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Opinion
Adelle Chua, Editor Joyce Pangco Pañares, Issue Editor
SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2017
mst.daydesk@gmail.com
EDITORIAL
A NEW LEADER I
was why Americans took a chance on a maverick. For us Filipinos, what makes the transition significant is not the colorful personality of the new president or the traits he seems to share with ours. Recall that just a few months back, our President Duterte hurled invectives at the Americans for calling him out on his supposed human rights violations while conveniently forgetting the violations they committed on us decades ago. And while we may just be a minor partner to the
N THE beginning, many people thought of him as a joke.
He was not presidential enough, they said. He talked too much and was politically incorrect. He had no qualms showing off his low regard of women. He uttered the most awkward things and cracked the most inappropriate of jokes. He does not seem to speak from facts and statistics. How would he represent his country before the rest of the world? But this weekend, Donald Trump became president of the United States of America. The day was marked by both cheers and protests. Trump’s victory was unexpected. His Democrat opponent, the former State Secretary, Senator and First Lady Hillary Clinton, was perceived to be the sure winner— she had way more experience in politics and in everything else. On social
media, Trump was derided as a racist, a misogynist, an insanely wealthy man and nothing else. Yet he will determine the fate of the US for at least the next four years. In his inaugural address, Trump said he would bring back America to the people because for many years it has been Washington that has made all the decisions. He would bring back jobs and reclaim borders. These words resonated with those who felt short-changed by the traditional system. This
A FOCUSED SPACE PROGRAM FOR A DEVELOPING COUNTRY
Americans, they are our major partners in trade and in geopolitics. It will be interesting to watch how Duterte and Trump will get past their superficial similarities and actually work together for mutual benefit—that is, if they truly can. It’s an exciting time for Americans, indeed, and the rest of the world. We look forward to seeing how they can transcend fiery rhetoric and translate good intentions into results. It’s not a joke to be chief executive, and it’s not a job for jokers.
IN A previous piece, I wrote about the reasons why I think a space program will benefit the Philippines. I gave justifications on why a country plagued by pressing problems such as poverty, lack of food security, and the effects of climate change can even begin to think about going into space. Ever since I wrote that piece, the move to create a national space policy has advanced on several fronts. Several bills have already been submitted to committees of both the House of Representatives and the Senate that push for the creation of a Philippine Space Agency and the formulation of a National Space Development and Utilization Policy. The latest of these are Senate Bill 1259 filed by Senator Loren Legarda and House Bill 4367 filed by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda. Prior to these, Senator Bam Aquino introduced Senate Bill 1211 in the Senate while Bohol Rep. Erico Aumentado and Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Seth Frederick Jalosjos introduced House Bill 3637 in the Lower House of Congress. Taken together, these bills take us closer toward a legislated Philippine Space Act. As an advocate of a space program for the Philippines, I wanted to find out what other people thought of the idea. Most of the people I know personally are for it, mostly for the reasons that I, too, am for it. But since I wanted to get a sense of what the general public thought about investing in space, I had to go out of my social media bubble and scoured the comments sections of many online publications. What I found was that many commenters and people on social media were critical of efforts of the Philippine government to prioritize space program given our many earthly problems. The most common sentiment can be expressed as follows: We have many problems here on the ground ranging from urban gridlocks and poor infrastructure to super typhoons and droughts. Why spend our limited resources on going into space? Why not use government funds on helping hungry farmers instead or investing in better disaster risk reduction and management? A more scientific survey would help us know the true pulse of the nation on this issue. However, such sentiments, even if they turn out to be of the minority, need to be addressed. Hence, although my response to these criticisms is contained in my previous article, I think it bears repeating here. It also bears repeating because I believe these criticisms can and should be used constructively to formulate
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MAKING TOKHANG PALATABLE LONG STORY SHORT ADELLE CHUA
THE first red flag was the invitation. On that breezy Saturday morning in December, the barangay captain, during her welcome remarks, said she was overwhelmed at the turnout of residents at the village basketball court.
This comment was met with silence by the crowd. People were thinking: Of course we would show up. Who would dare be absent if your household received a letter that went like this? “Rather than have police knocking
at doors of your houses there will be a meeting to be conducted by the Quezon City Police District for all residents and homeowners. 1. All residents and homeowners of [village] must attend. If you cannot come, please send an adult family
representative. 2. Only adult family members may come as family representatives. Household help, drivers and maids are not qualified to represent you and the family. Turn to B2
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