The Republic

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Part of The Republic

Title: The Republic
Issue Date: The Republic No.8 (12 May 1973)
Year: 1973
Language: English
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extracted text: ONIVERSITY OF THU lILIPPINKf 12 MAY 1973 MANILA NO. 8 SELF-RELIANCE ’Translating a concept into concrete terms “We cannot depend on anyone ex cept the Filipino, and ultimately, when the chips are down, we must fight and work for our own survival and move and progress on our own for our country and people.” When President Marcos made this statement last week, on the occasion of Philippine Air Force Day and Avia tion Week, he was reaffirming not merely a concept — that of selfreliance. He was also reaffirming a confidence he has always held, a con fidence in the capacity of the Filipino to translate that concept into con crete, meaningful terms. The President underscored the same theme on two other occasions during INDEX 2 Philippine trade group in Pe king; Yugoslav mission in MaSocial laboratory: A success story in rural development. 4 5 Sarsuela: Rebirth of the Fi lipino musical. 7 the week — when he received visiting members of the United States War De fense College and in his speech at the commemoration of the 31st an niversary of the Fall of Corregidor. Ifideed, it*was s'eff reliance that cat ried the nation through the stormy last quarter of 1972. It is this same concept that sets the tone for the cur rent reformation program in the Phil ippines. Since early last year, the nation was in the throes of a violent upheaval. The economy was shattered; the mass es were growing increasingly restive; leftist and rightist groups were chal lenging the authority of the govern ment; law and order had become a mi rage. By September, things were fast get ting out of hand. But the Filipino na tion was able to pull itself together and, doing this, began making substan tial gains in nearly every aspect of na tional life. In his Air Force Day speech, the President acknowledged the help ex tended by allies, including the United States and members of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, but he said no people could become strong if they depended on any other power. The statement was directed both to the Filipino soldier in particular and to the entire nation in general. He said it was necessary for the Fili pino people to realize that they could not continue to depend on their allies or any agreement, “military or other wise.” “We must depend on ourselves alone,” he said. Depending on themselves and making the most of their limited resources, the Filipino nation, through a democratic revolution, succeeded in quelling the communist and rightist rebellions and made significant head way in efforts to contain the seces sionist movement in Mindanao, the President told members of the US Na tional War College who called on him a few days after Air Force Day. In addition, he said, seven basic re forms had been achieved in less than eight months of martial law. These in cluded marked improvement in peace and order conditions; bigger share for labor in the benefits of moderniza tion; land reform for which P2 billion *had already been sett aside; economic development; educational reforms; and increased social services such as the implementation of the Medicare program. “These reforms,” the President said, “had eradicated the valid griev ances which were the causes of discon tent and unrest in the old society.” As for the Mindanao problem, he said, it could be handled by the coun try herself and would not necessitate foreign assistance. He told the War College members that the Philippines was maintaining a posture of self-reliance and had ini tiated negotiations regarding US bases in the country. In his Air Force Day and Aviation Week speech, the President said he was encouraging the concept of selfreliance initiated by the Armed Forces and the Department of National De fense, “to make the nation move for ward and attain progress on the basis of our limited resources.” It was in the same spirit, the Pres ident said, that the people in Min danao, both Muslims and Christians, had asked to be armed in order to pro tect themselves against the insurgents. In Cotabato alone, some 24,000 ci vilians asked that they be armed, but although only one-half could be given arms, they were enough “to turn the tide of battle in favor of the govern ment.” Self-reliance is the underlying con cept in other areas of Philippine life. The various socio-economic programs of the government today are aimed at the goal of making the country move forward on the basis of its own strength. Thus, while foreign invest ments are encouraged — and, indeed, there are far more incentives today than were available before — the main responsibility for attaining progress lies in the nation itself. And the country is doubling its ef forts to make full use of its own local resources. Through the tax amnesty decrees, the Philippines realized an additional income o/ P830 million, which mean?, more funds for economic ana social development projects. To liberate the small farmers and to bail them out from centuries of poverty, the Pres ident, in one of his latest moves, or dered the development of Mindanao swamplands into family-sized fish ponds for lease to people in the re gion. The land reform program, now being implemented all over the coun try, is designed not only to give land to the landless but also to increase agricultural production and further bolster the Philippine economy, ulti mately bringing about a better life for all. Also geared toward the same ul timate objective are such measures as the overhauling of the educational system, dispersal of industries, man power training programs, and up dating of labor laws to meet the needs of present-day society. Along with his reaffirmation of the concept of self-reliance, the President cited the continuing challenges faced by the Filipino nation. “The professed solutions to the problems confronting our nation are often easier said than done,” he said. “But it is action, deeds that are need ed. There is no other time in our history than the present for men of action to come forward, men who can deliver the goods when it is needed and where it is needed.” More than ever, he exuded con fidence that Filipino could “deliver the goods.” He said: “The Philippines can and will attain its rightful place in the community of nations. The Filipino has the genius and the will to gain the forefront in leadership in this part of the world. But we must begin by meeting the challenges within our own country, by using our patience, our energies, our will, our courage, to change the course of our nation.” The Nation THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS ‘A friend to all, enemy to none’ Following is the text of the opening statement made by President Marcos at the weekly radio-TV forum “Pulong-Pulong sa Kaunlaran” on May 8, 1973: There has actually been no change in our basic foreign policy concept of serving the national in terest first and foremost. There has been no diver gence from our standard of conduct to be a friend to all nations and be an enemy to none, nor has there been any weakening of our desire to have the rule of law and justice govern the affairs of man kind. Neither has there been any deflection in the thrust of our foreign policy towards economic development as the basis of our national progress and stability. The change is not in the content, philosophy or direction of our foreign policy, but in the stronger political will to achieve our national purpose and destiny. Through national discipline and self-reliance, internal impediments have been surmounted. What remains are external obstacles which we seek to attenuate as much as possible. As we live not only in a changing but also in an interdependent world, we have to seek an accom modation with the interests of other countries, spe cially the big powers, without, of course, sacrificing our own. _We haye anchored our national safety, firstly on the promise of universal security under the aegis of the United Nations. After July 4,1946, we put our trust in bilateral arrangements with the United States, if you will remember, and this was to be so until the world organization, the United Nations, shall have or would have proved itself capable of effectively guaranteeing peace in the entire world. With the thaw in the cold war and the emergence of a multipolar world, we are now exploring, through ASEAN, the possibility of regional cooperaThe President at radio-TV forum: a more balanced relationship with the outside world. tion and solidarity by having Southeast Asia recog nized as a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality, free from any interference by outside powers. Be yond that, we look forward to the establishment of an Asian Forum where all Asian nations, irrespec tive of ideology, shall be able to have their voices heard in any matter that concerns the fate of Asia and the welfare of its teeming millions. We have laid the foundations of a more balanced relationship* with the outside world predi cated on normal trade exchanges with all countries whatever their political or religious creed. As a pre lude to the normalization of political relations with socialist countries, we have exchanged diplomatic missions, if you will remember, with two countries, Rumania and Yogoslavia. Diplomatic relations with the U.S.S.R. and the People’s Republic of China are now under active consideration. This reorientation of our foreign policy must be what Secretary William Rogers had in mind when he reported to the American Congress that the Philippines was veering away from the United States. However, I wish to point out that coopera tion between the Philippines and the United States is still a vital thing, though it has to assume a new form. It is against the foregoing background and within the central framework of our search for na tional freedom and dignity that we must work out our changing relationship with the United' States and closer ties with our neighbors in Asia. Foreign policy, as I have always said, should serve as the handmaiden of the new society in or der to project its image abroad and to attract tour ism and capital investment considered essential to the transformation of our agricultural economy into an industrialized society capable of holding its own vis-a-vis the developed countries oflhe world. In this sense, foreign policy is truly the touchstone of our national progress and salvation. The country’s search for new mar kets for its products, along with the traditional ones, continued to gain mo mentum last week. While a Philippine trade mission was in Peking conferring with Red Chinese Premier Chou En-lai and rank ing trade officials, a Yugoslav trade mission was in town to discuss pos sibilities of expanding Yugoslavia’s still infant trade with the Philippines. The 15-man Philippine mission headed by Wigberto Clavecilia, pres ident of the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, is the second trade group invited by Peking to visit Red China since 1971. The mission, ac cording to the wire services, had “a friendly and unconstrained conversa tion” with Premier Chou, Foreign Trade Vice Minister Li Chiang, Vice Chairman Li Chuan of the China council for the promotion of interna tional trade, and other foreign minis try and trade officials. The group was expected to look into the possibility of establishing direct trade channels and services between Manila and Pe king. Included in the Philippine mission are representatives of local car manu facturers, lumber and coconut oil products, suppliers of raw materials for plastic-making, petrochemicals and Page 2 NEW CONTACTS RP trade group in Peking; Yugoslav mission in Manila aluminum producers, and local banks. There were indications that the mis sion would sound off Peking on the desire of the Philippines to set up a Trade Memorandum Office (TMO) in Peking which would serve the dual function of a consulate office and commercial listening post. Before the mission left April 25, they paid a courtesy call on the President. Last week, the President again took time out of his busy schedule to per sonally receive the seven-man Yugos lav delegation in Malacanang, He ex pressed hopes that the country’s initial contact with Yugoslavia will b icceeded by similar trade and cultural relations with other East European countries. The Philippines formally an nounced establishment of diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia and Rumania late last year, shortly before the pro clamation of martial law. Early this year ambassadors were exchanged be tween the Philippines and Yugoslavia. Rumania still has to name its envoy to the Philippines. The warm welcome extended the Filipino trade mission in Peking and to the Yugoslav trade mission in Ma nila contrasted with the cool re ception granted to such visitors in either place in the past. Mr. Marcos told the Yugoslav mis sion that the Philippines had chosen to have initial contacts with East Eu ropean countries through Yugoslavia “because we have faith and trust in the people of Yugoslavia, and in their President, a great man.” The President requested the mission headed by Zivko Josilo, vice president of Energoinvest, to convey to Yugoslav Pres ident Tito his regards and best wishes. In Peking, meanwhile, Premier Chou asked the Philippine mission to convey his respects to President Marcos and regards to his “old friend,” Secretary of Foreign Affairs Carlos P. Romulo. On a number of oc casions, Red China had supported the Philippines in the United Nations, par ticularly on the archipelagic doctrine which is being promoted by the coun try. Similar Philippine trade missions earlier had visited the Soviet Union and other socialist countries in Eastern Europe. A number of these countries had sent similar missions to Manila. This exchange of missions and other trade contacts are expected to increase in line with the government’s new policy of gearing its foreign policy to economic development. THE REPUBLIC Published weekly by the Bureau of National and Foreign Information, Department of Public Information, with business and editorial offices at the 8th Floor, Beneficial Life Bldg., Solana st., Intramuros, Manila. Telephone Nos. 40-18-91 to 95 Amante F. Paredes, Managing Editor, Rustico Otico, Copy Editor; Alberto M. Alfaro, Zenaida Seva-Ong, Section Editors; Emilio U. Macaspac, Luis P. Veneracion, Pablo A. Tariman, Jorge V. Aruta, Staff Members; Jose Dungo and Pablo Guilas, Staff Photographers. Eduardo Velasco and Tito Villasin, Staff Artists. 12 May 1973 THE REPUBLIC The Nation MINDANAO Expressions of support for RP policy The restraint exercised by the Phil ippines in coping with the problem of foreign intervention in Mindanao has drawn praises and expressions of sup port from newspapers and Muslim countries and leaders here and abroad. In Hongkong and Jakarta, for in stance, several newspapers have come out with editorials calling on other countries, specifically Libya, to keep their hands off the internal affairs of the Philippines. Indonesia and Malaysia, two of the most respected Muslim countries in Asia, and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other countries in the Middle East, supported the Philippine cause in the 5th world Islamic conference last March in Benghazi, Libya. When Libya sponsored a resolution to condemn the Philippines for its alleged war on the Muslims, these countries turned down the proposal and came up with a watered-down version of it and de cided to send a commission to the Philippines to confer with the Pres ident on the Mindanao situation. The commission, the Philippines was in formed this week, will be composed of the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Libya, Senegal and Somali. Within the country itself, more than 30 Muslim religious and political leaders in Mindanao presented a resolu tion to President Marcos early this year, expressing their support for the martial law administration and enOdorsing the programs launched by the government to solve the problem in the south. One of the most difficult, if not dreaded, examinations in the Philip pine civil service is the Foreign Service Officer (FSO) test. But passing it can also be a ticket to some of the most rewarding and most prestigious mid dle-rank positions in the government. Indeed, the FSOs are today re garded as the elite corps of the Philip pine foreign service. A successful FSO examinee is automatically vested with the title of vice consul. From there he can work his way up the ladder to consul general, minister, and chief of mission through sheer merit. Before he can go up that ladder, however, he has to go through a maze of written, oral, physical and mental examinations, which make up the screening process. So gruelling is the pace that many simply have given up in sheer physical and mental ex haustion. The annual casualty figures in the multi-staged exams can attest to this. For instance, of the 150 or so who had applied this year, only 127 qualified to take the test. When the final results were announced recent ly, only 12 or less than 10 percent of the examinees had made the grade. The written test, which composes the first stage of the examination, is tough in itself, but the subsequent oral, mental, and physical tests are just as tough, if not tougher. “It is like a student taking his THE REPUBLIC 12 May 1973 The restraint exercised by the Phil ippines was further underlined a few weeks ago by President Marcos. Speaking at the nationwide radio-TV program “Pulong-Pulong sa Kaunlaran” (Forum for Progress), the Pres ident said the Philippines had not sought the aid of the United Nations, specifically the Security Council, to stop foreign intervention in the south because there was no need for this move. “Since the Arab nations have taken cognizance of this and they are send ing a commission over here, it would be preferable if we dealt with them directly,” the President said. “Since they are coming to confer with me, it is, I think, proper that we await the arrival of this commission.” The President also noted that the Association of Southeast Asian Na tions (ASEAN) had indirectly taken cognizance of the problem. He rei terated the view that the conflict in Mindanao was an internal matter in volving “our own brother, the Muslim, who is also Filipino.” In the same radio-TV forum, the President declined to go into the ex tent of foreign involvement, saying “I would merely sit back and listen to what everybody is admitting and con fessing to have done. We don’t really need to make any assessments because they themselves say so.” A few days after the radio-TV pro gram, Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was reported to have ex pressed concern over the Mindanao situation in an interview with news men. Mr. Bhutto’s statement drew a reply from Secretary of Foreign Af fairs Carlos P. Romulo, who asked Pa kistan “to sympathize” with Philip pine efforts to solve its internal prob lem. Mr. Romulo emphasized the fact that the present conflict was not be tween Muslims and Christians, but be tween law-abiding Muslims and Chris tians, on one hand, and lawless Mus lims and Christians on the other. He also said: “The attempt by external agents to exploit the just and legitiFOREIGN SERVICE TEST Passing through a needle’s eye exams for a doctorate degree with one exception: the FSO examinee is sup posed to know every subject under the sun and must be able to answer them with the poise and circumspec tion worthy of diplomats,” says a veteran Foreign Office official of the oral test. Well-known names are selected to compose the panel of in terrogators. This year, the panel in cluded Undersecretary of Foreign Af fairs Manuel Collantes, former Senator Lorenzo Sumulong, Supreme Court Justice Enrique Fernando, Am bassador Monico Vicente, and Mario Yango of the Civil Service Com mission. After observing one session of the panel, a cum laude foreign service graduate of a Manila university remarked: “I would rather remain a casual than take the exams.” After the orals, the applicant must also pass the physical and mental examinations conducted by a selected mate grievances of the Muslim popula tion is strongly to be deplored. The use of extra-legal means, not for the purpose of correcting grievances, but for the purpose of fragmenting the nation cannot be condoned in any manner. The government and people of Pakistan which have just undergone the trauma of internecine conflict (that resulted in the breakaway of Bangladesh) will surely sympathize with the position of the Philippines which is only defending its sov ereignty and integrity.” The foreign secretary reiterated what President Marcos and other gov ernment leaders had been saying: first, that the conflict was not a religious one; and second, that the government was doing everything pos sible to make up for the past neglect of the region by implementing a crash program of development with the objective of making the “Muslim bro thers in the south as citizens of the Philippines, full and equal partners in the development of the country.” Time and again the Philippines had sought to tell the world the circum stances behind the Mindanao problem and what it was doing about it. When Libya’s strongman, Col. Kaddafi, first openly admitted participation in the Mindanao conflict in a speech in Tri, poli, Libya, on June 11, 1972, the Philippines, instead of acting belli gerently, invited Libya and other Arab countries to send observers to the Philippines to see for themselves the situation in Mindanao. Shortly afterwards, Egypt and other countries (with the exception of Libya) sent a delegation to the Philip pines. The delegation came away con vinced that the problem was indeed not a religious war, but one caused mainly by economic factors. Other missions from Asian countries also visited the area to observe the situa tion at close range. The Philippines, in the meantime, proceeded with its program to develop the region through large-scale infusion of national funds. Emphasis was given group of physicians and psychiatrists. The minimum age requirement for examinees is 23, but actually the aver age age of those who have taken the test is 30 or over. Consul Delfin Gamboa, for instance, had spent a major part of his working life in the foreign service before he took the test and passed it a few years ago. Francis co Santos, one of the successful examinees in the current batch, had been with the Foreign Office for the last 10 years. An official explains that maturity and experience are im portant assets for success in the examination. About 80 percent of the new vice consuls have already been with the Foreign Office for sometime and a number of them had taken the FSO test two or more times before. Unlike those who pass most other government examinations and often have to look for openings by themto infrastructure, dispersal of indus tries and social action. implementation of these projects shifted to high gear after the govern ment had regained control of the si tuation. The President gave credit to both the military and the more than 20,000 Muslim and Christian civilians who helped work toward restoration of peace in the area. The humaneness of the govern ment’s approach to the Mindanao problem is reflected in the policies, programs and other measures adopted for the south. For instance, to win away misguided elements from the communist ideologues among the in surgents, the President had offered se lective amnesty to those who would lay down their arms and join the mainstream of national life. More than 1,000 Muslims and Christians so far had availed themselves of the amnes ty. Recently, the government again of fered in exchange for the surrender of at least five foreign-made weapons, a loan of P2,000 from government fi nancial institutions without collateral. The amount will enable the surrender or to engage in barter trade, a privilege granted to Muslims in Sulu and Zam boanga. To bridge the communications gap, the government last week launched project SALAM (Special Action for Literacy Advancement of Muslims), a crash education program designed to inform the Muslims through their own language (Arabic) about the efforts being exerted to improve their lot. A civic organization called SABAKA (Samahan ng Bagong Kabataan, or literally, Organization of the New ' Youth) has started a campaign to soli cit cash, foodstuffs, and used clothing • for Muslim and Christian evacuees in the region. These are among the bases for the Philippine assurance to both Min danao residents and foreign- observers that everything is being done to restore peace and bring about a better life in Mindanao. selves, successful FSO examinees are immediately certified by the Foreign Office to the President for appoint ment as foreign service officers, class IV, with the rank of vice consul. Low in salary (a little over Pl0,000 a year) but high in prestige, the position can assure one of promotion purely on merit, a situation that had been strengthened under martial law with the elimination of the “padrino” system, in which one had to look for a political patron or some other wielder of influence to back up one’s pro motion. The Foreign Office today has a complement of over 3,000 officials and employes, about 20 percent of which are FSOs. The rest are Foreign Service Staff Officers (FSSO) and For eign Service Staff Employes (FSSE), all of whom also had to pass other examinations given by the Foreign Office in cooperation with the Civil Service Commission. The staffing patterns are scheduled to be reorganized soon to make the foreign service a more effective arm in implementing the external policy of the government. With the rigid screen ing that they have to undergo (to make sure only the best are selected), the FSOs may well be on the fore front of the country’s new goal — making foreign policy an instrument of economic development. Page 3 The Nation DEMOCRACY IN ACTION A vigorous comeback for co-ops A movement that was practically given up as a lost cause several years ago has sprung back to life and now accounts for much of the frenetic ac tivity going on in thousands of Phil ippine villages. Rural folk in at least 40 of the country’s 69 provinces have begun banding themselves into organizations that promise to revolutionize life in the countryside and make the barrio a truly dynamic and viable unit of Phil ippine society. The activity centers on the revival of the cooperative move ment. All signs point to a vigorous come back for cooperatives. Never before had the movement, which started as early as 1927 and enjoyed a heyday of sorts in the 1950’s, been injected with as much vigor as now. President Marcos, who has given the movement a key role in the land re form program, views the cooperative as “a mechanism that can tap the latent creative energies of our people, especially in the rural areas, a me chanism that can unite, integrate and direct their scattered human, social, moral and material resources.” Coop eratives have been described too as “democracy in action” or as “a pro clamation of independence from mid dlemen and usurers.” Essentially, a cooperative is the pooling of resources of members so that they can have access to credit and other services which they would otherwise be unable to get through To many people outside the Philip pines, the words “Quezon City” would probably not ring a bell. They might even be more familiar with Ma kati, the fast-growing suburban town that has become the hub of some of the country’s leading financial, indus trial and commercial establishments. While Manila is still the center of most of the nation’s political, social and cultural activities, it is not a wellknown factthat“QC,” as Quezon City is sometimes called, is the capital city of the Philippines. It has been so for the past 25 years. Its 153.60 square kilometers (88.1 square miles) make it one of the big gest cities of the world. It is over 400 times bigger than the Vatican ter ritory, 20 times bigger than the prin cipality of Monaco and five times wider than the old capital of Manila. Thirty-nine years ago, Quezon City was mostly grassland or gently hilly terrain. Today, it is a bustling city of 800,000, its downtown area studded with commercial and industrial build ings and its sprawling residential dis tricts cradling eight government hous ing projects plus countless privately developed subdivisions. It still has wide open spaces and, like other suburban communities, continues to absorb some of the outflow from crowded Manila. Cubao, one of the 21 districts of the city, is the most developed. It is Page 4 their limited individual resources. It may be made up of people working in the same institution or living in the same community. On a higher plane, cooperatives are regarded as effective instruments in bringing about social equity, pro moting desirable economic and social values among people, and, finally, strengthening the country’s potentials for economic stability and growth. The President, speaking before the First Asian Conference on Agricul tural Credit and Cooperatives hosted by the Philippines in December 1970, said of cooperatives: “They are pe culiarly suited to the economically small and weak for whom indeed they have been conceived. Propelled by the power of self-help and self-reliance, cooperatives can be effective means of rationalizing the problem of credit both with respect to generation of funds and to their efficient manage ment. As institutions of people, they can replace or at least balance the institutions of private property that today constitute the citadels of the status quo. They can thus bring about the revolutionary change that the temper of the times demand.” The President was not, by any means, paying lip-service to the coop erative movement. For today, not quite three years after that address be fore Asia’s co-op experts, the program is enjoying unprecedented support from the government, particularly in terms of activity priorities. The cooperatives now existing or being organized in the country fall in to two broad categories: agricultural and non-agricultural. Each category embraces several types of coopera tives. Thus, a cooperative may be wholly an association of consumers, or of workers, farmers, craftsmen, ar tisans and fishermen. Whatever type of cooperative they form, however, the members share one common objective: to uplift their life through a pooling of their limited financial and other resources. In a credit union, probably the QUEZON CITY A look into the country’s capital also the city’s entertainment center, with several first-class moviehouses and a wide variety of recreational fa cilities. It also boasts of the “world’s largest domed coliseum,” with a sit ting capacity of 35,000 and which has been the venue of many a crowd drawer — from a world boxing title fight to a musical extravaganza. And it has many other things a modern city can offer: banks, super markets, first-class restaurants, hotels, plus several outlets for high-quality but reasonably priced shoes crafted in Marikina, the country’s “shoe capital” just 15 minutes by car from the down town area. To the People’s Homesite and Housing Corporation (PHHC), goes much of the credit for the city’s speedy development. It developed various housing projects — Projects 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and the GSIS Vilmost basic type of cooperative, the common fund is utilized as a source of credit for productive and provident purposes at reasonable rates of in terest. In a consumers’ cooperative, the money is used to buy goods direct from the source and the goods are sold to members at a small margin of profit. A farmers’ or fishermen’s coop erative can be a source of fund for the purchase of farming or fishing equip ment and supplies. A cooperative may also be a multi-purpose one. In any case, by making available either credit, production or marketing facilities, a coop frees its members from the clutches of usurers and middlemen. Given the task of steering the cur rent campaign to convert the country into a network of cooperatives is the Bureau of Cooperatives of the Depart ment of Local Government and Com munity Development, under Secretary Jose A. Rono. The bureau so far has fielded some 1,900 “frontline” fieldmen to help the people organize the Samahang Nay on (barrio organizations) in 40 pilot provinces. These grass-roots or ganizations serve as the nucleus of the cooperative program, Phase I of which is now being implemented. A total of 96,387 volunteers also have been trained to help in the organizational phase. Formation of the Samahang Nayon started with the implementation of the land reform program, which aims not only to give tenant-farmers the lands they till but also to provide them with facilities to increase their production and assure them better margins of profit from their produce. A presidential decree issued in mid April provided an additional shot in the arm for the movement. Cooperatives or the Samahang Na yon were initially formed in six pilot provinces, namely, Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Albay, Camarines Sur and Iloilo. Thirty-four more provinces have since been added to the list. These are Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Cagayan, Pangasinan, Tarlac, lage, all vast residential areas. Some of the country’s leading insti tutions of higher learning are in Que zon City, among them the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University. Many national government offices too have already moved to the site being developed into the Government Center. Geographically, Quezon City is hemmed in by the cities of Caloocan and Manila and the province of Rizal. Founded on October 12, 1939, under Commonwealth Act No. 502, it was originally composed of five districts. It now has 21 and is still growing. According to the city plan, 62 percent of the total area is utilized for residential, commercial and industrial purposes; 14 percent for roads, 14 percent for government uses; 7 percent for parks and open spaces and 3 percent for agricultural uses. Quezon City, named after the late President Manuel L. Quezon, grew from an area originally conceived as a com munity for laborers (Barrio Obrero). The community grew so fast that soon plans were being drawn to convert it into a city. The idea became a reality when the National Assembly enacted the Que zon City C’ rter, under Com monwealth Act No. 52. The city was officially created on October 12, 1939 Pampanga, Nueva Vizcaya, Zambales, Bataan, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, Camarines Norte and Sorsogon in Luzon; Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Oc cidental, Bohol, Antique, Capiz in the Visayas; and Bukidnon, Zamboanga del Norte and Sur, Lanao del Norte, Agusan del Norte, South Cotabato, Davao del Sur and Norte and Surigao del Surin Mindanao. To avoid the pitfalls that almost killed the movement in the past, the DLGCD has drafted rules to prevent undue interference in the internal af fairs of the cooperatives by any gov ernment official not connected with the department. Cooperatives will also be given greater freedom in the man agement and operation of their res pective co-ops. Under the decree, the cooperatives will not only be provided with funds and expertise — the lack of which, among other factors, caused the failure of similar organizations in the past — but also all the rights and privileges granted to business organiza tions. In addition, cooperatives are granted preferential rights in sup plying prime commodities to gov ernment agencies involved in price sta bilization programs. Although capitalization is drawn mainly from members’ resources, co-ops can obtain additional finances from the Cooperative Development Loan Fund, expected to be set up soon. When people fully realize that co-ops provide them not only with economic benefits but also educational and cul tural values; when they learn not only to be thrifty but also to keep alive the spirit of bayanihan (self-help) and to help one another; when they look up to the co-op not just as a source of loans but as an organization whose success depends on their collective ef fort, the cooperative movement may be here to stay — permanent. The signs of such realization are becoming abundantly clear in the country’s 35,000 or so barrios today. and was inaugurated 10 days later. It became the official capital of the Philippines when the late President Elpidio Quirino signed Republic Act No. 333 on July 17,1948. Cubao, San Francisco del Monte, Diliman and the compound of the University of the Philippines with a total area of 7,335 hectares were the original areas embraced by the city. Through the years, the city engulf ed nearby areas until it grew to the 15,159 hectares it has today. It was President Quezon who first assumed the duties of the city mayor. He later designated Tomas B. Morato to replace him as city executive. Mora to was succeeded by Ponciano Bernardo, then by Nicanor Roxas, Ig nacio Santos Diaz and, finally, Norberto Amoranto, the incumbent mayor. At present, Mayor Amoranto is also chairman of the Metropolitan Mayors Coordinating Council, a body which aims to integrate or synchronize the services of local governments in Greater Manila. With the current reformation program in the entire country, Que zon City is trying to relate its develop ment plans not just to those of the other communities in Greater Manila but also to the overall effort for na tional growth, consistent with its role as the capital city of the Philippines. 12 May 1973 THE REPUBLIC The °Nation Two years ago, the municipality of Pila (population: 15,000) faced a host of economic problems. Rice produc tion was low for lack of irrigation wa ter. Livestock raising, another prin cipal means of livelihood, left much to be desired in terms of output and pro duction facilities. The high rates of in terest on loans, 54 percent of which came from private moneylenders, con siderably reduced thein margins of profit and left very little room for ex pansion. The economic picture, however, has since changed drastically. Today, Pila, situated in the South ern Luzon province of Laguna, boasts of an average rice yield of 100 cavans per hectare, mainly due to the acquisi tion of irrigation pumps. Livestock production has more than doubled. Before, poultry raisers in one barrio could market only 1,000 broilers a week. Today, their output has soared to 11,558 monthly, or nearly 3,000 each week. From 13 cooperatives formed during the past two years and from nearby rural banks, farmers and live stock growers can now obtain lowinterest loans for the purchase of either fertilizers and pesticides or equipment and supplies needed in livestock raising. To top it all, the expanded produc tion has created additional business and more jobs in other economic sec tors of the community — rice milling, feeds, hatchery, sale of veterinary drugs, and even production.and deli very of ice. Pila’s success story serves to illustrate a number of welcome events and situations obtaining in the Philippines PILA’S SOCIAL LAB Experiment in rural development today. First, it provides a graphic demons tration of one trait of the Filipino: a capacity to respond to change. Second, it provides yet another proof of the potentials of the coopera tive movement, which is now gaining momentum in various parts of the country. Third, it shows how a multi disciplinary and integrated approach can successfully introduce the scienti fic way of life into the “farming pop ulation,” thereby improving the qual ity of life in the rural communities. This integrated approach, now in volving more than 20 government and private agencies, took the form of a “social laboratory” set up in Pila two years ago under the auspices of the University of the Philippines college of agriculture and the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture. The success of the Pila project has been such that seven other social laboratories will soon be set up in stra tegic sites around the country. Through informal discussions, demonstrations, research and other ac tivities, field technicians teach various sectors of the population on such mat ters as fertilizer application, weed con trol, multiple cropping, forest con servation, cottage industries, land re form, food preservation and even fa mily planning. Assistance is also given in the organization of cooperatives and other organizations that will en able residents to solve common prob lems through the pooling of human and material resources. Without neglecting other areas of community life, the Pila project gave emphasis to the immediate need of in creasing rice production and expand ing the livestock industry — the main sources of livelihood in the com munity. Because of the lack of credit fa cilities, the project coordinators as sisted the farmers in setting up 13 cooperatives. Rural bank loans were also facilitated. Thus far, residents have obtained a total of P328,777 in loans, broken down as follows: P52,738 for crop production, P4,000 for irrigation pumps and P271,839 for poultry and livestock raising. Other steps were also taken, par ticularly toward the acquisition of ir rigation pumps and construction of canals and ditches. Training is conducted in informal classes for all farmers’ associations in the municipality. Seminars on poultry and swine rais ing, for instance, are frequently con ducted A year ago. with only 19 members, the Linga Livestock and Poultry Raisers’ Association was supplying the Greater Manila Terminal and Food Market with 1,000 broilers a week. The association has since increased its membership to 64 and has supplied the GMFTM with 104,024 broilers during the past nine months, or anaverage of 2,889 a week. Because of the increased poultry production, the association bought P316,769 worth of feeds from sup pliers. It also contributed P141,924 to the hatchery industry and P6,272 to the veterinary drug industry. The rural bank in nearby Pagsanjan town, where the association members acquired most of their loans, earned P30,168 in interest. Also in barrio Linga, the association has provided full-time jobs to two groups of persons, engaged in dressing the broilers and hauling the dressed chickens to market. The sale of ice used in the refrigeration of chickens has increased to P2,803. The success of the Pila experiment in rural development is the result of inter-agency collaboration, the guiding principle in operating the social laboratory. And it will now become the model for seven other social laboratories to be established in the following sites: Kabagan, Isabela; Munoz, Nueva Ecija; Pili, Camarines Sur; Baybay, Leyte; Lambunao, Iloilo; Musuan, Bukidnon; and Kabacan, Cotabato. Three of the new projects will be in Luzon, two in the Visayas ar.d two in Mindanao. PERSPECTIVES Land Reform is as basic as the plate of rice on every Filipino’s dining table. When President Marcos designated it as a major area of positive action in the current reformation program, it was in recognition of the objective truth that land reform is imperative in the economic, social and political emancipation of the broad masses of our people. The peasantry constitute 70 percent of our total population. Together with the workers and the social middle class, they form the salient majority. These are the people who make — or unmake — a nation. These are the forces that produce the needs of society. These are the men and women who till and toil. If this majority is shackled by an oppressive and exploitive system, if the ownership of the means of production is concentrated in the hands of a few, there can be no real freedom, and any claim to a democratic way of life is meaningless. Freedom is the ability to move and reach a desired goal. It becomes real only in so far as one has the means to exercise it. In short, freedom is man’s recognition of his own potentials and the ability to translate these into reality. But in a society where a minority has the prerogative to impose its will on the majority, where individual interests collide with one another, freedom is transformed either into bondage or anarchy. It is clear therefore that in order for freedom to flourish, there must first of all be a unanimity of interests and unity of objectives. These basic goals must furthermore be recognized and the means to achieve them provided. Feudalism had for several centuries deprived the peasantry of the means to exercise funda mental freedom. It imposed a system of landlord ownership of the basic factor of production — land — and promoted a monopoly of the rights Land reform: as basic as a plate of rice By CONRADO F. ESTRELLA Secretary of Agrarian Reform and privileges attached to such feudalistic owner ship. It chained the productive forces to a rela tionship which runs counter to scientific and technological advances and, therefore, became untenable in the new society. Land reform is the legal instrument that re leases the peasant from the bondage of feudalis tic tenancy and the developed productive forces from the fetters of the oppressive and exploitive system that is feudalism. In releasing these for ces, land reform not only lays the foundation for the economic liberations of the peasantry but also ensures the social, political and cultural re-structuring of society as a whole. Agriculture provides the basis for thorough going industrialization. Commerce and industry cannot expand without a market. Their products cannot be absorbed by vast and impoverished peasantry. The advance of commerce and indus try therefore goes hand in hand with the pro gress of agricultural production. Hence, the emancipation of the peasant presupposes the welfare of the factory worker and the growth of a stable middle class. It is in this configuration that land reform could be seen as a bloodless dismantling and transformation of an old society characterized by widespread discontent. The old society had been pregnant with the seeds of discord and re volution, a desperate situation where many of the disaffected had taken to the hills and which brought the country on a fast descent to anarchy and chaos. President Marcos reversed the situation by initiating a “revolution from the center.” In placing the entire country under martial rule, he pre-empted the revolution from the lawless elements and conspirators who sought to re medy society’s ills through violent means and dubious motives. Proclamation 1081 thus be came the decisive move to “save the Republic and form a new society.” But fortifying a new society is a long and tedious process. It means the overhauling of the economic base upon which a superstructure of legal, political, cultural and ideological institu tions rest. It means the radical liquidation of the old relations of production, particularly of feu dal landownership and the inordinate profit mo tive of capital. It is only after these economic relations have been basically altered that new social values, views, attitudes and habits could be introduced and only after this could the New Filipino evolve. Land reform thus assumes the function of a cornerstone for a new social edifice. It is a turn ing point in the sense that the new society can not rest on an old feudalistic foundation. If there must be a new society, there must likewise be a new economic foundation, new relations of production and a place for the productive forces that lay dormant in the womb of the old society. —J Page 5 THE REPUBLIC 12 May 1973 The ^Economy FUND RELEASES Returning the money to taxpayers Only last month, President Marcos reassured a nationwide radio-TV au dience that every peso they paid in taxes would be returned to them “in the form of infrastructure, social ser vices and investments . . He has since begun to redeem that “promis sory note” not only in the form he has outlined but also in literal terms as well. In quick succession, the Pres ident recently ordered substantial re leases of funds for various purposes. First, he ordered the release of P72.7 million for the development of ports, flood-control systems and farmto-market feeder roads. Out of this, P22 million will be used to complete flood-control projects in Central Lu zon, which suffered heavy devastation during the July-August floods last year. (Earlier, P8.5 million was re leased for flood-control projects in the Greater Manila area and another P4 million for river-control projects in some provinces.) To speed up the flow of farm products, particularly rice, and minimize transport costs, Pl 3 mil lion of the P72.7 million outlay will r Sometime this month, a Philippine import-export firm, Granexport Cor poration, will ship 9,000 long tons of copra worth over $2 million. Final destination: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This shipment constitutes the final half of an 18,000-ton purchase order of the ' USSR valued at $4.3 million —the second contract approved by the Department of Trade and Tourism for the export of the commodity to that country. One item could well be buried un derneath the implications generated by the reorientation of official policy vis-a-vis communist and socialist bloc countries, and this is the top-billing that copra and other coconut prod ucts continue to hold among the country’s export commodities. This is not surprising since the country is a leading coconut producer. Indeed, according to a recent survey made by the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines produced an average of 8 billion coconuts every year from 1966 to 1971. This makes it the leading coconut producer among the developing member nations of the ADB, which includes Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Western Samoa, Fiji and Tongao. As should be ex pected the ADB study also showed the Philippines topping the same countries in the annual production of copra, with a average annual output of 1.8 million tons. From 1965 to 1969, the period covered by the ADB study in relation to the export performances of the same countries, the Philippines again showed the way with a yearly average export of copra totalling 725.7 thou sand tons. So too, in its crude coconut oil exports which averaged 288.57 thousand tons annually. Partly due to the continuing shift Page 6 be used in the construction of farmto-market feeder roads. The sum of P23.1 million will go into the construction of ports all over the country, while a separate amount of P2.1 million has been set aside for the construction of a port in Mariveles, Bataan, the site of the Export Process ing Zone. Second, the President also made available the sum of P41.7 million for the payment of terminal leave benefits of former government employes and military personnel who had been either retired or separated from the government service following the massive shake-up of the government bureaucracy that was launched in Sep tember last year. Third, for the benefit of some 400,000 public school teachers, he set aside another P250 million for salary increases beginning July this year. These are only some of the more recent and bigger releases authorized by the President. But even just these already add up to a whooping P364.5 million total outlay. Certainly, the overwhelming res ponse of the taxpaying public to the Administration’s appeal for coopera tion in the tax collection effort weighed heavily on the President’s decision to order promptly the release of funds of such magnitude. Ac cording to Bureau of Internal Revenue officials, there had been a record turnout in the number of income tax return filers, resulting in unprecedent ed revenue receipts when the deadline came in mid-April. While it would COCONUT INDUSTRY A position of strength and prestige from the domestic to the international market and partly on account of greater coconut production, sub stantial gains have been made by the country’s coconut industry in relation to international trade, since then. Last year, copra exports totalled 953.1 long tons; crude coconut was 461.6 long tons; copra cake expeller/pellets, 319 long tons; and desiccated co conut, 77.7 long tons, according to of ficial figures compiled by the Philip pine Coconut Administration (PHILCOA). The country definitely enjoys a po sition of strength and prestige in the international market for coconut products, and it has also profited immensely from it. The PHILCOA reported that in 1972, the FOB value of copra exports amounted to $116.5 million; crude coconut oil, $84.0 mil lion; copra cake expeller/pellets, $17.6 million; and desiccated co conut, $18.3 million. Even the lowly regarded coconut shell charcoal made a modest contribution to the country’s foreign exchange earnings to the tune of $977 thousand. All told, the coconut industry accounted for over 20 percent of the country’s total export receipts or $237.5 million out of the total export earnings of slightly over $1 billion. take a few more weeks before the final tabulation can be announced, they already express confidence that, together with payments received un der the amnesty decrees, total collec tions will be very much greater than last year’s P2.8 billion total. That would not be surprising. Over and above the projected increase in revenue realized from traditional taxes, the government has already earned a bonus of P830 million from five tax amnesty decrees. This is only as of the latest tally. More are ex pected not only upon the completion of the compilation of returns from all BIR offices all over the country, but also because the deadline for the pay ment of the 10 percent amnesty tax on previously undeclared income and wealth for residents of six provinces in Mindanao (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, North Cotabato and South Cotabato) and all Filipinos residing abroad had been reset to May 31. According to Revenue Regulations No. 4-73, issued by the BIR late last month, Filipinos residing abroad with a net taxable income of less than $13,000 are required to pay only $10 a year. Those with untaxed income or wealth in excess of $13,000 are levied a 10 percent tax on the excess over the net taxable income for every year of tax delinquency. If for a period of four years, for instance, a Filipino residing abroad has a total unreported income of $58,000, then his tax liability under the amnesty decree Philippine coconuts: ranking position among export products. This makes copra and other co conut derivatives the country’s top dollar earner, followed by sugar and lumber, at least in the past year. It was not exactly all roses for the coconut industry last year, though. Despite the fact that the Philippines has been able to corner a sizeable chunk of the international market for the product, despite the gains in co conut production, international price fluctuations ate up some of its po tential earnings. From a high of Pl 11.62 per 100 kilograms of copra (resecada) and P188 per 100 kilograms of coconut oil in January 1971, prices plummeted down to their lowest level in two years in February last year, with copra selling at only P58.57 and coconut oil at Pl 15 per 100 kilograms. Since then, however, prices have picked up, reaching new peaks early this year. In recognition of the price fluctuation problem, coconut au thorities have recommended various steps that would minimize its impact. A major one is the improvement of transport facilities from the producing would only be 10 percent of the ex cess over $52,000 or $600. As in all cases of tax settlements under the various tax amnesty decrees, payment of due taxes frees the taxpayer of all criminal, civil or administrative liabil ities arising from these voluntary disclosures of hidden income and wealth. Another potential source of in creased government revenue from taxes on Filipinos residing abroad is that resulting from the amendments to the National Internal Revenue Code embodied in Presidential Decree No. 69. Under these amendments, they are required to pay a 1 percent tax on their gross income if their income is $6,000 per annum or less. Those with gross income exceeding $6,000 up to $20,000 will have to pay 2 percent; while those earning over $20,000 will be levied a 3 percent tax on the gross income. Filipinos abroad used to get a tax credit for the taxes they paid to their country of residence, under the old National Internal Revenue Code. In many instances, little was left for their homeland. “Surely,” one Department of Finance official said, “the country of their birth, the country where they got their education, deserves a little more than this.” The old folks at home have res ponded to the President’s appeal for cooperation with enthusiasm. They are fervently hoping that their countrymen abroad can come up with the same display of confidence. source to the primary point. This would reduce marketing costs and enable the industry to survive even at lower world prices. The Ad ministration’s feeder-road building program should greatly benefit the producers, particularly the small far mers.' The widening of the Philippine ex port market to include non-traditional trading partners could also be considered another step towards cushioning the adverse effects of price trends in certain countries. As Dr. Cesar Villariba, board chairman and general manager of PHILCOA, pointed out, 66 percent of the varia tions in Philippine prices of coconut products may be traced to variations in United States prices. Now, with almost 60 percent of total Philippine exports of coconut products and by-products going to the European market, perhaps the effects of price fluctuations could be softened. That should make some eight million Filipinos happy. This group, representing 20 percent of the country’s population, derive their in come mainly from that source. 12 May 1973 THE REPUBLIC ■MB The <Arts THEATER Revival of the Filipino musical The “sarsuela,” a popular form of entertainment during the Spanish era in the Philippines and which had gained a distinct Filipino flavor, is cur rently enjoying a renaissance. The sarsuela (Pilipino for “zarzue la.”),a kind of play interspersed with songs and dances, differs from the opera in that it is heavy with dialogue. The songs take up or fill in some parts of the story. Its form corresponds more or less to the operetta or the Broadway musical. When the sarsuela was introduced here in the early part of the 19th century, it had a very limited au dience. By the end of the 19th cen tury, Filipino composers and writers were already turning out sarsuelas in Tagalog, the main basis of the Philip pine national language. The most pro lific among them, and who in fact has been called the Father of Filipino drama, was Severino Reyes, better known by his pseudonym of Lola Basyang. Filipino audiences whose tastes had been confined to the moro-moro (a morality play) found the sarsuela, with its catchy songs and varied plot, much more entertaining. In time, no Jtown fiesta was complete without the sarsuela to highlight the celebrations. And the sarsuela became a distinct Fi lipino theater form, in both theme and treatment. The sarsuela remained popular up to the early 1930s. After that, it sank gradually into oblivion, a casualty perhaps of the socio-technological revolu tion. In 1971, recognizing the growing trend to draw from Filipino cultural heritage, a group of prominent busi nessmen and civic leaders formed the BOOKS O Something of the occult THEMORNINGOFTHE MAGICIANS By Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier Translated from the French by Rollo Myers A Mayflower paperback This book was, and is, a bestseller. It was previously published in England as The Dawn of Magic. This book is like a volume that con tains three parts. Each separate part has something different to say. The first says that our earth was once in habited by super-intelligent creatures who came from other planets. They came here by flying space ships; then after a very long reign they mys teriously vanished — probably because of a nuclear war. The second is a strange and fright ening account of Germany during the Nazi period. The reader who is fa miliar with the writings of the Theoso phical Society such as the books of Geoffrey Hodson, will find similarities in the beliefs of Hitler and the “pro phet” Hans Horbiger. This is not sur prising, as the Theosophists, the Nazis, and other occult groups have said that Scene from ‘Ang Prinsesa,' presented last Sunday at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Zarzuela Foundation of the Philip pines. It is a non-stock, non-profit cor poration concerned with reviving in terest in and appreciation for the zar zuela. For its initial project, the Zarzuela Foundation produced, jointly with Pa cifica Cultural Productions, Inc., the celebrated sarsuela “Walang Sugat,” by Severino Reyes and Professor Ful gencio Tolentino. The year it was written (1907) Walang Sugat played before huge crowds in more than a hundred performances throughout Lu zon and the Visayas. Last year—or 65 years later — a gala premiere mar ked its revival, at the three-year-old Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) on Roxas Boulevard. Since then, Walang Sugat has had a long series of presentations at the CCP, the Rizal Park and the country’s big au their theories are derived from ancient sources and from occult mythology. In the Nazi theory there were benevolent giants who inhabited the earth before the humans. The moon fell down from the sky three times and in the 1930’s the moon was going to fall again. The Aryan race was the only people that would survive, there was going to be an age of fire and ice, and the Nazis were entrusted with the task of breeding a new kind of human being. Its third section is about how we should develop the science of para psychology. This book says that modem man is trying to get where ancient men (their survivors, the so-called primitive peo ples) now are, with their knowledge of magic: but the difference is that modem man is employing the ma chine. The authors give the example of the analogic computer which solves problems. Since this book was first published, the taking of mind-bending drugs, to expand the consciousness, has become popular. The two authors perhaps anticipated this trend. The two authors tell their readers that their material has not been well organized, neither are they sure that everything that they report is true, and all they want to do is to stimulate further research along the lines that they have been going. This is what saves the book: their attitude of not taking themselves too seriously. However, one cannot deny that this book is fascinating. It fires the ima gination. Creative artists find it ex citing (For example: it offers the idea ditoriums. Another sarsuela masterpiece, “Ana Maria,” also by Severino Reyes with music by Antonio J. Molina, was presented last Wednesday and Thurs day at the Little Theater of the Cul tural Center. “Ana Maria,” a two-act drama which depicts marriage, Fi lipino style, was first presented in 1919 to a fully-packed house in old Manila’s Zorilla Theater. As revived by the UP College of Music Voice Depart ment and the Zarzuela Foundation, Ana Maria includes a pintakasi (cock fight) scene complete with cries of “Sa pula! SaPuti! ” “Ang Prinsesa,” a munting sarsuela written by Palanca Award-winner Julian Dacanay Jr. and composed by Dean Lucrecia Kasilag was presented for the first time last Sunday at the Little Theater of the CCP. Ang that man did not really originate on this planet. That we are now perfecting our flying machines in read iness for the time when we can go back to where we came from.) After a first reading, the mind reels from the impact, similar to a first con tact with one of those wild theosophical books; the writers are so convincing. No doubt, stories and es says could be inspired by such ideas —as they have been, take for example, Henry Miller. But later, after the hypnotic prose has begun to wear off, one begins to question. One goes to other sources to com pare them with what the theosophists and other magicians say. The giants are mentioned in the Old Testament. There is more explanation in “The Hidden Knowledge: Personal from Herbert Armstrong,” Plain Truth, March 1973. In this article and others Armstrong explains why it is that certain places in the earth look as if there had been a terrible war. “Originally this world was populated with angels — not humans. Tn the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’ (Genesis 1:1). “The Hebrew words in which Moses originally wrote that sentence imply a perfect creation — not one in chaos and confusion, as described in the second verse. Many scriptures in other parts of the Bible reveal great world shaking events that occurred between the time of the first and second verses of Genesis one.” The author continues: “There was worldwide peace on earth for some time after the earth was first created, Prinsesa (The Princess) revolves around the question of MuslimChristian unity. Delanela, the Muslim princess represents confused and wounded youth finding its way from a world of conflict to one of peace and harmony in the new Philippine so ciety. The one-act munting sarsuela was commissioned by the CCP Workshops in Music Education. It was produced by the Workshop in Operetta and Sarsuela Writing and Production, one of four simultaneous workshops spon sored by the CCP in an effort to devel op relevant materials for Philippine music education programs. Last Sunday’s presentation, which had as its main feature, “Ang Prinsesa,” was the culminating activity of the Music Education Workshop ’73. because the government o£God was being administered here then. For how long a duration is not revealed. It could have been millions of years. In any event it lasted until about 6,000 years ago.” He mentions the archangel who was appointed to administer God’s government over the earth, and quotes Isaiah 14:12-15 to tell what happened: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morn ing! ” “This super archangel who became Satan,” continues the author, “led one-third of all the angels — the whole earth’s population — in his war of ag gression .... As a result of this colossal mutiny ... a physical des truction put this whole earth into chaos and darkness.” Here is the reason why traces of a war can be seen. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” (Genesis 1:2) What happened next is described in Psalm 104:30 “thou renewest the face of the earth.” “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). The authors of The Morning of the Magicians say that the earth is in its quaternary period. The next catas trophe to happen to the world, they say, will be the moon (the present moon is the fourth to have been at tracted to the earth, the previous three having blown up in the long his tory of this planet earth) crashing into the earth and blowing it to kingdom come. JOLICO CUADRA THE REPUBLIC 12 May 1973 Page 7 Travel & leisure NEW HOBBY IN MANILA Garden in a Perhaps it was the Green Revolu tion that did it. Perhaps it was the continuing search for things of beauty, specially in a place far re moved from the countryside. Or per haps it was a combination of these and other factors. Whichever it was, “bottle gardening” is becoming a pop ular new hobby in Greater Manila. Actually, the bottled garden, or ter rarium, is not at all new. It has been around in some other places, for at least a hundred years. Back in the 1900s, Nathaniel Ward, a London physician, observed that fems and other grasses grew more satisfactorily in the fume-filled city if they were kept under glass-sided cases near the win dow. Ward decided to experiment with planting inside bottles. The result was a blooming success and in time, bottle gardening developed into an art. It is not, however, an art that en dures. The average life span of a bot tled garden is about a year. After that, the stems, roots and leaves become too crowded as to make replanting necessary. How does one go about gardening inside a bottle? An old English recipe for rabbit stew starts with, “First, find your rabbit . . .” In like manner, one must first find one’s bottle. The crystal has to be clear, with no grooves or letterings or stains to mar the view. When it comes to size and shape, any contour will do although round bot tles with small mouths are preferable. The demijohn is said to be most ideal bottle Terrarium: a world in itself. for the purpose although wine bottles and apothecary jars are also suitable. Clean the bottle with water mixed with sand and cleansing detergent. Swish cleansing water around inside the bottle. Then rinse with plain waiter and allow the bottle to dry. While waiting for the bottle to dry, one can prepare the planting medium, a mixture of 50 percent dry porous soil, 25 percent fine sand and 25 per cent compost. It should be sterilized to prevent molds from forming. Steri lize the soil mixture by pouring boil ing water over it and then dry it under the sun. Spraying with fungicide would also help. The thing to guard against is acidity in the medium because this is what causes some plants to rot. Acidity comes from stored moisture so it is important that the soil mixture be suf ficiently dry. Besides, a wet mixture will be difficult to introduce into the bottle. As an extra precaution, cover the bottom of the bottle with crushed charcoal — about an inch thick. (Char coal contains carbon which would neutralize the acidity resulting from stored moisture.) Then follow with the soil mixture. The amount of soil needed would of course depend on the size and the thickness of the bottle. Usually, afourto five-inch thickness is just right. Pour the soil through a paper funnel and then shake it to the desired topo graphy. And now, for the planting itself. There is no magic trick to getting those leaves and stems through and ar ranged in a beautiful composition. All it takes is a little perseverance and in genuity. Experience in manipulating puppets would be helpful but not really necessary. Where the choice of plants is concerned, only the slowgrowing and shade-loving should be considered. Creepers and herb types are highly recommended. Clean the plants free of insect pests and dead leaves before lowering them into the bottle. One must begin plant ing at the sides and one must start with the shorter plants. This system, ob viously, makes for a better working arrangement. Pusbthe stems with a flat end of a stick. (One would need two kinds of sticks with flat ends — a straight one and a curved one for working at the sides of the bottle.) At this point, it would be well to bear in mind that underplanting is better than overplanting. For one thing, the plants will grow so fast that space will soon be at a premium. For another, a pack ed arrangement leaves little room for appreciation of the composition. (This is probably why Ikebana enthusiasts find greater satisfaction in bottle gar dening than others.) When the plants have been arranged to one’s satisfaction, water the glassencased garden with just enough water to moisten the soil. Pour only about a glassful at first. Wait until the fol lowing day to add a little more — if necessary. This procedure has to be followed because excess water cannot be removed from a bottled garden. When watering, let the water drip at the sides instead of pouring it at the center so that dust and other dirt can be washed down with it. Afterwards, cover the bottle tightly. The idea be hind this is to conserve the water by preventing evaporation. The moisture which condenses at the sides of the bottle will just naturally drip down to the soil and seep through to the roots. Thus, subsequent watering will only be a sometime thing. In fact, a bottled garden can be left without attention for several months. As for the proper place to set down ' ♦ one’s bottled garden, just remember that strong sunlight will cause the bottle to become hot — wilting the plants inside. On the other hand, pla cing it in a much too shady spot will cause the plants to grow weak and maybe even to rot. The best thing would be to take the middle ground and place the bottled garden where it — can receive filtered or indirect sun light. PEOPLE “They have equally extended un derstanding and appreciation for the Philippine standards of culture, tradition and aspirations,” Pres ident Marcos declared as he confer red the Order of Sikatuna, rank of datu, on Ambassador Pierre Revol of France and Ambassador Tjark A. Meurs of the Netherlands. “For this,” the President said, “there can be nothing but gratitude in our hearts.” The two ambassadors, who are ending their tour of duty in the Philippines, were equally appre ciative of the awards presented to them at ceremonies attended by the First Lady, Mrs. Imelda R. Marcos and the chiefs of diplomatic mis sions. Ambassador Revol expressed the modest hope that he had, in some measure, contributed to the promotion of better relations be tween his country and the Philip pines. Ambassador Meurs, on the other hand, expressed optimism about the success of the new so ciety. Not a few commented on her mi ni-dress but Anna Chennault, Pres ident Nixon’s representative to the Philippine Aviation Week celebra tion, is far too purposeful a person to be distracted by frivolous com ments. “I am a fighter for women’s rights,” she told an interviewer. “Women have great capabilities. They should be allowed to work side by side with men.” The widow of Maj. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault of Flying Tigers fame is her own best example of womenpower at its most effective. She had been a tire less worker in the 1960, 1968 and 1972 Nixon campaigns and is right now vice president for international affairs of Flying Tigers Line. She is also reputed to be the unofficial hostess of official Washington. The parties she gives have been described as “flawless but swinging.” It was the singer, not the song, that won a prize for the Philippines in the recently concluded Tokyo Music Festival. The judges, among them 10 Japanese, six Americans, two Frenchmen and two English men, awarded the “best song inter preter” trophy to Pilita Corrales, Asia’s Queen of Song, for her inter pretation of “My Daughter.” The song, written and composed by George Canseco and arranged by Doming Valdez, was one of the 26 compositions which made the semi finals in the international competi tion held at the Imperial Theater.' “What is less known,” Pilita told newsmen during her SRO per formance at the National Press Club Friday night, “is that ‘My Daughter’ was one of the top five.” Pilita, looking like a singing Mata Hari in her black, peek-a-boo mini dress, went on with the intelligence that Les Reed (Les Reed Organiza tion, Britain) had expressed interest in acquiring publishing rights. VicPilita Corrales tor Company of Japan has already acquired rights to the original mas ter recording and will soon market Pilita’s version (in English and Japanese) of “My Daughter.” Even Edison would have been impressed. At the age of 10, Napo leon A. Basa invented a therapeutic steam bath and bathing apparatus. Since then, Basa, a native of Batangas, in Southern Luzon, has in vented, among other things, a hair washer, a manually operated fluid pressure rotary drive, a mechanical dispense, a main course/salad dress ing counter, aquatic lounges and tray ensembles. Most recently, he invented the “Green Revolution water sprayer” which, he says, could also be fed with fertilizer solutions or pest control chemicals. For this invention, Basa has a patent pend ing in the U.S. and in several other countries. His therapeutic steam and bathing apparatus now carries U.S. Patent 3649971. However, Basa, whose inventions were dis played by the National Science Development Board during the 1973 Inventors Week, is more in terested in having these manu factured in the Philippines. What does he do when not tinkering with some new-fangled idea? Napoleon A. Basa, commissary first class, works as supervisor of food han dlers at the Subic Bay Naval Base Galley in Zambales province. O It was the first time it happened in the history of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) — a tie was de clared in the competition for the Best Actress Award. The two actresses —Boots Anson Roa and Vilma Santos, were less surprised by the tie than by the fact that they had won. Both said they had expected one of the more seasoned actresses nominated for the 1972 FAMAS Awards to walk off with the Maria Clara statuette. Boots won for her portrayal of the squatter’s wife in “Tatay na si Erap,” while Vilma Santos won for her dramatic role in “Dama de Noche.” Page 8 12 May 1973 THE REPUBLIC