Self-Fulfilling Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy, you see, can be truly
unpretentious
in making seem true what is pretended
to be;
but it fulfills itself in ways quite grim
and
hideous;
it is a sticky, gooey mask that eats into
the flesh
and skin, quietly, slowly gnawing
into the bones
and sinews of the wearer’s hidden,
real face!

by: Romy Naces

Some Hopes for Copenhagen Result

“It’s no deal, it’s just an agreement.”

The outcome of the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change has elicited mixed interpretations from all quarters in the world. While the poor nations rejected the agreements as self-serving the interest of the rich nations, condemned as “monumental failure” by ardent environmental NGOs, lambasted by faith groups as “negotiated without consensus”, and regarded by EU leaders as “disappointing and embarrassing”, there are still those who regard the agreements as the best that could emerge from the summit which was, as early, predicted to fail.

The European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso aptly described the accord as “a positive step but clearly below our ambitions,” while adding: “I will not hide my disappointment.”

The agreement, cooked outside the UN process (for lack of transparency) by US and China (the two leading CO2 emitters) with South Africa, India and Brazil, only recognizes “the need to limit global temperatures to rising no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels”. That which the rest of the 193 countries attending the summit, “pushing for an upper limit of 1.5 degrees”, cannot be held to agree.

No emissions reduction is in sight for 2020, and even the target in previous agreements of cutting CO2 emissions by 80 percent by 2050 was abandoned. As a result, the EU did not change their target from a 20 percent cut in emissions to 30 percent citing that the major players are not putting enough stakes on the negotiating table. Besides there is no mechanism in place how to monitor the cuts aside from requiring nations to report their emission reduction efforts to the UN every two years!

The agreement also earmarked $100 billion a year to developing countries to help them cope up with the effects of climate change and to stamp a low-carbon development footprints. But this figure does not specify where the funds must come from (government or big corporations?) and how much would flow into the government of the developing nations and to the civil society organizations.

While the Copenhagen delegates agreed to meet next year in Mexico to hammer more promising targets from the Summit, it’s time to gather tidbits from the ruins and start building relationships: bilateral agreements among vulnerable nations, tripartite agreements among government, civil societies and concerned communities, and “serious negotiations” for policy change to spur the urgency of actions for climate change.

Thus, the dissatisfaction of the result is a positive attitude towards intensifying work for the environment and the initial agreement should be regarded as a foundation to achieve more progress. Besides, there is no more argument that climate change is continuing to get worse and we need to take action.

We cannot allow government as spoilers, we always know the challenge also rests in our hands to be continually engaging, conscienticizing and committed to take actions to avert climate change.

Monstrous Atrocity

Is it not justice and peace we seek?

When I learned about the carnage in Maguindanao, even without making any comparison, I could imagine what had happened in Darfur, the genocide between the Huttus and Tutsis in Rwanda, the killing fields in Cambodia and Vietnam, the Serbian repression of the people of Kosovo.

What happened on November 23 was an election-related violence having no equal in the Philippine history. The Plaza Miranda bombing claimed only nine lives, but so far at least 50 people have been found dead on the spot or unearthed, dismembered, peppered with bullets and abused. Women were reported raped before killed. Two human right lawyers and at least a dozen media personnel were among the victims. More dead bodies are expected to be found as the search continues.

Majority of the victims are women and children who are family members of the Mangundadatu clan and supporters who were in convoy, accompanied by a media delegation and lawyers, to file their certificates of candidacy in Shariff Aguak, province of Maguindanao.

What is appalling to know is how many more trenches, where victims of massacre dumped, could be found in Maguindanao? Is there any truth to the people tied to a tree, cut with a chainsaw and parts thrown into the river? Is there any truth to the display of bravado that usually ends up in a killing spree even in public places. Is there any truth to being lucky enough to be killed for defying orders or refusing a favor if your family is spared? Is it true that you can only whisper the abuses and the identity of the perpetrators while drinking with your buddies? Heed any warning immediately and be wary of talking about them on media, in public or any forum otherwise your head will be found in the trash bin the next day. Is there really any witness or survivor who is courageous enough to testify on experiences and asked for redress and reparations? Beyond this incomprehensible truth is the prospect of more violence, knowing the culture of the Bangsamoro people. The surviving relatives of the victims demonstrated sobriety and promised to abide by the justice system. But patience may be short when the wheels of justice in the country would be stuck in the dirt of politics and lost in the election fever.

Almost everyone in Mindanao knows the political clout, wealth, notoriety and the expanding clan of the Ampatuan since the year 2000 by controlling any electoral posts and appointments in Maguindanao and now including the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr. acts as governor of Maguindanao, and his sons: Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr., mayor of the municipality of Shariff Aguak, Datu Yacob Ampatuan of Rajah Buayan, Datu Datu Akmad Ampatuan of Mamasapano, Datu Saudi Ampatuan of Saudi, Datu Unsay Ampatuan of Unsay and Zaldy Ampatuan as governor of ARMM.

Accordingly, nobody could point an accusing finger at the Ampatuans, not even an inquiry on their alleged abuses and gross violations of human rights possible by any national media or government agency or non-government organization. Even armed dissident groups in Mindanao with clear political ideology cannot afford to make an enemy of the Ampatuans. How much more the present administration, that in creating an ally in politics – to perpetuate power- unleashes a monster that does not heed its bidding anymore.

So far, the Ampatuans are not only above the law but beyond justice. Placing the province of Maguindanao under the state of emergency, relieving posts in the military and police, party discipline, condemning the violence and ordering a manhunt are short of what the Filipino people and the world expect of the administration.

The Ampatuans should be placed under investigation immediately and their battalion of para-military disarmed to persuade witnesses to come forward. When the Ampatuans are free, they could intimidate the witnesses and commit further abuses at will without worry that any military arm will stop them.

With pressures from the international human rights community and the incessant clamor for justice in the country, the present administration is given an opportunity to break the culture of impunity and address justice with impartiality. If the government still fail this time, we loss our status as a leading democratic nation in Asia and our advancement in the human rights will be put in question.