In what appeared to be a strange exodus, people scrambled for bus rides to return to their home provinces following the declaration of a lockdown in Metro Manila. The lockdown was announced as lasting from March 15 to April 12 by the Filipino government in a bid to contain the threat of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

The Unique Situation of the Philippines

Some decided to flee the metro for fear of contracting the virus there, having no resources to access medical treatment. Others, such as contract laborers in the city, worried about getting locked away from their families back home with no one to turn to.

The thought of a likely spread of the virus to much poorer provinces immediately sank in among many Filipinos. The Filipino healthcare system has long been problematic and challenged, and access to it for the poor has been mission impossible for years.

Labor Migration and Erratic Distribution of Doctors and Nurses

Labor migration and poor distribution is one of the long-running issues hounding the healthcare system in the country, greatly affecting the Government’s response to the current pandemic. “At the start we lacked enough medical professionals. You know that our front-liners are the doctors and nurses. Can you imagine if they all become persons under investigation or persons under monitoring, and they get quarantined? You can see how really difficult it is for us, no?” said Dr. Jose P. Santiago Jr., President of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA).

On March 16, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) on national TV, which is essentially a lockdown in the entire Luzon Island until April 13. This was later extended until April 30. As of April 13, the country had 4,932 confirmed cases that included 315 deaths and 242 recoveries. Of these, more than 200 are health workers. Over 20 healthcare workers were reported to have died from the virus. At this time of writing, the Philippines has the most number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian region.

Volunteer Filipino Doctors Wanted

On March 21, the Department of Health (DOH) called for volunteer doctors and nurses for three referral hospitals for COVID-19 patients. But the public was outraged by the department’s meager offer to these volunteer front-liners: a mere 500 PHP (USD10) daily allowance, free accommodation, and free food. A compensation package is only available to those who might contract the infection. The department later apologized and assured the public of measures to increase their compensation.

“The Philippines is the top exporter of doctors and nurses in the world,” said Dr. Anthony Leachon, an independent health reform advocate. “And those who are left here to work are overburdened, overworked, but they are underpaid. So that’s the problem,” he further said.

Doctors and nurses departed the country at 16% and 19%, respectively, considered a notably higher rate than the overall industry average according to the 2012 Industry Career Guide: Health & Wellness issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Medical Professionals are Leaving the Philippines En Masse

Meanwhile, a case study on the migration of health workers in 2005 conducted by the International Labour Office in Geneva found that nurses comprise the biggest category of health workers who migrate. Saudi Arabia, US, and UK are their top three countries of destination in the past decade, with Saudi Arabia being the consistently most-favored.

Jahzeel Grace Jandayan, a Filipino nurse, admitted she felt under-compensated in her home country, which prompted her to migrate to the UK before. “Back in 2009, I was only paid Php5,250/month (USD105) as a nurse at a government hospital in Cebu. What I did was to move to the UK on a student visa, eventually securing a work visa under the Overseas Nursing Program by the Nursing Midwifery Council there,” she said. “There was an oversupply of nurses back then in the Philippines, so there was a tough competition among nurse applicants, and the easiest way to enter the UK in 2010 was through a student visa,” she explained. Despite work being hard overseas, she somehow felt well compensated, receiving a £13.50 hourly rate.

Some Filipino Nurses are Paid Nothing

Not only are the nurses underpaid, sometimes they aren’t paid anything at all. The DOLE document also reported that new graduates in the Philippines usually work as volunteers first, with only a few hospitals paying or providing them a minimal allowance. Volunteer contracts will depend on the hospital, after which the management will assess if the volunteer will be accepted as a staff nurse. Other hospitals, though, have been accepting new graduates.

Jandayan, a nurse for 12 years now, attested to this as she had worked initially as a volunteer for six months at the government district hospital—without an allowance prior to being transferred to a paid job at a city health center. Because of the influx of nursing graduates in 2007, she recalled it was extremely hard to get a job back then. Volunteer work was like a rite of passage that nurses had to go through.

A physician in Central Luzon, who refused to be named for privacy reasons and who’s been in the medical profession for 24 years now, has thought of leaving the country, too. “I work as a part-time government doctor with a salary of 29,000 PHP (570 USD). I am also a visiting consultant in a private hospital, so I don’t have a regular salary. My professional fee depends on how many patients I have admitted in the private hospital.” She hopes the current government gives healthcare development a priority.

Besides lack of appropriate compensation, DOLE cited several other factors affecting the welfare of healthcare professionals in the country, including long and irregular duty hours, workload, high stress levels with the shortage of personnel, and strenuous travel involved in terms of shuttling patients between hospitals and clinics.

The increasing labor migration also brings forth an erratic distribution of health professionals across the country. “We have more specialists in the urban areas, especially in the National Capital Region (NCR). When you go to rural areas, we lack specialists, even though we have doctors,” Dr. Santiago said.

The World Health Organization’s ideal physician to patient ratio is one doctor for every 800 patients, but Dr. Santiago estimated that the country now has one doctor for every 1,300 patients. The Cuban model, however, suggested one doctor to 1,000 patients. “We’re close to it, but there’s still disparity,” Dr. Santiago said.

Poorer Regions are Worse off for Healthcare Access

An explainer from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) showed that the NCR and the Cordillera Administrative Region have the most number of healthcare workers at 23.06 and 28.17, respectively, for every 10,000 of the population. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), considered as the poorest region in the Philippines, merely has 6.86 per 10,000 population.

In the Southern Philippines, the BARMM that has been beset by decades-long conflict between military forces and local armed rebels and the increasing threat of ISIS-inspired terrorists. In some cases, healthcare professionals were branded as “anti-state activists,” according to the study, An examination of the causes, consequences, and policy responses to the migration of highly trained health personnel from the Philippines: the high cost of living/leaving—a mixed method study, published in March 2017. One informant in the study revealed that “doctors bring a gun instead of a stethoscope,” and more so “trained to shoot guys,” in case a security emergency arises in the performance of their duty at night.

According to Dr. Leachon, without job security and proper compensation, others ended up in odd jobs, such as those in call centers and in Health Maintenance Organizations. “Because they couldn’t go to a residency program in the NCR for instance, or get an item at the DOH, which is specifically related to their position,” he said.

Further research said that the cost of labor migration in sustaining an efficient healthcare system in third-world or developing countries was evidently high, as many of those who migrated were highly skilled, thus potentially compromising the quality of services and the availability of healthcare workers. This effect is now being seen with many Filipino frontliners quarantined for contracting the virus, hence the call for additional medical volunteers.

Duterte Bans Doctors from Leaving

To address this shortage, Duterte has temporarily banned the deployment of healthcare professionals abroad “until the national state of emergency is lifted” based on an order signed by DOLE secretary Silvestre Bello III on April 2. “It is of paramount national interest to ensure that the country shall continue to have, sustain the supply of, and prepare sufficient health personnel to meet any further contingencies, especially to replace, substitute or reinforce existing workforce currently employed, deployed or utilized locally,” stated the order.

However, the Foreign Affairs Secretary has firmly objected to the ban. “I reject this abomination,” secretary Teddy Locsin Jr. said in a tweet on April 11, vowing to fight for the welfare of overseas healthcare workers. “We will never surrender our constitutional right to travel and our contractual right to work where there is need for our work,” he tweeted.

Standing by his word, Locsin announced on Twitter on April 13 that Filipino health workers with existing contract overseas can now leave the country. “DONE. NURSES, other health workers with existing contracts of work abroad can leave. Future applications frozen until further notice provided all our 450,000+ nurses—exceeding by 250,000 ideal WHO ratio of people-to-nurses—must be given employment. [Thank you] Sal Panelo and Jun Esperon,” he said. President Duterte didn’t object to the final decision. 

Poor Hospital Infrastructure

There’s no question as to why other countries have opened their doors to many Filipino medical professionals seeking greener pastures. Dr. Leachon said Filipinos have built a reputation as being among the “best doctor and nurse graduates in the world.” Unfortunately, for those who have remained in the country, the infrastructure is poor, both for them and their patients, he lamented. “For example, for every 50 meters in Metro Manila, you have a hospital. In the provinces, our regional hospitals are far, and there are not too many tertiary and secondary hospitals there. You’ll only find them every 100 kilometers,” he said.

Since such is the case, some people in need of medical treatment will flock to Manila hospitals like the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). The problem is, the PGH is overcrowded and has “the worst infrastructure” regardless of whether they have the “best and the brightest medical professionals beating the worst cases there,” he further said. “It is just about half [a] kilometer from the Malacanang Palace and the DOH. So the biggest irony there is, how can you expect hospitals in the countryside to be better if the hospitals in Manila are not good?” he asked. “We already have a big problem that’s not being looked at or we refuse to see.”

Data from the National Health Facility Registry of the DOH as gathered by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said the Philippines in 2018 has 1,456 hospitals, of which only 463 or 32% are government-owned. Of these government-owned, 270 or 58% are in Luzon, 80 or 17% in Visayas, and 89 or 19% in Mindanao. The PCIJ report added that there are 1,710 hospitals as of June 2018 based on the National Database of Selected Human Resources for Health. “With a projected national population of 106,168,803 for 2018, the ratio of government-owned hospitals to the Philippine population is a horrible, 1: 229,306,” the report said. “Filipinos in provinces with smaller ratios of government-owned hospitals to population might be presumed to have better access to public healthcare services.”

Dreams of a Better Medical Future

Dr. Leachon, hailed as one of the Outstanding Filipino Physicians in 2008 by DOH, dreams of a PGH in every region that should be tied up with an academic institution. He based his template on the collaboration between Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). “The Government will invest money in Region 1 to form a Region 1 general hospital linked to an academic institution. Just like the doctors at Harvard, they are the ones teaching at the MGH and every other hospital there,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Edsel Salvana, an infectious disease physician, believes it’s high time for the Philippines to have Centers for Disease Control and Prevention whose main focus is public health. “It will precisely deal with emerging infectious threats such as this one and will have public health professionals, good laboratory capacity, quarantine powers, and access to emergency funding. This will also free up the rest of DOH to continue its other functions such as vaccination, disease surveillance, and community health.” Salvana is a director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the National Institute of Health at the University of the Philippines (UP) and a part of the Technical Advisory Group of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Funding Healthcare in the Philippines

Funding downstream diseases more while disregarding the upstream diseases affect the sustainability of the healthcare system, too. “For the longest time the problem of the healthcare is also anchored on treating downstream diseases, which the Government is spending 10 billion PHP (198 million USD) a year on,” said Dr. Leachon. Case in point is dialysis whose number one cause is diabetes or hypertension. “I’m not saying they’re not important individuals or patients. We have 25 million hypertensives and six to eight million diabetics. If the Government could invest more instead on the prevention side to curb hypertension and diabetes, then the country will not end up with a lot of dialysis cases,” he said.

Leachon added that the true epidemic in the country is actually the non-communicable diseases, such as heart attack, stroke, cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, among others. He said the burden of these diseases to the economy amounted to about 200 billion PHP (3 billion USD) based on the 2012 tally of Dr. Tony Dans, a UP professor of medicine. “The problem is, we are not doing anything on the upstream side,” said Dr. Leachon.

Looking to Singapore as a Healthcare Role Model

Leachon also pointed out that Singapore has the most ideal healthcare system as it combined preventive measures in the downstream diseases. “When you go to Singapore, you become a totally different Filipino. You will not smoke. You will not chew gum. You won’t litter. Because they have hefty fines. So they have preventive measures,” he stressed.

Dr. Santiago agrees, suggesting that the Philippine Government should look into how Singapore sustains theirs.

How government officials spend funds in healthcare also poses a great challenge, said Dr. Leachon. Philippine healthcare is decentralized at three levels, namely, national, provincial, and local. He said the problem arises if the mayor or governor is not health-oriented, and then the money will be re-channeled to another area the official wants to develop. Thus, the plan of action of the DOH secretary sometimes goes to waste even with the best of intentions, he said.

The Duterte administration approved a final budget allocation of 172.37 billion PHP for DOH this year, as compared to 165.92 billion PHP last year.  A report from Rappler said the National Expenditure Program initially had a lower allocation for DOH, but later increased in the approved 2020 General Appropriations Act following Congress deliberations. This, in fact, had brought confusion to some concerned Filipinos, which prompted the Presidential Communications Office assistant secretary Ramon Cualoping III to counter via Facebook a claim that the budget for health had been slashed.

But of the total health budget this year, the health systems strengthening program received only Php 19.33 billion, which is lower compared to the Php 25.9 billion budget in 2019, according to Rappler. The program covers service delivery, health human resource, and health promotion. Service delivery includes funding for the enhancement of health facilities. There was, however, an increase in the health facilities operation program from Php 32.5 billion last year to Php 42 billion this year. The program covers curative healthcare to operate blood centers and DOH-run hospitals and rehabilitative healthcare to operate government-run drug rehabilitation centers.

Learning From Crisis

Dr. Santiago said the pandemic had exposed the weaknesses of the world’s healthcare system. “It is not prepared for this,” he admitted, saying that there are so many takeaways from this crisis. One is the importance of sanitation and how this pandemic and other health concerns in the country such as polio, dengue fever, SARS, and AH1N1 are all related to it. The other is climate change and the need to no longer ignore it. “The environment that this virus feeds and mutates on should also be given focus,” he said.

While recognizing the gaps in the country’s healthcare system, Dr. Salvana believes it has been strengthened by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and the government. PhilHealth is a government-owned and controlled corporation that provides universal healthcare coverage for Filipinos. It assured the public that the agency will shoulder the full cost of treatment for all confirmed COVID-19 cases until April 14. After that, it will implement a new package rate scheme to infected patients.

Dr. Salvana agreed that no healthcare system in the world was prepared for COVID-19, noting that “our current resources are less than what developed countries have,” which was why the “Government decided to be proactive on our recommendation in order to save lives.”

However, quarantine procedures should have been done much earlier and should have been implemented nationwide, especially because there’s movement and migration of people early on, according to Dr. Santiago. “With the two confirmed cases, we should have started the lockdown and restrictions already. Early intervention should have made this crisis more manageable,” he stressed.

How to Fight COVID-19

Safety and security consultant, Elpidio Daniel, couldn’t agree more. “This battle against COVID-19 is most effective if the actions are rapid,” he said. He added that a nationwide ECQ in the first blast, and without delay, could have been more effective in containing the current pandemic. Although he acknowledged the efforts and intentions of the President, he said there had been confusions undeniably in the implementation of the guidelines on the imposed lockdown. “Good and complete communication is the key” to avoiding the pitfalls of misinterpretation or miscommunication of the guidelines, he said. “Guidelines on paper will surely not be as exact as the actual situations on the field and this is where the common sense and reasoning abilities of the head of the enforcement team is needed,” he further said. The guidelines on the lockdown should have been “tailor-fitted to the actual situations on the field.” Otherwise, the people will bear the brunt of confusion and suffering, he added.

Similarly acknowledging the efforts of the Government, Dr. Leachon suggested that the Government should have tapped the corporations in the country early on to help because “they have the workforce, the manpower, and the corporate thinking process.” Rejecting the help of private institutions or individuals who are willing to provide insights is one of the failures in disaster management, he said. “You need people with experience in lobbying and policy-making. You need someone who’s been there and who fought with success. They should have called all former health secretaries of health—it’s called a summit,” he further said. He commended, however, the “preemptive” move of the president to announce early the extension of the lockdown, thus giving more time for the country to address the health crisis, as reported by CNN Philippines.

On April 1, Dr. Leachon has been tapped as a special adviser to Peace Process secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., chief implementer of the National Action Plan COVID-19 and provides medical expertise to the National Task Force on COVID-19.

But DOH Secretary Dr. Francisco Duque III is not in an unfamiliar territory, so to speak. He also served as health secretary from 2005 to 2010 during former President Gloria Arroyo’s term, and at the time, it was AH1N1 epidemic that struck the country. Based on the DOH’s “A Legacy of Public Health” second edition book, he successfully managed the said crisis in 2009. “The Department’s effective handling of the health emergency, which brought the world to its highest pandemic alert level, was later commended by the World Health Organization. The Philippines was also cited among the three countries that had the best risk communication strategy during the crisis,” it said.

In a previous report by GMA News Online, Dr. Duque was quoted as saying, “We were the first to activate a preparedness plan and our colleagues were glad because we acted swiftly. Our Health Department, Bureau of Quarantine and National Disaster Coordinating Council all staged an effective communication program to avoid panic and economic and social disruption.”

What Should Happen Next?

Dr. Leachon could only assume that Dr. Duque might be afraid of the President that he could not simply comment or suggest, contrary to his relationship with former president Arroyo whom he’s friends with. The President may also be getting filtered messages or information, instead of sound advice, from the people close to him, he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Santiago thinks Dr. Duque would give sound advice to the President, but perhaps “more forceful advice” is needed. He said the Health Secretary had an early response to AH1N1 before that’s why he was able to contain it. Plus, there’s an entirely different challenge with COVID-19, not knowing who’s infected yet. He added that the spread is so fast, and the infection rate is unlike that of SARS and AH1N1. “That’s why we shouldn’t be complacent or reactive but instead proactive in cases like this,” he stressed.

Dr. Santiago believes this is not the time to be blaming each other, though. “Let’s put off the fight and bring on the blame after this battle. For now let’s help each other, regardless of what really happened. Let’s focus on this now, otherwise we are going to lose this battle,” he said. He recalled a previous Senate hearing he had attended wherein some politicians ended up blaming Dr. Duque for the crisis. “We went there for the purpose of finding solutions to the COVID-19. And Duque [was] really doing his job well at the time. It should not be the time to be blaming each other,” he said. He added that it’s time for the local chief executives to shine in this pandemic, stressing the need “to show their commitment as elected public officials.”

Dr. Leachon also shared that in situations like this, leaders would be measured by their character, by their response to the crisis, and by how they communicate and rise above the problem.

The Future of Universal Healthcare in the Philippines

How will the pandemic affect the future of the Filipino healthcare system, with its newly signed law?

Dr. Santiago said that it is definitely going to affect the already challenged healthcare, as it has incurred a lot more expenses for the government. He said the implementation of the newly signed UHC law in the country to improve the system would be “difficult, very challenging, and very problematic,” especially with the health crisis at hand.

Dr. Leachon said the pandemic is a “game-changer” that sets a new normal, such as observing social distancing and practicing hygienic measures. He however hopes that that this experience will “improve our public healthcare system so that we are prepared for the next pandemic.” Aside from proper compensation, he stressed that appropriate training and a retention program should also be provided to health professionals, so they will stay in the country for the universal healthcare and not go elsewhere.

Signed in February 20 last year, the passage of the UHC law, which seeks to address several problems in the current healthcare system, has been referred to as a milestone for the Duterte administration. Among these issues are providing PhilHealth coverage for all Filipino citizens that will significantly reduce the high out-of-pocket expenses from the people; correcting the fragmented and overlapping roles and responsibilities of various health agencies; improving the remuneration and incentives for all health workers; addressing human resource shortages and disparity; and enhancing the local health systems in LGUs, among others.

According to NEDA, funding for this new law will come from sin tax collections as well as partly from the revenues of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Duterte has recently signed new tax regulations on products such as tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and alcoholic beverage, imposing higher tariffs and penalties contested by many manufacturers, sellers, and consumers. The sin taxes generated from these products will help fund the UHC programs of the administration.

Asked whether the UHC law could change the course of healthcare in the country, Dr. Santiago said it looks “very promising.” But at the same time, he recognizes that there are still many issues to be ironed out, such as further improving the clause on remuneration for healthcare professionals. “Although it’s stated in the law that it’s a 10-year implementation period, so it’s too early for us to tell,” he said.

As for Dr. Leachon, he said:  “If you were able to address those [three main problems in the system stated earlier], only then I can say that the UHC is successful.”

For now, one year following its signing into law and with no end yet in sight for the current COVID-19 pandemic, confirmation of the much-needed salvation being promised by the new healthcare law for all Filipinos remains to be seen.

L'articolo Panic In The Philippines As The Nation’s Healthcare Falters Amid COVID-19 proviene da InsideOver.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced Tuesday, Feb. 11, that he will remove the state from the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the US. The move comes only six years after the two nations signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) aimed at boosting a relationship that began in 1951. 

Under the VFA, the two militaries held roughly 300 joint exercises each year, The New York Times reported. With the notice of termination—officially received by the US deputy chief of mission—a 180-day countdown begins. Around 250 American forces are perpetually-stationed on the archipelago nation.

Since 2002, American forces have been tasked with countering an estimated 500 Islamic State insurgents on the Mindanao group of islands in Operation Pacific Eagle. US troops have routinely assisted with surveillance and intelligence work as well. A deadly 2017 battle unleashed bloodshed with high collateral damage to the city of Marawi. Although the US assisted with turning the tide against the terrorists, it was actually the Chinese who rushed to the scene in the aftermath for rebuilding efforts.

The Philippines: An Open Door for Beijing

Chinese efforts were indubitably part of a larger plan from Beijing to spread its sphere of influence across the South China Sea, Africa, the Middle East, and even Latin America. Duterte’s decision to end the US partnership could continue to drive the nation into the arms of China.

Thomas M. Sanderson, former director of the Center for Strategic International Studies’ transnational threats program, has spent time with the Philippine military and says he has witnessed firsthand the benefits for Beijing. 

“It’s a real-world laboratory for Chinese drones,” Sanderson said.

For this reason, the Philippines have always been viewed as a vital territory for maintaining US dominance in the region. However, Duterte’s expulsion of US forces will likely open the door to Beijing, possibly causing it to turn into another situation like Cambodia, where American diplomats suspect China is creating a military base.

Duterte’s Growing Frustration with the United States

Duterte’s decision was his alone and not necessarily reflective of the overall mindset in the Philippines. However, he has become increasingly flustered with American leadership and getting what he considers a raw deal in the Manila-Washington partnership. A refusal to share military technology seemed to be one part of his complaints against Washington. 

“They do not leave [the weapons] with us. None,” Duterte said, adding that Americans are “very ill mannered.” 

Philippine Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a Duterte ally, was recently denied a US visa, which likely sparked the move to end the VFA.

Opposition to Duterte’s Move within the Filipino Senate

Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin recently argued against the decision in the Philippine Senate last week. The move, he said, would reduce the ability of the US to respond to attacks in the South China Sea.

“Terminating the VFA will negatively impact the Philippine security and defense arrangements, as well as the overall bilateral relations of the Philippines with the U.S., and perhaps even on the sub-regional level,” Locsin said, adding, “Our contribution to regional defense is anchored on our military alliance with the world’s last superpower.”

Locsin recently seemed to suggest via Twitter taht the VFA cancellation could be a signal for US President Donald Trump that Duterte is open to negotiations. However, Duterte has publicly said he “will not entertain” offers from the US or even an invitation to the White House. 

‘It’s About Time We Rely on Ourselves’

“It’s about time we rely on ourselves. We will strengthen our own defenses and not rely on any other country,” said Philippine presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo on behalf of Duterte, National Public Radio reported. Critically, Panelo said Manila would consider forging similar ties with other nations, assuming a mutual benefit. China seems like the most likely contender for such a partnership.

The US forces engaged in counterterrorism activities will be immune from the cancellation of the VFA, however regular joint troop exercises from visiting forces will presumably end. The EDCA allowed the use of five Philippine military bases, but the US does not have its own anymore on the island state.

L'articolo Duterte Cancels US Military Agreement proviene da InsideOver.

Early August this year, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) received information that Islamic State (IS)-linked terrorists had plotted to attack a “Crusader City” alongside business centres and some “Crusader Churches” in the Northern Luzon, Philippines. This was based on a genuine “alert memo” received by the Northern Luzon Command. Local government units from neighbouring cities didn’t take the memo lightly either, as their law enforcement units had beefed up security around their churches and tourist areas. It appeared, however, that Sundays remained packed with devotees regardless of the reported terrorist threat. To the relief of many, the military, later on, said the threats were “negative” following their verification.

Crusader city is a term by IS that refers to a “target area” that ignites a “Bandar Crusade” or “a war between Muslims and Christians,” while crusader church refers to all historic Catholic Churches, according to the memo. The target churches are in Vigan City, Laoag City, Tuguegarao City, and Manaoag town in Pangasinan. These places are famous tourist destinations because of their historic and religious landmarks, pristine beaches, as well as Spanish architecture converted into commercial shops.

Based on the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2019  by the Institute of Economics & Peace, the Philippines ranked nine out of 10 countries most impacted by terrorism. In 2018, terror-related deaths and terror-related incidents declined by nine per cent resulting to 297 deaths and by 13 per cent from 486 to 424 incidents, respectively. Regardless of the decline, it is the only country in Southeast Asia included in the 10 countries most impacted by terrorism.

The GTI said terrorist activity had been dominated by the communist organization, New People’s Army (NPA), which has been in a long-standing conflict with the Philippine government for five decades now. A separatist group in the Southern Philippines known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) was considered the second deadliest group. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant meanwhile was third, through its affiliates that pledged allegiance to them, namely the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), Maute group, and BIFM. Targets of attacks were varied such as the government, private citizens and property, police and military, and others.

“In the Philippines, we have seen the entire spectrum of targets, from cathedrals to checkpoints, to tourist venues,” said security analyst and author Dr Zachary Abuza, adding that “unlike in Indonesia [where] pro-ISIS groups have been focusing on targeting security forces, largely staying away from tourist venues since 2017.” But in the latest GTI, there was a 45 per cent increase in attacks against government targets between 2017 and 2018 that led to 139 deaths, largely brought by NPA attacks.

A professor at the National War College in Washington D.C. focusing on Southeast Asian politics and security, Dr Abuza said terrorist groups utilize attacks to demonstrate that they remain relevant, to mobilize their supporters, and to show that they can attack the state at will. Adding that “terrorism and asymmetric warfare are the only means for a substrate actor to challenge a state, even a relatively weak state like the Philippines.”

Unfortunately, the business community is one sector of the society that suffers significant losses during attacks on either historic, religious, or tourist venues. “It scares people, especially those in the business sector. It drives away clients. It drives away visitors. It drives away capital investment in the country,” said Dr Eduardo Fulgencio, chairman emeritus of the Philippine Society for Industrial Security (PSIS).

But he said the impact of terrorism is far more visible in places infested by terrorists and other criminal elements such as Sulu, Maguindanao, and Tawi-Tawi in Mindanao. “The business is normally down there. But you cannot tell people to get away because they need the business,” he also said. “No matter how much they are infested by terrorists, rebels, or criminal elements, they will still continue the business. The only thing they do is strengthen security.”

Meanwhile, places like Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Camiguin, or Surigao are “not really very much bothered by the threats. Besides they are well protected by the military and the police and are protecting themselves through private security,” said Dr Fulgencio, who is a Certified Security Professional and Certified Protection Professional handling the physical security of 50 buildings.

In some cases, foreign governments also issue travel advisories warning their nationals from setting foot on particular regions in the Philippines, thus affecting tourism-related businesses for instance.

Suicide Bombing

Of all the possible terror attacks, Dr Fulgencio considered suicide bombing as “much more fearful because it’s definitely hard to avoid.“ He explained that some people could just mingle with the crowd, set up a bomb in his body that would explode upon detonation, and instantly kill the people around him. “So that is really very difficult to detect,” he admitted.

The recent confirmation of the first Filipino suicide bomber on Philippine soil makes the act even more dreadful for many people. Previously, suicide attacks in the country were only attributed to foreign militants, but not until a 23-year-old Filipino named Norman Lasuca changed that.

Philippine law enforcement authorities confirmed on July 10 this year that Lasuca was indeed a Filipino and was one of the two terrorists who perpetrated the twin bombings on June 28 in Indanan, Sulu. His DNA sample had a 99.99% probability match with the samples taken from his mother and brother, according to various reports.

Lasuca had proven that Filipino culture is no longer a deterrent to convert to radical beliefs such as suicide attacks, long seen as an improbability by many people. “Before, no one would think that Filipinos could be that radicalized to be capable of detonating himself,” said AFP spokesperson Marine Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo.

Dr Abuza thinks it was just a matter of time, however. “Everyone said the same about Indonesians and Malaysians, though for the latter only in Iraq and Syria. I think a more appropriate question is why it took so long for a Filipino or Filipina to become a suicide bomber,” he said. “There’s no shortage of terrorism in the country and the various terrorist organizations have been very open to influence from transnational jihadist organizations. The genie is out of the bottle now.”

According to Brig. Gen. Arevalo, such confirmation has indeed altered the security climate in the Philippines. “This recent development whereby a Filipino perpetrated a suicide bombing mission may inspire other Filipino extremists to go down that path since a fellow has done so,” he said. Nevertheless, he dismissed considering it simply a “test case” toward far bigger attacks. “[It is] a distinct and singular act meant to wreak death, injury, or havoc,” he added.

Kidnap for ransom

Dr Abuza meanwhile identified kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) activities as “a huge problem” in the country though there’s nowhere else in the region, except in Sabah, Malaysia emanating from the Philippines. According to the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group, there was a three per cent increase in kidnapping cases in the country in 2018. Forty-two Filipinos and 27 foreigners were KFR victims. Of the foreigners, 17 are Chinese, four Indonesians, two Indians, and one each of Taiwanese, Japanese, Nigerian, and Malaysian.  Thirty-eight of the victims in Mindanao were kidnapped by the ASG and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. Luzon had 30 KFR cases and Visayas had one.

Just recently, a British businessman and his Filipina wife had been rescued from the ASG after nearly two months of captivity, as reported by various local media outlets. Several gunmen held Allan and Wilma Hyrons at gunpoint on the night of October 4 at their Hyrons Beach Resort in Tukuran, Zamboanga del Sur. Philippine troops immediately pursued search-and-rescue operations, while the Zamboanga del Sur provincial government set a Php1 million reward for any possible information leading to the rescue of the couple and arrest of the kidnappers. The military were in hot pursuit operations of the IS-linked militants when they had rescued the couple on November 25 in Parang, Sulu.

Pressing challenges

Brig. Gen. Arevalo cited the three most pressing challenges for them in their fight against terrorism. First is the lack of active involvement among the people in the community, especially before the Marawi siege. Second, are the vast and porous borders of the country. Third is the so-called weak anti-terrorism law or the Human Security Act of 2007 that “clips and delimits the powers of the state forces” to fight terrorism. An amendment to the Act has been proposed and now undergoing proceedings. Other concerns such as training, capabilities, and equipment are meanwhile being addressed by the government, he said.

On the other hand, the GTI report enumerated the lack of capacity, lack of coordination, and also geographical challenges as hindrances to the government’s response to terrorist threats.

As for Dr Abuza, the greatest challenge in the Philippines to defeat the ASG and the other terrorist organizations that pledged allegiance to ISIS is “corruption within the security forces” and the realization that defeating these terrorists would dry up massive amounts of foreign assistance the government receives, hence creating a “moral hazard.” He added: “On top of that are just very porous borders.”

He was rather divided when asked if he believes that ISIS is getting a stronger hold in the Southeast Asian region. “There are plenty of groups in the region who declared allegiance to IS. And with the collapse of the caliphate in Syria, ISIS has adopted a global insurgency model, which should raise the importance of SE Asia to them,” Dr Abuza said. “However, there is no centralized command and control. There is a large constellation of groups who don’t coordinate with one another very much.”

New strategies

Brig. Gen. Arevalo said they have pursued a Program on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE), apart from pursuing military operations against the militants. Based on House Bill 04585, under which the PCVE was included, the program aims to prevent and counter violent extremism by addressing the legal status and security of persons previously engaged in violent extremism as well as by providing economic, social, and psychological rehabilitation support, and long-term interventions for them and their families.

Add to that is the first-ever counter-terrorism training centre in the country to be constructed before the end of the year at Camp General Mariano Castaneda in Silang, Cavite. The United States Embassy has secured Php520 million or approximately US$10 million to build and run the said centre together with the PNP, which will “provide counter-terrorism training for law enforcement units and personnel from the Philippines and regional partner nations in Southeast Asia.” The centre is said to be the first of its kind in the Southeast Asian region.

But Dr Abuza called it “nonsense.” He said Indonesia’s Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation has been operating for years and has played a critical role in training the region’s counter-terrorism forces. “The new centre in the Philippines is simply the US throwing more money at the Philippines. It will have no positive impact,” he said.

Brig. Gen. Arevalo, however, couldn’t provide any comment yet when asked further about the said training centre and possible changes afoot. But as for the business community, he advised that all parties must collaborate, cooperate, and coordinate with government security forces. “Terrorism is both global and national concerns and defeating it or insulating the communities from its deadly reach is everybody’s concern,” he stressed.

Dr Fulgencio agreed that interfacing with government security forces is needed. “Networking with government and private security is very important for securing an establishment especially in business. Because no matter what happens you still go to the police, to the military for help. It’s not just automatic for us. It’s a must,” he said. Good thing many businesses in the Philippines now recognize the emerging terrorist threats, he further said. “Because if they don’t recognize it, how can they prepare, prevent, and reduce the threat?” he added. After all, the adage “better safe than sorry” holds weight now more than ever in these ever-changing times.

L'articolo Emerging Terrorist Threats Change Security Landscape in the Philippines proviene da InsideOver.

“A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.” For women in Saudi Arabia, there is no maze. There is only a dark room.

On October 9, women in Saudi Arabia won the right to serve in senior positions in the armed forces. The foreign ministry declared that the positions now open to women include: first soldier, corporal, deputy sergeant and sergeant.

Earlier in June 2018, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman lifted the ban on women driving after more than two decades of women’s campaigning. Prior to that, the ultra-Conservative Muslim country was the only nation to criminalise women driving. These changes are part of the Crown Prince’s plan to make the kingdom’s laws “equal” towards women. In the same year, the Crown Prince stated that women in Saudi Arabia would no longer be obliged to wear headscarves or abaya robes.

“The laws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of sharia (Islamic law): that women wear decent, respectful clothing, like men,” he said in an interview with CBS television, aired in March 2018.

“This, however, does not particularly specify a black abaya or a black headcover. The decision is entirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear.” These decisions, and others, have hinted at the country’s growing tolerance, and even acceptance, of women’s rights.

These hints, however, are not the truth. “Freedom, like everything else, is relative,” Margaret Atwood would write in The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian fiction about the complete negation of women’s rights.

Freedom under Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system is completely relative. Women may be allowed to drive but, they cannot leave the house without a male guardian’s permission.

Under the guardianship system, women must receive male permission to obtain a passport, get married, study abroad, leave prison, work and to receive certain healthcare. Human Rights Watch (HRW) confirms that: “Saudi women who fight for their rights publicly may face jail or persecution.”

“It is extremely hard for women to legally change their guardian, even when the guardian is abusive,” it adds.

In April 2017, Dina Ai Lasloom, a Saudi woman fleeing her country, was forcibly returned after being stopped on a layover in the Philippines. On her way to seek asylum in Australia, the young woman was held in Manila Airport, and her passport confiscated. Lasloom would be bound and dragged onto a plane, kicking and screaming, as she was repatriated to Saudi Arabia, escorted by male relatives.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun would make it safely to Canada in 2019. Michael Page, Deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said: “Rahaf Mohammed’s courageous quest for freedom has exposed anew an array of discriminatory practices and policies that disempower Saudi women and leave them vulnerable to abuse.

“Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman wants to be viewed as a women’s rights reformer, but Rahaf showed just how laughably at odds this is from reality when the authorities try to hunt down fleeing women and torture women’s rights activists in prison.”

Under Saudi Arabia’s authoritarian male guardianship system, women suffer systematic discrimination from their birth until their death. The dangerous attempt to escape leaves women facing the risk of imprisonment, torture and abuse should they be sent back. Repatriated women are likely to face criminal charges for parental disobedience or harming the kingdom’s reputation.

Despite Saudi Arabia’s massive human rights’ breach, the nation was elected to serve on the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2017, a body “dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.”

Saudi women continue to have their human rights stripped away from them, as the rest of the world rewards the monumental human rights violation of this oil-rich nation. As in The Handmaid’s Tale, the rape, murder, abuse, imprisonment and dehumanisation of women continues, because diplomatic international relationships with Saudi Arabia are permitted.

As was the case in apartheid South Africa, the world must implement economic, political and diplomatic sanctions against Saudi Arabia, if it must free its oppressed from tyranny.

L'articolo Women are Trying to Escape Saudi Arabia in a True Life Handmaiden’s Tale proviene da InsideOver.

The midterm elections in the Philippines on May 13 catapulted to a seat at the Senate a late dictator’s daughter, who had been accused of lying about her academic background and of graft, and had denied the atrocities during her father’s 20-year reign. Likewise, an actor and senator, who had been imprisoned for four years for plunder involving a pork barrel scam and later acquitted but ordered to return public funds worth over a hundred million pesos, won another Senate term. Both candidates bested others who have no derogatory record and pending cases in court. And despite the damning controversies that continue to hound the Duterte administration, from the drug war killings to its stand on the South China Sea row, the president’s allies dominated the elections.

Those who had voted for these winners were called many names: dumb, illiterate, paid voters. The actor’s victory was even hilariously attributed to his “budots” dance, which appeared in the campaign video as crazy dance moves with no required choreography. People said had they known one could simply dance his way, that way in particular, to a Senate seat, they would have done it too. At other times, some blame the popular narrative of Filipinos being forgetful of their history as well as forgiving of the injustices done to them for the electoral results.

Forgetful or forgiving

In an informal survey conducted this August, 15 out of 22 Filipino respondents agreed that Filipinos are forgetful of their history, while six said no and one said sometimes. When asked if Filipinos are likewise forgiving of the wrongdoing or injustice done to them, 15 answered yes, five said no, and two said sometimes depending on certain factors such as the nature, impact, and understanding of the situation. The respondents, who were between 19 and 65 years old, came from public and private sectors, academe, and the unemployed.

According to prolific Filipino writer Francisco Sionil Jose, whose works have emphasized the social framework, class struggles, and colonial history of Philippine society, Filipinos are indeed forgetful of their past. In one of his Literature classes at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila during the 90s, he cited this as one of the reasons the country hasn’t reached its full potential. Having seen different generations passed by, the National Artist for Literature—now 94 years old who gobbled an apple pie with eyes closed and a diet soda in seemingly utter delight during the interview—continues to stand by this belief for many reasons.

The “lack of ancestorship” is one, he said. “We don’t have the kind of religion that other Asians have which emphasizes ancestor worship. These people—the Chinese, Koreans, Japanese—have a lineage and they worship their ancestors.” It doesn’t help as well that the country has many different tribes and is a divided people. “There were no great families, no monarchy in the sense that there is no royalty. Royalty in itself is built on history, on the hereditary nature. For us, we have none. We have a datu system, but just in certain areas where the title and the power are passed on to their children,” he added. He thinks these are the reasons that “memory is not institutionalized in the Philippines,” but that learning and remembering history is very significant because it makes one rectify and not repeat the mistakes of the past.

But that is not all. The recent election has a different story to tell, one that is besides forgetfulness. Sionil Jose believes the winning politicians have spent a lot of money to get where they are now. Reports of vote-buying have long marred Philippine elections with people allegedly receiving as low as PHP500 (approx. USD10) for a vote, particularly targeting the poorer, smaller communities around the country. “So it doesn’t necessarily mean that Filipinos have forgotten the atrocities,” he said.

To Filipino historian Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, Filipinos are “in one way forgetful, in one way not,” adding how all people only choose what to remember and what to forget, especially forgetting the things that gave them bad memories. Experience also plays a big role in remembering. “Did all Filipinos experience the sufferings of Martial Law? Of course only the victims were able to experience… So that’s our problem there. If you didn’t experience it, would you remember it? That’s where the importance of teaching history comes in,” he said in a phone interview. Also because it was dictatorial and there was censorship at that time, thus suppressed information on the killings and abuses by the government, he said the only things reported back then were the projects of that administration.

Political dynasty in the country also has a rippling effect in one’s memory. A political family, a national crisis, or a revolution can alter the image of another party and influence the emotions of the people toward decision-making. Case in point is the People Power Revolution in 1986 that toppled the dictatorial rule and placed the wife of a slain senator, who was the dictator’s toughest critic, to presidency. Much later, the female president’s death had become a symbolism and emotional moment that led to her senator son winning the presidential elections. So Chua said that can’t be attributed to forgetting but “the manipulation of the image of both parties of history, of the use of history in political means.”

Affecting Filipino memory as well is the “minimized time for Sibika at Kultura (Civics & Culture as a standard subject in basic education),” according to Chua who teaches history at the De La Salle University in Manila. There is more emphasis now on subjects like English, Math, and Science, which is why Filipinos are becoming forgetful these days, he lamented. 

But are Filipinos forgiving then? “Yes, it’s a Catholic trait,” Chua affirmed. “And our leaders are not simply criminals with whom you don’t have emotional attachment. Your leaders are the persons you campaigned for, you stood for, so when they come into trouble and you know them all your life, you pity them.”

Former president Elpidio Quirino was a clear example of the forgiving attitude of Filipinos, said Sionil Jose, recalling that Quirino forgave the Japanese soldiers who massacred his family during the Battle of Manila in 1945. “Sometimes that kind of forgiveness is also brought about by the realization that someone you don’t like today might be able to help you tomorrow,” he said. True enough, Quirino was quoted saying in the past that his forgiveness stemmed from not wanting his children and people to inherit the hate he had for people who might still be their friends for the permanent interest of the country.

Filipinos also value good interpersonal relations and, as much as possible, refuse to hurt others. “You know the golden rule: Do unto others what you want others do unto you,” Sionil Jose said. “But there are also Filipinos who don’t give a damn to that.”

Emotions and solutions

Rather than being forgetful or forgiving, Chua would rather describe the Philippines as an emotional country. And by emotional, he meant a nation that is loving, compassionate, and hospitable on one side, and also extremely emotional when angry. “Being emotional per se is really not a bad thing, because emotions drive productivity. If you are properly motivated emotionally, you can use that in a positive or negative way,” he said. What’s difficult to take is what’s happening now, how Filipinos are sometimes using their emotions negatively, by dividing the country and fighting against each other for the sake of politics, he added. While there’s no such thing as “perfect unity,” he said a nation can’t move forward if the citizens are divided.

The Philippine political system likewise needs maturity, which doesn’t happen overnight, he said. Even though it can’t completely be eliminated, he hopes to see a law limiting political families. “That’s the reason why we are becoming emotional about old issues, because the political families are the same, not much from new faces.” Although he acknowledged that there are new officials elected who weren’t emphasized as the others but are proving to be good leaders voted by the people.

Nothing is permanent in this world, as they say. Not even political dynasties, Sionil Jose believes. As shown in the last elections, some familiar and once-powerful political families lost both national and local seats. “They grow old as the political temper of the times changes,” he said.

Sionil Jose has this advice for the Philippines to be progressive: better institutions as safeguard against history repeating itself. Filipinos apparently put their faith and trust in one leader alone, likewise supported by religion wherein there’s one God, one leader and by the family unit wherein the father is viewed as the head. “It’s okay to believe in that monotheistic society or religion, but what’s important are the institutions that will make all these things endure. Because if the institutions are not there, things will collapse,” he said.

The tragedy, however, comes when a country is in a political crisis, whether brought about by famine, a bad leader, or colonialism, because each man is for himself now. “All the seven virtues are thrown out of the window because the primary purpose of every individual is to survive. There are no more virtues of good governance and honesty because you only have one goal—to survive.” He recalled that this happened in the revolution in 1896 until the dictatorial regime, and that after a succession of crises or anarchy, the virtues went further downhill. “And it’s very difficult to revive them because people have gotten used to the lawlessness, to the corruption, so they take it almost as a matter of something normal.”

Therefore the most important issue to address, to drive the country to progress, is creating a just society and abolishing poverty. “Because many Filipino people are suffering,” he said in a rather gloomy tone.  “It takes one generation to change a country, just 25 years, as long as you have a very dedicated bureaucracy, meaning leadership and government to impose this program of modernization.”

Sionil Jose sees a lack of enough nationalism working today in the Philippines and so much depends on how one can change the mindset of these people while at the same time make them love their country. “Filipinos don’t love their country enough,” he lamented. According to him, the ones who really love the country are the peasants who toil under the sun and till the land because they understand how valuable the land they labor on is. Even the revolutionaries, many of them were peasants who went to fight barefoot, which is why movies depicting revolutionaries in boots had it completely wrong, he pointed out. “My grandfather was in the revolution, whose feet were like ginger because he was a farmer. So you can see that there’s almost a peasant tradition in this country being soldiers. Many of the soldiers now come from the poorest families,” he said.

He further said that one loves his country because his roots are deep in that soil and that he’s proud of the history of his country. He recalled how a Malaysian friend about his age expressed this, one time in the 1960s: “We are very envious of you because you fought all your conquerors—the Spaniards, the Americans, the Japanese. We did not. Our freedom was given to us on a silver platter.” So Sionil Jose stressed that Filipinos must know their history because they are “very heroic people.”

That said, to bring back to life the compartmentalization of the Filipino narrative as merely a forgetful or forgiving race because of the electoral results is not entirely accurate. Neither is it fair. As Chua said: “Our traits are a combination of all the traits we got from our ancestors, the Americans, the Spaniards—that’s the Filipino.” And though electoral results don’t necessarily define the whole character of a nation, perhaps everyone can begin to learn from it.

L'articolo What the Philippines Elections Tell the World proviene da InsideOver.

Rickety huts made out of wood and galvanised steel teeter above gravestones, as children play amongst garbage, open sewage, and the dead. This is a place concealed from the roving eyes of tourists to the Philippines’ vibrant capital, Manila. With a population that far outnumbers work prospects, thousands have been driven to these makeshift dwellings. Since the 1950s, formidable slum communities have been built in the city’s public cemeteries. Occupied by gangs, prostitutes, labourers, and runaways, these communes are a cocktail of desperate poverty and danger.

Manila is not just one of the oldest cities in the world, but also one of the most densely populated. Lured from all corners of the country, people arrive in droves seeking out better lives and opportunities. Yet, too often, what they discover is a town bustling with frenetic poverty and bursting at its seams with inhabitants. And for those who are tasked with being both impoverished and uneducated, the city does not glitter of gold. They find themselves, unwittingly, doomed for life in the cemetery slums. And even after they have died, most are predestined to remain there.

Lacking in basic amenities such as electricity, running water, sanitation, and even proper accommodation, generations of families have eked out a living via whatever means necessary. And since President Duterte’s “war against drugs”, violent raids are frequent. Police routinely storm the slums on killing sprees. Many are resigned to their family members meeting bloody ends and lovingly tend to their graves after they are gone. The lack of funds or concern means that proper investigations are not often carried out for those who die within the walls of the cemeteries.

“That night, 50 police came into the cemetery,” Carmelia Bahacan, whose 37-year-old-son was killed, told the Guardian. “They shot him five times. He was dead after the first shot, but they continued shooting.”

She lives in a shack built on top of her son’s grave, and said that she liked that his body is next to her, buried in a tomb with her father.

“Someday soon I will die, and I would like to be buried here also,” she concluded ominously.

The police claim that many of the residents are unemployed and, with few options, often fall into criminal activities to make ends meet. As such, the cemetery neighbourhoods become a breeding ground for crime and lawbreakers.

Danial Eriksen is a creative director and photographer who spent years documenting off-the-grid communities in various places around the globe, and one of them was a cemetery slum in Manila. For a week, Eriksen lived alongside the slum-dwellers in Cemeterio Del Norte. For him, it was an eye-opener to experience how organised and self-contained it was. He described it as being somewhat surreal to witness people living amongst the dead – sometimes, sleeping on raised coffins with human remains.

“What I got from the community is that they felt safe in the graveyard,” he explained. “One of the elders once said: ‘The dead can’t hurt you.’”

“I was also fascinated by how the government had opened the cemetery for thousands of homeless to live in and turn the tombs into apartments,”

“The apartment type is like how apartments work. They are final resting places for people who cannot afford to buy their own lots at the cemetery. The cemetery management, which is the government, owns the land. They are built on top of one another to accommodate more people. Each apartment has a five-year lease. When a person is laid to rest in one of the units, his or her family has to pay for the lease. After five years, should they want their departed loved ones to stay there, they need to go to the management to renew their lease. Otherwise, they get evicted. The bones are usually placed in sacks. Ideally, they tag them and keep them in a storage area. Unfortunately, rarely does this happen. I think this is because of the big number of expired leases and the number of people looking for vacancies.”

When leases are not renewed, those skeletons are no longer taken care of and the bones are removed and forgotten. It is primarily the family’s duty to look after the remains of their deceased, yet, not everyone is able to afford to continue the maintenance of it. Often times, people remove the bones from the tombs; bones piled on top of one another in dark corners or stored in careless rucksacks are common sights.

Eriksen said that the number of people living in the cemetery continues to grow at an alarming rate, and feels that the government has not done enough to find a better alternative.

“The people have been in the cemetery for as long as elders can remember. No one has exact figures on how long people have been living there. But I’m certain it’s been a while,” he added.

L'articolo Thousands Living In Cemeteries Built Into Slums proviene da InsideOver.

The South China Sea has been a hotbed for aggression in recent years. The issue stems from China’s claim to the waters which border neighboring states such as Vietnam, the Philippines, and Taiwan. While these nations view the nearby waters, and consequently the resources within them, as theirs by sovereign right, Beijing disagrees. Instead, China holds to a ‘nine-dash line’ which includes roughly 90 percent of the sea. This summer, it has sent several ships into the sea to assert its right to the waters, sinking a Filipino fishing vessel in the process. Now it is Vietnam who must defend itself from Chinese excursions.

Last week, a survey ship was spotted off the coast of Vietnam. The Vietnamese government promptly and repeatedly demanded that China remove it from what it considers its exclusive economic zone. This area is defined by the United Nations as coastal water extended from the baseline to 200 nautical miles. Undeterred, Beijing simply responded by asking Hanoi to respect its right to the sea. It was not the first instance of aggression towards Vietnam; earlier in the week, a Chinese-flagged coastguard ship was patrolling the waters in the vicinity of Vietnamese vessels according to Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“Over the last several days, the Chinese survey ship, Haiyang Dizhi 8, and its escorts conducted activities in the southern area of the East Sea that violated Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf,” said Le Thi Thu Hang, Vietnamese foreign affairs ministry spokesperson. “This area lies entirely within the Vietnamese waters.”

Vietnam is not the only country to have a confrontation with China recently. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte called on the US for protection after a Chinese vessel sunk a Filipino fishing boat on June 9. As with Vietnam, the Chinese ship was inside the Philippine’s exclusive economic zone, putting the Chinese in the wrong, not only for downing a peaceful boat, but also for intruding upon the territorial waters of the Philippines. The “little maritime accident”, as Duterte referred to it, angered Filipino citizens to the point of them threatening to impeach the president for failing to protect them from Beijing’s attacks.

Duterte taunted them to go ahead with the impeachment so he could have his opponents arrested. From his perspective, the Philippines are not equipped to properly handle the Chinese navy if its excursions turn to armed conflict or war, therefore Duterte opted to not even send his military as a defensive measure. Instead, he publicly asked for America’s support in protecting the fishing and resource rights of the island nation by way of the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the two nations.

“I’m calling now America. I am invoking the RP-US pact, and I would like America to gather their Seventh Fleet in front of China. I’m asking them now,” Duterte said.

In the defense agreement, both the Philippines and US pledged to protect one another if attacked. In 2014, the nations signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement which notably was designed to boost maritime security. As part of the additional measures, the Philippines may host US forces at its military bases if an invitation is extended, which Duterte seems to have done.

There is strong support within the Trump administration for defending island nations threatened by China. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised America’s support “so that these incredibly vital economic sea lanes are open and China does not pose a threat to closing them down,” he said. Beyond the economic concerns that stem from a confrontational Chinese approach to the sea, Beijing’s developments in the region threaten the sovereignty and security of other nations, Pompeo elaborated.

China has been extending its presence by building artificial islands, most of which are used as military bases. With each new island established, Beijing’s reach grows longer and the military and economic might of its neighbors could never hope to compare to that of China. The only real solution, barring action in the United Nations which China could shut down as a member of the Security Council, is support from the United States. However, even an increased American naval presence would be neutered as Washington would be unlikely to risk engaging the Chinese in armed conflict, especially as the trade war continues.

“I think the whole world understands that the Trump administration has made a true commitment to making sure that these seas remain open for the security of the countries in the region and the world, open to commercial transit,” said Pompeo.

For a bit of irony, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu Kang responded to Pompeo, telling him that outside nations “should not stir up troubles in the region”, as if China has done none of that itself.

Until this point, there have only been promises of greater US support; none of it has materialized yet, allowing Beijing to continue to steamroll over other nations.

L'articolo The South China Sea Dispute Continues proviene da InsideOver.

Gazing out over Subic Bay one morning last month, onlookers will have witnessed a turning of the tide. Before them was a behemoth ship – the M/V Bavaria cargo vessel – chugging away from the Filipino coast. On board were 69 containers carrying some 1,500 tonnes of Canadian rubbish, which had – since 2013 – sat rotting in the tropical sun. Now, after six years of fierce dispute, the garbage is bound for Canada once more. It marked a substantial change in the refuse import-export industry, and sent a stark message to the West: no longer is your waste welcome in the developing world.

Like millions of other consignments, the rubbish had made its way to South East Asia for recycling. But what had left Vancouver marked as recyclable plastics was in fact household waste, said a furious Rodrigo Duterte, the Philipine president. So egregious were the actions of the Canadian company involved, Chronic Plastics Inc, that Duterte threatened to declare war on the north American nation. Mercifully, after equal measures of rhetoric and diplomacy, Canada agreed to repatriate the garbage.

But the issue of foreign waste in the developing world is far from resolved. In 2016, China was comfortably the largest importer of recyclable trash, consuming at least half of the world’s plastic output. It made good economic sense for the rising superpower – salvage processes were cheaper there, and Chinese manufacturers had high demand for repurposed plastics. But suddenly, in 2017, Beijing announced a ban on the import of all but the purest of scrap. A $24bn industry was demolished overnight, and Western waste dealers scrambled to find new markets.

By-and-large, they plumped for South East Asia. Not a world away geographically, but the region’s recycling infrastructure isn’t nearly as sophisticated as that in China. Where the Chinese had cleared 600,000 tons of imported plastic waste a month, their smaller neighbours have quickly become inundated with toxic refuse. As put by Malaysian environment minister Yeo Bee Yin, her country is fast becoming “the dumping ground of the world”.

And it’s often illegal waste that’s reaching South East Asian shores, an investigation carried out by Yin’s government revealed. They found plastic scrap from countries such as Australia, the US, the UK, Germany and other parts of Europe was being mislabeled to avoid local permits. Already five containers of falsely declared rubbish has been dispatched back to Spain from Malaysia – which has borne the brunt of re-directed waste – with some 3,000 tons of other illicit imports soon to be returned to other Western nations. Thailand and Vietnam are wrestling with the problem too, and have – alongside Malaysia – introduced legislation to prevent contaminated foreign junk reaching their ports.

Such restorative action can’t come quickly enough, experts have said. A report by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) released earlier this year identified water contamination, crop death, illness and the burning of plastic waste as critical side effects of the refuse deluge. In a particularly striking case last year, campaigners in Indonesia reported seeing plastic waste being burnt as fuel to heat tofu, with toxic fumes rising directly into the cooking enclosure.

GAIA lays blame squarely at the feet of the West, where the plastic waste originates. “As wealthy nations dump their low-grade plastic trash onto country after country in the global south, the least the international community can do is safeguard a country’s right to know exactly what is being sent to their shores,” said Beau Baconguis, the group’s Asia Pacific Plastics Coordinator.

It seems his message struck a chord with the global community, who’ve made new pledges to restrict shipments of unrecyclable plastics. Nearly every country in the world last month agreed an amendment to the so-called Basel convention – the legally binding framework on the trade of hazardous refuse – forcing Western exporters to obtain specific governmental consent from import nations. Rolph Payet, the UN’s ebullient Environment Executive Secretary heralded the agreement as “historic” – lauding the developing world’s newfound power to reject unmanageable shipments.

But not all believe that exports to poor countries should be restricted. The current crisis can be traced back to unscrupulous Chinese waste importers who – after the 2017 ban – shifted their corner-cutting operations abroad, says Adam Minter, an author and recycling industry expert.

“Rather than trying to create closed recycling loops in each country or each region, environmental activists would do better to make the global recycling trade cleaner and more efficient,” he said in a Bloomberg column, adding that richer countries should be doing more to help establish modern waste management systems in the regions they export to.

With both the developing world’s environmental credentials and national pride on the line, few can dispute that change is needed. To this end, novel uses for used material must be championed. The Canadians, as unpopular as they are in Manila, look to be leading on this – the 1,500 tons of returned waste is set to be burned at a cutting edge waste-to-energy facility in British Columbia. But with just 9% of the world’s plastic output being recycled annually, it seems that the root cause of the issue – our rampant plastic production – needs to change too.

L'articolo Asia Says No More to Foreign Waste Exports proviene da InsideOver.

Rosie* (whose name has been changed for anonymity) is an 11-year-old girl with a smile that lights up a room. She dreams of getting a good education that will facilitate an upstanding career. But Rosie is not like other little girls. She was rescued, along with her sisters and younger cousins, from an appalling cybersex trafficking operation in the Philippines with the help of International Justice Mission (IJM).

Rosie never speaks of the abuse, but her teenage sisters have detailed the odious story of how their mother would force them to participate in sex shows – streamed live over the internet for foreign men to watch. Their mother has since been arrested and charged.

Tens of thousands of children in the Philippines are estimated to be trapped in the sex trade, with a growing number abused online for an international audience, due to the country’s cheap internet, high standard of English, accessible money transfer services, and widespread impoverishment. The tropical destination has become a hotspot for depraved online sexual predators from Western places such as the USA, Europe, Canada, and Australia.

IJM is the world’s largest international anti-slavery organisation that works globally to combat slavery, trafficking, and other forms of violent abuse. In the Philippines, the organisation has worked unremittingly with local government and law enforcement to find, rescue, and rehabilitate children from cybersex assaults, and to hold perpetrators accountable.

David Westlake, CEO of International Justice Mission UK said: “Online sexual exploitation of children is a form of sex trafficking which was unimaginable before the digital age. Whereas before, Western customers would have to physically travel to the Philippines to abuse children, now paedophiles and predators, anywhere in the world, can go online and wire a secure payment to an adult who sets up a live “show”. Boys and girls – some under 2 years old – are abused or forced to perform sex acts in front of a live webcam for paying customers.

“Unlike bars or brothels with a permanent address, children suffering online sexual exploitation can be moved to and abused in any location with an Internet connection and a webcam, or just a mobile phone.”

The FBI estimates that at any given time, there are 750,000 adults looking to abuse children in some 40,000 public chat rooms around the globe. And according to UNICEF, the Philippines is “the epicentre” of the live-stream sexual abuse trade and the “number one global source of child pornography.”

In 2018, the Southeast Asian nation received about 60,000 reports of online child sexual exploitation – a staggering three times more than in 2017. Data from IJM showed that as many as 80% of cybersex victims in the Philippines are underage and of those, half were 12 years old or younger. The youngest reported child to have been rescued was a 3-month-old baby.

“It will take a strong, united, and closely coordinated response involving international law enforcement teams, NGOs, and global governments to fight and end this gruesome crime today,” Westlake explained.

“When IJM started working in the Philippines in 2000, we partnered with the government to stop brothel owners and traffickers from exploiting children in the commercial sex industry—rescuing children from bars that sold them for sex and bringing perpetrators to justice. Studies have shown the number of children available for purchase on streets and in bars once notorious for sex trafficking plummeted between 75% and 86% in the cities where IJM worked to equip the police to tackle this devastating crime.”

Disturbingly, the culprits who conduct and perpetuate the abuse are frequently trusted adults such as family members. The children are often coerced into the reprehensible acts by their own parents, who tell them that it is harmless since it is being only being shown online. The abuse can range from posing in front of the camera to engaging in a sexual act with another minor–or even an adult.

“When justice systems are equipped to protect vulnerable children and abusers are held to account, perpetrators realise that they can’t get away with their crimes and exploitation becomes too risky. That’s when the problem decreases,” Westlake added.

“This crime is dark and complicated, but as the justice system in the Philippines is equipped to protect vulnerable children, and international law enforcement invest in tackling this crime, cybersex trafficking can be stopped.”

In February, the Philippines Internet Crimes Against Child Center (PICACC) was launched and is supported by officials from the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA), and the IJM. The task force also has connections with authorities in the US, Canada, Germany. Sweden, and the Netherlands.

L'articolo Thousands of Children in the Philippines Being Trafficked Online proviene da InsideOver.

One could quickly smell the stench of death, a sense of grief and despair. It was undeniable the moment you entered the ravaged city. Bodies of unidentified people – once vibrant human beings – were dumped in a mass grave at Tacloban City, Leyte in the Philippines following the country’s worst natural disaster in history, the super typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), on November 8, 2013. The bloated bodies of children, adults, and animals were strewn and picked up from all over the place: street corners, national roads, in front of buildings and homes, almost everywhere. In total, Yolanda slipped out of the country and claimed about 6,300 lives. A little over a thousand more remain missing nearly six years on.

Realizing much later, the mere dumping of bodies in mass graves should had not been done that way, according to spokesperson and director for operations Edgar Posadas of the Office of Civil Defense at the Department of National Defense (DND-OCD). The OCD is the implementing arm of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). “We learned that there’s a way to somehow address mass deaths in a very scientific way that we can easily identify (the bodies) when time comes someone has to claim,” he said in a phone interview, illustrating one of the many changes that had taken effect in their disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) guidelines after a thorough analysis of the catastrophe. Thus, the approval of the management of the death and the missing guidelines, which is led by the Department of Interior and Local Government, came about.

There were lootings, crimes, and chaos at that time because the people were “hungry and confused,” he recalled. To contain possibly similar circumstances, a law and order cluster has been added in the original eight clusters of response being followed by the government which were based on the clusters of the United Nations.

Donated resources will be controlled, too. An overwhelming amount of resources, which has no basis, proved to be “more of a burden than a help,” Posadas confessed. So the procedure now is to identify first the immediate resources needed and to gauge if the local resources are enough to sustain the need. If the situation warrants, a state of calamity will be declared, thus triggering the need for external assistance. This is where the Philippine International Humanitarian Assistance cluster headed by the Department of Foreign Affairs comes in.

“Even our forecasting system has improved a lot because we invested on several efforts that are science-based. What we’re also doing now is, when PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) has forecasted the typhoon track, we already prepare demographics like the number of people or areas possibly affected and the number of evacuation centers or schools there. We craft that data already so that more or less we know how our response would be and what to be prepared for,” he said.

Posadas said that capacity building of 14 vulnerable sectors, which include the fisher folks, farmers, informal settlers, women and youth, and people with disabilities, has been strengthened as well. The local government agencies conduct trainings to teach these sectors how to be self-sufficient for the next 72 hours after a disaster. “Because they are most likely on their own during those hours,” he pointed out. He clarified that capacity building has always been part of their guidelines before, but it wasn’t just as “structured or formalized” as it is now. “What happened in particular in 2018 is it became more structured because our budget indicated that we should focus on that area and make them less vulnerable by capacitating them. If you increase the capacity then you decrease the vulnerability, the impact of the hazard,” he further said.

He went on to say that the new operational guidelines in DRRM had been enforced during the most recent super typhoon Ompong (international name: Mangkhut) on September 15 last year which largely helped in preventing what could have been bigger death toll and property damages. Ompong left 82 fatalities, 138 injured, and two missing based on the last situational report from the NDRRMC in October last year.

Posadas added that they likewise partnered with telecommunications companies to provide early warning messaging, mandating them to allocate resources free of charge to the government. Although sending timely, area-specific warnings remains a challenge for them now, they are “trying to work on the technology requirement, which is the CBS or cell broadcast system.”

Social media plays a key role in such dire times too, and he couldn’t agree more. “This is one of the platforms that we are capitalizing on, especially on Twitter and Facebook. We are now developing a more Twitter-active system, but we also have to decipher what’s true or not,” Posadas said.

As for mitigating possible risks of earthquakes, he revealed they’re going to be stricter in implementing the building code and in intensifying the monitoring of structures, especially by the LGUs issuing the permits. “A new building code is also on the way this year, with several enhancements to ensure the safety and resiliency of structures,” he said. The Philippines was struck by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Castillejos, Zambales and felt in several parts of Luzon at around five in the afternoon of April 22 this year. The NDRRMC recorded 18 fatalities, three missing persons, and 256 injured based on its situational report on May 3.

Many things have indeed changed, according to Posadas. “Even the locals now seek out for their personal safety,” he said.

It’s unfortunate that these catastrophic disasters happened in the country, but these became “catalysts for change,” Posadas confessed. “The Philippines now has become a laboratory for learnings for equally vulnerable countries. People from other countries go to us, go to Yolanda-stricken areas when I was still OCD regional director of region VIII,” he said. “It’s not that we prayed for Yolanda to come but probably it’s because we needed to experience to identify where we lack in terms of disaster preparation and response. Yolanda became a game-changer, our benchmark now for coping and for resiliency. There were preparations before Yolanda came, but they didn’t expect the wrath of a Yolanda. So it seems we needed a Yolanda to revisit our policies, our laws, and see where we can still make improvements.”

Additionally, the Congress approved a House Bill 8165 proposing the creation of a Department of Disaster Resilience on its third and final reading early this year. DND secretary Delfin Lorenzana was quoted saying in local news reports that they want to elevate the OCD to a new department to even more strengthen the DRRM in the country. Asked what would happen with the transformation, Posadas said he isn’t completely sure yet. “But we leave that up to the legislators, to lawmakers, since we have not seen the complete form yet. But once that is enacted then everybody should follow.”

Meanwhile, not learning from the past is bad but refusing to listen to experts is far worse, according to Kairos Dela Cruz, associate for climate policy and unit head of climate policy team of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC). “Our LGUs (local government units) and officers must listen to what science is telling us,” he said in a text exchange. For one, he said there’s a problem on localizing climate information. “What does it mean for us? It’s a question that LGU always asks, and it’s something that should be answered soon. In worse cases, business and political interests go in the way of a right decision,” he added.

He shared that the “ICSC works directly with government agencies, especially in levels where plans are made and where climate finance is channeled to.” They also engage with student organizations and academic institutions on areas such as research and renewable energy innovations, among many others. He added that they are likewise trying to bring more attention to “slow onset events or incremental climatic impacts that require longer period of time to be felt, which could be more difficult to deal with and to some extent irreparable,” such as sea level rise, ocean pacification, increase in ambient temperature, and so forth.

He stressed: “Climate change is here and it is here to stay. It brings a lot of challenges to a developing country such as the Philippines. However, if we do it right, climate change also brings a lot of opportunities. We can pump prime our energy sector by the introduction of renewables, improve our agriculture by using smarter technology, and so on.”

So is the Philippines on the road to being a “climate-smart and disaster-resilient” country? Both Posadas and Dela Cruz gave an affirmative reply.

“A country has to be climate-adaptive to be disaster-resilient, and I think we’re doing good about that. Our capacity has been strengthened, particularly on the prevention and mitigation. Because if we are prepared, we have the necessary policies there, we also have the likes of science-based early warning initiatives, coupled with a strong DRRM system,” said Posadas. “I think we’re really on our road to resiliency. But to say that we are 100% percent resilient, I think it’s still a work in progress for the country.”

On the other hand, Dela Cruz said: “Experience is forcing us to do so, for example is Yolanda. The challenge is how to sustain this. As it is now, we are going towards a more resilient and climate-smart future, slowly but surely.”

But the DRRM, for it to work, isn’t dependent on a single leader or group alone. “For the DRRM to be successful, everybody has to give its share because one way or the other we can be victims ourselves, so we always have to look at it that way,” Posadas said. “We have to participate, we have to be active. For the whole system to work it’s not just efforts of government. Each and every individual has to be conscious and has to have that desire to be safe,” he further said. He advised that even parents should teach their children about disaster management as early as possible.

Posadas said they indeed look up to several role model countries in emergency preparedness and disaster response. Among them is Japan that’s similarly prone to disasters but has been considered globally as experts in the field. “We hope to be like them someday,” he said.

L'articolo Can The Philippines Protect Itself from Future Typhoons? proviene da InsideOver.