one of the largest TV stations in the Philippines, I introduced the benefits of the UAV system for media purposes.  It could serve as an “EYE in the SKY” with the installation of overhead cameras for news and special events coverage.

It could also act as the equivalent to a low-altitude satellite for communication relay; monitoring and reconnaissance of fishing areas; monitoring of shipping hazards; overnight package and mail delivery in small towns and isolated islands; tree spotting and tree removal; gas and oil pipeline monitoring; searching for mineral and fossil fuel deposits; aerial monitoring of rail lines and trains; and many more.

We failed to consummate a deal that would have benefitted our country then and obviously now.  I never considered it a failure – only a “suspended success” as my late father would say.

I understand that BAI Aerosystems, Inc. has been acquired by one of the biggest suppliers of drones to the U.S. military. The latter maintains its manufacturing and training facilities in Easton, Md.   It has offices in Virginia and in Texas.  The new company absorbed BAI personnel including my Vice President friend.

There are now new rules and policies governing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.  But the value of acquiring this technology for the protection and defense of Philippine maritime territories at this point in our history requires a firmer determination on the part of PNoy to pursue it.

PNoy’s legacy of fighting corruption in the government especially in the military would be enhanced and past corrupt practices negated if the acquisition is pursued with no taint of corruption.   

The civilian and commercial uses of the technology cannot be ignored.  They could contribute to economic development exponentially.