the crusader - january 26, 2011 (vol. 1, no. 6)
TRANSCRIPT
8/7/2019 The Crusader - January 26, 2011 (Vol. 1, No. 6)
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The Official Newsletter of the Ateneo Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (CRUSADA
January 26, 2011 Vol. 1 No
In this issue
Politics: Public Office Appointments 1
Economics: Sale of Military Camps 2
Ateneo: CRUSADA in Elections 2-3
Opinion: South Sudan Referendum 3
Theory & Politics: Cicero 3
Quotes of the Week 4
Mar Roxas, Aquino’s 2010 running-mate, shall be “chief troubleshooter”.
Source: philippineelection2010.blogspot.com
Political Appointments: Same Old NamesThis is the season for Malacañang to exercise its powers of appointment. The importance of this season is
unquestionable: the posts involved are crucial and almost deterministic of the policies and future trajectory of the Aquino III
administration in the following years ahead. Inclusive of the president’s power to appoint people into key government posts is
the power to create new government posts as provided in the 1987 Constitution stating that: “He shall also appoint all other
officers of the Government whose appointments are not otherwise provided for by law” . While the “power to appoint” provides
the “power to remove” the Constitution declares that “the President cannot remove officials appointed by him where the
Constitution prescribes certain methods for separation of such officers from public service, e.g., Chairmen and Commissioners of
Constitutional Commissions”.
Consequently, each appointment has a rationale that must be scrutinized and clarified as the reverberations of
appointments (and the subsequent appointments of the president’s appointees) are high. In addition, the president’s standards
of appointment become open for the public to examine vis-à-vis his appointments. In the case of Mar Roxas, for example, there
are apparent and hidden implications in his appointment as a dangerously-ambiguous “chief troubleshooter .” A curious note
also includes singer Ogie Alcasid and columnist Conrado de Quiros’ appointment to the EDSA People Power Commission.
While the candidates’ credentials and public experience are unquestioned, the question of patronage politics and
utang-na-loob mentality also comes into the picture. Civil society groups, ever-vigilant (and ever-suspicious), are itching to face
the administration regarding these new officials. Church-based and civil society organizations have Atty. Carlos Medina, known
as chairperson of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), as their top dog for COMELEC. Groups like KontraDaya are
against Atty. Romulo Macalintal for the same position owing, ironically, to his being Arroyo's defense in her Hello Garci scandal.
While these are not the only names, and even though the common Filipino has no direct influence on appointments, our
citizenry are still the ultimate stakeholders and should therefore keep an eye out and be critical with the decision of its leaders,
if only to hold PNoy accountable to his promise of "tuwid na landas."
Editorial Board: Miguel Calayag, Kristine Chy, Zarah
Domingo, Daniel Garingan, Joshua Lim, JA de Lima, Jules
Lo, Coco Navarro, James Roman, Miguel Rivera, Maria
Venturanza
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Avoiding Another Fort Bonifacio: Ensuring
Camp Aguinaldo’s Sale Really Benefits AFPPresident Aquino expressed his interest in selling Camps Aguinaldo and Crame, the main headquarters of the Armed Forces
of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police respectively, to private developers. Ostensibly, it is believed that the bases
strategically stand on prime real estate, and that more benefits would be realized should the lands be sold and redeveloped as new
centers of business in Metro Manila. Profits are intended to go to the modernization program of the AFP, as well as the improvemen
of living conditions and quality of life for more than 100,000 soldiers currently in active duty. This arrangement would be similar to
the partial sale of Fort Bonifacio to private developers, where 32.5% of proceeds from that sale, according to Senator Joker Arroyo,would directly benefit the AFP.
The sale, though made with good intention, does raise a very pertinent question: will the AFP rank-and-file benefit from the
sale of its headquarters to private interests? Several lawmakers have expressed opposition to the proposed sale given the
government’s experience with Fort Bonifacio. For one, the AFP never benefited from the sale of the base to private interests, where
was claimed that half of funds generated by the sale were used to fund for the development of the Subic and Clark economic zones.
Senator Arroyo also further speculated that the money supposedly allocated for the AFP’s modernization was ultimately siphoned o
to become added perks for its generals. It’s depressing how government transactions have ultimately been sidelined by petty privat
interests, looking out for themselves rather than the common good.
Like all other transactions, accountability remains a shady aspect. If the privatization of the headquarters is really meant fo
military development, then it should be paid with tangible military development. Further scrutiny would actually benefit the AFP, as
the funds generated should be allocated for the intended purpose. Financing tossed into the support of our brave citizens in uniform
can and should ultimately trickle down to more needy factions of the AFP, and not merely to pamper its high-ranking officers.
LONG
SHADOWS:
Under St.
Thomas
More’s
monument
in the old
Rizal
Library,
Villanueva
vows to
restore
dynamic
politics in
the Ateneo
last Jan. 21.
Source:
Hansley
Juliano
CRUSADA gears up
for Downhill AssaultStudent politics in the Ateneo has become boring, that is, until
something new has attempted to make it more interesting. CRUSADA, the
new student-organized political party in the Loyola Schools, has made it a
point to revolutionize Ateneo student politics. "What differentiates
CRUSADA from the other parties is that it isn't just for the elections. It has
its own system to train students throughout the year, not only to win [in
the elections] but also to become leaders," said Miguel Rivera (III AB
Political Science), the party's premier.
Last year, the same year the party was founded by a group of
Political Science students with support from select faculty of the
Department of Political Science, CRUSADA made itself visible through
several activities and movements. The party assertively expressed concernagainst the proposed College Fair, taking an active role in the discourse on
the issue. Also, in commemoration of the Maguindanao Massacre,
CRUSADA held a prayer vigil outside the gates of Ateneo led by priests and
attended by students and professors. CRUSADA tackles issues in and
outside school not in a policy-oriented manner, but in a manner that
considers the whole picture. According to Ross Tugade, the party's
moderator, "If someone complains about parking in school as a problem in
the communication with the administration, CRUSADA views it in a
Christian Social Democratic perspective, which is structural, and analyzes
whether the structure is democratic enough or not." (continued on p. 3)
THE CRUSADER 2
“Financing [should]
not pamper high-
ranking officers.”
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Last week, Bian Villanueva (III AB-MA Political Science)
filed candidacy to run for Sanggunian president in the coming2011 Sanggunian General Elections, a decision he admitted was
influenced by members of the party and other students who
believe in his capability. Though running independently, he is fully
supported by CRUSADA as its leading candidate. Bian believes that
the time has already come to bring back real politics within the
student body. When asked about how he envisions for politics in
the Ateneo de Manila University, Bian said he aims for
politicization within the school that gives way for more
engagement and discourse among Ateneans. It is a process that
may happen immediately, but it is important that we begin.
Bian sees that the only way the Sanggunian can be more
relevant to the student body is by molding a consciousnessacknowledging the fact that we can do something today,
beginning with knowing the issues and asking why these issues are
issues in the first place. "Why don't we pause and think for a
moment? At that point, I think we have politics."
CRUSADA gears up
( from p. 2)
THE CRUSADER 3
Opinion:The Southern Sudan National Imagination
There is an ongoing movement in Southern Sudan to become an independent nation from the standing state of
Sudan. For fifty years, civil war proliferated between the Muslim north and the Christian-animist south, leaving over two
million dead. In 2005, a peace treaty between the two conflicting sides was signed, stipulating an agreement that would
eventually allow the Southern Sudanese to vote on whether they would want to secede from the rest of the country. A
week-long election was held until January 15 wherein the 60% voter turn-out in favor of the secession, required for the
separation to take place, was achieved. Full results of the election shall be released around February; independence will be
finalized around July and the issues on borders, oil and water rights will be settled in the months that follow.
Now that eventual secession is drawing closer, Southern Sudanese are hoping for the best. Yet political analysts
say things may not go as smoothly as hoped. Considering that majority of Southern Sudan’s population is illiterate, it also
has “no solid institutions, scant medical and educational facilities, a fledgling judiciary, the skimpiest police,” and with its
history of corruption and tribalism, the separation could ultimately cause its fall as an aspiring democratic nation.
However, should Southern Sudan not push through with separation, conflict between religions will likely escalate; the
southern Sudanese, again falling victim to constant religious discrimination from the northern Muslims.
Southern Sudan now faces a question of priority between independence and survival; not in casualties, but in
ensuring the proper establishment of the future Southern Sudanese state – the survival of the southern Sudanese politics.
They are shouting for independence but they are not prepared to pay the price of achieving this goal. Indeed, Southern
Sudan’s quest for independence is commendable; yet, considering their inadequacies in terms of stable social and political
institutions, it is doubtful that they can properly function and survive as an independent state.
“Should Southern Sudan not push through
with separation, conflict will likely escalate.”
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CICERO (106-43 B.C.)
Marcus Tullius Cicero, born to the equestrian class of Rome, rose toprominence as a legal luminary and Senator during the last days of the
Roman Republic. Committed to maintaining Rome's traditional institutions,
he strove to reconcile the realities of imperial expansion and its republican
apparatuses. Following classical Greek training, Cicero's analysis of the
constitution of law and social institutions in his own The Republic and The
Laws highlight Roman political values as based on pragmatic considerations
(predating Machiavelli in this respect). The deployment of values and
traditions (even religion) as a political tool is, for him, immensely useful,
seeing "how sacred a partnership of citizens is when the imortal gods are
admitted to that company as judges or witnesses" (Laws, 2.16). Civil unrestand popular dissatisfaction, however, would spark civil war between Julius
Caesar and Gnaeus Pompey Magnus. The former's establishment of a
dictatorship modified the Republic and gave way to Octavian's formalization
of the Roman Empire. Cicero would fall under the orders of Julius Caesar's
loyal general Mark Anthony, after assaulting him in the Philippics.
THEORY & POLITICS
“[The sage] ought to have
everything at his fingertips, for h
never knows when he may have
to use it.” – Cicero, Republic 1.11
Source: thornwillow.com
Quotes of the Week“We should have an investment policy that will protect not only the rich, but also the poor. We can
control the foreigners but not the rich Filipinos who control our politics, the judiciary, the executive
branch, and even the police and the military. While the present setup works to their advantage, the
nation suffers.”
- Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, arguing for the urgency of Charter Change and the shift to a unicameral
parliamentary system of legislation.
“The universe is not a result of chance, as some would want to make us believe.”
- Pope Benedict XVI, asserting divine agency to the Big Bang and other scientific theories of creation
and evolution.
“Essentially, we agreed to put a halt on excessive money benefits that has long been shocking to the
conscience.”
- Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, on Executive Order No. 7’s intent to rationalize and
reduce excessive perks enjoyed by state officials.
“As I came to power peacefully, so shall I keep it.”
- Late former president Corazon Aquino in her historic 1986 speech in the U.S. Congress, whose 78th
birthday was commemorated yesterday, Jan. 25.
THE CRUSADER 4