From a badge of shame to 30,000 homes

From a badge of shame to 30,000 homes

The press reported several days ago the Supreme Court decision declaring as valid the government’s 1993 contract with R-II Builders Inc. to turn the notorious Smokey Mountain dump into a low-cost housing and commercial area.

Smokey Mountain was the huge mound of garbage in the Balut area of Manila’s Tondo district. After years of dumping the garbage of Manila and neighboring cities and municipalities on it, the mound became so big it resembled a hill or a small mountain. Methane from decaying organic materials seeped up and the garbage deep within the hillocks began to burn. Smoke from this burning trash hovered like a dark cloud over the hundreds of scavengers gathering recyclable materials among the garbage. Sold to junk shops, they gave the poorest of the poor a meager income.

Newspaper photographs and television footage of the men, women and children poking and raking sticks on huge piles of smoldering trash were vividly etched in the minds of Filipinos and people around the world. It gave the outside world a graphic view of poverty, Philippine-style: gaunt human beings bent over mounds of trash, smoke swirling around them. It was like a mountain on fire, not unlike Moses’ Mt. Sinai with the burning bush. Hence, the name Smokey Mountain.

Smokey Mountain became a tourist spot. Tourists actually came to the Philippines to see this mound of smoldering trash that became so big it resembled a miniature mountain.

While it attracted foreigners, Smokey Mountain became a badge of shame for the Philippines, epitomizing the poverty, the powerlessness and despair of those struggling to keep body and soul together in a harsh urban environment. It became so shameful that President Corazon Aquino decided to wipe it off the face of the earth. She had the idea of turning this mound of trash, this badge of shame into a housing project for the thousands of scavengers who scraped a living out of it.

In 1992, she ordered the National Housing Authority (NHA) to enter into a joint-venture agreement with R-II Builders of Reghis Romero II to construct 30 buildings to house over 30,000 families in the area. The agreement stipulated that there would be no budget outlay from the government. R-II was to spend for the entire project. As compensation, R-II was to own 79 hectares of foreshore lands it would reclaim. The area was later increased to 229 hectares.

As the project would cost billions of pesos, R-II entered into an asset pool arrangement with a number of government financial institutions. In exchange for Smokey Mountain Participation Certificates, the Social Security System, Land Bank of the Philippines, Philippine National Bank, Home Guarantee Corp., HGC Provident Fund, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and other financial institutions pooled assets totaling P3 billion to bankroll the project. These institutions later earned handsome profits from the certificates.

Still, the project ran out of money. In 2002, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo released P480 million to continue the project, on the condition that the contract with R-II would be cancelled. The original contract was terminated on Aug. 27, 2003. But the government promised to pay R-II P250 million to be taken from the P480 million fund to settle partially the expenses the developer had incurred.

In 2004, former Solicitor General Frank Chavez filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to declare the original contract null and void. He raised a number of issues: that neither the NHA nor R-II may validly reclaim foreshore lands as these are inalienable public lands which are beyond the commerce of man; that there was never any declaration that the said lands were no longer needed for public use; that the developer could not acquire the lands because there was never any law authorizing the sale; that there was never any public bidding of the lands; and that R-II Builders, as a private corporation, was expressly prohibited by the Constitution to acquire lands of the public domain.

Last Aug. 13, the Supreme Court dismissed Chavez’s petition and upheld the validity of the government contract with R-II. One by one, the Court demolished his arguments.

It said the NHA has the power to reclaim lands and transfer these to its private partner without public bidding.

It rejected Chavez’s claim that only the Public Estates Authority (PEA) could reclaim submerged lands, saying Executive Order 525 creating the PEA did not say this power was exclusive.

The second condition, the PEA’s endorsement, was also present because its general manager was a member of the executive committee tasked to supervise the project’s implementation.

The Court also junked Chavez’s claim that the reclaimed lands were given by the NHA to R-II through a negotiated contract and not by public bidding as the law requires. It noted that R-II had won the right to become the NHA’s partner for the project through public bidding.

It said that the lands that the NHA transferred to R-II were not lands of the public domain, the sale of which requires public bidding, and that the NHA was empowered to transfer properties it acquired to other parties, hence there was no need for a law to authorize the sale of reclaimed lands. It added the lands reclaimed for the Smokey Mountain project have been declared alienable and disposable by three presidential proclamations.

Debunking Chavez’s claim that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) did not authorize the NHA and R-II to reclaim lands, the Court said the authority to do so came from the President, who has power over the DENR.

With the decision, R-II’s project to construct homes for 30,000 Smokey Mountain families can now go full blast.

Not so wholesome Cebu

Not so wholesome Cebu

Bird watchers on Olango Island, Cebu, could watch strange birds on the uninhabited Sulpa Islet on August 2. A Japanese couple was having sex—with penetration and everything—on the beach while two companions were video filming the scene. Policemen promptly arrested the four Japanese after bird sanctuary wardens on nearby Olango Island who caught the action on their binoculars, alerted the police in Lapu-Lapu City.

The story naturally made it to the headlines in the local news. Newspaper photographers took pictures of the steamy video footages and the pictures were published on the front pages of the local papers. The penetration part was, of course, blurred but probably few if any readers had problems imagining what was hidden. The four Japanese—three men and a woman—pleaded guilty to a violation of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code, paid a fine of P6,000 each and were released.

Tourism officials were upset about the incident which, according to them, has damaged the image of Cebu as a wholesome tourism destination. However, those of us who live in Cebu know that it is so-so with the wholesome image of Cebu as a tourist destination. Thousands of young women work in establishments that sell sex. The women are forced to let men—Filipino as well as foreign—grope them, as this is part of guest relations. The customer-friendliness goes as far as stripping inside private rooms. And, of course, going out with the customer if he wants to have sexual intercourse. The managers of the establishments would usually deny that they have anything to do with this, but the fact is that no less than our government has imposed on the female guest relations officers (GROs) the keeping of an updated health card. This card is the government’s assurance to the customer that the girls are free of sexually transmitted diseases. We don’t want our foreign tourists to contract an STD or HIV in this wholesome tourism destination, do we?

Some years ago I attended a press forum with officials of the local Departments of Tourism and Health. They were arguing for the health card to protect Cebu’s image as safe and clean for foreign tourists who come here and seek sexual services.

An NGO workers once told me about some Japanese men who returned to a mountain barangay in Cebu City where they were going to have fun with some children. During the sightseeing earlier that day, the parents had approached the men and offered them their children. Other parents have no calms about pushing their teenage daughters into relationships with foreign men—I remember meeting a Swedish national on Bantayan Island. He had two teenage girls in tow. The parents of the girls had told them to befriend the Swede. With the aggressive promotion of the Philippines as a retirement haven, expect more of this kind of prostitution.

Foreign men are occasionally caught in hotel rooms taking nude photos of teenage girls. Once, a foreigner was arrested in Cebu City for shooting his own video in a hotel room. He was having sex with a young girl while her female friend was filming the couple.

What harm did the four Japanese do? While what they did was extremely stupid, they did not involve any Filipinos in their activity. They didn’t prostitute or corrupt any minors. They offended the senses of the general public, but probably the policemen have viewed the videos more than once, and not for purely investigative purposes. The punishment the Japanese was meted—a fine against pleading guilty—for once gives us hope that the justice system is fair, reasonable and efficient.

Sex sells and the four Japanese who could thank the timely intervention of the police for not getting a severe sun burn, were top news in Cebu for a day. The Japanese had to leave the country without their video. End of story. But thousands of Filipino women, girls and boys continue to service their male customers, many of whom are foreign tourists, risking their health and destroying their self-worth, their dignity and their lives. Not enough is being done to confront and end this continuing crime. Authorities, instead of regulating prostitution through the issuance of health cards, should work harder to create jobs that will uplift rather than destroy the human spirit.

Mindanao: Gateway to ASEAN

Mindanao: Gateway to ASEAN

Joji Ilagan-Bian

Considered the second-largest island in the country, Mindanao has finally started getting the attention of travelers.

Mindanao tourist arrivals, particularly those from other countries, have increased over the years despite unfavorable travel advisories issued by western countries, many of which did not even have sound basis.

Last year, total visitor arrival here reached 2.93 million, with 108,062 coming from other countries such as the US, Japan, Korea, Australia and Malaysia. This was 10 percent more than year-ago level.

Mindanao has three international airports -- in the cities of Davao, Zamboanga and General Santos -- although only the first two accommodate direct international flights.

Initiatives

Prime movers of Mindanao development, especially tourism industry players, have come together to promote Mindanao as an international gateway, given its proximity to the rest of the countries in Asia and the Pacific and its accessibility considering its air and sea linkages with those countries.

The Department of Tourism and the airline companies in Davao City, for example, came up with a program that aims to intensify travel between Davao, a haven for business in Mindanao, and the rest of the world.

During the program launch, airline executives announced some proposed flights between the city and certain international destinations.

Similar moves have also been undertaken in other parts of Mindanao. In Zamboanga City, based on the announcement of the Mindanao Economic Development Council in May, Asian Spirit had started servicing three times a week the Zamboanga City-Sandakan, Malaysia route using the Japanese-built Weiss-11 60-seater plane.

There are also attempts to mount direct flights between Zamboanga and Bander Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei Darrusalam.

Fifth-freedom rights

These developments are taking place as the four-country East ASEAN Growth Area started implementing the fifth freedom traffic rights. Leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines believe that with the implementation of this travel concept, their respective destinations will get a boost from the growing number of Asian and other foreign travelers.

This particular travel mechanism, which Mindanao leaders have been pushing since a decade ago, allows an aircraft to pick passengers and cargoes in any airport within the sub-region aside from its home airport. This enables an airline to sustain operations even in missionary routes.

Many flights in the past did not survive mainly because traffic was not really that active even in primary Mindanao destinations such as Davao, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga and Cotabato.

With the strengthening of cooperation between Mindanao and the rest of the East ASEAN Growth Area, great things are expected to take place in the tourism sector, including more flights between the sub-region and the rest of the world.

There is an attempt to bring in more tourists from China and South Korea. These markets have expressed interests in Mindanao. Last month, the tourism industry players in Davao went to Seoul for the Korean World Travel Mart as part of the Philippine delegation.

Sea linkages

There are also the emerging sea linkages between key Mindanao areas and the rest of the sub-region. One of them is the link between General Santos City and Bitung, Indonesia, which has been vibrant in the last couple of months owing to increasing trade between the Jose Abad Santos-Sarangani-Glan-Cooperation Triangle, and Bitung and other nearby ports.

These developments should provide more business and tourism opportunities for Mindanao and make it a viable gateway not only to the ASEAN but also to the rest of the world.

PGMA grooms Central Visayas for world class tourism

PGMA grooms Central Visayas for world class tourism

Philippine Information Agency

Central Visayas' bid for becoming a world class tourism area gets a boost as President Gloria M. Arroyo unfolds a series of air, land and sea transportation mega-infrastructure projects that will link islands making travel easy and comfortable.

Among these projects is the P 4.3 Billion “Bacolod-Silay Airport” of international standards which she inspected today and hopes to be operational soon. The airport is located at Brgy. Bagtic, Silay City, more than 20 km from the province’ capital, Bacolod City.

According to President Arroyo the airport is technically capable of being inaugurated but access and diversion roads are important components of the facility that still needs to be built.

Once operational, the fees, she said, will not be increased.

The focal point of tourism in Central Visayas is Boracay that attracted nearly a million foreign visitors a year as well as Cebu City that is also the country’s top tourist destination, she said in her speech at the pre-departure area of the airports’ terminal building.

Major ports, roads, roll-on-roll-off facilities and airport projects will spur travel and tourism from Iloilo to the islands of Negros, Cebu, Camiguin- Mindanao, Palawan, Bohol and Bicol giving the area a strong pull for tourists.

President Arroyo said her program of strengthening regional infrastructure to spur economic growth is not a political gimmick but is an on-going activity that will soon usher in fruits of prosperity.

After her speech, she held a close-door conference with a selected audience composed of Central Visayas governors, local chief executives, district representatives and heads of various government agencies in Negros Occ.

President Arroyo was motored back to Bacolod City airport for her trip to Manila after the meeting that lasted for about an hour.