America vs Philippines: The Burdens of Women

What are the burdens unique to women, or considered traditional by social mores? Yes, these are generalizations, with lots of variations. The aim is to promote discussion, not prove anything.

The burdens and responsibilities of women:

1. Children: Bear children and nurture them through youth in good health, with good values, and with good education.

2. Kitchen: Cook and manage the kitchen. Keep the food stocks in good supply.

3. Cleaning: Clean up after the slob husband or messy kids end their thoughtless marauding about the house.

4. Clothing: Make sure the clothes are clean and in good order.

5. Values: Make sure the family has high moral values, like those taught and preached at church.

6. Recreation: Be fun in bed for the hubby and make sure social engagements, picnics, beach visits and other recreational activities bring entertainment and laughter to the family.

7. Health: Keep medicines available, whether prescription or herbal, and make sure everyone gets needed love and encouragement when sick.  Haul sick or injured family members to the doctor whether they want to go or not.

8. Presentment: Abide by the fashion standards of the time to represent the family as modern and stylish.

Did I miss anything material?

How do burdens in the Philippines differ from those in America ? I'll use the American grading mechanism and assign grades as follows to try to draw a distinction, where a high grade means that overall "delivery" on the attribute is good based on what we see around us:

• Excellent: A
• Good: B
• Fair or average: C
• Substandard: D
• Failing or really, really rotten: F

1. Children: Health care in the Philippines in outlying provinces is very weak, so kids are more susceptible to diseases, loss of teeth, and injuries. Education is not free, so is harder for the poor to get a good education. American schools are free, rigorous and attendance is mandatory. A high school degree in the Philippines is is not equivalent to a high school degree in the US.  Philippine kids don't compete well globally unless they get into private schools. Philippine values are conservative but laws are routinely ignored. Grades: America A, Philippines D

2. Kitchen: American kitchen work is often outsourced to fast food outlets, and obesity is a problem. In the Philippines, fatty foods are a problem. America has many foodstocks available, with much of it in boxes or cans or frozen, and cleanliness is closely monitored. The Philippines relies more on fresh food products because refrigeration is not a given. I personally find that I eat healthier in the Philippines than I did in America, and the flavors are more elegant and robust in the Philippines. Grades: America C, Philippines B

3. Cleaning: I discern little difference in the quality of cleaning, one nation to the other, except that waste disposal and sewerage is a problem in the Philippines. Bathrooms can be quite atrocious. Structures in the Philippines may be more rustic in outlying areas, but there is water water everywhere, so things get washed fine.  Grades: America A, Philippines C

4. Clothing: Poor Filipinos wear hand-me-downs and cheap clothing until they grow so tattered they fall off, so the condition is sometimes poor.  But clothes are generally cleaned regularly. Indeed, there is a pride taken in wearing clean clothes after a freshening shower or bath in the morning. Americans are consuming addicts and clothes are a part of the addiction; washing and drying is usually done by machine. Grades: America A, Philippines B

5. Values: The Philippines is anchored on Catholic, Christian or Muslim values with a strong cross-current of superstition. Americans believe in Christian values and hold to them with less widespread corruption and rule-breaking than is the case in the Philippines. A large cut of the American population is not engaged actively in church activities. Alas, it is deeds that count, not visits to church.  Grades: America B, Philippines C

6. Recreation: Americans live for their games, watching in the stadiums or on TV and participating in the backyard or neighborhood park. Women participate, too. And they are mad about music.  Filipino men play basketball and follow boxing, but women aren't into physical sports. Entertainment is their passion. Singers and actors rule. Karaoke is a sport in the Philippines, along with dancing. And of course, no matter where you are in the Philippines, the beach is right over there.  Grades: America A, Philippines A

7. Presentment: American women got knocked a little off the fashion stride by the women's movement of the late 20th century. It became uncool to watch beauty contests because they peddled women like packaged meat. Fashion lost its frills. Filipinas are very much into the starlet look, with the whitening creams and shampoos touted on television. Americans in public tend to dress sloppily. Filipinos are neat and tend toward a conservative look. Grades: America B, Philippines A.

So if you look at the sum of the grades, you see that women in the Philippines carry particularly heavy burdens in the raising of children and development of values. The social infrastructure and educational platform work against their kids. Sanitation is also a challenge, particularly in poor areas. So health is troublesome.

Face it, unless you are middle class or above, the Philippine infrastructure supporting the family is weak. The married woman's job is much harder in the Philippines than in America. Heath care, weak. Public education with 45 kids to a classroom, weak. Social acceptance of subsistence crime and rule-breaking, high. Sanitary infrastructure, weak.

As for single women, again the opportunities are limited unless you are connected, or can get a slot at an Americanized firm like a call center that has a career track. The horizon for the underclass woman is a lifetime of hard work for precious little pay. Making babies looks good in that light, married or not . . .

Where am I going with this?

I read a comment on a Rappler article that was very profound.  The article pertains to the level of foreign direct investment in the Philippines. Here's the comment and a link to the article:

• trevor.evans62

  The Current Constitution states that the Filipino family is the foundation of the Nation, so how does it justify breaking up the families of OFWs by sending the breadwinners abroad for jobs? ARTICLE XV THE FAMILY Section 1. The State recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation. Accordingly, it shall strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development.

It is a very good insight. And it applies as well to the INFRASTRUCTURE supporting families: health, education, good values, sanitation.

Infrastructure is not just roads and trains and airports and docks.

It is hospitals and doctors and schools and values (leading by example in the Philippines seems very weak to these Western-trained eyes) and utilities.

RH is infrastructure for the family. Investment in schools, new ways of teaching (internet) and new curriculums is infrastructure for the family. Sanitation is infrastructure for the family. Upgrading medical care is infrastructure for the family. These elements provide the platform that make a woman's burdens lighter, and achievement of good results more likely.

The Constitution is fundamentally a good document.

Implementing it is the challenge.

I can only offer my admiration for Filipinas who work with determination to overcome the challenges set before them, those who tend to the many needs of the family in good cheer and raise kids who are healthy, happy, bright and well-directed. These women are clearly very determined, strong and iron-willed of heart.

They are heroes in my book.

People Ragazine

Mark it. December 17, 2012, the day the Philippines finally ACTED to respect the vision of Dr. Jose Rizal for a kinder, more compassionate Philippines free of the oppressive cloak of the Catholic Church.

Dr. Rizal was executed on December 30, 1896.

It would be glorious if President Aquino could sign RH legislation into law on December 30, exactly 116 years after the Philippines decided an intelligent, compassionate man was not a proper fit for the Philippines. Official action that day cast the Philippines into the dark and the legislature's official action on Monday pulled her up into the light again.

Senator Pia Cayetano

In respect for the Lady Senator's fine handling of the final amendments to the RH Bill, JoeAm officially withdraws the afore-assigned "Five Golden Bluttos" gifted to Ms. Cayetano for brusque behavior and replaces them with "Five Golden Popeyes". Crisp, authoritative, knowledgeable, determined.  Professional. Her work was superb. Congratulations on your notable achievement, Senator.

(You were lookin'g good, too, fighting that wisp of hair with a glint of defiant determination that had Senator Sotto babbling like a star-struck comedian. Not that we notice superficial things like that.)

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago

May your husband fulfill your every expectation. Even the nuns in the gallery got a chuckle out of your slyly ribald point of argument.

COMELEC Commissioner Grace Padaca

"Five Golden Popeyes" to you, as well, for hammering home what you believe should be done about vote-buying. If your view gets seated as acts of government, it will force candidates to run on capability and platform. You said:

• “Implement the laws against vote buying because this curse is giving us leaders who have lots of money but too little of the qualifications we need to grow as a nation. Begin teaching our children in schools about elections so that when they vote for the first time, they'll have other ideas of elections than money politics and peal campaigning."

Justin Bieber

No awards for you, pal, and kindly DO NOT APOLOGIZE to the Philippines for mocking Manny Pacquiao's face flattening fall to the canvas. If you apologize for getting in a good dig, you make it difficult for the rest of us who are here writing at the edge of Philippine proprietary. Which, as you have noticed, is extraordinarily sensitive.

"Five Golden Bluttos" Each

To Representatives  Carol Jayne Lopez (Yacap party-list), Seth Jalosjos (Zamboanga del Norte), Amado Bagatsing (Manila), Antonio Alvarez (Palawan), Mark Aeron Sambar (PBA party-list), Alfredo Garbin, Jr. (Ako Bicol), and Isidro Lico (Ating Koop party-list), who sponsored a legislative bill to make Justin Bieber "persona non grata" in the Philippines. That is, they want him banned from coming from the Philippines for publishing that photo up there, and others like it. Bieber is a Floyd Mayweather fan.

Holey Representative, Batman, but you yokels make Filipinos look like the biggest bunch of pussys* in the world. The kind who can dish it out, but can't take it. THIS is your definition of pride and dignity? To officially slap down a kid who was making a joke? Your overbearing, humorless acts are infinitely more damaging to the Philippines than Bieber's off-key attempt at a joke.

*Street language for "extreme wimp", used here for literary effect. No gender disparagement or gross sexual reference intended.

How Do We Get A Nobel Peace Prize for President Aquino?

Who nominates people around here anyway? This is far more than for the Mindanao peace agreement, which is a profound accomplishment. It is for walking the firm but high road with China and bringing social modernization to a very peaceful Philippines. There is not a single coup plot cooking on any of the 7,000 islands, unless you count the shrieks emanating from the CBCP. Election murders are becoming passé. This is the remarkable remaking of a national attitude.  Advocacy for women's rights and the rights of people to government information solidify President Aquino's good governance agenda and assure long-lasting, orderly progress for a nation long held back by outdated values, clannish rivalries,  poverty and associated angers.

This is the Nelson Mandela of Asia folks, sitting right over there in the Palace. The Abe Lincoln of the Philippines. Dont let other people's need for stereotypes confuse you. Boxers aren't the only winners around here. You don't need a chicken under your arm to shine. This guy is an exclamation point for the Philippines.

Manny Pacquiao

Retire, dude. You've made your point, and your millions. Focus on your health and how to leverage your good standing in the Philippines for the betterment of the nation. Give back to those who have given so much to you.

Women of the Philippines

Congratulations. Go in good health.

Men of the Philippines

Are the priests "real men"?, I am inclined to ask. They seem like girlie men to me, hysterical and bitchy. No offense to women intended. Governor Schwarzenegger penned the expression. It is a movie term, useful only in the context for which it is useful.

The rest of you guys get out there and follow Madam Santiago's instruction.

Mar Roxas

Hey, my Good Man, you are up for review by JoeAm as a serious presidential contender in 2016. Keep up the good work and don't let UNA's whining distract you from your job of rooting out crooks who might conveniently also be political opponents.

Bible Update: The Book of Maude

The Bible is many books in one. It is a historical treatise, albeit one built on a lot of allegory and story. It is a text book. It is a recitation of moral law, or how we can live in God's image. And it represents civil law for the time it was written.

It is read literally and it is read figuratively. Either approach runs into problems so it invariably gets read with lots of explanations and deductions and caveats. You know. Little footnotes to explain away the aberrations.

Indeed, it has some famous amendments to accelerate and firm up re-interpretations. The most popular of these is the New Testament, where Jesus through his apostle Paul and a few other loyalists recasts how we should interpret God's ways. For example, there were admonitions in the Old Testament that had become outdated. Like the ban on eating pork. In the New Testament, we find that pork is no longer considered "unclean".

Why? Because pig meat is no longer diseased and dangerous.

Religious leaders also wanted to create a kinder, gentler Creator, rather than continue to portray God as the One who relentlessly rained violent destructions up on the planet. Pestilence and plague, wars and starvations.

So the Old Testament got amended and Christianity flowered.

Another amendment is found in the Book of Mormon, penned by the American prophet Joseph Smith just a couple of hundred years ago. The amendment was not voted on but was simply adopted by a certain committee of believers, and the Mormon Church has been going gangbusters ever since.

Well, you know, I figure it is high time that we construct a new amendment, a new book. There is one area of the Bible where the amendments of the New Testament and Book of Mormon have simply not kept pace with modern knowledge and values.

No, no. It does not involve foreign investment or libel or even right of reply, or reproductive health, directly. It is more basic than that.

We need to explicitly revise the Holy Bible to recognize that women do not belong in harems or trailing behind their hubbies or earning half what a guy earns. Or kept out of the pulpit or out of church decision-making bodies.

If a woman can speak, she can preach. If she can think, she can write church policy.  And it is offensive to our sense of fair treatment and non-discrimination that we recognize that modern civic laws and the values that mandate equal treatment.

Why is the Bible allowed to present a conflicting view to what we know is wholesome? Why are men ruling the roost in the most dominant of Filipino churches?

The Catholic Church adheres to the old Bible and refuses to follow the same laws that corporations are required to follow. Non-discrimination by gender.

So we deal with pigs differently in modern times, but not women? Women are considered diseased and dangerous, or what?

It grates on the brain, like running fingernails across the chalk-board. This is not right.

Here are the offending sections of the New Testament, which, as we learned above, supplemented or struck out many of the weird and out-of-sync rules of the Old Testament:

• 1 Corinthians 11:3-10  But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.  Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying, disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying, disgraces her head; for she is one and the same with her whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.  For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man;  for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

• 1 Corinthians 14:33-35  . . .for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says. And if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.

• Titus 2:3-5 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,  that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,  to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored.

Boy howdy, and that Titus, he brought age into the deal, too, a double no-no, as if old women were by definition malicious gossips and drunks.

I'm sure fewer than half are.

So we need to correct that. We need a book of the women, for the women, by the women.

If we popularize such a book, the Catholic Church will have two options:

1. Ignore the new book, as the Jews ignored Jesus, and see the confident and competent women within their congregation trample the men to get to a church that recognizes the new book.

2. Revise their discriminatory doctrine and practices.

Either is a right and proper result, so it is up to those Old Guys of the Church to see if they have the wisdom to grant that God can think modern, and reasonably, and gender-equal.

Well, we need our own profound prophet, and she has to be she. My wife is not adept at this kind of critical thinking, being totally subservient to me only on writing and lording it over me on all other disciplines. I'd ask Cha, but she is very busy, I know. Fortunately, Cousin Maude said she would be happy to take on the task of providing for her sisters.

Here is her fine work in draft form. She says she welcomes edits by the Society's cerebral men and women. She apologizes for how short the book is, but says, rightly so, the whole American Bill of Rights, Constitutional Amendments 1 through 10, can be written on the head of a pin.

The Book of Maude (Version 1.0)

Chapter 1

1.1 Let the Good Word ring true, that God our Maker is vast of being and vision and act, able to cast stones from the mountain toward the sea on rivers of  churning water or flumes of fiery rock. Let no man or woman question the power of His Holy Magnificence.

1.2 Let us know as well that Our Father is Himself no stone. He is not a chunk of granite pushed upright and rigid from the bowels of the earth to sit unbending and inert for all eternity. Nay, he is heaven's Master, fluid and forceful and mindful that he has spun upon the earth a journey for us, from dust to dust, and the paths we may choose, free of will, are gifted by Him to us.

1.3 We would be in error to believe that God holds us to one eternal course, inflexible as to knowledge or decision, bound by Man's interpretation of good as though it were a fixed picture caught on one well-defined day on historical earth.

1.4 Nay, God challenges us to think, to have heart and kindness, to face the challenges He sets before us with intelligence and new knowledge, to strive for the richness that can only come with compassion and enlightenment and the ability to think for ourselves.

1.5 Our Mighty Maker does not say "bow to the cloth", or "bow to the crown", or "bow to the pulpit of Senatorial confusion". He says bow to goodness, to kindness, to love, and to the enrichment of explorations and learning and personal growth.

Chapter 2

2.1 Many men on earth, God's servants, have held to inflexible rules, words that bind mankind to behaviors meant only for a time, their time, man's time.

2.2 Cast out these blind enforcers, the men whose works benefit their own interests, the maleness amongst them, rather than the whole of mankind, which includes womankind. Shout to them, "Get thee out of thy darkened male closet!" "Remove thy mask of male insecurity!"

2.3 Men who insist that men define God's place on earth are men of little reason, little courage and even less comprehension.

2.4 Cast out those who would restrain the good works of woman. Woman was not meant for bondage any more than Jesus was meant to rest upon a wooden cross of man.

Chapter 3

3.1 How did God bless woman? He blessed her with the triumph and exquisite joy of bringing new life onto the earth.

3.2 God did not bless her with a mop or a bucket or a spatula welded to her hands. He blessed her with intuition and insight and intellect quick with wit, words and ideas.

3.2 Let it therefore be known that the women among us are commanded to walk upright, equal in calling and capability to the men who would have them sit down. They are commanded not to let a period in history define them, limit them, restrain them.

3.3 God commands that you go forth, good women, heads up, eyes clear, pure of heart, striving for good works and higher enlightenment, equal in all material ways to the very best of men.

3.4 Let not the preachings of the insecure and confined hold you back. Let not any man say you are the lesser of God's children.

_______  &&&  ________

Yeah. That should do the job just fine.

Thanks Maude.

"I'm Better Than You Are!"

This is a free-think exploration to sort through the matter of elitism and standards of what is "better" as a way of life. Particularly if you are a woman. 

Take the case of Senator Sotto. Here is a man who drips with arrogance and condescension toward the lessers who insist upon cluttering  his distinguished life. You know, like bloggers and academicians and now an award-winning book writer who is demanding he be held to account for ethics violations.

Or take the case of Joseph August America who pens blog after blog fairly dripping with haughty intellectual superiority as he parses Philippine culture for all its eccentricities as viewed through a westerner's prism that refracts behavior into good and bad colors.

Joe points toward ignorance as the reason for a lot of bad behavior, and he sorts ignorance into three buckets: (1) innocent, as with poor people who are trapped in a poor educational and family situation, (2) negligent, as with people who could and should read and think, but do not, or (3) intentional, where people pose as lacking knowledge because it gets them something, as Senator Sotto would utter, "Wha? I didn't plagiarize. I don't know what that means."

"Ignorance of the law" is generally not accepted as a good defensive argument in American courts. It appears acceptable in the Philippines when a guy who MAKES the laws holds it up as justification for shamelessly stealing the original work of another.

So I ask the question, "Are some people better than others?"

• Is a smart person better than a dumb person?

• Is a rich person better than a poor person?

• Is a senator better than a citizen?

• Is a columnist better than the person he criticizes?

• Is a healthy person with two arms better than a sick person with one arm?

• Is a white person better than a black person, or a brown one?

• Is a Muslim person better than an atheist, or a Christian?

The possible answers are "yes" or "no" or "damnifiknow".

The answer is "yes" if there are standards available to measure the quality of "goodness" or "betterness". Some are better than others.

The answer is "no" if we are talking about an individual's place on earth where we each play our part as king or amoebae, as assigned by God or the fates or chaos or whatever orders our disorder and imposes a seemingly unfair lot in life upon so many. We all stand equal, all largely ignorant of what was, is and will be.

The answer is "damnifiknow" most of the time, or maybe more accurately, "idon'tgivearatspatootie".

"Yes": When people are better

If there is a goal attached to behavior, then the quality of person counts. If we want to hire a lawyer, we want one who is not ignorant of case law. If we run a business, we want to hire people who work hard and well. If we run a college, we want to enroll kids who have done well in high school.

• So, in given settings, a smart person is better than a dumb person.

• And a rich person is better than a poor one if we are selling something.

• And a senator is better than a citizen if we need a new law.

• And two-armed people make better firemen.

But a senator is not better than the common good, or public interest. And a senator who deludes himself into thinking he is superior over his critics is just that: delusional. His critics represent voices of people the senator is charged with serving and protecting. And if he won't listen to those voices, and respect them, then he is negligent and ought to be punished. For in the hierarchy of importance, he is the lesser of the two, senator and public well-being.

Interestingly, in the Philippines, hiring a friend or family member is better than hiring a skilled person. So by the value standards of the Philippines, power and advantage are more important than productivity or fairness. Pity. The Philippines is what the Philippines always will be until the standard of "betterness" switches to competence. Honest is a part of competence.

"No": When we all stand equal

Everyone has an important place on this earth. It is sacrosanct, the place we each occupy, belonging only to us and God. What we make of it, the burdens we carry, the joys we feel, the decisions and acts and results: they are real, and they are ours, and they are meaningful. No one is better than us at that. No one.

It is when people intrude into this realm that problems arise. When one man tells another man that he is worthless if he does not believe in the right God. Or if a woman is told she cannot go to school. Or if a woman is told she must remain in a marriage to an abusive deadbeat husband. Then our rightful claim to equality is abused.

Freedom is nothing more than an unequivocal insistence that we all stand equal, under God, under the law, under nature's order.

Well, too much freedom and things get a little crazy. Loud, dangerous, unhealthy. Murderous.

So we need some order, and there are two kinds:

1. Morality, the rules of faith. These are rules based on a vision that may or may not be factually true. If the vision is overlaid on people who don't hold it as true, then we have trouble. Freedom conflicts with faith. Morality is the root of much evil on earth.

2. Laws, the common-sense rules of community, are troublesome to the devious or undisciplined, and inconvenient for a lot of us most of the time. They are the rules that allow different people to live together in harmony. Their foundation is not in an imaginary vision, but in the honorable assessment of what is best for the most people, or injures the fewest. Laws respect our differences and preserve them by protecting the community.

Laws based on faith are troublesome. When the rule is something like the kind of cloth we must wear as a head covering, a reason that derives from God rather than community well-being, we have a problem.

When the "properness" of one's sexual desires is defined by faith rather than science, then we have a problem.  Homosexuality was not understood when the Bible was crafted. It still today is not understood by a large segment of the population . . . the learned population . . . people who insist it is like smoking and can be stopped.

But scientists understand it.

And scientists understand the differences between men and women. The differences have precious little relevance to an individual's ability to think and perform a given task.

When laws demand we behave opposite the laws of nature, then we are asking for trouble.

In that situation, laws are trying to take some within the community and declare them "unequal" to the rest.  As many Philippine laws declare women to be unequal to men today. Well, when we were in the caves, yes, man was the hunter and the aggressor in seeking a mate. Today we are not in the caves.

It's a problem when the rules flowing from faith do not change but science changes knowledge. When knowledge points out that we are abusing the God-given right of each individual to claim his place on the planet. Then discrimination and harm occur.

Damnifiknow

Idontgivearatspatootie right now.

Implications

It is insane that the old men of the Senate, bound to rules based on faith, withhold education from women. It is a great shame that the poorest women of the Philippines are denied the ability to manage their lives as independent, free beings on God's good green earth.

These men are telling women "I'm better than you are" at deciding what is in your best interest.

I don't know why Filipinas so graciously concede their place on the planet to narrow-minded, ethics deficient cave men.

Monday Morning Ramble

Let me ramble on this blog, as structure is sometimes sooo confining.

Two Senators in One

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago runs hot and cold with me. She is hot with her sponsorship of the bill she just introduced entitled: "An Act Establishing a Magna Carta for Philippine Internet Freedom, Cybercrime Prevention and Law Enforcement, Cyberdefense and National Cybersecurity.”

Now this bill addresses many of the same issues as the Cybercrime Act. Indeed, it declares the Cybercrime Law null and void, dead and buried. The new law was written by the people who must live under the act - bloggers and publishers and internet operators  - rather than by the police. It was the police, after all (the Justice Department), that supplied legislators with the language for the Cybercrime Bill. That is why that bill was detached both from practicality and, possibly, constitutionality.

 So the perspective of this bill is infinitely different and much more respective of free expression. The two aspects of the bill that interested me most were: (1) intellectual property rights, and (2) libel provision. Here's a short interpretation of each section:

• Intellectual Property: Any material published on the internet is considered copyrighted when published. The penalty for stealing someone else's original work is damages plus legal costs. This effectively makes the complainant whole without draconian penalties. Only material cases would end up in court. Nuisance cases would fall to the wayside. The "bias" is toward open expression.

• Libel: The plaintiff must prove malice and damage. If successful, the award is damages incurred. The law specifically allows for criticism of public officials. The dark-ages value of jailing those found guilty of libel for 12 years (the penalty in the current Cybercrime Law, which is being held back from implementation by Supreme Court's Temporary Restraining Order) is thrown out. 

Is that beautiful, or what? Thanks to The Pro-Pinoy Project for putting the text of the bill on line. Click over there if you want to read the details of the proposed legislation. And big thanks to the group of people who crafted this legislation.

The section on libel is appended to this blog at the end.

Back to Senator Santiago. As I wrote a few blogs ago, she is also on the rant about the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the U.S. and Philippines. She has been upset about that document since the Nicole incident many years ago. Currently she is angry that a contractor to the U.S. Navy may have dumped improperly treated waste into domestic waters, and she holds the VFA up as the reason. The rub, unfortunately, is that her public rant risks sowing discord between allies. With China drooling just off the coast.

It would seem to me that a change in this document, if warranted, could easily be pursued quietly between partners. Why does she rant in public? (1) Possibly because she wants to apply pressure on the U.S. to change the document, or (2) She is interested in the limelight, and doesn't really care about the well-being of the Philippines.

Neither is a particularly honorable way to proceed. "Just sayin' . . ."

Wemmins and Jesus

I'm happy to see Senator Cayetano upset with the old men of the Senate, those calcifying crustaceans of ancient bearing and  distorted moral foundation, Enrile, Sotto and maybe even Recto. Women need to run riot in the Philippines to end the lock that those unbendable political sticks have on laws that protect women. And immediately after RH is done, women ought to demand the right to divorce. Marriage is a contract, you know? It is not a slave sale or indentured bondage.

Get God out of the picture and put some common sense and compassion into those marriages where the husband is physically abusive, plays with other women, or refuses to support the kids. Or where the woman does those things. Trust me, trust me, trust me, Jesus is not a sadist and he is compassionate toward women. He was written into the Bible to temper the anger and hostility His Old Man displayed throughout the Old Testament. So let's just get right with Jesus, eh?

Small Philippines, Big Philippines

I'm rather believing the social health of the Philippines depends on two factors: (1) continued use and expansion of the internet, and (2) building a large middle class that has values apart from desperate need.

• The internet can be an educational supplement, you know, like taking vitamins. It allows people to find social enlightenment through interaction with others around the globe. I believe enlightenment is antigravity matter that flows uphill to the most respectful, learned and responsible level.

• The middle class, to sustain its middleness and its classiness, must set aside the envies and grasping needs that lead to anger, theft and cheating.  Young people are the hope, and OFW's returning home bringing the disciplines learned abroad, respectful of law and order and responsibility.

President Aquino has a small vision for the Philippines. I said that in Saturday's blog. He does not have a large vision. His is authoritarian, controlling, dast I say, anal? It is not vibrant and uplifting. He does not see freedom and transparency as fuel for ideas and honor and productivity and REAL pride.

Sure, I could be wrong. I would be happy, happy, happy to be wrong. But I see him complaining again about the media and I know he is thinking small.

The possibility exists that he will waste the grand rush of good will that put him into office.

The internet is unforgiving of people who are okay with a Small Philippines. . . 

Whither Weather?

I like the weather in the Philippines. Our area is cool and breezy except for the middle of the day, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. For these past few weeks, we have been riding on the Intertropical Convergence Zone, which slides north and south as it moves east and west, much like a snake in the grass. So we get splatterings of rain and gustiness of wind now and then. Here's the official Wiki explanation of things:

• The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), known by sailors as "the doldrums", is the area encircling the earth near the equator where the northeast and southeast trade winds come together. The ITCZ appears as a band of clouds, usually thunderstorms, that circle the globe near the equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, the trade winds move in a southwestern direction from the northeast, while in the Southern Hemisphere, they move northwestward from the southeast. When the ITCZ is positioned north or south of the equator, these directions change according to the Coriolis effect imparted by the rotation of the earth. For instance, when the ITCZ is situated north of the equator, the southeast trade wind changes to a southwest wind as it crosses the equator. The ITCZ is formed by vertical motion largely appearing as convective activity of thunderstorms driven by solar heating, which effectively draw air in; these are the trade winds.

And here is link to a fine, live satellite view of the Pacific courtesy of the U.S. Navy, those evil allies who hired the Malaysian contractor who dumped stuff into the Bay and drove  Senator Latin Santiago nuts. "The humiliation! The humiliation!"

The Wise Men and Women of the Society

I am developing a pretty rich understanding of the social psychology that makes the Philippines click. Or fail to. I figure the Society of Honor will soon be the foremost place on the planet to go to understand the ways and whys of the Philippines. And YOU my trusty readership are the masters, the teachers, the mysterious people in brown robes, hoods pulled over shadowy faces, who wander amongst the trees muttering their counsel to the Oracle, Joe of Am. Except for Angry Maude. She screams, of course, obscenity laden tirades, but what can we do about that?

Ahahahaha, I can see the characters now. There's Edgar, right over there on that stump, huge tome in hand, citing Greek and Zoroastrian wisdoms and enumerating them the way an engineer orders tasks. One hand is waving now and then in the air as he pulls out yet another profound finding and adds it to the list as 6.3.

Johnny is cracking Sancho Panza jokes at Mariano who is drunk in the corner babbling strange Englitches whilst DocB translates them into Latin. Cha is mostly slapping her forehead. Others are wandering and wondering, as good gurus are inclined to do.

We shall set ourselves up as a Society of Honorable Oracles. If you are Filipino, you can come to this place to gain wisdom. Or if you are alive with an inquiring open mind, you can come here, too.

I wonder if there's any money to made in that. Counselors to the lost, or to foreign investors, or to the political leaders in the Philippines. Oh, I already said lost. Sorry.

I see no need to be penurious about our wisdom.

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ADDENDUM: Extract on Libel from the Magna Carta . . .

Section 33. Internet Libel . . .

 A.I. Internet libel. - Internet libel is a public and malicious expression tending to cause  the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead, made on the Internet or on public networks.

 A.2. Malice as an essential element of internet libel. - Internet libel shall not lie if malice or intent to injure is not present.

 A.3. Positive identification of the subject as an essential element of internet libel. - Internet libel shall not lie if the public and malicious expression does not explicitly identify the person who is the subject of the expression, except if the content of the expression is sufficient for positive and unequivocal identification of the subject of the expression.

A.4. Exceptions to internet libel. - The following acts shall not constitute internet libel: 

a) Expressions of protest against the government, or against foreign governments; 

b) Expressions of dissatisfaction with the government, its agencies or instrumentalities, or its officials or agents, or with those of foreign governments;

c) Expressions of dissatisfaction with non-government organizations, unions, associations, political parties, religious groups, and public figures;

d) Expressions of dissatisfaction with the products or services of commercial entities;

e) Expressions of dissatisfaction with commercial entities, or their officers or agents, as related to the products or services that the commercial entities provide;

f) Expressions of a commercial entity that are designed to discredit the products or services of a competitor, even if the competitor is explicitly identified;

g) An expression made with the intention of remaining private between persons able to access or view the expression, even ifthe expression is later released to the public; and,

h) A fair and true report, made in good faith, without any comments or remarks, of any judicial, legislative or other official proceedings, or of any statement, report or speech delivered in said proceedings, or of any other act performed by public officers in the exercise of their functions, or of any matter of public interest.

A.5. Truth as a defense. - Internet libel shall not lie if the content of the expression is proven to be true, or if the expression is made on the basis of published reports presumed to be true, or if the content is intended to be humorous or satirical in nature, except if the content has been adjudged as unlawful or offensive in nature in accordance with existing jurisprudence.

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Violation of Section 33. A. 1. (Internet libel) - This shall only give rise to civil liability and the amount shall be commensurate to the damages suffered.