'Choking on sanctimony'

Cast of The Newsroom: Charlie (Waterston), MacKenzie (Mortimer) and Will (Daniels)


This month the series The Newsroom starts on HBO in Asia. The show stars Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy, an intelligent, popular but temperamental news anchor; Emily Mortimer as MacKenzie McHale, his ex-girlfriend who has been brought in to be his executive producer; and Sam Waterston as Charlie Skinner, the network president. The series was created by Aaron Sorkin of The West Wing and The Social Network fame.

Let me spoil it a bit for you: Will loses his entire staff after an outburst. Charlie hires MacKenzie to be the executive producer – without Will’s knowledge, because they had a bitter separation. MacKenzie sets out to re-define how Will and his program deliver the news – with less sensationalism and more integrity. They work through various actual episodes in the US’ recent history: The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the passage of the Arizona law against illegal immigrants, the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

MacKenzie leads the young staff to put together the kind of news she – and she thinks, Will – wants delivered. She makes some of the big speeches on the show, like:

“People will want the news if you give it to them with integrity.”

“I am talking about reclaiming the Fourth Estate, reclaiming journalism as an honorable profession…civility, respect, a return to what’s important – the death of bitchiness, gossip, voyeurism…speaking truth to stupid.”

Charlie has acknowledged orchestrating the overhaul because he wants content to drive ratings, not the other way around.

The show, which started airing in the United States last month, has received mixed reviews. Mediocre, says Forbes, as it points out that HBO has lifted the more favorable phrases from the Times, Time and Salon, which gave generally negative reviews, in order to show that they were raving about The Newsroom instead. While it was portrayed as having “wit, sophistication and manic energy,” another critic said the show, at its worst, “choked on its own sanctimony”.

**

So who has the right to tell media how exactly to do their job? Does Sorkin, or HBO?

Does the President?

Here at home, President Benigno Aquino III has been known to castigate some members of media for portraying the country – and his administration – in a bad light. In his State-of-the-Nation Address last week, he said: “…there were those who belittled our government’s performance…there are still those who refuse to cease spreading negativity; they who keep their mouths pursed to good news, and have created an industry out of criticism.”

Several days later, during the anniversary party of BusinessWorld, the President said: “The news should be about informing the readers—about giving them accurate, timely, and contextualized facts, both the good and the bad, so that they can decide for themselves what to feel…we must veer away from negativity and sensationalism. These must not run the course of our national discussions."

Mr. Aquino had the same message during the TV Patrol anniversary on the same day. This time, however, he alluded to the former Vice President Noli de Castro and chided the latter for criticizing the administration without basis, and even after he was in government for six years under Mrs. Gloria Arroyo.

To his credit, Mr. Aquino said he did not mean that media should refrain from criticism. He only did not like media criticizing all the time. Comments should have basis in fact and be put in context. Sensationalism for ratings’ sake must be thrown out the window.

Many sectors of media however take offense to this. It does sound as though the President is taking them (us?) to task for reporting the bad news more than the good news. But how is it possible that an organization can only have negative things to say about the administration? It is a given that those who criticize without basis have no business forming opinion in the first place. Fact is not the opposite of opinion but its building block.

I agree that the positive as well as the negative must be reported. But I can understand how others may resent that the President feels he must lecture us on this. The press exists independently of the government. It must air or publish, commend or criticize, as it sees fit.

Mr. Aquino must also do away with the thinking that every criticism of the administration’s moves is a put down of his person. It's not about him! Believe it or not, nobody has the monopoly of good intentions in this country. We want a better Philippines, too, even though we are not government cheerleaders.

Oh yes, we must agree – to disagree. Only this ensures that democracy is kept alive and well. And while he’s extolling the virtues of “good” journalism, maybe Mr. Aquino can set an example and set the passage of the freedom of information law into motion. That would really show us he is sincere and not just putting on an attitude.



adellechua@gmail.com

Petty crime

One stormy evening, a thirty-something woman climbed into an air-conditioned bus, relieved that she was on the last leg of her trip north from the office. She noted with relief that it was not raining again – not yet. She figured she could be home in 45 minutes, max. She wondered whether the weather would improve the next day.

As she made her way to the vacant seats at the back, she noticed that a man in a white shirt and with a bulging black backpack was closely trailing her – no, almost pushing her to the back rows. She stopped on her tracks and refused to budge.

Suddenly she became aware that the music playing through her ears had stopped. She felt for her headset at the outside pocket of her faux-leather bag. The cell phone it had been attached to – nothing fancy, just a white-and-beige Nokia C3 in a neat denim case – was not there.

Another man, this one in a black shirt, asked her to move to the back. Again she refused to move. She could faintly hear John Mayer singing “City Love” somewhere -- the phone automatically goes into loudspeaker mode if the headset is removed. Where was it? Was this a bad dream?

She looked around. She was still standing at the middle of the bus and a few other passengers were climbing in. The man in white had sat down but she did not take his eyes off him and that suspicious bulging bag. This as she rummaged through her bag to make sure she was indeed missing her phone.

“You took my cell phone,” she told him in Tagalog, pointing to his jeans pocket. If she were wearing a theft detector, she was sure the sirens would be screaming by now. She knew he took it. It was in his pocket, or his bag, or with his companion. People had started staring at them.

He fished out a phone from his pocket. “Hey, I have a phone, I did not take yours,” White said as he showed her a beaten-down unit, his own.

Black came nearer from where he was standing at the back and pointed out that there was a bottleneck already caused by her standing beside White’s seat. White told her: “Don’t go around accusing people of taking your things. It’s embarrassing.” Black then looked at his friend and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

Black and White alighted even though they had climbed in at the same stop – at the corner of Edsa and Quezon Avenue just below the MRT station -- where the woman did.

The woman was sidetracked by White’s comment that she was unfairly accusing him. What if he were right? What if it was just inside her bag? It would really be unfair to publicly accuse somebody of doing something he did not do.

As soon as the two men were out of the bus, however, a wave of enlightenment through hindsight and regret at not having stopped them overcame the woman. And then she knew what she would have done had she not been sidetracked.

She would have stood at the door of the bus and refused to let them alight. She would have asked them to open their bags in front of all the other passengers. She would have had the others’ support. She would have asked one of the passengers to call her number and watch out for the ring tone.

But they were gone. The dark and the drizzle that had begun had swallowed them already. Were they reading her messages now? Sending prank texts to her contacts, viewing her photos, listening to the songs she had stored?

The woman took her seat as other passengers started talking to her, consoling her, telling her that they thought those two guys did it, too. “What was your cell phone unit?” the girl on her left asked. “Oh good thing it was not an iPhone or something that expensive.”

This was little consolation. By this time, the bus had started cruising along Edsa, picking up more passengers as though nothing had happened. The woman found herself shaking – not really in fear, or a sense of loss, but in anger and indignation.
Those guys must have been congratulating each other by then, for escaping such a close call. “She almost had us, but in the end we had her,” they must be saying.

Her seatmate continued to comfort her even as she tried to maintain a cool exterior amid her shaking. “There’s the law of karma,” the girl reminded her. “Be thankful you did not lose anything else and that they did not hurt you.” When the girl alighted, she said: “Just take even more care next time.” The kindness of strangers!

But some strangers are vicious and shameless, too.

To all those in my phone book, please disregard my number right away. I will get back to you once I have obtained a new unit and a new number. And, rain or shine, at whatever time of day, don’t let your guard down. Sometimes people are just waiting for the opportunity to do you wrong, in big or little ways.

Announcements

On rainy days a generation ago, school children or their elders had to get up at 4 in the morning to listen to the AM radio and find out whether the DECS -- the Department of Educatio, Culture and Sports -- had already issued class suspensions.

My grandmother was an avid listener of Pang Yabut's program, which began, if I am not mistaken, at that same hour.

Mr. Yabut was fond of playing old songs interspersed with announcements of "Acebedo Optical, Acebedo Optical, Acebedo Optical". He must have been a firm believer in the power of repetition.

I remember the soothing and slightly effeminate voice of a DECS official, Dr. Nilo Rosas, who would bring the announcement and then remind parents they always had the choice to let their kids go to school depending on the situation at their place, and regardless of the announcement.

Sometimes no announcements would come in time and I would have to dress up, get brought to school (later get fetched by the school service when I grew older), get rained on, only to find out at the gate that school was out.

These days it is so much easier. The DECS is now the Deped, or the Department of Education. An executive order has relegated the task of suspending classes to local government leaders.

One has television, the Internet, cell phones. If one is lucky, the school's Web site may issue an announcement. A progressive mayor may announce his or her decision in a Twitter account -- so follow your mayor. Television networks issue announcements from LGUs and schools promptly.

Aksyon TV was how I got to know of the announcements today. Elmo is under Valenzuela, Sophie under Caloocan, Bea follows the suspension decisions of UP Diliman (she goes to Kalayaan College) and Josh's UST is of course notorious for flooding.

So now it's a rainy Monday and kids are home and if the water service only came back now it would otherwise be a perfect day.

A burning issue

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte has yet to reply to or even acknowledge receipt of a letter sent her by the organization Healthcare Without Harm. The letter, sent July 16, persuades the mayor not to use Pyroclave technology, as proposed by RAD Green Solutions, in dealing with both infectious and non-infectious hospital waste in her city.

According to www.pyroclave.com, Pyroclave uses “the process of pyrolysis, a non-incineration thermal process where wastes are decomposed at very high temperatures without oxygen.”

In fact, an item at the Philippine Information Agency Web site in early June says that RAD has presented its Pyroclave technology to the city as non-burn and thus environmentally safe. Duterte is reportedly seriously considering the proposal.

But HCWH executive director for Southeast Asia Merci Ferrer believes that while pyrolisis is a fancy term, it’s still burn technology. She cites a study by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, titled “Incinerators in Disguise,” which says those with names like “’gasification,’ ‘pyrolysis,’ ‘plasma arc,’ and ‘waste-to-energy’ all emit dioxins and other harmful pollutants, despite industry claims that they are ‘green’ technologies.”

The end-product of Pyroclave is char.

All incinerators have been expressly prohibited under Section 20 of the Clean Air Act of 1999. The total ban took effect July 17, 2003. In fact, this has been a source of pride for the Philippines because our Asian neighbors do not even have such legislation. So yes, on paper, we are ahead.

Incinerators emit dioxins, which the World Health Organization has declared a known human carcinogen. The UNDP-Global Medwaste Project describes dioxin as “a family of 210 highly toxic and persistent chemicals that are unintentional byproducts of medical waste incineration. Dioxin has been linked to cancer, effects on the immune system, reproductive and developmental disorders, and hormone disruption.”

Ferrer adds that incinerators also do away with the requirement of segregating waste – again a violation of an environmental law, specifically the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. Since everything will be incinerated together, it doesn’t make any sense to separate the infectious from the non-infectious hospital waste.

The letter was also sent to Department of Health – Center for Health Development Region XI director Abdullah Dumama, Jr. and Department of the Environment and Natural Resources – Environment Management Bureau Region XI director Ruth Tawantawan.

The office of Director Dumama has asked for an additional day to respond to HCWH’s letter. Engineer Ricardo Biong, air quality monitoring officer of DENR-EMB Davao, says RAD Green Solutions is only due to present its technology on the week of July 30-August 3 for the issuance of the environmental safety standards compliance permit. Director Tawantawan’s office has also committed to furnishing HCWH a copy of the evaluation around the second week of August, after the presentation and testing.

Yes, no permits have yet been issued. It goes without saying that health and environment officials must be strict in their evaluation – regardless of whether the companies are well-connected or not.

***

It is not as though there are no other ways to deal with medical waste, says Ferrer. Autoclave and microwave are examples of such alternatives.

“Non-burn technologies such as autoclaves operate at temperatures that are high enough to kill microorganisms but insufficient to cause combustion, thereby avoiding the creation of toxic byproducts like dioxin,” says the UNDP-Global Medwaste Project. (http://gefmedwaste.org/article.php?list=type&type=62)

“Microwave treatment is essentially a steam-based process, since treatment occurs through the introduction of moist heat and steam generated by microwave energy.” the site continues.

There is more good news. Ferrer says that autoclave is available here in the Philippines, with Philippine manufacturers offering them at reasonable prices. There is one along Bambang Street, City of Manila. Another big autoclave manufacturer is in Cebu, while another one producing small and mid-size machines are in Marbel, South Cotabato.

In fact, autoclaving is being done successfully in St. Paul’s hospitals, especially the ones on General Santos City and Tuguegarao.

Ferrer says that sometimes she cannot fathom the minds of government officials who, by virtue of their jobs, must try to know better. But don’t – or refuse to. For example, some engineers and scientists, who should be the first to appreciate the ban on incinerators, say they believe that burning is still the best option.

Is it ignorance, laziness or complicity? It is difficult to say which among these is the worst. Do they think they can just get away with it?

Then again, one can only criticize as much. Ferrer says that at the end of the day, she refuses to be defeated by her frustrations and disappointments, by the ugly things. One must still be an agent of change.

“This is why we always emphasize that there are alternatives.” In this case, the alternatives would be safe, economical, and supportive of local industries.

The issue is in no way as explosive or controversial as the ones we normally deal with in politics. But since it has the potential to affect the lives of millions – insidiously, and thus more dangerously – ensuring that the lofty goals of the Clean Air Act are translated into the decisions our local and national officials make remains of paramount, indeed burning, importance.

Ang mundo ko, sana makita mo: Halina sa daigdig ni Fr. George

following is a magazine feature I wrote for Filipino magazine sometime in 1997, when I was just out of college and writing under my then-editor, the late Rene O. Villanueva. I had just taken Th 141 the previous year under Fr. George Gorospe. He died in 2002.

(for my non-Tagalog speaking friends, I will find time to translate this, soon).

**

May mga gurong nagpapari. May mga paring nagtuturo pa rin. Mayroon ding mga pari na guro na, dalubhasa pa sa napiling larangan – musika, agham, panitikan, pilosopiya, sikolohiya, at iba pa.

Isa si Fr. Vitaliano Gorospe, S.J. sa mga pari-guro-atbp ito. At tunay ngang kakaiba ang bahaging “atbp” ni Fr. George – sino nga ba ang mag-aakalang isang 72-taong gulang na pari ang may gawa ng mga modelong komunidad at miniature trains na matatagpuan sa puso ng Rizal Library sa Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila?

Mga simulain

Isinilang sa Sta. Catalina, Ilocos Sur noong ika-22 ng Setyembre 1925, pangalawa si George sa apat na magkakapatid. Bata pa lang siya ay kinakitaan na siya ng hilig sa pagbuo ng kung anu-ano. Armado ng buhangin, cardboard, papel, paper clip at kung anu-ano pang patapon, bumubuo siya ng mga barko, bahay, eroplano at tren. “Pero naputol ito lahat pagkatapos ko ng high school. Nag-umpisa na ang giyera, at lahat ng mga kaklase kong lalaki ay ni-recruit ng PMA.”

Hindi naging sundalo si George dahil malabo ang kanyang mga mata. “Pagkatapos ng giyera, halos lahat ng kaklase ko, namatay. Naramdaman kong may dahilan kung bakit ako nakaligtas. Nagpari ako.”

Bilang Heswita, di kalaunan ay naging guro na rin sa Ateneo de Manila College sir Fr. George. Nagturo siya ng pilosopiya. Naging chairman ng Kagawaran ng Teolohiya mula 1977 hanggang 1981. Sa kasalukuyan, itinuturo nya ang pamosong Th 141 o Theology of Liberation sa pamantasan, isang kursong kinukuha ng mga mag-aaral sa kanilang ikaapat na taon. Sa Th 141 “inaampon” ng ilang marginalized communities ang mga mag-aaral sa loob ng tatlong araw.

Bukod dito, di-iilang libro ang naisulat at naipalathala ni Fr. George. Panganay, at, aniya, isa sa kanyang mga paborito ang Cathechism of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church (1954). Kabilang na rin ang Banahaw: Conversations with a Pilgrim to the Power Mountain; Morality, Religion and the Filipino; Virgin of Penafrancia, Mother of Bicol; at ang pinakabago, and Forming the Filipino Social Conscience sa kanyang mga koleksiyon.

Sa ganito’y parang wala nang panahon pang natira para gumawa pa si Fr. George ng ibang bagay. Akala rin niya ay tuluyan na siyang nagpaalam sa libangan ng kanyang pagkabata.

Hindi pala. Noong 1986, nagkaroon siya ng double aneurism at sumailalim sa isang napakadelikadong open heart surgery. “Hindi ako makapagturo sa loob ng isang taon. Bagot na bagot ako.” Dahil dito, binalikan nya ang kanyang childhood passion – ang pagbuo ng mga modelo. Hindi lang naibsan ang pagkabagot ni Fr. George. Nagsilbi ring therapy ang muling binuhay na libangan na nakapagbilis sa pagbalik sa dati niyang kondisyon.

Ngayon, labing-isang taon pagkatapos ng kanyang operasyon, marami-rami na ring nalikha si Fr. George. Hindi na nya iniwan ang ganitong libangan. Siya na mismo ang gumagawa ng oras para maisingit ito sa mahigpit niyang schedule. Para sa kanya, ito’’y higit pa sa pagiging tagapalipas-oras at tagapaghatid-aliw lamang. Lapitan natin ngayon ang mga tao sa mumunting komunidad ni Fr. George, at pasukin natin ang kanyang mundo.

Close up

Pagtulak mo sa salaming pinto papasok sa ikalawang palapag ng Rizal Library Annex sa Ateneo, bubulaga sa iyo, sa gitna ng mesa’t silya at mga nakayukong ulo ng mga mag-aaral, ang isang parihabang diorama na nasa loob ng isang glass case.

Isa lang ito sa mga likhang pueblo ni Fr. George. Sa kaliwang bahagi ay isang gasolinahan. Sa gitna ay samu’t saring mga bahay at tao. May hamburger stand. May mga teenager na nagkakarerahan ng motor. Sa ibabaw ng isang tulay, may magsing-irog na nagyayakapan. Sa bandang kanan, may damuhan. Sa palibot ng mga detalyeng ito ay mga tunay na riles na syang binabagtas ng miniature trains. Kumpleto ang bayan – mula sa mga puno, bato, at kuwebang nilulusutan ng mga tren.

Hindi lang sa Rizal Library matatagpuan ang mga likha ni Fr. George. Sa Ateneo Archives ay makikita ang modelo ng Stonehenge na ginawa nya may apat na taon na ang nakakaraan. Sa Grade School Library at Ateneo Educational Media Center ay naroon ang mga helicopter, barko, submarine at vintage cars. May diorama ng Battle of Manila Bay, may Rusong speedboats, may battle scenes ng World War II. May mga barkong Aleman.

Subalit ang pinakamaganda nya sigurong likha ay nasa tahanan ng kanyang mga kaibigan kung kanino nya inihandog ang mga ito. Kay Fr. Assandas Balchand, isang Heswitang Indian, nagbigay siya ng modelo ng Bengal Lancer. Sa dati niyang estudyante na si Richard “Dick” Gordon, nagbigay sya ng modelong barko. Para kay dating Pangulong Corazon Aquino, gumawa sya ng diorama ng pagpaslang kay Ninoy, at ng Edsa revolution. Ang mga ito ay napabilang sa exhibit ng Malacanang tour noong mga panahong iiyon.

Pambihirang pasensya ang kailangan sa ganitong gawain. Kailangang pagbuhusan ng atensyon ang mga detalye kahit napakaliit ng mga ito. “Minsan, ang isang layag (sail) ay kumakain ng isa o dalawang araw,” kuwento ni Fr. George. At kahit na kinukuha nya ang kanyang mga gamit sa Orient Express Model Train Shop sa Shangri-la Plaza na pag-aari ng isang dating estudyante, kailangang pintahan ang mga tao at bahay – mula sa buhok, damit, bubong, bintana, at iba pa.

Sa mga detalye rin naisisingit ni Fr. George ang kanyang sense of humor. Sa Stonehenge, halimbawa, interesanteng makatagpo ng isang mamang nakatalikod – “Pinoy na Umiihi”—bilang pagpuna sa di-kagandahang gawi na dapat baguhin ng ilan nating kababayan.

Obra maestra

Bayaan mong akayin ka mismo ni Fr. George paakyat sa ikatlong palapag ng Rizal library – narito ang pinakabago nyang gawa, at ayon sa kanya, ito ang kanyang obra maestra. Dito, hindi sya gumamit ng mga material na nabibili na. Gawa ito sa scrap (maliban syempre sa mga tren) tulad ng mga unang-una nyang likha, noong kanyang kabataan.

“How big is your world?” – ito ang itinatapong tanong ng diorama. Sa isang gilid ay naroon ang mini-golf course, isang magandang gusali, malinis at kaaya-ayang paligid. Ito ang mundo ng maykaya. Sa harap ay ang pinakamalaking bandila ng Pilipinas, yaong inilagay sa Subic noong nagdaang APEC summit, na wari bang nagmamalaking loob sa paghahayag: Ito ang Pilipinas!

Ito nga ba ang Pilipinas? Sa di kalayuan, sa kabilang gilid, ay makikita ang dikit-dikit na bahay ng mga maralita – ang squatters’ area. Tulad ng mga naunang gawa ni Fr. George, kumpleto sa mga detalye ang bahaging ito, mula sa pinagtagpi-tagping barung-barong, mga damit na madaliang isinampay, mga pulubing namamalimos sa isang ma-traffic na kalsada, mga tricycle at jeep na pumapasada, hanggang sa puno ng niyog na inaakyat ng isang binata. Ikinukuwento ni Fr, George na ang mamang may itak sa ibaba ng punong inaakyat ng binata ay ang ama ng dalagang binuntis ng huli.

Ilang hakbang pa mula sa mga tauhang ito ay makikita ang paglalarawan ni Fr. George sa trahedyang nangyari sa Pampanga dulot ng lahar. Nasa dulong kanan ang simbahan ng Bacolor at ilang kabahayang pawing bubong na lang ang natira. Sa kabilang dulo ay naroon ang modelo ng Mt. Pinatubo, at sa paanan nito, ng isang komunidad ng mga Aetang pilit na binabalikan ang kanilang nakagisnang tahanan. Ang bahaging ito ng diorama ay natatabunan ng tunay na lahar – mga abong inuwi ng mga estudyante ni Fr. George na nag-immersion sa mga Aeta communities.

Oo. Ito nga ang Pilipinas. Nababahiran ng dalawang napaka magkaibang kulay. Animoý dalawang daigdig na hindi maaaring magtagpo o magpang-abot. Subalit magkatabi lang sila. Yun ang problema.

Isinasagisag naman ng mga riles na pumapaikot kapwa sa daigdig ng mayaman at mahirap ang natitirang hibla ng pag-asa. Sa bahaging ito, habang naisasaalang-alang ng timitingin ang mga ilaw sa mga tumatakbong tren, at ang mga ilaw na nagbibigay-liwanag sa golf course, higit na pumapaimbabaw ang mensaheng nais iparating ni Fr. George: Hindi dapat limitahan ang sarili sa ating komportableng mundo. May mga riles na maaring bagtasin upang mapagtagpo ang dalawang mundong ito at may mga treng maaring maglulan sa mga taong nais umabot ng kamay sa kapwa.

At dito pumapasok ang iba’t ibang mukha ni Fr. George bilang tao. Dito nabubuo at nabubuhay ang kaniyang isinusulat, itinuturo at ginagawa. Dito niya napapatunyang hindi lamang isang libangan ang paglikha ng mga modelo, at hindi lang laruan ang kanyang mg likha. “Kung gusto nila ng laruan, maraming toy shop sa Megamall. Sa bawat detalye ng aking diorama, sana ay mapahinto sila at mapag-isip.”

Tunay ngang nakakaaliw na pagmasdan ang mga detalye ng likha ni Fr. George.—ang mga maliliit na komunidad, tao at saskyang pinagtyagaan nyang likhain at pintahan. Lalo pa kung susndan ng paningin ang pag-usad ng mga tren at pagkurap kurap ng mga ilaw na nakapaligid dito.

Subalit kung maaaliw lang tayo sa pagmamasid sa mga ito, siguro nga, bulag lang tayo.

Supreme irony and a desperate plea

Manila Standard Today, July 18 2012

There were hardly any television cameras deployed to the Baseco Covered Court last Wednesday, July 11, to cover the Family Planning Fair organized by Likhaan Center for Women’s Health.

On that day, more than 1,000 women from the barangays of Baseco, Parola and San Nicolas – the most populous villages in the city of Manila — trooped to the compound to avail themselves of free reproductive health consultations with and services by at least 45 doctors, midwives and nurses.

The absence of attention could be because the fair took place the day after the death of the country’s top comedian, Dolphy. Dolphy’s death was big news and everybody wanted to see the tributes, the grief, the personalities.

It could, however, point to something deeper, more fundamental.

The stories of the women seeking free help at the fair bolster the argument for the reproductive health bill, which remains pending at both Houses of Congress more than a decade after it was first proposed. As a result, the Philippines has yet to have a national reproductive health/ family planning program.

At the same time, the number of mothers dying of pregnancy related complications has risen from 162 out of 100,000 live births (2006) to 221 (2011). It has not only “not improved”; it has actually worsened. Five hundred thousand abortions are performed every year despite its illegality and danger.

Still, the bill remains hostage to power bargaining between decision makers and kingmakers. Members of the Catholic Church use the pulpit to demonize the authors and supporters of the bill and tell the faithful that RH, per se, is a sin against God.

Doctor Junice Melgar, executive director of Likhaan, acknowledges that President Benigno Aquino III has made a social contract with the Filipino people to provide couples the opportunity to make informed choices in planning their families. Alas, it has been purely rhetoric. “I am not anymore certain about the political will of those in power,” Melgar says. “The bottom line here is the decisiveness of President. His action will show the strength of his character.”

First it was the distraction of the impeachment of former Chief Justice Corona. Now we have the standoff with China over Scarborough Shoal. Soon, preparations for the May 2013 elections will take much of our leaders’ time and energy.

When will it be a good time for RH?

In fact, Melgar continues, many aspects of the bill have been opened up for amendments. For instance, it is clear that the bill does not include or endorse the use of abortifacients. Reproductive education will be part of the curriculum upon the sixth grade (the President’s idea). There is a provision for conscientious objection. It is stated that both natural and artificial means of contraception will be promoted. Nobody will be made to use, or will be prevented from using, artificial means if it runs counter to one’s personal beliefs.

***

Melgar, a general practitioner, has had a close brush with maternal mortality – her own.

She and her husband joined the underground movement from the late 1970s to the late 1980s. In 1989, when they were living in Iloilo, she discovered that she was pregnant. She went about her pregnancy without getting pre-natal care out of fear that they would be tracked.

She insisted on delivering her child at a house in Quezon City, with only her mother, a doctor herself, assisting her. The nine-pound heavy child was born a “blue baby” after Melgar suffered protracted labor. The placenta was trapped inside her uterus and she lost copious amounts of blood.

She eventually agreed to be brought to the hospital.

“If that could happen to me, who did not go to the hospital by choice, it could happen to others who want to get medical care but can’t,” Melgar says. She suffered neurological problems for six months. “I did not think I will ever be the same.”

Her son is now 23.

Now Melgar wonders what stories, what faces, what drama it would take for our leaders in government, and the Church, to acknowledge that poor Filipino women – those who don’t know any better but wish to, or don’t even know that they should – are suffering from the lack of access to information, sometimes paying with their lives.

But nothing seems to move our leaders, not even if they used to champion RH. Melgar refers to the “mystifying silence” of House Speaker Sonny Belmonte, who does not seem to have the leadership to get his colleagues to vote upon the issue.

Then again, the President can easily tell him to.

Melgar narrates that on the day of the Baseco fair, there was a wake being held for a young mother who had died from pregnancy-related complications.

What supreme irony, Melgar says, that many people claim to be “pro-life” while consigning millions of poor Filipino women to darkness, even death.

Not sensational enough for a newscast, perhaps, but it is happening anyway, every day.

adellechua@gmail.com

Her theater, her life

Tita Naty (she said I must call her that) and I in her room

Natividad Crame Rogers’ living room is not an ordinary sala. It looks out into an airy garden. Two small openings in the ceiling let the sunlight in. The wooden furniture takes you back in time. The room is circular. “There is always something magical about being in a circle,” says the proud owner, who had her Kapitolyo, Pasig home built on top of a hill in 1958.

Magical, indeed: This sala is also a stage.

Over the weekend, the Philippine Drama Company, which Rogers founded in 1984 and of which she is now artistic director, staged two plays: Panhik-ligaw (Felizardo Habito’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s A Marriage Proposal) and Dahil Sa Anak by Julian Balmaceda.

Panhik-ligaw is about the courtship of an asthmatic bachelor and his childhood friend. The two never get around to discussing their romantic prospects because other things—land, dogs, her overbearing father and a nosy housemaid —always get in the way.

The play was directed by Gaby Castillo and starred Kenn Cayunda, Jake Alejandrino, Cef Valderrama and Sam Lim.

In Dahil sa Anak, an obstinate father refuses to allow his son to marry a girl he has sired a child with just because the girl is the daughter of a laundrywoman. A well-meaning uncle advises the lovers to use reverse psychology on the old man. They then claim they don’t want to get married and that the girl does not want to be part of an arrogant man’s household. The old man now says there must be a wedding. Everybody is happy.

The play was directed by Cayunda and starred Danny Escasa, Claude Despabiladeras, Castillo, LA Caguioa, Chrissie Legaspi, Krix Untalan and Paula David.

Yes, all these took place in the living room. White monobloc chairs were laid out for the 20 or so guests that afternoon. Two hardworking electric fans attempted to ease the heat. Cast members threw their lines at each other and sometimes addressed the audience in an intimate setting called “sala theater” that Mrs. Rogers pioneered in the Philippines.

After the curtain call—except of course, there was no curtain—members of the audience, cast and crew alike partook of sandwiches and puto: A real breaking of bread, a breaking of barriers between actor and spectator.

***

kaSALAn is part of the company’s vintage theater season where plays are staged in Tagalog “to remind our younger generation that Wikang Pilipino is truly a beautiful language that must not be replaced by pop language, Engalog or Taglish,” according to Mrs. Rogers.

She herself has been in the business for many decades. At age 11, the girl Naty Crame starred in a school operetta called Cinderella in Flowerland.

She majored in English at the University of the Philippines when it was still a vast tract of “talahib.” She graduated in 1946 and then worked briefly as a stewardess for Philippine Airlines. It was there she met her husband Joe, a pilot, whom she married the next year.

Mrs. Rogers then went on to Stanford University to get her masters degree in speech and drama—and promptly returned to the Philippines to teach at the Philippine Normal College and to act. She appeared as Leonor in Severino Montano’s The Love of Leonor Rivera and then as Paula in Nick Joaquin’s A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino. She set up various drama organizations at St. Scholastica’s College and the University of Santo Tomas graduate school. In 1983, she started conducting drama workshops for children. Soon, she founded the PDC in—where else?—her sala.

She also traveled extensively. Her sojourns resulted in a book called “Classical Forms of Theater in Asia”.

In 1994, she was given the highest CCP Award in Theater; a few years later, she was named one of the Philippine Centennial Awardees in Culture and the Arts. In 2008, at the centennial anniversary of the UP, Mrs. Rogers was given a lifetime achievement award.

***

It is with this same willingness to open herself to her audience that Mrs. Rogers received me in her bedroom where she has surrounded herself with books, photos and other memorabilia from her long and fruitful career.

At her age—Miss Naty will be 90 in December—she is more enthusiastic than ever about making drama a household event—literally, hence her sala concept.

“The purpose is of course to entertain, but also to extend the education of all: the old, the middle-aged, the young.

She also says that theater is all about the actor. Whether it is in a sala, on a stage, or under a tree, a good actor will be able to deliver and connect with the audience.

Miss Rogers has lived a long, full life doing what she loves—and does—best. She is both a pillar and an inspiration.

Giving voice to the minority

published July 4, 2012, page A5, Manila Standard Today

The situation is all too familiar, all too routine: The annual meeting of a company listed at the Philippine Stock Exchange is held at a posh hotel function room. Stockholders big and small, individuals or representatives of institutions, gather in the room with the board of directors and top management giving presentations on what happened in the company in the past 12 months.

Questions are mostly fielded by analysts from brokerage houses and business journalists who must adjust their forecasts and file their reports, respectively. Other questions are addressed only if they are deemed relevant; stockholders who raise uncomfortable questions are regarded as nuisances. Their questions are not answered, much less recognized.

The meeting is adjourned, and the guests enjoy the sumptuous hotel food. It’s all nice and uncomplicated — but very superficial.

In an ideal world, even the small shareholders who invest in the listed companies with their life savings and hard-earned money are also given a voice. They are made to know what really happens in the firm they partly own, they understand corporate/financial jargon, and they are given an opportunity to ask questions about the decisions made.

The result is a much more enlightened investing public and, in time, a broader base of retail investors. This would include ordinary folk who appreciate that placing their money on stocks could give them higher returns than depositing it in banks.

This ideal scenario is what gave rise to the Shareholders Association of the Philippines, or Sharephil, launched last Wednesday at the Dusit Hotel in Makati. The launch was a joint project of the Management Association of the Philippines and the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Sharephil sees itself as the leading institution and catalyst in the protection and promotion of shareholder rights, duties and responsibilities. Its mission is to be a major player in promoting domestic capital market development through advocacy, education and enlightenment of shareholders.

Core values are summed up by the acronym FAITH, which stands for fairness, accountability, independence, transparency and honor. Programs will fall under the banners of education, advocacy, research and shareholder relations and representation.

Jesus Estanislao, chairman of the ICD, said more Filipinos must partake of the “perennial sunshine of optimism” that is sweeping the market these days. There are, at present, only 600,000 shareholders in the country – it would be good to see more. Corporate governance must be presented not just as an issue of compliance, or even corporate social responsibility.

Sharephil chairman Evelyn Singson began her talk with blind items about the questionable behavior of members of the board of some companies. The usual victims, she says, are the minority shareholders. Small investors have been long neglected and there is no shareholder protection mechanism available at all.

Singson emphasized, however, that the manner of engagement would not be to cross swords with the majority shareholders, pitting the small against the big. Partnership is a key word.

Sharephil’s Board of Trustees is composed of the more prominent names in business, all advocates of corporate governance. They are, aside from Singson, Rosario Bernaldo (R.E. Bernaldo and Associates) as president, Celso Vivas (Canadian Chamber of the Philippines) as vice president, Jose Ma. Lim (Metro Pacific Investments Corp.) as treasurer, Rex Drilon II (ICD) as secretary, Romeo David (BNL Management Corp.), Corazon Dela Paz-Bernardo (Banco de Oro), Vicente Dinglasan (Li & Fung Management Ltd.), Evangeline Escobillo (General Institution for Empowerment Corporation), Mario Gatus (DBM Philippines), Mabini Juan (Manila Bankers Life Insurance), Francisco Ed Lim (ACCRALAW), Arturo Macapagal (Toyota Pasong Tamo), Alfred Parungao (Ligaya Management Corp) and Jose Santos (Ateneo de Manila University).

***

The main speaker during the launch was David Gerald, founder of the SIAS, or the Small Investors Association of Singapore.

In 1999, at the height of the Asian financial crisis, the Malaysian government seized shareholdings of 172,000 Singaporean investors in Malaysian companies. These small investors included taxi drivers, secretaries and people from all walks of life.

Gerald took up the cudgels for these investors even as the Malaysian government initially refused to talk to them and insisted that it would only deal with the government of Singapore. A minister even said: “They (the investors) can go to the moon.”

The investors did not go to the moon, but they got somewhere, eventually. Gerald made the rounds of international media, decrying the injustice, and soon bigger investors threatened to withdraw their placements in Malaysia. Mahathir eventually talked to Gerald and his group.

These days, Gerald says, about 60 percent of his time and effort is spent in going around, educating small investors about their rights and also about the rudiments of business.

Back here at home, there is much to be done to improve the situation of small retail investors. Sharephil believes “minority” would not anymore be synonymous with “silenced.”