9 minute read
Disengagement
GOVERNMENT lawyers lament that the International Criminal Court is rushing the Philippines in its probe of thousands of deaths in the campaign against illegal drugs waged by Rodrigo Duterte when he was president and before that, mayor of Davao City.
On Tuesday, March 28 the ICC announced its rejection of the Philippine appeal to suspend its probe pending a final ruling on the request of its chief prosecutor to proceed with a full-blown investigation of the deaths in Duterte’s so-called war on drugs. The ICC stressed that the rejection of the suspension must not be construed as a ruling on the merits of the chief prosecutor’s request.
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Editorial
these cases were no mere tokens, as critics of the drug war believe, and must show that justice is possible for other suspected victims of extrajudicial killings. Critics also lament that accountability has been limited to minor players in the anti-drug campaign.
Nevertheless, with the rejection of the Philippines’ appeal, President Marcos said the country has no more moves left and is “disengaging” from the ICC, as he deplored its “interference and, practically, attacks on the sovereignty of the republic.”
If the ICC proceeds with its formal probe, the Philippines cannot stop it, but the government can refuse to cooperate. The government, however, cannot stop private individuals from providing information to the ICC or participating in the probe.
Rejecting ICC jurisdiction and refusing to cooperate should not mean stopping the country’s efforts to unearth the truth about possible abuses in the war on drugs, and to give justice to victims. Several former police anti-narcotics operatives have been convicted and sent to prison for the execution of teenage drug suspects.
The government must dispel perceptions that
HOLDING that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) was pursuant to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the United States and the Philippines, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of EDCA, maintaining that it was not EDCA that allowed foreign troops into the country but the Visiting Forces Agreement. This too was the subject of constitutional litigation, and the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality. The VFA case was itself interesting because it squarely dealt with the issue that while for the Philippines, it was a treaty, for the U.S., it was an executive agreement. The Supreme Court, relying largely on the representation of the U.S. government that it
Breakthrough
THE distinction between an American party and a Filipino party, according to friends and relatives who have been at both types of parties, is that in Filipino celebrations, the center is the food offerings. Guests are encouraged to eat more and are even offered to take home some of the food that is served.
According to the doyenne of Philippine cuisine, the late Doreen Gamboa Fernandez, in Metro Manila and large urban centers, parties serve traditional Filipino offerings and other cuisine like Chinese style noodles, Spanish paella, American burgers and steaks, Japanese sushi and sashimi, Korean barbecue, British fish and chips and other cuisines native to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Italy, Middle East, Mexico and other nationalities.
The food selections in the upper class Metro Manila household may be considered as eclectic. But Fernandez has observed that even decades ago, away from major urban
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra has said that the government is still trying to put together a broader picture of what happened, to determine if there is basis for allegations that drug suspects were summarily executed in a state-sanctioned systematic campaign that might constitute a crime against humanity. Guevarra has not ruled out the possible accountability of higher officials. He has expressed openness to the creation of an independent fact-finding or truth commission, but only if the members and the appointing power will be Filipinos.
The conviction of the former policemen for the execution of the teenage drug suspects showed that abuses were indeed committed in carrying out what the government insists were legitimate law enforcement operations. The country’s “disengagement” from the ICC need not lead to a stalemate in the pursuit of justice. The wheels of Philippine justice can and must continue to turn, preferably at a quicker pace and with greater conducted most of its foreign affairs in executive agreements, ruled that for as long as the agreement "had the effect of a treaty" on the U.S., the requirements of the Philippine Constitution were met.
It ruled that the EDCA was an executive agreement entered into by the president in implementation of existing treaties and statutes — and was therefore properly the subject of an executive agreement that called for no Senate concurrence.
Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared that he favors the implementation of the agreement, the next issue is deciding on where the military exercises take place and where the American troops are to temporarily make camp. Some local government officials have voiced misgivings, claiming that their constituents do not want to be caught between warring factions. Of course, there is no war, neither is there an imminent threat of one. China, it should not be surprising, is vehemently against EDCA and centers, it is still mostly native cuisine in all its regional variations that are the daily fare. However, in the last decade or so, it has been observed that Filipino cuisine has increased in stature and has even begun to be internationally recognized. Several decades ago, Filipino cuisine was considered as food for daily consumption. Today, we have television shows that focus on Filipino cuisine with its different variations.
My favorite show is “Chasing
Flavors” hosted by Claude Tayag, the well-known Filipino and Kapampangan food gourmet. His show centers on his travels to various regions where he goes out of his way to look for distinctive regional variations. There are now more authors that have written about our native cuisine. There are even authors that have explained and written narratives on Philippine culture as defined by the food that is indigenous to the culture. Some of these authors are Felice P. Sta. Maria and Fernando N. Zialcita.
However, the pioneer in Filipino culinary history is Doreen Gamboa Fernandez. Among her books are Tikim has warned the Philippines against engaging in military exercises with the Americans, but it would be as detrimental to our sovereignty as a nation to buckle down because China has bared its fangs.
In fact, it has done so many times in the past, and for all the rhetoric and the bombast from our end following incursions of China into maritime zones in the West Philippine Sea over which the Philippines has sovereign rights, we have done very little to put China in its place. Perhaps we have decided that we cannot do it, and that is probably right — strategically. But that is the reason that aside from strategic action, there is normatively regulated action: action that arises from norms and is sanctioned by them. If the only kind of action there was strategic, then certainly it would be foolhardy for the Philippines to even attempt to stand in the way of a giant like China. But the moment we adopt this posture, then small, weak, powerless nations do not stand a chance against the bullying of
(Taste), a collection of essays on Filipino book and culture written before her death on June 24, 2002. This was revised and updated in 2020. It is amazing that the essays in the book have remained relevant to the Filipino culinary scene as of this date.
Alfred Yuson wrote in the introduction to the book:
“Throughout this collection of food essays, features and formal papers culled from a quarter century of authoritative writing, the author repeatedly stresses that what we eat has history behind it, is premised on setting and has a meaning beyond its taste and flavor.”
Fernandez, in her book, also quoted from cultural icons like E. Aguilar Cruz and Martin Tinio. Among her most quotable quotes are from her co-author for several books, cultural researcher and food expert, the late Edilberto Alegre, who said, “… that if Ilocanos favor the bitter (as in pinakbet and the famous pinapaitan, a goat dish with the bile sauce), the Tagalogs the sour (katamtamang asim in sinigang) and many Bicolanos the hot (Bicol express is a dish of sautéed chili peppers), the huge and the mighty — and that is certainly no world order that is a welcome proposition to any state, or to anyone, for that matter! That is what I have always insisted about the arbitral decision in the case between the Philippines and the People's Republic of China. It transposes the exchange from the level of strategy to the level of normativity. It asks about the norms of conduct by which both parties must regulate their actions — and the pronouncement of the tribunal leaves no doubt that the rights are on our side, and that China has been — and remains — in violation of law.
In blatant transgression of the tribunal's judgment, it has converted features into military bastions and taken its firepower closer to the Philippines. Now, it tells us that we should not allow Americans to challenge her dominance over the troubled waters on our western seaboard? By what logic? By what law? And by what inanity should we, Filipinos, insist that the Ilonggos have their own predilection. For them, no large dominant flavor but layers and nuances prized over predominance of flavor.”
In this collection of essays, Fernandez dedicates it to her parents, Dr. Alicia Lucero Gamboa of Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija and Aguinaldo S. Gamboa of Silay, Negros Occidental.
The essays are divided into four categories, namely Food and Flavors; People and Places; Books and other Feasts and Food in Philippine History.
The first essay is seemingly timeless and one of the most interesting. The title is “Balut to Barbecue: Philippine Street Food.” She writes: “Street food in the Philippines is not only a convenience for those without time to cook or an economic phenomenon that flourishes during hard times. It is a convenience.”
She categorizes Philippine street food from the points of view from place and manner of vending. The first category is the Walking Street Food. Among the examples she gives are the peanut vendors selling in street corners, the taho vendors who sell in residential areas and the vendor on a
China means well, and that it would not be in our interest to provoke her by joining with Americans in military exercises.
No, America is not the lilywhite hegemon with motives pure and intentions immutably fair. It has had its own share of shenanigans and doubledealing. But its sins are not the issue here. The point is whether it makes sense to desist from alliances with the United States in respect to this very limited field of defense preparedness and readiness at China's bidding, the very country that has thumbed its nose at international law and our rights? Some local officials have reportedly profited from deals made with Chinese corporations over resources of the country within their respective constituencies. If so, then their opposition to EDCA and to military exercises in their localities is as unprincipled as their shady deals.
It is not a question of canonizing one hegemon as good and the other as evil. No one is engaged in such bicycle moving from place to place. childish characterizations. What we have to do with rather is the stark reality that China has fired water cannons at our fishing boats, shooed our fishermen away from the Scarborough Shoal, cordoned off reefs and features well within our exclusive economic zone and simply shoved aside a legally rendered judgment of a competent tribunal that had adjudicated on our rights over this section of the sea. And then there is the useful point made by Foucault that after the Treaty of Westphalia, balance of power has become a crucial consideration, and the painful, hurtful and disappointing events of late in this part of the world have warned us quite clearly I think about the deleteriousness of a lack of balance! (ManilaTimes.net)
The second category includes the Sitting Vendors offering baskets or trays of products like rice cakes, syrup-coated bananas or banana cues, pork barbecue and quail eggs.
Next are the Market and Church Yard Food whose food wares depend on the time of the day. It begins with breakfast, then are replaced by snacks and then lunchtime fare, primarily noodles, fish and meat dishes. It ends with snack foods.
The next are School Street Food, which are found outside every elementary, high school and college. Their offerings range from boiled corn, “dirty” ice cream, fish balls and cheap lunches with plenty of rice.
The next category is Food at Office and Factory sites. These are jeepneys or small vans from the back of which one can buy a variety of fare, ranging from sandwiches to lunch dishes.
Today, office workers refer to these as Jollijeeps.
Among the other interesting essays are the Flavors of Negros, the Filipino Kitchen, the Restaurant of Yesteryears and Mother Cuisine.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
* * * rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph
From a historical point of view, Fernandez also wrote a lengthy essay on Philippine foodways answering the question, what is Filipino food? Among the most typical and widespread examples of Filipino cuisine, she cites two. The first is the sinigang, which is meat, fish or seafood stewed in sour broth with vegetables. The second is kinilaw which has uncooked fish marinated in vinegar or lime juice.
At the end, Fernandez states that Filipino cuisine persists despite efforts by colonization and neo-colonization, unchanged in its traditional ways or slightly changed with its contact with other cultures. She says: “Its vigor augurs well and offers much hope for the folklore, the folkways, the folk art and the folk culture which many have feared are too fragile to survive modernity and global tides.” (Philstar. com)
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Email: elfrencruz@gmail.com
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