go to Cadiz Graft Watch Facebook group for details

The following day, I didn’t see people moving about in that part of Marikina, across the river from my condominium building. I went down my building and asked the guards if there was a way we could cross down there to bring food and water, but I was advised that the only way is through Marikina. I felt helpless. I asked the admin office if we could place empty boxes in the lobby for used clothes and food. Well, Miriam quiambao beat me to it, because she did it earlier, so our residents were able to donate things and food. From now on I will greet her when I see her in the elevator.

That Sunday, the friends of my niece told me they were going to Cainta because their friends there had no water and little food. On Monday the road to cainta was passable by car, so my bodyguard rented a jeepney, and we bought several large containers of water and I emptied my pantry of all my groceries except my bacolod biscuits (Biscocho) and we went to Cainta. It was like a scene from the movie I am Legend. Cars were piled up, muck and mud everywhere. There was a long line of people waiting for relief goods, people lining up outside stores. They had no electricity, no drinking water, no phones, no internet. They were cut off from the rest of us.

I offered my house in Antipolo to the family of my niece’s friend, but they refused to leave for fear that their house would be looted. Her mom told me that 5 of them survived on one liter of water on friday night. They retreated to the second floor of their house, and planned to go up their roof if the water did not stop rising. By God’s grace, the water did not reach their second floor, and they just had to stay awake to survive.

This government is not only corrupt, it is incompetent. we cannot trust that government can save lives during disasters. It was a good thing that the MRT did not shut down that day, or more people would have been harmed or perished. Now the government officials are passing the buck, blaming each other. DENRs Atienza wants the mayors jailed for failing to keep the waterways clear of garbage. Gloria let the poor take shelter in malacanang. Teodoro apologized. In other countries, people in charge commit harakiri to atone for lost lives.

We will talk more about local government’s roles in disaster prevention, laws that are relevant in times like these. I hope that I am not only able to teach you loc gov law, I hope that I can teach you how to become the best mayors and officials your towns and cities ever had.

This saturday, join me in a barangay (barrio) in

 Pateros, one of the areas which was flooded by

typhoon Ondoy.  We will join students from

U.P. and my niece Teresa sponsor a kids, day and

entertain the kids with fun, food and games. A

dermatologist friend, Elaine Andaya, will join

us with friends Myrene, Jenny and Tina. She will

check the kids for skin diseases, and they will

bring anti-fungal cream and yakult. We, our

class, will conduct a short seminar on the
Barangay Protection Order for the mothers and

barangay officials. Bring your own lunch.

* Professor R.V. Guanzon

Last night I saw on television how Junjun Tupas, son of Iloilo Gov. Neil Tupas and Board Member of the province, was pushed around by policemen in fatigues. Worse, they pointed their M16 rifles at him and his companions. Junjun was later seen waving a piece of paper, a Temporary Restraining Order from the Court of Appeals, which stays the order of Ombudsman dismissing Gov. Tupas allegedly for graft and corruption. The DILG Secretary ordered the Governor to vacate their posts.

Aside from Tupas, the others who were dismissed or suspended were Gov. Armand Sanchez of Batangas (suspended) and Mayor Pewee Trinidad of Pasay (dismissed). Tupas is a known ally of opposition senator Franklin M. Drilon of Iloilo. Trinidad is also with the opposition. Sanchez is with the administration, but GMA is distancing herself from him because he is allegedly linked to illegal gambling operations in his province.

The timing is suspicious, because the election period has started. This will practically make it difficult or impossible for these officials to run for office.

In Iloilo, was it really necessary for the police to treat civilians that way? Especially that they were public officials? The police officers threatened those poor fellows with M16 rifles as if they were terrorists or as if they were armed, and they were not. The DILG Secretary must discipline those policemen.

The administration is showing its might. And we have seen what it can do in these supposedly democratic times. It is scary to think what the military and the police are capable of when the administration is given emergency powers.

One test of the people’s reaction to these events is the coming elections in Iloilo and Pasay. These events are but a prelude of how violent our elections can get, not because the candidates will be at odds, but because the police and the military could be trigger happy.

Local governments complain that while they are expected to deliver basic services, the national goverment continues to control foreign funds and national funds for, among others, health programs. This is a major issue which should be resolved if we expect local governments to do their job well. The anti-Tuberculosis campaign, for example, cannot succeed without local governments in the lead. How the DOH will manage its partnership with the LGUs in terms of resource mobilzation, financing and technical assistance, will determine the outcome of this program.

An advocate of children’s rights, women’s rights and gender equality, Atty. Bing Guanzon is also involved in legal and judicial reform. Aside from law practice, she is engaged in consultancy work in the areas of local governance, publich health law, children’s rights, women’s rights, policy and legislation. She is the Co-Project Leader of the Gender Justice Awards (supported by Unifem-Bangkok), a project of the U.P. Center for Women’s Studies Foundation, Inc. and the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women.

Rowena Guanzon was the Registrar of the Tokyo Tribunal, also called the International Women’s War Crimes Tribunal for Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery( Tokyo in 2000 and The Hague in 2001). She is a founding member of Gender Watch Coalition, legal consultant of the Association of Social Workers for Integrity and Nationalism, Inc., a member of the Kennedy School of Government Alumni Association, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Philippine Bar Association, and the National Caucus for Politics of Renewal. She is an alumna of the Delta Lambda Sigma Sorority and U.P. Silab Sisterhood.

Rowena Guanzon writes a column (Lucid Interval) in INQ7 (www.inq7.net) every Tuesday, and in the Visayan Daily Star (www.visayandailystar.com) every Tuesday and Thursday . She is currently writing a book on gender justice and another on the contributions of Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. and the Davide Court to gender and women’s rights.