Everyone’s at risk

Everyone’s at risk

The technology that unites the mighty and obscure, the wealthy and the humble of means, isn’t television (class lines get delineated by the programs people choose to watch) but the cell phone. Politically, the battle for hearts and minds since 2000 has been waged by means of text messages. And whether it’s President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sending instructions to her subordinates, an overseas worker keeping tabs on the kids at home, bankers or security guards, the ties that bind are maintained by means of the cell phone.

When news first broke that a conversation allegedly between the President and Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano had been intercepted and recorded, a troubling thought sent shivers down the spines of many people. If it can happen to the President, people said, it can happen to anyone. That troubling thought has once more gained currency following the revelations made by Sen. Panfilo Lacson in a privilege speech last Tuesday.

We will set aside, for now, why Lacson’s witness, retired T/Sgt. Victor Doble, took so long to detail the circumstances surrounding the tapping of Garcillano’s phone. Doble explained how the phone tapping was done. He says it was undertaken by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) with the assistance of someone, or some people, at Smart Communications Inc. The media relations machinery of Smart then kicked in, taking pains to deny that the company has a policy of conniving in the tapping of its subscribers’ phones. It also denied that its officers or rank-and-file condone, much less assist, wiretapping activities.

But the allegation has been made, and what’s more, what was alleged is not beyond the realm of possibility, according to the statements of Smart itself. It is possible, the company said, that someone, acting in an unauthorized manner, might have consorted with the Isafp and helped it. Of course, it can be said that anything is possible, but the question is: Did it happen? And if so, how could it have happened?

The privacy of communication is a constitutionally protected right; it applies to everyone, the exceptions being clearly spelled out in our laws. Our laws are so zealous in this regard that the anti-wiretapping law tries very hard to make any intercepted communication of little or no value in court.

Still, the allegations are grave enough, in terms of their implications to not only national security but to civil liberties, as to require a thorough investigation. There are fundamental issues of governance -- not just political, but corporate -- at stake here. There are issues involving civilian control over the military, and combined politico-military influence over private enterprise, or people who work for private corporations.

If the Isafp did conduct surveillance operations, who ordered it? If an officer did, why didn’t the civilian authorities know about it? If a civilian official authorized it, on what basis? And if somehow, Smart or some of its employees assisted the Isafp, how could it happen without management finding out, or being able to properly determine how it might have happened once allegations were made? Of course, there is a more sinister question: Could Smart have resisted at all a military “invitation” to assist in eavesdropping?

There are technological questions that need to be resolved, as well. Lacson, by way of Doble, suggests intercepting cell-phone calls is quite easy, as is recording conversations for future use and abuse. We have no shortage of technologically knowledgeable people who can verify or dispute this claim, outside of the private firms and public agencies that have a vested interest in dismissing such allegations out of hand.

Good corporate governance, not just effective public relations, suggests Smart would be wise to undertake a more thorough investigation of these allegations. If the Isafp can snoop on its subscribers, then kidnappers and extortionists can do the same, if all that eavesdropping requires is a pliable low-ranking technician. The economy in general, not just Smart, can ill-afford a blue-chip stock taking a hammering in the local or New York bourses because of investor concerns over the vulnerable security of telephone communications in the Philippines.

Air Farce

Air Farce

In the battlefield, an attack helicopter goes down, killing the co-pilot. As the MG-520 of the Philippine Air Force was fished out of the waters off Basilan the other day, it didn’t look like the crash was caused by enemy fire. Neither Islamic separatists nor Abu Sayyaf bandits have been known to open fire on airborne aircraft. Air Force officials grounded the PAF’s fleet of MG-520s — all 17 of them remaining — pending the results of an investigation into the cause of the crash.

At least it didn’t look like the MG-520 met its doom after getting tangled in a kite string. That was another helicopter, downed earlier this year. That accident would be funny if it didn’t highlight the pathetic state of the Air Force’s fleet. Other PAF aircraft have crashed due to engine malfunction. An Italian-made trainer jet became so notorious for fatal crashes it was dubbed the “widow maker.” With planes and helicopters like these, who needs terrorists?

The political leadership has long given low priority to defense spending. Part of the reason was that for nearly a century, the country had the US security umbrella to rely on for most of its defense needs. The political order of priorities did not change when US troops were kicked out of the Philippines and the country lost its umbrella. When it finally dawned on political leaders that national defense required naval patrol boats that do not conk out in the high seas because of age or lack of fuel, and modern aircraft and helicopters to support ground and naval forces, the government had to scrounge around for funding sources.

The government is still scrounging to finance a modest military modernization program. In the meantime, troops in the frontlines continue to die in aircraft crashes or walk into ambuscades while armed with dud mortar rounds. How many of the soldiers killed since July in Basilan and Sulu could have avoided death if they had the proper weapons and equipment? It’s time for national leaders to go beyond lip service in promoting the welfare of the military’s fighting men and women.

How DOST uses your money

How DOST uses your money

Listening to an undersecretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) at the meeting of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) last month, I recalled Dwight MacDonald’s description of Ford Foundation: “an island of money surrounded by open palms.”

It seems that DOST does nothing but give away money. On the face of it, the recipients are deserving: science high schools, teachers, graduate students, inventors, entrepreneurs, a gaggle of universities, national research councils.

What the undersecretary did not explain was why they deserved to be helped. There was no strategic reason except the scattershot goal of promoting science and technology.

A couple of examples DOST gives graduate students money to complete their theses or dissertations. Why? Is it to increase the supply of MAs or PhDs? Or are the subjects of their research useful to the country? Of course it can be argued that in science, knowledge for its own sake is valuable. Agreed, But tax money needs to be justified by a clearly stated policy to be spent.

Sending large groups of teachers back to college to hone their skills in science teaching is a worthy cause. But after their training, are they assigned to science classes?

My information is anecdotal but when I was with the Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) I interviewed a teacher in Albay whose training was paid for by the National Science Development Board (NSBD)—the precursor agency of the DOST—who confessed that she was teaching not science but social studies. But it’s all to the good because she also said that since she returned to classroom teaching she had not updated her knowledge of basic science.

Perhaps DOST should investigate how the teachers they trained are being used and to organize regular updating courses for them. Even 2 years are too long in subjects like physics, chemistry and biology for someone to b left behind.

While I’m on the subject of teachers and teaching, has DOST examined the science and math textbooks that are being used in public schools? Are they as ridden with errors as the textbooks in literature and social studies?

I think it’s DOST’s duty to examine them to see if they need to be corrected. I did not hear the undersecretary talk about DOST’s role in textbook review or, better still, in textbook writing.

Next year, the DOST’s bud­get will go up by 51 percent, from the present P3.64 billion to P5.52 billion.

How will DOST spend it? According to Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, it will be for the same things that the undersecretary talked about in the NAST meeting. Scholarships will get P1.42 billion. The budget of the Philippine Science High School will increase from P434 million to P730 million. Three technology projects will be given P501 million. In addition, the University of the Philippines will get P1.29 billion for engineering research and its Technology Incubation Park will receive P500 million.

These are all in science education and technology development. Where’s science? Is there no money for physics, chemistry and biology? If there is, in what research areas will money be spent?

During the NAST meeting, I heard the undersecretary talk about research into material research. Are they in nano­tech­nology or in ferroelec­trics? These are the fields in which new material technologies are being developed.

The DOST has shown no interest at all in mathematics. There is a national research council but none for mathematics. Why? Isn’t math foun­dational?

One reason Philippine universities rank poorly in international comparisons is their inability to break into refereed journals. Perhaps instead of uncritically accepting just any thesis or dissertation for funding, the DOST should help scientists develop papers that are good enough for peer-reviewed journals in the US and Europe.

I suggest that next year, a small part of the P5.52 billion be set aside for (1) objective assessments of the science education program; (2) investments in basic research; (3) assistance to individual scientists in biology, chemistry, physics; (4) greater attention on mathematics; and (5) promoting new technologies that are still not commercially viable.

DOST must think strategically and assert its leadership by setting the nation’s agenda in science and technology.

Pinoys abroad are abreast of local news

Pinoys abroad are abreast of local news

THANKS to satellite communications feeding live television broadcasts to major cities around the world, and the ubiquitous mobile phones (cellphones to us), Pinoys abroad are kept abreast with news at home.

In some major cities in the US and Canada I visited recently, Filipino communities were up-to-date with major developments at home.

Their main interest, as expected, is politics. For example, the SoNA of President Arroyo was well-received by Filipino-Americans in these cities. However, there are some who readily disagreed with what she enumerated as her achievements in 2006.

Next to politics, showbiz’ happenings occupy Pinoy’s leisure hours at home. Typical of Filipinos pastimes they are all in the latest gossips in the local movieland.

The Filipino Channel (TFC) appears to have more subscribers than GMA’s Channel 7. The patronage includes Willie Revillame’s noontime show, TV Patrol and ANC news programs.

I would say that Eat Bulaga and 24-Oras news hour of Channel 7 are getting an increasing number of following and subscribers (average monthly subscription is $ 30).

One advantage of ABS-CBN is that it is now offering to Pinoys who are TFC subscribers money-transfer services, with service fees much lower than bank rates. The broadcasting company is likely to hit pay dirt here.

And the ubiquitous cellphones? Believe it or not, cellphone cards are selling like the proverbial cakes in Filipino stores in major cities in the US and Canada. Texting to friends and relatives back home has become a pre-occupation of Fil-Ams.

In fact, what Pinoys are now saying is that it was they who taught Americans how to send short messages (including the use of unique abbreviations). To friends from their cellphones.

And yes, it has now become easier for Pinoys to communicate with their families here with the use of the cellphone as to when is the next Balikbayan box is to arrive here.

CELLPHONE ROAMING RIP-OFF. When Globe wireless telecom advertised in different newspapers last June about its prepaid roaming World Widest Service, I took advantage of it thinking that it would be convenient for one who was to be out of the country for more than a month. There was no such international service. Instead I was fleeced of P700.

While in the US and in Canada, I received only one call and three TXT messages from the Philippines. Worse, I could not reply either by calls or TXT.

Instead, I received nearly two dozens of "Welcome to the USA/Canada" messages and other "advisories" from Globe. Each of those meaningless messages, I understand, were charged to me.

Arriving here last Monday, I immediately dialed Globe for a de-activation of that supposedly worldwide (in 100 countries, "daw") calling and texting service. Believe it or not, this is what Globe answers:

"Sorry, your request cannot be processed. No active roaming yet."

Help, National Telecommunication Commission!

Folk knowledge

Folk knowledge

Is there any scientific basis for the belief that mushrooms emerge after thunderstorms? What about the belief that planting fruit crops at early dawn increases the chances for larger fruits?

A book published back in 1998 by the University of the Philippines (UP) Institute for Science and Mathematics Development (now Nismed, the “N” for “National”) reviews the empirical basis for such beliefs and practices from agriculture, fishing, food and nutrition and medicine. I’ll get back to the mushrooms and planting in a while, but let me first talk about the book’s focus, captured in its title: “Philippine Folk Science: A Sourcebook for Teachers.”

I bought the book many years back and remembered it recently while preparing a paper for a conference organized by the International Organization for Science and Technology Education (IOSTE). Appropriately, UP Nismed hosted the conference, which had sustainable development as its theme. I was requested to deliver a paper on the relationship of culture to science education and sustainable development.

Culture and knowledge

As a medical anthropologist, I’ve been training medical students and physicians to become culturally sensitive in their clinical practice. The IOSTE request was somewhat more challenging, but the links were still fairly easy to make. Sustainable development means development in a way that does not jeopardize future generations. That does become a challenge especially because our development models have always emphasized massive consumption of resources. It was presumed that the more you consume, the more rapid the development.

When sustainable development came around, science educators found out that they had to rethink their curriculum. Can you do “modern” science using smaller-scale technologies? Maybe even more radically (and this was where my presentation came in), can we return to local beliefs and practices -- the ones so often labeled as “backward” and “primitive” -- to advance science?

For several decades now, even before sustainable development came into vogue, anthropologists have been exploring “indigenous knowledge” (yes, with its own abbreviation, IK), arguing that such knowledge has much to offer. Some of the earliest work around IK was conducted in the Philippines by anthropologists. In 1957, for example, the Food and Agriculture Organization published a book, “Hanunoo Agriculture,” by Harold Conklin, describing the agricultural practices of the Hanunoo, an ethnic group living in Mindoro. Conklin documented the Hanunoo’s vast knowledge of their natural environment, which they applied to shifting agriculture, or "kaingin."

I’m sure some readers reacted to that word, thinking immediately about soil erosion and destructive floods. But kaingin need not be destructive. When populations were smaller and people had access to large tracts of land, they knew how to move from one part of their land to another, planting in some plots and allowing others to rest. It was a system that worked, with its own IK.

This is a good time to return to the examples I gave at the beginning of this column. Why the field of mushrooms after thunderstorms? Because the sudden downpour causes dormant mushroom spores, already in the soil, to germinate. The lightning fixes atmospheric nitrogen, which, when it reaches the earth, is used as a nutrient by the growing mushrooms.

And planting at dawn? The authors of “Philippine Folk Science” say it makes sense because that’s when soil is moist and solar radiation is low.

Folk science

“Philippine Folk Science” was compiled by a team of Filipino scientists that included Dr. Vivien Talisayon, dean of the UP College of Education and one of the conveners of the IOSTE conference. She told me that some Western scientists dislike terms like “folk science,” pointing out that “science is science.”

They do have a point. You have science when people formulate a hypothesis (in Tagalog, "kutob") that is tested by observation and experimentation, and when they’re open enough to revise those hunches based on empirical evidence.

Business corporations have always been quick to recognize the value of folk science and IK, sending expeditions out to remote areas to gather information about medicinal plants, food crops and other natural products that have commercial potential.

In my IOSTE presentation, I reminded the science educators that tapping into IK isn’t a matter of extracting knowledge, it’s also being open to new ways of looking and thinking. Paul Sillitoe, in his book “Local Science vs. Global Science,” points out that Charles Darwin got some of his ideas about evolution from the natives of the Galapagos Islands. The natives could tell which islands tortoises and finches (a type of bird) came from, by looking at parts of their anatomy. Darwin realized, from those observations, that the anatomical differences were actually adaptations to different environments.

In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in traditional “wellness” practices. The example I gave at the IOSTE meeting was Buddhist meditation. Formerly scoffed at as a faddish practice that worked only on the gullible, meditation is now the subject of research by neurologists and psychologists. Monks are wired up with electrodes so researchers can figure out what goes on in their brains and their bodies as they meditate. The studies show there are very real physiological changes during meditation, with many favorable effects. The most startling are findings that meditation (and, we know now, mental exercises) allows the central and autonomic nervous systems to “regenerate” or compensate for damaged parts. Medical scientists now talk about “neuroplasticity,” or how the nervous system can be trained and exercised to prevent or slow down dementia and senility.

I don’t want to romanticize all that indigenous knowledge; certainly, there are many irrational beliefs that persist, but you find them as well among “modern” scientists, even with doctorate degrees, who stubbornly cling on to outdated theories.

Science -- “indigenous” or “modern” -- thrives best in an environment where there is dialogue and peer review. At the UP College of Medicine, I’ve convinced professors not to use terms like “primitive” and “superstitious” to refer to folk practices. We’re making some progress there, a recent example being a group of medical students looking into “pasma,” a folk illness. I’m going to describe their fascinating findings next month.

Yes, “Philippine Folk Science” is still available at UP, but I hope we’ll see more publications of that type. IK and folk science consist of accumulated experiences through several generations that need to be validated, but the first step is to rediscover them, together with our young so they take pride as well in things local. Unless we do that, we’ll lose all that knowledge, together with all their potential contributions to sustainable development.

Brilliant Minds Amid Dirty Politics

Brilliant Minds Amid Dirty Politics

EVERY Filipino is on his heels as the whole country awaits President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to deliver her State of the Nation Address on Monday. Who can blame us? The political situation in the past months has been nothing but ordinary.

The recently concluded elections have shown some glimmer of hope for change. The Senate is now controlled by the opposition despite token allegations of massive cheating on both sides. Although the administration reasserts its control of the House of Representatives, there has been news of in-fighting among administration congressmen on who would take on the Speakership. The administration, however, boasts of lopsided victories of their candidates in the local governments.

Filipinos from all over the world have also been keen on the recent implementation of the Human Security Act of 2007, better known as the Anti-terror Bill. The spate of political disappearances and the countless human rights abuses simply make the average Juan dela Cruz defensive about this supposedly landmark law. In recent weeks, there has been an upsurge in skirmishes in Mindanao that resulted in numerous casualties on both the military and the Islamic separatists.

At least there’s one good news of late. The release of Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi from Abu Sayaff kidnappers after being held for 40 days has every Filipino breathing a well-deserved sigh of relief.

Still, some issues deemed not worthy of front page coverage may just open a well-spring of hope of the country. If we just make politics take a back seat for a while, we may find refuge in some aspects of society Filipinos can truly be proud of.

Last week, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) celebrated National Science and Technology Week. In the week-long event, the best scientific minds of the country converged and conferred on technology innovation for micro to small and medium enterprises or MSMEs. Different DOST offices opened house to showcase Filipino achievements in alternative energy, information and technology, health and environment and technology.

Needless to say, the event came and went without much fanfare. Indeed, achievements in this sector of society only become apparent in the long run. However, more than the actual scientific discoveries or innovative inventions, if at all, this meeting of minds only shows that there are Filipinos who, in their quiet achievements, deserve big attention and loud praise. Silently, they breathe hope to our nation’s future.

While Filipinos are not generally known to be scientifically and technologically inclined, the recently-concluded National Science and Technology Week shows there are some, if not a few, who can excel in this field. We reserve this space for them before the political arena becomes animated once more next week as the 14th Congress officially opens.

We salute the beautiful minds of Filipino science and technology advocates.

Let those dreary jobs in

Let those dreary jobs in

TRUE, there are so many things that do-gooders and the usual crusaders can grouse and carp about the mushrooming of supposedly IT jobs such as contact centers and medical transcription firms that have taken the job market by storm.

For one, these night jobs are truly hazardous to the health. Some kids end up drug-addled just to cope up with the night shifts and the boredom. The young in these jobs often get an overdose of both caffeine and nicotine.

Second, these are not real IT jobs at all and the label as IT-related is a grand deception. Ten years as a call center agent won’t qualify one for an entry-level job at Silicon Valley or Bangalore for that matter.

A hard-core IT job involves the three fields of embedded technologies, programming and networking. If they don’t fall within the three, then what you have are IT-induced jobs but never the real thing.

Third, cast-off jobs from India are the ones coming to us. India has moved into the hard-core stage of programming and embedded technologies. They are into accounts bigger than hosting contact centers and medical transcription entities. There are still contact center jobs there but the transition to hard-core ICT technologies is being done at a very frenzied pace.

But tell us, what is the alternative? Right now there are none. These IT-enabled jobs are the stars in the employment galaxy, lowly they may seem in the real IT world. We can create them at the pace of tens of thousands a month with the proper training and an elementary technology backbone. They can be based anywhere, even in the strife-torn areas. An average IQ is enough and so is a decent-enough phonetics.

Why, we are now exporting contact center agents to places such as Dubai and Singapore, at salaries triple the local pay.

These IT-enabled jobs have propped up consumer spending and the real estate sector at the scope and magnitude that was even beyond the expectation of the major real estate developers and the mall operators. The “For Rent” signs that used to clutter Metro Manila’s business districts have been easing. From Muntinlupa up north to the Clark Economic Zone, one can find buildings upon buildings that host call center operations.

Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City is having a building boom of sorts, thanks to the call centers along a particular strip.

The real spenders at the malls are workers in these IT-enabled jobs, who earn more than the average-wage earners and have—literally—money to burn.

The IT-enabled jobs, if one just probes deeper, do other wonderful things than giving decent-paying jobs to the young (who, without the jobs, would join the armies of unemployed Filipinos) and making the Sys and the Ayalas wealthier every day because of their sustained spending.

These jobs do their bit for the environment. This is for real, not twisted logic.

As more and more young men and women move from the provinces to the call center sites to work and get decent pay, the number of hopeless youth (who in their desperation would otherwise engage in slash-and-burn farming, charcoal gathering, and spraying their farms with lethal chemical and pesticides) diminishes. The pressure on the environment also eases.

As more and more young men leave the farms, the more area is left for the individual farmer to till. Instead of six young male kids tilling the three-hectare rice farm bequeathed by the father, one or two would share the land if all four can land jobs as contact-center agents in the cities.

Where there is less pressure to feed all six kids and force the land to produce more via lethal fertilizer and toxic pesticides, something good is done for the farmland and the environment.

Every sector of the economy, and even the patrimony, is better off because of these jobs.

So instead of carping and complaining about health hazards that these jobs impose on the youth, the do-gooders should better plan ahead just like India. Which is to prepare for the next stage after the IT-enabled jobs. This means training the young to work in the real thing” embedded programs, programming, and maintaining complex ICT networks.

With the real thing, we can grab a sizable slice of the technological innovations in Asia. And we all know what comes with being a technological powerhouse.