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Quarries will again trigger ruinous floods starting May

Quarries will again trigger ruinous floods starting May

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

photo from PNA

GOTCHA

written on March 25, 2022

 

Two months from now dry faucets will turn into floods. Rains will rush down bald mountains, deluging homes and shops below. Greater Manila will again be worst hit. Residents will blame only what they see: plastic trash clogging drains. The true culprits willl again escape accountability. Those are the handful of quarriers in the Marikina watershed east of the megalopolis.

Three of the quarries are in Sitio San Roque, Baras, Rizal uphill from Antipolo capital. Sixteen others are in adjacent Montalban. That the largest is owned by an ex-environment secretary shows the futility of forest preservation and flood prevention.

The three quarriers in Baras ironically control the upper slopes. Just below them is the Masungi Georeserve Project. The 2,700-hectare Masungi is world-acclaimed for reforestation and rewilding. Winding across it into the quarries is a 16-kilometer-long spine of epochs-old limestone. The quarriers are after that water-bearing, flood-preventing limestone.

Two administrations expanded Masungi from its original 130 to 430 hectares. The Masungi Georeserve Foundation opened it to eco-tourists to cover the cost of park rangers against illegal loggers and trespassers. In 2017 environment secretary Gina Lopez assigned 2,270 hectares more to the Foundation. But forest protection seems to be a losing battle. A syndicate in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is protecting instead the quarriers.

Crooked bureaucrats awarded the quarriers in 1998-1999 Mineral Production Sharing Agreements. “Those MPSAs are patently illegal,” says Foundation president Ben Dumaliang. The Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape is a watershed. As such it is listed in the National Integrated Protected Areas System Law. Presidential Proclamation 1636 of 1977 and DENR Department Administrative Order 33 of 1993 prohibit quarrying in watersheds and protected areas. Mere MPSAs may not supersede laws and regulations.

Encouraged by the quarriers, two commercial swimming pool resorts have been built in the area recently. One of them fenced off half a kilometer of river and diverted the water to the pools. Both have no business permits. Three police generals erected mansions; two vacated the illegal constructions after retirement. Illegal woodcutters and slash-and-burn (kaingin) trespassers destroyed 16 hectares of forest, the Department of the Interior and Local Government denounced in July 2021.

Alleged goons of the resort owners and the remaining general harass the hundred or so Masungi park rangers. The unarmed rangers have been fired at with rifles and shotguns to scare them from fencing off the intruders. Attacks have been reported to the local police. Still the goons persist. Last Feb. 18, The STAR reported, 30 thugs clubbed and stoned seven rangers then lunching at a carinderia. Two had to be hospitalized. One of the maulers has a pending court case for previously shooting the ranger barracks.

The DILG has urged DENR to file criminal charges against the resort owners, loggers and their bureaucrat abettors. Inspecting Masungi’s outlying areas last July, DILG U-Sec. Jonathan Malaya saw illegal structures in the 16 newly denuded hectares. “Binusabos na nga nila ang kalikasan, naghahari-harian pa sila sa lugar, at hindi sumusunod sa mga otoridad at batas pang-kalikasan,” he fumed. As part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force, Malaya cited bases for indicting the trespassers: NIPAS Law, Revised Forestry Code, Water Code and DENR DAO 1993-33 declaring Masungi as “Strict Nature Reserve & Wildlife Sanctuary”.

In March 2020 DENR Sec. Roy Cimatu vowed to cancel the MPSAs for being harmful to the area. Two years hence it has not materialized. Shady underlings apparently withheld the cancellation order from Cimatu’s signature, until he retired last month.

The syndicate is even turning the tables on Masungi Georeserve Foundation. “They are accusing us of land grabbing inspite of our official designation by DENR as conservationists,” Dumaliang laments. Billboards badmouthing the eco-park have been put up at resort entrances and unlicensed roadside eateries.

A days-long water shut-off early this month was blamed by illegal residents on the Foundation. It turned out from drone videos, however, that the resorts had diverted the springs to fill up their pools and water tanks in anticipation of summer tourist influx.

The demonization seems orchestrated. Purportedly in response to the locals’ outcry, provincial and central DENR officials are recommending closure of the Masungi Georeserve Project. Ignored are seven years of Dumaliang’s reforestation and rewilding, mostly funded out of his own pocket. His eldest daughters, National Geographic explorer Ann and Billie, had to resign from corporate jobs to help his efforts full time. Ignored, too, are 67,000 replanted native trees, and citations from the UN Development Program, International Union for Conservation of Nature, World Travel-Tourism Council and UN World Tourism Organization.

Only Duterte can save Masungi perhaps. “The area is a geohazard zone prone to floods and landslides,” Dumaliang wrote the President on Mar. 14. “Water supply for the surrounding communities will be lost from the resulting excavation and extraction of the water-bearing limestone formation. The 60-million-year old geological heritage and shelter of indigenous plants and animals will be destroyed.”

It’s the quarries that must go. Or else the people of Metro Manila, Bulacan and Rizal will continue to suffer destructive floods like those from superstorm Ondoy in 2009 and typhoon Ulysses in 2020.

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

China now aggressing Philippine inner waters

China now aggressing Philippine inner waters

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

Photo from Wikipedia

GOTCHA

written on March 18, 2022

 

Picture yourself frolicking on Boracay’s white sands in the center of the archipelago. Then a gray China navy warship suddenly draws near, cannons menacing and drones videoing you.

That is the seriousness of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy’s trespass of Philippine inner waters between Palawan and Panay.

Electronic surveillance warship No. 792 barged in uninvited last Jan. 29-Feb. 1. There that week, Jan. 27-Feb. 2, the AFP and US Marines were holding amphibious drills. Boracay is on the farther side of Panay.

The intruder stopped for two days. Challenged by Philippine Navy patrol BRP Antonio Luna, it refused to leave the area and instead lurked at Palawan’s Cuyo Isles. Only after more warnings did it sail via Apo Reefs marine sanctuary and Mindoro Strait out to the West Philippine Sea.

An archipelagic state’s inner waters are part of its territory, no different from its islands. No foreign vessel may pass through those waters without permission. The vessel may be allowed innocent passage under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. But it must stick to the state’s designated straight path and not stop unless for emergency. It should not conduct reconnaissance, launch military craft, gather information or other hostile acts. And it must immediately depart when so ordered.

PLAN-792 broke all those rules. The missile-tracking spy ship trespassed Philippine inner waters from the WPS via Balabac Strait south of Palawan. If on innocent passage, as the Chinese Embassy now blabbers, it should have sailed the designated sea lane straight to Surigao Strait in northeast Mindanao and exited to the Pacific. Instead it turned northward near the off-limits Tubbataha Reefs marine sanctuary. It loitered in the vicinity for two days. Then it strayed northeast to Cuyo before exiting back to the WPS via Mindoro Strait north of Palawan.

If PLAN-792 needed to sail from south to north of Palawan, it could have done so along the WPS outer waters westside of Palawan. Weather was fine that week; it had no mechanical or medical emergency. The shortest distance beween two points is a straight line – to save fuel and sail time. Instead it traversed three sides of the rectangle bordering Palawan – south, east and north. That is not innocent passage. That is “illegal incursion” as the Dept. of Foreign Affairs protested last Monday. (The Dept. of National Defense had kept mum all the while.)

The China navy, coast guard and fisheries militia routinely intrude outer Philippine waters as well. They occupy our reefs and poach fish, in violation of the 1982 UNCLOS and the 2016 ruling of The Hague arbitral court.

The Philippine Baselines Law specifies the outer waters under UNCLOS. Lines connect the outermost land points around Batanes, Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Tawi-Tawi. From those baselines, the Philippines is entitled to an exclusive economic zone up to 200 miles as maritime jurisdiction. But the first 12 miles are territorial waters.

The Philippines is also entitled to another 150 miles extended continental shelf. On the west side the EEZ and ECS comprise the West Philippine Sea. Under that entitlement, the UN declared the 13 million-hectare Benham Rise on the east or Pacific side as Philippine ECS. Thus, the East Philippine Sea consists of the EEZ plus Benham, now officially called Philippine Rise.

China covets the WPS (and the EEZs of Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei) as part of its “territorial” South China Sea by concocted “historical rights”. But the 2016 Hague ruling rubbished those. China refuses to accept.

China also regularly intrudes Philippine Rise, the National Security Agency reported to the Senate on Tuesday. Defying the UN declaration, China claims ownership of undersea features by virtue of supposedly being the first to name them.

While pretending to recognize Philippine land territory, China illogically claims to own the waters on the west and east sides. And it incurses the inner waters between.

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

Chinese navy ‘spied on’ PH-US drills in Palawan

Chinese navy ‘spied on’ PH-US drills in Palawan

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of PH-US drills in Palawan

GOTCHA

written on March 16, 2022

 

The Chinese navy trespassed Palawan inner waters during joint Philippine-US military exercises there. People’s Liberation Army-Navy electronic reconnaissance warship 792 lingered east of Palawan on Jan. 29-Feb. 1. Ongoing in the area then, Jan. 27-Feb. 2, were amphibious drills of US Marines with Filipino soldiers.

“Suspicion is that the spy ship was shadowing the activity,” retired general Edilberto Adan told The STAR. The dates cannot just be coincidence, said the former secretariat head of the PH-US Visiting Forces Agreement. PLAN 792 is of Dongdiao class, a missile-tracking electronic surveillance vessel.

The warship was not on “innocent passage” since it did not stick to a straight path, former Phil. Navy chief Adm. Alexander Pama added. It even stopped for two days, he quoted defense sources.

The Chinese navy trespassed Palawan inner waters during joint Philippine-US military exercises there. People’s Liberation Army-Navy electronic reconnaissance warship 792 lingered east of Palawan on Jan. 29-Feb. 1. Ongoing in the area then, Jan. 27-Feb. 2, were amphibious drills of US Marines with Filipino soldiers.

“Suspicion is that the spy ship was shadowing the activity,” retired general Edilberto Adan told The STAR. The dates cannot just be coincidence, said the former secretariat head of the PH-US Visiting Forces Agreement. PLAN 792 is of Dongdiao class, a missile-tracking electronic surveillance vessel.

The warship was not on “innocent passage” since it did not stick to a straight path, former Phil. Navy chief Adm. Alexander Pama added. It even stopped for two days, he quoted defense sources.

Foreign vessels may pass through inner Philippine waters under the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act. Included is a narrow passageway south to north between Palawan and Panay that exits through Mindoro Strait to the West Philippine Sea. It intersects another passageway from Balabac Strait south of Palawan to Surigao Strait in northeast Mindanao, to and from West Philippine Sea and the Pacific. Vessels must keep within the width of the sea lanes, set in longitude and latitude. They must first seek permission to sail through, on a straight path, and stop only for emergency or to seek help.

The US exercises with the AFP jumped off from Brooke’s Point in southeast Palawan and covered both sides of the first passageway. Participating were the AFP Western Command based in Puerto Princesa City and the West Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City. Purpose: interoperability of troops, communication, vessels, equipment, armaments.

It is “usual” for navies to monitor others’ war games, but in open seas. “China is known to keenly observe Philippine-US drills in our WPS exclusive economic zone up to 200 miles from shore,” said Jay Batongbacal, PhD, international maritime law. “But this is different. Pambabastos ito. PLAN 792 broke UNCLOS and domestic laws.” Worse than barging into the 12-mile outer territorial waters of the Philippines, it sneaked into internal waters and veered away from the designated archipelagic sea lane.

Philippine Navy patrol BRP Antonio Luna challenged the Chinese spy ship and ordered it to leave. Still the intruder ventured northeast to the Cuyo islands of Palawan. Days later, tailed by BRP Antonio Luna, it turned west to Apo Reefs and exited via Mindoro Strait.

Weather was clear around Palawan and Panay that week of Jan. 27-Feb. 2. If PLAN 792 needed to pass south to north of Palawan, it could have traversed the WPS. But entering Balabac Strait, it should have exited to the Pacific via Surigao Strait. Yet it strayed from the straight path and turned to the passageway east of Palawan, despite no medical or engine emergency. By exiting in Mindoro Strait, it in effect traversed three sides of the rectangle bordering Palawan.

“It is an affront on our sovereignty,” said Adan, trustee of the Council on Foreign Relations and former superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy. He expressed the concern of other retired generals in the Advocates for National Interest, which he chairs.

Despite murmurs since early February about the intrusion, Defense officials kept mum. On Monday, March 14, the Dept. of Foreign Affairs summoned Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian: “Desist from entering Philippine waters uninvited and without permission.” China committed an “illegal incursion” and disrespected Philippine territory and maritime jurisdiction, Foreign Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said.

PLAN 792 did not inform authorities of intention to pass through, Lazaro said. She cited Article 52 of UNCLOS that pertains to temporary suspension of passage along archipelagic sea lanes for state security after due publication.

“Was that the first and the last incursion?” Rep. Jericho Nograles asked. “Why is it only through a DFA statement that Congress is hearing about this? Were they hiding it?”

The Philippine Navy, Coast Guard and PNP Maritime Command are obliged to report to Congress, even in a confidential manner, any incursions and threats to the Republic, Nograles said. Those armed services are under the Departments of National Defense, Transportation, and Interior and Local Government, respectively.

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

China threatening Phl anew over oil-rich Recto Bank

China threatening Phl anew over oil-rich Recto Bank

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of President Duterte

GOTCHA

written on March 11, 2022

 

China is war-mongering again over the Philippines’ oil-rich Recto Bank. President Duterte said Monday a Chinese source warned him of military deployment if the Philippines secures the shallow waters within its exclusive economic zone. Fears are that Beijing would take advantage of world distraction by the Ukraine crisis to aggress the West Philippine Sea.

“Pinaalala sa akin, hindi ko na sabihin kung sino from China, ‘di ba may usapan tayo na joint development of Recto Bank. May bagong istorya na may papalit na,” Duterte revealed in a late night monologue.

Duterte said he denied his contact’s claim that Manila was sending soldiers to the area 84 miles off Palawan. “Sabi ko sa kanya, wala naman kami balak magdala ng sundalo. [The person retorted] kung magpadala kayo ng sundalo, magpadala rin kami ng sundalo. ‘Yan ang iniiwasan ko noon pa. Tapos magkakagiyera tayo rito… ‘yung Ukraine. ‘Yung Taiwan gusto agawin ulit ng China. Tapos dito.”

Recto Bank is estimated to contain 165 million barrels of oil and 3,486 billion cubic feet of gas. The Philippines has issued service contracts for private firms to drill petroleum. But Chinese warships harassed the exploration vessels in 2012.

Though well outside its own 200-mile EEZ, Beijing covets Recto by sketchy historical right. The Hague Arbitral Court in 2016 rubbished that claim as inconsistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. It upheld Manila’s stake over all mineral resources in its EEZ.

After a 2017 state visit to Beijing, Duterte reported that President Xi Jinping threatened him with war if he tried to enforce The Hague ruling and drill for oil. That was despite his earlier pronouncement to set aside the verdict in acquiescence to China. Retired Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio, who had helped craft the Philippine arbitration, reminded that international law forbids any state from threatening or warring with another.

The following year Malacañang announced an understanding with Beijing to jointly explore and develop Recto Bank. State-owned China National Offshore Oil Company was to participate. Other details have yet to be publicized four years hence. International analysts said Manila negotiated under armed threat from Beijing.

Last Monday Duterte said: “So many flashpoints… We do not need it. Hindi natin kailangan makipag-away diyan, sundin lang ninyo kung anong pinag-usapan noon. It’s a matter of honor, consensual talk tapos may written agreement.” He said he would stand by joint exploration till the end of his term.

More than word of honor are constitutional mandates. The State owns all resources within its territorial waters and maritime jurisdiction. Foreigners may join mineral extraction only as financial or technical partners. The sanctity of contracts must be upheld, more so if issued by the State.

Also on Monday, former foreign secretary Albert del Rosario urged the government to commence “development and extraction from Recto Bank and other energy sources. The looming energy crisis in our country has been exacerbated not only because of the depleting reserves of the Malampaya gas field, but also inevitable global energy shortage resulting from the West’s sanctions on Russia.”

Fuel prices, already high from global economic recovery from the pandemic, further spiked due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Fifty miles closer to shore from Recto Bank, Malampaya supplies more than 30 percent of Luzon’s electricity.

Controversy swirled when a newborn subsidiary of Udenna Corp. acquired the 45-percent operating share of giant Chevron and about to get Shell’s similar stake. Industry critics said the state’s PNOC-Exploration Corp. should have bought the shares instead, thereby earning what used to be Chevron and Shell’s P42 billion a year.

Petroleum assets are so important that the President by law must approve the service contractors and ownership changes. But Duterte justified the sale to Udenna as purely private deals. Udenna is owned by his biggest 2016 campaign contributor Dennis Uy.

Lawyer and senatorial candidate Alex Lacson linked the Recto issue to Malampaya. “Before entering into any exploration agreement with China on Recto Bank, government must first take back from Udenna the shares of Chevron and Shell. That way the people can benefit from the earnings.”

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

No vision on food, no urgency on fuel

No vision on food, no urgency on fuel

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of wheat 

GOTCHA

written on March 9, 2022

 

 

The President said Sunday the country must ensure grain security and rely on the domestic market to sustain production. Food is as essential as industrialization and must not rely on the international market, he said. His remarks came amid disruption to the global grain supply chain from the conflict between top grain producers Russia and Ukraine.

That president is Xi Jinping. He envisions stabilizing China’s food and corn production, and expanding soybean and oilseed output to ensure “Chinese bowls are mainly filled with Chinese food,” Reuters reported. The strategy is to develop the seed industry for self-reliance, because seed security is “related to national security.”

In the Philippines, the opposite is happening. Government is over-importing food and animal feeds. It even slashes import duties, ostensibly to keep consumer prices low. But market-goers do not see the promised price respite.

Filipino producers are left to fend for themselves. Most of the imports come from China.

Chinese chicken flooded the market starting 2020. At the time, domestic poultrymen were reeling from low demand due to pandemic lockdowns of restaurants and school, office and factory canteens.

As feed demand dropped too, corn farmers suffered. Still government imported corn to offset the price spike of US soybean, a feeds ingredient delayed by port congestion.

Government lowered to only 30 percent the 50-percent tariff on rice imports. Palay farmers’ prices not only fell, but funds to buy up their harvest also depleted.

For six months now, government has been importing galunggong, bonito, tanigue, mackerel, tuna and sardines from China. Little aid goes to repairing boats and nets damaged by typhoon. None to protect fishermen from Chinese maritime militia who poach in Philippine waters. Ironically, the stolen fish are sold to Filipinos. In China, communist commissars justify the higher fish rates because supposedly caught in their waters that “Filipinos are grabbing.”

Vegetable and fruit producers not only must contend with cheap imports from China. Smuggling of carrots, onion, garlic and ginger also thrives.

Luzon piggeries fell to African swine fever. Four times the projected pork shortage was brought in, at only five- to ten-percent tariff instead of 30. Government was unable to raise the funds needed to buy and bury diseased hogs to stem the epidemic.

Government is presently importing sugar, right in the middle of the milling season. Bankrupted planters may no longer afford inputs for the next cropping year.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is further pushing up oil and gas prices already soaring from global economic recovery. Tankers near the war zone are being blocked and international traders are speculating. Expensive fuel is pushing up the cost of food production and transport.

Yet government seems to have no sense of urgency. Farmers, fishermen and transporters of harvest direly need fuel subsidies. Their irrigation pumps, hand tractors, threshers, harvesters, boat engines, pond aerators, trailer-jeeps and public transport must keep running.

Pump prices of diesel already rose in 2021 by P15.80 and gasoline by P16.30 a liter. Since January, diesel further zoomed by P17.50 and gasoline by P13.25 a liter.

Yesterday, another P5.85 was added to diesel and P3.60 to gasoline. On Tuesday, analysts forecast another P12 increase on diesel and P8 on gasoline.

All the while bureaucrats are blaming Congress. Supposedly lawmakers have not revisited the Oil Deregulation Act. Yet yesterday, department secretaries were absent from an emergency hearing of the House fuel crisis ad hoc committee. That superbody combines the powerful committees on ways and means, economic affairs, transportation and energy. Mere underlings of six Cabinet members attended. One of them made a presentation although abroad; none could commit on a policy to stabilize food and fuel prices.

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

An alternative to marching into certain ignoble defeat

An alternative to marching into certain ignoble defeat

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

Wikipedia photos of Battle of the Little Bighorn, Battle of Tirad Pass and Battle of Thermopylae

GOTCHA

written on March 4, 2022

 

 

Men make last stands in the face of imminent defeat. The Spartans at Thermopylae, Custer at Little Big Horn, Del Pilar at Tirad Pass had no more option. The enemy was attacking in superior numbers, food and supplies had run out, no reinforcements were coming. Death was chosen over dishonor. But sometimes retreat is possible, even preferable. Tough leaders thence set the site and terms of next battles.

It is foolhardy for non-administration presidential candidates to make a last stand on May 9, 2022. Defeat is not imminent. By uniting behind only one of them, they can turn the tide of political battle. Coalescing now can snowball to victory. Any more delay makes that prospect slimmer.

Leni Robredo, Manny Pacquiao, Isko Moreno and Ping Lacson can take another try at consolidation. They may not have appreciated its cruciality in exploratory talks six months ago. But survey ratings since then consistently show them about to be overrun. The same numbers show that if they combine, their common choice among themselves can prevail. Staying fragmented will only end in frustration.

Their defeats will be ignoble. History will judge them for vainly clinging to personal ambition. Doy Laurel gave way to Cory Aquino in the 1986 snap presidential election; united, Cory became president and Doy as VP fulfilled one of his life goals – to serve as foreign minister. Filipinos memorialize Doy for his self-sacrifice.

This early, people are asking if the “presidentiables” love the country enough to make similar sacrifices. After all, their platforms complement in being pro-poor, reformist and patriotic. Coalescing can mean sharing their brilliant advisers and eventual Cabinet appointees. Continuing disunity can bring catastrophe. Surely they and their followers foresee that.

Under a false leader national sovereignty will be surrendered to China. Greed will be the creed. Partymates will resume their plunder. Cronies will take over state resources and public utility contracts. Provincial political dynasties will finish off what’s left.

The platforms of Robredo, Pacquiao, Moreno and Lacson will become pipe dreams. Filipinos will continue to suffer hunger, child malnutrition, learning inability, joblessness, homelessness, hopelessness.

The non-administration candidates endure the same difficulties in campaigning: insufficiency of funds, harassment by coopted election officers, excessive restrictions from partisan local authorities and more. The only things keeping their spirits up are enthusiasm of volunteers and attendees in their campaign sorties.

None of the four intends or has a history of buying votes. Each now refrains from bashing the others. At the back of their minds, they likely realize they may need to join forces. Although that may not solve their campaign woes, their common program of government will at least have a better fighting chance.

Their campaign strategists know each other. There is no shame in initiating talks to assess the political battlefield. Sincerity of purpose is always noble.

The Philippines is in a deep rut of poverty, injustice and foreign aggression. It will take two successive good presidents to pull out of it, analysts say. A common vision for those 12 years can be the take-off point for Robredo, Pacquiao, Moreno and Lacson to unite.

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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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.