The Republic

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Part of The Republic

Title: The Republic
Issue Date: Issue No.13 (June 16, 1973)
Year: 1973
Language: English
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extracted text: NO. 13 _______________________________ 16 JUNE 1973________________________________________ MANILA RP’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY The view from without It began with muscle spasms toward the end of last year. Then, the Philippine economy, a patient ether ized upon the table since last year’s July-August floods, began to stir, t<^ breathe easier. The patient has been recovering rapidly since. It was a recovery that stood up to the exacting and dispassionate ap praisal of foreign authorities. Just recently, for example, the Chase Manhattan Bank in its bi-weekly publication “International Finance” predicted enthusiastically that the Philippine Gross National Product this year would approximate the 6.5 percent gain posted in 1971. Among other things, the Bank cited easier credit conditions, increased public investment, and improved prices for Idi; , pine exports as the major it ierking* tip the ecJJfio my. Similarly, acknowledging the vastly improved economic conditions here in the past months, a consortium of US banks agreed last June 5 to renew a one-year $50 million revolving credit line with The Central Bank of the Philippines. The group made the decision “because the external reserves position of the Philippines is at a 25-year high, there was a trade surplus in the first quarter of 1973 and government tax collections are break ing records.” The consultative group for the Philippines headed by the World Bank which met recently was particularly satisfied with the country’s economic recovery. During the meeting, the atmosphere, a report noted, was a “strong contrast to the skepticism which overshadowed the December 1970 formative meeting, particularly on the part of the Europeans. This time around, the Philippines can point to significant real progress on their part even though the consensus of groups there are still many difficul ties to overcome.” The group, which met May 29-30 in Paris, included representatives from Australia, Canada, France, West Ger many, India, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the United States, and some interna tional financial institutions. Initially, the consultative group noted the marked disparity between last year’s economic performance and that of the first months of this year. By contrast, last year’s performance, particularly during the first three quarters, appeared rather anemic. On the whole, GNP growth rate at the end of calendar year 1972 registered 4.3 percent, a steep decline from 1971’s 6.5 percent. A number of causes were responsible for this: the San Juanico Bridge linking Leyte, Samar: quicker pace in infrastructure program severe floods in August and July 1972, the unsatisfactory performance of trade, and the effects of inflation as a result of the combined forces of the floating rate, imported inflation, and shortfalls in domestic food product ion. The floods last year not only caused extensive damage on infras tructure which needed to be rebuilt but also seriously affected the growth of food — particularly rice — product ion. The year 1972 ended with a size able balance of trade deficit. But the increased flow of official assistance plus improvements in invisi ble trade receipts (particularly tourism and private transfers) managed to offset the balance of trade deficit and bring about $198 million in the balance of payments for 1972. The first few months of 1973 were a contrast. Vicente Patemo, chairman of the Board of Investments and head of the Philippine delegation to the meeting, noted that during this time, the balance of trade registered sur-j pluses month by month. This wa» accomplished mainly through the drasll tic reduction of imports and th® increase in prices of some of the| country’s exports. As a result, the balance of pay ments for the months of January to April yielded a comfortable surplus of $260 million. Already, the Central Bank has made a net payment of $39.7 million of its foreign obligations. Gains have similarly been made in recent months on the domestic front. The level of government expenditures for infrastructure bounced from P760 million in FY1971-1972 to Pl,020 million during the first nine months of FY1972-1973 alone. Expenses for development are expected to be twice that of the preceding year. And yet these have been accom plished without resort to inflationary spending. Increased revenues account for this. As a result of the proclama tion of amnesty from past tax liabilities, an impressive P5.6 billion has been collected for FY1973, a 28 percent increase over the preceding year. The Paris meeting acknowledged the “impressive rehabilitation pro gram” following the floods. It was noted, however, that rice production was “still inadequate to meet domes tic demand.” The Philippine panel readily admit ted the fact that agriculture had been an Achilles’ heel in the country’s development. In this light, Arturo Tanco, Jr., the secretary of the Department of Agriculture and NaXtiral Resources, informed the group tjiat the Philippine government was sparing nothing to improve agricultu ral production. Under the “Masagana 99” rice production campaign, the Philippines plans to expand the use of fertilizers on 500,000 hectares of irrigated land ‘and to expose 100,000 hectares of rain-fed jands to high-yie]ding_yahe government alsdOecently pro vided P77.5 million fcp agricultural credit which should enabletthe lendings inr finn nfin hprjwrgT The Philippine National Bank esta blished 90 mobile banks staffed credit teams to go into rural areas where banking facilities are not available. The Central Bank, in addition, has provided P300 million to the National Grains Authority for price support operations at harvest. The NG A has increased rice price support by 10 percent, P30 per 50 kilos. In addition to emphasis on agricul tural development, the group re commended that the Philippines aim to raise its growth rate by 6-8 percent per year. Such a growth rate would provide food for the population, increase the standard of public ser vices, and absorb the rapidly expand ing labor force. To achieve this growth rate, the Philippines has embarked on programs to increase production. The 6.5 percent growth rate for 1973 predicted by the Chase Manhattan Bank speaks well of the efforts being taken by local authoriti wm Corollary measures are being un dertaken in addition to increasing production. During the group meet ing, BOI Chairman Paterno particular ly took note of two such measures: support for private foreign invest ment and family planning. Mr. Paterno informed the group that since martial law considerable incentives had been passed to improve foreign investment. The more impor tant ones were the revision of the export and investment incentive laws (copies of which Mr. Patemo distri buted to group members), and the liberalization of policies on the repatriation of profits and capital. Through family planning, the gov ernment plans to reduce population growth rate to 2.5 percent at the end of the next five ye «rs compared with the present rate of about 3.2 percent. The meeting ended on a very posi tive note for the Philippine economy. Although there was no mention of specific loans and aid grants for the coming year, an estimate of partial pledges made indicates the possible achievement of the $250 million development loan target. The group’s next meeting will be held in October next year, probably in Paris. INDEX World Muslim League mission visits Mindanao 2 Big leap for shrimp industry 4 Resurgence of sports in RP 5 Van Clibum: a legend visits Manila 6 Philippine corals draw world 8 People: Eugene Torre in Leningrad 8 The Nation MUSLIM MISSION First-hand look at Mindanao World Muslim League delegation calls on President Marcos at Malacanang Members of a fact-finding mission from the World Muslim League have seen for themselves the conditions obtaining in Mindanao and are con vinced of the sincerity of government efforts to improve the lot of Muslim Filipinos. The mission, headed by Datu Syed Ibrahim Alsagof, reported their im pressions to President Marcos after visiting the country’s second largest island last week. They observed at close range the development program now being unriWM^^rtaken in Mindanao. They talked extensively not only with government officials but with Muslim leaders and plain citizens. The Muslims spoke highly of the President’s concern for their welfare, the mission members reported. The visit was an offshoot of the Muslim World League conference held in Benghazi, Libya, last March. During that conference, Libya introduced a resolution condemning the Philippines for alleged extermination of the Mus lims in Mindanao. But the delegations from Indonesia, Malaysia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia succeeded in blunting the Libyan move and persuaded the conference to send a fact-finding mission to the Philippines instead. Philippine Ambassador Yusuf Abuba kar, himself a Muslim, also explained at the conference the government’s efforts to resolve the Mindanao prob lem, including the massive infusion of funds for the socio-economic develop ment of the area. When the mission arrived in Manila, the President welcomed them in Mala canang, the presidential residence, and assured them that the Philippines was exhausting all means to integrate the Filipino Muslim population into the country’s political and economic mainstream. He appealed for their cooperation in effecting assimilation and asked them what they could do to help strengthen Muslim-Christian rela tions. “I am very happy you are here and I hope you will help us cure this illness in the hearts of our people, this anger, this bitterness and this im patience,” the President said. Both the government and the military, the Pres ident added, were dealing with the problem with “patience and under standing.” The mission also included Moham med Asad Shahab, Jamal Miyan and Mohammed Almontasar Alkittani. They were accompanied by Saudi Arabian Ambassador Aquil Moham med Aquil and Mohammed Raya Miri, attache. In his talk with the mission, the President explained what the govern ment had been doing to uplift the conditions of the Muslims. He pointed out that: • The government had increased the number of Muslim scholars in colleges and universities from 2,000 to 4,000. • He had instructed the University of the Philippines to set up a center for Islamic studies. • The government had set aside extensive areas of public lands in Mindanao for distribution to landless Muslims and that titles to disputed lands were being clarified so these would no longer be a cause of trouble irrthe area. ' * 1 < ' • Many of the provinces in Min danao have Muslim governors, con gressmen, and mayors although there are numerous Christians residing in these areas. • Wherever possible, Christian mili tary officers are withdrawn and re placed with Muslims, while in other areas, one Muslim officer or enlisted man is assigned for every Christian in the unit. On the same occasion, Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor, overall coordinator of the Mindanao program, gave the details of the implementation of the infrastructure and economic development projects for Mindanao. Among these are the construction of road networks throughout the island, development of airports and piers, grant of liberal government loans to farmers and fishermen, permission for a limited resumption of barter trade in the Sulu-Zamboanga-Basilan area, the use of Arabic in the government’s in formation and education programs and the continuing “policy of attraction” to misguided elements. During the delegation’s visit, the President extended, for the second time in four months, deadline on amnesty granted to those who had committed certain acts punishable un der the Revised Penal Code. The extension covered several Mindanao provinces. Also extended was the amnesty for violators of the anti subversion law. The deadline for the amnesty, granted under Presidental Decree No. 95, was originally set on Feb. 28. This was later extended to March 15 and again to July 15. Thus far, more than 600 persons in Mindanao have availed themselves of this amnesty. This was the second time since last year that tne Muslim world had sent a mission to Mindanao. The first was in July, 1972. The mission, composed of diplomats from Arab countries, was, dispatched 'to investigate Libya's charge that the Philippines was waging a genocidal war against the Muslims. The delegation made an on-the-spot survey and left convinced that the problem was basically the result of age-old economic and land disputes. THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS An ideology of development Excerpts from the President's keynote address at a symposium on develop ment, sponsored by the Department of Public Information, Mahar lika Hall, Malacanang, on June 8, eve of Philip pine Independence Day: The first phase of any revolution is stability. Development follows. The strategy for development I have mapped out. The priorities are clear. While we aim at the balanced agro-industrial economy, we attend first to agriculture. There is a world shortage of agricultural products. Not only cereals or staples but abaca and sugar are' in short supply. So our strategy is confirmed by the anxieties of the world. We develop our industry but reemphasize agriculture. I have often said that if I am asked what would be the answer to our problems, the answer would be pro duction. If every man, woman or child produced some product or service, then the country would be pros perous. It sounds simple but this is in truth the entire meaning and purpose of development. The purpose or objective, strategy and mechanics having been clarified, let me speak of the Ideology of Development. The subject of this symposium is one which exercises the intellectual and moral energies of men in this century. There is no people in the world today, whether rich or poor, that is unconcerned with the grand issue of development. And it is not by accident that the United Nations has declared the Seventies the “Second Development Decade.” The approach to development is what separates the rich from the poor peoples of the world. For the rich, the problem, is how to realize the promise of abundance, how to improve “the quality of life.” What certain Western intellectuals call Consciousness III re veals the serious thought that utopian ism is no longer impracticable in post-industrial, or super-rich, societies. But for the poor peoples, who com prise two-thirds of humanity, the de velopment experience translates itself in terms of survival and sheer existence; it has yet to be perceived in the radical humanist concepts of the industrialized world. The President delivering keynote address at symposium on development. Development, of course, is a pro cess that occurs in conditions as we find them, and not as we want them to be. We have to achieve material advancement within the context of the world political economy, under orientations and conditions estab lished by the revolution in communi cation. In sum, we exercise our human will and reason, we pursue our goals, under the pitiless scrutiny of what Macluhan calls “the global village.” This radically influences the acts of the poor peoples of the world, a burden which the present rich peoples did not have to bear in a similar stage of their development. And there is, above all, the over whelming pressure of ideologies — ideologies which are not indigenous — passing severe judgment on the efforts of the developing nations. On the one hand, capitalism; on the other hand, socialism or communism. Each ideo logy presents itself as the model at the same time that it denounces the other. We cannot ignore this pressure, or we can only ignore it on the basis of the confidence of our people. Let us recall the uniqueness of the revolution — of the 20th century — variously called the “revolution of rising expectations” or the “revolu tion of change” — characteristically the century of the poor. Before us, national development was achieved, or had to be achieved, through the ex ploitation of man by man.... It can be said, although a little oversimplified, that the humanist tradition of Western development was underwritten by the blood, or to be less colorful, the mis-development of colonized peo ples. This is a procedure, however, that can no longer be repeated. Not because this is absolutely impossible, since colonialism can take subtle (Turn to page 3) Page 2 16 June 1973 THE REPUBLIC The Nation Air pollution has been a burning issue in industrialized countries for the past several years. In many cases, it has ceased to be just an issue and has instead developed into a full blown crisis. Stack emissions from industrial plants and exhaust from motor vehicles have so filled the atmosphere with smog that, in some cities, people choke or get bedridden with respira tory diseases. Consequently, heavily industrialized nations spend millions in a desperate effort to check the problem. Japan, to cite one example, allocates a big slice of her budget for the installation of anti-pollution devices in industrial areas. Financing pollution control may not be such a big burden for wealthy countries. For developing nations, the task can be very demanding. But the challenge has not stopped them from adopting measures to prevent and control this modern-day scourge. In the Philippines, the following facts have emerged from studies initiated by the national government: Among the types of industry operating and contributing to air pollution are factories, sugar centrals, chemical and fertilizer plants, beve rages, cigar and cigarette factories, soap and detergent factories, pharma ceutical plants, tanneries, food pro cessing plants, power plants, ceramics, steel and galvanizing plants, and found ries. With regard to motor vehicles, another pollution agent, there were, as of June 30 last year, 604,853 regis tered vehicles, of which 112,259 were public buses and jeepneys and 492,594 private vehicles. Of the total, 289,232 or nearly 40 percent were registered in Greater Manila, 38,762 and 250,470 of them for public and private transportation, respectively. These motor vehicles in Greater Manila were packed into only 2,063 kilometers of roads representing 2.8 percent of the total 75,532 kilometers of roads in the country. Complaints against industries range from smoke, dust, fumes and odor. POLLUTION Solving a modern-day scourge Pollutants from motor vehicles in clude unbumed hydro-carbon from gasoline, carbon monoxide, parti culates, lead, oxidants (like ozone), alcohols (from gasoline combustion). The National Water and Air Pollution Control Commission (NWAPCC) has been monitoring, sampling and testing air pollutants in Quiapo, one of Manila’s busiest commercial and transportation districts. Initial findings by the com mission indicate 15 to 20 ppm (parts per million) of carbon monoxide are emitted by motor vehicles daily. This is within tolerable limits — there’s no smog to irritate the eyes. (About 150 ppm of carbon monoxide would make a commuter feel dizzy and nauseous.) Although pollution associated with emissions from motor vehicles are within tolerable limits, this may not be true as regards stack emissions from industrial plants. There were, as of the end of June 1972, 281 firms surveyed and 117 factories sampled for stack emissions in Greater Manila. Seventy-five factories sampled by the NWAPCC were found to have been contributing 2.55 tons of particulates and 7.55 tons of sulfur dioxide a day. The NWAPCC says there is a strong correlation between air pollution and respiratory diseases. This finding is corroborated by ecological studies abroad. While pollution does not yet present a very grave danger to health and environment in the Philippines, the country considers it a must to conduct scientific studies and find ways to curb the problem at its early stage. TheNWAPCC, for instance, aside from its monitoring service in Quiapo, has sent fact-finding missions to the cities of Iligan, Cebu and Davao where many industrial firms manufacturing cement, chemicals and steel products have been set up. To supplement its studies, the com mission trades data with other coun tries making similar investigation. In one specific gesture, the government hosted a one-week seminar on air pollution recently. The seminar, initiated by the World Health Organization, was held May 22 to 28, attended by 23 delegates from Australia, Fiji, Guam, Hong Kong, the Khmer Republic, Laos, Malaysia, New Zeland, Papua, New Guinea, the Phil ippines, South Korea, Singapore and South Vietnam. It ended just one week before the observance of World Environment Day on June 5. Speeches, reports and deliberations in the seminar focused on industrial emission and its health hazards. As a point of reference, the dele gates noted that the construction of industrial plants in highly developed nations was not tied up with urban planning. This has resulted in a serious ecological imbalance. Many factories were built in the heart of cities or along the nerve centers of highly populated rural sectors —thus posing grave danger to the inhabitants. This drawback must not be repeated in developing countries, the conferees warned. Proper locations for new plants must consider the topo graphical and meteorological con ditions. The emerging philosophy is that, although free enterprise governs the opening of industrial firms, the gov ernment must regulate the location and operation of these establishments. Or, in consultation with the govern ment, industrial companies should adopt self-regulatory measures to con trol industrial emission. Preventive legislation, preferred over punitive ones, should ensure the screening of all industrial permits, installation of anti-pollution devices and the envisioned operations of new plants, Technical experts, seminar speakers stressed, can be hired to determine the invisible pollutant, the most dangerous of all. The installation of anti-pollution equipment entails cost —a deterrent to the control program. The plan can pay off if financial incentives, such as accelerated depreciation rates are given for the setting up of anti pollution devices. The specific measures proposed in the seminar departed from what simi lar conferences had taken up. Earlier symposiums held in Europe merely discussed causes and scientific control techniques without proposing detailed legislation. 'rhe WHO seminar took a step further. The participants concluded for instance, that where pollution is caused or is likely to be caused by a specific industrial activity, the polluter should pay. The national government, even before the WHO seminar, had announced three broad policies aimed at pollution control: dispersal of in dustries, prohibition of pollutive in dustries in Greater Manila, and zoning plans for urban areas to delimit places where industry would be allowed to operate. __ The anti-pollution program presents a big challenge to developing nations specially those trying to hasten their pace toward industrialization. Al though hard-pressed with capital and modern equipment, they have, how ever, arrived at the proper perspective for diagnosing the causes of pollution and have taken the necessary, initial steps toward its prevention and con trol. An ideology... (From page 2) forms, but because the historical ex perience of hitherto colonized peoples unequivocally rejects it. We will not inflict on others what had been in flicted on us. To radical critics, the procedure I have just described is characteristic of capitalist development. The alter native, however, is internal exploita tion, what Salvador de Madariaga has suggested as a “society colonizing its own people.” This seems to have been the method of development adopted by the two major communist powers. Capitalist nations criticize com munist nations for imperializing the Balkan states and colonizing their peoples, a charge that is not, however, original: this remains the communist critique of capitalist societies. Mean while, the great capitalist and com munist societies have achieved devel opment on their own terms .... Is there a third way to develop ment, a way that is non-exploitative? Perhaps, there is, and it may be the mission of this symposium to find it and enunciate it to our people. But I should think that you will not try and evade the fact that there is no royal road to progress. We can reject ex ploitation, but we cannot escape hard ship. We shall be humane but we cannot be “tender-minded.” We must at all times persuade but we cannot be confined to mere exhortation and rhetoric. I said that the development of the poor peoples has to occur in a world torn by fiercely competing ideologies, despite the necessary accommodations of international politics. I would, therefore, think, that the aim of this symposium is to arrive at an ideology of development. It has been said many times that the Filipino people are in need of an ideology, a philosophy that unites them in common thought and effort. I think, however, that the thoughts of our great patriots, statesmen, soldiers, intellectuals and artists, contain the elements of a national ideology. But development is an end, a project, an objective; it is not an ideology in itself. I say this lest we lead our people to the false notion that national develop ment is the ideology and so elect one which puts national power above the welfare of the individual on the theory that a rich nation auto matically makes for rich citizens. It is not our intention to make our people individual servitors of the state. They must work for and achieve nation^ development, to their best abilities and the sacrifices they are willing to make, as a means of realizing their full potentialities as human beings. In this, on the eve of the seventy fifth anniversary of our independence, we must understand that every genera tion brings forth a new Filipino. There was a new Filipino for the Propaganda Movement and a new Filipino for the Revolution; a new Filipino for the Commonwealth. But we speak of the New Filipino, not because we want to exalt this generation above the rest, but because we are aware that the new Filipino is a product of the Modem Age of Man, the motto of which is “anything is-possible.” It does not mean, however, that anything is per missible. There are three fundamental characteristics of this Modern Age. Firstly, is that the science and techno logy of mankind has made poverty morally and practically indefensible. Secondly, that the exercise of human will and reason under insuperable odds is by no means a fruitless exer cise; the historical experience of other peoples and nations is proof of this. Thirdly, the contraction of the world into “a village” demands a restructur ing of the world order. The Filipinos, whatever their cir cumstances, have arrived at a cons ciousness of what their world is. To be a Filipino at this stage of our national history is to be faced with the total pressure of a world in change. The unrealized hopes, the unreleased ener gies, of generations before him, the dreams and aspirations of those who fought every revolt and every war in the name of a society different from what had been, now come to con front, possibly with a vengeance, all the living generations of today’s Phil ippines. This, then, is the moral and histori cal context of your symposium. The tendency is to think of development in strictly economic terms. The truth is that development is a human deci sion, a decision of civilization, on the one hand, and a political decision, on the other. We should not think that there is technique or science on one extreme, and human considerations on another. Science and humanism go together. Development will be achieved by scientific means, this is understood, but it is human beings who will use science for the desired ends of human community. THE REPUBLIC 16 June 1973 Page 3 The Economy MARINE WEALTH Big leap for shrimp industry Time was when Philippine shrimps never landed on Japanese plates. Now in big hordes they’ve stormed Japan ese and even American homes. Last year, 988 tons of frozen shrimps and 16 tons of cooked or prepared shrimps at a total value of $4 million were exported to Japan. This represents roughly 47 percent of the total export shipments of 2,099 tons worth $5 million in 1972. A potential major dollar earner for the Philippines, the shrimp export industry was launched in 1967 with an initial shipment of 121 tons to Japan. The export earned for the country P778,058. Exports soared in Tax deadline reset for Filipinos abroad Early this year, one foreign magazine suggested — and rightly so — that the unprecedented influx of foreign investors into the Philip pines could be considered a vote of confidence for the Administration and the reforms that it had undertaken. While those foreign “votes” have continued to pour in without let-up since then, Filipinos have also been making a similar endorsement through their hearten ing response to the various pro grams of government. In what may be one of the clearest indications of support, Filipino taxpayers turned out in record numbers to pay the taxes due on their income and property The total take of the Bureau of Internal Revenue from taxes during the first ten months of the current fiscal year (from July 1972 to April 1973) was another record: P3.4 billion. This amount represents a 41.44 percent increase over the total collections for a similar period in the preceding fiscal year. It was also in a similar gesture of support that 137,579 individual and corporate taxpayers came for ward to declare around P7.9 billion in hidden income and wealth in 1972 and previous years. With that, the government was able to add over P790 million to its coffers. It was definitely a bargain for taxpayers. For some, the 10 per cent levy on undeclared income and wealth is considerably lower than the rates that prevailed in the years of their delinquency under the progressive system of income taxa tion. For all, it means being absolved of criminal and civil liabilities, including fines and im prisonment, for tax-evasion. And the tax amnesty decrees could not have been more precise on this point: “After the tax imposed under this Decree shall have been paid, the taxpayer shall be cleared of all investigations, whether civil or criminal, in so far as such pre 1968 with 197 tons valued at Pl,789,635 and 214 tons worth P2,294,702 the following year. In 1970, the overall export of shrimps more than doubled to 603 tons priced at P7,951,042. With the shortage of prawns that threatened the indispensable Japanese sukiyaki business, shrimp exports rose in 1971 with a sizeable part of the 1,614 tons produced worth P20,768,222 being shipped to Japan and the rest to the United States, Europe and some Pacific countries. Increasing demand for shrimps for consuming countries has outstripped supply. The Philippines can fill the viously untaxed income is con cerned.” Unfortunately, there were quite a number of Filipinos who could not avail themselves of the conces sional terms of the tax amnesty within the original timetable’. Not that they did not want to, but because they could not do so with relative ease. The residents of some Mindanao provinces, for instance, had been subject to unusual stress owing to the conditions obtaining there until recently. On the other hand, Filipinos residing abroad probably have but a faint notion of what the tax amnesty is all about. Furthermore, unlike their country men at home, they may need more time to be able to comply with the terms of the tax amnesty decree. Taking these factors into consi deration, President Marcos last week extended, for the second time, the tax amnesty deadline for Filipinos residing abroad to July 31 this year. The first extension, which also benefited Mindanao residents, last ed up to May 31. In all, overseas Filipinos were given a four-month grace period since March 31, original deadline for compliance with the tax amnesty. As a concession to the fact that these Filipinos have been paying their income taxes to their country of residence, the Philippine govern ment has set the amnesty tax at 10 percent of the excess over $13,000 of their annual income. This tax has to be paid for every year that the Filipino has not filed his Philippine income tax returns. As for those earning $13,000 or less, payment of $10 a year will confer on them the immunities guaranteed under the tax amnesty decrees. For these Filipinos, the Presi dent’s invitation still stands: “Be a part of the New Society with a clean slate.” The government, for its part, has been willing to meet them more than half-way. gap, — but to do this she has to expand her present production and export capacity. The big problem of course is the capital to finance the production, refrigeration and the construction of plants and cold storage. Not to be discouraged, however, shrimp producers have availed them selves of government incentives to the shrimp industry. They have applied for loans for the development of marine products including product ion, handling, refrigerating, processing and marketing. The government has broached the idea of drawing in foreign investments to finance the exploration and exploitation of rich marine grounds. Secretary Arturo Tanco, Jr. of the Department of Agriculture and Na tural Resources noted down the projects currently being undertaken to attain full export capacity: 1) the Southeast Asian Fisheries Develop ment Council Project, a cooperative venture of the Association of South east Asian Nations (ASEAN) — to conduct research on shrimp culture; and 2) the prawn fry culture studies being jointly undertaken by the Mindanao State University and the National Science Development Board. The DANR plans to raise Pll million for the SEAFDC program of which P7 million will come from the Japanese government. The Mindanao State University will manage the project. A project site of 2.8 hectares has been secured in Tigbauan, Iloilo and the design of buildings and fishponds, except for the hatchery, has been finalized. Japan will supply the research and physical equipment due to arrive in July. After the construction of administration-labora tory and dormitory buildings in January 1974, the entire SEAFDC project will start in full swing. To finance the MSU-NSDB scheme in Naawan, Misamis Oriental, the MSU advanced the sum for the initial operating outlay while the NSDB released Pl 1,000 for the “wet labora tory.” The DANR and the Bureau of Fisheries pledged to contribute Pl million each. The Naawan “wet laboratory” is an exclusive adjunct of the MSU Institute of Fisheries. A 10-hectare foreshore land in Leganes, Iloilo acquired by the MSU will serve as commercial pro duction site where the intensive method of prawn culture will be introduced. Dr. Domiciano Villaluz, institute dean incre eggs ly, a Of t “It 1 Villa very cond peril: everi T1 dowi eggs, the i over quip fries shriij you Phili forei A: prim impc Statf meet Guai Fran dom with diplc port: requ: rate< Sv quit* shrin ever, indu; nical of tr tap t aside areas have Inves prod busir Filip venti Ping finan govei startf effor try ai Publi Infor at th 40-11 Page 4 Spor’ts Decathlon champ Arthur Pons: one of the young new stars. Some say that the amount of time people spend for sports and recreation indicates, to some degree, the extent of their nation’s development. Others say people spend a great deal of time in sports activities for no other reason than to master Nature, and mountain climbing may well be proof. Still others say they master sports to test the limits of their capacities; in short, to master themselves. Whatever the reason and whatever the season, there is today a resurgence of sports in the Philippines. And, as in other fields of activity in the country these days, there are the common qualities — enthusiasm and a striving for excellence. ' At the Rodriguez Sports Center in Marikina, softball’s Blu Girls have been training a rigorous three hours a day, leaving Sundays out, for each department of the game — batting, fielding, base-running, pitching and catching. In past seasons, they per formed well enough to be invited early this year to New Zealand and Australia for a 25-game series. When they returned, they had won 21 of their 25 games. Their current training is for the world women’s softball cham pionship in Stratford, Connecticut, U.S.A, in 1974. The Philippine Foot ball Association, under Governor Isid ro S. Rodriguez, has only grand praise: “The team we have now is much better than the 1970 squad which finished third in the second world meet in Osaka, behind Japan and the United States.” Sports enthusiasm and excellence have caught on. Volleyball buffs have been seen all over private courts, campuses, town plazas, barrio ricefields and AFP grounds. First, practically the whole of Luzon answered the Rizal Me morial’s call to the national inter secondary boys and girls champion ship series. Second, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Burma, Taiwan and Indone sia accepted the country’s invitation to the Asian invitational tournament in Manila in August. Third, the Philip pine team has an invitation to the international women’s volleyball tour nament in Djakarta, Indonesia. And fourth, the team is girding for the 7th Asian Games in Teheran, Iran and the Asian volleyball championships come 1974. Judo has beefed up its roster of judokas. The first months of 1973 saw twenty-eight judokas elevated to First Dan, Third Class Brown and Second A PROUD TRADITION Resurgence of sports in RP Class Green. For the beginners, throwing and grappling techniques have been demonstrated in seminars on this “gentle art.” Car races — go-kart plus, junior and senior divisions, professional and ama teur category — have screeched past screaming fans and nervous wives in Ortigas Avenue, Commonwealth Ave nue and Rizal Park. The country’s racing luminaries have scared not a few Macao racers and brought home trophies plus. Philippine sluggers held the 1973 ABAP Metropolitan amateur boxing series early 1973 in Tarlac. Knock outs were the Philippine Army boxers in Class-A and the Philippine Navy in Class-C. Meanwhile, the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) moved to discipline the boxing ranks with a crack-down on inactive fighters even as it encouraged out-of-the-country bouts. Wrestling has reached the drug RP-Australia game during Asian baseball championship. Host team won, 8-3 dependents of the NBI Rehabilitation Center. The country’s wrestlers back from the free-style and Greco-Roman events of the wrestling Olympics in Ulan Bator, Mongolia brought home more than tempered skills; they brought home the good will of the people they met, including those they wrestled with. The resurgence of sports should be no surprise. Philippine sports history has, after all, been a proud one. There were the Far Eastern Games of 1913 to 1934 with a total of 10 tournaments. Of these 10, the Philip pines won — in track and field, 6 championships, 5 of them in steady succession; in swimming, 4 champion ships; in tennis, 3 championships; in volleyball, 5 championships; in foot ball, 1 championship; in baseball, 6 championships; and in basketball, 9 championships or a record 1-miss. The country has been in the thick of international sports since the 1924 World Olympics in Paris to the 1972 Munich games and has no plans of thinning its participation out. The first Philippine champions, Simeon Toribio, won the high jump event with a 1928 4th place and a 1932 3rd place, and, Teofilo Yldefonso, won 200-m breakstroke with 3rd places for both 1928 and 1932. The latest Philippine product of Olympic caliber was Anthony Villanueva in the fea therweight boxing division with a 1964 2nd place in the Tokyo-based World Olympics. The Philippine record in the Asian Games is even more impressive. The 1st Asian Games held in New Delhi, India in 1951 saw 31 Filipino athletes bringing home 5 gold, 6 silver and 8 bronze medals out of 4 sports events. The 2nd Asian Games, 174 Filipinos with 14 gold, 14 silver and 16 bronze medals out of 8 sports. The 3rd Asian Games, 148 athletes sporting 48 medals bagged from 12 sports. The 4th and 5th Asian Games, a total 310 athletes bannered 80 medals out of 25 sports. And the 6th Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand in 1970 saw 76 Filipino athletes bringing home 1 gold, 9 silver and 12 bronze medals out of 8 sports. The sporting tradition has been respected in the main because organ ized expertise has been duly concern ed. The Philippine Amateur Athletic Association was authorized by R.A. 3262, later revised to become R.A. 3135, to develop the country’s sports. The PAAF has 19 member associa tions, which have launched various sports development programs. There was, first, the recognition of the need for young recruits. They advised closer association with the Department of Education and Culture in whose helm was gathered thousands of athletic potentials. Thus, a Joint Declaration between the PAAF and the Department came to be. With this hopefully, “physical education and fitness (and the) establishment of sports centers, public playgrounds and recreational facilities” may be en couraged. In the provincial level, a major project of the PAAF men was the multi-event Cebu sportsfest stretching over five-weekends. At the Cebu Abellana Oval — track and field, judo, softball, volleyball, cycling, football, archery and weightlifting; at the Cebu fire department, table tennis; at the Physicians Club, chess; at the Cebu Coliseum, boxing; at the Aznar Coliseum, basketball; and still other gyms and other sports. In the national scene, the biggest projects of this group of sports buffs were the 1st and 2nd Palarong Pilipino. The Palaro is the country’s local Olympics running for nine days. The 1972 Palaro drew eight Philip pine records. The 1973 Palaro, while setting only six records and equalling one, proved the games’ success with the strong entry of young and “new” athletes and a commercial break through in ticket sales and operational expenses. The series was a sports fiesta, with AFP spikers ramming through the coliseum’s net while 14-year-old Nan cy Deano broke her own Philippine record in the 100 meter breast stroke. Gabriel Navarro’s total lift of 240 kilograms bested the old Palaro mark by 26.5 kilograms while 20 to 40 boxers, four of them Munich Olympians, traded muscled punches. The greenhorn Arthur Pons ended the 12-year monopoly of Noriel Roa in decathlon. Outside the PAAF group, there is the Sports Development Foundation (SPODEPHIL) which is also active ly promoting sports. SPODEPHIL boasts of a near-Pl million fund accumulation, the forma tion of a Philippine Youth football team, the revival of sipa and the attention to research with a Princeton Poll survey of the Filipino’s attitude to sports as a first project. The country’s sports program has not been without problems. The PAAF, for one, has its traumas. Its present charter (R.A. 3135) decentralized its powers, giving powers of supervision and control to the PAAF president but then again giving autonomy to the 19 National Sports Associations. PAAF President Am brosio Padilla says, “There are times when my authority is questioned by some national sports associations which claim their autonomy is im paired.” Apart from structure, the PAAF’s handicaps extend to monetary limita tions. The grouo receives Pl million, more or less, In the main, however, Philippine sports has not allowed organizational and financial problems to deter its movement. Philippine baseball saw action in the 10th Baseball Federation of Asia held April, 1973. While the group landed in 4th position behind Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in that order, Japan’s Isao Odachi said, “Years ago, the Filipinos were teach ing the Asians, including the Japanese, good, solid baseball. They were the kingpins in the Far Eastern Games and many years thereafter . . . There’s no thing- the matter with (today’s) Philippine baseball that a return to the fundamentals won’t cure.” This “return to the fundamentals” may yet give the Philippine league sounder placement in the 11th Asian Baseball Tournament in Tokyo in August, 1975. Cycling, after a three-summer res pite, has come back strong. Next year’s Tour of Luzon, the 15th, pro mises to be even more ambitious, circuiting Lucena, Pangasinan, Baguio and on to Leyte. Track and field stars, come Nov ember of this year, will compete for 120 medals alongside 15 Asian coun tries’ finest track stars in the 1st Asian track and field championship in Manila. After some faltering steps, Philip pine sports has come back, by all indications, for good. THE REPUBLIC 16June«1973 Page 5 The <Arts VISIT OF A LEGEND Van Cliburn in Manila The excitement had been building up for almost a month — since the news first filtered out that Van Cli burn was going to perform at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Suddenly, the radio stations were playing not just acid rock but also romantic “Rach,” which seemed to affect Filipinos the same way it did the Russians when Van Cliburn played Rachmaninoff in Russia’s music halls. Manila newspapers and magazines dug deep into their library, into the Van Cliburn biography and “Who’s Who in America” for more information to feed readers about the all-American virtuoso. Filipinos have a special fond ness for geniuses in general and musical geniuses in particular so it was hardly surprising that coffee shop talk and campus chatter often revolved around the Cliburn legend. Of course, the affinity that music-minded Fili pinos feel toward music virtuosos only partially explains the preoccupation with the scheduled visit of the Ameri can pianist. The other half of the answer lies in Van Cliburn himself. The Texas long-hair is, in the words of a friend, “a Horowitz, Liberace and Elvis Presley all rolled into one.” By the time the arrival date — Monday, June 11 — came around, the whole of Manila had been infected with Cliburn fever. Schoolchildren, their - curiosity aroused by stories about this man who was playing with the Houston Symphony when he was their age, lined up along the palmfringed Roxas Boulevard to get a glimpse of him as he passed. At the Manila International Air port, word spread that Clibum’s arrival would be delayed by some four hours. However, nobody squawked, nobody fumed, nobody fretted — not even the young girls who each carried a basket of rose petals and who were straining to scatter the petals on the carpeted walk. Quite possibly, everyone shared the same thought: it is not everyday that a legend comes to visit, a legend who, moreover, is coming in the spirit of service to the country’s artists. At half past eleven, the Philippine Air Lines jet carrying Van Cliburn finally touched down and taxied to a stop. It had come all the way from San Francisco, leaving San Francisco International Airport at 8:00 p.m. the night before. But Van Clibum’s journey to Manila may have begun on December 7,1972 when he saw a videocast of the First Lady, Mrs. Imelda R. Marcos, courage ously defending herself from a crazed attacker at the Nayong Pilipino. Intrigued by the First Lady who had fought so bravely for her life and who, he learned, was an indefatigable crusader for the arts in her country, Van Cliburn determined to meet her. When Mrs. Marcos went to Washing ton in January to attend President Nixon’s inaugural, Van Cliburn sought her out and offered to do his share gratis et am ore in the establishment of a foundation for young Filipino artists. The gesture was typical of the man. Cliburn is known to have performed practically for free for the benefit of conservatory students. When he was in Leningrad, he allowed Russian stu dents (who otherwise would not have had the chance to see him and hear him play) to be present during rehearsals. At Baylor University where he was paid $4,000 for a concert, Cliburn promptly donated the amount for the establishment of four scholar ships in that institution. Later, he also put up $10,000 to start the school orchestra. Once, Cliburn skipped a high-paying concert engagement to play for a church banquet. His coming to the Philippines, his first time to visit the Far East, to perform for the benefit of young artists, was entirely in character for this great artist and compassionate man. Appreciative Manilans spread out the red carpet for the long, tall pianist from Kilgore, Texas. He emerged squinting against the tropical sun and was met by a shower of rose petals. At the same time, the First Lady, res plendent in a red-and-white em broidered temo, stepped out of the MIA’s VIP Room to meet him. Van Cliburn bent down from his 6’4” height to kiss the hand of Mrs. Mar cos, whom he referred to as “the little lady.” The phrase, he explained, was the embodiment of his “great affect ion coupled with respect” for the Philippines’ First Lady. Manilans had advance intelligence that Van Cliburn was an untempera mental artist, “an easygoing Texan” who didn’t conform to any of the stereotyped image of a virtuoso. Still, it came almost as a shock to the welcoming throng to find this artistic giant so boyish in looks as well as in manner. He seemed to lope along the carpeted walk, his gangly frame towering above the First Lady, Secre tary of Tourism Jose Aspiras, the artist’s manager Harvey Scharfman and the Air Force honor guards. Watching him, one found it easy to believe that he once walked out in the middle of rehearsals to get himself a candy bar from the slot machine, that he broke down and cried when an 8-year-old boy made him an offering of a photograph of himself. At the press reception following his arrival, Van Cliburn spoke haltingly, almost shyly, on his music ideology: “I think that music is a divine mystery and it certainly is a spiritual consola tion that all of us as human beings have and it’s one of the greatest gifts that God has given us.” On his sources of inspiration: “I think that you turn to the memories that you have and the beautiful things in life that you can remember.” On his role in the cause of Philippine music: “I am only an instrument of Mrs. Marcos —it is she who has done such a wonderful job in that respect.” On the notion that “Rach Three” is his favorite: “I don’t think I really have a favorite, no. It’s very hard to say because when you have a great name and a great work at art, I think it stands alone, not so much the artist but the work, so whatever you play or whatever you perform is a favorite.” The “bom flaming virtuoso” seem ed self-conscious in the midst of all the attention and the adulation focused on him — hardly the stance one would expect of someone who had been given a tickertape welcome in New York, who had been flooded with gifts, letters and flowers by adoring fans from suburban matrons to the Soviet Union’s Madame Krush chev and who, in short, is the most celebrated pianist of the century. He sat his hands clasped, as. if to steady himself for the cameras, his long, pale fingers (which are said to cover a thirteen-note span) resting like a piece of sculpture. “After seeing you today,” he told audiences on nationwide radio and television, “I can so well understand the great enthusiasm that people have all over the world when they come to the Philippines and they enjoy the hospitality that you offer all guests. You’re a very gracious people, but particularly today, my heart is very full and I feel extremely honored by the presence of the First Lady, Mrs. Imelda Marcos. I want to tell you how deeply grateful I am to all of you for your enthusiastic welcome and I hope that I will not disappoint you and that you will be happy with my playing.” Van Cliburn had two scheduled performances — June 14 and 16 —at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. In both performances, he was to be assisted by the newly organized CCP Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Professor Luis Valencia. Tickets to the two fund-raising con certs were all sold out. And for the thousands who could not buy tickets got a thoroughly pleasant surprise: his first concert was televised live from the Cultural Center. Clibum’s own feelings about coming back for another performance seemed pretty clear. “You have such drawing power for me,” he told radio and TV audiences, “because you are so kind today and I can see why so many people when they come away from here, they feel enriched and overjoyed to have the pleasure of knowing your audiences.” At the welcome arch of the Nayong Pilipino, Cliburn carefully inscribed his name. Then, unable to resist the schoolchildren who were chanting “Mabuhay Van Cleebum,” he walked towards them, muttering something about his not knowing “it would be like this.” At the newly constructed Derham Park along Roxas Boulevard, the First Lady and her guest made a brief stop to acknowledge the rousing welcome of some two thousand Pasay City residents. Before proceeding to Malacanang where he would stay as house guest, Van Cliburn made a tour of Rizal Park which was all set for the June 12 Independence Day celebrations. At the Rizal monument, he laid a wreath in homage to the national hero. The wife of Manila mayor presented the visiting artist with a symbolic key to the city of Manila, a city which had opened its heart to him long before he arrived. GWENDOLYN Z. REYES Page 6 16 June 1973 THE REPUBLIC The ‘Arts BOOKS Knowing the Muslim milieu Muslims in the Philippines By Cesar Adib Majul Published for the Asian Center by the University of the Philippines, 1973 There are about two million Muslim Filipinos living in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan, having common traditions, culture and religious beliefs with other countries in Southeast Asia, the Mid dle East and Africa. What binds them together is their strict adherence to Islam, not merely as a religion, but as a way of life. Of late, there has been a concerted effort to integrate them into the mainstream of Philippine national life, like other cultural mino rities scattered throughout the coun try. Mainly because of the differences in culture and religion with the Christ ian majority, many Muslims, through the centuries, have felt isolated from the rest of the nation, even during Spanish regime. The so-called Muslim problem was in the limelight again recently, with the incursion of illmotivated elements who tried to ex ploit the Muslims’ valid complaints and make these serve their own in terest. The answer of the government is two-pronged: the use of necessary force against those who violently re sisted authority and the grant of “----amnesty to those who would lay down their arms and rejoin society; and a massive social, economic and educational rehabilitation program to uplift the living conditions of the Muslims. It is against this background that a timely book, “Muslims in the Philip pines,” by Dr. Cesar Adib Majul, assumes significance. The author hopes that, through the book, the “young Muslims in the Philippines would know more of their past in order to direct their future better just as it is desirable for the other peoples of the Philippines to know more about a potential source of strength for the national community.” He asserts that a better understand ing of the Muslim people in the Philippines requires a knowledge not only of the impact of Islam on their social and early political development but also of the circumstances and manner by which their early history became part of that of a wider entity that has progressively become Islam ized. Dr. Majul’s book is both a running chronology of and commentary on the early days of Islam in the 15th century, the development of Muslim culture and political institutions, the growth of the Sultanate in the Minda nao mainland and Sulu, the sallies of the Muslims in the Visayas and Minda nao in retaliation for the attempts of the Spanish conquistadores and mis sionaries to obliterate their religion and folkways. In brief, the book explains the historical milieu of the Muslim in this part of the world. The “Moro Wars” from 1565 to the last days of the Spanish regime are depicted in vivid realism. In various chapters are portrayed the heroism and gallant stand of the Muslims, in defending their faith and the institu tions. “At bottom,” Majul writes, “the Muslim resistance against Spain in the Philippines was not an isolated or insignificant phenomenon but an es sential part of the general resistance of all Muslim peoples in Malaysia against Western imperialism, colonialism and Christianity. “From a more restricted perspect ive, the Muslim struggle in the Philip pine South can be considered part of the heritage of the entire Filipino people in the history of their struggle; for freedom. It is not only that the sultanates represented the most well developed native states in the Archipe lago, but they represented peoples who had managed to keep themselves free from foreign invaders at the cost of so much blood, suffering and sacri fice. Of interest to scholars and students in international law is an exposition on the background of the controver sial Sabah claim. New insights are presented here, culled from materials -and sources outside the Philippines. They throw a new light and meaning to the Philippine claim over this area. The author concludes that owner ship of the contested land passed on to the Sulu Sultan from the Brunei Sultan in 1674. It was the same territory that was leased by the Sulu Sultan to the Austrian Adventurer, Baron Gustavus Bon Overbeck, ac companied by William Treacher, the British Governor of Labuan, on Jan uary 22, 1878. The author also con cludes that the Sulu Sultan’s claim that he never sold the North Borneo (Sabah) territory of the sultanate was quite consistent with the language of his contract with Overbeck which uses the word “pajak.” Dr. Majul explains that although some persons have used this word variously to mean sale, cession or lease, to Sulu royalty it most probably meant the right to exploit the land and monopolize the sale of its products. The importance of Dr. Majul’s scholarly work is the fact that it contains new data and fresh observa tions, based on sources not heretofore tapped by other Filipino writers. Dr. Majul, of course, has more than sufficient credentials to write this book, dealing with the Muslims from a historical perspective. A professor at the University of the Philippines since 1948, he was the recipient of the Republic Heritage Award for “the most outstanding contribution to his torical writing during the period from May 1, 1960 to April 30,1961.” He is the author of other historical books, among them “The Political and Cons titutional Ideas of the Philippine Re volution,” “Mabini and the Political Revolution,” and “Apolinario Mabini: Revolutionary.” His essays on Islam have been translated by Dr. Nabil Tawil Subji into Arabic and published in Beirut as “Al-Islam Fil-Sharqul Aqsa” in 1966. AMANTE F. PAREDES Second guess on what ails this world Briefing for a Descent into Hell by Doris Lessing, 278 pages. Bantam Books This century is one of visions and apocalypses. Time for artists and mystics to see both glory and catastrophe riding the skies like cosmic Siamese twins, signalling the approach of a decisive turning for this harried globe. One prediction: “. . . a terrifying spiritual pressure will be exerted on the confines of the real, built up by the desperate efforts of souls tense with longing to escape from the earth. At the same time the world will be infected by a profound schism —some trying to emerge from themselves in order to dominate the world even more completely—others, waiting passionately for the world to die so that they may be absorbed with it .... ” Thus spoke Teilhard de Chardin, paleontologist-philopher, and science, that hardheaded, rather humorless uncle of 20th century thought, would be hard put to quarrel with such an expectation. Witness the initial exhila rations of its atomic and lunar exploits palling and the global ego science has inflated with notions of THE REPUBLIC 16 June4973 man as matter’s master, now turning wan with doubt. Have its problems so overleapt its achievements that, so close to material liberation, it now finds itself in a new and more terror-filled dimension of existence? Briefing for a Descent into Hell by English novelist Doris Lessing has lately joined a growing procession of educated second-guesses on what really ails this strange globe. But' as she threads together a long, often lyrical meditation on the yet untouch ed vistas of the human mind with a disappointingly simplistic plot, Les sing falls somewhat short. An elderly classics professor is having a nervous breakdown. “Round and round and round” goes his mind as he is washed up on the bank of the Thames River in London, “round and round and round” as he is escorted into the psychiatric ward of a state hospital where he raves about being trapped in the North Equatorial currents on a windless, seemingly endless day. Diagnosed as amnesiac, he is prod ded to try remembering who he is. Jonah, he answers. Asked again, he says Sinbad, Bad Sin. The patient is ministered to by Doctors X and Y with the inevitable increasing dosages of tranquillizers. Which only make him sleep longer, thus fertilizing his ravings. We are taken into his mind, the memory of the beginnings of a sea voyage with a crew of bosom friends out to “seek what is.” The journey, predictably, turns out to be the circular voyaging of a human mind back to the womb, further on to a pre-uterine existence, travelling through time spirals and archetypal memories of innocence lost then found then lost again. The ship encounters “a Crystal, a globe of luminous light” which descends on the deck and swallows all but the professor. In panic, he builds himself a raft and sets himself adrift. The expected storm comes and when the currents are calm again, he comes to a school of porpoises, one of which approaches his raft and takes him sailing on to a paradise island. Here, a potentially first-rate story turns third-rate. In an ungraceful mish-mash of pop archaeology, anthropology, mytho logy, even ecology, we are treated to the adventures of a Jungian Robinson Crusoe with side games of Hunt the Symbol Down. As if that journey on a porpoise’s back weren’t enough, the professor now finds himself successively in (a) the heart of the paradise island where rare fruits grow and tame tigers gambol (b) the ruins of an ancient stone city and (c) the very middle of this city’s courtyard which just happens to be a circle in a square, surely the most easily available man dala of rationality vs. irrationality or art vs. science, whichever way you want to take this 19th century alchemical symbol. There’s more. Under a full moon, when madness is supreme, the hero participates in meat-eating rituals with some phantom lomads among who are the women in his past. Then he encounters two warring animal races, the Rat-dogs and the Apes whose main preoccupation seems to be humping. And then, he meets a giant White Bird (for peace and sweet reason? ) which takes him flying over oceans languishing in sloughs of che mical waste. Finally, the plot brings us to the book’s title, It turns out that there had been a Heavenly Conference of Deities representing all the other planets of our solar system. It had been decided there that Earth, with its wars and its organized greed, was tipping the cosmic balance dangerous ly close to disaster and it was time for these Deities to take human form. A Briefing for a Descent into Hell is given the rescue team plus a mental microprint of their mission to teach earth the Law of Harmony. Which is all the poor old classics professor is trying to remember since he is no less than Mercury, that cosmic wit himself, so overcome by the experience of having been bom and raised an earthling that he becomes a crochetty scholar of Greek and Latin and winds up in the psychiatric ward of a state hospital somewhere in London, England. Novelist Lessing proceeds to take sideswipes at the educational system and the psychiatric profession -educa tion as the process which warps the rich sensitivity of a child in molds poured by the blindness and egocentricity of previous generations and psychiatry as the tragi-comic dance of the lame leading the blind. We can empathize with the author as her arrows find their mark but reserve the right to note that blunted arrows do not stick. SYLVIA L. MAYUGA Page 7 Travel & leisure BEAUTY FROM THE SEA times past. But, the countries of the world are still interested. Last December 26, 1972, Surigao Development Corporation, after pay ing P4 for a special permit from the Department of Agriculture and Na tural Resources, set off for the Babuyan Islands to “make a scientific survey and exploration of sea corals.” When the scientific survey was over, the company had harvested two tons of corals worth 3 million pesos. Not long after, 27 Filipino corpora tions applied for permits to make a similar survey of the same islands — Balintang Channel of the Babuyan Islands. Australian, European, Japanese and American investors followed suit, applying for permits to comb Philip pine seas for the rich atolls. In the meantime, Japanese and Taiwanese fishermen were discovered poaching the Sulu Archipelago for the precious coral. The coral rush was on. And unless the pattern of events changed, the country’s seabeds would be depleted of its rich corals, the national treasury no richer, the country no better for having mineral deposits of value. Abroad, Japan is fast losing its stockpile of precious corals. It has depleted its own seas and bought off all available corals from the western pacific. Should it be unable to gather more, it would cease to dictate the price of corals in the world market. Australia, Europe and the United States are equally serious about cornering a wealthy coral seabed. Word has spread that Japanese and Taiwanese fishermen have moved on to the southern seas of the Philip pines, poaching and discovering an untapped coral mine. Compounding these foreign coun tries’ concern is the extremely slow — five millimeters or one-half centi A ‘coral rush’ in Philippine waters meter a year — growth rate of precious coral organism. Only a discovery of new fields for coral harvest can save the world “precious coral” industry. All the fuss centers on the detached coral peacefully settled on its bed. Corals belong to the phylum co elenterata. When of the true or stony variety, corals are colonies of polyps where each polyp, unless of the solita ry variety, is a skeleton-forming anemone. When of the soft coral variety, they are colonies of polyps that possess eight hollow tentacles where the polyps may be introverted in many species. Corals in their single days, have ugly figures — simple tubu lar things with elongated mouths. When married, corals are asexual lovers, polyp budding off other polyps to become a colony. The colony, like a frumpish wife, grows and grows to become a coral boulder hitting the weighing scales at one ton plus. Coral formations may become fringing reefs, barrier reefs or atolls. Fringing reefs are underwater coral platforms attached to a body of land and extending into the ocean for some distance. Barrier reefs are not attached to the mainland and keep respectable distance from shore with a lagoon or some such shallow body of water. The atoll is shaped like a ring, its center is a lagoon, the lagoon connects with the outer ocean through a channel, the channel offers shelter to storm-wrecked navigators. The smaller atoll varieties, coming in shapes and colors prosaically described as beautiful, have a far from prosaic price tag on them. An imagina tive creature christened these the “precious corals.” Of the “precious,” the legendary is the red coral. For centuries, it had been prized in India as jewelry. RoRP coral: drawing world interest mans believed it had mysterious powers and began hanging it around their children’s neck to save them from diseases. Italians wore the coral to ward off “the evil eye.” Today’s coral may not have the legend or even the superstition of Philippine waters, warm and tropi cal with simple marine animals about, are directly of interest. For in the Balintang Channel of the Babuyan Islands in northern Luzon, the Surigao Straights midway between Visayas and Mindanao, and the Sulu Archi pelago, coral species of the precious variety — pink, red, white and black — have been discovered in quantities enough to supply the whole world market. In other regions, there have been strong indications that other precious corals lie in lenghty seabeds. The onslaught of coral diggers was strong enough to move the Bureau of Fisheries to broadcast official world price quotations for the corals. As the 1970 standards grade corals according to color, the pink or whitish pink (angel skin) is first grade at $350 per pound; the red is second grade at $150 per pound; and the white is third grade at $50 per pound. “To guarantee that exploration, development, exploitation and utiliza tion benefit primarily the country and its people,” the President recently issued a decree safeguarding the coun try’s corals. Coral resources, without distinc tion, were turned over to the Bureau of Mines whose facilities extend to exploration and exploitation of na tural resources. Licenses to explore were limited to Filipinos or corpora tions with a 60% Filipino-owned capital stock. Vessels for exploration were likewise limited to those of Philippine registry, wi+a foreign crafts obligated to obtain clearances fro hithe Bureau of Mines and other government agencies. License to explore the precious variety of corals will be given only to applicants with the necessary financial and technical capability to put up a processing plant, tying in with the rule limiting exportation of corals to finished products. PEOPLE Eugene Torre begins where other battle-scarred Filipino chess luminaries have stopped. At 21, he has already earned an international master title, thanks to his profes sionalism and cool determination. Eugene hopes to improve on his feat by bagging an international grandmaster title at the Leningrad Interzonal Chess Tournament where he represents not only the Philippines but also Asia. Despite tough competition from older opponents, the Asian champion, as of Monday this week, had garnered 3 points — from his victory over former world champ Mikhail Tahl of the Soviet Union and drawn matches with Argentina’s Miguel Juan Quinteros, the U.S.S.R.’s Gennady Kuzmin, East Germany’s Wolfgang Uhlmann and tournament leader Bent Larsen of Denmark. Larsen’s draw with Eugene, after four hours of delicate endgame play, marked by the Filipino’s excellent defensive position, was his first after 5 wins. Eugene’s first loss in the tournament, in the hands of Ameri can Robert Byrne, didn’t seem to Eugene Torre: RP hope in Leningrad faze the young master. With still 10 or more games in the offing, chess enthusiasts back in his homeland were fervently hoping that Eugene would be able to pile up enough point — 9-1/2 — to qualify for the grandmaster title. ‘The fluidity of (their) body movement makes Filipino dancers more adaptable to modern dance than their European counterparts.” So says Pauline Koner, choreo grapher and teacher of modern dance. Miss Koner saw a film of the Bayanihan during its cultural tour of the United States some years back, but was able to observe the Filipino dancer at close range last month when she conducted the summer dance workshop of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. “Like other Asians, the Filipino doesn’t bounce or jump as he dances,” she said. “There is ample use of the knees, the ankles and hands which provide the gliding movement in a space, an important element of the dance.” Winner of the prestigious Dance Magazine Award in 1963, the New York-born Miss Koner has performed with such distinguished groups as the Jose Limon Dance Company, apart from her own dance group. She is the third foreign guest teacher invited to handle dance classes at the Cultural Center since 1970. Miss Koner calls dancing a “rite of faith” and teaching dance a “rite of dedication.” Presiding at such rites has brought her to Russia and other European countries, the Middle East, Japan, India, Korea and Singapore. To say that she merely sym bolizes the meaning of the religious in a strictly non-religious world is saying too little of Sister Ramona Maria Tombo, a Maryknoll sister. For Sister Ramona unifies in her work what used to be the tradi tional roles of the ntm and the lay worker. A dentist, the Filipino nun spent years “touring the length and breadth of Mindanao carrying a small foot-operated drill and simple equipment from school to school.” From dentistry, however, she has branched out to another type of work. Today, she is on the staff of the Manila Youth Center, a section of the Youth Aid Division of the city’s police department, hence, “a policeman, almost.” Donned in the grey, woolen habit, which other Maryknoll sisters have long dis carded, Sister Ramona reports daily, works fulltime and, often, overtime as division assistant and chief of the civilian staff. She helps, and solicits help for, girls and boys, 16 and under, who have tangled with the law. Page 8 16 June 1973 THE REPUBLIC