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US Army marker proves that Scarborough is ours

US Army marker proves that Scarborough is ours

by | Apr 14, 2023 | Gotcha

Photo from Wikipedia

GOTCHA

written on August 31, 2022

 

On a rock in Scarborough Shoal is a Philippine territorial marker. The concrete cylinder is 20 cm in diameter and a meter long, but only 15 cm protrudes. On the brass cap is embossed “USAMSFE.” The US Army Map Service-Far East embedded it there before the 1946 birth of the Philippine Republic.

That marker proves that the Shoal, also called Panatag and Bajo de Masinloc, 123 miles off Zambales, is Philippine boundary. By a series of Spanish and American official acts and documentation, jurisdiction transferred to Manila.

Filipino geodetic engineer-astronomer Dante Yglopaz, 84, knows the marker well. He is the only surviving member of the Scarborough survey 61 years ago by USAMSFE and the Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey. That week-long research pinpointed the exact longitude and latitude of the Philippine border.

Yglopaz likens the marker to a “mohon” (stone boundary) of a lot. Marked “BL” (Bureau of Lands) it denotes the State’s demarcation authority.

Yglopaz was 23 when he served as the survey’s assistant astronomer in March 1961. The venerable engineer Felipe F. Cruz, whose firm the USAMSFE contracted, acted as documenter. Felipe Caddauan of Ilocos was main astronomer; Victor Henry Baledia of Negros Oriental, radioman.

They sailed two days and one night from the BCGS headquarters in North Harbor, Binondo, Manila. Captain Frisbitero skippered the ten-man crew of the steel vessel “Pathfinder.” Anchoring a distance from the treacherous reefs, they rowed boats to unload equipment on an old steel-framed shed beside the marker, as USAMSFE instructed.

Wall-less, only a GI sheet roof shielded them from sun and wood-planks from water, with latrine at the far end. Gear consisted of a book charting the position of 55,000 stars, electric chronograph, chronometer, radio, mechanical adding machine, heavy-duty truck batteries, kerosene stove and Petromax lamps. No calculators or GPS then. At night they timed the moon’s occultation of 30 to 50 stars; at day they computed and logged their findings. They worked, ate and slept on the small space as wind splashed seawater on them.

Their study was submitted to USASMFE headquarters in Tokyo, later moved to Honolulu. Sadly, Yglopaz’s personal journals and photos of the expedition were ruined by storm Ondoy’s mud and floods in his Marikina home, 2009.

 

Yglopaz joined other USASMFE surveys, 1959-1965, with Caddauan, Baledia and alternate astronomer Ernesto Calpo of the Weather Bureau. They survived poisonous snakes and blood leeches in Sulu, Palawan and Babuyan Island mountaintops. Then, on to South Vietnam to plot the coordinates of the southernmost tip to the demarcation line with the North. Onto Kwajalein, Saipan, Guam, Sydney, Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin. Also the US mainland: Sacramento, Reno, San Francisco, where they and Cruz were locked down at The Presidio base during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Yglopaz wonders if China, which grabbed Scarborough in 2012, has destroyed the USASMFE marker. “In 1961 we didn’t see any navigation lights” in the 15,000-hectare lagoon, he recounted in Sapol-dwIZ last Aug. 27 and a follow-up interview Aug. 29. “No fishermen, and US or Philippine patrols either. And certainly no Chinese ships.” About China’s nine-dash line claim encompassing the Shoal, he said: “Ngayon lang ‘yan. Wala ‘yan noon. Narinig ko lang ‘yan nu’ng presidente na si Noynoy Aquino.”

“Kung ipaglalaban sa court, tapos may witness na pupuntahan yung shoal, at kung hindi pa nila giniba ‘yong corals du’n, sigurado nandoon pa ‘yong concrete monument,” he stressed. “That would physically locate the boundary of the Philippines. Ito na ang living proof na sa atin ang lugar na ‘yon.”

Ex-president Rody Duterte’s defeatism saddened Yglopaz: “He shouldn’t have publicized that we can’t fight China because it is strong and we are weak. Even if it takes 110 million Filipinos, we should not give up. Since the time of Lapulapu, we never surrendered. In Bataan in 1942 when the Americans planned to lay down their arms, Filipinos wanted to fight on.” Spoken like a true but unsung hero, very much a part of Philippine history.

Biographical notes on Yglopaz: Born in Iligan July 28, 1938. Graduated from Manuel L. Quezon University, October 1959. Joined FF Cruz Co., November 1959. Worked for Weather Bureau, 1965-1975; headed the observatory in UP-Diliman, where he trained students and airline pilots in navigation. Studied Computer Science, Australia, 1975-1979. Among the first overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia, 1979-1989. Joined Kessler Consultancy-Manila, then formed his own geodetic surveying company.

Twice widowed: Nora Miciano of Pinamalayan, Mindoro, UP Diliman and Red Cross social worker; Nimfa Montejo of Cagayan de Oro, geodetic engineer. Offspring: Hanna Maria, Spanish professor at UP; Ma. Helena, hotel-restaurant management, UP; Ma. Teresa, English professor, UP; David, physicist, UP, headed geothermal projects, Energy Development Corp.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

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Where to start solving the learning crisis

Where to start solving the learning crisis

by | Apr 14, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of resumed face-to-face classes

GOTCHA

written on August 26, 2022

 

VP Sara Duterte’s declaration of “victory for basic education” was too soon. As education secretary, she had just re-opened schools last Monday. Her job of reversing the learning crisis has just begun. Since that crisis emerged from two decades of neglect, her six-year term may not be enough to solve it.

It can be said though that Duterte’s triumphalism contrasted the former president, her father’s defeatism. Rody Duterte had closed all schools for two-and-a-half years due to pandemic. “Never mind if this generation produces no doctors and engineers,” he justified his 7,641-island lockdown that also ruined the economy. So much for a political clan that never built a single city high school or college since reigning 30 years ago.

Neighboring countries, isolating only buildings or street blocks, resumed face-to-face classes ahead: Vietnam, May 2020, then July 2021; Singapore, June 2020, then October 2021; Malaysia, June 2020, then February 2022; Thailand, July 2020; and Indonesia, August 2021.

The Philippines resorted to online lessons and printed materials. But poor students lacked gadgets. WiFi was spotty yet costly. Doleouts from local governments, private firms and NGOs only went so far. Crooked procurers issued teachers P2.4 billion worth of substandard laptops. Plus, nothing can replace in-classroom learning where students are focused, and mentors can spot and assist laggards.

Results are predictable. International exams in 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2020 showed that Filipino fourth, fifth and eighth graders were among the poorest worldwide in Math, Science and Reading Comprehension. Primary and secondary graders can only be worse off today. 53 percent of students surveyed in August 2021 were unable to learn the competencies set by the Dept. of Education. Three in ten were unsure of finishing the schoolyear. Eighty-seven percent suffered bad internet connection. Parents complained that distance learning didn’t work.

With classes back, old problems return. Public schools lack classrooms, laboratories, desks, textbooks, instructional aids, even basic health safety facilities like water faucets. None of those were expanded during the pandemic closure. Teachers are in short supply. Enrollees this year number 28.8 million, 200,000 more than what DepEd anticipated and 1.3 million more than last year’s.

 

Private schools, traditionally better in facilities and teaching, are in the doldrums. Hundreds have shut down from meager enrollment. One that did on the weekend before school re-opening secretly had sold its campus.

Some that remain operational have resorted to sleaze, pretending to be specialists in Grades 11-12. Bribe of up to P5,000 per head is offered to a public school principal to transfer senior high schoolers to the private school. The latter in turn collects from DepEd the P18,000 subsidy per student per schoolyear. From just 100 transferees, a corrupt principal can rake in P500,000 and the private school P1.8 million.

When corruption replaces education as the mission, ignorance spreads. Unqualified teachers are hired, laboratories deteriorate. Graduates march unprepared for Algebra, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Speech and Language in free college.

Myriad other issues fester. Foremost are teacher training, curriculum revamp and campus upgrades for this age of artificial intelligence and robotics. Congress is reviving the Education Commission for problem solving and comprehensive planning.

Nutrition is linked to learning. If malnourished in its first 1,000 days – from detection of pregnancy to two-and-a-half years old – a child becomes stunted and underweight. With brain half developed, the child is likely to fall behind in learning.

There are residual concerns. Pupils pestered by hair lice, toothache, undiagnosed poor vision and hearing and hunger cannot focus on lessons. Long city commutes or rural river crossings by foot further bug them.

Duterte must fight in the next six years for a bigger slice of the budget pie. The World Bank prescribes for education four to six percent of any country’s GDP or 15 to 20 percent of public spending. The best in Philippine record was only 3.88 percent of GDP in 2020, and 12.58 percent of the national budget in 2022. Those include funds that went to the Commission on Higher Education.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Compel barangays to collect rainwater

Compel barangays to collect rainwater

by | Apr 14, 2023 | Gotcha

Stock Image

GOTCHA

written on August 24, 2022

 

Thirty-three years ago, all barangays were obligated to collect rainwater. Hardly any has complied. The aim of the Rainwater Collector and Springs Development Act of 1989, R.A. 6716, is simple. Reduce floods during the wet season and have water during the dry. Flooding and drought are of crisis proportion today. Won’t anyone act yet?

The Department of Public Works and Highways was supposed to pinpoint the lowest areas of every barangay. Rainwater catchments shall be dug up there. The wider and deeper, the better. Canals can be directed and drainpipes laid down onto the impoundments.

Barangays can have food. Plant vegetables and fruits around the impoundments. With surrounding soil always wet, harvest will be plenty. Seed the ponds with tilapia, carp, catfish and mudfish. Probably rock crabs and frogs too. Those will prevent the spread of mosquitoes. Use vegetable trimmings and kitchen peelings for feeds. Also manure from a chicken coop built atop the pond. Richer barangay residents can donate growth pellets.

Impoundments can be barangay recreation parks. Shade trees can be planted, and huts and umbrella tables set up. If the pond is big enough, put paddle boats. Charge upkeep fees.

Barangays can have drinking water. The Department of Science and Technology, community engineers and technology students can put their heads together. Filter chambers can be designed to clean the water. Before the final chamber can be one with clear enough water for showers, toilets and dishwashing as picnic amenities.

Water impounding has long been practiced. From the air in Australia’s arid zones, one can spot a series of giant “turkey nests” on hilltops. For irrigation, water is released into canals spiraling down the hillsides, gathering momentum, to gush onto farms. Former Rep. Felicito Payumo adopted the method in his Bataan home province in the 1980s. He was past president of Engineering Equipment Inc.

For community-level impoundment, consult for free environment lawyer Antonio Oposa. He has dug several in the subdivision where he lives south of Manila. Years ago, the Supreme Court affirmed Oposa’s case to compel national and local governments to clean up Manila Bay and surrounding rivers.

 

Malls, factories, office and residential condos, churches, schools and homes must have their own catchments. Rainwater can be collected from roofs, gutters and downspouts. From the catchments can be derived free water for firefighting, gardening, hosing cars, garages, fences, walls and windows. Such architecture was common in the 1960s. India, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand copied it.

*      *      *

The typhoon season is upon us. Floods again threaten to destroy lowland homes, shops, cars, furniture, appliances and personal records. Yet mountainside quarrying goes on. The mindset of natural resource bureaucrats is that they’re there to parcel off rock quarries for construction. To hell with the garbage-producing dwellers below.

Behind each quarry is a politico as owner or protector. In Congress, they arm-twist environment officials to shut up. Confirmation hearings of Cabinet members are ongoing.

Expect outcries due to flooding deaths. Expect the news to die down till next year’s disasters. And so it goes.

At the Marikina Watershed in Rizal thrive quarries and illegal swimming pool resorts. Having carved up the mountains, chopped down trees and diverted riverways, their armed goons control the uplands. Park rangers of Masungi Georeserve in Baras town are being shot at and mauled to scram. Their lives are in danger. “We don’t know how long we can hold the line,” reforestation foundation head Ben Dumaliang laments. He pays the rangers from modest incomes from eco-tourists in the Masungi limestone and rewilding site.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau insists that there will always be floods in the valley of Marikina, San Mateo, Cainta and Quezon City below. Yes, but the quarries up there worsen and hasten the floods. Scientists from the National Museum, University of the Philippines, UN Development Program, International Union for Conservation of Nature and World Commission on Protected Areas said so. Same with past environment secretaries Angel Alcala, Gina Lopez and Roy Cimatu.

                                                      *      *      *

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Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Quezon solidified Phl title over Scarborough Shoal

Quezon solidified Phl title over Scarborough Shoal

by | Apr 14, 2023 | Gotcha

Wikipedia photo of Scarborough Shoal

GOTCHA

written on August 19, 2022

 

In 1938 President Manuel Quezon directed Executive Secretary Jorge Vargas to review the status of Scarborough Shoal. He wanted to patrol the 15,000-hectare shallow waters surrounded by rock and reef. Only 123 miles off Zambales, the lagoon was deemed crucial for sea and air navigation. Quezon knew the maritime jurisdictional history:

• Originally called Panacot then Bajo de Masinloc, the shoal was ancient Filipino fishing ground. European and Japanese mariners charted it near Luzon. Spanish friar-cartographer Murillo Velarde mapped it in 1734 as “Punto de Mandato,” part of our territory.

• The British named it Scarborough after a trading ship that ran aground in 1748. Spain’s Malaspina Expedition of 1792 pinpointed the exact location. In 1800, Admiral Alava dispatched from Cavite Captain Francisco Riquelme’s steamer Santa Lucia for further exploration.

• The Dorroteo del Archipielago Filipino, the Spanish pilot guide for mariners, detailed the findings. Entries were added to the Dorroteo in 1866 by British Commander Edward Wilds of the HMS Swallow.

• A storm wrecked the Swedish S.S. Nippon in 1913. Filipino and American vessels came to the rescue. Philippine colonial law governed the salvaging. The Bureau of Navigation recorded the events. The Bureau of Science researched the sea water’s effect on the copra cargo. Insurance litigation reached the Philippine Supreme Court in 1916.

• The 1918 Census of the Philippine Islands included Scarborough. On Dec. 6, 1937, Wayne Coy of the U.S. High Commission on the Philippines inquired with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey if any other country claimed the shoal. Replying in the negative four days later, CGS Capt. Thomas Maher suggested a re-survey plus erection of a lighthouse.

 

Vargas’ subsequent letter to Coy set off a series of official correspondence among Washington bigwigs. More so since Vargas stated that: “The Commonwealth Government may desire to claim title thereto should there be no objection on the part of the United States Government.” (International maritime lawyer Jay Batongbacal, PhD, dug into the archives a decade ago.)

Coy relayed the letter to the Dept. of War, which forwarded it to the Dept. of State.

On July 27, 1938, Sec. of State Cordell Hull told Sec. of War Harry Woodring that Scarborough had no other claimant. Further, “While the shoal appears outside the limits of the Philippine archipelago as described in Article III of the American-Spanish Treaty of Paris of Dec. 10, 1898, it would seem that, in the absence of a valid claim by any other government, the shoal should be regarded as included among the islands ceded to the United States by the American-Spanish treaty of Nov. 7, 1900.”

Hull continued: “In the absence of evidence of a superior claim to Scarborough Shoal by any other government, the Dept. of State would interpose no objection to the proposal of the Commonwealth Government to study the possibility of the shoal as an aid to air and ocean navigation, provided that the Dept. of the Navy and the Dept. of Commerce, which are interested in air and ocean navigation in the Far East, are informed and have expressed no objection.”

Acting Sec. of the Navy W.R. Furlong wrote Acting Sec. of War Louis Johnson that his department “has no objection” to the Philippine plan. Same with Sec. of Commerce Paul Frizzell after consulting the Civil Aeronautics Authority.

With all its maps encompassing Scarborough, the Commonwealth oversaw shipwreck rescues, salvaging and legalities.

The Republic starting 1946 did more. In 1961, it sent Lt. Cdr. Antonio Ventura to chart the shoal’s topography and varying depths. In 1963 the local press reported the rescue of the French Arsineo crew. That year too the Philippine Navy shelled a pirate wharf there. Philippine and U.S. joint military exercises used a corner of the shoal for bombing target. In the 1970s Filipino fishery officials, professors and students began cultivating giant clams and fan corals. Scarborough has since been renamed Panatag.

China began claiming the shoal only in 1947. It was steeped in civil war then, yet drew a nine-dash line over the South China Sea. Covered but with no longitudes and latitudes – exposing the claim’s sloppiness – were Scarborough as well as reefs of Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

                                                      *      *      *

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Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sugar, spice and all things in short supply

Sugar, spice and all things in short supply

by | Apr 14, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of onions

GOTCHA

written on August 17, 2022

 

Consumers are crying over onions. They have none to peel, as the white variety has become scarce. Retail price has soared to P400 per kilo (seven to nine bulbs), from only P120 last month. Dept. of Agriculture bureaucrats claim it just so happened that North and Central Luzon farmers planted red onions instead of white. But don’t worry, Usec. Kristine Evangelista told Ted Failon and DJ Chacha’s radio show Monday. Things will normalize with white onion harvest come November.

Wrong, interjected Pangasinan grower Ronnie Ringor in the same program. November is not the Philippines’ harvest season for white onions. It’s January-February. Planting starts only in November when the rainy season begins to wane. That coincides with winter no-cropping in China, Korea and Europe.

Those bureaucrats should tell the public and the President-cum-DA Secretary the truth. A cartel controls onion, garlic, ginger and pepper supply. Congressional hearings since 2008 have identified the cartel queen.

The cartel controls the DA. Through fake farmer cooperatives, the queen corners bulk of the import permits. Though also smuggling spices, she has managed to evade prison.

An interview with an agriculture secretary years ago revealed the extent of the queen’s influence. “She is the good cartel,” he told me. The Constitution orders government to dismantle monopolies and cartels. Agri-smuggling, food hoarding and price gouging comprise economic sabotage, a non-bailable heinous crime that fetches life terms.

The cartel brings in white onions from March-October and stuffs them in cold storages. Evangelista and Ringor agreed that those stocks should be flushed out pronto. Otherwise, come domestic harvest, the queen will again flood the market with imports. Farmers, with little cold storage space left and desperate to recover even just part of the P300,000-per-hectare input, will be forced anew to accept her low buying price.

That’s if the usual white onion growers will plant at all this season. Climate change and the past admin’s all-out food import policy have discouraged cash cropping. Even red onions can soon become rare. Unprecedented since the birth of the Republic, the previous DA secretary allowed red onion imports in the first half of 2022. As the imported red variety retailed for only P3.50 per kilo in the country’s eastern seaboard, traders shunned domestic harvests in the western coast. With no government help and cold storage, farmers in Mindoro had to burn nine million harvested kilos.

                                                 *      *      *

Sugar prices also soured consumer tastes. Refined stocks now retail at P108 a kilo, 42 percent more than the P72.50 in June, said Steven Cua, supermarkets association president. It’s milling season yet prices are being manipulated. Even cane planters are groaning, remarked Manuel Lamata, United Sugar Producers Federation president. There’s an artificial shortage, Evangelista declared in July.

A trade cartel also rules the industry. Allegedly through the Sugar Regulatory Administration, it controls the yearly export of stocks to America. Creating a shortfall, it then commands remedial imports, Steven Chan (now deceased) exposed as far back as 2019, as president of Central Azucarera de Bais.

 

Last week the SRA approved imports of 300,000 tons. “Illegal,” Press Secretary Trixie Angeles snapped. As DA secretary and therefore SRA chairman, President Bongbong Marcos has not even convened the board. Yet DA Operations USec Leocadio Sebastian signed on his behalf, along with SRA vice chairman Hermenegildo Serafica and board members Roland Beltran representing millers, and Aurelio Valderrama Jr. representing planters.

“Investigation is ongoing of any act for the President to lose trust and confidence in his officials, or malice and negligence,” Angeles said. “In such case, the only determination left will be how many heads will roll.”

Then, a July 15 memo circulated online that Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez had granted Sebastian authority to “serve as the DA Secretary’s Chief of Staff … sign contracts, agreements, administrative issuances [like imports] … sit as ex-officio chairman or member of (DA agencies) … and head procurement.” At once Angeles cleared Rodriguez, purporting that unnamed forces were ganging up on him. But Sebastian, who resigned last weekend, “is not yet off the hook.” Beltran resigned Monday and Serafica yesterday.

Last month, the SRA had sent word that Marcos Jr. wanted the 300,000-ton import and sought their comments, Lamata told Gotcha yesterday. Fellow planters proposed that only refined sugar be brought in to benefit consumers. Yet SRA split the import into half refined and half raw sugar. The latter would have cut into their bulk sales of sweeteners to soda and juice makers, he said. “Only one miller in Bukidnon would have benefited. Then we find out from Malacañang that the total import was illegal.”

Marcos Jr. said he might allow a 150,000-ton sugar import in October if conditions warrant. Last May, the previous admin approved a 200,000-ton import supposedly to bring down retail prices. Yet the SRA let in only industrial-grade for big buyers, not households. The President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos, denounced the “midnight deal.”

Has the cartel’s tentacles reached Malacañang? Most likely, planters lament, given that it has re-operated six weeks into the new admin.

  *      *      *

Ironically in this archipelago of 7,641 islands, salt shortage also looms. The Philippines imports 93 percent of its salt and makes only seven percent. One snafu among foreign suppliers and domestic food processing will collapse. Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo proposes a policy-making inter-agency body to revitalize salt-making and incentivize farmers and exporters.

Low tech, climate change and lack of government support ruined the country’s salt self-sufficiency a decade ago. Makers depended only on sun for salt-bed evaporation, unlike in other lands where modern means are used to remove salt from seawater. Unpredictable rains melted and contaminated fields of salt crystals. Fines for failure to iodize the produce discouraged investors. They moved into new business lines; salt fields converted into beachfront residences.

Short of sugar, sibuyas and salt, Filipinos will have no pampatamis, pampa-anghang, pampa-alat.

                                           

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Transport obstacles push up food prices

Transport obstacles push up food prices

by | Apr 14, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of BIR building

GOTCHA

written on September 16, 2022

 

Garlic prices at the grocery store shocked environment lawyer Virginia Suarez: P400 a kilo from Ilocos, P150 a kilo from China. “How can local produce be P250 more per kilo than imported?” she ranted online. “Aren’t imports slapped with duties, collections of which should be used to assist farmers and consumers, say, in distribution? It’s hard enough to plant, yet farmers are blamed for not thinking of the market.”

Twenty-five tons of garlic from Itbayat, Babuyan islands in Batanes could not be shipped to Cagayan in mainland Luzon. Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban should not have slammed farmers for inability to transport to market. It’s not their fault.

Itbayat has no modern port, only a crude landing carved from the cliff. Bulk cargo ships must anchor far off. Tedious manual loading is done on “tataya”, motorized boats with no outriggers, four meters long, the length of a four-wheel van. A tataya can take on only two tons per trip. And that’s in summer when water is calm.

Transporting the garlic to Ilocos, as Panganiban suggested, is easier said than done. No tataya can cross the channel this time of year. At best they can sail four hours to Basco in Batanes main island. From there the garlic can be shipped or flown out. Factor in the cost of labor, fuel and sundries.

At ports are more expenses. Only contracted stevedores may board vessels to load and unload. At piers below, only arrastre servicers may load and unload cargo from land transports. Many are monopolies of local politicos.

Slow work is normal, like only 5,000 food sacks put in or out a day. One ship captain in November 2013 had expected to finish unloading in four days 20,000 sacks of rice in Tacloban. Speeded up by cranes, he moved out 5,000 sacks on the first day, but was ordered to moor elsewhere due to approaching Super Typhoon Yolanda. Wrecked and swept back hundreds of meters inland the next morning, the ship was looted. Unaided by cranes, the hungry gang took only from dawn to dusk to steal the 15,000 remaining sacks.

Few ports are roll on-roll off. The port authority and private operators must put up facilities, but don’t. Shipowners are forced to install onboard cranes at the bow and stern, P5 million apiece. Those costs are passed on to shippers, mostly of food.

There’s a long list of fees to pay: wharfage, pilotage, demurrage, among others. Wharfage is for parking and storage.

Upon entering a harbor, the skipper must turn over the vessel to the franchised harbor pilot. Supposedly knowing every square inch of the zone, the latter parks the vessel at the pier and returns it to the skipper on exit. Any damage to the ship or pier is chargeable not to the harbor pilot but the shipowner. Pilotage fees vary based on ship tonnage, P3,000-P5,000 per stop. But a private port in Batangas charges a flat rate of P24,700, regardless of ship size. Port authorities penalize shipowners P5,000 for failing to avail of pilotage.

Demurrage is penalty paid by the shipowner to the shipper for failure to deliver and discharge cargo on time. Usually it’s not his fault, but bureaucratic red tape. Customs inspections and documentation requirements overlap with those of food, fisheries, animal and plant industry regulators, plus those of export zone and freeport agencies. Grease money is needed to hasten routine duties. Customs penalizes consignees P5,000 per typo error and misspelling. Food cargo containers and crates pile up at sea and airports. Cargo handlers must pay shipping lines P25,000 deposit per container. Again such freight costs are passed on to consumers.

Recently suspected smuggled shipments of sugar were detained at ports for review of papers. They turned out to be legal imports. But the 15-day delays, P200,000 demurrage per day, made the sugar costlier.

Refrigerated cargo container rental is another cost. Truck engines are kept running to cool the containers while strawberry in Benguet or prawn in Pangasinan are harvested. These are then rushed to wholesalers and processors in Metro Manila.

Fuel is the main cost inflater. Gasoline is half of any fisher’s expense, whether for large trawler or small banca, says Jonjon Santos, Association of Fresh Fish Traders president. They again pay for gas to truck the catch to market. Fuel also runs power plants to electrify food cold storages.

And don’t forget police checkpoints. Viajeros toss cash at them to avoid delays of perishable food.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

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We reserve the right to change this policy at any given time. If you want to make sure that you are up to date with the latest changes, we advise you to frequently visit this page.

 

What User Data We Collect

When you visit the website, we may collect the following data:

  • Your IP address
  • Your contact information and email address
  • Other information such as interests and preferences
  • Data profile regarding your online behavior on our website

 

Why We Collect Your Data

We are collecting your data for several reasons:

  • To better understand your needs
  • To improve our services and products
  • To send you promotional emails containing the information we think you will find interesting
  • To contact you to fill out surveys and participate in other types of market research
  • To customize our website according to your online behavior and personal preferences

 

Safeguarding and Securing the Data

jariusbondoc.com is committed to securing your data and keeping it confidential. jariusbondoc.com has done all in its power to prevent data theft, unauthorized access, and disclosure by implementing the latest technologies and software, which help us safeguard all the information we collect online.

 

Our Cookie Policy

Once you agree to allow our website to use cookies, you also agree to use the data it collects regarding your online behavior (analyze web traffic, web pages you spend the most time on, and websites you visit).

The data we collect by using cookies is used to customize our website to your needs. After we use the data for statistical analysis, the data is completely removed from our systems.

Please note that cookies don’t allow us to gain control of your computer in any way. They are strictly used to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not so that we can provide a better experience for you.

If you want to disable cookies, you can do it by accessing the settings of your internet browser.

 

Links to Other Websites

Our website contains links that lead to other websites. If you click on these links jariusbondoc.com is not held responsible for your data and privacy protection. Visiting those websites is not governed by this privacy policy agreement. Make sure to read the privacy policy documentation of the website you go to from our website.

 

Restricting the Collection of your Personal Data

At some point, you might wish to restrict the use and collection of your personal data. You can achieve this by doing the following:

 

  • When you are filling the forms on the website, make sure to check if there is a box which you can leave unchecked, if you don’t want to disclose your personal information.
  • If you have already agreed to share your information with us, feel free to contact us via email and we will be more than happy to change this for you.

 

jariusbondoc.com will not lease, sell or distribute your personal information to any third parties, unless we have your permission. We might do so if the law forces us. Your personal information will be used when we need to send you promotional materials if you agree to this privacy policy.

 

II. COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All materials contained on this site are protected by the Republic of the Phlippines copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of jariusbondoc.com or in the case of third party materials, the owner of that content. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

However, you may download material from jariusbondoc.com on the Web (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal, noncommercial use only.

If you wish to use jariusbondoc.com content for commercial purposes, such as for content syndication etc., please contact us at jariusbondoconline@gmail.com.

Links to Websites other than those owned by jariusbondoc.com are offered as a service to readers. The editorial staff of jariusbondoc.com was not involved in their production and is not responsible for their content.

 

III. TERMS OF SERVICE

 

  1. GENERAL RULES AND DEFINITIONS

 

1.1 If you choose to use the jariusbondoc.com service (the “Service”), you will be agreeing to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement between you and jariusbondoc.com (“jariusbondoc.com “).

 

1.2 jariusbondoc.com may change, add or remove portions of this Agreement at any time, but if it does so, it will post such changes on the Service, or send them to you via e-mail. It is your responsibility to review this Agreement prior to each use of the Site and by continuing to use this Site, you agree to any changes.

 

1.3 If any of these rules or any future changes are unacceptable to you, you may cancel your membership by sending e-mail to jariusbondoconline.com (see section 10.1 regarding termination of service). Your continued use of the service now, or following the posting of notice of any changes in these operating rules, will indicate acceptance by you of such rules, changes, or modifications.

 

1.4 jariusbondoc.com may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Service at any time, including the availability of any Service feature, database, or content. jariusbondoc.com may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Service without notice or liability.

 

  1. JARIUSBONDOC.COM CONTENT AND MEMBER SUBMISSIONS

 

2.1 The contents of the jariusbondoc.com are intended for your personal, noncommercial use. All materials published on jariusbondoc.com (including, but not limited to news articles, photographs, images, illustrations, audio clips and video clips, also known as the “Content”) are protected by copyright, and owned or controlled by jariusbondoc.com or the party credited as the provider of the Content. You shall abide by all additional copyright notices, information, or restrictions contained in any Content accessed through the Service.

 

2.2 The Service and its Contents are protected by copyright pursuant to the Republic of the Philippines and international copyright laws. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce (except as provided in Section 2.3 of this Agreement), create new works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit, any of the Content or the Service (including software) in whole or in part.

 

2.3 You may download or copy the Content and other downloadable items displayed on the Service for personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any Content for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from jariusbondoc.com or the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice contained in the Content.

 

  1. FORUMS, DISCUSSIONS AND USER GENERATED CONTENT

 

3.1 You shall not upload to, or distribute or otherwise publish on the message boards (the “Feedback Section”) any libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, or otherwise illegal material.

 

3.2 (a)Be courteous. You agree that you will not threaten or verbally abuse jariusbondoc.com columnists and other jariusbondoc.com community Members, use defamatory language, or deliberately disrupt discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or “spam.”

 

3.2 (b) Use respectful language. Like any community, the Feedback Sections will flourish only when our Members feel welcome and safe. You agree not to use language that abuses or discriminates on the basis of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, age, region, disability, etc. Hate speech of any kind is grounds for immediate and permanent suspension of access to all or part of the Service.

 

3.2 (c) Debate, but don’t attack. In a community full of opinions and preferences, people always disagree. jariusbondoc.com encourages active discussions and welcomes heated debate in our Feedback Sections. But personal attacks are a direct violation of this Agreement and are grounds for immediate and permanent suspension of access to all or part of the Service.

 

3.3 The Feedback Sections shall be used only in a noncommercial manner. You shall not, without the express approval of jariusbondoc.com, distribute or otherwise publish any material containing any solicitation of funds, advertising or solicitation for goods or services.

 

3.4 You are solely responsible for the content of your messages. However, while jariusbondoc.com does not and cannot review every message posted by you on the Forums and is not responsible for the content of these messages, jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to delete, move, or edit messages that it, in its sole discretion, deems abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or trademark laws, or otherwise unacceptable.

 

3.5 You acknowledge that any submissions you make to the Service (i.e., user-generated content including but not limited to: text, video, audio and photographs) (each, a “Submission”) may be edited, removed, modified, published, transmitted, and displayed by jariusbondoc.com and you waive any moral rights you may have in having the material altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you. You grant jariusbondoc.com a perpetual, nonexclusive, world-wide, royalty free, sub-licensable license to the Submissions, which includes without limitation the right for jariusbondoc.com or any third party it designates, to use, copy, transmit, excerpt, publish, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, create derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, modify and adapt (including without limitation the right to adapt to streaming, downloading, broadcast, mobile, digital, thumbnail, scanning or other technologies) in any form or media now known or hereinafter developed, any Submission posted by you on or to jariusbondoc.com or any other website owned by it, including any Submission posted on jariusbondoc.com through a third party.

 

3.6 By submitting an entry to jariusbondoc.com’s Readers’ Corner, you are consenting to its display on the site and for related online and offline promotional uses.

 

  1. ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE AND LINKS

 

4.1 jariusbondoc.com contains links to other related World Wide Web Internet sites, resources, and sponsors of jariusbondoc.com. Since jariusbondoc.com is not responsible for the availability of these outside resources, or their contents, you should direct any concerns regarding any external link to the site administrator or Webmaster of such site.

 

  1. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

 

5.1 You represent, warrant and covenant (a) that no materials of any kind submitted through your account will (i) violate, plagiarize, or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary rights; or (ii) contain libelous or otherwise unlawful material; and (b) that you are at least thirteen years old. You hereby indemnify, defend and hold harmless jariusbondoc.com, and all officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, affiliates, licensors and licensees (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all liability and costs, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of any breach by you or any user of your account of this Agreement or the foregoing representations, warranties and covenants. You shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any such claim. jariusbondoc.com reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you.

 

5.2 jariusbondoc.com does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information displayed, uploaded, or distributed through the Service by any user, information provider or any other person or entity. You acknowledge that any reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information shall be at your sole risk. THE SERVICE AND ALL DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE ARE DISTRIBUTED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

 

  1. COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN JARIUSBONDOC.COM AND MEMBERS

 

6.1 If you indicate on your registration form that you want to receive such information, jariusbondoc.com, its owners and assigns, will allow certain third party vendors to provide you with information about products and services.

 

6.2 jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to send electronic mail to you for the purpose of informing you of changes or additions to the Service.

 

6.3 jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to disclose information about your usage and demographics, provided that it will not reveal your personal identity in connection with the disclosure of such information. Advertisers and/or Licensees on our Web site may collect and share information about you only if you indicate your acceptance. For more information please read the Privacy Policy of jariusbondoc.com.

 

6.4 jariusbondoc.com may contact you via e-mail regarding your participation in user surveys, asking for feedback on the Website and existing or prospective products and services. This information will be used to improve our Website and better understand our users, and any information we obtain in such surveys will not be shared with third parties, except in aggregate form.

 

  1. TERMINATION

 

 

7.1 jariusbondoc.com may, in its sole discretion, terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Service for any reason, including, without limitation, breach or assignment of this Agreement.

 

  1. MISCELLANEOUS

 

8.1 This Agreement has been made in and shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the Republic of the Philippines law. Any action to enforce this agreement shall be brought in the courts located in Manila, Philippines.

 

8.2 Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, nothing in this Terms of Service will serve to preempt the promises made in jariusbondoc.com Privacy Policy.

 

8.3 Correspondence should be sent to jariusbondoconline.com.

 

8.4 You agree to report any copyright violations of the Terms of Service to jariusbondoc.com as soon as you become aware of them. In the event you have a claim of copyright infringement with respect to material that is contained in the jariusbondoc.com service, please notify jariusbondoconline.com. This Terms of Service was last updated on November 7, 2020.